Chapter 117: The Fall of the Avengers, The Prophet of Doom
Peter handed the receiver back to Officer Martha and asked her to use the intercom to tell everyone in the precinct to go home immediately, gather their families, and evacuate New York.
It was the only thing Peter could do to help these ordinary people.
Officer Martha still looked thoroughly confused. She had overheard Peter's conversation with Nick Fury, and although she hadn't understood all of it, she could tell that New York City was no longer safe.
So she immediately followed Peter's instructions and broadcast a warning throughout the precinct.
The moment the announcement went out, chaos began to spread through the police station.
Only a small number of people believed the warning. Most ignored it and continued with their work and daily routines.
After carrying out Peter's request, Officer Martha packed up her things as quickly as she could and left the front desk.
Before leaving, she gave Peter a grateful look, then sprinted out through the precinct's front doors.
Peter sighed quietly to himself.
If he could save even one person, then at least that was one life saved.
Damn this Marvel Zombies Universe...
Before long, Peter heard the hum of engines outside.
The Quinjet had arrived.
Peter turned to Quicksilver beside him.
"Let's go. Time to meet Nick Fury."
At the same time, another S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet had already been dispatched to the home of this universe's Peter Parker to pick up Aunt May, Gwen, Mary Jane, and the others and take them to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier for safety.
That was part of Peter's agreement with Nick Fury.
When Peter and Quicksilver boarded the Quinjet, they discovered that it was already packed with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Superheroes.
Peter and Quicksilver were the final two passengers.
The moment they stepped aboard, the engines surged to maximum power. The heavy Quinjet lifted off and accelerated to full speed as quickly as possible.
Whoosh!
The Quinjet activated its Invisibility mode and streaked across the skies above New York City like a phantom.
Then, without warning, something changed.
BOOM!
A deafening roar erupted from below and to the left of the Quinjet.
An incredibly violent Shockwave followed almost immediately.
Even the Quinjet's automatic stabilization system couldn't fully withstand the impact.
The packed cabin began shaking violently.
Fortunately, everyone aboard was either a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or a Superhero, so no one panicked because of the turbulence.
Still, a grim expression appeared on every face. They all knew that something terrifying was unfolding in New York City.
What none of them could have imagined was that this crisis was an unprecedented, world-ending catastrophe.
Through the Quinjet's window, Peter saw a terrifying surge of energy repeatedly erupting from the heart of Manhattan.
It had to be the massive energy explosion caused by the first group of Superheroes fighting the Zombie Sentry.
A golden figure flickered in and out of sight amid the explosions and flames.
It was the Zombie Sentry!
Soon, the Quinjet left New York behind and climbed deep into the clouds.
And within that vast sea of clouds hovered the enormous S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where many people were already waiting for Peter's arrival.
...
Five minutes earlier, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City.
The Quinjet that had departed from Stark Tower slowly descended onto the lawn of Central Park.
Colonel America was the first to step out, his Vibranium shield secured to his left arm.
In this Marvel Zombies Universe, Steve Rogers held the rank of colonel rather than the captain rank of the classic Captain America, which was why he was known as Colonel America.
Colonel America looked over the groups of New Yorkers gathered around the edge of Central Park to watch the excitement. He gave them a friendly wave and urged them to keep their distance.
At the same time, Colonel America flashed his trademark bright smile, showing all eight teeth as he posed for photos with the New Yorkers.
Hawkeye came out next, wearing his purple skintight suit with his bow slung across his back.
Luke Cage, the Power Man, simply jumped out of the Quinjet. He landed with a heavy thud, as though his entire body had been forged from steel.
Ms. Marvel flipped through the air and flew directly over everyone's heads.
Black Widow was the last to land, touching down without a sound like a lazy black cat.
"So what's this 'red flash' people reported seeing?"
Hawkeye looked up at the sky.
"I thought the forecast said it was supposed to be sunny today."
"Maybe some Mutant just awakened their powers and can't control them yet."
Luke Cage rolled his neck.
"Last time in Harlem, some kid froze every car on an entire street just because he had an argument with his girlfriend."
Ms. Marvel hovered in midair, shading her eyes with one hand as she looked toward the depths of the park.
"Stark told us to come check things out first. He's tied up and couldn't make it. Want me to fly ahead and take a look?"
Colonel America didn't join in their banter.
Because only a few seconds after they arrived, a staggering figure appeared deep inside the park and began walking toward them.
The man wore a golden skintight suit, with a large, unusual belt around his waist bearing an S symbol and a dark blue cape hanging from his shoulders.
His entire outfit gleamed under the sunlight.
It was the Zombie Sentry!
"Maybe some deranged cosplay enthusiast?"
Hawkeye nocked an arrow and drew his bow, aiming toward the figure.
"Though that makeup is a little too convincing."
Colonel America gripped his Vibranium shield.
He could now see the Zombie Sentry's face clearly.
It was a horrifying face covered in dried blood.
The collar of his golden skintight suit had been soaked through with blood, turning the fabric an unsettling dark brown.
The Zombie Sentry's lips curled back to reveal a mouthful of uneven fangs, each one gleaming coldly beneath the sunlight.
What disturbed Colonel America even more was the look in the Zombie Sentry's eyes.
There wasn't a trace of normal emotion in them.
Only an almost pathological hunger.
No makeup could produce something like that.
And this was definitely no cosplay enthusiast.
"Stop right there!"
Colonel America stepped forward, raising his shield in front of him.
"Whoever you are, put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees! This is your final warning!"
The Zombie Sentry stopped.
He tilted his head toward Colonel America and repeated the same words in a hoarse, broken voice.
"So hungry... delicious meat... so hungry... meat..."
Luke Cage's relaxed expression disappeared.
Ms. Marvel descended from the air as an aura of energy appeared around her body.
Black Widow drew both pistols and released the safeties.
Colonel America took a deep breath and charged first.
His body streaked across the lawn in a blur of red and dark blue.
He moved so quickly that Hawkeye's arrow hadn't even left the bowstring before he reached the Zombie Sentry.
Bang!
Colonel America slammed his Vibranium shield into the Zombie Sentry's throat.
It felt as though he had struck a solid wall of Vibranium.
The Zombie Sentry didn't move an inch.
But the instant the Zombie Sentry struck the Vibranium shield with a backhanded punch, the shield gave off an ominous sound.
It sounded like metal tearing.
Colonel America's eyes widened.
It felt as though a nuclear missile had just struck him.
His body was forced backward uncontrollably, his feet carving two deep trenches through the lawn.
Only after being driven back more than ten meters did he finally manage to stop himself.
He stared at the Vibranium shield in disbelief.
A clearly visible crack ran through nearly two-thirds of it.
The Zombie Sentry didn't pursue Colonel America because Luke Cage stepped in to cover him.
Luke Cage unleashed a furious barrage of punches at the Zombie Sentry.
They didn't do the slightest bit of damage.
Not even a single hair on the Zombie Sentry's head was disturbed.
Instead, the Zombie Sentry brought one palm down on the top of Luke Cage's head.
Buzz!
Blood immediately seeped from Luke Cage's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
His entire body was driven straight into the ground like an iron nail, leaving only his head above the surface.
Even Luke Cage's bulletproof skull was visibly dented by that single blow.
In the span of a single breath, the Zombie Sentry had already overwhelmed two Avengers.
