Octavius?
The moment Bant heard that name, he froze for a second, then immediately realized that the out-of-shape middle-aged man in front of him was Otto Octavius, the man better known to most people as Doctor Octopus.
For now, Otto was still just an ordinary man.
He was not wearing mechanical tentacles, nor had he turned to crime because of poverty. At this moment, he was being funded by the Hardy Foundation and was peacefully carrying out his research.
Otto was fairly satisfied with his life as it was.
His past had been a miserable one. Though he was a native New Yorker, he had grown up at the bottom of society. His father had been a factory worker with a violent streak and a drinking problem, often beating both him and his mother for no reason.
After becoming an adult, he got through college on loans. Even while still in school, he had already begun making a name for himself, publishing numerous theoretical papers that made him highly respected in the field of atomic physics.
But later, Tony Stark built a nuclear fusion reactor out of scrap in a cave in the Middle East, achieving the very dream Otto had pursued for so many years, and doing it even more perfectly!
That had left Otto dispirited for quite a long time, but in the end, he pulled himself back together.
The Arc Reactor was perfect, but there were still many other things in this world that were not.
There was more than one path if he wanted to use science to make the world a better place.
Of course, he had not completely abandoned his own reactor either. Its technology was not exactly the same as the Arc Reactor's, and it still had value of its own.
"Dr. Otto."
Bant did not dislike Doctor Octopus. On the contrary, he admired the man's talent and ideals.
How bad could someone really be when he was dedicated to using his intelligence to benefit human society?
He had only become Spider-Man's enemy because fate had toyed with him.
In truth, many of Spider-Man's enemies were like that. Before falling to darkness, they had once been both teachers and friends to Peter Parker, only to end up walking the opposite road.
Totems...
"Now I understand why Miss Hardy asked me where she could buy cheap lab materials back then," Otto said with a smile. Then he glanced back at Felicia, who stood beside Mrs. Hardy while sneaking looks in Bant's direction, and sighed emotionally.
"It's good to be young, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Bant agreed.
Then Otto said, "A lot of people think Norman Osborn invented the healing serum, but I know that's not true."
He glanced at Osborn, who was chatting cheerfully with the other businessmen, and continued, "He is a remarkable scientist, but over the years, he's placed his mind elsewhere."
Otto sounded almost regretful.
In his eyes, becoming capital did not push society forward, nor did it allow other people to live better lives.
In this country, parasites like that were everywhere, and because of them, the lives of the poor only became harder.
Norman Osborn was a genius, but being a genius alone was nowhere near enough. In this world, genius was only an admission ticket. Above genius, there was always an even greater genius.
Just like himself. He had already been extremely famous while still in college, but compared to Tony Stark, the gap was still far too great.
So being talented alone was not enough. One also had to work even harder.
And in Otto's view, Norman had slowly given up on his own gifts. That was why Otto could never quite bring himself to like him.
"In truth, it was your achievement, wasn't it?" Otto's eyes were full of admiration.
"I did invent it."
Bant nodded. To many people, that was not really a secret at all. S.H.I.E.L.D., for one, had known for ages.
Of course, he could have continued hiding it, but when facing someone like Dr. Otto, Bant was more willing to be a little sincere.
"I knew it."
Otto wore an expression of complete certainty, then sighed again.
"You know, Connors and I are actually close friends," he said. "He's always devoted himself to researching cross-species genetics, not just to heal his own arm, but to help countless others like him as well."
"The news says that he offered himself as a test subject because he wanted to stop the Green Goblin from using innocent patients as experimental material. I'm not surprised in the slightest, because that's exactly the kind of man he is."
Bant nodded, agreeing with Otto's judgment.
"That's exactly why Uncle Norman and I were willing to search for him at any cost after he disappeared, and why we're determined to cure him. Because he's someone worthy of respect."
Uncle Norman...
When he heard that way of addressing Osborn, Otto paused for a moment before finally realizing that Bant was still just a kid.
The thought left him with the strange feeling that Connors and he himself shared the same fate.
They were both geniuses.
But above geniuses, there were still greater geniuses. The thing he had spent his whole life pursuing was something that came easily to others.
"You know?"
"Whenever I meet geniuses like you, I always feel a mix of jealousy, regret, and relief," Otto said. "But I imagine Connors will be very happy. After all, it means there's hope for his left arm now, and hope for countless disabled people as well."
Just as the two were talking, a stir rose from the distance.
They turned at the sound and saw Justin Hammer striding in, surrounded by an entourage and followed by a crowd of reporters.
He did not pause for even a second. On the surface, he looked irritated by the reporters around him, but anyone with eyes could tell that the man was enjoying every second of it, basking in the spotlight and reveling in the feeling of being the center of attention.
