Doctor Strange's face gradually showed surprise.
Before this, while he knew of the existence of "dimensions" and had some knowledge related to "multiverses" and "parallel worlds," he had never considered these questions from the standpoint of the entire multiverse.
As Mark had mentioned, in his view, each parallel universe was an independent entity. These villains from different parallel universes had simply arrived here by chance. So his initial thought upon seeing them was to send them back exactly as they were, to restore things as much as possible. Even if they might have appeared here just moments before death and would die as soon as they returned, what did that have to do with him? He was merely maintaining the operational laws that kept each parallel universe separate.
But if you followed Mark's theory?
The multiverse was a single entity! Their appearance here was not a coincidence! Even if they hadn't arrived in this world for this reason today, they would have appeared here tomorrow for another reason. To put it in more mystical terms, it was a "destiny"! They came to this world with some kind of mission!
However, regardless of how you looked at it, Mark's novel perspective had convinced Doctor Strange. After contemplating it for a long time, he sighed and said, "Alright, tell me your plan."
A smile appeared on Mark's face.
Avoiding conflicts with Doctor Strange was the best course of action. Furthermore, this way, he could gain Doctor Strange as an ally. Dealing with the enigmatic master of illusions, Mysterio, whom he's wary of, was a whole different ballgame when it came to someone like Doctor Strange, who has mastery over real magic.
Once they dealt with him, the rest should be manageable.
Of course, if there was no Mysterio, that would be even better. They could just go all out!
Mark said, "Since the other side wants to go to war, we'll go to war with them. However, we can't grant their wish for a battle in the city."
Doctor Strange nodded, and he shared the same sentiment.
Although, thanks to Mark's guidance, he had essentially accepted Mark's theory that "the multiverse is a single entity," it didn't mean he wanted to see these parallel universe visitors wreak havoc in this world.
No matter how you looked at it, this entire incident was caused by his impulsive spellcasting, coupled with a spell failure. If the city was damaged, or worse, if there were casualties, he would bear half of the responsibility (the other half naturally fell on Peter).
"The other side claims to have reserved six hours for us to assemble a team, but in reality, they might be using this time to acquire equipment and prepare traps for themselves. After all, they are visitors from other universes, and some of them might require outside assistance. They probably don't have much with them when they arrive."
"Do you remember the recent news about a Green Goblin attack on an outlying military base? That might have been one of their attempts to acquire equipment!"
"So, we'll just pull them into this mirror-like space!"
"This is your home field, and it's ours too!"
"By doing this, we can minimize their impact on this world and prevent certain individuals from using ordinary people as hostages!"
"But since they've chosen the entire city as their 'stage,' they definitely won't all gather together. So, when the time comes, we need to split up and try to find them first. Afterward, we'll send a signal, and you need to rush over to throw them into the mirror space!"
Doctor Strange solemnly nodded in agreement. "I'll handle this matter."
Even though continuously opening portals and maintaining the mirror space in a short amount of time would consume a significant amount of his energy, this was his responsibility, and he could only agree.
When it came to matters of great importance, Doctor Strange was reliable.
"In that case, let's leave this place first and explain the plan to Peter and the others."
"Alright."
Doctor Strange opened a portal, and the two of them left.
As soon as they appeared, a bolt of lightning came straight at Doctor Strange.
Mark quickly raised his hand to block it.
Doctor Strange drew a circle, redirecting the lightning to the side.
Boom!
There was a loud noise as the basement wall nearby was blown open.
MJ and Ned both exclaimed in surprise.
Doctor Strange looked over there for a moment, shrugged, and said to Max, who had launched the attack, "You'll have to pay for that."
Max completely ignored him and rushed to Mark's side, anxiously asking, "Are you okay? I thought..."
"Thank you, Max," Mark said sincerely. He was genuinely moved. When he had initially spoken to Max, it had been with the mindset of pitying him and using him. But now, Max was genuinely concerned for his safety.
With friends like this, what more could you ask for?
Max scratched his head and gave a goofy smile.
Afterward, Mark opened the communication on his suit and notified Spider-Tom to come back. There was no need to run anymore.
Although Spider-Tom was puzzled, out of trust for Mark, he obediently turned back.
"Alright, Doctor Strange, how about calling the other two teammates over while he's on his way back?" Mark suggested as Spider-Tom was returning.
"Alright," Doctor Strange wanted to resolve this incident as soon as possible and immediately agreed.
Then, he drew a circle on the ground.
