So, judging from the Transformers' actions—
Rescuing people? No, more like "rescuing" other civilizations.
But about this whole "rescue" thing… well, to put it bluntly, the Transformers civilization isn't some saintly do-gooder society, and it certainly isn't like carbon-based civilizations. For them, as long as they and their Creator exist, the universe is complete.
If other civilizations vanish… wouldn't that just mean more resources?
Entire mining territories, once occupied, are now cleared. Resource zones that used to be hard to reach because they were controlled by other civilizations are now open. Enemy territories are gone too.
It's as if vast regions of the universe have been reset, no longer painted over with the colors of other civilizations.
Which means, in the future, they'll all belong to the Transformers!
As for whether the Transformers civilization could still stand against the Annihilation Wave without the help of other cosmic civilizations…
Well… actually, the Transformers have long conducted rigorous analyses and evaluations of every major civilization. And in this crisis, things like culture, civility, or morality don't matter at all. The only thing that matters is raw combat strength.
And according to the Transformers' combat ratings, the other civilizations… well, if they're gone, they're gone.
At present, the Transformers themselves can't defeat this alien invasion. Which means, even if all the other civilizations joined forces, they wouldn't stand a chance either.
So really, it's not worth worrying about.
If Tony were watching, he'd notice something else too—
The Transformers' productivity and construction speed had taken yet another massive leap. Their total output now exceeded that of the entire Earth, and it was still rising at several times that rate.
And their goal was simple:
To forge the Solar System into an impregnable, invincible star system!
...
Meanwhile, in New York, someone lay wide awake.
She was still in her tight suit, not even bothering to change out of it. Lying on the bed she'd first collapsed into, she felt a little drowsy, but her mind was buzzing, restless and alert.
Hands tucked behind her head, she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.
She was Silk.
Her real name: Cindy Moon.
She hadn't even been Spider-Woman for three months. Which meant in her own world, she had only just become Spider-Woman. No big story arcs had even happened yet before she suddenly found herself in this universe.
And then she was hit with an entirely new worldview.
How to describe it? Thrilling!
She thought back to earlier in the day, when she'd nearly forced a kiss on a girl. And how she'd told a guy she had just met that he was her ideal type.
And she'd said it right in front of his girlfriend.
If that wasn't provocation, what was it?
The fact that they hadn't beaten her to a pulp… well, that was generous of them.
"Ugh…"
Just thinking about it made Silk bury her face under the blanket in embarrassment.
Too humiliating.
How could she act like some dumb kid?
Tomorrow, if she saw them again, she swore she'd greet them properly, speak politely, and actually show some manners.
But… the moment she saw Gwen, she just couldn't help herself.
"Ughhh…"
Silk groaned again, mortified.
So embarrassing.
She felt ashamed to call herself Spider-Woman. If she couldn't control herself, people might end up calling her something ridiculous, like "Spider-Creep."
No. She had to hold back.
She still had a bright future ahead of her.
This city was waiting for her to protect it.
Once the Spider Alliance was formed, she'd be among the very first members!
The thought of one day having more Spider allies… and knowing she already had one… made her feel far less alone.
Because back in her own universe, she had no one. She was an orphan.
Normal Spider-Men at least had parents. And if they lost their parents, they still had uncles or aunts. But Cindy had none of that—she had lost everyone.
Compared to her old world, this universe was already so much brighter.
Here, there was the Spider Alliance. Here, there was Spider-Gwen.
And that alone filled Silk with hope for the future.
"Huuu…"
With those thoughts lingering, Silk eventually drifted off to sleep without even realizing it.
...
The next day.
When Lorien woke up, he didn't get out of bed.
It was the weekend—if you didn't sleep in, could you even call it a weekend?
So he stayed under the covers, scrolling on his phone for a while.
He flipped through TikTok and soon came across yesterday's video of Silk fighting Rhino.
Beneath the clip, the title read:
[No.1: New Spider-Woman Battles Rhino!]
In other words, it was the number one trending topic.
Lorien checked the rest of the list.
[No.2: Two Spider-Women!]
As expected. Yesterday's events had made a huge splash. Out of the top ten trending searches, four were about Gwen and Silk.
He tapped a few of the videos at random.
The footage usually started with Silk and Rhino locked in a fierce fight. They traded blows for quite a while before the police showed up. The fight dragged on a bit longer until Gwen appeared.
