Chapter 89: The War of Good People (Part 1)

Accompanied by a cacophony of noise and camera flashes, Stark stood before the interview podium in a suit and tie. As soon as he stood still, over a dozen microphones were immediately thrust toward him. He reached out and pressed down, signaling them to calm down.

"Hello, Mr. Stark. I am Brock, a special correspondent for the Global Daily. Mr. Stark, how do you view the questioning and accusations of disregarding human life that you have faced since terminating your medical collaboration with the military?"

"You need to understand one thing." Stark pointed his finger at the male reporter.

"The collaboration wasn't something I wanted to shut down. Besides, with your limited brain capacity, I'm afraid you can't understand the difference between medical device technology in an industrial direction and the ordinary medical technology used in hospitals..."

Although Stark looked to be in decent spirits, the somewhat heavy dark circles under his eyes betrayed the fact that he hadn't actually slept well recently.

Pepper was extremely busy; the smooth operation of the behemoth that was Stark Industries relied entirely on her. Ever since Stark had a falling out with the military, he had been facing all kinds of pressure from the outside world.

Just like this press conference, Stark scanned downward. He knew that at least half the people here had taken money from the military. They would, like this reporter named Brock just now, ask all sorts of tricky questions, attempting to shift all the responsibility onto him.

That reporter said again, "Stark Industries' enthusiasm for the research and development of medical technology is clearly not as high as that of Oscorp. Does this indicate that you actually don't care about the development of human medicine as much as the leaders of Oscorp, or is it that you actually lack the compassion to care about those patients plagued by illness?"

Stark glanced at his work badge. Alright, it looked like this person named Eddie Brock was entirely here to pick a fight.

"I don't want to get entangled with you on this issue. Regarding the shutdown of the medical technology collaboration project, you'd better go ask the Army General."

"Then what about Stark Industries' weapons? After these weapons are used in war, you refuse to develop more medical technology to save those soldiers injured on the battlefield. Does this mean that Stark Industries is actually only concerned with extracting profits from war and is a traitor to the people who disregards civilian casualties?"

This reporter named Brock spoke at an extremely fast pace. A long string of words came out of his mouth like a machine gun, and every angle and every question hit the nail on the head. Stark thought that if he didn't have a script given to him by the military, then he could truly be called a genius reporter.

When someone wants to pick a fight with you, no matter what you do, you will definitely be criticized from all angles.

The next day, New York's major newspapers were flooded with negative reports about Stark, with the most prominent being the scathing denunciation by the Global Times' gold-medal reporter, Brock.

Stark knew this was the military constantly applying pressure to make him bow his head, but he knew he had to withstand this pressure, or else Pepper would be left in an isolated and helpless situation.

The events of this period had made him think a lot—about love, about friendship, about family.

Iron Man certainly never retreats, but this was not just for his noble ideals, but also for all the people he loved.

The military's public opinion war was very effective. While suppressing the reputation of Stark Industries, they were also propping up Oscorp. Oscorp was originally more adept at biotechnology and medical technology; by comparison, Stark Industries was more proficient in military industry.

This also became a reason for the media to attack the reputation of Stark Industries. They painted Stark Industries as an evil organization that disregarded humanity, criticizing it as a cancer on humanity, as if the world would be completely peaceful without Stark Industries.

To say that these overwhelming negative reports had no impact on Stark would be impossible. If these reports were all like gossip news, all based on hearsay, then he might not have been under such great pressure.

The problem was that Stark himself knew that the weapons he sold had harmed many people. What these media outlets said wasn't entirely wrong; Stark Industries had originally made its fortune through war.

Stark, who had just emerged from that kind of extreme negative emotion, once again fell into depression.

On the other side, during Peter's sewer exploration journey, he once again discovered traces of someone active in the sewers.

Ever since discovering the clues last time, Peter had been paying close attention. He would carefully look whenever he passed every maintenance point, and then he discovered that this sewer freak hadn't just lived in that one stronghold. He seemed to be scurrying around the sewers every day; five or six maintenance points in the same block all had traces of his life.

Following these traces, Peter began to get closer and closer to the truth. He guessed that this freak must have a true stronghold at some intersection of these activity traces.

As the sewer map became more and more complete, Peter finally found that possible intersection point. It was near a reservoir in the sewers. The four passages extending from there corresponded to the four blocks with traces of activity. This freak might have built a stronghold there and then established temporary strongholds in the other blocks.

This wasn't strange; not everyone had the physical stamina of Spider-Man, who could run through half the city's sewers in a single day.

The sewers were large, and the roads were long. There were no manholes leading to the surface near the reservoir; he had to establish rest points between the manholes and the reservoir, otherwise, he would never finish walking such a long distance even if he were worked to death.

Peter also keenly discovered this point, which indicated that this freak active in the sewers was very likely just an ordinary person. He couldn't walk several kilometers at once in such a damp and dark sewer, which was why he needed to establish multiple rest rooms in the intricate sewers.