"I've already said that Hammer Industries has reached a partnership with the military, and from here on out, we'll be developing the most advanced and highest-end weapons..."
"As for the Iron Man armor, all I can say is that it absolutely does not belong to Tony Stark alone. He's just a selfish, arrogant egomaniac who thinks no one else can develop armor technology. But he's wrong..."
"Today's Expo?"
"That's a surprise!" Justin Hammer said confidently. "I welcome everyone to witness it for yourselves. Trust me, whatever you want to see, I've got it all!"
"Alright, I know you all still have many questions, but that's enough for now." Justin Hammer put on a show of pointing toward the other entrepreneurs inside the Expo hall before adding, "There are still plenty of people I need to greet."
"He really is like a peacock."
Otto said it with open mockery.
"Yeah. That's exactly why I don't like him much either."
At that moment, Mrs. Hardy waved at Otto from afar, signaling for him to come over.
Unlike the major corporations, the Hardy Foundation did not have enough strength on its own. Mrs. Hardy wanted to use scientific research to attract outside investment, but she herself did not actually understand science, so explanations in that area could not be done without Otto.
Justin Hammer, meanwhile, was walking in Bant's direction.
But his target was not Bant.
It was Norman Osborn.
"Norman, Norman! Long time no see! I was starting to think you'd just sink into obscurity!" Hammer called out from afar, arms already spread open wide, as enthusiastic as if they were old friends meeting again after years apart.
But in truth, Osborn and Hammer had almost never crossed paths before.
Norman did not need to think to know why Hammer was being so warm.
The healing serum.
Hammer was not particularly clever, so like many others, he assumed that Osborn was the true power behind Plamos.
Even though the healing serum had absolutely nothing to do with Hammer Industries, and the two sides were neither competitors nor business partners, no one could look at a drug like that and remain without thoughts.
After all, accidents could happen to anyone.
And that was not all.
If Osborn could release a healing serum now, then who knew whether he might produce a longevity serum a few years later?
So there was no downside at all to building a good relationship with the Osborn Group.
Looking at the overly enthusiastic Hammer, then thinking of how the man would likely be left with absolutely nothing before long, Norman could not help feeling a little emotional.
But only a little.
He turned his head and glanced at Bant. Their eyes met in midair, and then Norman walked toward Hammer wearing the exact same kind of exaggerated warmth.
Such was business.
A performance for both sides.
Bant sat there for a while longer, bored out of his mind, before Felicia quietly slipped away from Mrs. Hardy's side and ran over to him. The two of them promptly vanished from the backstage area of the Expo like their feet had been greased.
"Are you going on stage tonight?" Felicia asked.
Bant shook his head.
"I'm not a fan of showing my face in public. Let Harry sit up there instead."
Hearing that, Felicia had originally wanted to drag Bant around the Expo for a walk, but Bant, who already knew what would happen tonight, had no intention of wandering around.
"Let's just go straight to the Plamos pavilion."
Because of the danger involved, Bant was worried tonight might turn into a full-scale Spiderweb incident, so he had already set up an energy barrier around the outer perimeter of the pavilion to ensure the safety of everyone inside the Plamos venue.
The energy barrier was not actually his invention. It was technology that already existed on Sakaar.
Sakaar had plenty of high-tech marvels. Unfortunately, it was far too far from Earth, and those wormholes were not stable either. Even with a Techadon engine, honestly speaking, Earth's coordinates were not easy to pinpoint.
The only reason he had managed to return to Earth so quickly this time was thanks to Asgard.
What a pity the Bifrost was not his personal commute tool, or life would have been much easier.
Bant brought Felicia back to the Plamos pavilion. In the very front row of seats, Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Uncle Ben were all sitting together, chatting and laughing.
Clearly, Aunt May liked Mary Jane very much.
Mary Jane's aunt had always been close to her, so Aunt May looked at Mary Jane almost the same way she would look at a girl of her own.
But when she thought of the other girl who had shown up at their door during the month Bant had gone traveling, Aunt May's head started aching a little.
Dating two girls at the same time clearly did not fit Aunt May's values.
I just wonder how Bant's going to handle this...
Still thinking about it, she happened to lift her eyes and saw Bant and Felicia walking over side by side.
This time, Aunt May's expression changed.
She glanced at Mary Jane, and panic instantly filled her face.
Bant really had been far too careless. Before making a choice, he had actually let the two girls meet each other.
Are these two girls going to start fighting?
Fortunately, things did not develop at all the way she imagined.
When Mary Jane saw Felicia, not only was she not surprised, she happily greeted her.
Felicia also jogged over and sat right beside her.
A love triangle?
Not happening!
/-\
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