Chapter 41: Candidates

This was also a beautiful woman with long black hair.

What was even more interesting was that her name was very similar to Jessica Jones—she was called Jessica Drew!

However, unlike Jessica Jones, Jessica Drew had no connection to Spider-Man Peter Parker; the two didn't even cross paths.

Wang Bo chose her for the same reason—she was very famous. In a parallel world, Jessica Drew was a genuine Spider-Woman.

While still in her mother's womb, Jessica Drew was exposed to radiation, granting her superpowers. She was once used by Hydra but eventually broke free and became a superhero.

But in this world, Jessica Drew had not been irradiated and was not a superhero.

She was just an ordinary girl.

She had even gotten married and become a mother.

However, after marriage, her husband had an affair, leading to marital discord. So a year ago, Jessica Drew divorced her husband and was raising her child alone.

Because of this, Wang Bo hadn't directly recruited her but had listed her as a backup.

But Wang Bo really hadn't expected Black Cat to reject him.

So Wang Bo had no choice but to bring out this backup candidate again.

Yet after much deliberation, Wang Bo still hesitated about whether to recruit Jessica Drew. After all, she was a single mother; if anything went wrong, how would her son survive?

Moreover, Wang Bo suspected that even if he recruited her, the chances of her refusing were high.

After all, for a mother, nothing is more important than her child.

After some hesitation, Wang Bo ultimately gave up on recruiting Jessica Drew.

He had already recruited six people, so missing one didn't matter. Wang Bo wasn't obsessive-compulsive about needing exactly seven Spider-People.

And in Wang Bo's plan, six Spider-People should be enough.

So over the next few days, Wang Bo gathered the six Spider-People and began training them.

Ripple Qigong was, of course, the standard.

These Spider-People were all far beyond ordinary humans, and learning Ripple Qigong was twice the result with half the effort. Within a few days, they had mastered it proficiently.

Even though the spider serum they had been injected with was a weakened version, with the help of Ripple Qigong, their displayed strength was no less than that of the real Spider-Man.

Ripple Qigong was that awesome.

For ordinary people, this qigong was absolutely the best cheat, better than any internal skill, with effects that were immediate.

On the other hand, while Wang Bo was secretly training this group of Spider-People, the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, was still out fighting crime.

With more battles, Peter Parker's experience was accumulating rapidly.

Now, his crime-fighting was completely different from the beginning.

At first, when he fought crime and punished bullies, he often ended up battered by his enemies. But now, he could handle them calmly and defeat them with ease.

Seeing this, Wang Bo's heart stirred.

Perhaps real combat would make these Spider-People grow faster than training.

So Wang Bo decided to let the Spider-People go out and familiarize themselves with real battles.

Then, on the streets and alleys of New York, a group of Spider-Men in various colors appeared, constantly fighting crime.

This scene naturally caused a huge sensation.

The police were dumbfounded, citizens cheered, and the media erupted in frenzy. All journalists, as if injected with adrenaline, rushed out in all directions, trying to interview these Spider-Men.

All kinds of newspapers flooded the city.

"New York Falls, Spider Vigilantes Appear Frequently" — New York Daily.

"Spider Family? A Group of Pests Will Bring Disaster to New York" — The Daily Bugle.

"Colorful Spiders: Who Is the Original Spider-Man?" — New York Big News.

"Vigilantes or Freaks?" — The Wall Street Journal.

George Stacy felt terrible when he looked at the newspapers. One Spider-Man had already given the police department a headache, and now suddenly so many more had appeared.

My God, where did these guys come from?

"New York is getting more and more lively," a police officer said, slapping the newspaper on the table, unable to help complaining. "These newspapers are joining in the fun, putting us in a tough spot."

The others nodded in agreement. The police had been having a hard time lately.

"Shut up, Hoss," a colleague said helplessly.

"Yeah, we just need to do our job."

"The one with the biggest headache right now isn't us, it's the chief."

"Sigh, can't these freaks just take a break?"

While the police department was discussing the new Spider-Men, Peter Parker was also staring at the newspaper in bewilderment. The vivid photos showed that besides him, there were other Spider-Men in New York.

"What the hell is going on?" Peter Parker couldn't help but grab his hair. "How many people have been bitten by that spider? When will this damn spider stop biting people?"

He felt there must be some inside story he didn't know about. Maybe he should investigate.

So after school, Peter Parker changed into his suit and roamed the streets and alleys of New York, searching for other Spider-Men.

Just then, a piercing alarm sounded.

Peter Parker rushed toward the sound and saw a group of people robbing a convenience store. He was about to step in when he saw a figure in a spider suit speeding over.

In the blink of an eye, the robbers were taken down with a few punches and kicks.

"Wow, that's so cool," Peter Parker thought. Although he could have handled the robbers too, matching the other's efficiency would have been difficult.

That kind of skill wasn't just cool—it was extremely impressive.

So Peter Parker quickly approached. As they got close, their spider-senses triggered, and both instinctively clutched their heads with an "Oof."

They confirmed it: same kind of person.

Peter Parker praised, "You're a Spider-Man too! That's so cool—not just your skills, but your suit too. Compared to yours, mine looks like a cheap knockoff."

"By the way, can we talk? I'm curious about you guys. Were you bitten by a spider too?"

"How did you get that suit? Is someone backing you up?"

"What's your goal? Same as mine—helping others?"

Jessica Jones cast a cold glance at Peter Parker. She hadn't expected the original Spider-Man to be such a chatterbox, nor that her parallel universe self would have a crush on this guy.