Ben's New Element

"Sir, there has been an intruder."

"Sir, there has been an intruder."

Jarvis's voice was so muffled, as if it were coming through several layers of transparent glass, that Tony felt an excruciating pain in his head, as if someone were splitting it open with an axe.

"Ah..."

He reached out to cover his head, but instead made a crisp metallic sound.

Only then did he realize that he was wearing armor, with metal plates covering his hands and head.

After sobering up a bit, he felt an urge to urinate. Without thinking, Tony immediately released his urine inside his armor. After a while, he shuddered with relief, as if his drunkenness had dissipated somewhat.

Then he heard a somewhat unfamiliar voice.

"Peeing directly inside the armor? Disgusting!"

Tony was startled and quickly jumped up from the ground, knocking over several bottles of fine wine, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he looked warily at the distance.

There, a man in a black, tight-fitting uniform sat in his chair, a huge white spider clinging to his chest like a skeleton, with gray chains tightly wrapped around his arms.

"Spider-Kid?" Tony instinctively wanted to rub his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming, but as soon as he reached out, there was another crisp sound.

"When did you change your clothes?" he asked.

Clearly, Tony hadn't been paying attention to anything happening outside during this time; otherwise, he would have known that the person in front of him wasn't the Spider-Man he remembered, but Hacker.

He lived a life of debauchery, believing that the life he had snatched back from the jaws of death was finally coming to an end.

"Actually, I'm curious, how do you pee inside your armor?" Ben asked curiously, even though he clearly remembered that Tony was wearing clothes inside.

"Direct release? Letting your thighs soak with urine? Or do you have a catheter inserted in the front?"

Tony's face darkened; he clearly didn't want to continue the conversation.

He took a deep breath and vented his anger on Jarvis: "Jarvis, how did you let this guy in?!"

"Sir, I've already warned you about the intruder; he's hacked into my security system..." Jarvis said.

"What?"

Tony was even more surprised now.

You should know that he had specifically reinforced his security system after it was hacked by some Egghead Fury once.

Tony was extremely confident that no one could breach his Firewall, but now, this guy in front of him had managed to do so.

His eyes widened, and he said instinctively:

If I remember correctly, you should only be 16 years old, right?

This statement was partly an expression of surprise at Ben's genius, and partly a warning to Ben that he had all the information about him and that he had better not have any ulterior motives.

"I must remind you, sir, that he and Spider-Man are not the same person," Jarvis said, habitually interrupting. "His nickname is 'The Hacker,' and based on the information we've gathered, there's an 80% probability that The Hacker's true identity is Ben Parker."

Although Tony Stark was out of touch with reality during this time, Jarvis was not idle. He kept gathering information from the outside world and had already begun investigating when Hacker Spider-Man first appeared.

Given that Spider-Man is indeed Peter Parker, it's quite reasonable to suspect that the Hacker is Peter's cousin. Furthermore, based on comparisons of data such as height, Jarvis believes this guess is highly likely.

Ben showed no emotional reaction to his first layer of identity being exposed.

To be honest, the purpose of the Hacker Spider-Man identity is to ensure that the secret of the watch remains undiscovered.

I'm Spider-Man now, so you're not allowed to guess I'm an alien anymore!

Therefore, after hearing Jarvis's analysis, Ben simply ripped off his hood and complimented him, "Your artificial intelligence is impressive. I only appeared once, and it was already detected."

"Actually, twice, sir," Jarvis said.

"A month ago, you appeared alongside Spider-Man in a different suit. The person who saved Councilwoman Andrea's niece wasn't Spider-Man, but the Hacker."

"You even know that?"

Ben was somewhat surprised.

Indeed, for artificial intelligence that cannot work tirelessly without sleep, it is difficult for ordinary people to keep up.

Tony was completely confused by the conversation between the two men, but he did understand one thing: Ben was most likely not an enemy.

Before his condition worsened, Tony had investigated Peter.

That energetic little bug was always eager to do good deeds, and since this guy in front of it was the other person's cousin, he should be a good person too... probably.

Given that Ben barged into his lab without warning and even mocked him for needing a catheter to urinate, Tony had reservations about Ben's character.

Whether it's good or bad depends on the other party's true intentions.

However, what he was more curious about was,

"How did you get through my Firewall?" Tony's mask came off, and he walked to the liquor cabinet, took out a bottle of liquor, and tossed it to Ben. "Want a drink?"