Ms. Marvel brought her hands together and gathered all of her energy into her palms.
With a roar, she compressed every bit of energy in her body to its absolute limit, then released it all at once.
The energy explosion lit up all of Central Park as brightly as daylight.
The Shockwave spread in every direction. The lawn was torn apart, tree trunks snapped in half, and several cars near the edge of the park were sent tumbling by the blast.
The Zombie Sentry stood at the very center of the explosion without moving.
The massive energy blast that had struck the Quinjet Peter was riding in had clearly come from Ms. Marvel's attack.
When the light finally faded, Ms. Marvel was kneeling on the ground, her entire body trembling as blood continued to trickle from the corner of her mouth.
That attack had pushed her energy output to its absolute limit, and the backlash had injured her own body.
The Zombie Sentry merely looked down at his chest.
There was a small tear in his golden skintight suit, with the edges of the fabric blackened and curled from the heat.
That was all.
"So hungry..."
The Zombie Sentry tilted his head toward Ms. Marvel, who was kneeling in front of him, then opened his mouth full of fangs.
When he took the first bite, Ms. Marvel let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Then came Colonel America, Hawkeye, and Luke Cage.
Black Widow was last. Her dual pistols couldn't even scratch the Zombie Sentry's skin.
The Zombie Sentry was strangely selective. He only took a single bite from each target, so none of the Avengers suffered serious physical injuries.
Under normal circumstances, that would have been good news.
Here, it was anything but.
The transformation happened faster than anyone could have imagined.
The Transdimensional Zombie Virus surged through the Superheroes' blood.
This terrifying virus ignored the differences between dimensions and transformed every living creature equally.
Ms. Marvel was the first to rise again.
Her energy aura still flickered around her, but there was no expression on her face.
There was only pure hunger, stripped of all reason.
Luke Cage rose next, followed by Black Widow, Hawkeye, and finally Colonel America.
Colonel America picked up his Vibranium shield, now broken into two pieces, and charged toward the curious civilians watching from a distance like a starving wolf lunging at its prey.
The saying that curiosity killed the cat became horribly literal in that moment.
"Meat. I need meat."
Zombie Colonel America raised his head, blood pouring from his mouth.
In the eyes that had once watched over every citizen of New York City, not a trace of humanity remained.
Central Park had become a hunting ground.
Screams echoed across the lawn one after another.
The Zombie Sentry, however, never joined the slaughter.
He simply stood where he was, head tilted slightly as his hollow eyes surveyed the chaos around him.
Then he slowly turned and began walking toward the more crowded parts of the city.
...
On the deck of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Peter and Quicksilver stepped out of the Quinjet.
Looking at the familiar surroundings only made Peter's heart feel heavier.
He had temporarily saved Quicksilver, preventing the zombie crisis from spreading across the entire world in an extremely short time as it had in the original story.
But that only treated the symptom, not the cause.
As long as the Zombie Sentry remained, the zombie crisis could never truly be stopped.
Peter's arrival was like pressing the slow-motion button on an apocalyptic movie.
The ending was still approaching, and nothing had truly changed yet.
Peter looked around and confirmed that this S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier wasn't much different from the one in his own universe.
Waiting for Peter and Quicksilver was a one-eyed, middle-aged white man with short white hair, dressed in a black-and-white combat suit and biting down on a cigar.
Nick Fury's gaze settled on the obviously high-tech steel suit Peter was wearing before he gave a slight nod.
A single glance at that suit was enough to erase the last trace of doubt in Nick Fury's mind.
Only a Spider-Man from another universe could possibly be wearing a steel suit like that.
"Hello, Spider-Man Peter Parker. Or perhaps I should call you..."
"The Prophet of Doom?"
Nick Fury extended his hand toward Peter.
Peter took it, and the two exchanged a firm handshake.
Just then, another Quinjet roared down onto the deck.
Aunt May was the first to step out, her graying hair blown into disarray by the high-altitude winds.
Mary Jane followed close behind, supporting Aunt May by the arm.
Gwen walked beside Mary Jane, scanning the agents bustling across the deck.
A deep trace of worry lingered in her bright blue eyes.
As a police captain's daughter, Gwen had clearly sensed that something terrible was happening.
After the three of them stepped off the Quinjet, they immediately began asking the nearby agents where Peter Parker was.
Both Peter and Nick Fury sighed when they saw this.
Because only the two of them knew that this universe's Spider-Man, Peter Parker, had probably already become a zombie.
"Don't worry. I'll keep them safe. Now, let's head inside and talk about what comes next."
Nick Fury gave Peter his solemn promise.
...
Chapter 118: Reed, You with Those Thick Eyebrows, You're Actually a Traitor?
Peter and Nick Fury were just about to head to the conference room when an agent's voice suddenly came through Fury's communicator.
"Director, a small unidentified flying object is approaching at high speed."
Nick Fury frowned. An unidentified flying object showing up at a critical moment like this, and moving that fast, was hardly good news.
Before he could respond, however, Peter spoke from beside him.
"Don't worry. That's my Spider-Cycle."
Spider-Cycle?
Spider-Man had a motorcycle?
And it could fly?
That was a little ridiculous, even by superhero standards.
Out of gratitude to Peter for bringing Quicksilver safely aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Nick Fury eventually nodded and gave orders to let the unidentified aircraft through.
Soon, the Spider-Cycle landed on the deck in autonomous mode.
Nick Fury watched the entire process as Peter's Spider-Cycle demonstrated its flawless self-driving capabilities.
When the silver-gray, futuristic vehicle came to a smooth stop on the deck, Fury's curiosity only grew stronger.
He turned toward Peter.
"You're completely different from the Peter Parker I know. Tony would probably get along with you pretty well."
Peter didn't deny it.
"Director Fury, everyone has their secrets. Spider-Man is no exception. What would you say if I told you that, in my universe, you're a bald black man?"
Nick Fury's brow furrowed even deeper.
"My God. I swear, if I were bald, I'd make Tony develop a hair-regrowth formula for me."
The two exchanged a glance, using the small joke to ease some of the oppressive tension brought on by the approaching apocalypse.
...
At that moment, Superheroes had gathered in small groups inside the central conference room of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Tony Stark leaned against the left side of the conference table, irritably fiddling with his phone. His foul mood was obvious to everyone.
Thor, the God of Thunder, stood beside a window with his arms crossed, saying nothing.
Most of the Avengers were unable to attend this crucial meeting concerning the survival of humanity.
Many other famous Superheroes were present as well, including Nova, Ultron, Vision, Daredevil, Moon Knight, the Fantastic Four, and others.
Nick Fury had summoned them here on short notice. Although they didn't yet know just how serious the situation had become, everyone had heard enough rumors to know that something was terribly wrong.
Colonel America, Ms. Marvel, Luke Cage, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.
None of them could be contacted by any means.
Some said another major incident on the scale of a Skrull invasion might be unfolding. Others claimed the situation was even worse.
A heavy sense of impending disaster hung over the conference room. Hushed conversations rose and fell without pause.
Suddenly, the doors to the central conference room opened.
Nick Fury walked in.
The murmuring stopped instantly, and every eye turned toward him.
Compared to the Black version of Director Fury found in certain universes, this classic white Nick Fury clearly commanded greater prestige and authority among the Superheroes.
