Ghostly Shadows, Demonic Traces

Beneath New York's prosperity and clamor, beyond the Earthly dimension protected by the Sanctum Sanctorum, within the infinitely vast and bizarre multiverse, tides of energy surged without rest. Countless stories unfolded at once, and some of them would inevitably intersect with little Earth.

Just as Lin Hai frowned in thought over the mysteries of the Mirror Dimension; Gwen repeatedly practiced every step of the basic spells; Harry carefully divided his time between board meetings and the laboratory; and Peter stayed up late refining the data for his thesis.

Deep within the distant multiverse, an imperceptible ripple was quietly spreading toward their universe.

The source of that ripple was an individual named Tanner, born into an ancient family infamous throughout the multiverse—the Inheritor Family.

The members of this family were like vampires of the cosmos, but what they hunted was not blood, but a deeper, more fundamental power—Totem Power.

They believed that by devouring those chosen by totems, they could seize their power and prolong their family's twisted, lengthy existence.

In a dimension steeped in decay and the scent of hunting, a young Inheritor named Tanner was experiencing a trivial stroke of "good fortune" in his mediocre life.

As one of the weakest, most thin-blooded members of the Inheritor Family, he had long lived on the family's fringes. All he received were scraps, and powerful Spider-Totem Power had never been within his reach. He was like the scrawniest vulture in a flock, always forced to wait until his stronger companions had eaten their fill before daring to pick at the leftovers.

Yet during a routine sensing of the multiversal energy tides, he had, by pure chance, caught a trace of extremely faint but extraordinarily fresh Spider-Totem energy.

It felt like suddenly catching the breeze from a spring field, fragrant with dew,