Project Insight (Half an Hour Later)

After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D.., Peter returned to Queens, Ben went to Primus alone.

As expected.

Tony Stark arrived shortly after he reached Primus.

Tony Stark was relatively polite. After a brief moment of anger, Tony calmed down considerably. He didn't even put on his armor, but instead drove his A8 to the entrance of Primus's house.

Seeing the two Iron Soldiers that had been drastically altered and were now being used as watchdogs, Tony walked straight over without fear.

As expected, the soldiers did not react.

He immediately realized that Ben was probably already waiting for him.

"There's not even a receptionist?"

Primus was as empty as ever.

At that moment, Eunice's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Tony Stark, the gentleman is in the sanatorium. Please proceed to the elevator."

"An electronic reception desk? That works too."

He nodded, then said to Jarvis through the headset, "Jarvis, I suddenly feel that female voices sound more pleasant. How about we change your voice to something more masculine?"

"Sir, theoretically speaking, I have no gender."

Jarvis didn't care at all.

The sanatorium area has very few floors, and the elevator quickly took us to our destination.

Tony walked out and almost thought he was in a hospital. Everything was white, and even Ben was wearing a white coat over his clothes.

You changed careers and became a doctor?

"How about it, want me to treat you too?" Ben raised his head and pointed at Tony's chest.

"No need."

Although the New Element were used, Tony did not remove the Arc Reactor.

The key issue is that he's afraid to have surgery.

If surgery is needed, the Arc Reactor must be shut down. Once the Arc Reactor is shut down, shrapnel will travel towards his heart, and he will die.

Therefore, having surgery equals death.

That's Tony's logic.

You should know why I'm looking for you.

He casually pulled up a chair and sat down, then looked around and asked, "When are you going to be able to hire more people?"

"Eunice can handle most of the work," Ben said.

"It's not a problem with artificial intelligence, but rather that providing jobs this way benefits Primus's reputation. More importantly, you don't even have a pretty receptionist here!"

Tony Stark was furious at their lack of ambition!

Such a large company, and it even owns a sanatorium, must it hire a hundred or so beautiful women, half of them dressed as businesswomen in suits, and the other half dressed as nurses in white or pink uniforms?

Work ability?

Work efficiency?

Is that thing important?

"No matter how capable Eunice, she can't handle everything for you." Tony winked mischievously, speaking with the air of someone who'd been there all along.

Don't tell me you're still a little boy.

Ben scoffed and said, "Come talk to me about your experience after you've tried aliens."

"Aliens... So, you really have a connection with the Galactic Plumbers?"

The two finally got down to business.

Tony came to Ben for two things: one was to find out the identity and location of the killer who killed his parents, and the other was because of the Galactic Plumbers.

When the topic turned to the Galactic Plumbers, Ben put down the report on Flash, stood up, looked at Tony, and said, "I thought you'd be more interested in the assassins."

"I want to know all of that."

"The Galactic Plumbers is an interstellar law enforcement agency. It was founded not long ago, and its headquarters are not located on Earth. Its members are made up of aliens from different planets, including Earth."

Ben briefly explained the composition of the Galactic Plumbers's Association.

"And I am the Security Officer appointed by the Galactic Plumbers on Earth."

But Tony wasn't having any of it. "Interesting. What right do those aliens have to interfere in Earthlings' affairs?"

He still can't forget the XLR8 killing an Earthling right before his eyes, even though he later investigated the victim's background and confirmed that the victim truly deserved to die.

But this is none of the aliens' business.

"The Galactic Plumbers establishes branches within its jurisdiction, and the members of these branches are appointed by the planet's Security Officer. Therefore, in most cases, aliens will not interfere in Earth's internal affairs without authorization, unless the branch actively requests assistance."

Ben explained.

He steered the conversation away from the topic of XLR8 because he found it difficult to explain the Totem to Tony.

"So, you want me to join the Galactic Plumbers?" Tony asked. "Let me be frank, you can't afford it... wait, you actually can..."

He coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness.

"You've been to S.H.I.E.L.D.., so you should know about Nick Fury's Avengers plan, right? Why would I choose to join your organization instead of the Avengers?"

"Because I can tell you who killed your parents, and Nick Fury can't, it's that simple," Ben said.

Tony was surprised. "I thought you were going to say, 'Whether you join or not, I'll tell you,' and then wait for me to be moved and join on my own."

"I don't want to play those games. The only reason I'm contacting you is because you want to avenge your parents, and I also want to help my cousin find the people who killed his parents."

"We have a common enemy."

"Who?"

"Hydra!"