With a single sword strike, she cut Rhino down.
Then, in a flash, she appeared before the new Spider-Woman—only to take her away with her.
That's where the videos ended.
Since the clips came from different people, the perspectives varied—side shots, back shots, corner angles—dozens of versions from nearly every angle imaginable.
And the comment sections were even wilder.
[What the hell? Two Spider-Women? What does this mean? Does it mean fewer villains in the city from now on!?]
[Oh my god! The new Spider-Woman is gorgeous! She showed her forehead and eyes—so beautiful!]
[Both Spider-Men are stunning. Even though we don't see Spider-Woman clearly, I bet she's gorgeous too! Hell yeah!!!]
[Sorry to interrupt, but while Spider-Woman saves people, didn't you notice they caused even more destruction?]
{Reply: Are you stupid? Without Spider-Woman, do you really think the NYPD could've handled that?
{Reply: Oh~ look at this empty-headed fool! You think the military would cause less damage? By the time they show up, the whole block would be blown apart!}
{Reply: Exactly. Remember when Hulk first appeared? He tore down schools, buildings, plazas, even parks.}
Lorien burst out laughing when he saw that last comment.
How was Hulk still getting dragged into this?
Back when he fought Abomination, they wrecked an entire New York street. Too many people remembered that.
To this day, the most destruction in New York came from the Chitauri invasion. But second place? Hulk vs. Abomination.
That's why Banner was still catching heat for it. Poor guy.
Lorien chuckled again, and the sound stirred Gwen awake.
Knowing they had things to take care of today, he hadn't gone too wild with the two of them last night. He'd only used the Horse Talisman once—enough to enjoy without overdoing it.
When Gwen blinked her eyes open, still half-asleep, she spotted him beside her. Without hesitation, she snuggled up close, hugging him tightly.
Her legs pressed against his, her hand wandering across his chest, her face rubbing against him.
She was so used to it now that it had become a reflex. Without experience, no one could act that naturally.
After nuzzling against him for a bit, she closed her eyes again and nestled into the crook of his arm, watching him play on his phone.
But when she caught a glimpse of what was on screen, her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Back in the news again, huh?"
"The Spider-Women really do need to be organized under an alliance. With this much attention, if one slips up, they'll all take the blame."
Lorien nodded. "Exactly."
Since they all carried the Spider-Woman name, they were seen as one group. If one made a mistake, the others would be criticized too.
It was just like when the Avengers got blamed before. Same principle.
Which was why proper management was essential.
That thought led Gwen to ask curiously,
"So where should our Spider Alliance base actually be?"
The base was important.
If Spiders were going to live and train there regularly, it had to be somewhere hidden yet convenient.
They couldn't just pick some random spot in the suburbs. After all, Spider-Woman swung across rooftops. If most buildings around were only three stories tall, what was the point?
They needed skyscrapers.
But turning a skyscraper into a base was difficult. With too many members, the risk of exposure was high. Too few, and it wouldn't work. It also had to be in the city center.
Finding a proper base wasn't going to be easy.
Gwen was already running through the skyscrapers she had climbed before, wondering which one had the best "feel."
She thought about it for quite a while…
Then Lorien suddenly pinched her cherry and laughed.
"Don't you think our building is pretty great?"
Gwen shuddered and quickly pushed away Lorien's wandering hand. Then, after thinking about it, she realized—he was right.
She'd already gone in and out of this building several times. The convenience was unbeatable.
If they really made it their base… this might actually be the best spot in all of New York!
Lorien continued.
"My plan is to buy the whole tower and convert the top floors into our base.
The very top floor stays as our home.
The floor below it remains my office.
The third-to-top floor will be independent dorm apartments and shared living areas.
The fourth floor down will be for training and recreation—perfect, since I still have Tony's gravity chamber.
The fifth floor down will house the meeting rooms, study areas, and so on.
So basically, I'll buy the entire North Tower, reserve the top ten floors exclusively for us, and install a private elevator and hidden passageways inside.
The rest of the building will continue normal operations as cover.
And of course, I'll add magical shielding to block detection on the upper levels. No problems at all."
Gwen's eyes widened more and more as she listened.
This wasn't just an idea—this was a fully fleshed-out execution plan! Every floor already had its purpose laid out.
