Finally, the group decided on a strategy that most likely affected the ghosts, which was solar radiation interference, or simply, an ultraviolet light.
A characteristic of ghosts frequently mentioned in most ghost films is their fear of light. Most ghosts are active at night. The weaker ones would vanish as soon as they come out during the day, while the stronger ones, though they won't be killed by sunlight after possessing bodies, still detest it. They would even wait till night fall to take revenge no matter how deep the enmity is.
The two Spider Men made an ultraviolet light together. It was simple for them, so they planned to create one with maximum power. However, Helen stopped them.
Helen explained that if the power was too high, the ultraviolet light would directly kill the ghosts and the zombie superheroes would regain their strongest weapon—their brains. Then they would scheme to spread the zombie virus again.
So the key was to harm, but not to kill, only to make the ghosts feel annoyed enough to be driven away.
Spider-Man experimented several times, testing on a small ghost who had been transported nearby, before finally determining an intensity that could affect the ghosts inside the superheroes, and manufacturing the equipment.
Then a strange sight appeared on the streets of New York—a group of people chasing a bunch of strangely gaping superheroes with a large spotlight-like device.
The first they found was still Captain America. He broke through the fences of the Hudson River, and fell into the river. Two Spider Men aimed their ultraviolet lights at him, causing him to scream and run fleetingly in the opposite direction.
Seeing that their battle plan was effective, the four split into two teams. Considering the possibility of Spider-Man losing control, Helen, who had remote skills and was the strongest, was paired with him. Normal Spider-Man was paired with Eddie.
The goal of the two teams was to drive the members of the Zombie Avengers Alliance, who had been transported to this cosmos, to a designated location in New York.
As Helen expected, the Avengers in this cosmos soon noticed the anomalies.
They weren't aware that in previous cycles, they had all turned into zombies due to these brutal foreigners. Some superheroes even lost their lives. The Avengers, unaware of the impending danger, astonishingly sent only Hawkeye to check the situation.
Fortunately, the situation was unexpectedly strange. People had seen wars fought with weapons, but no one had seen a war fought by chasing with a light.
And once interested, it became even weirder. It was strange for the chasing party and even stranger for the party being chased. They all wore superhero uniforms, but their mouths were bloodied, their minds were abnormal, they screamed while running, and their running movements were weird, as if they had just gotten their four limbs.
The rest of the Avengers were dealing with monster invasions in New York City reported by S.H.I.E.L.D., while S.H.I.E.L.D. was investigating the spike in ghost sighting reports within 12 hours.
Hawkeye tried to describe the strange situation he had seen, but in the end, only Captain America and Spider-Man came to deal with it.
At this point, the highly efficient two teams had already driven the main members of the Zombie Avengers Alliance out to the suburbs. The four people, holding ultraviolet lights, constantly surrounded these zombies. Even Captain America and Spider-Man, who stood on the high building, were stunned.
The weird formation and occasional screams made people think of some kind of heresy ceremony. Due to caution, Captain America didn't dare to go down for a while.
They didn't hurry, but Spider-Man couldn't wait when he saw superheroes standing by. He quickly threw the ultraviolet light to the other Spider-Man, jumped to the side of the building's stairs, and quickly climbed to the roof.
Before he could open his mouth, he quickly noticed the caution in Captain America's and Spider-Man's movements, and swallowed back what he was about to say.
In the end, Helen jumped up and explained the situation to the two superheroes of this cosmos.
However, after the cosmos reset, these superheroes lost their memories. They didn't understand the severity of the situation and didn't plan to call for backup. Instead, they wanted the four of them to return with them to the Avengers' base to get capture equipment.
Everyone knew that they must have been cautious, after all, these four people didn't seem to be good people. A Venom that was often an anti-hero, a little girl with extra power, a Spider-Man turned zombie, and the only normal Spider-Man didn't seem to be as cheerful as other Spider Man.
Actually, according to Helen, if she opened her mouth and ate all these zombie superheroes, the crisis would be over. But such an idea was out of the question when there were two Spider Men in the team. Spider-Man wanted to save everyone, the only sacrifice he could tolerate was himself.
Therefore, both Spider Men decided to cooperate with the normal Avengers. Venom found them annoying and Helen felt the Avengers without a crisis consciousness were unreliable.
In the end, an agreement was reached. Helen and Venom would watch over the zombie superheroes, while the two Spider Men would accompany Captain America and Spider-Man from this cosmos to the Avengers' base to get capture equipment. After the Avengers took the zombies away, the two sides would go their separate ways.
It's not to say that they had a falling out, but instead each used their methods to solve the crisis. But in his heart, Spider-Man knew that Helen and Venom probably wanted to do something on their own.
