"Global Daily reports to you, a red humanoid creature with two horns on its head and two wings on its back has appeared on Fifth Avenue in New York City, suspected to be a demon from hell. According to statistics, this is the seventh incident of a demon being discovered this month."
"What date is it today?" Lucas asked, resting his chin on Gwen's head.
He was naturally watching TV with Gwen.
"Twelve." Gwen replied after a quick calculation.
Lucas frowned upon hearing this.
Only twelve days had passed this month, yet seven incidents of demons entering Earth had occurred in New York City alone. And these were just the discovered ones, there were likely more that hadn't been found.
Had something happened to Kamar-Taj?
Thinking of this, Lucas asked Gwen in his arms, "Gwen, has anything special happened at Kamar-Taj while I've been away?"
Gwen shook her head and replied, "No. I went to Kamar-Taj a while ago and everything was normal there."
Gwen thought for a moment and added, "Oh, the Ancient One didn't tell me, but she said you should know the reason."
With that, Gwen turned around and looked up at Lucas.
"I should know the reason?"
Lucas suddenly remembered Infinite Ultron and his Ultron Legion's pacification of millions of Universes.
Cattle follow water and grass.
The life in reality was the demons' water and grass.
Infinite Ultron pacifying the lives of millions of Universes was like smashing the plates of those millions of Universe's demons, forcing them to seek new food.
"Lucas, can you tell me why this is happening?" Gwen asked proactively when Lucas didn't respond for a long time.
Lucas looked down, meeting Gwen's searching gaze.
The lives of millions of Universes were just cold data to some. But to others, they could see the vibrant lives behind that cold data.
Gwen was undoubtedly the latter.
Most Spider-Men were the latter.
Lucas lowered his head and kissed Gwen, only letting go after he had thought of his words.
Lucas vaguely said, "It should be some mutation that has occurred in a large area of the Hell nearby."
"Is that so?" Gwen was half-convinced but didn't think too much about it.
She just assumed Lucas was causing trouble in Hell again.
The two of them lingered, slowly finishing all the breakfast on the table.
Suddenly, Gwen seemed to remember something. She poked Lucas and asked, "Lucas, did you ask for leave for me these past few days?"
"Leave? What leave? I'm the boss, I approved the leave. Besides, the bookstore can operate normally even without anyone there." Lucas didn't care.
With his ability, separating the seventh floor of the bookstore from the other six was incredibly easy.
"Not the bookstore, the school."
Gwen got up and walked to the room, quickly finding her phone.
Opening her contacts, Gwen's vision went dark. She dropped her hands in despair, looking up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle.
Lucas leaned over to look.
On Gwen's phone, there were three missed calls.
Dr. Connors.
Curt Connors? Dr. Lizard?
Lucas thought for a moment and understood what was going on.
Most likely, Gwen had been working on a project with Connors, skipped work these past few days, and hadn't asked for leave, which prompted Connors to call and inquire.
Lucas stroked his chin, somewhat gloating, "By the way, Connors wouldn't have called the police, would he?"
"It's all your fault." Gwen said, grabbing Lucas's left hand and twisting it.
Then Gwen changed her clothes, called Connors, and hurried away.
Lucas watched from afar and couldn't help but smile again.
But as he smiled, his smile froze.
The corner of his eye caught sight of a being as vast as the starry sky, standing silently at the entrance of his bookstore.
People came and went at the bookstore entrance, and although no one could see him, they all instinctively avoided him.
"Creator, why have you come?"
Lucas gave an awkward laugh, took the elevator downstairs, and personally led the Creator to the lounge. Afterward, he brewed a pot of tea for the Creator.
Along the way, the Creator said nothing, only smiling calmly.
"Nine to five, weekends off, Wednesdays off." Just then, a voice rang out.
Lucas followed the voice and realized that behind the Creator, two other people were following.
"Gaea, Neith, why are you two here too? Come, have some tea."
Lucas smiled and motioned for Gaea and Neith to sit down, then he explained, "Where I am from, it's common to have five days of annual leave in the first year of work."
Gaea sneered, "But isn't it more common to have one to two days off per month and work more than twelve hours a day?"
She finally knew what Lucas had been doing when he stood her up the previous two times.
"Slander, absolutely slander." Lucas flatly denied, then he seriously and earnestly explained to Gaea.
Gaea listened with continuous sneers, only replying with a faint remark about him evading the main point.
Lucas was momentarily speechless.
He stiffly changed the subject, looking at Neith and asking, "So, the first one to receive treatment (beside Atum) is you, Neith?"
Neith nodded somewhat nervously.
