The Good Man's War (Part One)

Amidst a cacophony of noise and flashing lights, Stark, dressed in a suit and tie, stood at the interview table. As soon as he stood still, more than a dozen microphones were thrust at him. He reached out and pressed them down, signaling them to be patient.

"Hello, Mr. Stark, I am Brock, a special correspondent for the Global Daily. Mr. Stark, how do you view the questions and accusations you have faced for disregarding human life after you terminated your medical cooperation with the military?"

"You need to get one thing straight," Stark said, pointing at the male reporter.

"I'm not trying to shut down the collaboration. Besides, with your limited brain capacity, you probably can't understand the difference between industrial medical device technology and the ordinary medical technology used in hospitals..."

Although Stark looked to be in good spirits, his dark circles betrayed the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well lately.

Pepper is extremely busy. The smooth operation of the Stark Industries depends entirely on her. Since Stark fell out with the military, he has faced all sorts of external pressures.

Just like at this press conference, Stark glanced down and knew that at least half of the people there had been paid by the military. They would ask all sorts of tricky questions, just like the reporter named Brock had just done, trying to shift all the blame onto him.

The reporter then said, "Stark Industries is clearly less proactive than Osborn Group in medical technology research and development. Does this mean that you are not as concerned about the development of human medicine as the leaders of Osborn Group, or that you do not have the empathy to care about patients suffering from diseases?"

Stark glanced at his ID badge. Well, it seemed this Eddie Brock was just looking for trouble.

"I don't want to get entangled with you on this issue. You'd better ask the Army General about the closure of the medical technology cooperation project."

"Then what about Stark Industries' weapons? After these weapons were used in the war, you refused to develop more medical technologies to save the soldiers injured on the battlefield. Does this mean that Stark Industries is actually only concerned with profiting from the war and is a traitor to the people, disregarding the casualties of civilians?"

This reporter, named Brock, spoke incredibly fast, rattling off long sentences like a machine gun. Every angle and every question hit the nail on the head. Stark thought that if it weren't for the script the military gave him, he would truly be a genius reporter.

When someone wants to find fault with you, no matter what you do, you will be criticized from all angles.

The following day, major newspapers in New York were filled with negative reports about Stark, with the most scathing criticism coming from the top reporter of the Global Times, Brock.

Stark knew that the military was putting pressure on him to force him to back down, but he knew he had to withstand the pressure, or Pepper would be left isolated and helpless.

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

Iron Man will never back down, not only for his lofty ideals, but also for all the people he loves.

The military's propaganda war was very effective. They not only suppressed Stark Industries' reputation on the one hand, but also promoted Osborn Group. Osborn Group was originally more skilled in biotechnology and Medical Technology, while Stark Industries was more skilled in military industry.

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

It's impossible to say that these overwhelming negative reports had no impact on Stark. If these reports were really just gossip and baseless rumors, he probably wouldn't be under so much pressure.

The problem is that Stark himself knows that the weapons he sells have hurt many people, and that what the media is saying is not entirely wrong; the Stark Industries originally made its fortune through war.

Having just emerged from that period of extreme negativity, Stark has once again fallen into depression.

Meanwhile, during Peter's sewer exploration, he once again discovered signs of human activity in the sewers.

Since discovering the clues last time, Peter has been paying close attention, carefully examining every maintenance point he passes by. He then discovered that this sewer weirdo had lived in more than just one location. It was as if he was wandering around the sewers every day, and there were traces of his life in five or six maintenance points on the same block.

Following these clues, Peter began to get closer and closer to the Truth. He guessed that this strange man must have a real base at some intersection of these traces of activity.

As the sewer map became more complete, Peter finally found the possible intersection point, which was near a reservoir in the sewers. Four passages extended from there, each corresponding to a street with signs of activity. This strange person may have established a base there and then set up temporary bases in the other streets.

This is not surprising; not everyone has the stamina of Spider-Man, who can run through half the city's sewers in a day.

The sewers were vast, and the road was long. There were no manholes near the reservoir that led to the surface, so he had to build a rest stop between the manholes and the reservoir; otherwise, he would never be able to walk such a long distance, even if he worked himself to death.

Peter also keenly noticed this, which meant that the strange man who operated in the sewers was likely just an ordinary person. He couldn't possibly walk several kilometers in such a damp and dark sewer, which is why he needed to build multiple Lounge in the interconnected sewers.

