Restart, Spider-Man!

"Spider-Man?"

Zod glanced at Faora, who stood beside him. Her expression was filled with disdain.

"Never heard of him."

Xia Luo, however, was brimming with confidence.

"Today, you may treat me with indifference. Tomorrow, you won't be able to reach me even if you beg!"

"I guarantee that next time we meet, you'll be utterly—"

"In love with you?" Old Steve interrupted.

Xia Luo shook his head. "No, you'll be worshipping me!"

"Spider-Man never lacks fans!"

Raising his hand dramatically, he added, "Go ahead—bind me, restrain me. I won't resist."

Behind him, Carter's face darkened.

"You idiot, what the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm not messing around—I'm competing seriously," Xia Luo replied with a straight face.

His plan was to win over the Kryptonians with his personal charm. Surely, they'd let him go.

Unfortunately, Dark Strange wasn't about to give him the chance.

"Spider-Man must die. As long as he's alive, there will always be a variable in this match!"

Dark Strange suddenly made his move. A deep black magic circle materialized beneath Xia Luo's feet.

As countless shadowy tentacles surged up to ensnare him, a colossal spaceship loomed in the sky, unleashing a devastating spatial vortex.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Xia Luo looked up, stunned by the unfolding scene.

He had thought that missiles for squashing bugs were absurd enough.

Never did he imagine that one day, he'd be targeted by interstellar weapons.

What shocked him the most, though, was how Dark Strange had learned such effective tactics against Spider-Man after just one resurrection match.

Buzz!

Before he could dwell on it, an eerie light enveloped him. The spatial vortex consumed his body, and his consciousness was abruptly pulled back to the Web of Life and Destiny.

---

[You have been eliminated. No resurrection slot obtained. Reward: Web Line Laser (1,000°C).]

[59 retries remaining. Retry?]

Retry!

---

Second Resurrection Match

"Web Line Laser? A new web mode?"

Standing atop one of the massive shell-like buildings, Xia Luo curiously rubbed his wrist. The gland there felt warm, prompting him to raise his hand and shoot out a strand of webbing.

Zzz~~

The web shot out in a straight line, sizzling as it struck a dark-gold rooftop.

Puff~

At 1,000°C, the high-temperature web left black smoke rising from the roof. The web's laser effect only managed to peel off a small piece of the wall's surface, but it was enough to leave Xia Luo satisfied.

"Not bad. Not very practical, but good enough for barbecuing."

Spider-Man wasn't a greedy person.

This time, he was determined to win two resurrection slots!

Lost in thought, he glanced toward the distant eruption of dark magic. Without hesitation, he fired a web line and swung after it.

Boom~~

Dark magic surged forward, obliterating the beetle-like spacecraft in its path, before vanishing into the tallest dark-gold structure.

At the same time, a horde of Kryptonian soldiers stormed the building, desperately trying to stop the fearsome intruder.

Amid the chaos, a tiny red-and-blue "ant" nestled within the armor seams of one Kryptonian soldier, watching the action unfold.

Boom~

Dark tentacles lashed out with terrifying force, and no soldier could stand against Dark Strange.

"Quick, take him down!"

"We can't let him get inside—"

The soldiers shouted as they fired particle cannons, but the overwhelming beams of energy were reflected back by the glossy dark magic barrier. In an instant, the golden hall was cleared of Kryptonian soldiers.

From the debris of the fallen soldiers, the diminutive Xia Luo marveled at Dark Strange's immense power.

If not for using the Knowledge Stone inside Symbiote Tony during the last match, Dark Strange would have been unstoppable.

Too bad Thanos wasn't around this time. With the Titan's artifacts, maybe Tony from the main universe would have a Knowledge Stone as well.

With this thought, Xia Luo quietly slipped out of the hall.

Dark Strange hadn't noticed the tiny "bug" that had witnessed everything.

Before long, General Zod arrived with reinforcements.

Surveying the carnage, Zod was alarmed.

Someone had acted before him?

Frowning, he studied the peculiar figure before him. This was no Kryptonian.

"State your purpose," Zod demanded, opting for dialogue rather than action.

