I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 406 The Man Searching for the Spider

After booking the hotel, the three of them went to buy some daily necessities. After all, they were still theoretically in the tour group, even though Peter Parker there was actually LMD, and Peter hadn't told anyone except Gwen about it.

As for why he told Gwen, it was mainly because he was worried that she would see through him and then worry about him. Peter was quite certain that Gwen could see the difference between him and LMD.

Then Peter went to a local reptile shop to inquire about his father. Peter figured this search wouldn't yield any results, since the most puzzling thing about the whole process was why Richard Parker would specifically travel to Italy to look for the Taranto tarantula.

Did he know something, understand something, that's why he determined this was exactly what the Savage Force Project needed? If Richard Parker hadn't met that partner in Taranto, but rather in the United States, then continuing like this would just be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But to everyone's surprise, Peter actually found out about his father at the reptile shop.

“Professor Richard’s son? I remember him. He bought Taranto tarantulas from us, saying he was going to do experiments. He not only bought quite a few from us at first, but we also sent some to the United States several times afterward. However, he stopped ordering a few years ago.”

As the shopkeeper spoke, he pointed to several boxes containing Taranto tarantulas, which were quite different from the modified spiders Jonathan was currently caring for. Peter looked at the spiders and asked, "Did he say why we had to use Taranto tarantulas, and not those bred in America?"

The shopkeeper shook his head. He wasn't the kind of person who was curious and had to ask about everything. The customer had said they needed local tarantulas, so he sold them. What else could he do?
Peter thought for a moment, then asked the next question.

Is there anyone else with him?

“No, no one came with you except your mother.” The boss thought for a moment after saying that, “Maybe there was a driver? I saw that none of them were drivers, and of course, I didn’t see what a driver looked like.”

"..."

Peter frowned. Who exactly was this so-called partner? Why was he so mysterious?

“If you want to find traces of your father, perhaps you could go to the old town or the ancient Greek and Roman ruins along the coast. He asked us if we caught the spider from there, so perhaps he went there.”

Peter nodded, somewhat confused, and then left the reptile shop.

"How about it?"

"Just as I expected, there was almost no useful information. If we could find clues this easily, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't have ended up with nothing."

Felicia was somewhat disappointed by the answer, but said nothing. Cindy, however, looked at Peter: "Not a single clue?"

"It's not exactly a clue, but let's go to the old town and visit the ancient Greek ruins there."

Peter sighed and shook his head helplessly. Felicia simply shrugged. The three of them wandered aimlessly into the city. In the old town, there were some ancient Greek-style buildings, but in reality, the true ancient Greek ruins should be buried deep underground. Peter walked around with a sense of helplessness and disappointment, but then he suddenly paused.

Peter looked at Cindy. Felicia noticed the two of them lost in thought and looked at them with some displeasure: "What's wrong? What are you thinking about now?"

Peter hadn't expected anything; his spider-sense was beeping, so he looked at Cindy, who was looking at Felicia: "We might... have sensed something. Peter, could your father...?"

“No, that’s unlikely. He’s unlikely to be a spider totem. I don’t believe S.H.I.E.L.D. would be incapable of blood tests.” Peter shook his head and then confirmed one thing: “But if that’s the case… then my father’s so-called partner might be a spider totem.”

Felicia was a little confused for a moment, but Peter and Cindy exchanged a glance and then made a decision.

"We'll come back tonight, change into our battle suits, and find out what's triggering the spider senses when no one's around."

Peter was almost impatient; he wanted to know what his father had discovered here. He eagerly awaited nightfall, then donned his black suit under the cover of darkness and began analyzing the building to pinpoint what was triggering his spider-sense. After confirming the strength of his spider-sense, he and Cindy immediately located their target, then lifted a nearby manhole cover and jumped in.

Felicia followed closely behind. They hunched over and made their way through the sewers. When they reached a corner, Peter punched the sewer wall, kicked away a brick, and crawled inside. Ahead was a tunnel with obvious excavation marks. The moment he touched the tunnel, he understood why S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't find this place.

"There's actually magic acting as a barrier here..."

Peter muttered to himself as he led the way inside. They hunched over as they passed through the tunnel, finally reaching a bright and open space at the end. At that moment, the spider-like connection between the two spider totems extinguished. Inexplicably, a light appeared in the surrounding darkness, illuminating the ancient Roman ruins that had been buried underground for over a thousand years.

Felicia felt a chill run down her spine because she was surrounded by swarms of spiders. These Tarantula tarantulas, which were about ten centimeters long, did not spin webs but instead huddled together in dense clusters. They retreated like a tide as soon as they noticed the light.

"Even though I'm Spider-Man, I have to say, it's pretty scary..."

Peter looked into the depths of the space, where two statues stood. One was a girl dressed in ancient Egyptian clothing, whom Peter had seen when he was learning magic. This was the goddess of weaving, Ness. He looked at the words that lit up below the statue and involuntarily read out the unfamiliar script: "The weaver of the web of fate, whose mother stole her name and became the mother of the Nile gods."

Does this mean that Nes, the mother of the gods in Egyptian mythology, is Gaia? That makes sense, as Gaia in the Marvel Universe is basically the mother of the gods in all mythologies, with a whole host of alternate identities.

The other statue is of a burly man dressed in West African attire, whom Peter had coincidentally seen before and even beaten up.

"The first spider totem, the god of lies and stories, spread the knowledge of the spider totem throughout the entire web of fate."

Peter took a step back; he understood where he was.

"This is the temple dedicated to the spider totem, which is dedicated to Ness and Anansi."

　Something felt off while I was writing these chapters.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)