After actual superheroes left, Venom turned to Helen and asked, "Little girl, what are you up to? You blink at me suspiciously, I thought you got sand in your eye."
"Less chatter, you lump of mud. These superheroes are brave and compassionate, but often naive. How does that saying go? Exceptional situations require exceptional measures."
"You have a method to solve the zombie virus immediately?" Venom said while carrying the lamp in circles, "Developing a vaccine requires premises, equipment, and time. Apart from cooperating with Iron Man from this cosmos, what's left to do?"
"You certainly have lingering affections for your ex." Helen, inheriting Stark and Loki's poison tongue, ruthlessly poked at Venom's sensitivity, saying, "I certainly hope you're not using this as an opportunity to rekindle old feelings with Iron Man."
"Who wants to rekindle old feelings with that scumbag?!!" Venom raged impotently.
"Alright, take it easy. I do have a plan, but first, I need to figure out a way to communicate with Doctor Schiller because if he's indeed the one controlling the superheroes with ghost possession, we won't be able to proceed without his help."
"How are you planning to communicate with him? We don't even know his phone number. Wait, are you thinking about…"
Not too long after, the Captain America of this realm returned with three Spider-Men, carrying special life-support pods provided by Iron Man for the Avengers, meant to capture unique existence state super-villains, like Sandman, who could freely mutate.
The ghosts inhabiting the zombie superheroes were somewhat weakened by the natural sunlight and UV rays, yet they still influenced the superheroes' minds, preventing them from fully regaining their sanity. This resulted in a lack of physical strength and intelligence, making the capturing process quite smooth.
After Captain America and the Spider-Men had knocked down the zombie superheroes, they placed them in the life-support pods and carried them into the plane.
Watching S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plane gradually recede, Helen waved her hand at Venom and said, "Let's go. We need to get some things ready."
Then, Helen began shopping with Eddie around the commercial streets of Manhattan, New York, buying a pile of strange items. This included animal blood and innards from fresh produce markets, stone slabs, ink, ballpoint pens, and even a good deal of gold.
"Good thing I remembered to bring money." Helen counted the remaining cash in her hand, and added, "And it's lucky that the dollars in this universe look just like the ones in ours."
"What are you buying all these things for?" Eddie looked curiously at the large and small wrapped parcels, finding it hard to imagine how these items would form an antidote for the zombie virus.
Helen proved very confident and did not offer an explanation, instead turning to ask him: "You're a journalist and are often active around New York. Do you know of any abandoned buildings or so-called haunted buildings, preferably hospitals or clinics, around here?"
"I'm a political journalist, not a tabloid journalist...Alright, let me think, I remember a colleague once mentioned a legend about an abandoned hospital in the Bronx during his side job on a paranormal late-night show..."
About ten minutes later, Helen stood on top of a skyscraper, pointing at a building on the skyline. "This is the abandoned hospital you mentioned, right? It looks creepy even in daylight. Alright, that'll do. Let's go."
Eddie unknowingly followed behind Helen, and the two walked into the abandoned hospital.
After entering, Eddie shivered, glancing around, he said, "Why is it so cold? It's still summer in this universe, isn't it?"
"It should be cold," Helen snapped her fingers and said, "Haven't you watched enough horror movies to understand? This is what they call 'Yin energy,' and it's the favorite energy field of ghosts."
Eddie felt a little goosebumps, rubbing his arms, he told Helen, "Do whatever you need to do quickly. This place feels weird. The legends might be real."
"Legend? What legend?"
After hesitating for a moment, Eddie explained, "Some medical accident. Apparently, the director of this hospital took in a peculiar mental patient for a profit, but the patient shot and killed thirteen or fourteen medical staff and jumped off the building himself."
"Afterword, people kept saying the room where the shooting took place was haunted. Light bulbs flickered, and things on tables were knocked off all by themselves. The hospital's director didn't believe them, but the repeated incidents still led to the hospital's closure within two years."
"The creepy part is that the director who had entered that haunted room also committed suicide a year later. Since then, no one dared approach this hospital. The specific truth is unknown as rumors abound."
"That's just about right," said Helen happily. "Which room did that patient stay in? Let's go there."
"Hey, wait! Are you really going there? What if there's a ghost? Hey, wait up, don't run so fast..."
Helen rushed to the alleged haunted room mentioned by Eddie. After opening the door, she began to draw strange patterns on the floor with the fresh blood, placing the various items she bought one by one onto the floor.
Eddie stood by, utterly confused. His hands on his hips, his eyes fixed on Helen's actions, he inquired, "What on earth are you doing?"
Without lifting her head, Helen replied, "Haven't you watched enough horror movies to guess? I'm summoning a spirit."
"Summoning a spirit? Whose spirit?"
"Why, Schiller's, of course."