The way everyone fell silent the instant he entered made that obvious.
But the second figure who followed Nick Fury into the room immediately drew confused looks from everyone present.
He looked like Spider-Man, but instead of the familiar red-and-blue suit, he wore an extremely advanced steel suit.
Gold and red armor plates covered his entire body. Four mechanical spider claws were folded against his back, while his lenses glowed with a cold white light.
This was definitely not the red-and-blue suit Peter Parker normally wore.
Several people instinctively looked toward Tony Stark, wondering whether he had built Spider-Man a brand-new high-tech suit.
Tony Stark stared at Peter for a full three seconds before firmly shaking his head.
"I didn't build that, although whoever did made a pretty good suit."
His confusion shifted into suspicion as he noticed the differences in Peter's build.
"And that's not the Spider-Man I know. The shoulders are wrong, and the height's a little off too. Who exactly is this guy?"
Nick Fury cleared his throat.
The room, which had begun growing noisy again, immediately fell silent.
He gestured toward Peter beside him and introduced him in a calm, authoritative voice.
"This Spider-Man is not the Spider-Man you know. In fact, he comes from another Multiverse."
"He came here to help us survive this crisis, and thanks to his warning, we managed to prevent the Zombie Virus from spreading on a massive scale."
The first half of that statement didn't cause much of a stir.
Dimensional travel happened often enough in this universe. At least three people in the room had personally experienced Parallel Universes before.
But Nick Fury's second statement was another matter entirely.
A Zombie Virus?!
The phrase hit the room like a boulder dropped into still water, instantly sending waves of alarm through everyone present.
"Fury, what's this about a Zombie Virus?"
Tony Stark reacted first, obvious agitation entering his voice.
"What do you mean, a Zombie Virus? Are you saying Steve and the others have all been infected?"
There was something close to panic in his voice.
Tony had originally been scheduled to join the mission himself, but a last-minute technical failure had forced him to remain at Stark Tower, so he had sent Captain America and the others ahead to investigate.
That tiny coincidence had spared him from being turned into a zombie by the Zombie Sentry.
But the price was that the old friends he knew so well had now become monsters more terrifying than Demons.
Grief flickered in Nick Fury's eye as he slowly nodded.
At that moment, every Superhero in the room froze.
None of them had ever imagined that Captain America, once the very symbol of what a Superhero should be, would become one of the first victims.
It was too cruel to accept.
Superheroes were used to defeating Supervillains. The villains would spend a few days in prison, escape, and then everyone would fight all over again.
It was the familiar cycle of Superheroes winning and Supervillains going back to prison.
But what had happened today was completely different.
Captain America himself had been turned into a zombie.
Tony Stark abruptly stood up, and his Iron Man faceplate snapped down over his face.
"I'm going to New York right now."
His voice was low and resolute.
"I'm bringing Steve and the others back."
Nick Fury's hand shot to his waist. In one smooth motion, he drew his pistol, chambered a round, and aimed it directly at Tony Stark.
The entire conference room went dead still.
Everyone instinctively held their breath.
Fury kept the gun raised, his arm perfectly steady. There was no unnecessary emotion on his face, only absolute calm.
"From this moment on, no one leaves this place without my permission."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried unquestionable resolve.
"I know you want to save people, but I can't afford to lose any more of you."
"There is one piece of good news. S.H.I.E.L.D. has obtained a biological sample of the Zombie Virus, and research will begin immediately. If everything goes well, we may be able to develop an antidote."
Nick Fury's words immediately lifted the spirits of the Superheroes in the room.
It suddenly seemed as though there might still be hope.
If an antidote could be developed, perhaps even the Superheroes infected by the Zombie Virus could be restored to normal.
Peter's expression, however, remained calm.
He knew that the Transdimensional Zombie Virus was completely incurable.
There was no such thing as an antidote.
Even beings as powerful as Silver Surfer and the Devourer of Worlds would become zombies once infected.
To Peter, this incurable Transdimensional Zombie Virus was like a cancer of the Multiverse.
There was only one truly effective way to deal with it.
Abandon any universe infected by the Transdimensional Zombie Virus, just as cancerous tissue would be surgically removed from a body.
But Peter chose not to reveal that cruel truth yet.
The Superheroes were already close to breaking down. They had only just found a glimmer of hope.
Peter couldn't be the one to immediately take that hope away from them, even if it was false.
Nick Fury then gathered the scientists among the Superheroes and assigned them to study the biological sample of the Zombie Virus.
The researchers selected were the Mutant Beast, Mister Fantastic Reed, and Tony Stark.
The remaining Superheroes were ordered to stay on standby and wait for Nick Fury's next instructions.
...
Inside Nick Fury's office, Peter and Fury were in the middle of a heated argument.
"Why can't we send people into New York to rescue survivors?"
Nick Fury demanded a reasonable explanation.
Peter sighed, picked up a fountain pen from the desk, unscrewed it, and dripped some ink into a glass of clear water.
The clear water immediately turned cloudy black.
"Any Superhero who enters New York will only become food for the zombie heroes, then add to their numbers. It's just like this glass of water. No matter how much clean water you pour in, you won't make it clear again."
Nick Fury stared at the glass for several seconds before finally nodding helplessly.
"All right. We'll do it your way. I'll send people to evacuate as many residents from the surrounding towns as possible, then activate the Wandering Space Plan and save as many people as we can."
The so-called Wandering Space Plan was another strategy Peter had devised using his knowledge of how events were supposed to unfold.
By using Tony Stark's intelligence and expertise, they would build a device capable of Dimensional Teleportation in the shortest possible time.
Then they would transfer as many humans as possible into other safe dimensions before destroying the Dimensional Teleportation device.
That would completely seal off this universe, effectively shutting Pandora's box once again.
"How's Mr. Stark doing? He should have reached some conclusions from his research on the virus sample by now, right?"
Peter had barely mentioned Tony Stark when a knock sounded at the office door.
The door opened, and Tony Stark walked in.
He looked utterly dejected, like a balloon that had been completely deflated. None of his usual confidence or arrogance remained.
"Just like this Spider-Man said, the virus is incurable. It mutates at an absurd rate. Anything designed to target specific genetic markers is completely useless."
"And I discovered something else. Organisms infected by this virus seem to undergo some kind of evolution. They never get tired, their cells never age, and their cellular activity is over a thousand times greater than that of normal humans!"
"Compared to them... I feel like we're the primitive ones who got left behind by evolution."
Peter nodded, then looked at Nick Fury.
"See? I told you. Mister Fantastic came to the same conclusion. The difference is that unlike Mr. Stark, Mister Fantastic believed this was a gift from God to humanity. So he willingly accepted the Zombie Virus and betrayed humanity."
Nick Fury and Tony Stark both sucked in a sharp breath.
"Are your predictions really that accurate? Reed is actually going to betray us? Betray humanity?"
Disbelief filled Nick Fury's single eye.
He simply couldn't believe that Peter was saying Mister Fantastic Reed would betray humanity.
Peter, however, nodded without hesitation.
"Mister Fantastic will trick the rest of the Fantastic Four into consuming food and water containing the Zombie Virus, turning them into zombies. Then the Fantastic Four... no, the Fantastic Four Zombies will infect every hero aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and turn this entire place into a zombie paradise."
What Peter described was exactly what was originally supposed to happen.