This gave Peter confidence because as long as the opponent was an ordinary person, and he caught them off guard, he would definitely be able to capture them.

One night, Peter snuck into the stronghold at the reservoir. He knew that at this time, the freak definitely wouldn't be here, so he pried open the door of the maintenance station near the reservoir.

Entering the maintenance station, Peter was startled. Inside were all sorts of bottles and jars, as well as many somewhat crude pieces of equipment.

Peter picked up one of the bottles and took a look. He discovered that inside seemed to be some biological tissue samples. He thought, who is this person? How could they come here to conduct experiments?

He stepped over the boxes piled messily on the ground and walked further in, but it was even more incredible. Inside were quite a few biological specimens, which appeared particularly terrifying in the eerie light.

This was simply like the base of a mad genius.

This person was very cautious; apart from these experimental materials, they hadn't left behind any data or text. Peter walked around, but also didn't find any relevant identity information.

A mad scientist conducting biological experiments in the New York sewers? Peter gradually sketched an evil image in his mind.

He couldn't let them continue like this, Peter thought. Although New York's sewers weren't often visited by people, this was also the lifeblood of New York. Once someone dumped some dangerous experimental waste in here, then perhaps all of New York would be in danger.

Thinking this, Peter walked to the door, took down those waste paper boxes piled high at the entrance that were still somewhat dry, then tore these paper shells to shreds, lit a fire, and planned to completely burn down this stronghold.

Although the sewers were damp, this maintenance station was still somewhat dry. Once the fire was lit, soon the whole room was filled with black smoke. Peter closed the door of the maintenance station and watched the fire engulf all the experimental equipment inside.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate he had discovered it early. Once this mad scientist truly developed some poison or toxic gas, it would be too late.

Peter, who had come out of the sewers, was still somewhat uneasy. He felt that although he had destroyed one stronghold, this mad scientist might have other strongholds. He had to hurry up and keep an eye on this place over the next few days, ideally catching them.

Over the next few days, Peter interned at Stark Industries during the day and frequently went in and out of the sewers at night. Ever since that stronghold was destroyed, the traces of life in the sewers seemed to have disappeared as well.

It seemed that mad genius had given up.

Peter felt slightly relieved. Recently, his internship hadn't been going very smoothly either. He discovered that Mr. Stark appeared extremely negative; he didn't even do experiments, spending his days smoking and drinking, sometimes getting dead drunk and collapsing on the laboratory floor, requiring Peter to help him up.

Peter had seen those negative reports about Stark, but he didn't believe a single word of them. He felt they were entirely smears. Iron Man was a superhero; he had saved many people and was not the heartless devil in the mouths of those media outlets.

Peter wanted to reverse this situation, but he didn't have any good methods. He had never been very good at this kind of thing, not even daring to call and question those reports. So he came to the psychological clinic again, feeling that Dr. Schiller must have a way to reverse public opinion.

Schiller was recently busy finding food for the symbiote.

When Peter arrived at the psychological clinic, Schiller was bandaging Pikachu with gauze. Pikachu had been jumping around on the kitchen counter while he was cooking, and its tail had fallen into the pot, getting a large clump of fur scalded off. At this moment, it was lying pitifully on the table letting Schiller treat it.

Peter said, "Hey! Am I disturbing you? Then I can come back tomorrow..."

"It's fine, come in. I don't have any serious business to do right now."

Peter walked in and fiercely rubbed Pikachu's face. Pikachu wrinkled its nose and wanted to dodge, but its tail was still gripped in Schiller's hand. It jumped to the side, its tail was fiercely tugged, and it fell onto the table again, also knocking over a whole pile of cups with a clatter.

"Behave," Schiller said, "otherwise your tail will be bald forever."

Peter sat on the chair next to him and said, "Doctor, have you seen those reports recently? Those reporters are really capable of spouting nonsense. There are even people swearing that they saw Mr. Stark selling weapons to those terrorists, and they even described the scene of their negotiations vividly..."

"This is the bread and butter of reporters. If they didn't even have this bit of skill, they wouldn't need to hang around the New York reporter circle."

"But they are completely spreading rumors!" Peter slammed the table angrily and said, "Mr. Stark is not that kind of person!"

"Is that so? If that were entirely rumors, Stark's attitude right now should be the same as yours. You feel incomparably angry because your friend is being slandered; the person involved would only be even angrier when facing being slandered themselves."

"Then..." Peter was choked up because Schiller made sense. When Thompson was making up stories at school to slander him, he had been absolutely furious. But why wasn't Mr. Stark angry? Why didn't he stand up and try hard to refute them?

You have to know that even he, despite being somewhat inarticulate, still tried very hard to explain those rumors to the people around him.

"Why are you so certain that what you firmly believe is correct?" Schiller asked him.

"Because I... but the Stark I know is definitely not like that!"

"Perhaps you have only seen one side of him?"

"But..." Peter clenched his fists and said, "Doctor, isn't Mr. Stark your friend too? Do you think he is really the kind of person written about in those reports?"

