The arrest of Sophia couldn't even be classed as a disaster because, before Marvel, stood a giant mechanical Spider, and this thing was definitely not an illusion.
How did I come to judge this? In fact, it's quite straightforward. The reason previous special effects technology could only conjure fluid monsters is because anything closer to Magic would violate some physical laws unnoticed.
The simplest example: If you create a dragon that flaps its wings without generating wind as it flies by, you might believe it's Magic, but if you create an airplane that zooms past your scalp without causing any airflow, even a fool would know something was wrong.
So far, all the creatures created by these special effects devices leaned towards fantasy, and whether they were taking off, landing, or performing any action, they did not interact with the air because they were merely optical images, naturally making it very hard to create any physical effects; this was the biggest flaw of the special effects devices.
The major advancement of Marvel's upgraded equipment was that it could simulate airflow by creating wind currents with drone rotors, thus producing air dynamics that were close to realistic.
But fake is ultimately fake. Drones could create some airflow, but they couldn't alter gravity.
When this monster smashed down, the ground trembled—clearly not something drones were capable of; this was truly substantial.
Even though it didn't appear as ferocious and powerful as it seemed, it was more than Quentin Beck, robbed of his drones, could handle, causing his legs to weaken from fear, as he truly didn't know what to do.
Jameson was about to escape, but the moment the Spider leapt down, he saw its movement and seemed to recall something. So he stopped in his tracks, raised his camera, and captured Marvel's panicked expression.
Marvel was more than just panicked; he even retreated a few steps, staring blankly at the monster, no longer the suave figure he once was.
No, I can't run, I absolutely can't run, Beck cheered himself inside. If he ran now, everything he had done before would be in vain, he would never be able to prove his innocence or bring down Stark Group, he absolutely couldn't run...
But as the giant mechanical Spider drew closer, and its sharp forelegs stabbed toward him, Beck's mental defenses finally collapsed.
"Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!"
Marvel screamed miserably, turned around, and ran like mad, but he was so panicked that he didn't see where he was going, tripped over a stone, and face-planted into the ground.
In his desire to look cool, he had sacrificed the protection of his helmet, which was no more than a glass cover and shattered when it struck the pavement. When Marvel turned over, Quentin Beck's face was exposed in a state of desperate panic.
Jameson captured this scene just in time.
At that moment, a dark shadow descended from the sky—Miles kicked the giant mechanical beast's leg, and with a bang, the monster flipped over.
Miles landed on the ground, turned to Marvel, and said, "Are you alright?"
Only then did he notice Jameson, in his black Spider Suit, with two white eyes that were more conspicuous. The spider eyes playfully blinked and then shot out a strand of Spider Silk, kicking the re-rising Spider creature once more with force.
Jameson adjusted his slightly askew glasses, raised an eyebrow, and took a photo of Miles as well.
In the Texas farmland, inside Lisa's house, Shiller and Aux were sitting on the threshold of the front door, with Shiller briefing Aux.
"We've never tried anything like this before and aren't sure whether regular people can ignite such a unique soul, but I really think you should give it a try, a child's arrival could greatly transform Lisa's mental state."
Aux was still not fully recovered, looking somewhat dazed, but he nodded and said, "Thank you, Doctor, for saving me from those troublesome agents."
"I didn't actually help you, merely maintained the ethical standards of a doctor. Your mental state isn't suitable for interrogation right now. I need to ensure you are fully conscious to provide compelling testimony."
"How much longer will it take?" Aux asked: "I don't know if I made a mistake, don't know if I killed anyone, I'm beginning to understand Lisa's feelings, I think I'm going insane."
Shiller placed a hand on Aux's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I admit I must take some responsibility for your and Lisa's current situation, so I will ensure your safety as much as possible, but some things require careful investigation, and reckless action is not appropriate."
Aux nodded, Shiller then stood up, walked into the house, and gestured for Aux to come in. Aux stood up and followed him inside. Inside, Lisa's mental condition had noticeably improved, her face had regained some color as she lay on the rocking chair, caressing her abdomen as if awaiting the arrival of a new life.
A gleam finally appeared in Aux's eyes. He squatted next to Lisa, and as they exchanged a knowing smile.
Shiller gently patted the armrest of the rocking chair and said, "Now you can sleep. In your dreams, you should meet a beautiful goddess who will explain everything to you. Don't be afraid, go ahead."
