Chapter 44

An eerie scene unfolded, the first time Doctor Octopus wasn't facing himself in a mirror, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable. However, he quickly stabilized his emotions, realizing that there were no metal tentacles fluttering up and down behind the version of himself that Ymir had transformed into. Yes, he was still unique!

"What are you exactly?"

Strands of pale blue, visible ghostly energy began to emanate from the Doctor Octopus that Ymir had transformed into. Even the most foolish person could tell that this being, who could manipulate nightmares at will, was not a normal human.

A mutant? An alien? Or a demon from hell?

The ghostly energy swirled, and a ghostly green flame ignited within the vortex, slowly revealing Ymir's true form. His ethereal body, accompanied by a cold, ghostly wind, had unknowingly covered Doctor Octopus's laboratory with a thin layer of frost.

"Bow down, sinner, and offer your fear to the darkness!" Ymir's face was adorned with a cold, sinister smile as he floated lightly in the air, a small soul appearing in his palm.

"Rose!" Doctor Octopus immediately recognized whose soul Ymir was toying with.

"You... no, you..." Doctor Octopus bowed his head before Ymir, recognizing the power to manipulate human souls, a power that was far beyond that of a mere mortal. He had some guesses about Ymir's true identity.

Ymir sensed that the fear emanating from Doctor Octopus was gradually weakening and shook his head with a laugh. "No, no, I am not who you think I am."

A flame suddenly erupted from his palm, and Rose's soul screamed in agony within the fire.

Doctor Octopus involuntarily raised his head and saw Rose's face transform into his own in the flames. At the same time, flames spewed from his mouth, and his entire body was engulfed in fire.

Such intense flames should not exist in this world, and even the specially designed metal tentacles on his back began to soften, showing signs of melting. Doctor Octopus struggled fiercely, his tentacles flailing about, trying to throw off the flames burning inside his body.

"Useless efforts. In your fear, my power has been amplified to the extreme... Now, this is my domain..."

Harnessing the fear generated by Doctor Octopus, Ymir had become unprecedentedly powerful. Although this was a dream constructed from Doctor Octopus's own memories, the true controller had become Ymir.

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In reality, Doctor Octopus had grabbed Spider-Man by the neck with his metal tentacles, facing off against Shocker, Mysterio, and the other supervillains. But his movements suddenly paused, and Spider-Man was taken aback. "This is a good opportunity!"

He exerted his strength and found that Doctor Octopus had indeed lost consciousness. Without Doctor Octopus's control, the metal tentacles had lost their previous power.

Spider-Man escaped from the tentacles and leaped onto the wall of a building, looking curiously at Doctor Octopus, wondering what had happened to him.

No one could discern any clues from Doctor Octopus's face, which was hidden behind his sunglasses, but he was muttering meaningless words. Moreover, many wounds suddenly appeared on his body, just like the cuts he had sustained in the dream.

The injuries from the dream were accurately reflected on Doctor Octopus's body, and this terrifying scene had already drawn the attention of the other supervillains.

It had to be said that these supervillains were all seasoned veterans, and they quickly noticed Doctor Octopus's abnormal state.

"What do we do now?" Chameleon, lagging behind, quietly patted Scorpion's shoulder and frowned. "It looks like Doctor Octopus is under attack, but how did we not notice anything?"

Among the five, Rhino was just a violent brute, and Mysterio and Shocker were merely science enthusiasts, at best weapon manufacturers. So, as an international assassin and terrorist, Chameleon believed that only Scorpion, a former government investigator and agent, was worth consulting.

"Obvious," Scorpion nodded, also not sensing any abnormalities. To him, Doctor Octopus had been attacked out of the blue.

Chameleon said, "Before we figure out the method of attack, it seems we need to cooperate sincerely this time."

Scorpion's face changed; he didn't believe that there could ever be true cooperation among them. Even forming the Sinister Six to fight Spider-Man was, in Scorpion's view, just mutual exploitation.

Chameleon said, "Don't you find this terrifying? With so many of us, not one of us noticed who launched the attack or how they managed to incapacitate Doctor Octopus in an instant."

Doctor Octopus was the strongest in the Sinister Six, and although he had experienced many things in the nightmare created by Ymir, in reality, it had only been a brief moment.

Spider-Man felt that the moment the words reached his ears, Doctor Octopus's body had already stiffened.

Such a terrifying method, if not understood, would make these supervillains lose their appetite. After all, helping Spider-Man meant choosing to become their enemies.

No one wanted to end up like Doctor Octopus, falling into someone else's hands without realizing it. Scorpion nodded and looked at Chameleon. "How do you want to cooperate?"

Chameleon grinned slyly. "With our intelligence, we shouldn't be the ones to test the waters. Rhino is tough and resilient, so why don't we trick him into making the first move to gauge the situation?"

Scorpion's face twisted into a grimace, then he laughed. "Indeed, a good idea!"

Rhino, Shocker, and Mysterio were vigilantly watching the unconscious Doctor Octopus when they suddenly heard Scorpion shout, "Stop this foolish infighting! Look, Spider-Man is escaping!"

Although Spider-Man had freed himself from Doctor Octopus's metal tentacles, he was still wary of the gathered supervillains and had been crouching on the wall, watching them.

The supervillains' attention had been drawn to Doctor Octopus's abnormal state, so they momentarily forgot about Spider-Man. Scorpion's loud shout brought them back to reality.

Chameleon was the first to charge at Spider-Man, saying, "Scorpion and I will deal with Spider-Man, you guys see if you can wake Doctor Octopus up!"

Spider-Man was their old adversary, and they knew each other well. Even in combat, there was no fatal danger. However, if they stayed to tend to Doctor Octopus, who knew if the mysterious attacker would strike again? No one wanted to face such a silent and invisible attack.