But now that he was here, there was no chance he would allow those events to play out the same way.
"My God! I knew Reed was crazy. That guy's brain doesn't work like a normal person's."
Tony Stark angrily punched at the air.
"Understood. I'll warn Susan and the others right now. Whatever happens, we have to stop Reed."
Relief flashed in Nick Fury's eye.
According to Peter, if events had really unfolded that way, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier would have fallen almost instantly, and no one would have escaped.
Fortunately, Peter's warning gave them a chance to prevent the worst possible outcome.
"I'm staying out of the Mister Fantastic situation. I have something much more important to do next. I'm going back to New York to find a book."
Peter looked toward the distant horizon, as though he could already see the smoke rising over New York City.
A book?
Nick Fury and Tony Stark both stared at him in surprise.
They hadn't expected Peter to risk returning to New York City for the sake of a single book.
What kind of book could possibly be worth that kind of danger?
"What book do you need? S.H.I.E.L.D. has one of the most comprehensive collections in the world. Whatever book you're looking for, we can find it."
Nick Fury tried to convince Peter not to take the risk.
Peter's role as a prophet was far too important in this apocalypse.
Calling him humanity's prophet would hardly be an exaggeration.
Anyone else could afford to fall.
The prophet could not.
"A book with a soul. A book that can speak. A book containing endless Dark Magic."
The moment Peter said that, Tony Stark's expression became extremely strange.
"I remember Strange mentioning that he keeps a forbidden grimoire at his residence... the Darkhold. Don't tell me that's the book you're looking for?"
Chapter 119: The Darkhold, With Wanda
Inside Mister Fantastic Reed's laboratory aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the atmosphere was unnervingly quiet.
Invisible Woman, The Thing, and Human Torch stood in a corner of the laboratory.
They watched Mister Fantastic Reed from behind as he stood at the center of the room.
He was bent over with both hands braced on either side of a high-powered microscope.
The lens was focused on a zombie biological sample collected from downtown New York City.
"Perfect."
Reed finally spoke. There was no fear in his voice, only excitement and delight.
"Cellular telomeres that never limit themselves and can divide indefinitely. These infected individuals no longer have to face aging or death."
"That is the most fundamental flaw of the human species, the shackles of death engraved into the deepest part of our genes. But now, we finally have a way to break those shackles."
He straightened, removed his goggles, set them on the lab bench, and turned to face the three of them.
"Nick Fury calls this a disaster, but he isn't a scientist. He doesn't understand what this represents. This isn't a disaster. It's the beginning of a new era for humanity. We need to learn to embrace evolution instead of rejecting it."
Invisible Woman Susan stared at her fiancé. A faint shimmer from an invisible force field appeared around her arms.
A complicated, wary expression crossed The Thing's orange, rock-covered face.
A low rumble came from deep in his throat, like the sound of a volcano about to erupt.
"Reed, what the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?"
Even Human Torch had lost his usual carefree attitude.
"Yeah. If this counts as evolution, then what does that make us? Unevolved monkeys?"
"Yes!"
Reed gestured excitedly with both hands. Light flashed across his glasses, completely obscuring his eyes.
"Steve Rogers now possesses greater strength than he did before, faster reflexes, and most importantly, immortality. Compared to him, we really are monkeys!"
Susan stared at him as though she were looking at a complete stranger.
"So you think Steve is better off now? What about our child? What about the child who was bitten to death by She-Hulk?"
Reed didn't answer.
He merely lowered his head and glanced at his watch.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, like a schemer watching his plan fall into place.
"It should be about time. You should be starting to transform by now."
Several seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Susan remained where she was, the invisible force field flowing steadily around her body.
In fact, Susan wasn't the only one protected. The invisible force field also surrounded The Thing and Human Torch.
For the first time, Reed frowned.
He looked at Susan, genuine confusion in his voice.
"Susan, do you feel anything unusual? Dizziness, nausea, an elevated heart rate?"
Susan stared at Reed, anger and heartbreak mingling in her voice.
"I activated the invisible force field the moment you tried to cut our skin with a Zombie Virus-contaminated blade while shaking our hands."
"Nick Fury warned us beforehand that you would exploit our trust to infect us with the Zombie Virus."
Reed's pupils contracted sharply behind his glasses.
The smile vanished from his face, replaced for an instant by panic.
Then he quickly composed himself and put on the innocent expression of someone who had been unfairly accused.
"Don't believe Nick Fury. He's trying to turn you against me. He wants to use you to bring me down..."
"Then how do you explain the blade in your hand?"
Human Torch opened his palm, revealing a thin cut across the invisible force field.
"Don't tell me you just forgot to put away a scalpel after finishing your experiment."
The Thing slowly advanced toward Reed, his hands curling into fists. His rocky knuckles scraped together with a grinding sound.
"Admit it. You wanted to turn us into zombies, into what you call evolved humans."
"You didn't just betray us. You betrayed all of humanity."
Reed kept backing away, his forehead already covered in cold sweat.
"It's not what you think. I was trying to protect you. Humanity is going to be eliminated sooner or later. I only wanted to give you immortality before that happened..."
He was cut off before he could finish.
The laboratory doors opened.
Nick Fury walked in, followed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents carrying specialized containment equipment.
The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't slow down. He walked straight up to Reed.
His single eye looked down at him.
"Mr. Reed Richards, S.H.I.E.L.D. is placing you under arrest on suspicion of attempted murder by poisoning. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say may be used against you in court."
Reed spun around and lunged toward the zombie biological sample on the lab bench.
His arms stretched forward like rubber. All he needed to do was touch the sample in the petri dish, and he could become infected.
But before his hands reached it, his entire body froze in midair.
Susan extended her right hand, fingers spread wide. An invisible force field wrapped around Reed's entire body.
His elongated arms and twisted fingers were all suspended motionless in the air.
The Thing stepped forward and grabbed Reed by the shoulders with one massive orange stone hand.
Then he tightened his grip and compressed Reed's entire body into a ball.
Mister Fantastic's rubber-like body could indeed be squeezed into a ball, but doing so required tremendous strength.
Fortunately, strength was The Thing's greatest asset.
The Thing stared down at Reed's eyes between his fingers and growled,
"You traitor to humanity. I'll never forgive you."
Two agents pushed a specially designed containment pod forward.
Mister Fantastic's superpower allowed him to stretch his body at will, meaning he could escape through the gaps of almost any ordinary prison cell.
That was why a specialized containment pod was necessary.
Before long, Reed was sealed inside.
He would probably be spending a very long time in there.
Tony Stark stood nearby and watched the containment process finish.
He shook his head and let out a complicated sigh.
"That guy's predictions have been one hundred percent accurate so far. It's seriously unsettling. It's like he's already seen the ending of this movie, while the rest of us are just characters in it."
Nick Fury nodded, his single eye turning toward Manhattan beyond the window.
"That's exactly why I didn't want him taking this risk, but I couldn't talk him out of it. All we can do now is pray our human prophet doesn't run into trouble while returning to New York, and that he makes it back safely with the Darkhold."
Tony Stark patted his old friend on the shoulder.
"Relax. You sent Wanda along to protect him, didn't you? With Wanda's power, there aren't many zombie heroes who could threaten her."
"Let's hope so..."
...
By the time Peter returned to downtown New York City, the heart of the city had fallen completely silent.
