The battle ended, and the sound of sirens quickly closed in.
Military forces arrived to take control of the scene, managing witnesses and handling the aftermath.
Charlie had no interest in dealing with this world's authorities. To help Clark better unlock his potential, he took Clark's adoptive parents with him, ensuring they didn't fall into official hands.
Though he'd love to see the iconic scene of Superman in handcuffs, letting the situation escalate would likely result in either Jonathan or Martha dying.
And then, he'd really get a beating from an out-of-control Superman.
Taking Clark's parents along would give him a chance to explain later.
So, an invincible Spider-Man commandeered a ship, and the group set off across the endless sea.
The weathered vessel rocked on the waves, steered calmly by an elderly sailor cutting through the swells.
On the deck, elderly Steve and Peggy took turns doing ideological work on Jonathan and Martha.
Outside the cabin, Diana looked at Charlie with confusion.
"You could've used a portal to take us to Atlantis. Why insist on this primitive method?"
Charlie glanced at her. "Relax, I've got the cash to rent the ship."
Diana rolled her eyes. "That's not what I'm asking."
"I know."
Charlie gazed at the calm sea. "There are some things I haven't figured out yet. Using a portal would cut my thinking time short. I'm hoping the sea will spark some inspiration."
At that, the old sailor in the cockpit burst out laughing.
"Young Spider-Man, coming to the sea for inspiration? You've come to the right place."
Charlie turned curiously. "I'm not even in my suit, and you still recognized me?"
Was he that famous already?
The sailor nodded toward elderly Steve and the others. "You're not in your suit, but they are."
Charlie blinked. "Fair point. But, old buddy, from the first moment I saw you, you seemed familiar. We haven't met before, right?" He leaned against the cockpit door, smiling.
The sailor shook his head. "Never met, but I've heard your stories."
"Probably saw me on the news, I get it."
"No, when I was a kid."
"A kid?" Charlie was surprised.
"Yeah."
The sailor sighed wistfully. "When I was little, my family was poor. My mom told me poor kids grow up fast…"
"Wait!"
Charlie cut off the nostalgic tale. "I'll grant you're New York's finest sailor, but can you get to the point?"
The sailor thought for a moment. "My mom told me once about a group of Spider-Men who saved the world."
At that, Charlie had a realization.
"That's right, we did save the world."
He turned to Diana. "But it seems Spider-Man's story was covered up. Do you know anything about that?"
Diana pondered. "It was probably the human authorities at the time deliberately hiding it. After all, what happened back then was too unbelievable for humanity."
"You can't hide what happened back then," the sailor sighed. "Though years have passed, and those who know treat it as legend or fiction, Spider-Man's reappearance in the public eye will stir up a lot of blurry memories."
Sure enough, as the sailor finished, the radio crackled with the host's dramatic, storytelling voice.
"Legend has it, during the war, a group of Spider-Men appeared on the battlefield. They defeated massive alien invaders, ending the war between humans early…"
Charlie: "…"
That timing was too perfect.
He studied the old sailor closely.
By movie logic, if this guy was just an extra, the radio wouldn't be so conveniently timed.
So…
"I'm Charlie, Charlie Parker," he introduced himself.
The sailor responded politely, "I'm Thomas Curry, used to be a professional lighthouse keeper."
"Lighthouse…"
Charlie's eyes grew even more suspicious.
No wonder this guy looked familiar—he was Aquaman's dad!
Wait, something's off. Aquaman Arthur's father is here as a sailor?
Then what about Arthur and Atlanna?
It hit him.
He'd changed Atlanna's fate. If she didn't run from her marriage, she wouldn't have met lighthouse keeper Thomas, and without their meeting, they wouldn't have fallen in love.
If they didn't fall in love, then Aquaman… didn't exist?
No way?
Charlie felt a pang of unease.
This level of change might force a restart of this universe.
But there'd been no reaction so far, which meant…
Charlie had a bad feeling.
Whoosh~
The next moment, the calm sea erupted into towering waves, and the cloudless sky was suddenly swallowed by endless dark clouds.
Boom!!
As lightning flashed, illuminating the sea, the massive waves pushed the ship rapidly toward the horizon. Thomas's face paled in the cockpit.