Schiller shook his head and said, "The Stark in my eyes and the Stark in your eyes are very likely completely different, just like there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes."

"The view of an event always changes due to one's own position. A bad person looking at a good person might see a bad person, while a bad person looking at a bad person might see a good person."

Peter hammered his palm with his fist and said, "I believe those reporters and Oscorp are definitely bad people looking at bad people as good people, because they are all birds of a feather, which is why they praise each other. And those reporters looking at Mr. Stark are definitely bad people who can't stand good people..."

"How do you think good people and bad people are defined?"

"Uh... those who do good deeds are good people, and those who do bad deeds are bad people?"

"Then how are good deeds and bad deeds defined?"

"At least... at least they must conform to the facts, cannot spread rumors, and cannot violate laws... and morality, they must also follow moral bottom lines. Is that a good deed?"

"Do you think that you swinging around in the sky over New York all day doesn't violate traffic safety laws?"

"But that was for... alright, I think my starting point was good, and the purpose achieved was also good. I saved people, right? So actually violating a little bit of regulation isn't much..."

(Author's Note: Deceived Kangxi)

Schiller shook his head and said, "You will eventually understand one day that there are no completely good people in this world, nor are there completely bad people. This world is full of bad deeds where both the starting point and the result are good, and it is also full of good deeds where both the starting point and the result are terrible."

Peter scratched his head and said, "I think this sounds like a tongue twister."

"If you always use a simple black-and-white way of thinking to observe this world, then sooner or later, you will discover that these black and white colors have stirred into a lump of hazy gray."

"But a good deed is a good deed, and a bad deed is a bad deed. I just want to help more people and do more good deeds," Peter said.

When he left Schiller's place, Peter's head was still a bit dizzy. He had been made a bit lightheaded by Schiller's whole set of metaphors about good and bad deeds. Peter's idea was very simple: he was a good person, so he had to do good deeds, and he also had to stop bad people from doing bad deeds.

What exactly was illogical about this? Wasn't this a very simple principle?

Peter shook his head. He felt he wasn't wrong, and if everyone thought like him, then this world would definitely become much better. The reason there was so much crime was because those bad people simply weren't willing to give up doing bad deeds. If everyone were a good person, then wouldn't there be no more crime in this world?

Walking the whole way and thinking the whole way, Peter glanced at his watch and discovered that it was still early. He had already asked for leave from his internship team leader, and at this time, his uncle and aunt definitely wouldn't be home.

Peter thought about it and still decided to continue his superhero career.

Finding the nearest manhole, Peter dove down. He felt that for the sake of safety, he should still patrol the sewers more to prevent any possible dangerous behavior from that mad scientist.

However, today, as soon as he entered the sewers, Peter had a feeling of hair-raising dread. This feeling hadn't reached the level of spider-sense, but it still made his back feel cold.

Having no choice, he opened his backpack, put on his spider suit, and then hid the backpack in a corner, continuing to walk deeper into the sewers as Spider-Man.

That omnipresent sense of crisis made Spider-Man not run as fast as before, but instead walk briskly. Just as he got closer and closer to the reservoir in the center of this district, his spider-sense began to ring slightly. He felt somewhat panicked, but couldn't find the source of the panic.

Walking for a while longer, suddenly, he heard a faint "hissing" sound in front, accompanied by a friction sound like metal scraping against stone.

His spider-sense flared violently. Spider-Man rolled quickly to the other side, dodging a piece of stone slab thrown at him.

Amidst the flying stone chips, Peter looked up. He saw a massive figure appear at the end of the dark sewer.

It was a behemoth at least four or five meters tall. As it walked closer, Peter saw clearly by the faint light of the sewer: it was a lizard walking upright, a massive lizard-man so tall it almost filled the entire sewer space.

Spider-Man swallowed hard; he realized that compared to this Lizard-man, his own small frame was truly thin and tiny.

But clearly, this monster had already discovered him. Peter began to flee rapidly along the wall, with the massive Lizard-man in hot pursuit; every step he took made the sewer floor tremble.

The Lizard-man let out a violent roar and grabbed various stone slabs to throw at Spider-Man. Spider-Man was faster than him, but not by much, and more importantly, those stone slabs forced him to dodge left and right, severely reducing his speed.

In the sewers, web-shooters were not very effective, so Peter could only rely on his legs to run, and creatures that run on two feet have a weakness: once their center of gravity shifts, they easily fall.

To dodge a stone slab, Peter rolled to the right, but immediately after, he was grazed by a stone fragment from the left. Once his balance was lost, he tumbled across the ground, and the massive Lizard-man grabbed his leg and threw him away.

Peter was slammed against the sewer wall; he coughed desperately twice, feeling a metallic, bloody taste in his throat.

He struggled to climb to his feet, intending to prepare himself to continue dealing with the bitter battle that might follow, but suddenly the Lizard-man shook his head, appearing somewhat dazed, and then stopped paying attention to Peter, turning instead to run off in another direction.