Smoke slowly rose from ruins scattered throughout Manhattan.
The buildings lining both sides of the streets had long since been abandoned. Countless wrecked cars lay across intersections, blocking the roads entirely.
The acrid stench of burned tires hung in the air.
Peter hovered above an intersection on his Spider-Cycle.
His gaze swept the surrounding area as he searched for hidden zombies.
The good news was that he couldn't see a single zombie.
The bad news was that he couldn't see a single living person either.
Peter knew what that meant.
Most of the ordinary people had probably already been infected and turned into zombies.
By now, the ordinary zombies without special abilities had already begun spreading toward the suburbs.
Along with their immortal bodies, they had retained almost all of their intelligence.
Driven by overwhelming hunger, they would instinctively move toward the more densely populated suburbs and nearby cities.
As a result, downtown New York City was actually relatively safe for the moment.
That was exactly why Peter had dared to return now and search for the Darkhold.
Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, floated beside Peter in her dark red battle suit.
Chaos Magic flickered faintly around her body.
The chaotic masses of energy seemed to drift through the air around her, giving her an intensely mysterious presence.
"In only half a day, this world has changed beyond recognition."
The Scarlet Witch spoke softly, but on the deathly silent street, Peter could hear every word clearly.
"This used to be one of the busiest cities on the planet. Now it looks completely dead."
The Scarlet Witch continued looking over the ruins, but Peter said nothing.
He understood her grief.
After all, this was a place where she had once lived.
If something like this happened to his own world, Peter knew he would feel exactly the same way.
A few seconds later, the Scarlet Witch tore her gaze away from the ruins and turned toward Peter.
"Thank you."
Her voice was solemn.
"Thank you for saving my brother. Pietro can be impulsive sometimes. If you hadn't found him first, he might already be a zombie. He's the only family I have left in this world. I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose him."
Peter waved a hand.
"It was nothing. Don't worry about it."
Their conversation ended there.
Peter checked their direction, then guided the Spider-Cycle forward.
But just as the Spider-Cycle silently passed over another block, Peter's ears twitched.
He raised a hand to signal Wanda to stop, then flipped off the Spider-Cycle and landed on the roof of an overturned truck.
The high-tech lenses in his Iron Mask locked onto several figures engaged in a fierce battle at a distant street corner.
One side was a combat squad using firearms.
Peter gave them a quick look and immediately recognized two familiar figures among them.
The monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone and the Punisher, Frank Castle.
Their opponents were a group of zombies dressed in all kinds of clothing, but all of them were very young.
They looked no older than fifteen or sixteen. Some were even wearing school jackets.
After becoming zombies, these teenagers possessed strength and speed far beyond those of ordinary adults, and quite a few of them had special abilities.
Clearly, they were the children of Superheroes or Supervillains.
Peter and Wanda exchanged a glance.
Neither hesitated.
They attacked at the same time.
Crimson energy surged from Wanda's hands and wrapped around a zombie in midair just as it was about to bite into the back of a squad member's neck.
At the same time, Peter dove from the roof of the truck.
Webs latched onto the ankles of two other zombies. Peter crossed the strands and yanked hard, hurling both zombies into a convenience store.
Elsa Bloodstone blew a zombie's head apart with a double-barreled shotgun, then turned toward Peter and Wanda.
"Thanks, Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch."
As someone who also operated on the Superhero side, Elsa Bloodstone had no trouble recognizing two such famous Superheroes.
"What are you doing here?"
Peter asked with a frown.
Bloodstone rested the double-barreled shotgun over her shoulder.
"What does it look like? Hunting zombies. The more of them we clear out, the safer this city becomes."
"That's not a great idea. I can give you S.H.I.E.L.D.'s contact information. A lot of Superheroes have gathered aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. You can join them."
Peter tried to persuade Elsa Bloodstone and the Punisher to reconsider.
Unfortunately, both of them had wills harder than steel.
Once they decided on something, nobody could stop them.
Especially the Punisher.
"No thanks. We're not used to crowded places."
Elsa Bloodstone and the Punisher gave almost identical answers.
Peter could only nod helplessly.
It wasn't like he could knock them unconscious and carry them back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Peter then asked them for the location of Doctor Strange's residence.
Just as the two groups, each with completely different goals, were about to part ways, the Punisher suddenly gave Peter a warning.
"Watch out for the mutated ones. They're extremely cunning. I saw Mystique transform into the Scarlet Witch, trick people into coming over to rescue her, then bite through their throats the moment they got close."
Wanda's expression immediately became somewhat awkward.
Peter assured him they would be careful, then said goodbye to the Punisher.
The two continued toward Doctor Strange's residence and soon arrived at 177A Bleecker Street.
It was an old building steeped in history and one of the three Sanctums Sanctorum in the world.
Strangely, however, the front door of such an important place had been left slightly ajar.
Wanda signaled for Peter to stay back.
She raised one hand and made a pushing motion.
Chaos Magic surged forward and pushed the door fully open.
After making sure there didn't seem to be anything wrong inside, the two entered side by side.
But the moment they stepped into the first-floor hall of the Sanctum Sanctorum, a figure dressed in yellow suddenly fell from upstairs.
Peter immediately fired a web to cushion the man's fall, then recognized him.
It was Doctor Strange's assistant, Wong.
Wong was deathly pale and gasping for breath, as though someone had been attacking him.
The instant he saw Peter and Wanda, Wong shouted,
"It's Dr. Druid! He's gone insane! The moment he saw me, he tried to eat me!"
As Wong's voice echoed through the hall, a sorcerer who had already become a zombie came flying toward them at high speed, a dark green orb of magic forming in his hand.
Chapter 120: Doctor Doom and Magneto
Doctor Druid was a middle-aged sorcerer with a receding hairline.
His abilities were essentially those of a weaker version of Doctor Strange.
However, since Doctor Druid had appeared long before Doctor Strange, he could be considered the prototype on which Doctor Strange was based.
Doctor Strange, who would later become far more popular, was essentially a further enhanced version of the concept behind Doctor Druid.
So Doctor Druid was by no means weak. In fact, he was quite powerful. Otherwise, he could never have left Wong in such a sorry state.
If Peter and Wanda hadn't arrived in time, Wong would probably have already become Doctor Druid's meal.
Doctor Druid flew toward them, his eyes rolled white and his lips pulled back to reveal a mouthful of fangs.
A dark green orb of magical energy had formed in his left hand, originally intended for Wong.
But the instant he saw Peter and Wanda, Doctor Druid changed targets and hurled the orb at the two newcomers instead.
In Doctor Druid's eyes, a beautiful woman like Wanda looked far more appetizing than an old man like Wong.
As for Spider-Man, Doctor Druid didn't mind saving him for later.
In his mind, he had already begun treating the Sanctum Sanctorum as his personal pantry.
He was even considering how to use magic to create a refrigerated storage room.
"Be careful! Doctor Druid's magic is corrosive!"
Wong warned them immediately, afraid that the two people who had come to rescue him might be injured by the unusual magic.
Peter chose to play it safe and fired two strands of web at the magical orb to disrupt it.
Sure enough, just as Wong had warned, the instant the webs touched the magical orb, they dissolved into wisps of smoke.
The dark green magical orb possessed terrifying corrosive power capable of eating through almost anything. Even Vibranium and Adamantium would be severely countered by this kind of corrosive magic.
