"What is going on with all this? And such a huge gold bar—how much is that even worth? Forget it, I'll sell it and use all the money on the patients at the hospital who can't afford treatment..."
Dan muttered to himself as he stuffed the gold bar into his white coat pocket, walking lightheadedly toward his office, clearly still reeling from what had just happened.
Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob of his office, before he could step inside, someone patted his shoulder from behind.
Dan instinctively turned around and saw a gray-haired old man wearing a brown jacket with a gentle smile on his face standing behind him.
Dan offered a smile. "Sir, do you need any help?"
"Hello, Doctor. I'm very sorry to bother you, but I might need a little help. I'd like to borrow a bit of money from you to take a taxi home. I live in Forest Hills, Queens, which is a bit far from here."
"Of course." The kind-hearted Dan didn't think twice; he took a hundred dollars out of his wallet and handed it to the old man.
"Thank you, sir. I'll come back to the hospital to repay you by tomorrow at the latest." The old man took the cash, expressed his gratitude to Dan, and left excitedly.
Dan watched the old man's retreating back, feeling as though he looked strangely familiar.
He had a great memory and remembered almost everyone he met, so he was certain he wasn't mistaken.
And as a Doctor, the people he saw the most were patients.
Driven by curiosity, Dan went back into his office and began searching through the records of his past patients.
In the end, he actually found a patient file containing a photo of the old man.
"But... how is this possible?!"
Dan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Because the file clearly stated:
[Name: Benjamin Franklin Parker.]
[Status: Deceased.]
[Cause of Death: Gunshot wound.]
...
"What are you smiling about?"
Strange looked at Ryan, who had been smiling ever since he returned, and couldn't help asking in confusion.
"I just took care of something I've regretted for a long time..." The smile on Ryan's face slowly faded.
"You mean saving Sandman's daughter?" Strange instinctively assumed that was it.
"No, something else..." Ryan shook his head slightly.
"Well, it's none of my business anyway, and I won't bother asking. What about Sandman's family?" Strange didn't dwell on it and asked another question instead.
"I sent them to my Universe. They can live a better life there, and Sandman can fulfill his true value," Ryan said calmly.
"Value? You really are ruthless. But at least you gave him proper reward and redemption, so I suppose it's a fair deal~" Strange shrugged and commented.
Ryan remained noncommittal.
Strange looked up at the many illusory silhouettes struggling vaguely under the web in the sky and frowned, saying:
"Shouldn't we put a complete end to this now? You can't just keep plugging the dimensional rift with your webs forever, can you?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Ryan didn't refuse either. Taking a single step, blue light flashed over him, and he vanished on the spot.
Strange: ???
"Wait, I'm not on board yet!"
Helplessly, Strange had to start drawing circles in place to open a portal himself.
"This long cast delay is so annoying!"
Having witnessed Ryan opening portals instantly and teleporting directly, plus Sandman repeatedly interrupting his cast delay earlier, Strange was finding mystic arts more and more troublesome.
Strange gritted his teeth. "Once I get back this time, I must optimize Kamar-Taj's mystic arts so they don't have any casting delay!"
Flashback to ten minutes ago.
Peter had fallen for Green Goblin's trick and rushed back frantically to the secret laboratory.
But when he burst inside, May, MJ, and Ned were eating snacks and chatting—there wasn't a hint of danger at all!
"Peter, why are you back? Is it over already?"
May stood up and walked over with a puzzled look upon seeing Peter return.
Peter's heart sank as he realized he had been tricked. "Oh no, it's a decoy to lure me away!"
"No, no, no, Peter. You're not the tiger—the tiger is on the other side. This is called driving the rabbit back to its burrow!"
Clang——————
A familiar sinister voice echoed through the laboratory, accompanied by a Pumpkin Bomb landing on the floor!
Peter's pupils shrank abruptly. He shoved May aside and dove onto the Pumpkin Bomb without a second thought!
Thud——————
With a muffled explosion, the Pumpkin Bomb detonated under Peter, blasting him into the ceiling before he fell back down, lying motionless on the floor.
However, the ambushing Green Goblin froze for a moment.
Tricking Peter into rushing back and Peter shielding the Pumpkin Bomb with his body had all been within his expectations.
And that was precisely his plan.
But what he hadn't expected was that his Pumpkin Bomb exploding right against Peter didn't kill him instantly, but merely blew him away!
This made Green Goblin shudder as he suddenly recalled the last ruthless guy who tanked his Pumpkin Bomb with his face!
"Impossible! Impossible! Based on the power you displayed earlier, you shouldn't have this kind of durability!"
Green Goblin was utterly baffled.
But no one answered Green Goblin's confusion right now. May scrambled up from the ground, shouting Peter's name as she cradled the unconscious Peter and inspected his charred chest.
