Amidst a cacophony of noise and flashing lights, Stark in suit stands confidently in front of the press conference podium. As soon as he settles in, dozens of microphones immediately thrust towards him. He gestures for them to calm down with a downward motion of his hand.
"Hello, Mr. Stark, I am Brock, a stringer for Global Times. Mr. Stark, what do you think about the accusations and criticisms of disregarding human lives after terminating your medical cooperation with the military?"
"Let me make it clear first." Stark points his finger at the male reporter.
"The cooperation was not terminated by me. Besides, with your limited understanding, I doubt you can comprehend the distinction between industrial medical device technology and the regular medical techniques used in hospitals..."
Although Stark appears spirited, the heavy dark circles under his eyes betray his lack of sleep in recent times.
Pepper is incredibly busy. The smooth operation of Stark Industries depends heavily on her. Ever since his falling out with the military, he faces various pressures from the outside world.
Just like this press conference, Stark glances downwards. He knows, at least half of the people present have received money from the military. They will ask all sorts of tricky questions, just like the reporter named Brock, attempting to pass the buck to him.
The reporter continues, "Stark Industries' enthusiasm for medical technology research and development is clearly inferior to Osborn Industries. Does this indicate that you, as a leader, are not as concerned about the development of human medicine as the leader of Osborn Industries? Or that you lack sympathy to care for those afflicted by diseases?"
Stark glances at the reporter's ID card. Well, it seems like this guy named Eddie Brock is here purely for trouble.
"I don't want to dwell on this issue with you. For matters regarding the termination of medical technology cooperation, you'd better ask the Army General."
"So what about Stark Industries' weapons? After they are used in wars, you refuse to develop more medical technologies to save the injured soldiers on the battlefield. Does this mean Stark Industries only cares about profiting from wars without regard for civilian casualties?"
Brock, as journalist, speaks rapidly, his words firing out like a machine gun. Each angle and each question hit the mark. Stark thinks to himself that this guy would truly be a genius journalist if he didn't have a script given to him by the military.
When someone wants to find fault with you, no matter what you do, you will always face comprehensive accusations.
The next day, many newspapers in New York are filled with negative reports about Stark, with the article written by the renowned journalist Brock from Global Times at the forefront.
Stark knows that this is the military's way of pressuring him into submission. But he also knows he must withstand this pressure; otherwise, Pepper will be left isolated and defenseless.
These recent events make him reflect on many things, including love, friendship, and family.
Iron Man never retreats, not only for the sake of his noble dreams but also for the people he loves.
The military's public opinion warfare is effective. They not only tarnish Stark Industries' reputation but also boast Osborn Industries. Osborn Industries is inherently better at biotechnology and medical technology, while Stark Industries excels in military industries.
It becomes the reason for the media to abuse Stark Industries. They depict Stark Industries as an organization devoid of humanity, a cancer of humanity. It is as if the world will achieve complete peace if Stark Industries ceases to exist.
To say that these overwhelmingly negative reports have no impact on Stark is impossible. If these reports were all made-up stories, all rumors, he might not be under such immense pressure.
The problem is ,Stark himself knows his weapons harm many people. Not everything the media says is entirely wrong. Stark Industries thrived on war.
Having just emerged from such extreme negativity, Stark once again falls into depression.
On the other hand, during Peter's exploration of the sewers, he once again discovers signs of human activity.
Ever since he found the clues last time, Peter has been vigilant and carefully inspecting every maintenance point he passes. And then, he discovers this sewer-dwelling guy is not just living in that one base. It seems he wanders in the sewers every day, leaving behind traces of his presence in five or six maintenance points within the same neighborhood.
As Peter follows these traces, he begins to get closer to the truth. He speculates, this guy must have a real hideout at one of the intersections where these traces converge.
As the sewer map becomes more and more detailed,, Peter finally finds the potential intersection. It is near a storage reservoir in the sewers, where four paths extend, corresponding to the four neighborhoods with traces of activity. This man might have created a hideout there and established temporary stations in the other neighborhoods.
It is not surprising; not everyone has the energy like Spider-Man who can run through half the city's sewers in a single day.
The sewers are vast, and the paths are long. There are no manholes near the reservoir leading back to the surface. He has to establish resting points between the manholes and the reservoir; otherwise, even if he doesn't die of exhaustion, he won't be able to cover such a long distance.
Peter keenly notices these clues.It indicates that the person in the sewers can very well be an ordinary person. They can't possibly navigate several kilometers in such a damp and dark environment, which explains why they need multiple rest stops in the interconnected sewers.
