"What are you all still standing there for! Get them, now!"
"Take down all these traitors!"
"Dammit, do you really want to watch this Universe be destroyed?!"
2099 looked at the stunned Spider-Men like a madman, still trying to use his status as the "Leader of the Spider Alliance" to make them work for him and help him take down the traitors before him.
But... no one answered.
The dozen or so Spider-Men still standing just looked at him silently; not a single one was prepared to step forward and follow his orders.
"Lunatics! You bunch of lunatics!"
2099 looked at these betrayers in disbelief, then struggled to crawl up from the ground:
"I knew you people couldn't be relied on! In the end, I have to rely on myself!"
As he spoke, he stumbled toward Number Three, still trying to knock him to the ground.
But before he could reach Number Three, a figure blocked his path—it was Peter!
"Death is at your doorstep, and you're still here acting like a maniac?"
His nonchalant words further provoked 2099.
2099 looked at Peter with bloodshot eyes, a crazed smile on his face, and screamed hysterically:
"Peter Parker, you think you've won? No, you're wrong! Before long, you'll be the biggest loser!"
"Your family, your lover, your friends, everything you have will be reduced to nothing because of your refusal to repent."
"You will eventually become just like me!"
Facing 2099's threat, Peter simply spoke calmly:
"Five minutes."
"What five minutes?" 2099 couldn't help but ask.
"It's been five minutes since your so-called Web Event was disrupted."
Peter crossed his arms, his face full of cold sneers:
"According to you, if two consecutive Web Events are disrupted, the Universe will definitely collapse!"
"But now, five minutes have passed, and nothing has happened."
"What else do you have to say?"
Hearing this, 2099 was stunned. Had it really been five minutes already?
How long did that Universe he was in last? It seemed... it hadn't even lasted five minutes.
2099 still wanted to be stubborn.
But Peter didn't give him the chance, simply sitting cross-legged opposite 2099:
"I'm going to wait it out with you today. It's 8 PM now; in four hours, it'll be a brand new day!"
"Even if the collapse of the Universe is delayed, it wouldn't be so exaggerated as to delay until the next day!"
Hearing the intense confidence in Peter's voice,
the Spider-Men present looked at each other and also felt that Peter's words made sense.
The scene then fell into a long silence as everyone waited silently!
Waiting for the arrival of that so-called "doomsday."
During this process, Peter was bored, so he looked at the Number Three Spider-Man and teased:
"Didn't you say you weren't coming? Why did you show up anyway?"
Hearing this, Number Three Good Neighbor, who could be considered the MVP of this event, coughed involuntarily, his face looking somewhat unnatural:
"That..."
He hesitated for a long time before finally speaking honestly:
"Alright, I admit it, I was convinced by you!"
"After I went back and thought about what you said, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, so..."
Seeing him stammering for a long time without making himself clear, Peter helped him out:
"So, you pretended nothing happened, but in reality, you were secretly gathering people, preparing for a heroic entrance and a righteous backstab at the critical moment?"
"Pretty much~" Number Three scratched the back of his head instinctively, then looked at the uniquely styled Spider-Punk to the side and said:
"Actually, it was Hobie who gave me the courage to make the decision."
"He said he had actually been doubting the truth that Web Events would cause the Universe to collapse for a long time now."
"He also told me that if it's really possible to change all this, then as Spider-Man, even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of making it happen, we should try."
Hearing this, Peter subconsciously looked at the cool-looking Spider-Punk.
He thought to himself, that's not surprising.
After all, in the original movie, this guy didn't get along with 2099 and even secretly helped Gwen at a critical moment by sending her his own dimension-traveling watch!
He was truly a gold-medal support.
Thinking that this fellow was essentially a variant of The Prowler, Aaron Davis, from Universe 138, Peter took the opportunity to strike up a conversation.
He mentioned that if there was a chance later, he could arrange for Aaron to meet him; that scene would probably be very interesting.
Under Peter's active guidance, the conversation soon opened up.
The Spider-Men began to communicate warmly, sharing interesting stories from their respective Universes or how they handled the same villain in different Universes.
Doctor Octopus heard his own name several times during this process.
This made him shiver involuntarily, and he couldn't help but ask:
"So... is this why you could shut down the 'artificial sun' without any help from me?"
He had been curious about this earlier.
Normally, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to complete that series of incredibly tedious cooling steps and successfully shut down the artificial sun in such a short time.
"That's right, Dr. We've all fought you and have shut down similar things more than once."
The Spider-Men replied together, the jumble of voices making Otto's ears ring.
"So I'm a supervillain in so many Universes?"
Otto couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Learning about the evils he had committed in other Universes from their mouths didn't release the demon in his heart.
On the contrary, it made him even more determined to become the most unique "Good Guy Doctor Octopus."
One could only say that Doctor Octopus's competitive nature to be number one in everything was ingrained in his bones... As the crowd discussed noisily, time passed minute by minute.
When the hands on their watches were about to reach 12 o'clock, the Little Spiders held their breath in nervousness.
They were worried about whether the terrifying scenes 2099 had shown them via holographic projections would occur.
The instantaneous collapse of the Universe.
Large numbers of humans turning to ash in an instant, and so on.
However, the clock hands quietly passed twelve... and the World didn't change at all.
Nothing happened.
No spatial collapse.
No city destruction.
And certainly no crowds instantly disintegrating into ash and disappearing.
Not only was everything normal in this underground area, but the World outside was the same.
The "Universe Collapse Theory," which Miguel held as gospel and for which he didn't hesitate to become an executioner, was debunked in the most direct way at this moment.
"This... how is this possible?"
One Spider-Man muttered to himself, looking at his hands in disbelief.
"Nothing happened... the Universe... is fine?"
"Then we... what we did before... what was it all for?"
These words were like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves.
The eyes of all the Spider-Men changed.
From doubt to shock, and then, after coming to their senses, to regret and a hatred for 2099 that was almost bone-deep!
How many of them had personally stopped another version of themselves from saving a loved one?
How many had watched Gwen or Uncle Ben from another World die with their own eyes, while they could only clench their fists and tell themselves it was a "necessary sacrifice"?
They had always thought they were maintaining the stability of the Universe, fulfilling the mission of "With great power comes great responsibility."
But now, reality had given them a resounding slap in the face!
It was they who had personally created the tragedies of Spider-Man!
"No... it's impossible..."
Everyone instinctively wanted to hear how 2099 would make excuses.
But what they never expected was... 2099 was the one who was most broken at the scene!
"Why didn't this Universe collapse! Why, why did my Universe..."
He first murmured in disbelief, and then suddenly thought of something, letting out a heart-wrenching roar:
"Damn it! It's that bastard, he actually dared to lie to me, how could he lie to me! He clearly was also..."
"Bastard! I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you a thousand times, and it! Still! Won't! Be! Enough!"