Return and Harvest

"No, if you put me on trial, you'll just see another freak show!" Green Goblin shouted. "I never want to be a plaything for others' amusement again in my life! Never!"

Green Goblin twisted his body, trying to find a way to break free.

—Perhaps this was also related to the fact that the web fluid Peter had just shot didn't fully bind him.

Peter casually shot another strand of web fluid, firmly securing his body to the wall.

"No one can lock me in a cage again!" Green Goblin was furious. His emotions had become extremely unstable, his tragic past constantly encroaching on him, stimulating his nerves.

Peter just watched him.

Although he no longer intended to kill Green Goblin, planning to send him to court to let him fight with those people, get killed by others, and feel pain before dying.

But now, seeing him struggling on the verge of pain, Peter felt a wave of satisfaction.

No, that might be an emotion passed on from Shadow Spider-Man.

Thump!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground came from not far away.

A figure slowly walked towards Green Goblin.

It was Kraven the Hunter, covered in venomous spiders!

He stumbled towards Green Goblin, "Osborn, save me, save me..."

"No, don't come near me, you ugly, deformed monster!" Green Goblin screamed in terror.

But his hands were stuck to the wall by the web fluid, and he couldn't break free for a moment.

And so, Kraven the Hunter, covered in spiders, crashed into Green Goblin's embrace.

The venomous spiders, like a contagion, quickly spread from Kraven the Hunter to Green Goblin's body and mouth, then completely engulfed him.

"Aaaahhh—"

The underground tunnel was filled with desperate screams.

Peter leaped lightly, reaching the ceiling of the underground tunnel.

With his hands and feet stuck to the ceiling, he turned his head to look at the ground.

These spiders, as if they were the vengeful spirits of a newspaper reporter whose codename was "Spider" in life, had finally found their target for revenge, tearing at the flesh of Kraven the Hunter and Green Goblin.

Soon, they were reduced to two skeletons.

After doing all this, the venomous spiders scattered and disappeared into the underground tunnel.

Peter stared blankly at the scene, muttering to himself.

"Did I do the right thing? Just watching him get swallowed by spiders?"

"You're still a boy, aren't you?"

"...Yes."

"A few years ago, when I was still a boy, well, about your age. Uncle Ben took me to see Frankenstein once, and it gave me nightmares. When I woke up, Uncle Ben held me."

"I wanted Uncle Ben to tell me there were no monsters in the world, but Uncle Ben thought I was old enough to understand the 'monsters' of this world. Uncle Ben told me that all he could do was protect me from harm by monsters."

"Monsters? You don't just mean monsters, do you?"

"Yes, sometimes monsters hide in people's hearts, and they might even be more monstrous than monsters. Be careful of people's hearts, Peter."

"Thank you, Peter."

Peter slowly closed his eyes.

After a moment, when he opened them again, his gaze became sharp and dark.

He pondered for a moment, a smile forming on his lips, "I should thank you too, Peter, for facing it with me during my most difficult times."

Then, he cast one last glance at the two skeletons on the ground and nimbly climbed out of the underground tunnel.

He had one last thing to do, to bring a perfect conclusion to all of this.

—

New York, Queens.

Peter opened his eyes and sat up abruptly in bed.

He first felt his body, wearing his own pajamas, and his body had returned to his own relatively "petite" form.

Well, I haven't fully developed yet. In a few more years, I'll be as tall as him.

And more handsome!

Peter encouraged himself.

It was then that he realized his body seemed to have undergone some changes.

It felt like... his spider abilities were more at his command?

Was it because he had personally experienced it on Shadow Spider-Man, who was already fully developed?

Or was it due to some deeper reason?

Peter was deep in thought.

He glanced at the time and realized it was almost six in the morning.

It seemed the time flow between the two worlds was indeed synchronized when he traveled to the Shadow Spider-Man's world.

He had spent nearly three hours there, and three hours had passed here as well!

In a few more hours, the renowned Mr. Iron Man would be visiting his home.

Peter thought about it and decided he wouldn't sleep.

It would be too impolite and leave a bad impression if he were still asleep when Mr. Iron Man arrived.

But wasn't Mr. Iron Man also a capitalist?

Stark Industries was quite a large corporation, wasn't it?

Did he exploit his employees?

Was Stark Industries a sweatshop?

Should he secretly gather some relevant information, just in case—

Peter shook his head fiercely, momentarily speechless.

"Is this a side effect of briefly merging with a private investigator, a brooding Spider-Man? Thankfully, it was only three hours. What if it had been three days, three months, three years..."

However, Peter also realized that setting aside this subconscious reflex of rejecting capitalists, his current situation was likely one of the benefits gained from the fusion.

His ability to observe and analyze things had become stronger. In the past, he was quick-witted, but he had never formally studied this area.

But Shadow Spider-Man, as a private investigator and newspaper reporter, had been well-trained in these skills by Yuri, so Peter had learned a lot.

To give a simple example.

If someone without relevant knowledge saw a shoe, they would only know it was a shoe, perhaps identifying its style as athletic or casual, and its color.

But the current Peter could estimate the owner's height from the shoe's length, deduce the owner's walking posture from the wear patterns on the inner and outer sides, and even infer the owner's approximate profession, preferences, and personality from the shoe's style and color.

Finally, by combining all these factors, he could narrow down the shoe's owner to a certain range, and with further detailed screening, he could find the actual owner!

This ability was undoubtedly a significant improvement for his aspiration to become a superhero.

He had a faint feeling there was more to it, but he hadn't discovered anything else yet. He'd see later!

Peter closed his eyes again and "looked" at the web in his mind. He found that the glowing point representing Shadow Spider-Man on the web was no longer illuminated.

Perhaps he could go there again the next time it lit up!

And these nodes on the web, did they signify that each node was a Spider-Man from a different world?