Chapter 153: Soul Gem Fragment

The man holding the Star-Spangled Banner signaled to the person beside him, who immediately stepped forward.

Both of them held the flag and aimed it at the ground.

"Three, two, one—stab!"

Peter could almost hear their voices.

The two men exerted force together, driving the flagpole downward.

The bottom end of the flagpole pierced the ground.

However, in the next moment, a shocking scene unfolded.

The spot where the tip of the flagpole entered the ground suddenly cracked, forming two fissures that rapidly extended into the distance.

From Peter's elevated vantage point, the phenomenon was even clearer.

The moment the flagpole was inserted, the entire ground trembled slightly, and those glowing green, river-like substances flickered for an instant.

Then, one of the men pointed forward, and the four of them sprang into action.

One remained above to monitor the rope while the other three began descending along it.

A question mark slowly formed in Peter's mind.

Isn't this just a straight-up death wish?

He immediately recalled what he had thought about earlier in that sealed underground chamber.

Just then, something new happened below.

When one of them recklessly reached his hand into the glowing green energy, what had been a calm, rippling substance suddenly erupted—like a volcano bursting forth!

The three men panicked and scrambled backward.

As they fled toward the edge of the cliff they had climbed down from, the reckless one who had reached into the energy failed to react in time.

In the end, he was completely consumed by the glowing green energy!

Seeing this, the other three dared not linger and hurriedly retreated.

After another intense struggle, the strange machine that had appeared earlier vanished just as suddenly as it had arrived.

"Hmm?"

Peter, who had been watching with amusement, suddenly froze.

A scene surfaced in his mind involuntarily.

It looked eerily familiar—something he had seen in a movie before he transmigrated.

It was from the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four.

Before his transmigration, Fantastic Four had been adapted into two different film versions.

One was the 2005 Fantastic Four, followed by its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

The other was the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four.

Although both versions featured the same superhero team with similar powers, the execution was vastly different.

In the first version, the Fantastic Four and their arch-nemesis, Doctor Doom, gained their abilities after being exposed to cosmic radiation.

In the second version, they developed their powers after traveling to another dimension via an experimental machine and being affected by its mysterious energy.

Coincidentally, Peter had seen both versions.

In terms of power portrayal, the second version seemed to have a higher level of grandeur.

But in terms of cinematic enjoyment, the first version far surpassed the second.

He wasn't sure what others thought, but to him, the 2015 version was downright unwatchable.

However, if his eyes weren't deceiving him, what he had just witnessed looked exactly like a scene from that second version of Fantastic Four!

At this point, in this world, Reed Richards had already grown into an adult and joined the Franklin Institute, where he was researching interdimensional space.

Just as the research was nearing completion, the higher-ups informed them that the project would be handed over to another team.

Frustrated and disheartened, Victor Von Doom, Reed Richards, and Johnny decided to drown their sorrows with a few drinks.

The three, emboldened by their intoxication, quickly came to an agreement—they would be the "human pioneers" venturing into the mysterious dimension beyond.

Reed Richards specifically invited Ben, his childhood friend and trusted ally, who would later become the Thing.

Thus, the four of them donned protective suits, boarded their spaceship, and set off for this unknown world.

What happened next was exactly what had just unfolded before Peter's eyes.

If nothing went wrong, the one who had just recalled the spaceship was actually Sue on the other side.

However, due to this very act, she too was struck by the mysterious energy.

This energy granted Reed the ability to reshape his body at will, turned Sue into the Invisible Woman, transformed Johnny into the Human Torch, and changed Ben into the Thing—thus forming the Fantastic Four.

The villain remained Victor.

But compared to the first iteration, where he controlled electricity, this second version of Doctor Doom was unimaginably more powerful.

To put it simply: whoever he glared at—died!

His powers were somewhat similar to Ebony Maw, whom Peter had fought before.

Both could manipulate objects at will.

However, Doom's abilities were even more subtle and overwhelmingly stronger.

The final battle was also far grander than in the first iteration.

Doctor Doom used the machine that allowed them to traverse between dimensions to open the gates between two worlds, creating a singularity akin to a black hole, intending to completely devour Earth from that dimension!

But at this point, the plot took a nosedive.

Despite his overwhelming presence—able to eliminate the Fantastic Four with just a glance—Doctor Doom, for some reason, was suddenly defeated in battle.

Just as Peter was taking in all these unfolding events, the surrounding scene shifted once again.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself back in the same room.

Gwen and Electro were still standing beside him, looking at him curiously.

"Gwen, did I leave this place?" Peter asked.

"Peter?" Gwen looked puzzled and shook her head. "No, you've been standing here the whole time."

"Then how much time has passed?" Peter asked again.

"Huh? What happened to you?" Gwen finally sensed that something was off.

Peter didn't hide anything and briefly recounted what he had seen.

"You mean… inside this fragment of the Soul Stone, there's another hidden world? And that world was captured by someone from a parallel universe, linking the two together?" Electro asked in shock.

Peter nodded. "That seems to be the only possible explanation."

But there were still many things that didn't add up.

For example, by all logic, the Infinity Stones should only work within their native universe. Peter knew this firsthand—after all, the Time Stone embedded in the Eye of Agamotto he carried, which belonged to the 616 movie universe, was completely useless outside its own reality.

If Doctor Doom had drawn his power from this fractured Soul Stone's world, then it should have been the energy of the Soul Stone from Supernatural Universe-2. How, then, was he able to wield that power in another world?

Could there be something more to this?

Whoosh—

At that moment, the fragment of the Soul Stone suddenly shot into the air and flew straight into Peter's mind.

…?

Peter immediately activated his quantum energy to block it.

But he quickly realized that the Soul Stone fragment didn't seem to be harming him, so he let it be.

Instead, he noticed something surprising—the fragment wasn't just harmless, it was actually strengthening his soul's power!

(End of Chapter)

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