Because he didn't know what the Spider-Man from the other world looked like, he could only use the name "Peter Parker" to search for him.
The other end of the first circle seemed to appear on the rooftop of a tall building.
The current time had just passed 6 o'clock in the evening, and the sky was still dimly lit.
Vaguely, you could see a figure sitting on the rooftop.
It seemed like he sensed movement behind him, so the figure stood up and slowly approached.
However, out of caution, he maintained a certain posture, one that allowed him to enter a combat-ready state at any moment.
When the person reached the light circle and was illuminated by the basement's lights, everyone saw that he was an ordinary middle-aged man.
"Well, sir, did your magic fail? He looks like a random guy," Ned said with a smile.
Doctor Strange frowned slightly but didn't draw any immediate conclusions.
He could sense the "otherworldly aura" on the person, but the newcomer's appearance seemed too ordinary.
However, Mark smiled faintly.
This person was indeed Tobey Spidey!
More accurately, he was the middle-aged Tobey Spidey, around twenty years older than the one Mark knew!
"Hey, Peter," Mark stepped forward and extended his hand to the middle-aged Tobey Spidey.
The middle-aged Tobey Spidey looked at Mark's gesture, as well as the smile on his face. He shook Mark's hand, then, with Mark's help, stepped across the light circle and came fully to their side.
The middle-aged Tobey Spidey let go of Mark's hand and asked in confusion, "You're not the Spider-Man of this world, but you seem to know me? Uh, I mean, how could you possibly recognize me?"
Mark chuckled, "Because I've seen you when you were young, um, back when you were still in college."
"Really? But I don't think I've ever seen you before," the middle-aged Tobey Spidey said in puzzlement.
"Parallel universes, you'll get it eventually," Mark shrugged.
"Peter?"
At this moment, a voice sounded from the other side.
The middle-aged Tobey Spidey turned to look and saw Doctor Octopus, who was imprisoned in a magical cell, and blurted out, "Dr. Octavius, why are you here too?"
"He, like you, came to this world, but he's a bit dangerous, so we had to lock him up for now," Mark explained.
The middle-aged Tobey Spidey nodded and then looked successively at Eddie Brock, Lizard Doctor, and then the poor tree.
"Are they all from different universes?"
"Um, mostly, except for that tree," Mark replied with some bewilderment. "Doctor Strange, can you send this tree gentleman back? It's on the brink of withering and looks pitiful."
Doctor Strange also felt a bit puzzled, and his perception of Holland Spidey's unreliability deepened. "Who told you to bring a tree back?"
Nevertheless, he raised his hand and sent the unfortunate tree back to the outskirts near the power station.
"You can wander around here for now. We need to call another comrade," Mark told the middle-aged Tobey Spidey.
The middle-aged Tobey Spidey nodded and walked over to Doctor Octopus. "Doctor."
"Peter, you've aged," Doctor Octopus said, seemingly accepting many things gradually. Even though he hadn't been cured by the chip replacement, he appeared calm when he saw the middle-aged Tobey Spidey.
Ignoring their reunion, Mark asked Doctor Strange to open another portal.
This time, of course, they were looking for Andrew Spidey.
The portal opened into a dimly lit room.
However, the scene inside this room was strange and even shocking.
On one wall of the room, two ropes extended from both sides and tightly bound a person who was beaten all over, limbs securely tied, right in the center of that wall.
What was truly astonishing was that the person bound to the wall was wearing a Spider-Man suit!
That's right.
Even though it was already torn and tattered from battle, covered in traces of explosive powder, cut holes, and a lot of dried blood, you could still distinguish that it was a Spider-Man suit!
Everyone was stunned for a moment, but Mark was the first to react.
He went straight through the portal into the room on the other side.
Lifting the head of the unconscious person hanging there, Mark realized that this person was Andrew Spidey!
However, compared to the one he had seen before, this one was slightly more mature, probably around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.
However, he was currently unconscious.
A cold light flashed in Mark's eyes. Whoever had injured Spider-Man like this would have to pay a price...
He quickly moved to the four corners of the room and broke the ropes.
The person who had captured Adult Andrew Spidey seemed quite confident in his current condition, using only ordinary hemp ropes.
These ropes would be difficult for an ordinary person to break free from, but for Spider-Man's strength, snapping them wasn't a problem.
Mark lifted Adult Andrew Spidey's body and realized that almost all of his bones were shattered, he was barely breathing, and his condition was much worse than Gwen's was at the time!
°°°
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