Chapter 85: Good Neighbors in New York

Shuttled through laser beams, explosion rain, and floating debris, Moses cheered up and complained: "I feel like we have become the plumber wearing a red hat and overalls to save the princess."

Spider-Man asked: "What is that?"

"The protagonist of a little game that is more interesting than the Rubik's Cube. You will be able to see the first generation in a few decades." The adult Peter replied.

The Green Goblin was forced into the passage.

Shadow Spider-Man went ahead and his web tied to the Green Goblin's body to prevent him from escaping.

Finally, there are only two Spider-Men left here, Iron Man who is fighting against the agency and the Green Goblin, and Kingpin who is running around in the overlapping void to find his target.

Moses said, "We have to shut down the particle collider."

Finally, we have reached the final step.

"No--"

Kingpin roared angrily, and like a wolf he turned around and looked at the enemy who had ruined his plan, and said bitterly, "Don't you dare stop me from reuniting with my family!"

He is just one step away from bringing his surviving wife and children from the parallel world back to his own world!

"You want to trade the lives of millions of New Yorkers for your own happiness?"

"Why not?"

Jin Bing asked back.

"Iron Man! Don't you want your parents to come back to life? We can work together!"

He looked at Moses again and paused suddenly.

"What about you? Is there anything you would like to change?"

——Isn’t the reason superheroes exist to make the world a better place?

Moses said, "I have already done that. You know the difference? I will not sacrifice anyone."

Tony, who was named by him, looked like he was about to explode.

Ignoring the red light flashing inside the armor indicating insufficient energy, he fired two heavy artillery shots to break the connection plate and cut off the corridor where Kingpin was alone. He aimed the palm of his gun at the head of the gang leader: "You hate me."

The third beam of light flew upward through the overlapping buildings.

Jin Bing curled up the corners of his mouth at this moment.

A cruel and beastly light flashed from the corner of his eyes: "You are too arrogant, Iron Man. Even the fear of your own weakness has never overcome this arrogance. Why don't you admit it? You and I have never taken other people seriously, and we are all using external forces to arm ourselves."

He turned sideways, and behind him was a girl from a parallel universe who was oblivious to the danger, sitting on a bench, swinging her legs and playing with a toy in her hand.

"——!"

The universes overlapped with each other, and there was no way to determine whether his attack would interfere with reality. At the critical moment, Tony raised his hands and proactively made the attack miss.

But this cannot save Jin Bing from his defeat. Now he is the one with fewer people, retreating step by step in the encirclement of his opponents. The only bargaining chip in his hand is the girl who he is not sure whether she has a physical body in this space.

"If you go any further, I'll kill her."

Moses' eyes fell on the girl.

"I think she looks familiar." He suddenly said, looking confused, "but I don't remember where I've seen her before?"

The adult Peter whispered behind him, "She looks just like Mary Jane when she was little."

As soon as he finished speaking, the girl behind Jin Bing raised her head and smiled at them.

It felt a bit scary, as if the people on the TV screen suddenly walked out of the virtual world and made a flattering expression to the audience. Kingpin felt the flow of air and turned back in shock, and was shocked to see the red flames sweeping over like a blanket, enveloping everyone unstoppably.

The girl walked to the center of the encirclement with a graceful step that was inconsistent with her age. In the process, her figure gradually lengthened and she turned into a tall, beautiful, strange red-haired woman.

She... or it was Him, this unknown creature looked at Moses thoughtfully and said, "It seems that you really don't know Mary Jane. Interesting."

Tony took a step forward and blocked the strange woman's view of Spider-Man.

Jin Bing's face darkened and he asked cautiously, "Who are you?"

The noise caused by the particle collider disappeared after the flames started, as if they were isolated in another strange space, with only endless darkness and blazing fire all around them.

If it were up to Moses, it would be even better than the colorful punk-style laboratory created by the overlapping of universes.

The woman smiled. "Mephisto. I give you permission to call me by my first name."

"It's him." The system said immediately, "One of the demon lords of Hell."