Meanwhile, MJ had grabbed an iron pipe from somewhere; though her entire body trembled, she stood her ground, shielding Peter and May.
Ned stood beside MJ as well, holding the Magic Box in his hands.
"Y-You... don't come any closer!"
"That's right, don't do anything reckless! If you do, I'll activate this Magic Box and send you right back to your dead Universe!"
Hearing their threats, the dazed Green Goblin grinned wickedly again as two more Pumpkin Bombs appeared in his hands:
"Fine, you're welcome to try! Let's see if you can activate that Magic Box faster than my bombs detonate!"
As he spoke, Green Goblin placed his fingers on the Pumpkin Bombs.
"Whoa whoa whoa, wait! Don't press it! We can negotiate terms first!"
Seeing this, Ned hurriedly held up the Magic Box, signaling for a negotiation first.
"That's more like it~" Green Goblin released his fingers from the Pumpkin Bombs' activation buttons.
Ned swallowed hard. "You leave right now, we pretend we never saw you, and I won't activate the Magic Box. How about that?"
Green Goblin sneered. "Doesn't sound so good to me. I don't trust you. I want that box. Hand it over, and I'll leave immediately!"
"No way!" Ned was no fool; how could he hand over the only thing that gave them leverage?
"Then there's nothing to talk about!" Green Goblin's eyes went cold, and he directly pressed the activation button on the Pumpkin Bomb in his hand.
Ned hadn't expected him to be so decisive, not giving them any time to stall.
He looked back at Peter, who was still unconscious, then at the Pumpkin Bomb in Green Goblin's hand ticking down its explosion countdown step by step, and finally gave in!
"Stop! I'll give it to you!"
Click——————
"Now that's sensible!" Green Goblin pressed the button again to halt the countdown. "Now throw the box over to me!"
Ned looked at Green Goblin, whose hand was still resting on the bomb. Though he knew Green Goblin couldn't be trusted, he had no other choice.
So he could only toss the Magic Box toward Green Goblin.
Green Goblin's smile widened as he caught the Magic Box with delight—and returned a gift to Ned as well!
It was the already activated Pumpkin Bombs!
Beep-beep-beep-beep——————
Amid the deadly beeping, two Pumpkin Bombs zoomed in before Ned and MJ's eyes—neither of them could react in time.
"Uh-oh..."
That was all the two of them had time to utter.
Whoosh, whoosh——————
But just as the Pumpkin Bombs were practically right in their faces, two strands of webs shot forward, catching the two Pumpkin Bombs like a pair of hands and stopping them just an inch from Ned and MJ's faces!
It was the Original Spider-Man!
Arriving just in time at the critical moment, he shot out two web strands to intercept the Pumpkin Bombs!
The Original grabbed the webs and yanked them back sharply, sending both Pumpkin Bombs flying back toward Green Goblin, whose face was still filled with delight!
Boom—————— x2
The Pumpkin Bombs exploded just a meter away from Green Goblin, engulfing him in flames, and the resulting Impact blew him flying!
But at the same time, more than half of the floor was blasted away too!
Remember, Peter's secret laboratory wasn't on the ground floor, but over ten stories up!
Blasted by the two Pumpkin Bombs, a gap instantly collapsed in the floor and ceiling, and the building tilted, sending everyone inside sliding toward the opening.
"Ahhhhh——————"
Naturally, the first to slide toward the gap were the unconscious Peter and May, who was holding him.
Seeing this, the Original pounced over, gathering both of them into his arms and pinning them firmly against the wall.
"Ahhhhhhh——————" x2
But right away, MJ and Ned slid right past him out of the gap while screaming.
Without even time to catch his breath, the Original quickly used webs to secure May and the unconscious Peter to the wall, then leaped down after the others.
Seeing Ned falling significantly faster due to his weight, the Original could only shoot out a web to catch Ned first, anchoring the other end to the wall.
But no matter how fast the Original acted, by the time he shot out a second web strand to save MJ, it was already too late.
The webs he shot couldn't keep up with the speed of MJ's fall!
Thud——————
The sound of a landing echoed—the Original's web ultimately failed to catch MJ.
But... the Amazing Spider-Man made his entrance!
The Amazing Spider-Man arrived the moment before MJ hit the ground. Instead of using webs to catch her, he leaped forward at top speed, catching MJ in mid-air with his arms, with one hand even cradling the back of her head.
"Spider-Man's webs can't save everyone..." The Amazing Spider-Man looked at MJ, who had just survived the ordeal in his arms, his eyes filled with profound sorrow.
*******************************
Enjoyed the action? Drop a review, fire off a comment, and send those Power Stones rolling! Your support keeps the updates coming fast—let's keep the momentum going! 🔥