A Rotten Story (Part 2)

Inside Stark Tower, a data cable was plugged into the terminal, Peter was fiddling with a computer. Jarvis said, "Data transfer complete, 3%, 2%, 1%..."

Peter's computer screen lit up, Peter said, "Received! Let me see... Good heavens, what is all this???"

Countless documents and data appeared before Peter's eyes. He said in disbelief, "What is this? These look like military personnel files... Lawrence, 35 years old, lost both arms, experiment subject number 3022..."

"Someone is experimenting on these disabled veterans... My God... Wait, what is this?"

"The Project: Desperate Measures?"

Peter began typing rapidly on the keyboard, the screen light flashing incessantly on his face. Peter continued browsing, his complexion worsened, even turning deathly pale.

"Mr. Parker, we have detected a problem with your heart rate. Please stop immediately and take a deep breath..."

Peter lowered his hands, staggered back a few steps, then swallowed hard and said in a dry voice, "We may have discovered a tremendous secret..."

Then he shook his head left and right, looked around, Peter said, "Jarvis, make sure this device can't connect to the internet and protect the data here. I'll be back in a bit..."

His voice was trembling, indicating he was very nervous, but he still managed to calmly arrange everything before grabbing his bag and leaving the building.

When Schiller saw Peter, he had never seen Spider-Man look so pale. Peter usually looked a little haggard when he stayed up late, but now his lips were almost bloodless, his body was trembling, and he seemed a little lost.

Before Schiller could speak, Peter blurted out, as if reciting lines, "Listen, Doctor, let me finish! I'm afraid I won't remember it later..."

"Just now, I received all the information about a secret project from Dr. Connors, but I can't copy it or write it down in any way because it's too terrifying. If it gets out, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"So now I can only tell you about this plan verbally. It is called the 'Project: Desperate Measures,' and it is a plan prepared by a group of high-ranking military officers, led by General Robert, from the Tartarus faction of the military."

Peter could tell he was reciting information, but thanks to his extraordinary memory, he recited it fluently. He continued, "This is a project aimed at stimulating the body's superhuman regenerative abilities to create super soldiers. Their goals include: 'rapid wound healing, limb regeneration, removal of muscle limitations, and turning every soldier into a super soldier who is devoid of pain and emotion.'"

"Currently, the plan is still in its early stages, but 16 soldiers have already participated in the experiment. They are all veterans who have lost limbs or been seriously injured on the battlefield."

"Three of them were Dr. Connors' comrades-in-arms."

"Because of Dr. Connors' achievements in biology and bionics, he had been in contact with the military, but he concealed his computer science training from them. As a result, he stole most of the project's data in his collaboration with the military..."

"It was because he wanted to save these soldiers that Dr. Connors kept researching Lizard Serum. He didn't have the power to stop the military from continuing this program. He just wanted to use his research results to turn these soldiers into healthy, normal people in advance, so that they could be spared from participating in this experiment."

"According to the research progress report of this project, Dr. Connors was a step too late. This group of disabled veterans had already received the first injection. This is why Dr. Connors was so eager to complete the serum. But it was precisely because he was too hasty and did not conduct the final safety test that he turned into a lizard monster..."

Peter finished speaking in one breath, Schiller saw that he was almost unsteady on his feet. He first helped Peter to the sofa, poured him a glass of water, Peter drank a few mouthfuls of water before he breathed a sigh of relief. Schiller then took out a heart rate monitoring bracelet and put it on him.

Schiller discovered that Peter's heart rate was indeed a bit off. For a Spider Mutation superhero to be so nervous that his heart rate was irregular, Schiller could already imagine what Peter had seen in those documents.

Peter seemed to be greatly shocked. The materials were not all dry experimental data; many of the pictures were of human experiments, which, in short, contained extremely inhumane content.

After drinking the water, Peter still felt a bit nauseous. Those pictures were far more horrifying than any of the bloody injuries he had ever seen. He had never seen anything so terrifying in his life.

As Peter ran to the toilet to vomit, Schiller asked Gray Mist in his mind, "Are you sure there's a Symbiote that also got into Stark?" When did that happen?

"I don't know, but it must be one of my kind; I can recognize them."

Schiller thought for a moment and concluded that the Symbiote that could possess Stark at this time was very likely Venom.

After a while, Peter returned, his hands still trembling slightly. Peter said, "Doctor, we have to find a way to stop this experiment. If it continues, they will destroy the whole world..."

"Moreover, those soldiers are heroes who have given everything for their country; they cannot..."