Lisa closed her eyes.
Her expression became benign, radiating both motherhood and divinity, almost shining her radiance; she seemed entranced, repeatedly murmuring some words.
But just at that moment, Shiller furrowed his brow, sensing something was amiss, and immediately took out a small bottle of liquor, first sprinkled a bit on Lisa, then took a sip himself.
In an instant, Shiller found himself in Lisa's dream.
He saw a shadow flicker and vanish, while Lisa stood still, her face showing a dreamy expression, but Shiller did not see Gaia's figure here.
Only then did a gleam of light appear and Gaia landed in front of Lisa, but upon seeing Shiller at her side, she too was stunned.
"Are you feeling uneasy, special human?" Gaia said very gently, "I can assure you I will not harm her. She is about to carry and give birth to my child as well, and I will protect them as best as I can."
"It's not that," Shiller said. "Someone came here before you, infiltrated Lisa's dream, and he might have tried to hypnotize Lisa."
Gaia was stunned as well, she had not encountered this situation before. Today was the day she and Shiller had agreed to come and give Lisa some general knowledge, since the Child of Order that Gaia was carrying was different from normal children. But Lisa and Aux were mere humans, the two of them needed some preparation, at least mentally.
Unexpectedly, their matter hadn't even started when it was interrupted. Shiller seemed to think of something and told Gaia, "No, we can't start now, we must figure out what's going on here first."
Gaia sighed and said, "We don't have much time, the Child of Chaos is growing, it will still become imbalanced if it's too late."
"Give me a few more days," Shiller said. "This matter isn't as simple as it seems, you might get trapped here too, better be cautious."
After leaving Lisa's Psychic Space, Lisa soon woke up and appeared somewhat bewildered, yet no matter how Shiller inquired, she could not remember seeing anyone else in the Dream space.
Okay, it seemed like a difficult fellow to deal with, but Greed never played the game by the rules; he directly took out his phone and said, "Charles, come over now, yes, immediately, I need you to check someone's memory."
Then he tightly grasped Lisa's hands and said, "I'm really sorry, ma'am, but you must face those blue eyes again."
Charles arrived quickly and upon seeing Lisa, he, too, felt his breath catch, clearly it was also his psychological shadow. Lisa didn't show any clear reaction, she didn't remember what Charles had done to her at all, all the truth was heard from Shiller about this blue-eyed young man.
Shiller explained to Charles what had just happened; he asked Charles to focus and find that memory fragment. Charles closed his eyes, and about half a minute later, he opened his eyes and said, "A fragment of memory has been deleted."
"Is it the part before I entered the Psychic Space?"
"I'm afraid so. He took the memory, using a rather crude and simple method."
"Can you figure out who it was?"
"I... am not quite sure," Charles said hesitantly. "I suggest you consult an older version of me."
Shiller had no choice but to call the elder Professor X. Seeing the situation, Aux also got a bit panicked, so Charles had to calm him down first.
Professor X soon came, and, unsurprisingly, Magneto followed him. Professor X wheeled over to Lisa and his eyes opened and shut in a shorter interval this time, roughly just a few seconds.
"The other party is not human," Professor X concluded. "His cognition of memories is different from humans, hence the method of interception is also different, which is evident from the cut itself; at least, no psychic like me would do it, it's too crude."
"Thus ruling out the possibility of you from other universes."
"And ruling out the possibility of a mutant mind reader as well," Professor X said. "The human approach is utterly different; unless it's a natural Psychic Entity, no such trace can be left."
"Incubus…" Shiller rarely displayed his knowledge beyond this world as directly as he did then, but now he was somewhat angered.
"Professor, please have a look at this gentleman," he then turned his head towards Aux. Charles closed his eyes again for a few seconds and then said, "He's the same; his memory has been altered, some things deleted."
"Such as?"
"Deleted, I can't see them," Professor X said. "Another part has been modified... something about a window."
Shiller immediately remembered the window that Aux had described, which was supposed to exist but which he could not see; his cognition had been altered.
Just like DC has a Kingdom of Dreams, Marvel also has a Dimension of Dreams, and the master of this dimension is called Incubus, whose ability is to pull people into his dimension and even move through countless dreams, hypnotizing or altering their memories.
But the problem now was, how many people had he actually altered?