"She's gone far; hurry up and chase." Gwen's words interrupted Charlie's train of thought.
"Mm."
Charlie nodded, then lightly tapped his earpiece.
"Take care not to follow too closely, or she won't go back."
"Understood."
On the street, Old Steve roared down the road on a motorcycle.
"Captain Carter, leave a gap on your side. Pretend we lost her."
"Got it."
In the chaotic supermarket, Captain Carter, who had just been about to intercept Cindy, withdrew her steps, letting Cindy swing away.
Felicia zipped between tall buildings with her grappling hook, her gaze fixed on the figure ahead.
"What about me?"
"Kitty Cat is good at ambushes. Can you guarantee she won't notice you?" Charlie swung through the air and caught up.
Felicia's lips curled into a confident smile.
"Of course, I can guarantee that."
"Great, you're finally of use."
"You should've noticed my good points sooner."
"What points?"
"Pervert!"
Felicia muttered a curse under her breath, then leapt onto a high-rise.
During her pursuit, whether using her grappling hook or landing on her feet, she made no sound at all.
Meanwhile, Charlie raised his wrist device. A virtual map showed Felicia's route.
"Great, Cindy isn't heading to a crowded place. She hasn't noticed Felicia."
Old Steve swung over and landed beside Charlie.
"Are you going to hide again later?" he asked.
Charlie nodded. "Of course, this time I'm the commander."
"Nick Fury is a better commander than you."
"Impossible. I'm not about to hide in some command center like him."
"That's why you're not a qualified commander."
"You know nothing about Spider-Man's command ability."
Before long, Charlie, staring at the map, noticed that the red dot had stopped moving. He frowned.
"Norman Osborn's castle."
"A castle?"
Old Steve's eyes lit up. "Let me blow it up!"
"Don't rush. If this is their main base, we can't just blow it up."
Charlie reasoned, "From these different versions of Cindy, it looks like there's probably a biolab inside, full of strange stuff. If an explosion caused a leak of whatever's inside, the world would still end."
Hearing this, Carter—on the nearby rooftop—quite agreed.
"Yes, if a global crisis happened because of us, that'd be too dramatic."
Old Steve thought for a moment. "Fine, I'm good at assault ops anyway."
With that, he tapped his earpiece.
"Dog Thor, lend me your hammer."
"Woof!!"
He was met only by an angry bark.
Old Steve's face turned awkward. "I bet he's cursing me out, and it's probably nasty."
"No need to guess. I saw his expression," Charlie said, lowering his binoculars, then flung himself forward and swung away.
"Let's go. Felicia's waiting for us."
Before long, near Osborn Castle—
A small group hid among the trees, keeping a close watch on the castle.
Gwen lowered her binoculars, looking emotional.
"I should have realized. Uncle Norman's castle is the perfect secret base."
Charlie looked at Gwen. "You know Harry?"
"Of course. He's my friend."
Gwen sighed. "According to the news, Harry died in an accident.
But I know Harry died from a hereditary illness.
Ever since Harry died, Uncle Norman has been holed up in his lab. I guess that's when he went crazy."
Charlie said nothing.
Soon, he spoke: "If we could get a sample of the Green Goblin's blood, is there a chance we could develop a cure to restore Norman to normal?"
Gwen shook her head. "I'm not familiar with that field, but if we had all of Uncle Norman's research, I guess top scientists might be able to make a cure."
"Is that so?"
Charlie fell into thought.
In the movies, the three Peter Parkers managed to research a Green Goblin antidote using Tony's lab.
Maybe he could find Tony for help.
But Norman has to be resurrected first.
If Norman is brought back to life, Charlie might not be able to control him in time.
If he misses the perfect moment, that guy might broadcast Charlie's identity to the entire world.
So he still needs Carter's help.
Even so, Norman in the Resurrection Match won't just choose to cooperate with Charlie.
If he won't cooperate, then he can't be resurrected; if he can't be resurrected, the next steps can't be taken.
Thus a deadlock.
Charlie took a deep breath. He still had to win this Resurrection Match before thinking about anything else.
He raised his hand and patted the little spider atop his head.
"Go see what's going on inside," he said.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak."
Without hesitation, Little Spider shot out a web and headed toward the castle.
No hesitation, because it can't speak at all.
Little Spider slipped into the castle and then...
