It must be said, the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Universe was incredibly talented and resourceful. Spider-Man is not Batman; he has superpowers, not cash-power. His materials and resources could not all be acquired through money. This world's Spider-Man had clearly built this massive resource cache entirely through his own genius!
"Is your place... like this too?" Miles looked at Middle-Aged Peter with reverence. He assumed Middle-Aged Peter was also a scientific mogul.
Middle-Aged Peter looked embarrassed: "Mine... uh, it's similar... just without the jeep and the plane... it's more like the miniature version of this place." His voice grew quieter and less confident as he spoke.
Just then, the anti-gravity elevator landed smoothly on the floor, directly in the center of a large spider emblem. Lights illuminated the area. Along one wall were racks displaying suits of different designs. Counting them, there were twelve suits! As a reasonably loyal fan of Spider-Man (having seen the films and played several games), Peter (Earth-616) could only recognize about half of them. For instance, one suit that looked somewhat like Captain America's combat uniform was the Anti-Electric Suit (Insulated Suit), designed to fight Electro. Another suit, red and blue with a large white spider on the chest, was the Advanced Suit, a popular design from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game. It made the musculature very prominent and was Peter's favorite when he played the game. Another cool suit, red and gold, was the Iron Spider Armor, made entirely of nano-metal with four retractable mechanical arms—a gift from Iron Man. There were also the Spider-Armor Mark I and Mark II—the former being heavy and the latter slightly lighter, both designed to resist heavy weaponry and provide bulletproof protection. However, Spider-Man is traditionally an agile fighter, so these suits—or rather, armors—were generally disliked and rarely used by the typical Spider-Man.
Seeing all this, Peter (Earth-616) subconsciously touched the suit he was wearing. He was wearing the classic red-and-blue suit, the default choice for almost every Peter Parker. Counting the one he had on; this world's Peter Parker had thirteen Spider-Suits! Where did he even get them all? Had he perhaps also traversed different universes before?
Middle-Aged Peter, however, was less impressed by the suits. He was standing by a table, holding a framed photo—a picture of Mary Jane Watson from this world. In his universe, he and Mary Jane had long since separated due to various crises... Seeing the photo, Middle-Aged Peter felt a pang of loneliness.
Just then, Miles walked up to a display case, pointed at a Spider-Suit with a cloak, and said to Middle-Aged Peter: "Peter, look! Isn't that a cape?" Hearing Miles, Middle-Aged Peter turned back and chuckled lightly.
Peter (Earth-616) and the others looked confused; they didn't know the inside joke. When Middle-Aged Peter and Miles were stealing the collider data, Miles had worn a suit with a cloak, and Middle-Aged Peter had mocked him, saying no Spider-Man wears a cape because it's impractical. Now he was being proven wrong. However, Miles's innocent joke managed to lift Middle-Aged Peter's spirits.
Peter (Earth-616) also walked up to a display case, the one containing the Advanced Suit. "I hear you were just bitten by a spider?" Gwen Stacy had approached him quietly.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Peter felt a moment of irritation. He looked at the blonde girl, nodded, and remained silent.
Gwen blinked her large eyes and asked curiously: "You said you are a Martian researcher; has your world already achieved manned landings on Mars?"
Peter gave her a strange look, wondering why Gwen suddenly decided to talk to him, and about such a dry topic. However, he politely replied: "Not yet. The technology in my world isn't even as advanced as this one, and our Martian research mainly relies on rovers and similar equipment... Why do you ask?"
"No reason, I was just curious," Gwen replied with a bright smile.
Peter was entirely unmoved. Gwen was only about 17 years old. Although Westerners mature earlier, making her look shapely and quite mature, to a regular adult, Gwen was just a 'tall loli' at best. Peter wasn't a "loli-con."
"I doubt that's all you wanted to talk about," Peter stated.
Gwen looked embarrassed: "Alright, the truth is, I'm curious about what you said earlier about Miles. You claimed you know his abilities, is that true? But you weren't with us this afternoon."
Peter smiled faintly: "It is true. While it might not be the exact Miles of this world, I definitely know Miles's powers."
"You've met other versions of Miles? You've been to other worlds? Are you some kind of Spider-Man with the power to travel the Multiverse? A Temporal Spider-Man?" Gwen's beautiful eyes widened instantly.
Peter laughed and shook his head: "Of course not. I just... Well, I've played games where Miles is the main character."
Gwen: ??? Miles: ??? Miles had quietly approached the two and happened to overhear Peter's statement. Not only him, but everyone else also turned to look. As super-powered Spider-People, and with Peter not attempting to mask his voice, they had all heard what Peter said. They put down what they were doing and walked over.
"A... game where I'm the star?" Miles's eyes were wide. "Are you serious? Does your world have a version of me? A version as famous as Spider-Man?" Since this world's Spider-Man became famous, a lot of related merchandise, including games, has been released. Miles subconsciously thought Peter knew him from those.
"No, we don't have a Spider-Man in our world, but we have many movies, games, and other media based on Spider-Man. Because of that, I know many stories about Spider-Men from various worlds... including you, Miles," Peter explained, looking at the young hero.
The huge Spider-Lair fell silent for a moment. Then, the silence broke instantly!