"…You used 'he'? Does this guy like women's clothing so much?"

"Don't underestimate him. Mephisto's power is at least in the top ten in the universe." The system said seriously, "But don't worry too much. The universe we are in is a very special one. He can stir up trouble in Hell, but he is subject to many restrictions outside of it. Moreover, the Demon Lord always prioritizes satisfying his own pleasure - so be careful to be alert to his verbal traps. Mephisto can capture souls by signing contracts with people."

"Perhaps he was aroused by the recent continuous spatial fluctuations, which is why he ran out of hell."

"I have signed a contract with the Spider-Man of the parallel universe."

When everyone was silent, Mephisto suddenly spoke.

His words were like a bomb dropped on the ground, and even Jin Bing's expression was slightly moved.

The black gang leader asked without hesitation: "What are the benefits of signing a contract with you?"

His tone was as casual as if he was negotiating a contract with a business partner.

However, Mephisto only gave him a disinterested look.

"I can do whatever you want to achieve, gaining immense wealth, acquiring all the knowledge in the world, or even resurrecting the dead."

Kingpin's pupils shrank visibly.

His broad hands, which had always held weapons, trembled slightly, and he asked again, "What are the conditions?"

"If it's you." The devil pretended to think for a moment, "I'll trade you my soul."

Jin Bing's expression was blank for a moment.

Then he gritted his teeth and said with a fake smile: "Thank you, I'll consider it. So what kind of deal did you make with Spider-Man?"

"I helped him resurrect a mortal man in exchange for a piece of love."

Mephisto answered all the questions and, out of some evil interest, took the initiative to help hide Spider-Man's true identity from Kingpin. What he did not say directly was that in order to resurrect Aunt May, Spider-Man in the parallel universe, after negotiating with Mary Jane, extended May's life in exchange for their marriage and love.

Looking at the silent adult Peter and Iron Man, as well as Moses who was thinking about something, the devil said with interest: "I also have a problem. The development of this universe is quite interesting, and even I can't get a glimpse of the whole picture. Moreover, the most interesting person here is you, Spider-Man - the underage one."

"Where on earth are you from?"

Out of caution, Moses did not answer immediately, but first asked the system in his mind: "Can he see the truth about the restart of the universe?"

System: "No, no known existence can do that, unless he can break the dimensional wall."

But isn’t it true that the person who can break through the dimensional wall cannot appear due to copyright issues?

Therefore, the covenant between Moses and the will of the universe will never be leaked.

In this case, even the Demon Lord's thoughts began to deviate - of course, reasoning is based on known information. And when most clues point to parallel universes, it is not surprising that everyone's ideas collide.

In that case, it would be better to just shut up and say nothing.

Jin Bing failed to achieve his goal, so he did not hesitate to add fuel to the fire: "Why don't you answer? Don't you usually talk all the time when you jump around in New York?"

“……” Holy shit, even the gang boss knows about this?

"Keep silent, Fisk, or I'll shut you up." Tony glanced at the energy tank of his armor and asked the demon as calmly as possible: "What is your purpose? Do you need a popcorn bucket or a Coke? If nothing else, we'll continue our fight."

"Of course I have," Mephisto said calmly, "Don't worry about the passage of time. Everything is still in my realm. Then answer me another question, Spider-Man, I am really curious..." His voice was indisputably twisted and vicious, "Before you came to this world, what existence did you make a deal with? Who did you defeat? Who did you save? And what did you sacrifice?"

"If you can't remember, I can help you. How did you feel when you saw your loved one dying on the hospital bed?"

A huge surge of magic power, Mephisto actually played the scene he knew about Aunt May being shot because of a criminal's revenge on Spider-Man in this space. The expressions and movements of the characters in the picture were clearly visible, the elderly woman fell to the ground with her wound covered in disbelief, the hero who had saved countless people was helpless in the face of the death of his loved ones, and the black and red blood formed a small pool on the broken floor.