There was no "then."
An hour passed, and there was still no sign of Little Spider returning.
Charlie rubbed his forehead. "It probably can't come back."
"You sent such a cute little spider to be cannon fodder?" Felicia complained.
"Then you go?"
"I won't go. Alone, I wouldn't feel safe—I'm scared."
Off to the side, Old Steve quietly snatched away Shiba Thor's hammer, confidence once again filling his face.
"Let's just charge in!"
"Woof!"
The moment Dog Thor realized its hammer was missing, it flew into a rage.
But it was no match for Old Steve.
Dog Thor sank its teeth into Old Steve's calf, only to find that his muscles felt like steel and nearly shattered its teeth.
Wronged, it turned away and sulked, drawing circles on the ground.
Charlie, thinking it over, finally said, "All right, go ahead. You go first. I want to see what's really in there."
With that, Old Steve, who was already eager, charged toward the castle.
"Boom!!"
Thunder crackled as Old Steve, like a cannonball, blasted right into the castle.
Right after that, Carter and the others also moved in.
Only Charlie and Gwen, plus the dog gnawing on a bone, remained on site.
Watching bursts of lightning flash from the castle, Charlie's expression grew serious.
A young Steve holding Mjolnir and a shield could practically go head-to-head with Thanos.
This Old Steve has been through three Resurrection Matches, so he can definitely last even longer against Thanos.
Charlie knew he was no match for "Captain Thor."
Yet even so, they still hadn't finished the battle after this long.
Something must be wrong!
Sure enough, as Old Steve came scrambling out of the castle—armor shattered—he sprinted straight for Charlie in disarray.
"Help me, they—"
"What about them?"
As Old Steve got closer, Charlie still couldn't hear him clearly.
Seeing that a strange smile had crept onto Old Steve's face, Charlie immediately understood.
Chameleon Cindy?
Damn!
——
[You have been eliminated, unable to obtain a resurrection slot, reward: +1% Spider Mutation Gene Toxin Resistance.]
[26 restarts remain. Restart?]
The sixth Resurrection Match.
This time, from start to finish, Charlie took no action at all,
because he had absolutely no idea what those Cindys were trying to do.
Several consecutive failures made him decide to lie low this round.
"Spider-Man, the Black Order has appeared. Let's hurry to stop them!" Old Steve, shield in hand, came to Charlie.
Charlie lay on the couch. "I'm not going."
Carter frowned. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. You guys go. I believe you can handle them," he replied, waving them off.
Old Steve seemed to realize something and clapped his hands.
"I got it. This guy definitely wants us to go first, then he'll show up at the last minute and draw all the attention!" he declared confidently.
Carter: "?????"
"Is that right?" she asked Charlie.
Charlie nodded. "Yes, yes. Don't worry, I'll appear."
"All right. Guess we have no choice."
Carter and the others set off for the Brooklyn Bridge.
In an intense fight, Ebony Maw alone gave them a serious headache.
"Damn it, it's already come to this—where is Spider-Man?"
Old Steve, stuck in a prison of concrete and metal, looked grim.
In the rubble, Carter's lips bled. "Could something have happened to him?"
Not far away, Lizard Parker was pinned by several steel beams.
Seeing Felicia crushed into gore by the collapsing debris, he began cursing, "What are you thinking? That bastard never intended to come. He tricked us!"
Old Steve struggled. "Impossible. Spider-Man wouldn't leave me behind—he'd only leave you guys behind."
Lizard Parker: "..."
Before long, Ebony Maw led the Black Order in surrounding them.
"Steve Rogers, I know you. You're old now, and you should die."
Corvus Glaive raised his blade, and Old Steve's head was cut from his body.
Even at the end, he still refused to believe Charlie would abandon him.
"Steve!"
Carter's face was full of grief, but three energy blasts snaked out at her, and her life came to an end.
"Charlie Parker, I hate you!"
Lizard Parker let out a heart-wrenching roar as the bridge battle concluded.
——
Not long after, Gwen, who had escaped with her life, returned home.
When she saw Charlie lounging there, her anger exploded.
"What are you doing?" she shouted furiously.
Charlie, at that moment, was holding a glass of juice, watching a TV show and laughing uncontrollably.
"Hahaha, so dumb. They should jump up to rip off the name tags. What losers."
Seeing Gwen's furious expression, he remained unconcerned.