If they went with this, the base issue would be solved completely.
She perked up immediately and asked, excitedly,
"What about the suits? And gear? How are we handling that?"
"That's simple."
Lorien smiled.
"I'll bring in a nanotech suit printer.
You'll decide the styles yourselves—any Spider-Suit design you like. Nothing is fixed.
Then you'll agree on an alliance emblem.
The only rule is that the emblem must be placed somewhere obvious, so people can clearly tell which Spiders belong to the alliance and which ones are newcomers."
Nanotech suits weren't that difficult.
They didn't need Tony's kind of full combat armor.
Something like the metal nanotech suit Peter wore in Avengers: Endgame would be more than enough—some defense, environmental adaptability, and above all, flexibility.
The more Gwen listened, the more excited she became.
She'd thought it would take ages to settle all the details. But Lorien had casually laid out a flawless, step-by-step plan!
A Northern Tower base.
Custom-designed nanotech suits marked with the alliance emblem.
Alliance-style management.
And more.
"This is amazing~!" Gwen cheered.
She threw herself onto Lorien, peppering him with frantic kisses. Mua! Mua! Mua~!
The smacking sounds filled the room, loud enough to wake Wanda.
On the side, Wanda slowly opened her eyes.
"You two…"
She glanced at Lorien and Gwen, half-thinking they were about to start morning training. Thankfully, it wasn't that.
She let out a relieved sigh, stretched, and asked lazily,
"What are you two talking about, Gwen? You sound so happy."
After showering Lorien with kisses, Gwen finally let him go.
"Lorien already figured out everything about the Spider Alliance base and the whole plan. He's so smart—he thought it all through in one go!"
"Hm?" Wanda perked up with curiosity. "What detailed plan? Tell me."
"I'll tell you—"
Gwen immediately spilled every detail to Wanda.
Lorien watched them with a slightly awkward expression.
For him, with his limitless mind, once he understood a problem, forming a plan was nearly instant.
Even the most powerful supercomputer couldn't match the speed of his mental calculations.
So to him, this was simple.
But to Gwen and Wanda, it was incredible.
No, beyond incredible.
When Gwen finished, Wanda thought for a moment—then her eyes lit up.
"This is brilliant, Lorien!"
"This way Gwen can lead the Spider Alliance so much better."
"And if she runs into something she can't handle, she can just come straight to you to clean up the mess."
"Smack!"
Gwen instantly slapped Wanda on the arm.
"Could you put it in a nicer way, Wanda? That's called life guidance!"
Rubbing her arm, Wanda quickly ducked behind Lorien, pressing her hands against his back.
"Exactly. You just don't want to admit it."
"You—!"
Gwen made as if to pounce.
Exasperated, Lorien held them both down and gave each a light pat.
"Alright, enough playing around. Let's get to work.
We've only got two days. We need to finish this before Monday, when we have to send Gwen off to college."
Oh, right—college.
Wanda grinned.
"When Gwen goes to college, she won't have time to cling to you anymore~"
"You're really asking for it, Wanda!"
As the two looked ready to wrestle again, Lorien reluctantly pulled out his trump card.
The girls immediately behaved and started getting dressed.
Wanda, of course, simply waved her hand and changed outfits in an instant.
After washing up and eating breakfast, Lorien took them to buy the North Tower.
It was simple—a matter of a word.
He didn't even need to leave.
With the purchase, property transfer, and taxes settled, the tower was his.
Remember the building Tony bought in seconds after his Hulkbuster fight with Hulk in Avengers 2?
For Lorien, it was about the same—an hour or two at most.
If he used his abilities, it would've been instantaneous.
With the building secured, step two was renovation.
They started with the third-to-top floor, designated as independent dorm apartments and living areas.
Each floor of the Northern Tower had about 2,500 square meters, with a height of four meters.
At 2,500 square meters per floor, if each apartment was 100 square meters, that meant 25 large units.
For a Spider-Man, a single apartment with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and balcony was more than enough.
Elsewhere, factoring in shared areas, 100 square meters might only get you a large two-bedroom or a small three-bedroom.
But here? That was spacious for a one-bedroom.
With a snap of Lorien's fingers, ten rooms appeared instantly—lined against the walls, each with massive 90-degree floor-to-ceiling windows.