Malice clung to Moses' back like a snake with bared fangs, and he felt an uncontrollable shudder. But compared to the first time he saw Aunt May lying motionless and with her eyes closed on the hospital bed, this time he was at least mentally prepared and just held his breath in silence.

In the hazy black space, only the slightly rapid breathing of three people could be heard.

The devil threw back his head and laughed.

"Every Spider-Man who comes before me is so interesting." He said sweetly, "One of them has nothing and is desperate, so he has to exchange the last bit of love he has. And you, you are much greedier than him, aren't you? You don't remember Mary, you don't remember Gwen, you don't remember Harry, you don't remember all those who supported you to this day, you only remember May, and she doesn't recognize you, hahahaha! I'm looking forward to our next transaction, Spider-Man!"

He acknowledged the sweetness of the soul before him, just like the snake in the Garden of Eden, spitting out its core waiting for Eve to come, and could not wait to see the day when the fruit would ripen.

The flames began to fade away from their side, and the roar of the particle collider sounded again. Kingpin looked ahead with a look of realization: "Vanessa..." The figure of the woman he loved deeply flashed in the void, and disappeared like a mirage as the flames dissipated.

“Vanessa!!”

He shouted loudly and stretched out his hand towards the woman's back, tears welling up in his eyes again. At this time, neither Iron Man nor Spider-Man was in his consideration.

And his cry was enough to move any human being who was not heartless.

But time can no longer be delayed.

"I don't have anything to give you," said the adult Peter. "You... you did good enough, honestly."

Moses said, "I will remember to make the uniforms one-piece as much as possible in the future."

Peter looked down at his blue pajamas. "Well, it was an accident. But," he scratched his head, looked at Moses and then at Iron Man, "don't listen to the devil's lies. Friendship and love are things we naturally gain and lose as we grow up. I never signed any contract, and I divorced Mary. Oh, no, forget what I just said."

"—Spider-Man can always get back up, right?"

They have continued to move forward fearlessly since Ben Parker left.

Moses smiled beneath his mask, though the adults couldn't see. "Of course."

"And, bye, and thanks for your help," he said.

The last Spider-Man from the parallel universe disappeared in the transmission channel.

Moses jumped to the ceiling and inserted the USB drive into the interface. The collider stopped running immediately, and the chaotic space gradually shrank and became orderly.

They returned to Kingpin's laboratory.

Kingpin knelt on the ground, covering his cheeks, his shoulders shaking.

Iron Man walked over and punched him.

With a loud bang, the gangster boss who dominated the New York underworld passed out without any resistance. Behind him lay Norman Osborn, who had transformed back into a human from the Green Goblin, and a row of Kingpin's subordinates.

"I may need to find some time to research some methods to deal with magic."

After a while, Tony took the initiative to open his mask, jumped out of the armor that had already exhausted its energy, and said, "Do you still have the contact information of the Asian old man last time?"

"I have." Moses thought for a moment and took off his hood, "But are you sure?"

The superhero took off his armor and looked at him deeply.

Then he shrugged: "I was joking, can't you see?"

“…”

"Take off your uniform. We have to get on a plane back to New York."

He quickened his pace and strode out of Kingpin's laboratory, complaining to Moses: "Fisk is a businessman from head to toe. His arrangement of weapons and colliders is so crude that it is unbearable to look at. Give me time, I can be a hundred times better than him."

"Well, yes, I have no doubt about it."

Moses had to trot to keep up with him.

"You too," Tony said without finishing his sentence.

When Jin Bing knelt on the ground and called his wife's name, he was thinking:

According to Mephisto's judgment, the value of a soul is not how they deal with what they have gained, but how they bear the pain of losing. Human existence may be an unanswered plea, but there are always people who struggle against the tide and try their best to grasp the mercy of fate.

Just like Kingpin asked Spider-Man: Have you ever thought about changing anything?

The other party’s answer was: I have been doing it.

He always does.

They always do.

"What?" Moses didn't understand what he meant.

"Nothing," Tony said. "I was just wondering if you were planning on moving into Avengers Tower with Ms. Parker?"