It gives Peter confident. He knows that if the person on the other side was an ordinary person and caught off guard, he would definitely be able to catch them.
One night, Peter infiltrates the stronghold at the reservoir. He knows, the person he is after will definitely not be here at this time, so he forces open the door of the maintenance station near the reservoir.
Entering the maintenance station, Peter is shocked. It is filled with bottles and jars, as well as much crude equipment.
Peter picks up one of the bottles and glances at it. He finds that it seems to contain some samples of biological tissue. He wonders, who is this person? Why do they come here to conduct experiments?
He steps over the scattered boxes on the ground and walks further in. The scene inside is even more astonishing. Shelves are filled with many biological specimens that look particularly terrifying under the eerie lighting.
It is like the lair of Frankenstein.
The man is cautious. Besides the materials used for the experiments, there are no data or papers left behind. Peter searches around but can't find any relevant identification information.
A mad scientist conducting biological experiments in the New York sewers? Peter gradually forms an evil image in his mind.
It can't continue, Peter thinks. Although not many people frequent the New York sewers, they are still important to the city. If someone dumps any dangerous experimental waste there, the entire New York could be in danger.
With that in mind, Peter walks to the door and removes the stacked dry cardboard boxes placed on high ground. Then he shreds the cardboard and lights it on fire, intending to completely burn down this stronghold.
Although the sewers are damp, the maintenance station is relatively dry. Once the fire starts, black smoke quickly fills the entire room. Peter closes the door of the maintenance station, watching as the fire devours all the experimental equipment inside.
He breathes a sigh of relief. Luckily he discovered it early; otherwise, it would be too late if this mad scientist really developed some kind of poison or gas.
Coming out of the sewers, Peter still can't shake off his unease. He feels that even though he destroyed one stronghold, the mad scientist might have other locations. He needs to keep an eye on this place in the coming days and hopefully apprehend him.
In the following days, Peter interns at Stark Industries during the day and frequently enters the sewers at night. Since the stronghold was destroyed, all signs of life seem to have disappeared from the sewers.
It seems that the mad scientist has given up.
Peter feels slightly relieved. Things haven't been going well with his internship lately either. He notices that Mr. Stark seems very pessimistic. He stops conducting experiments and even buries himself in smoking and drinking. Sometimes he gets heavily drunk and collapses on the lab floor, and Peter has to help him up.
Peter has seen negative reports about Stark, but he doesn't believe a word of them. He thinks they're all nonsense. Iron Man is a superhero who saves many people, not the heartless devil that the media portrays.
Peter wants to change this situation, but he doesn't have a good solution. He's not good at handling these kinds of matters, and he doesn't even dare to make a phone call to question those reports. So he returns to the clinic. He believes Dr. Schiller must have a way to turn public opinion around.
Lately, Schiller has been busy finding food for the symbiote.
When Peter arrives at the clinic, Schiller is wrapping bandages around Pikachu. Pikachu made trouble while he's cooking and burned off a big chunk of fur after its tail accidentally ended up in a pot. At the moment, Pikachu is pitifully lying on the table, letting Schiller treat its tail.
Peter says, "Hey! Am I disturbing you? I can come back tomorrow..."
"It's fine, come in. I don't have anything important to do right now."
Peter walks in and playfully rubs Pikachu's face. Pikachu wrinkles its nose, trying to dodge, but Schiller has a tight grip on its tail. It jumps to the side, but its tail is firmly held, causing it to fall onto the table and accidentally knock over a pile of cups.
"Behave," Schiller warns, "or your tail will be permanently bald."
Peter sits down on a nearby chair and asks, "Doctor, have you read those reports lately? Those journalists are talking nonsense! They even shamelessly insist they saw Mr. Stark selling weapons to terrorists, and vividly describe their negotiation..."
"It's they need to do. If they didn't, they can't survive in the New York reporter circle."
"But they are completely lying!" Peter angrily pounds the table and yells, "Mr. Stark is not that kind of person!"
"Is that so? If it really is all lie, Mr. Stark's attitude should be the same as yours. You feel incredibly angry because your friend is being falsely accused, so the person being accused would be even angrier facing those rumors."
"Er..." Peter is taken aback by Schiller's words because they make sense. When Thompson spread rumors about him at school, he was almost exploding with anger. But why isn't Mr. Stark angry? Why doesn't he come forward and vigorously refute those accusations?
After all, even he, despite being somewhat inarticulate, still makes great efforts to explain those rumors to people around him.
"Why are you so sure what you believe in is right?" Schiller questions him.
"Because... but I know Mr. Stark is not like that!" Peter replies.
