Otto Regains Consciousness

Li Nian carried Peter home on his back. When Aunt May opened the door and saw Peter covered in injuries, she couldn't help covering her mouth, her eyes full of heartache.

"What happened? How did Peter..." Aunt May looked at Peter anxiously and quickly stepped aside to let Li Nian in.

"It's nothing serious. He just tumbled down some stairs." Li Nian casually made up a lie and carried Peter back to his room.

"How do you feel?" Li Nian looked at the exhausted Peter and helped him onto the bed to rest. With Spider-Man's physique, he wasn't that fragile. In the original movie, he stopped a train in the afternoon, rested that night, and fought Otto again. His physical condition was simply ridiculous.

"My arms don't even feel like mine anymore. They're like stretched-out noodles." Peter lay on the bed with a bitter smile. He could already raise his hands, but he still felt weak, light and floaty, as if they didn't exist.

"A man can't go soft," Li Nian teased. A faint yellow glow flickered across his otherwise bare forehead. "Get better soon. We've got something big to do in the middle of the night!"

"What is it?"

"I found Otto's laboratory."

"Huh?!" Peter was startled. "How did you know?"

"During the day, while Otto wasn't paying attention, I threw a tracker onto him. Right when he tossed me under that car." Li Nian said softly, "People lose their reason when they're angry. Otto is a smart guy. If I got close to him, he'd notice me right away. Only by angering him..."

"...could you make him lose his awareness of his surroundings." Peter said softly. He sat up and stared intently at Li Nian's face.

"I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"If we defeat Otto... what will you do?" Peter looked at Li Nian nervously. "I mean... how will you deal with him?"

"Of course..." Li Nian looked at Peter's unbearably tense face and curled his lips into a faint smile. "He's committed crimes, and people nearly lost their lives because of him. I think I should capture him and send him to prison..."

"But if he's truly beyond saving, then I think I'll personally help him find peace and let him reunite with his wife as soon as possible."

Li Nian's words made Peter's heart tremble. Honestly, he didn't want anyone to die, much less die in front of him.

Peter still remembered the way Norman Osborn had died before his eyes, his gaze filled with disbelief and panic, along with that trace of regret hidden deep in his heart. Peter knew very well that it was a father's regret toward his son, not remorse for his evil deeds.

Otto's circumstances were so similar to Norman's. Peter wanted to save him, but he had no ability to do so. Like a sailboat caught in raging winds and waves, surrounded by nothing but a pitch-black sky, howling gales, and sharks from the endless deep sea staring at him with the stench of blood and rot spilling from their mouths...

"Peter, you're a kind child, but kindness has to be directed at the right people. Don't waste useless kindness on an evil man." Li Nian looked at Peter with a serious expression. Kindness was a common flaw among every Peter Parker in every universe. In Li Nian's universe, Peter had even lost his last remaining family because of it!

Li Nian didn't want that tragedy to happen to this Peter too. "Sometimes, for justice and greater causes, we have to sacrifice the lesser self, give up the things we cherish, even our dreams..."

"Peter, what a hero needs isn't excess kindness, but the determination to save others."

Li Nian had said everything he needed to say. Whether Peter could understand it was up to him.

The atmosphere between them sank once more, leaving only the quiet air and the sound of their chests rising and falling.

Otto looked at the enormous device before him, his expression feverish and excited, as though he were looking upon a god, burning with passion.

The device before him was Otto's lifelong dream—a nuclear fusion energy device!

He had poured everything into this bottomless pit: all his money, time, wisdom, even...

Otto felt tears welling in his eyes. His dream was finally about to come true. He wanted everyone in New York to see the results of his experiment, to see that he was not some crazed evil scientist. He was the smartest man in the world, a man who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Albert Einstein!

"I will succeed in the end!" Otto had completely fallen into madness. His mind was consumed by the success before him, utterly ignoring the disastrous consequences that nuclear fusion could bring. Everyone in New York could be buried with it!

"Dr. Otto!"

Hearing the shout, Otto turned around in surprise, only to see Peter and Li Nian standing calmly behind him, staring at him with stern expressions.

Otto flew into a rage. His experiment was at its most critical moment. He couldn't let these two insects destroy everything!

"Can you handle him alone?" Li Nian asked Peter quietly.

"I think so. He's lost one claw." Peter answered. "You go stop that device!"

The two split up. Peter lunged straight at Otto, and the two began grappling in the water, locked in a chaotic fight.

Having lost one claw, Otto's strength had dropped sharply. Even at his best, it was difficult for him to defeat a Spider-Man going all out, and even with all sorts of weapons, it would have been unlikely. Now that he was fighting with a damaged body, his chances of victory were even lower. It was like a newly grown boy waving a broken blade at a strong man.

Even though Peter hadn't fully recovered, he could still easily overpower Dr. Otto. Before long, he gained the upper hand and pressed Otto into a beating.

"Dr. Otto! Wake up!" Peter pinned Otto's head down and shouted angrily. "Your experiment will kill many innocent people! It has to stop!"

"Impossible!" Otto's three remaining claws seized Peter viciously, flung him into the air, and smashed him heavily to one side.

The blow left Peter dizzy and disoriented, unable to react for a moment. Dr. Otto took the opportunity to rush toward the device to stop Li Nian.

Li Nian was still figuring out how to destroy the thing. Should he throw it into the river like in the original story, or something else? He thought the simplest method was to understand how the device worked and then shut it down.

While Li Nian was thinking, he suddenly felt something grab his waist. His vision blurred, and then he felt himself being thrown into the air.

Otto angrily pressed Li Nian's head into the water with his octopus claws, trying to suffocate him to death.

But he didn't know that the flamboyantly dressed guy before him didn't need to breathe.

I knew it... Li Nian sighed helplessly. Just as expected, Peter couldn't bring himself to be ruthless toward Otto because of his kindness.

Li Nian decided to stop playing with Otto and end the fight quickly.

Li Nian directly changed his body's density. The tentacles that had been tightly locking him down suddenly grabbed nothing but air. Otto's face was filled with shock and confusion. He had clearly caught him, so how had he escaped?

But Li Nian wasn't going to give him time to resolve that confusion. He shot out from the bottom of the water, clamped both hands tightly around Otto's head, and the Mind Stone on his forehead instantly unleashed its power. Golden light erupted and shone directly onto Otto's head.

Yes, Li Nian had never intended to kill Dr. Otto from the start. Those earlier words had only been meant to scare a child. Dr. Otto was still a good man at heart; it was merely the mechanical tentacles controlling him, deepening his obsession and making him increasingly extreme and irritable.

At that moment, Li Nian intended to use the Mind Stone's power to clear away Otto's chaotic, disordered thoughts, like a 360 cleanup removing junk, and turn him back into his former self.

"Ah!" Dr. Otto let out a scream. His brain felt like a lump of paste being violently stirred, though the pain was only temporary.

A moment later, Dr. Otto sat slumped in place with vacant eyes.

Peter finally came back to his senses. Looking at the blank-faced Otto, then at Li Nian, he too stood there blankly, not knowing what to say.

Li Nian was also a little stunned. Had he used too much force and turned Otto into an idiot?

"Peter?"

A puzzled greeting pulled Peter back to reality.