Thanos couldn't help but recall Shiller's words that a group of gods must be hiding behind, laughing at his overweening ambition, completely clueless about the real crux of the problem. After exhausting every effort to the point of turning on his own kin, all he managed to achieve was to be ruthlessly harvested in the end.
The anger inside Thanos festered, but he didn't let the flames of wrath blaze. Instead, he clenched his hand covered with the Infinity Gauntlet, turned around, and retreated from the battlefield, flying towards the endless darkness beyond.
All his thoughts of contented retirement were thoroughly gone, and the anger gave this universal overlord a new objective. Perhaps very soon, the cosmos would have another god-slayer.
The chaos in the cosmos still went on. Of course, not all teams who came here were as ill-tempered, some were indeed serious about their work.
Or rather, only Spider-Man's team remembered what they were here for. The Little Spider, no matter where he was, always remained focused and diligent, none of the Spider-Men were involved in the fight; everyone was busy organizing supplies diligently.
Well, it was mainly because fighting didn't just deduct points, but there was also a risk of being sent back, thereby losing the chance to earn any points.
Being from this universe, Peter had already learned from Loki that this universe was his hometown. Instead of trailing other Spider-Men to collect corpses in the cosmos, he hurried back to Earth at his fastest speed, hoping to maintain safety here.
To address his current situation, he pulled in Riley, Xu Shang-Chi, and Squirrel Girl.
The four of them quickly returned to Earth through a portal created by a mage and landed on the roof of Stark Building in New York.
New York still appeared devastated, yet Peter noticed a sudden surge of bewildered people on the streets, wandering around as if they'd just woken from a dream, not knowing where to go.
What's going on? Peter was also puzzled. He remembered that when he returned previously, New York seemed deserted, with far fewer people around.
"Are you sure your universe's Thanos snapped his fingers?" Riley asked suspiciously, "Although I don't know much about the Infinity Gemstones, I do know New York, it's always crowded here. Are you sure this is what it looks like when half the population is gone?"
Standing on the side, Xu Shang-Chi was recalling the Avengers movie, trying to remember who died when Thanos snapped his fingers?
Then he realized the key point. He called out to Peter, but when Peter didn't respond, Xu Shang-Chi nudged him, saying, "Do you remember where the Avengers fought? We should go there and see if anyone needs help."
It was then that Peter seemed to awaken from a deep sleep, looking up and saying, "Right, we must return to the battlefield immediately. They might be unable to retreat. Come on."
Peter was about to swing down when he was held back by Xu Shang-Chi who said, "Did you forget? The mage gave us a suspension ring, use the portal."
About two minutes later, a portal opened above a pile of ruins and four young men rushed out of it one after the other. Anxious Peter was the fastest one. The moment he landed, he began searching for familiar faces.
He spotted a similarly bewildered Captain America at the edge of the ruins, beside him, the Winter Soldier was just climbing up, while further away the Falcon was sticking one hand out of the rubble.
Peter immediately leaped over and shouted, "Captain, are you okay? I'm back!"
"Peter, Peter, you're alive!" Captain America turned around and was very excited to see Peter's face. He wanted to run to him, but he first helped the stumbling Winter Soldier get up before he ran over and hugged Peter.
"Oh my God, Captain, you wouldn't believe what I've been through!... Never mind, what on earth is happening here? I mean, is everyone all right?"
The Winter Soldier cupped his head with his metal forearm, shaking it hard and said, "I feel dizzy, what's going on? I...I wasn't..."
"You guys resurrected!" Captain America raised his voice and yelled, "I don't know how it happened, but you guys are resurrected! My God, it was a horrifying nightmare, thank God everyone's okay."
"Resurrected?" Peter muttered skeptically, finding it hard to believe. But Ben Reilly carefully surveyed the ruin around him and said, "It looks like it's not just the superheroes who have resurrected, the half of the population that died has also resurrected."
"Am I dreaming?" Peter looked down at himself, as if trying to confirm whether he was dreaming. He pinched his arm hard, letting out a cry of pain.
"No matter what, this is a good thing, right?" Squirrel Girl said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Wait, where is Mr. Stark?" It seemed like Peter had just registered this fact as he began to look around for Iron Man.
At that moment, this Universe's Stark was standing in front of Eddie, face filled with mockery, saying: "Who was it that said I had no chance of being champion? Tell me, who's in first place now?"
"I guess I was mistaken." Eddie replied with a smirk. "Iron Man, unsurprisingly, the greatest genius in the world, still collects resources even while in a fight. Alright, champion, you win."
Behind the two men, one transport robot after another passed through the portal with a large amount of resources, marching cheerfully back towards Shiller's universe.
Just then, a portal opened next to Stark, followed by Peter rushing out. The moment he saw Stark, he recognized him as the familiar Mr. Stark. He hastily said: "Mr. Stark, so here you are. The Captain said you disappeared after the big fight, I was scared to death!"
"Peter?" Stark was stunned for a moment, then as Peter took off his mask, Stark recognized him. It was the familiar Spiderman. Immediately, Stark flew over for a warm embrace with Peter.
With tears in his eyes, Stark was about to say something when Peter interrupted him: "Mr. Stark, come quickly. The other half of life in the universe has all come back to life, but Earth is still in great chaos. We have to go back and keep order!"
"What, what? What did you say?" Stark was very confused.
Before he could respond, Peter dragged him through the portal back to Earth. When he saw the familiar ruins, Stark realized they were back in their universe.
"Now what??" Peter opened his eyes wide to look at him.
Frozen in place, Stark kept picturing the scene of resources from his universe being taken away by the truckloads. His trucks.
Holding a hand over his chest, he trembled as he pointed at Peter, saying: "Quick, open the portal! Go back, and stop them!"
By the time Stark and Peter returned to the location of the original resource transport portal, only a half-sized portal was left. A familiar figure stuck his head out from inside.
"It's me, Tony. I knew long ago that you weren't the Tony from my universe. I also knew where to find Spiderman, but I didn't tell you the truth in order to help you."
"I resurrected the half of the life in this universe that had died. Don't mention it. Do you remember the document you signed at my rehab center? That was the bill. I took the resources. It was a pleasure doing business with you!"
Right after he finished, the portal closed with a whoosh. Stark stood rooted to the spot. After a moment, cries of rage echoed through the cosmos: "Shiller!!"
With a crackle, the portal opened halfway again, and Shiller popped his head out, saying: "I know you want to come and punch me, but I must remind you, it's not just humans who have been resurrected, but also members of the Three Great Empires."
"But we took away all their weapon spaceships and energy cores. You could of course come after me, and then wait for them to recoup their strength, recover, and go back to bullying humans. Your universe will forever lag behind ours...Bye, Mr. Champion!"
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark, don't be angry, calm down, Mr. Stark, calm down!!!"