The "Obelisk" is actually a specialized nding pod used exclusively by the Dark Acolytes. When closed, it stands at 160 meters tall, but once deployed, it extends to 225 meters. These pods are typically stored aboard the Q-ships (circur-shaped vessels named after their resembnce to the letter "Q") or on Thanos' main warship—the Floating Throne.

  During pnetary assaults, the Q-ships or the Floating Throne unch these pods, relying on their durable outer shells to execute direct, high-speed descents from space to the pnet’s surface. The impact generates kinetic energy comparable to a meteor strike, effectively clearing the nding zone of any opposition.

  Without Wakanda’s energy barrier, such an impact alone would have inflicted devastating losses on Earth's military forces.

  Each Obelisk nding pod carries thousands of Dark Acolytes, along with the necessary resources to temporarily cultivate nearly 50,000 more.

  Internally, the pod is structured like a beehive.

  The walls are lined with countless incubation chambers, each containing a growth medium. Mechanical arms inject specific genetic materials and the corresponding cultivation fluid into these chambers. In just over ten minutes, a towering Dark Acolyte, standing two to three meters tall with four arms, emerges from the growth medium.

  At the pod’s core, numerous suspended hooks pull these fully developed Acolytes from their incubation chambers, depositing them onto the ground.

  Despite being merely minutes old, the newly created Dark Acolytes dispy astonishing combat readiness.

  The moment they hit the ground, they immediately join their comrades, roaring as they charge into battle.

  At this moment, Peter was silently clinging to the interior wall of one such Obelisk nding pod. Beside him was Ghost, Ava Starr. Not far ahead of them y a row of incubation chambers.

  One of the chambers already housed a nearly fully developed Dark Acolyte.

  Peter had to admit—Ghost's information-gathering abilities were truly remarkable.

  From the moment he had sent her in to scout until now, when he had personally joined her, barely half an hour had passed. Yet, she had already gathered an incredible amount of intel.

  Given more time, she might have been able to map out the entire structure of this nding pod.

  And this was despite the nguage barrier forcing her to rely on educated guesses for much of what she discovered.

  If the nding pod’s systems had used Earth nguages, she might have even uncovered Thanos’ deepest secrets.

  Peter couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had saved Ghost and earned her allegiance.

  “Did you find anything that looks like a core component?” Peter asked.

  Ghost nodded and pointed upward. “About 150 meters above us, there's a chamber. I suspect it’s the control room for this pod. But I couldn’t get in—there’s some kind of force field surrounding it. If I try to force my way through, it might trigger an arm.”

  “No problem, leave it to me,” Peter said. “Get out of here first. If my pn works, I’ll be leaving the ship immediately, and I won’t have time to look out for you.”

  “Got it.” Ghost nodded before vanishing into stealth mode.

  Peter moved slightly, and a stream of nanites flowed over his face, forming his mask.

  Thwip—

  A web shot out, tching onto the ceiling above. Peter swiftly climbed upward along the web line.

  Within seconds, he reached the location Ghost had described—150 meters above the ground.

  Before him was a seamless metal ceiling, an oddity in the otherwise beehive-like structure of the pod.

  Its very presence made it all the more suspicious.

  Peter extended a finger, slowly bringing it closer to the metal surface.

  Buzz!

  The moment he was about a centimeter away, his Spider-Sense fred.

  A faint glow appeared.

  It resembled Wakanda’s energy barrier, but while Wakandan shields were transparent with a subtle blue hue when activated, this one was red.

  One thing was certain—it was dangerous.

  His Spider-Sense never lied.

  Peter frowned and began crawling toward another area.

  Then, after thoroughly scanning every part of the area, Peter realized that there were no weaknesses—every section was exactly the same, completely sealed.

  “If the soft approach doesn’t work, let’s go with the hard way!”

  Swish!Four vibranium spider legs extended from his back.

  Their tips began to glow faintly.

  Bzing ser beams shot out, converging on a single point.

  Buzz!Buzz!Buzz!A piercing arm bred as the surrounding walls lit up with fshing red lights.

  Clearly, this ship did have an arm system, but it seemed to be limited to a few key areas.

  It made sense—below were thousands of Dark Acolytes, and this wasn’t a vital section, so there was no real need for a full security system. Meanwhile, the core area above was already protected by an energy barrier.

  But this only confirmed Peter’s suspicions.

  This was it—the key to solving the problem!

  As the arm sounded, the Dark Acolytes below erupted into chaos.

  Some of the newly spawned Acolytes, who had been charging toward the battlefield moments ago, now split off to patrol the Obelisk nding pod, seemingly searching for the intruder who had triggered the arm.

  Peter, however, paid them no mind. He remained firmly clinging to the wall nearest to the metal ceiling, focusing entirely on cutting through the energy barrier with the sustained ser beams from his vibranium spider legs.

  Crack!

  Persistence paid off.

  Wakandan technology was indeed formidable.

  After over ten seconds of concentrated fire, cracks spread across the energy barrier before it shattered with a loud boom.

  Peter had been prepared for this. He clenched his fist and drove a powerful punch into the metal ceiling.

  The patterns on the surface suggested that this might be a door or an elevator shaft.

  At first, it didn’t budge.

  Even with his strength exceeding 20 tons, he couldn’t easily break through this unknown thickness of metal.

  But force is always reciprocal.

  With each impact, some of the force rebounded from the metal surface and was absorbed by his vibranium suit, storing the kinetic energy.

  When the stored energy reached its automatic release threshold, Peter controlled his suit and unleashed a devastating punch!

  Boom!

  A thick metal pte was sent flying as Peter’s body crashed through the opening and nded inside.

  Surprisingly, the chamber was empty—no guards, no personnel—only a massive supercomputer-like mainframe.

  This must be the core system controlling the entire Obelisk nding pod.

  “Ava, can you hack into this mainframe and issue a self-destruct command?” Peter asked, new thoughts forming in his mind.

  Ghost’s voice came through his comms. “I can, but I’ll need some time.”

  “How long?”

  “At least half an hour. I need to analyze the internal systems first.”

  “That’s too long. We don’t have that kind of time.”

  Peter stepped forward, clenched his fist, and with two solid punches, smashed the mainframe into scrap.

  (End of Chapter)

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