Unfortunately for Doctor Druid, Wanda, who had arrived at the Sanctum Sanctorum with Peter, happened to be the perfect counter to this particular type of magic.
When it came to unusual forms of magic, nothing in the entire Multiverse was more extraordinary than Chaos Magic.
The defining feature of Chaos Magic could be summed up in a single phrase.
What Wanda imagined could become reality.
If Wanda wished, she could erase Black Bolt's mouth and make it seem as though he had been born without one. She could even reshape reality into a world where Mutants did not exist, forcing the entire planet to play along with the life she imagined for herself.
Of course, the Wanda of this Multiverse clearly did not possess Chaos Magic at that level.
But neutralizing a small magical orb was still effortless for her.
Wanda controlled a mass of Chaos Magic and sent it colliding with the dark green magical orb.
The orb instantly burst and vanished like a bubble under sunlight.
Doctor Druid froze for a moment.
In all his years as a sorcerer, he had never seen anything so strange.
"Come down."
Wanda spoke softly.
The instant those words left her mouth, Doctor Druid felt his flight magic fail.
His entire body crashed heavily to the floor.
A barrage of webs followed immediately, wrapping him into a ball and leaving him unable to cast any more harmful spells.
Wong, however, apparently still wasn't satisfied.
He took a magical artifact known as the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak from the nearby wall, the same strange artifact that had once restrained Kaecilius in the Doctor Strange movie.
The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak resembled an ancient straitjacket.
In Wong's hands, they sprang forward as though alive.
They wrapped around Doctor Druid's limbs and torso, instantly tightening and pinning him firmly in place.
Unless Wong deliberately released the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, Doctor Druid would be unable to escape the magical restraints even after a thousand or ten thousand years.
"Finally dealt with that lunatic."
Wong wiped the cold sweat from his face and thanked Peter and Wanda.
Peter waved it off.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm wearing my training robe today. Its protection is pretty decent."
Peter relaxed slightly after hearing that.
The last thing he wanted was to save Wong only to have to fight him immediately afterward.
"Take me to the library. I need to find a book."
Peter didn't waste time and directly stated why he had come to the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Wong was somewhat puzzled, but he couldn't exactly refuse a request from the person who had just saved his life.
He turned and began leading Peter and Wanda onward.
Before long, the three of them entered the Sanctum Sanctorum's library.
Magic was born from wisdom, and books were the medium through which wisdom was preserved.
That made the library one of the most important places in the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Without Wong guiding them, getting inside would have been far more difficult.
The moment Peter stepped into the Sanctum Sanctorum's library, his pace unconsciously slowed.
The library felt like an entirely different world from the ruined streets outside.
Flames flickered in the fireplace.
Towering bookshelves stood arranged in orderly rows, and the air carried the scent of some mixture of magical spices.
Peter suddenly felt every muscle in his body relax on its own.
An invisible field of tranquil energy enveloped the entire space, as though all the noise and chaos of the outside world had been completely shut out.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
Wanda stood beside Peter. The Chaos Magic surrounding her had automatically withdrawn the moment she entered the library.
"This is the magical field of the Sanctum Sanctorum. For thousands of years, every Sorcerer Supreme has stored magical tomes here. The magic within those books has intertwined over time, creating a natural magical barrier."
Wong nodded slightly, a trace of pride in his voice.
"Reading magical texts here can increase the efficiency of learning magic to more than one and a half times the normal rate."
He turned toward Peter.
"But you're not here to study magic, are you?"
Peter looked across the seemingly endless shelves of books.
"I'm here for the Darkhold."
The Darkhold was also known as the Book of the Dead.
It contained spells capable of summoning the dead without any restriction on quantity or quality.
If used properly, it could instantly create a powerful undead army capable of sweeping away nearly any enemy.
There were already very few methods on this planet capable of confronting zombie heroes head-on.
This was one of the most effective.
If Nick Fury knew what the book was truly capable of, even he would have approved of Peter taking this risk.
But Wong's expression changed the instant he heard the name [Darkhold].
He took half a step back, his entire body tensing instinctively.
"No."
His tone was firm.
"The Darkhold is a forbidden text that the Sorcerer Supreme has explicitly prohibited anyone from touching. No one, not even me, has the authority to read it."
"The Sorcerer Supreme?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Peter's mouth.
"Then where is Stephen Strange right now?"
Wong fell silent.
"He isn't in this dimension, is he?"
Peter didn't wait for an answer.
"What is the Sorcerer Supreme's responsibility? To protect this dimension and prevent invasion by the Dark Dimensions and other extradimensional forces."
Wong's lips moved, but no words came out.
"The Zombie Virus can cross dimensions. It came from another universe and transforms living beings in a way that completely violates the natural laws of this universe. It spreads faster than any known plague."
"It fits the definition of an extradimensional invasion perfectly. If you insist on clinging to taboos and rules while allowing this world to be completely consumed by the Zombie Virus, that would be the greatest possible betrayal of the Sorcerer Supreme's duty."
Peter's voice gradually returned to a calm tone.
"So the choice is yours. Whether you help me find the Darkhold is up to you."
Wong remained silent for a long while.
The firewood in the fireplace crackled softly.
His brows drew tightly together, his inner conflict obvious.
Finally, he spoke with the resignation of someone who had been backed into a corner.
"I honestly can't find a reason to argue with you. If the Sorcerer Supreme punishes me for this later, then I'll accept it."
He turned and walked toward an inconspicuous corner deep inside the library.
The space between the shelves on either side was barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.
The highest shelves were packed with ancient scrolls covered in dust.
Wong stopped in front of one particular shelf and reached toward the place he remembered.
His hand closed on empty air.
There was nothing there but an empty space.
The Darkhold was gone.
"That's not right."
Wong frowned deeply.
"I checked the indexing spells for the entire library just last month. It was still here then. Someone took the Darkhold!"
He muttered to himself, then turned toward another book nearby.
The book was dark red from cover to cover, and a yawning human face was clearly visible on its front.
The moment the face opened its eyes and saw Wong glaring at it, its mouth immediately began mocking him.
"Mr. Librarian, wasting your life in here again? Last time I saw you, you still had hair. Now there isn't a single strand left. Hahaha!"
Wong punched the face on the cover.
Thud!
The face yelped in pain and finally fell silent.
"The Book of Blood."
Wong introduced it to Peter with a blank expression.
"It contains ancient spells related to Vampires. It isn't as powerful as the Darkhold, but it's still an extremely dangerous dark tome. It should know what happened to the other books stored in this section."
He grabbed the edge of the Book of Blood's cover and yanked it from the shelf.
"Who took the Darkhold? Tell me."
"I don't know!"
The face on the Book of Blood rolled its eyes.
"And even if I did, I wouldn't tell some librarian. You're not worthy..."
A hand suddenly reached past Wong and took the Book of Blood.
Peter held the book, glanced down at it, then turned toward the fireplace.
The Book of Blood immediately began struggling in his grip.
"Wait... What are you doing? What are you doing?!"
Fear appeared on the human face covering the book.
Peter walked up to the fireplace and, without hesitation, tossed the Book of Blood straight into the flames.
"No, no, no! I'll tell you! Damn librarian, stop him!"
The Book of Blood's voice rose from fear into a scream.
The face on its cover twisted in the flames, looking as though it were seconds away from turning to ash.