After all, his goal was to seize Krypton's throne. If this individual was an enemy of the old council, cooperation could be worth considering.

At the very least, they shouldn't become enemies.

The ability to single-handedly take down thousands of elite Kryptonian soldiers was beyond Zod's imagination.

Dark Strange, meanwhile, made no move either.

Spider-Man had already taught him how to approach resurrection matches.

"I am Stephen Strange, from the distant Earth. My goal is Kal-El."

Dark Strange's eerie smile remained as he stared directly at the general.

Through the souls of the fallen soldiers, he had learned that the man before him was General Zod.

The mission prompt had mentioned assisting Zod in his quest for power, so Zod's status was undoubtedly significant.

With Zod's authority, Strange could accomplish much.

With this in mind, he continued, "I can also help you achieve your goals—like taking control of Krypton."

Zod's frown deepened.

Are all Earthlings this straightforward?

Though neither fully trusted the other, Zod decided to play along for now, given Dark Strange's overwhelming power.

"You'll need to prove your sincerity," Zod said.

"No problem."

With a wave of his hand, Dark Strange conjured a magical projection of Xia Luo.

"Find this man and observe him in secret."

"Why?"

"Because he knows things we don't."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You'll see my sincerity soon enough."

Thus began the preliminary stages of their uneasy alliance.

---

Outside the hall, Xia Luo returned to his normal size, having overheard their conversation. Smirking, he activated his temporal Spider-Summon.

Buzz~

The golden Temporal Spider clung to Xia Luo's chest, but its dimensional power flickered uncertainly.

Xia Luo sighed in disappointment.

As expected, it couldn't open a portal to the Marvel Multiverse.

There really were no exploitable bugs in these resurrection matches.

Unfazed, he moved on to testing his other Spider variants.

The Magic Spider couldn't channel magic. The Arc Spider, powered by an arc reactor core, seemed unaffected, which reassured him somewhat.

"At least this one works fine," he muttered.

Suddenly, a cold voice sounded from behind him.

"What are you?"

Xia Luo turned slowly, only to find Faora staring at him with curious disdain. Her piercing gaze seemed to dissect him on the spot.

He raised a stiff hand in a friendly wave.

"Hi! Remember what I said? Next time we meet, you'll be worshipping me. So go ahead—start worshipping!"

Without waiting for her response, he tapped his wrist device. A burst of Pym Particles surrounded him, shrinking his body until he disappeared into the cracks of the wall.

However, the dramatic chase scene he had envisioned didn't happen.

Instead, a familiar feeling from his past resurrection matches returned.

He died. Again. Quickly and unceremoniously.

With a calm precision that showed her disdain for wasting effort, Faora raised her weapon and fired an ion cannon at the wall where Xia Luo had hidden. The blast pulverized it into dust, leaving no trace of him behind.

Faora didn't like chasing things.

After finishing the job, she casually tossed the weapon to a soldier standing behind her.

"Must've been some mutant creature that escaped from the Genesis Chamber," she said, her tone indifferent. "The thing could talk—seems the Codex's genetic data is evolving again."

At that moment, Zod stepped out of the meeting room, ready to proceed with his plans.

"What did you just do?" he asked Faora.

"Oh, I saw a bug. Red… no, maybe blue. I killed it."

"Red and blue? A bug?" Zod's expression remained emotionless, but Dark Strange's face immediately darkened.

If Spider-Man was dead, how was he supposed to find Superman, Kal-El?

Damn it! They were both trying to work with the same mission target, but why did Spider-Man always succeed while he failed?

Dark Strange's frustration boiled over, and tendrils of dark magic began to spread uncontrollably from his body.

Spider-Man was dead, and he was very angry.

---

Oh, you're still here? Nice. While I'm out here juggling revival matches and reminding villains why they should reconsider their life choices, someone's behind the scenes making sure my story reaches you. Gotta admit, they're doing a pretty solid job.

If you want to help keep this whole thing running smoothly, here's the link: [patreon.com/WiseTL]. Think of it as… supporting your favorite underdog. Everyone loves an underdog, right?

Anyway, time to get back to saving the day. See you in the next chapter—don't forget to stay out of trouble (that's my job).

— Xia Luo 🕸️