"You're back. Did you bring supper?"
Gwen ground her teeth. "They're dead! All of them! Aren't they your friends? Why did you get them killed?"
She grabbed Charlie by the collar, spitting in rage.
Charlie wiped the saliva from his face, puzzled.
"That's not right. The old man's hammer—oh no, the old man didn't get his hammer in time."
He felt helpless at that thought.
But it was fine—this round was for lying low anyway.
Faced with Gwen's furious glare, he smiled and comforted her, "Don't do that. This wasn't the first time they've died."
Hearing this, Gwen blinked.
"You kind of have a point."
She calmed down. "On the way, your old pal kept mentioning you. He said you have some kind of special power, right?"
Charlie's face darkened. "Don't mention that."
"All right. So they're dead now. Are you planning to save the world alone?"
"Relax. I have a plan."
Seeing the confidence on Charlie's face, Gwen still felt uneasy.
"That's not right—Peter isn't a competitor. If he dies, he's really dead." She suddenly realized.
Charlie remained as calm as ever. "He's died once before, so don't worry."
"But..."
"Ms. Gwen, Peter probably told you about me. Trust me—I'm an old hand at the Resurrection Match."
Gwen hesitated. "Is that really the case?"
"Of course."
Three days later, Cindy appeared at the house, and Gwen was stripped of all her senses.
Charlie had hidden long before, avoiding collateral damage.
Oddly, this time Cindy didn't abduct Gwen. She simply killed her outright.
In the surveillance feed, Cindy cruelly dismembered Gwen while muttering nonstop:
"Damn you, Gwen! Because of you, I turned into this. I hate you. You die!
Even if it costs me a terrible price, I will completely erase you. I can't wait anymore.
You shouldn't be alive—you damn Spider-Man—!"
Downstairs, in Betty's room, Charlie watched the brutal scene on the monitor and showed a look of disdain.
"She's finished for good this time. No chance to do it while it's hot. What a shame."
In the corner, Betty was bound by rope and webs, her eyes full of shock.
What a pervert this man is!
Very soon, once Cindy finished dealing with Gwen's body, she suddenly looked up at the camera with a sinister smile.
"Exposed?"
Charlie frowned, then leapt out the window without a second thought.
"Whoosh~"
Firing spatial webs, Charlie soared into the sky thousands of meters high.
"That should do it."
The nano-suit insulated him from the fierce cold air, and Charlie comfortably lay in a little hammock of webs.
Then at night, a trail of green flame cut across the sky.
"She's here?"
Sensing the disturbance, Charlie rose and looked at the green fire heading his way.
Green Goblin Cindy!
"Sure enough, she can track my location—annoying."
He fired webs and sped away. But a massive shadow loomed overhead.
"You can't escape, Spider-Man!"
It was a Cindy as large as some ancient deity, spanning the night sky. A hand hundreds of meters wide came smashing down.
"Uh—Mysterio-type Cindy?"
As the giant hand bore down, Charlie froze in mid-air. He knew this must be some kind of Mysterio-like hologram; otherwise, there was no explaining it.
As the shadow descended, Charlie gradually lost consciousness.
Yes, gradually lost consciousness.
His Toxin Resistance had risen by 5%, which prevented him from completely losing his senses right away.
Dimly, he seemed to hear someone say:
"Take him to see Madam."
——
Inside the Cosmic Spider Web, Charlie recalled everything after waking up.
"Madam?"
"There's a clue!"
He gave a slight smile. With a higher Toxin Resistance, this was his only chance.
As long as he could endure it—once he's immune to the gene toxin, he can definitely clear the match!
After losing consciousness, he apparently wasn't killed outright.
But because he couldn't act afterward, he ended up eliminated.
By continually raising Toxin Resistance, he could uncover the biggest secret of this Resurrection Match.
He chose to restart once more.
The seventh Resurrection Match: +6% Gene Toxin Resistance. His hearing improved somewhat.
The eighth Resurrection Match: partial return of his vision.
By the eleventh Resurrection Match, +10% Toxin Resistance. His hearing and vision fully recovered.
With hearing and vision back, Charlie—captured by Cindy—was finally able to catch a glimpse of the hidden crisis behind this world.
Osborn Castle.
In the underground base, he saw what seemed to be the ultimate boss of this Resurrection Match.