Whoosh!
Peter fired a strand of web and pulled the Book of Blood out of the fireplace.
Behind him, Wong stared in stunned silence.
His lips moved several times, but in the end, he swallowed the words, "You shouldn't damage the Sanctum Sanctorum's books."
He had already seen how this Spider-Man operated.
Peter was far more decisive and direct than the Spider-Man of this universe.
But Wong had to admit that his approach was extremely effective.
The Book of Blood quickly revealed where the Darkhold had gone.
Apparently, the Darkhold had already been taken to Latveria.
As for who had taken it or why, the Book of Blood had nothing more to say.
Fortunately, Peter wasn't particularly interested in either question.
Peter returned the Book of Blood to Wong, then activated his communicator.
The device quickly connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Nick Fury's projection appeared before them.
When he saw Peter standing there unharmed, Fury visibly relaxed.
"Director Fury, things just got a little more complicated. It looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to have to deal with Doctor Doom."
Nick Fury's eye widened again almost immediately.
Doctor Doom?
Doctor Doom's real name was Victor von Doom, the ruler of Latveria, a small nation in Eastern Europe.
Although he possessed no innate special abilities, he had taught himself cutting-edge scientific knowledge and extraordinarily powerful magic.
The armor he built could rival Iron Man's, while his magical abilities were strong enough to contend with Doctor Strange.
In Nick Fury's mind, Doctor Doom ranked as the greatest threat in the world aside from the current Zombie Virus crisis.
"Why do we need to deal with him?"
"For some unknown reason, the Darkhold has ended up in Doctor Doom's hands. I need to get it back."
Peter spread his hands and shrugged.
He wasn't exactly thrilled about it either.
Nick Fury hesitated for half a minute before finally deciding to put old grudges aside in the face of a world-ending crisis.
"Understood. I'll contact Doctor Doom and send a Quinjet to pick you up shortly."
"No need. I think we have a more convenient way to travel."
Peter turned toward Wong.
Wong could only nod.
Peter had saved his life, so he was going to do everything he could to repay him.
But at that moment, Wong's expression suddenly changed.
"A magical alarm just went off. Someone seems to be fighting outside."
Wong cast a spell, projecting the scene outside the Sanctum Sanctorum into the air with magical energy.
A ruined street appeared within the projection.
A fierce battle was taking place there.
A middle-aged man wearing a metal helmet, a dark red battle suit, and a deep purple cape was fighting against a group of zombie heroes.
Peter's gaze locked onto the man hovering atop a sheet of metal, controlling countless pieces of metal and using them to drive the zombie heroes back.
It was him?
Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr!
...
Chapter 121: The Earth Alliance, Arriving at Doomsday Castle
Greenwich Street, in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum, had once been a quiet cultural district.
Now, however, every door and window in the townhouses lining both sides of the street had been shattered, while the wreckage of several overturned cars lay scattered across the road.
The trees along the street had all been snapped in half by some unknown force, leaving jagged, uneven breaks in their trunks.
And amid these ruins, a completely one-sided battle was raging.
Magneto hovered above the very center of the street.
His dark, brooding eyes held a strange mixture of anger and sorrow.
His iconic metal helmet was still firmly secured on his head.
But its surface was now covered in all kinds of damage.
Some marks were dried bloodstains, some were dents, and others were cuts left by sharp weapons.
Clearly, without that helmet, forged from a special metal with super durability and the ability to block psychic attacks, even someone as powerful as Magneto would already be dead.
And that was one of the reasons for Magneto's fury.
His breathing had grown noticeably rapid and labored, his chest heaving far more heavily than normal.
The bulging veins on his arms and the cold sweat covering his face made it obvious that he had already been fighting a grueling battle for quite some time.
Like a beast driven into a corner, Magneto desperately pushed his power to its absolute limit.
With a roar, he spread his arms as wide as possible, all ten fingers moving as though they were tugging on invisible threads.
Dozens of metal fragments torn from wrecked cars and ruined buildings rose around him.
In the next instant, every piece began spinning at tremendous speed in time with the movements of his fingers.
They formed an impenetrable metal storm!
The targets of the metal storm were the dozen or so powerful Mutants surrounding Magneto.
Magneto knew every single one of them.
After all, only half a day earlier, he had personally led them here.
Sabretooth charged at the very front. The savage face that had once struck fear into countless people had now turned an ashen gray.
Beneath his peeled-back lips, two rows of fangs looked even more vicious than they had in life, every tooth stained with blood from some unknown victim.
The White Queen stood atop an overturned truck, her diamond-hardened skin reflecting a cold gleam beneath the sunlight.
But her once-beautiful eyes now held nothing but a hollow, ghastly whiteness.
She opened her mouth and let out a broken cry.
"Hungry!!!"
There were also Toad, Porcupine, Riptide, and more than a dozen other Mutants.
Every one of them had been personally recruited and trained by Magneto, trusted members of the Brotherhood whom he had regarded as the future core strength of Mutantkind.
They had fought side by side countless times.
And now, they were surrounding their own leader, trying to devour Magneto!
The metal storm Magneto unleashed sent the zombie mutants flying, tore through their bodies, and pinned them to the asphalt.
But the Zombie Virus had granted them something close to immortality.
Every time they were knocked down, they would crawl back to their feet within seconds.
No matter how badly mangled their bodies became, as long as they had not lost their arms or legs, their movements were barely affected.
Magneto, on the other hand, was steadily exhausting himself under the prolonged assault.
That was the greatest difference between zombies and humans.
Yet just as the battle reached its fiercest point, the doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum silently opened a crack.
Peter and Wanda appeared behind them.
Peter turned to look at Wanda. Her gaze had remained fixed on Magneto the entire time, and the expression on her face was complicated.
There was sympathy in it, but also hostility.
Magneto was the adoptive father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, yet he had used their powers to oppose the X-Men.
Eventually, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver turned away from that path. One joined the Avengers, while the other joined the X-Men.
It was precisely because of this unusually complicated relationship that Scarlet Witch still harbored some resistance and hostility toward Magneto.
Magneto should never have been in a human city to begin with. He and the members of the Brotherhood of Mutants had most likely come here to stop the Zombie Virus from spreading.
"He's never cared about humans. I never thought I'd see him risking his life for them."
Scarlet Witch murmured as she watched Magneto.
"The Zombie Virus doesn't care whether you're a Mutant or an ordinary human."
Peter turned his gaze toward the battlefield as well.
"On its menu, every living creature is the same. That's why we have to step in."
"No matter what Magneto has done in the past, today he chose to stand on humanity's side. On this planet, the distinction between Superheroes and Villains doesn't matter anymore. There are only two kinds of people left now, the living and the dead."
Wanda remained silent for a few seconds, but Peter's words finally persuaded her.
Crimson Chaos Magic flared from her fingertips once more.
"You're right. Let's do it!"
Wong shoved the doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum open, then quickly stepped back.
"Let me make one thing clear. I'm just a custodian, not a combatant."
As he spoke, he picked up a Vatu wand.
"But if you need someone to help keep the situation under control, I can give it a try."
"Thanks, Wong."
Peter rushed past Wong, thanking him on the way.
In the next instant, Peter was already darting through the ruins at high speed.
His Spider-Sense gave him an enormous advantage in a chaotic melee like this.