"Minor."

Ben pushed the bottle of liquor away and said, "Jarvis's security measures are very strong; it took me a lot of effort to crack them. And it regained control very quickly."

In reality, he first transformed into Grey Matter, and then launched an attack on Jarvis together with Eunice.

The name "Hacker" would be more suitable for Grey Matter.

Upon hearing this, Tony raised his eyebrows defiantly, took a swig of his drink, and said, "I am very good! But you're not bad either, just a little worse than me."

There are only two things Tony can't do in his life: first, admit that someone is better than him; second, admit that he is not as good as his own father.

"So, what exactly do you want to do after going to all this trouble to hack into my system? Try to find a job with your skills? Fine, I'll give you one hundred... five million a year. Report to the HR department."

He waved his hand, indicating that Ben could leave.

But Ben didn't move. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and said comfortably, "Tony Stark, I'm here to negotiate—no, to make a deal with you."

Tony frowned. "Five million isn't enough? You're being a bit greedy. Fine, ten million."

At this point, Jarvis added insult to injury, "Sir, I'm afraid Parker doesn't care about ten million dollars. According to publicly available information, Parker is the CEO of Primus."

"Primus?"

Hearing that name brought Tony back to his senses.

Prior to this, before he completely succumbed to despair, he had made considerable efforts regarding his treatment plan.

If Palladium cannot be replaced, surgically removing the shrapnel is also an option. This surgery is normally very risky, but since Norman Osborn announced the availability of Self-Healing Serum a month ago, the risks have become much smaller.

But Tony was unwilling to try.

Because the Self-Healing Serum was invented by someone else, and it was sold by the Osborn Corporation.

And the company he hated most was Osborn!

If he used Osborn's Self-Healing Serum, wouldn't that be admitting that he, or even Stark, was inferior to Osborn?

Holding onto this twisted stubbornness, Tony rejected Jarvis's proposal at the time.

However, he didn't expect the person in charge of Primus to be so young, and at the same time, Tony's mind started to wander.

Although he insisted on his principles and preferred death to using someone else's technology, the situation back then wasn't as urgent as it is now; at this moment, he was truly on the verge of death.

In this situation, Tony's bottom line naturally became a bit more flexible.

Buying Self-Healing Serum directly is a bit shameful, but if the other person begs for help and then delivers the potion to me, then it shouldn't count as a loss, right...?

So Tony, feigning nonchalance and generosity, asked, "Hey kid, what do you want?"

At that moment, he seemed like a genie emerging from a magic lamp, clearly having his own desires, yet still appearing as if to say, "Speak, three wishes."

Seeing this, Ben shook his head and chuckled, "Look at you, Tony Stark, the renowned genius, reduced to this state. How much of your life do you still have left to squander?"

What do you mean by that?

"Don't play dumb. Any smart person knows you're not going to live much longer. Palladium is a double-edged sword, isn't it? You need to use it to trap shrapnel and prevent it from flowing into your heart through your blood vessels, but at the same time, the toxins are also eroding your body."

Ben stepped forward, extended his index finger, and tapped the Arc Reactor on his chest.

That's right, he came to see Tony this time to discuss this deal.

Readers who frequently travel through time know that it's easy to get something out of Tony: Stark Industries stock, New Element...

It's not exactly original, but who wouldn't want to get something for nothing?

Besides, even if Ben doesn't make it, Egg will, so why not just do it myself!

Tony's expression darkened when his situation was exposed.

Being weak is one thing, but being seen through is another. He felt like a lost soul wandering in a desert of death, with Vulture circling overhead and hyenas watching him intently from all sides.

If he dies, can Pepper protect Stark Industries?

That's probably difficult.

Tony thought to himself, "You know, even when Norman Osborn was alive, he almost lost his company."

What do you want?

Therefore, Tony asked very directly.

Since it's a transaction, it's clear that Ben has something he wants, and naturally, he needs to pay a price.

"It's a small favor, very easy for you."

Instead of revealing his true intentions, Ben thoughtfully sided with Stark.

"I know you dislike Osborn and bioscience, so I won't tell you to use the Self-Healing Serum."

Tony was somewhat surprised by this, but not entirely unexpected.

If Ben's method is simply a potion, then there's no need to make a special trip.

After all, Self-Healing Serum are now readily available products with clearly marked prices. If Tony wanted to use them, he could simply buy them directly; why would he need to trade with him?

So he raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"New Element!"