Under a dark green sky lay an endless, desolate desert landscape.
As far as the eye could see, countless abandoned houses and buildings, weathered by time, stood precariously, in ruins.
In the open spaces, boundless skeletal remains were scattered haphazardly, with white bones, putrid flesh, and blood intertwined, forming a cruel tableau.
"Lucas, why are you covering my eyes?"
Little Gwen struggled, trying to pry open Lucas's right hand that was covering her eyes.
"Little Gwen, this scene is not suitable for children. I'm afraid if you see it, you'll have nightmares when you go back. George and Helen would blame me then."
Lucas held Little Gwen with his left hand, showing no intention of letting go.
Although he could censor the view for Little Gwen, if the censorship wasn't severe, Little Gwen could imagine the rest herself. If the censorship was severe, it would be better not to see it at all.
"When I entered the Dream Dimension before, I always went straight into the castle, I've never been outside." Amazing Spider-Man explained.
If he had known the outside of the Dream Dimension looked like this, he wouldn't have let Little Gwen come in.
After a while, the group composed themselves and began to observe carefully.
"That direction should be the castle."
Amazing Spider-Man observed for a moment, then pointed in a direction where a few faint, scattered lights could be seen. In that direction, a city was vaguely visible, standing amidst the mist.
"Let's go then." Wanda nodded, drawing a circle with her finger.
A portal appeared, leading directly to the outskirts of the city in the direction Amazing Spider-Man pointed. Then, she took the lead and stepped into the portal. The others also followed suit.
"No! My father was a hero! He sacrificed himself to protect this city!"
Just then, Peni, who had been quietly lagging behind with her head down, suddenly lost her mind and roared out.
"Peni, wake up."
Spider-Ham reacted quickly, hugging Peni and shaking her repeatedly.
"Peni, calm down. This space seems to be able to stir up painful memories within people. Don't let it affect you." Spider-Man Noir quickly spoke out to warn Peni.
"Sorcerer Spider-Man, did you find anything?" Spider-UK asked Lucas.
Hmm?!
Lucas looked at the four members of the Spider-Man team in confusion, realized the problem, and explained, "There's a pale, almost imperceptible energy swirling around you, constantly looking for opportunities to infect your minds."
The others were unaffected because Lucas's energy formed a defensive barrier on their body surfaces.
As for Amazing Spider-Man...
To some extent, he was an employee, so he naturally wouldn't be affected.
With a thought, Lucas activated his [Energy Absorption] talent, instantly sweeping away the surrounding grey-green energy.
[Points +12]
As a portion of the grey-green energy here suddenly disappeared, the grey-green energy from afar slowly spread to fill the void. It wouldn't be long before the gap here was filled.
Seeing this, Lucas simply placed a layer of divine power barrier on the four members of the Spider-Man team as well.
"I've put an energy shield on you all, which can block the grey-green energy from infecting you."
"Thank you, Sorcerer Spider-Man."
At this point, Peni had recovered from her painful memories. After thanking Lucas, she lowered her head and remained silent.
'Alas...'
Lucas sighed inwardly.
Spider-Men are all unfortunate souls.
Out of ten Spider-Men, eleven have tragic fates.
The death of elders, close friends, or partners—there's always one or several misfortunes to befall a Spider-Man.
This damned Web of Life and Destiny!
Good thing I'm a new concept Spider-Man.
"Let's go, let's check out that city."
Collecting his thoughts, Lucas motioned for everyone to set off and follow Wanda.
Passing through the portal, they arrived at the city's edge, where the sight differed from the desert.
Although the city also presented a desolate and dilapidated scene, the houses and buildings remained intact. On the streets, there were no more dismembered limbs.
With that, Lucas released his right hand, which had been covering Little Gwen's eyes.
Finally seeing the light again, Little Gwen peered around curiously.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, "This looks so much like New York!"
New York?
Hearing Little Gwen say this, everyone observed again, but came to a different conclusion.
"It does look a bit similar." Ghost Gwen, Wanda, and G'iah agreed with Little Gwen's point of view.
"Not quite similar." Spider-Ham and Amazing Spider-Man, however, held different opinions.
Spider-UK and Peni did not express an opinion.
The former did not live in New York, and the latter was in a bad mood.
"We come from different worlds and different eras, so it's normal for our New Yorks not to look alike." Spider-Man Noir reminded them.
"That explains it."
Amazing Spider-Man, who was leading the way, swung down from his web and landed steadily in front of a building.
This was a three-story Victorian-style brownstone townhouse, featuring French Baroque architectural design and a mansard roof.
"The few times I've been here before, I always had a sense of unfamiliar familiarity. So, the architecture here is from another world's New York."
Wanda and Ghost Gwen followed closely, landing in front of the building.
"New York Sanctum?!"
Looking at the building before them, Wanda and Ghost Gwen couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Wanda, Ghost Gwen, do you recognize this place?" Amazing Spider-Man asked.
Wanda explained, "Yes. On Earth-404, this is one of Earth's three Sanctum Sanctorums."
"Sanctum Sanctorums are usually connection points between the Multiverse and supernatural phenomena."
"To protect reality from extra-dimensional erosion, sorcerers construct magic circles upon them and build houses to conceal them from public view."
She had seen this knowledge in the Kamar-Taj library more than once.
Once everyone had gathered, Wanda led the way into the Sanctum Sanctorum.
The interior space of the Sanctum Sanctorum seemed more spacious than it appeared from the outside, with labyrinthine corridors inside the house.
But as a member of the Kamar-Taj sorcerers, Wanda, who had been stationed in New York for a long time, was very familiar with the New York Sanctum.
First, she checked the living room, dining room, kitchen, and library on the first floor.
The group discovered that the library contained many Kamar-Taj books. This indicated that it was likely not someone building a replica of the New York Sanctum in the Dream Dimension, but rather the Dream Dimension having swallowed a New York Sanctum.
Next was the second floor, which was the living area.
Each bedroom doorplate had the name of the room's owner written on it.
And on the doorplate of a room that was clearly the master bedroom, a name was also written.
"Stephen Strange."
The moment Wanda uttered this name, the entire Dream Dimension began to shake.
Undoubtedly, the owner of this name was the master of the Dream Dimension.
In the third-floor meditation room, feeling the shaking of the Dream Dimension, a man shrouded in a black robe opened his eyes.
"I didn't expect so many bugs to sneak into my Sanctum Sanctorum all at once."