She had heard from Gaea that although Atum didn't scream during his treatment, judging from his expression and other details, the treatment process was very painful.
Lucas noticed Neith's nervousness and gently comforted her, "Relax, Neith. I'll be careful."
Saying this, Lucas took Neith's hand, and his perception permeated into her body through her hand.
Neith, in her normal human size, looked much more pleasing to the eye than when she was a hundred feet tall in armor.
Neith nodded, and soon she felt a subtle stinging sensation emanating from deep within her body and mind.
At the same time, divine power flowed within Lucas's body, and streams of luminous white energy surged into Neith's body through the point where his and Neith's arms met.
The luminous white energy quickly circulated within Neith's body, causing her to glow faintly with a silver luster.
Neith was surprised to find that the stinging sensation from deep within her body and mind had disappeared. To be precise, the stinging sensation was covered by a tingling sensation.
Lucas was more careful when stripping the foreign energy from Neith's body, and it took him more time.
So, after a while, Neith proactively started a conversation to break the silence.
She asked, "Was that girl just now also a chosen one of the Web of Life and Destiny?"
Lucas nodded.
He wasn't surprised that Neith would ask about Gwen.
As the Creator of the Web of Life and Destiny, Neith had an exceptionally keen perception of Spider-Man and naturally felt goodwill towards him.
"That's right, Gwen is also a Spider-Man. She is Ghost-Spider, and I am Sorcerer Spider-Man. We are both chosen ones of the Web of Life and Destiny."
Neith said, biting her finger hesitantly, "But wasn't Sorcerer Spider-Man another little girl named Erin? I also felt the aura of the Web of Life and Destiny on her. I don't know why but it was much fainter."
Lucas, on the other hand, felt his vision go dark.
Damn Erin!
"Hmmph..."
"Neith, what are you doing?"
Lucas quickly let go of her hand, looking at Neith in surprise.
At this moment, Lucas firmly believed that Neith was Gaea's biological daughter. The intonation of their strange sounds was practically identical.
"Nothing."
Neith shyly lowered her head, her hands with nowhere to go, so she just clutched the hem of her clothes.
She didn't know why, but at that moment, a feeling of lighthearted joy suddenly surged from deep within her body and mind, as if a long-held burden had been lifted. Coupled with the tingling sensation from various parts of her body, she momentarily lost control.
Perhaps sensing Neith's predicament, Gaea, who was nearby, spoke up to help, "Lucas, are you done?"
Lucas nodded. "Yes, I'm done."
Gaea asked again, her expression somewhat strange, "Are you really done?"
Lucas confirmed again, looking at Gaea with a bit of puzzlement. "I'm really done."
Logically, this was his second time removing the foreign energy from an Elder God, so Gaea shouldn't be questioning him.
Gaea hesitated for a moment, still a little worried, and asked, "Why is Neith's situation a bit different from Atum's? Atum seemed to be in great pain when the foreign energy was stripped away."
Lucas suddenly understood.
He picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup, took a sip, and then, without changing his expression, said, "Atum didn't say he was afraid of pain, so I thought he didn't care."
Gaea was speechless.
She looked deeply at Lucas, understanding what he meant by "forgiveness."
Lucas looked up and glanced at the clock on the wall: the hour hand was almost at one hundred and twenty degrees.
The exact time was 3:57, which in military format was 15:57.
He picked up his teacup again and smiled. "Creator, Gaea, Neith, would you like to try my tea?"
The Creator smiled but did not move.
Gaea and Neith readily complied, picking up the tea Lucas had poured for them and slowly sipping.
After a while, Lucas put down his teacup and quietly watched Gaea and Neith.
Gaea and Neith were confused. They imitated him, also putting down their teacups and looking at Lucas.
Tick-tock... Tick-tock...
The sound of the clock turning echoed.
Lucas picked up his teacup again, while Gaea and Neith still looked on, puzzled.
Lucas could only clear his throat, and after a moment, he said, "There's a cultural custom called 'offering tea to see off guests' in my hometown."
Gaea and Neith then suddenly understood.
Gaea smiled, took Neith's hand and stood up. She bid farewell to Lucas, and promised to meet again on Earth-616 when they had time, then turned and left.
After watching them leave, Lucas turned to look at the Creator, only to find that he had departed at some unknown time.
At this moment, the hour hand of the clock on the wall had just reached 120 degrees.
It was four in the afternoon, one hour before Lucas and the Creator's agreed-upon quitting time.
Very good.
Lucas nodded contentedly.
He casually picked up a book and lied down on the sofa.
Being late, leaving early, and frequently taking time off—this was his ideal work state.
No, he should also be able to read during work hours.