This gave Peter confidence, because as long as the other party was an ordinary person and he could catch him off guard, he would definitely be able to capture him.

One night, Peter sneaked into the reservoir's hideout. He knew the strange man wouldn't be there at this time, so he pried open the door of the maintenance station near the reservoir.

Upon entering the maintenance station, Peter was taken aback; it was filled with bottles and jars, as well as a lot of rather rudimentary equipment.

Peter picked up one of the bottles and glanced at it. He noticed that it seemed to contain samples of biological tissue. He wondered, "Who is this person? Why is he here conducting experiments?"

He stepped over the boxes piled haphazardly on the ground and went further in, where he found something even more terrifying: there were many biological specimens inside, which looked particularly gruesome in the dim light.

This is practically a base for a crazy eccentric.

This person was very cautious; apart from the materials used in the experiment, he left no data or text. Peter searched around but couldn't find any relevant identification information.

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

Peter thought, "We can't let him continue like this. Although people don't come to New York's sewers often, they are still the lifeblood of the New York. If someone dumps some dangerous experimental waste in there, the whole of New York could be in danger."

Peter that thought in mind, Peter walked to the door, took down the relatively dry cardboard boxes piled high up by the door, tore them into pieces, and set them on fire, intending to burn the outpost down completely.

Although the sewers were damp, the maintenance station was relatively dry. Once a fire was lit, the entire room was quickly filled with black smoke. Peter closed the door of the maintenance station and watched as the fire engulfed all the experimental equipment inside.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he discovered it early. If this mad scientist had actually developed some kind of poison or gas, it would have been too late.

Peter, emerging from the sewers, was still somewhat uneasy. He felt that although one base had been destroyed, the mad scientist might have other bases. He needed to keep a close eye on this place for the next few days and try to catch him.

Over the next few days, Peter interned at Stark Industries during the day and frequently went in and out of the sewers at night. Since the base was destroyed, all traces of life in the sewers seemed to have disappeared.

It seems that the eccentric genius has given up.

Peter felt a little relieved. His internship hadn't been going very well lately either. He noticed that Mr. Stark seemed very negative. He hadn't even done any experiments, and spent his days smoking and drinking. Sometimes he would get so drunk that he would collapse on the lab floor, and Peter would have Peter help him up.

Peter had read the negative reports about Stark, but he didn't believe a word of them. He thought it was all slander. Iron Man was a superhero who had saved many people, not the inhuman devil that the media portrayed him as.

Peter wanted to turn the situation around, but he didn't have any good ideas. He had never been good at this kind of thing, and he didn't even dare to make a phone call to question the reports. So he went to the psychiatric clinic again, thinking that Doctor Schiller must have a way to change public opinion.

Schiller has been busy finding food for the Symbiote lately.

When Peter arrived at the psychiatric clinic, Schiller was bandaging Pikachu. While he was cooking, Pikachu had been jumping around on the kitchen table, and its tail had fallen into the pot and burned off a large tuft of fur. Now, Pikachu was pitifully lying on the table, waiting for Schiller to treat it.

Peter said, "Hey! Did I bother you? I can come back tomorrow..."

"It's alright, come in. I don't have anything important to do right now."

Peter walked in and gave Pikachu's face a good rub. Pikachu wrinkled its nose and tried to dodge, but Schiller still held its Schiller in his hand. Pikachu jumped to the side, its tail was grabbed hard, and it fell onto the table, knocking over a bunch of cups with a clatter.

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

Peter sat down in the chair next to him and said, "Doctor, have you seen those reports lately? Those reporters are really good at making things up. Some of them even claimed to have seen Mr. Stark selling weapons to those terrorists, and they even described the negotiation scene in great detail..."

"This is a journalist's essential skill. If they don't even have this much ability, they shouldn't be in the New York journalist circle."

"But they're completely spreading rumors!" Peter slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Mr. Stark is not that kind of person!"

"Really? If that's really a complete fabrication, Stark's attitude should be the same as yours. You're furious that your friend was being slandered, so the person in question would be even more furious if they were being slandered themselves."

"Well..." Peter choked for a moment, because what Schiller said made sense. When Thompson made up some stories and spread rumors about him at school, he was furious. But why wasn't Mr. Stark angry? Why didn't he stand up and try to refute them?

Even he, despite being somewhat taciturn, still tried very hard to explain those rumors to those around him.

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

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

"Perhaps you only saw one side of him?"

