The Shortcut to Becoming Stronger

The instant that thought surfaced, Gwen felt her worldview suffer an unprecedented, violent shock.

But she had no time to think further, because her father outside the door was still worried about her:

"Are you hurt? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"

George wanted nothing more than to rush in and check on his daughter.

But since she had grown up, and out of respect for her privacy, he restrained himself.

"I-I'm fine! I'll be okay after resting for a bit." Gwen struggled to get down from the ceiling while doing her best to answer her father calmly.

"All right, then. Call me anytime if you need anything."

Listening to her father's footsteps fade away, Gwen finally let out a long breath.

Carefully trying to regain control of her body, she made several attempts before finally overcoming that strange adhesive force.

But that also made her hit the floor with a thud...

She had clearly fallen hard from a height, yet she felt no pain at all.

Clumsily climbing to her feet, Gwen looked at her hands and felt the seemingly inexhaustible new power within her. Her expression was incomparably complicated.

Shock, confusion, fear, and a trace of... uncontrollable excitement.

Her life seemed to have turned onto an entirely unknown path tonight.

At the same time Gwen was outwitting her old man, in another old house in Queens.

Peter had locked himself in his bedroom, waging a grueling battle against himself.

"One... two... three..."

Lying on the floor, he gritted his teeth and laboriously performed Butterfly Wing Push-Ups.

His skinny arms trembled as if high-frequency motors had been installed in them. If not for the Horse Talisman, he would have worried about fanning himself into catching a cold...

"...fourteen... fif... teen..."

After managing barely a dozen horribly improper push-ups, Peter was completely drained. He collapsed spread-eagled across the floor, gulping down air.

Looking at his frail chest, where every rib was clearly visible, Peter felt nothing but despair.

Weak!

Too weak!

His current self was outrageously weak!

The Horse Talisman could instantly heal wounds and illnesses, eliminate the soreness after exercise, and keep his body free from lactic acid buildup and injuries.

But his pathetic physique still dragged down his training efficiency.

Peter was like the protagonist of a Soulslike game with infinite health regeneration but an absurdly tiny stamina bar.

He might not die easily, but after running two steps and swinging his sword twice, he would already be out of stamina and gasping for breath...

As long as he kept at it and found a way to get some Kowloon technology, he could certainly transform from a weak high school student into a muscular beast at a speed far beyond ordinary people. And he would not have to worry about ending up with a pointy head...

But who knew how long that process would take?

A month? Three months? Or half a year?

He could not wait that long!

With Gwen becoming Ghost-Spider, the "gears" of this world had already begun to turn slowly.

Those supervillains lurking in the shadows, each possessing dangerous powers, would soon emerge one after another like sharks that had caught the scent of blood.

Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro...

Just thinking about those names made Peter's scalp tingle.

With his current pathetic physique, even getting grazed by the aftershock of a battle would kill him on the spot.

Even a noble horse could only give a helpless bear shrug when faced with a pile of meat paste...

Relying on training alone to grow stronger was simply too slow!

He had to find a way to gain immense power in a short amount of time!

Only then could his system be brought into play to the fullest, forming a positive snowballing cycle.

At that thought, a genius mind capable of making even "Iron Man" Tony Shit-Stark look at him in a new light began spinning at high speed.

Before long, an idea flashed through his mind!

Peter struggled into a sitting position, a frightening gleam flickering in his eyes.

He thought of the Lizard Serum he had taken in the original sacrificial plotline, as well as the one other Peter Parkers had helped Doctor Connors perfect in the normal Spider-Verse!

Once injected with that stuff, he would gain berserk strength comparable to Spider-Man's, tremendous defense, and near-perverse regenerative abilities in an instant!

Of course, the price would be just as enormous.

He would lose his mind, suffer genetic collapse, and completely turn into a cold-blooded monster that knew only slaughter and destruction!

Under normal circumstances, Peter would absolutely, absolutely, absolutely never touch such an extremely dangerous drug!

But now...

Sorry, but noble horses purge all external forces from their bodies!

The Horse Talisman's power could expel and repair any "abnormal influence" detrimental to its holder!

Whether it was genetic collapse or being controlled by animal instincts, it was all child's play to the Horse Talisman!

As long as he activated the Horse Talisman's power while injecting the serum...

The Horse Talisman would automatically remove every negative factor in the serum that was harmful to him, preserving only its purest and most refined enhancement effects!

That way, the deadly Lizard Serum could transform into the same Super-Soldier Serum used by Captain America!

No!

It would be an even stronger Pro Max version of the Super-Soldier Serum!

At that thought, Peter's heart began pounding uncontrollably.

Without a doubt, this was the optimal solution currently within his reach for rapidly gaining power!

"To obtain the Lizard Serum, I have to help Doctor Connors crack the Decay-Rate Algorithm, just like in the movies of the normal Marvel Universe!"

"And the key to completing the Decay-Rate Algorithm was left behind in my parents' old briefcase!"

With that thought, Peter immediately opened his door. Though still somewhat weak, he rushed downstairs and wolfed down every last bit of the remaining dinner.

After greeting Ben, he headed up to the old attic, which reeked of rot and mildew.

After a long search through the attic, Peter finally dug out that old briefcase.

Inside, the briefcase was densely filled with countless mathematical formulas and biological papers enough to make an ordinary person dizzy.

If Peter had been the Peter from before he transmigrated, even if he had gotten this pile of stuff, he could only have used it as toilet paper that was not especially soft.

But now, with his top-tier genius mind, understanding the contents was no problem at all.

Bringing the briefcase back to his room, Peter began studying by lamplight through the night.

As he turned page after page of his parents' inheritance, which looked like a heavenly book, a system notification suddenly appeared before his eyes when he reached one particular page:

[Detected a sacrificable deep-blue item: Original Decay Rate Algorithm Manuscript]

[Item description: The relic of Peter's parents that he treasured most. It was also the key to helping Curt Connors develop the Lizard Serum, causing Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn to become Green Goblin, and carried important commemorative and plot-driving significance.]

[Sacrifice reward: 3000 points. Sacrifice?]

Holy shit... this was such a steal?!

If Peter had not awakened the memories of his past life, he would never have chosen to sacrifice the manuscript no matter how valuable it was.

But Peter now was clearly different!

He had no attachment whatsoever to the parents he had never met, so he naturally did not care about the manuscript's so-called commemorative value.

Therefore, Peter made his choice without hesitation.

He casually copied down the manuscript's contents, repeatedly confirming that there were no mistakes or omissions, then directly chose to sacrifice it...