Marvel: Spider-Man? No, I’m the Superman legency!

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"Heh, Dr. Otto, you've got some pretty big ambitions!"

Suddenly, a figure streaked rapidly across the night sky, appearing in an instant above the two of them, looking down from high above.

"You're… Superman?"

Looking up at the unexpected stranger, Dr. Otto tensed up at first and instantly wrapped his metal tentacles around himself and his wife to protect them.

But when he saw that it was the famous Superman, the tension on Otto's face immediately vanished.

"Sorry, Dr. Otto. I got held up today dealing with something else, so I couldn't make it here sooner…" Peter's voice carried a hint of apology.

"I understand. I saw the news — you were fighting some alien creatures, protecting the whole city."

Inside, Otto felt a mix of emotions toward Superman.

During his experiment, he'd been a little annoyed that Superman showed up out of nowhere and stole the spotlight.

All the media and reporters in the lab had swarmed to Superman, which indirectly led to his experiment failing so quickly — though the failure was inevitable.

But after learning that Superman had been busy protecting the entire city from self-proclaimed godlike aliens, Otto's resentment completely disappeared, replaced by genuine respect.

He believed Superman was the real hero of humanity.

"So, you came all this way to see me… Is there something you need me to do?"

Otto was smart enough to know that someone like Superman wouldn't just randomly take interest in a regular human.

If he was here, there had to be another reason.

"Like, you want me to help with an experiment?"

Without missing a beat, Otto guessed the real reason Peter came.

"You're right. I'm very interested in your artificial sun experiment — an almost eternal energy source. I think it could be the key to unlocking humanity's future."

Whether it would or not, Peter didn't know and didn't want to know. All he knew was that the artificial sun could activate the powerful genes inside him, making him stronger every second.

No matter what, he had to control that artificial sun.

"Thank you, Superman, for your attention and support. But you know my experiment failed today."

Otto's face showed a complicated expression, almost sad about the failure.

"You looked pretty confident earlier, ready to try again, right?" Peter noticed Otto's hesitation, like he wanted to refuse help.

"Besides, given your situation now, it's probably hard to get the resources to chase your dream anymore, huh?"

News of Otto's failed experiment had already spread through academic and investor circles.

Capitalists are brutal — once they see you're useless, they kick you out without a second thought.

So getting money or investment to try again would be incredibly difficult.

"Are you going to rob a bank behind your wife's back to fund your experiments?"

Hearing that, the serious look on Otto's face completely shattered.

In fact, he'd really thought about using his powerful mechanical tentacles to rob a bank.

Only he knew how bad things were — failure meant massive compensation to investors.

He was probably about to lose the home full of memories with his wife, the most precious place for them both.

"Alright, Superman. Looks like I don't have any reason left to refuse."

Finally, Otto looked up at Peter above and slowly spoke, giving up his stubbornness.

"Don't worry, you won't regret this decision."

Peter floated down to them, catching Otto's body, then rocketed straight up into the sky.

Only Otto's wife was left, staring blankly into space for a long time.

Antarctica, beneath the ice cave.

"So, this is your lonely fortress?"

Floating in the air, Otto was handling it better than the others Peter had brought here.

No nausea or discomfort — in fact, he was calmly checking out the surroundings.

"Lonely fortress? Nah, it's just a simple place to stay."

Peter wasn't satisfied with just the "lonely fortress" plan — he had bigger ideas in mind.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to some friends, or colleagues. You're probably going to be working with them for a while."

"They're all smart people. I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about."

Peter opened the huge metal door above the lab and led Otto inside.

The moment they landed, Otto saw a group of about a dozen people — men and women, old and young — who seemed to be waiting specifically for him.

"Hello everyone, I'm new here. I'm Otto Octavius."

"Hi, I'm Reed Richards. Dr. Otto, nice to meet you. I've read your papers on nuclear physics a long time ago."

Everyone was a bit weirded out by Otto's constantly moving mechanical tentacles, but Reed composed himself and was the first to greet Otto.

The others introduced themselves too, then the room fell silent, and all eyes turned to Peter.

After all, he was in charge here.

"Alright, now that everyone's acquainted, let's talk about the plan."

As he spoke, Peter placed his hand on his chest. In an instant, the nanotech particles forming his suit began to shrink rapidly.

Under Otto's shocked gaze, they all converged on the glowing device in Peter's chest in just seconds.

"What's this? Nanotech?"

Though Otto specialized in nuclear physics, he had a basic understanding of nanotech.

"Amazing. Nanotech's really advanced now, huh?"

Because he knew a little, Otto was even more amazed.

"Wait, what's this…"

But then, as Otto got a clear look at the glowing nano-container, his expression turned complicated and conflicted.

"A miniaturized Ark reactor? No way! This can't be!"

"Could it be that the path I've been researching is a dead end?"

At that moment, he felt completely lost.

It was like having the answer you'd chased your whole life right in front of you — only to realize the direction you'd been following was wrong from the start.

"The sun's energy…"

Seeing Otto's mixture of disbelief and confusion, Peter slowly placed the Ark reactor into his hand.

"It's all in my hands now!"

It was like looking at the perfect masterpiece—Doctor Otto's eyes burned with intensity as he stared at the Arc Reactor in his hand. Slowly, he responded to Peter's words.

Then suddenly, his gaze snapped to Peter.

"So… you called me here just to mess with me?"

"….."