He gripped the helm tightly to avoid being thrown by the violently rocking ship.
At the same time, he shouted at Charlie, "Spider-Man, save me!!"
"No problem, stay calm."
Charlie waved nonchalantly, forming hand signs to release a massive spider totem that stabilized the ship.
The vessel stopped rocking, but the waves still roared, battering the hull.
Boom!!
The next second, lightning flashed again, revealing a massive, eerie shadow beneath the sea.
Elderly Steve, poking his head out, couldn't help but exclaim.
"It's a sea monster! It's huge!"
Peggy shook her head. "No, it's not huge—it's… countless smaller sea monsters forming that shadow!"
As she spoke, a tumor-covered sea monster leaped from the water, charging straight at Peggy.
Roar!
Shwick!
The edge of her shield sliced through the monster's fin, splitting it in two as it fell back into the sea.
Instantly, countless other sea monsters swarmed, devouring the corpse.
Meanwhile, more creatures used their sharp claws to latch onto the ship, climbing up with intent to overwhelm it.
Jonathan and Martha were paralyzed with fear, while elderly Steve, Peggy, and Diana sprang into action, clearing the monsters from the deck.
Zzzzt~
Pfft!!
Crimson beams swept across, wiping out swaths of sea monsters.
Charlie flung an attacking creature back into the sea. "It's the Trench. They're afraid of light."
With that, he raised a hand, releasing a dazzling crimson orb. The intense light dispelled the darkness, forcing the countless Trench monsters illuminated by it to retreat into the deep sea, unable to face the blinding glow.
As the monsters receded, Jonathan and Martha breathed a sigh of relief.
Thomas collapsed onto the floor, his old face twitching.
"Too terrifying, too terrifying…"
Nearby, Diana frowned slightly.
"Why are the Trench in this part of the sea?"
Charlie looked off in a direction. "Someone's probably controlling them."
"Controlling the Trench?"
Diana's frown deepened.
"Besides Atlantis's Trident of Neptune, who else could…"
Mid-sentence, Diana and Charlie locked eyes.
"The King of Atlantis is in trouble!"
"Atlanna's in trouble!"
As they spoke, the distant waves surged higher, and an endless army of sea soldiers riding whale sharks surfaced.
At the forefront of the vast, majestic sea army stood a young man wielding a trident, atop a seahorse chariot symbolizing royal authority, dominating all.
"Spider-Man, you've finally shown yourself."
Orm, clad in silver armor, narrowed his eyes, hatred visibly spreading within them.
"Kill them!"
He raised his trident high, and the endless sea army charged toward the ship amidst the towering waves.
"Kill!"
Roar!!
In an instant, sea beasts roared, and the sea soldiers' battle cries echoed across the ocean, waves surging relentlessly toward the ship.
On the deck, elderly Steve stared at the dense sea army, his scalp tingling.
"Ah!!"
He clutched his head, roaring, "No!!"
As elderly Steve had a sudden breakdown, Peggy sighed in exasperation.
"What's wrong with you now?" she asked helplessly.
Elderly Steve wailed, clutching his head. "Without my hammer, I'm nothing! I can't help Little Spider!!!"
Peggy: "…"
Behind them, Diana looked at Charlie suspiciously.
"Isn't the Queen of Atlantis your friend?"
Charlie scratched his head. "If nothing's gone wrong, she should consider me a friend."
Last time he summoned Atlanna to the Marvel Universe, she didn't act strange.
Could Atlanna be a scheming queen, ready to betray him after using him?
That'd be too melodramatic.
The only possibility was that Atlanna had been betrayed by those elders again.
Charlie cursed inwardly—useless, can't even hold onto power.
With a trident, she still lost her throne?
This was beyond useless.
Immediately, he formed hand signs, and a swarm of duplicates shot out.
"Good Neighbor Tornado Parking Lot Destroyer!!"
"Come back, it's all water out there!!"
Boom!!
Chaos erupted once more.
As the spider duplicates multiplied, the sea army was momentarily locked in a bitter struggle.
But soon, they wouldn't have to fight so hard.
"Watch out!"
Suddenly, cries of alarm rang out across the sea battlefield. A sparkling portal flashed behind Orm, and a fist the size of a sandbag, carrying boundless force, shook the ocean.