"But..." Peter clenched his fist and said, "Doctor, isn't Mr. Stark also your friend? Do you really think he's the kind of person described in those reports?"

Schiller shook his head and said, "The Stark I see is very likely to be completely different from the Stark you see, just like there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes."

"Perceptions about a matter always change depending on one's standpoint; a bad person may see a good person as bad, while a bad person may see a bad person as good."

Peter slammed his fist into the palm of his One Hand and said, "I believe those reporters and the Osborn Group are definitely bad guys who see bad guys as good guys, because they're all in cahoots, that's why they're praising each other. And those reporters definitely see Mr. Stark as a bad guy who can't stand a good guy..."

How do you define a good person and a bad person?

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

"Then how do we define good and bad things?"

"At least... at least it has to be based on the facts, you can't spread rumors, you can't violate the law... and you have to have morality too, you have to follow the moral bottom line, then that's a good thing, right?"

"Do you think you're not violating traffic laws by loitering around New York all day?"

"But I did it for... well, I think my intentions were good, and my goal was good too. I saved someone, right? So it's not a big deal to break a few rules, is it..."

Schiller shook his head and said, "You'll eventually understand that there are no completely good people or completely bad people in this world. This world is full of bad things with good intentions and good outcomes, and also full of good things with terrible intentions and terrible outcomes."

Peter scratched his head and said, "I feel like this is a tongue twister."

"If you always observe the world with a simplistic black-and-white way of thinking, sooner or later you will find that these blacks and whites have been mixed into a hazy gray."

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

When Peter left Schiller, Peter was still a little dizzy. He was a bit confused by Schiller's long set of metaphors about good and bad things. Peter's idea was simple: he was a good person, so he should do good things and stop bad people from doing bad things.

What's so illogical about this? Isn't it a very simple principle?

Peter shook his head. He felt that he was right, and if everyone thought like him, the world would definitely be a better place. The reason why there is so much crime is because bad people are unwilling to give up doing bad things. If everyone were a good person, wouldn't there be no more crime in the world?

Peter walked and thought all the way. Peter glanced at his watch and realized it was still early. He had already asked his internship group leader for leave, and he knew that his uncle and aunt wouldn't be home by now.

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

Peter found the nearest manhole cover Peter crawled down. He figured that just to be safe, he should patrol the sewers more often to prevent the Frankenstein's monster from doing anything dangerous.

However, upon entering the sewers today, Peter felt a chill run down his spine. It wasn't quite Spider-Sense, but it still sent shivers down his spine.

Left with no other choice, he opened his backpack, put on the Spider-Man suit, hid the backpack in a corner, and continued walking deeper into the sewers as Spider-Man- Man.

The ever-present sense of danger made Spider-Man walk briskly instead of running as before. As he got closer and closer to the reservoir in the center of the city, his Spider-Sense began to hum slightly. He felt a little panicked, but he couldn't pinpoint the source of his panic.

After walking for a while, he suddenly heard a faint hissing sound ahead, accompanied by a scraping sound like metal scraping against stone.

Spider-Sense suddenly activated, Spider-Man quickly rolled to the other side, dodging a shard of stone thrown at him.

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

It was a colossal creature at least four or five meters tall. As he drew closer, Peter, using the dim light of the sewer, could see clearly that it was an upright-walking lizard, a gigantic Lizardman so large that it almost filled the entire sewer space.

Spider-Man swallowed hard, realizing how skinny and small he was compared to the Lizardman.

But clearly, the monster had spotted him. Peter quickly began to flee along the wall, with the giant Lizardman in hot pursuit. With each step he took, the sewer floor trembled.

The Lizardman roared and grabbed various stone tablets, hurling them at Spider-Man. Spider-Man was faster than him, but not by much. More importantly, the stone tablets forced him to dodge left and right, severely reducing his speed.

Silk isn't very useful in the sewers, so Peter has to rely on his legs to run. Creatures that walk on their own two feet have a weakness: they can easily fall over if their center of gravity shifts.

Peter flipped to the right to avoid a slab of stone, but was immediately knocked down by a shard of stone from the left. Once he lost his balance, he rolled several times on the ground, and the huge Lizardman grabbed his leg and threw him away.

Peter was slammed against the sewer wall. He coughed violently twice and felt a metallic, sweet taste in his throat.

He struggled to his feet, intending to prepare for the likely tough battle to come, but suddenly the Lizardman shook its head, seemingly a little disoriented, and then ignored Peter, turning and running off in another direction.