Sabretooth's claws, Toad's long tongue, Riptide's gale-force blasts. Every attack was detected in advance.
Then, with [Bullet Time] activated, Peter evaded each one perfectly with the smallest possible movement.
And in the brief openings between dodges, he launched precise counterattacks.
Peter's spider-webs wove a deadly net across the battlefield.
Every shot of webbing accurately trapped another zombie Mutant within it.
As time passed, the web grew denser and heavier.
Soon, the zombie mutants were completely unable to break free.
Wanda's Chaos Magic spread across the battlefield, the crimson magical energy moving like a living creature.
It automatically coiled around every enemy within Wanda's sight, then annihilated their brain cells outright. Their heads appeared intact from the outside, but not a single brain cell remained within.
Only the White Queen's diamond shell could offer even slight resistance to the corrosive power of the Chaos Magic.
Both women possessed psychic power far beyond that of ordinary people. Their battle was not flashy in the slightest, but it was exceptionally dangerous.
Although Wong was a non-combatant, the wand in his hand had the remarkable ability to extend.
Once extended, it reached an astonishing length. With every swing, Wong could wrap it around a zombie Mutant's legs and slam them to the ground with a thud.
After the three of them joined the fight, Magneto finally gained a precious chance to catch his breath.
He stepped back half a pace and switched from controlling metal over a wide area to launching precise strikes.
A fire hydrant beside the road was ripped out by the roots and smashed straight through Toad's head.
Across the street, his magnetism seized control of a kitchenware store. Countless table knives, kitchen knives, and forks flew out.
Like an overwhelming torrent of steel, they pierced Sabretooth and Porcupine through the eye sockets with pinpoint accuracy, drove straight into their brains, and began spinning violently.
The battle lasted nearly ten minutes.
By the end, the number of zombie mutants had reached thirty-six.
In addition to the dozen or so zombie mutants who had been there from the beginning, another group had appeared later. They were members of the Brotherhood of Mutants who had come as reinforcements, only to be turned into zombies themselves.
More than thirty zombie corpses lay scattered across the street.
Every single one had been killed in a way that ensured complete destruction of the brain.
Magneto stood amid the bodies of the fallen Mutants.
Slowly, he removed his metal helmet and observed a moment of silence for his brothers and loved ones.
Then he raised his right hand, and metal fragments gathered between his fingers, forming a sharp metal spear.
"Are you Spider-Man?"
The metal spear hovered above his palm, its point aimed directly at Peter's chest.
"I saw you a few hours ago, Spider-Man. Or rather... I saw the thing that used to be Spider-Man, tearing into flesh on the streets of Brooklyn."
"Mr. Lehnsherr, what you saw was only one of countless Spider-Men."
Peter raised a hand to stop Wanda from stepping forward to explain.
Then he fired a strand of webbing, wrapping it around the metal spear floating above Magneto's palm.
"I come from another Multiverse. I'm here to stop the Zombie Virus from spreading. I've already teamed up with Nick Fury. Interested in joining us?"
Magneto stared silently at Peter for a long time.
The metal spear remained suspended in midair.
Finally, the magnetic force holding it together vanished, and the metal fragments rained onto the ground with a crisp clatter.
"Multiverse... Don't tell me you're about to say those damn Zombie Viruses came from the Multiverse too."
"Congratulations, you got it right. No prize, though."
Peter continued waiting for Magneto's answer.
Magneto did not respond directly to his invitation.
Instead, his gaze moved past Peter and settled on Wanda.
It lingered there for several seconds before he looked away.
He said none of the things a father and daughter might normally say to one another. He simply gave a slight nod and spoke in an unusually calm voice.
"Wanda, you're stronger than you used to be."
Wanda merely nodded as the crimson glow of her Chaos Magic slowly faded.
"So are you, Father."
Peter quickly changed the subject before the atmosphere could grow any more awkward.
"I'm heading to Latveria next to speak with Doctor Doom about the Darkhold. Before that, I'm formally inviting you to join this war. Not as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., but as a member of the Earth Alliance."
"In this universe, anyone who can still fight, whether they used to be Superheroes, Mutants, or Villains, has the right to stand together as long as they're willing to help stop this zombie crisis."
Magneto clasped both hands behind his back, his customary pride returning.
"The Earth Alliance. An alliance shared by humans and mutants."
He repeated the name once, then nodded.
"I accept."
"Welcome to the alliance, Mr. Lehnsherr."
Peter and Magneto clasped hands, marking the formation of their temporary alliance.
Securing Magneto's cooperation was an unexpected bonus.
Magneto's powers were perfectly suited for large-scale warfare.
If unleashed at a critical point, they could become a decisive force capable of turning the entire battle around.
That was exactly why Peter had made such an effort to bring him on board.
From the very beginning, Peter had been preparing for a large-scale war against the Zombie Heroes.
There was no avoiding it.
So before the war fully erupted, the more trump cards he had, the better!
Just then, Peter's communicator sounded.
Nick Fury's voice came through, carrying his usual calmness.
"Spider-Man, I've got some good news. I've made contact with Doctor Doom. He's agreed to let you come to Doomsday Castle and meet with him."
"As for how S.H.I.E.L.D. and Latveria handle their relationship afterward, that'll depend on how this meeting goes."
Nick Fury paused.
"How are things on your end? The connection's been cutting in and out. I heard fighting in the background."
"Just finished dealing with thirty-six zombie mutants, and..."
Peter held the communicator up in front of Magneto so that Nick Fury could clearly see his face.
"Take a look at our newest ally."
Magneto raised his chin slightly toward the communicator.
He was hardly unfamiliar with the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, the two of them could practically be called old acquaintances.
Silence stretched across the connection for a full five seconds before Fury spoke again, clear resignation in his voice.
"Spider-Man, are you sure bringing this guy into the fold is a good idea? I'd rather not have this whole thing collapse from the inside."
"Don't worry."
Peter glanced at Magneto.
"Mr. Lehnsherr lost many members of the Brotherhood of Mutants trying to stop the Zombie Virus from spreading. That alone is enough to prove his resolve."
Fury took a deep breath and ultimately accepted Peter's decision.
"All right. Given our current situation, letting Magneto join us isn't the worst thing that could happen. Get moving to Latveria. I've sent you the coordinates. We're running out of time."
"Understood. We're leaving now!"
Peter put away the communicator and gestured to Wong that it was time to move.
Wong nodded in understanding.
He took out a map and carefully confirmed the geographical location of Doomsday Castle.
The castle stood in the heart of Latveria.
Dense forests and mountains surrounded it.
Doctor Doom had personally established both technological and magical defenses around the castle.
Any uninvited intruder would be identified by its defense systems and immediately eliminated.
"Coordinates confirmed."
Wong put away the map and raised his left hand. The Mystic Ring on his fingers lit up with golden sparks.
His right hand slowly traced a circle through the air.
The sparks spread outward from the center, gradually stabilizing into a rotating Portal surrounded by golden light.
Beyond the Portal's glowing veil lay a quiet stretch of grassland.
In the distance stood an enormous, ancient castle.
Its dark gray stone walls towered into the clouds, while the sharp spires of its Gothic towers pierced the sky.
It was Doomsday Castle!
At the same moment, in a room deep within Doomsday Castle, Doctor Doom, Victor von Doom, slowly raised his head.