Both Morlun and Peter fell into silence.
Peter had almost forgotten about Morlun. After all, normally, if the Inheritors were hunting spider totems on a massive scale, the Web of Destiny would quickly give him feedback. But this time there had been none, so he had let his guard down regarding Morlun.
However, as Inheritors who wanted to completely eradicate the spider totems, they had always kept a close watch on special totems. When they discovered that "The Bride" had left Universe-616, the Inheritors could not wait to rush out, intending to capture Cindy. As a result, Morlun, who was responsible for this task, had a face like an old man looking at a smartphone on the subway the moment he saw Peter.
The reason was very simple. For Morlun, as long as they weren't those exceptionally powerful spider totems, their strength didn't really matter to him. No matter how powerful a totem was, as long as it was within a certain limit, he could directly drain their life force, ignoring their strength.
But the problem was, the target had to be limited to a pure spider totem. For instance, the last time Miguel led a group of spider totems with trace amounts of radiation to ambush him, it had thoroughly disgusted Morlun.
Yet, that wasn't even the most disgusting part. After all, outside of a deliberate ambush, it was impossible for every spider totem to carry radiation with them. However, Peter used to carry the Venom symbiote, and now he had Anti-Venom. Symbiotes could prevent the Inheritors from draining a spider totem's life energy, which caused Peter to look just like a pufferfish in front of Morlun: delicious, but poisonous, and Morlun didn't know how to prepare it.
"So it's you. Don't tell me 'The Bride' came along with you too. What is your situation? A totem war? Have the wasps and the spiders started fighting?"
Morlun looked at Peter in front of him with considerable distaste. He knew that with this guy here, he probably wouldn't be able to catch a single spider totem today, let alone Cindy. Peter, on the other hand, was wary of his every move, and then realized an even more important matter: he absolutely must not let Shathra's followers or the Inheritors realize that their goals were actually aligned.
As leech totems, the Inheritors didn't actually just eat spider totems; they could devour any life totem. But because of the Master Weaver's prophecy that "the spider totems will lead to the destruction of the Inheritors," the Inheritor family had always targeted spider totems and searched for a way to permanently erase them. This method was to completely destroy the Web of Destiny.
And the Wasp Sisterhood wanted to completely destroy the Web of Destiny because the web was sealing Shathra. As long as the Web of Destiny was broken, Shathra could be unsealed. Although Shathra would most likely not spare the Inheritors after being unsealed, the two sides at least shared a foundation for short-term cooperation, and they must not be allowed to realize this.
"Take them away, Miguel. Take everyone to the headquarters."
"Everyone?" Miguel confirmed. "Including the Strange and Spider-Man of this universe?"
"Yes, everyone. Don't forget what happened to those previous Sorcerers Supreme." As Peter spoke, he prepared to hold off Morlun, but the Strange of this universe frowned, ready at any moment to use the Time Stone to see what exactly was going on.
As for Morlun, even though he found Peter troublesome, he was never afraid to fight him. Even if it was just for the sake of his pride, he had to have a match. Morlun couldn't help but sneer, "Is that so, Spider-Man? Perhaps I can't do anything to you, but are you sure you can protect every single—ah!"
A sudden unexpected event interrupted the standoff between the two sides. A sharp talon pierced through Morlun's chest. Morlun looked at the blade in his chest in utter shock, and then turned his head back in disbelief. He saw a hideous female monster; only her upper body still vaguely resembled a human, while her lower body was completely identical to a spider-wasp. Her whole body was encased in a gray exoskeleton, and three pairs of spider-wasp wings spread out behind her back.
"I heard that my child was murdered here... I thought it was the work of a spider totem, but it turns out to be just an ugly leech."
As she pulled out the sharp blade, Morlun collapsed to the ground. At the same time, the female spider-wasp monster thrust her lower body fiercely into Morlun's corpse, treating everyone to a real-life educational demonstration of "how spider-wasps reproduce."
The spider-sense flared up once again. Following that, Morlun's body underwent a bizarre mutation. The other substances injected into Morlun's corpse caused his body to transform rapidly, quickly turning into another male spider-wasp monster, which then stood up as its life force recovered.
Seeing the newborn, the female monster shook her head with some regret. "What a pity, this isn't a spider totem, so the newly born child isn't very strong. But that's alright, all of you are excellent children, and you will become even more outstanding newborns."
"Ew..." Jessica waved her hand in refusal. "May I ask who you are...?"
"I am the priestess of the great Lord Shathra. Having received her grace, I am the All-Mother who spreads the spider-wasp totem outwardly, and I will become your new mother."
"No need, we all have both parents alive..." Jessica looked at the others after speaking, and shut her mouth when she found everyone else in silence. Peter still shielded the others in front of him, merely feeling quite speechless.
On one side was the leech totem of the Inheritor family; catching a spider totem allowed them to exercise racial suppression, draining a person into a withered corpse. On the other side was the spider-wasp totem bestowed by Shathra; catching a spider totem allowed them to perform a transformation, turning them into their worker wasps.
How could the spider totems be so miserable?
Peter tentatively asked back, "Is this why you collected the magical spiders kept by the Sorcerers Supreme across different universes?"
"Yes. Magical spiders can be reused after all, and their numbers are small. In theory, you shouldn't have discovered this so early."
The All-Mother spread her arms and revealed a smile. "I heard you also have a headquarters? Care to introduce me to it?"
"We'd love to, but on the premise that you deal with your enemy first."
Peter backed away as he spoke, while the All-Mother looked at Peter in incomprehension. "The great Shathra will influence everything. I have no enemies."
"That's hard to say!"
Accompanied by the opening of a dimensional portal, a chariot in the Ancient Roman style charged out. Two Rhino-Men from different universes, enslaved by the Inheritors, drove the chariot forward at full speed. Resplendent in a suit and leather shoes, Morlun charged toward the All-Mother with a longsword in hand, letting out a delighted laugh, "For example, I am one, and I'm not a picky eater!"
"Whether you are a wasp or a spider-wasp, I'll devour you just the same!"
Normally speaking, the worker wasps of a wasp colony are undeveloped female wasps (queens). But the problem was, Shathra wasn't a wasp; she was a spider-wasp, and spider-wasps are solitary wasps...
Coupled with the reproductive method of spider-wasps, this was perhaps why the spider-wasp minions were all male.