Hum!!
Boom!!
The next moment, the Trident of Neptune erupted with dazzling light, but even it had to yield to the invincible Spider-Man's fist.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, the sea surged with massive waves.
In the stunned gazes of countless sea soldiers, Orm, wielding the trident, was sent flying across the sea, defeated in a single exchange.
On the seahorse chariot, Charlie rubbed his wrist.
"Pretty tough, but that's it?"
His casual taunt provoked the sea's furious roar.
Whoosh~
Boom!!
Orm burst from the water, roaring savagely, his trident summoning endless lightning as he swung it.
"It's all your fault!!"
Zzzzt~
Bang bang bang~~
Golden lightning streaked across the sea, exploding along its path, as torrents of seawater turned into a deluge raining down.
Seeing this, Charlie reached into the void.
"Interesting. Let's play."
Zzt~
As an arc of electricity struck Charlie's chest, the surrounding raindrops seemed to freeze in midair.
Zzzzt~
Pfft pfft pfft…
In an instant, a blue arc, wrapped in a raging water tornado, streaked past the golden lightning, closing in on Orm.
"What?"
Orm's eyes widened. "So fast!"
Before he could finish the word "fast," the blue arc had already zipped around him dozens of times.
Bang bang bang~~
Boom!!
In a flash, Orm's body crashed back into the sea, the trident slipping from his grasp into Charlie's hand.
Zzt~
As the arc faded, Charlie patted the smoking electric spiderling.
"Good work, head back!"
Chirp chirp chirp~
The electric spiderling grumbled, vanishing into the void, swearing never to be forced into overdrive again.
Its limit was the arc reactor's limit, but that wasn't Charlie's limit.
With Charlie's stellar and magical energy boosting it, it could break past its usual speed.
But that state was too much for the electric spiderling.
If it had been a second later, its body would've collapsed entirely.
It hated that feeling.
Meanwhile, Charlie toyed with the trident. Seeing this, the sea soldiers in the area stopped fighting.
As the duplicates vanished, the sea soldiers began whispering among themselves.
Before Charlie could eavesdrop, a battered Orm surfaced, climbing onto a piece of broken wood, still glaring at Charlie with hatred.
"Damn bug, I hate you!!" he roared.
"Huh?"
Charlie blinked, confused by the guy's deal.
On the ship, elderly Steve clapped and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, I get it! This guy must be carrying Little Spider's… uh, genetic material. For the sake of protecting this universe, I'll just call it that."
Peggy shot him a look. "You're saying this guy is Atlanna's kid?"
"Definitely."
Elderly Steve pointed at the two on the sea, his robes billowing in the wind.
"I'm sure Little Spider doesn't know this guy.
And there's no such thing as baseless hatred.
So, the truth is clear: this guy's Little Spider's kid. A child without a father's love usually harbors intense resentment and hostility toward a dad who suddenly shows up."
Peggy had a realization. "I get it, that's how it works in movies… wait, what did you say!!"
She snapped to attention, grabbing elderly Steve by the collar and roaring, "What did you say? His kid?"
Elderly Steve was terrified by Peggy's ferocious expression.
He stammered weakly, "Isn't… isn't that the case?"
Peggy shoved him away, her face dark as she glared at the figure on the sea.
Clenching her fists, she gritted her teeth. "That jerk said they were just friends, and now he's got a kid!!"
Fuming, she punched elderly Steve, who'd just gotten up, back into the sea.
Elderly Steve: "…"
What did I do?
My fault?
He thought it over and decided to stay underwater.
He could hold his breath like a champ.
As for Diana, she overheard the conversation.
Seeing Peggy's rage, she thought for a moment and stepped forward to console her.
"It's okay, it's probably just an accident."
Peggy snorted. "Yeah, an accident. And he's about to have another one."
Diana: "???"
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said."
Peggy turned to a corner, borrowing paper and a pen from Thomas and starting to write.
Diana peeked curiously and was stunned by Peggy's essay.
This woman was terrifying!
She was challenging Atlantis's queen to a duel!
Was that necessary?
Diana didn't get it but still eagerly coached Peggy on how to declare war on a romantic rival politely despite the hostility.
Heh, this was going to be a good show.