"Perhaps you've only seen one side of him?"
"But..." Peter clenches his fists, "Doctor, Mr. Stark is also your friend, right?You really think he is the kind of person described in those reports?"
Schiller shakes his head and explains, "The way I see Stark and the way you see Stark could be completely different, just like how there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand people."
"The perception of a situation always changes based on one's own standpoint. A villain may see a hero as a villain, while a villain may see another villain as a hero."
Peter insists, pounding his other hand with his fist,"I believe those reporters and the Osborn are the latter. They are birds of a feather,so flatter each other. And those reporters criticizing Mr. Stark are just bad man who can't stand good man..."
"How do you define good man and bad man?"
"Um... doing good things makes someone a good man, while doing bad things makes someone a bad one?"
"Then how do you define good and bad things?"
"At least... they should be based on facts, not spreading rumors, and not violating laws... and morals, following ethical guidelines. That would be doing good things, right?"
"Do you think swinging around New York all day without violating traffic safety laws?"
"But I am doing it for... well, I believe my intentions are good, and the outcomes are good. I save people, right? So, it's not a big deal if I break some rules..."
Schiller shakes his head and utters, "You will eventually understand that there are no completely good or completely bad man in this world. It's full of bad things with good intentions and outcomes, as well as good things with terrible intentions and outcomes."
Peter scratches his head and confuses, "I feel like you're speaking tongue riddles."
"If you always observe this world with a simplistic black and white mindset, one day you'll realize the black and white have become a hazy gray," Schiller explains further.
"But good things are good, and bad things are bad. I just want to help more people and do more good things," Peter insists.
When Peter leaves Schiller's clinic, he still feels a bit dizzy. Schiller's metaphors about good and bad things have left him feeling confused. Peter's thoughts are simple - he is a good man, so he wants to do good things and stop bad people from doing bad things.
What is wrong with that? Isn't it a simple thing?
Peter shakes his head, believing he is correct. And if everyone thinks like him, the world will definitely become a better place. The reason why there is so much crime is that those bad people refuse to give up doing bad things. If everyone is a good man, won't the world be free of crime?
As he walks and contemplates, Peter checks his watch and realizes it is still early. He has already taken time off from his internship group, and he knows his uncle and aunt won't be home either.
Peter thinks for a moment and decides to continue being superhero.
He finds the nearest manhole cover and jumps inside. To be safe, he thinks it would be a good idea to patrol the sewers and prevent any potential dangerous activities by the Frankenstein.
However, as soon as he enters the sewer today, Peter has a creepy feeling. It isn't as intense as his Spider-Sense, but it still gives him chills down his spine.
Reluctantly, he opens his backpack and puts on his Spider-Man suit. Then he hides his backpack in a corner and, as Spider-Man, continues moving deeper into the sewer.
The constant sense of danger makes Spider-Man fast-paced walk instead of the usual fast running. As he approaches the central reservoir of this district, his Spider-Sense starts to alert faintly. He feels anxious but can't know where is it come from.
After walking for a while, suddenly, he hears a faint "hiss" sound ahead, accompanied by the scraping noise of metal against stone.
His Spider-Sense triggers sharply. Spider-Man quickly rolls to the side, evading a piece of debris thrown at him.
As dust and debris scatter, Peter looks up. He sees a massive figure at the end of the dark sewer.
It is a creature at least four or five meters tall. As he gets closer and with the dim sewer light, Peter can make out that it is a humanoid lizard, a colossal lizard-like creature that almost fills the entire space of the sewer.
Spider-Man gulps, realizing how puny and small he is compared to this lizard.
But clearly, the monster has noticed him. Peter swiftly starts running along the wall to escape. The enormous lizard chases after him relentlessly, shaking the ground with each step.
The lizard roars fiercely, grabbing various stones and throwing them at Spider-Man. Despite his speed advantage, Spider-Man can't outrun them easily. Dodging the stones left and right significantly slows him down.
In the sewer, webs isn't as effective as usual, so Peter has to rely on his legs. However, creatures that walk on their feet have a weakness - they are prone to losing balance once their center of gravity shifts, often leading to falling down.
To avoid being hit by a stone, Peter flips to the right. But immediately after, a piece of rubble scrapes against him from the left. His balance wavers, and he tumbles on the ground. The giant lizard grabs his leg and throws him away.
Peter crashes into the wall of the sewer. He coughs violently, tasting blood in his throat.
Struggling to get back up, Peter is prepared to face the upcoming battle. However, the lizard suddenly shakes its head as if disoriented, and then it ignores Peter and runs in the opposite direction.