Peter seemed to recall those images again, and his expression grew increasingly grim. Schiller said, "Don't think about it anymore. I'll give you a simple hypnosis session later, and then you can go upstairs to sleep."

"No, no, I have to think of something, I have to think of something... I can't let these people get away with it..." Peter kept muttering to himself, his mind somewhat dazed.

For a 16-year-old high school student, facing such a cruel reality, and being suddenly subjected to such a huge shock, Peter was clearly somewhat overwhelmed.

"Jarvis, are you there?" Schiller asked Peter's phone.

"I am here, sir."

"Alright, I know I may not have access to Stark's private information, but I still have to ask you, did the military invite Stark to participate in the negotiations?"

"Sir, you do have access. Mr. Stark has granted you Level 2 access, which includes the ability to access all external information."

"Indeed, I have received seven messages from different communication bands within five days, most of which invited Mr. Stark to a military base for talks."

"So what's Stark's attitude?"

"I cannot know, nor can I disclose."

Schiller said, "The military has no Chip right now. These invitations are just a test, because they know that even if they call Stark over, they don't have enough Chip to get what they want."

"In that case, we'll give the military a Chip..."

Peter was a little confused; he'd never been a big fan of these kinds of things, but he still tried to think it over and said, "What does this have to do with stopping that plan?"

"Wasn't this plan orchestrated by the military high command?"

"Yes, Dr. Connors's files say there's a faction within the military high command called Tartarus. They seem to be a political alliance, led by an Admiral named Robert. These people are different from traditional old-school officers; they believe future wars will be wars between superhumans, so they've been trying to get the military to increase investment in training super soldiers..."

"It was them who devised that terrible ' Project: Desperate Measures, using wounded soldiers as test subjects..."

As Peter spoke, he began to gag again. If this plan were just a regular surgery, it wouldn't be so bad, but it was a chemical modification program. The wounded soldiers who received the injections would become all sorts of different people, which brought an unparalleled shock to Peter's worldview.

He couldn't understand how such a devil could exist in this world, turning his fellow countrymen into that kind of being.

Moreover, they were all soldiers and should have been comrades-in-arms.

Peter realized for the first time that even within the same group, the exploitation of the lower class by the upper class was endless. After squeezing out all their value, they would not even let go of the remaining scraps. There were such devils in this world who only cared about their own interests.

"Let me think, it's probably these Tartarus officers who want to acquire the mecha technology, right? After all, the other old General probably prefer to get more missiles or something."

"I want to arrange for Stark to meet these people. Of course, Stark will definitely not want to meet them, but if the military insists on it so much that Stark gets annoyed, he should be able to go and deal with it..." Schiller said, stroking his chin.

"Logically, that should be the case," Peter said. "But what's the benefit of bringing Mr. Stark with them? Mr. Stark shouldn't be killing anyone, right? Besides, Mr. Stark is drunk right now, so we can't tell him about this plan. And even if we did, Mr. Stark can't kill so many people on a military base, can he?"

"Indeed, Stark is not capable. Even if he knew about the plan, he wouldn't resort to violence to kill the Black Hand behind it. He's not that kind of person."

"But we don't need to care about the process, as long as the result is right."

What are your plans?

"You don't need to know right now. Come on, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and feel every sensory organ in your body from top to bottom..."

Soon, Peter gradually relaxed and fell asleep.

When he woke up the next day and went downstairs, he found Schiller fiddling with a syringe. Peter was curious and wanted to go closer, but suddenly his Spider-Sense went off. Peter took two steps back and said, "What are you doing? This thing looks dangerous..."

"It is indeed dangerous, but I need you to transport it later."

"Where to send it?"

"Dr. Connors is in the Stark Tower lab, Jarvis told me that the military will be coming today to collect the remaining results of that medical collaboration project, which will become one of the outcomes."

"Of course, before that, you need to fabricate a plausible experimental report for it."

"Uh... fabricated? Where's the original experimental report for this?"

"He was admitted to a mental hospital along with his inventor."

Peter pursed his lips and said, "So, this is actually a counterfeit product?"

"But it works well, and that's all that matters."

"So what kind of lab report is it?"

"You should describe it as a drug that can stimulate people's nerves and activate brain activity."

"If it doesn't do this, then what does it actually do?"

"Actually, it's for this purpose, but the side effects are quite significant. However, it's okay, no one will actually use it. It's only needed to provide a small stimulus to an alien creature..."

Peter was a little confused. How could this involve extraterrestrial beings? He took Schiller's statement as a metaphor he didn't understand and skipped over it.

But in fact, Schiller was telling the truth, because the syringe contained a highly concentrated Fear Toxin.