The Web Vs HYDRA?

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Gwen's latest plan had everything to do with the recent growth of the Web—her newly restructured organization—and two long-term missions that had been posted in the group chat from ████.

After inheriting the intelligence network that once belonged to the Red Room, the newborn Web wasn't quite on par with the Red Room at its peak—especially not without outside help from otherworlders or pulling in some Sorcerer Supreme-level nonsense.

But hey, there's a saying: "A fallen giant is still a giant."

The Red Room was, after all, a powerful secret organization. Even if Gwen's crew couldn't take over every last part of it, what they did gain was still enough to be called world-class.

The catch? While the Red Room's successor, codenamed "Madam B," had already carved out a legendary agent in the underworld over the past decade, Gwen—known only as "Ghost Spider"—was still an unknown name in those same circles.

Sure, anyone who could take down Madam B and absorb the Red Room's remains clearly wasn't someone to mess with. But how dangerous Ghost Spider actually was… that depended on who you asked.

To small-fry, the Web was already a terrifying monster.

But to the big fish—groups once equal to or even stronger than the Red Room—a mysterious new leader and a shiny intelligence network looked a lot like an unguarded buffet.

And so, recently, the Web had spent most of its time fending off "tests" from both criminals and official forces.

After a while, Gwen had had enough.

She decided to take Natasha and Yelena's advice: find a big-name opponent, crush them, and make the Web's strength crystal clear to the world.

After some careful scouting, Gwen picked one of Natasha's old "friends"—a mysterious organization that controlled Sokovia and had once secretly provided her sanctuary for a while.

Now that Gwen had the Red Room's database, she finally knew that group's name: HYDRA.

The reason for targeting them? Pretty straightforward.

First of all, Sokovia was already under HYDRA's control. Compared to regions like Wakanda or the African continent, Eastern Europe might look more civilized and easier to control—but that was only "relatively" speaking.

War, organizations pulling the strings, power bouncing from one shady group to another… as long as you didn't publicly humiliate a world superpower or stumble on a huge oil field, nobody in the global order would really care.

Second, HYDRA was already notorious.

Thanks to the intel inherited from the Red Room, Gwen learned that HYDRA had once backed a certain failed art student, and because of that, they'd been the target of a massive global purge near the end of World War II.

According to the official record, HYDRA should've been completely wiped out.

And yet... here they were, alive and thriving.

No one knew how HYDRA had clawed its way back, but Natasha was sure of one thing: if they wiped out HYDRA's base in Sokovia and leaked the intel they found there into the global underworld…

The rest of HYDRA would be far too busy cleaning up that mess to bother with the Web for quite a while.

Honestly, if Gwen didn't also want a way to boost the Web's reputation—and if they didn't happen to have a strategic interest in Sokovia's location—they could've just dropped the intel online and watched HYDRA go to war with that superpower across the Atlantic.

But it was decided, the Web Vs HYDRA.

And this kind of event—an open conflict between two world-class shadow organizations that would likely provoke a response from global powers—totally fit the "Leave a trace of your presence" requirement for the chat group's long-term mission.

In fact, the last time something like this happened—when they took down the Red Room's HQ—Fujiwara Chika hadn't even been there in person. But because she was listed as a founding member of the Web, she still got credited with 1,000 points from the system.

And that gave Gwen a bold idea—

If Chika could rack up points from an incident she didn't physically attend, just because her name was on the Web's registry…

Then wouldn't the same logic apply now?

Wouldn't it make sense that everyone else—who's also listed as part of the Web—might be eligible for points too, if something big went down between the Web and HYDRA?

It was worth testing.

Of course, if things went as expected, everyone wins.

But if she was wrong… that meant her little experiment might cause the entire group to lose a total of 10,000 points.

Even though each person can check in daily for 3 points, that's still more than a year's worth of sign-ins completely wasted.

To recall the Chat Group task again—

[ Client: ████ ]

[Mission Location: ██, Earth-∞]

[Mission Brief: After seeing new potential in Gwen Stacy (Earth-65), the original timeline's dimensional portal—intended to send her to Earth-1610—has been altered.]

[She's now been transported to a universe full of infinite possibilities. The hope is that Gwen Stacy (Earth-∞) will be able to fully unlock that potential in this new world.]

[Mission Requirement: You can show up as a superhero, antihero, supervillain, observer... whatever identity or image you want. Just leave behind a trace of your presence during the "event."]

[Mission Reward: 10,000 Chat Group Points per completed event]

[Mission Restrictions: None]

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『Catwoman』: So basically, "if we don't earn more, we're losing"?

『Catwoman』: You've got the makings of a great boss. (confirmed.jpg)

『Ghost Spider』: I mean, it's ten thousand points…

『Ordinary Human』: Look at it this way—if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have gotten that ten thousand last time either.

『Ordinary Human』: And if this works, you won't have to tiptoe around every decision wondering, "Does this count as an event?" You'll be able to act freely in your world.

『Ordinary Human』: And if you run into a serious threat or tough situation, just call for backup in the group.

『Ordinary Human』: Plus, we'll finally have a chance to understand how this whole "event" thing actually gets judged.

『Ghost Spider』: What do you mean?

『Lady Avalon』: I think what Veyron-kun is trying to say ... "we're not actually sure what part of the last event got counted."

『Lady Avalon』: Was it when we destroyed the Red Room? Or was it when we officially created the Web as an organization?

『Lady Avalon』: Like, for example—he got 5,000 points in that last event. But was it because he knocked everyone out in the Red Room HQ with Conqueror's Haki? Or was it because he came up with the name "Web" for the group?

『Earth's Cancer』: Huh?

『Snake Empress』: …If Miss Merlin hadn't said that, I honestly wouldn't have thought about it.

『Hellish Blizzard』: Then this is the perfect chance to test it. After all, that's your homeworld. Like Mr. Veyron said, if this experiment works, you'll have way more freedom there. That alone makes the risk worth it.

『Ghost Spider』: Hmm… okay. Then I'll give it a shot.

『Ghost Spider』: Besides, if things don't go the way I expect, I can just wrap up my own long-term mission and still get 10,000 points out of it, right?

『Ordinary Human』: Let's talk about that later.

『Ordinary Human』: What I'm more curious about is—how much pressure is the Web actually under going up against HYDRA? Can you handle it?

『Ghost Spider』: That's not something I need to worry about.

『Ghost Spider』: [Uploads images: (Natasha.jpg), (Yelena.jpg)]

『Catwoman』: …Wait. You already finished the upgrades?!

Selina stared wide-eyed at the reinforced suits Natasha and Yelena were wearing.

She knew the tech in Gwen's world was pretty shady… but this was next-level shady.

『Ghost Spider』: Yeah, reproducing those combat suits was a bit tricky at first—but when we were going through Madam B's assets, we found a block of vibranium hidden in one of her safehouses.

『Ghost Spider』: The scientists ran tests on it, and the performance was insane. Thanks to that vibranium and the breakthroughs we made with it, we built these new suits using it as the core material.

『Ghost Spider』: Aside from Natasha and Yelena, six other members of the Web who've officially earned code names have also been equipped with these suits—they boost their physical capabilities across the board.

『Ghost Spider』: Including me, that gives us a solid squad. HYDRA's not gonna be a problem.

『Ghost Spider』: And if, worst-case scenario, HYDRA turns out stronger than I thought…

『Ordinary Human』: …Start a livestream. If things go south, I'll jump in and bail you out.

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