"A platoon?" Mark was somewhat puzzled. "The security department has gone to the stone tablet site, so what about the outside?"
The security department at this base is roughly equivalent to a reinforced platoon, with 50 personnel.
They work in three shifts, rotating and overlapping, with approximately 30 people in each shift.
If they directly dispatch a platoon to the stone tablet site, it's evident that there won't be enough personnel at the entrance, which is unreasonable.
Landry rolled his eyes at him. "Have you become dumb? Of course, it's people sent over by higher-ups overnight, not their team."
"I see," Mark nodded thoughtfully.
Infiltration is one of Spider-Man's core skills.
Although he might not be considered a highly qualified Spider-Man yet (especially in terms of experience; if we talk about his achievements, like saving the Miles' world, Mark is already more than qualified), he has received training from the Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham.
He has some experience in sneaking into heavily guarded areas amidst numerous enemies.
However, Mark still hesitates about whether he should really go and take a look.
If he gets exposed, it would become big news.
It might not cause a huge stir in society, but internally, it would be highly regarded.
By that time, with the power of todays tech, his true identity being exposed would only be a matter of time.
"It's a shame. If only I had the same heat-isolating invisibility ability as Miles," Mark couldn't help but envy the young spider.
Miles' abilities are definitely tailored for being a spy.
"By the way, Landry, you have some wild connections. Can you find out when I can return to work?" Mark asked.
After considering for a moment, he decided to find a way back to the research institute first and try to locate the spider that bit him initially.
If he can't find it, he can only take the risk and investigate the suspicious stone tablet.
Landry shook his head. "I can't help you with that. Although the most important thing is the stone tablet, on the surface, Martian soil is the most valuable, especially the soil that was dug up from underground. You caused some contamination by dropping it on the ground, and it's already fortunate that you weren't fired on the spot. Dr. Harper also faced tremendous pressure to keep you."
"Really?" Mark slightly furrowed his brows.
"Yep," Landry shrugged, "Why are you so passionate about your work and so interested in Martian soil?"
Mark can't tell him the truth, so he can only sigh and say, "This is a project I've been following since my first day at the research institute!"
"Well, there's nothing you can do. You're definitely stuck in this fourteen-day confinement," Landry said, pointing upwards. "After all, it's not just our people who are keeping an eye on this matter, there are others as well."
After speaking, Landry finished his meal and put down his utensils. "You, just stay obediently in your room. Isn't watching movies and reading novels there enjoyable?"
After finishing their meal, Mark and Landry parted ways at the entrance of the living area.
In truth, Landry had been quite busy these past few days.
Because there were quite a few soil samples sent back from Mars, and they came from various locations – plains, deserts, hills, the surface, and underground. And there weren't many soil science researchers to handle all of it.
If Landry wasn't concerned about his good friend being too affected, he might have had his lunch over at the research institute.
Meanwhile, Mark returned to his room in the accommodation area.
During his confinement, he couldn't accompany the procurement convoy leaving the base, nor could he go to the research institute. He was restricted to moving between the accommodation area and the living area.
After closing and locking the door, Mark focused his gaze on his laptop.
At the same time, his mind once again recalled the question Landry brought up when he came to see him:
Why did he return to his world exactly at the moment when the movie ended?
Was it just a coincidence?
Or did it have some mysterious connection?
With these thoughts in mind, Mark lifted the laptop lid, and on the screen was still the paused frame from the movie.
He picked up the mouse and dragged the progress bar back to the very beginning, deciding to start from scratch and watch the movie again to see what the "original plot" without his involvement would be like.
Two hours later.
As he watched the subtitles slowly ascend on the screen, the ending theme song resonated in his ears.
Mark fell into contemplation.
The good news was that he hadn't been recorded into the movie because of his transportation, even though this was a pre-downloaded offline movie.
This indicates that this movie, this computer, none of them have a direct connection to Mark's time travel.
He truly transported over to the world of Miles Morales, not within this movie.
The bad news is that this way, he won't be able to effectively verify the time difference between the two worlds.
He can't even confirm the rate of time flow between the two worlds.
This will directly lead to a problem – what if he travels to another world next time and comes back to find that a long time has passed here?
Moreover,
"Although the final ending is more or less the same, with the Spider-Men returning to their respective worlds and Kingpin also facing justice, the 'plot' has deviated greatly due to my influence."
Firstly, Miles Morales' uncle, The Prowler, didn't die, making Miles Morales one of the relatively rare who has his uncle. Hell, he even has parents who are alive and kicking.
This should have been a good thing.
But this also exposed Miles Morales' identity, and someone with ill intentions could potentially discover his true identity through his uncle.
Mark is uncertain if Miles' future will undergo significant changes.
Secondly, in the original plot, Kingpin didn't die; he was only defeated by Miles Morales and handed over to the police.
After that, Fisk would continue to cause trouble.
However, due to Mark's interference, Kingpin was directly "taken care of," putting an end to his villainous deeds once and for all.
This would also affect Miles' growth.
After all, he lost an early-game boss!
Moreover, the bond between Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy was also altered.
In the movie, Miles Morales and Gwen had mutual feelings due to certain circumstances. But in reality, Gwen hadn't fallen for Miles Morales, and instead, they formed a different kind of bond.
"So, did I just mess with Miles' love life?" Mark's expression turned somewhat strange. "No, no, Miles and Gwen never had a future together because neither of them has the ability to travel through time and space. But I'm different."
Mark found a suitable excuse for himself.
After finishing his research, the end credits of the movie also rolled to a close.
Mark clicked the cross, closed the movie, and then looked at the folders on the screen, hesitating slightly.
Among the folders, aside from the "Spider-Man 1" that he had accidentally deleted before, there were several other movies. They were the Tobey Maguire trilogy "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3," the Andrew Garfield "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," and also the Tom Holland versions "Homecoming," "Far From Home," and "No Way Home."
Though, he still had another way of verification.
°°°
A/N: New week new chapter. Bless me with your stones.
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