Lucas got a headache looking at Erin, who had fallen silent again after saying that, feeling like he had shot himself in the foot.
His original intention was just to tease her.
The only use of this spider totem for him was for analysis and research, serving as a technical reserve for his study of strengthening magic that could reach the Dimensional Lord level. He had already completed this when he modified the spider totem.
He quite liked this girl who, after getting caught in the rain herself, thought about holding an umbrella for others.
Lucas's voice was calm, doing his best to keep his tone gentle, and he said, "Erin, you've already done very well, what else aren't you ready for?"
Erin said firmly, "I'm not ready to give up the title of Sorcerer Spider-Man."
Lucas: "..."
He saw Erin fall silent and go deep in thought the whole way, and thought she was scared by Spider-Man's tragic fate. He had prepared many comforting words for her.
He never expected that...
Lucas wondered, "You don't want Spider-Man's superpowers anymore? By merging with this spider totem, you can gain Spider-Man's superpowers, and an optimized version at that."
Erin nodded, then shook her head. "I want Spider-Man's superpowers. But I don't want to give up the title of Sorcerer Spider-Man. Lucas, why don't you just give me this spider totem for free?"
"If you hold this spider totem, you can only become Spider-Man, not Sorcerer Spider-Man. And I, even without Spider-Man's superpowers, and without knowing magic, am still Sorcerer Spider-Man."
"Oh right, why don't you teach me some more magic? That way, after getting Spider-Man's superpowers, it will be even more justifiable."
Saying that, Erin looked at Lucas, full of expectation.
She had already figured it out.
Since Lucas only wanted an optional title in exchange for this spider totem, it meant that this spider totem was no longer useful to him.
"Erin, although it's night now, you're not asleep yet."
Lucas said faintly, "As for getting things for free, you should look for that in your dreams."
Erin asked, "If I find it in my dream, will you give me the spider totem?"
Lucas looked at Erin, his gaze unfriendly.
This little girl actually wanted to mooch off him?
She should go inquire. He, Lucas, was always the one to mooch off others.
Erin, feeling a bit uncomfortable under Lucas's gaze, chuckled awkwardly. "How about, you and I share the title of Sorcerer Spider-Man?"
"You can be Sorcerer Spider-Man, and I can be Sorcerer Spider-Woman, that doesn't conflict."
Lucas pouted, rejecting the suggestion, "I don't want people to misunderstand our relationship."
"Besides, Erin, I'm half your savior. Don't you feel guilty trying to snatch a title from me?"
Lucas looked at Erin, his eyes bright.
Erin lowered her head, her eyes darting away, not daring to meet Lucas's gaze directly, with faint glistening tears in the corners of her eyes.
She was careless, she didn't dodge and was stung by the light in Lucas's eyes.
"But when I first used this title, you didn't stop me, did you?"
"Now, not only New York, but everywhere in the world with internet knows that Sorcerer Spider-Man is a member of the Phantom Band, how can I give it to you?"
Lucas thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be true.
He had hardly ever used the title Sorcerer Spider-Man on Earth-404.
Erin, at first, didn't even know it was one of his titles, let alone have the intention of snatching it from him. It was only out of admiration for her two saviors that she took the title of Sorcerer Spider-Man for herself.
Lucas's eyes dimmed, and he said, nodding, "Erin, you have a point."
Erin still had her head down, but her voice was slightly joyful. "So, Lucas, you agreed? My demands aren't high, Spider-Man's superpowers and the portal magic will do. It's that magic where you draw with your fingers, make a circle, and can go wherever you want."
"You mean this?"
Lucas, with his index and middle fingers together and his ring and pinky fingers bent, drew a circle in the air in front of his chest.
As his fingertips moved, sparks flickered, and a golden-yellow halo formed and expanded.
Erin nodded repeatedly, no longer bothering to avoid Lucas's gaze. "Yes, that's it."
Lucas pointed his finger towards Erin, and the portal quickly moved, engulfing Erin, and teleporting her back home.
"Go home and sleep, everything you want is in your dreams."
As soon as he finished speaking, the portal closed immediately, not giving Erin a chance to react and return from the other side.
After sending Erin away, Lucas looked at the spider totem in his hand and tossed it.
Erin guessed correctly, this thing was indeed useless to him now. If he wanted, he could replicate a few at any time.
However, the replicated ones would not be able to connect to the Web of Life and Destiny.
And what he planned to give Erin was also a replicated one. He intended to keep the original for himself.
Meanwhile.
In the laboratory, Tony and Bruce were looking at the active blue flashing entity in front of them, which seemed to be thinking like a human brain.
Tony spoke first, "Ultron just detected abnormal energy fluctuations in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens, New York. I went to check, and he was right."
Bruce stretched, perking up. "That's good news, it shows that Ultron can still process accurately while accessing high-density data simultaneously. However, Tony, we still have two problems, how do you plan to deal with them?"
The three essential elements of artificial intelligence: data, algorithms, and computing power.
Tony and Bruce worked for months to get the algorithms right, something unimaginable in the real world.
But fortunately, this is Marvel.
Even so, Tony and Bruce still had to face two problems: data collection and computing power support.
The data collection problem.
Although Ultron could accurately process high-density data and integrate multi-dimensional calculations to discover where supernatural events were occurring, data needs to be collected by sensors.
Ultron could not create something out of nothing or perform calculations in a void, unless he completely disregarded accuracy.
Stark Industries did not have a global data collection system, so Ultron could only illegally invade other institutional databases to read data.
This was also why Tony had arrived late earlier.
As for the computing power support problem...
"The computing power problem isn't big. For now, we'll use Stark Industries' supercomputing center, and I've already started building a new supercomputing center."
Tony waved his hand, activating his money-power.
(End of Chapter)
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