With loud noises and flashing lights surrounding him, Stark, impeccably dressed in his suit, stood before the interview booth. As soon as he positioned himself, a dozen microphones were instantly thrust his way. He gestured towards the crowd to calm down.
"Good day, Mr. Stark. I'm Brock, a special reporter from the Global Daily. Mr. Stark, how do you respond to the allegations that you disregarded human lives when you terminated medical cooperation with the military?"
"You need to understand one thing," Stark pointed at the male reporter.
"It wasn't my decision to end the cooperation. Moreover, with your small-minded mentality, you probably can't grasp the difference between industrial medical equipment technology and ordinary medical technology used in hospitals…"
Although Stark seemed energetic, his heavy dark circles betrayed how he had been struggling with sleep recently.
Pepper was extremely busy. The stability of the vast Stark Group relied solely on her. Ever since Stark had a falling out with the military, he had been facing various external pressures.
Like this press conference, Stark glanced down, knowing that at least half of the attendees were bribed by the military. They would, like the reporter named Brock, pose all kinds of tricky questions in an attempt to pin all the blame on him.
The reporter continued, "In terms of the development of medical technology research, Stark Industries clearly lacks the enthusiasm depicted by the Osborn Group. Doesn't this imply that you are apathetic towards the development of human medicine, or can we say that you lack the sympathy to pay attention to those suffering from diseases?"
Stark glanced at his work ID, noting Eddie Brock's name. This man was clearly here to cause trouble.
"I don't want to wrangle over this issue with you. Regarding the termination of the medical technology cooperation project, you should address that question to the Army General."
"And Stark Industries' weapons? These weapons have been used in wars, yet you refuse to develop more medical technology to aid the wounded soldiers. Does this indicate that Stark Industries is only interested in profiting from the war, disregarding civilian casualties?"
The journalist named Brock spoke rapidly, firing off a long string of questions like a machine gun. Each question was spot-on. Stark thought to himself that if the military hadn't given him his lines, he could be a genius reporter.
When someone is determined to find fault with you, no matter what you do, you'll be criticised from all sides.
The next day, negative reports about Stark appeared in various New York newspapers, with the Global Daily's star reporter, Brock, writing the most scathing reports.
Stark realised that this was the military trying to force him to bow down, continually pressuring him. He knew he had to endure it, or Pepper would be left stranded.
Recent events had given him much to think about – about love, friendship, kinship.
Iron Man doesn't back down, not just for his lofty ideals, but for everyone he loved.
The military's media warfare was quite effective. While they were undermining Stark Group's reputation, they were praising Osborn Group simultaneously. Osborn Group was famously adept at biotechnology and medical technology, whereas Stark Group excelled in military engineering.
This became a reason for the media to tarnish Stark Group's reputation. They depicted Stark Group as an evil organization disregarding humanity, criticising it as a cancer of society, as if the world would be completely peaceful without Stark Group.
To say that these sweeping negative reports had no impact on Stark would be impossible. If they were all baseless like tabloid news, he wouldn't feel such pressure.
The problem was, Stark himself knew that the weapons he sold hurt many people. What the media said wasn't completely false; Stark Group was built on wars.
Just as Stark had emerged from his bout of negative emotions, he fell back into depression once more.
Meanwhile, in Peter's sewer exploration voyage, he discovered traces of human activity in the sewer again.
Ever since he found the first trace, he had been vigilant. He examined each and every inspection point in detail and realized this sewer dweller didn't just live in one place. This mysterious individual seemed to be roaming around the sewers daily. Almost all the inspection points in a street block showed signs of his presence.
Following these traces, Peter was getting closer to the truth. He had a hunch that this strange man must have a real base where all these activity traces intersect.
As his sewer map became more complete, Peter finally found that possible intersection point, near a sewer reservoir. It was the junction of four roads, each leading to a street block showing activity traces. This strange man probably established a base there and set up temporary bases in the other street blocks.
Not every person is as physically fit as Spider-Man, who can cover half a borough's sewer system in a day.