Then, Ben slowly recounted the whole story to Tony.

Unlike Captain America, who was constantly under surveillance, Primus was safe, and Tony's stance was different from Captain America's. Therefore, Ben spoke more and more clearly.

The Winter Soldier killed his parents, but ultimately, it was Hydra.

"How did he come up with the idea of absorbing Hydra's researchers?" Tony was so angry he almost laughed.

In a sense, Howard can be said to have brought about his own destruction. He advocated keeping the Hydra members alive, wanting to use their intelligence for his own purposes, which did indeed bring great progress to United States technology.

The problem is, this is also inviting trouble.

Ultimately, Howard Stark reaped what he sowed and died in an assassination attempt by Hydra.

"Hydra's power is too great; I can't eliminate them on my own, which is why I'm asking for your help."

What are you planning to do?

"Tony asked."

Ben knew that Tony Stark wasn't the kind of person who could be fooled with a vague plan, so he told him: The plan is to find all Hydra and then eliminate them all.

That's the same as saying nothing at all.

The key question is: how do we find it, and how do we remove it?

"I have information on several Hydra outposts." Ben didn't keep them in suspense and proceeded to reveal the Hydra intelligence he possessed.

On a world map, Hydra strongholds scattered throughout the world are marked in red.

"So much?"

Tony was very surprised.

Since Ben found dozens of bases, destroying them all would indeed deal a huge blow to Hydra.

Some of these strongholds were learned by Ben from watching movies in his previous life, such as the stronghold in Sokovia, but most of them Silk that Eunice found by searching the entire internet.

Eliminating all of these is at least equivalent to severing several of Hydra's heads.

But how could Ben be satisfied with just that?

"This is just a small nest; the biggest nest is S.H.I.E.L.D.. itself. But facing S.H.I.E.L.D.- on and destroying S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't something we can do," Ben glanced at Tony and laughed. "Otherwise, we'd be the rebels."

"Then who should do it?"

"I found a flag, a flag that could symbolize United States," Ben said.

Tony raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

"Captain America, Steve Rogers."

He didn't hide it from Tony, but instead revealed Steve Rogers' existence. Although surprised, Tony quickly accepted this fact.

"Sending him to deal with those hidden Hydra is indeed very suitable," Tony nodded.

If it were Ben or Tony who went to tell the world that S.H.I.E.L.D.. had long been corrupted by Hydra, no one would believe them.

This would put both sides at a disadvantage, leading to a crisis of trust, and ultimately Hydra would turn the tables on them, making it not surprising that they would be the ones to be accused of Hydra.

But the reverse is true.

As the first Super Hero in human history, Steve received an overwhelming amount of propaganda from the United States during World War II!

After his "sacrifice," this propaganda not only did not diminish, but was instead greatly intensified!

A dead hero is more useful than a living hero.

Over the years, Captain America has been portrayed as a symbol of United States and has become a spiritual Totem representing the United States.

Whether it's the older or younger generation in the United States, many are fans of Captain America.

To say that Captain America is Hydra is like saying that Lenin betrayed socialism.

Isn't that absurd?

Even if you dare to say it, no one will believe you.

In the comics, after the real Captain Hydra takes over the world, the public and all the Super Hero refuse to believe that Captain America is Hydra until their deaths.

They'd rather tell themselves that Captain America was being controlled, or that the guy wasn't Captain America at all.

That's the true value of the title "Captain America".

"Then the plan is clear: we, as the overt force of good, will attack these Hydra Base, while that Old Ice Pop will secretly dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D.. and eliminate this biggest cancer."

Tony said, "That's great, I'm starting to understand."

But Ben shook his head.

"Wrong!"

These are just bait.

With a wave of his hand, the map disappeared, replaced by a business plan.

--<Project Insight>.

"What's this?"

Tony frowned and asked.

After learning about the Operation Paperclip, he became wary of all sorts of plans.

Ben didn't immediately explain for him, but said, "Just as you said, eliminating all these strongholds will definitely deal a major blow to Hydra. After seventy years of lying in wait, their ambitions have only grown stronger, and they won't allow us to continue to uncover and destroy more of their dens."

"By then, they will definitely launch Project Insight."

"That's why I asked, what is Project Insight?" Tony looked at Ben with displeasure.

Ben smiled slightly, made a gesture with his arm, and a detailed plan was immediately displayed in Tony's eyes.

The first thing that appears in the 3D projection is the towering Stark Tower.

"Through algorithmic analysis, based on the past behavioral patterns of everyone in the world, we can calculate who poses a threat to Hydra, and then annihilate them all in an instant using three Helicarrier. This is Project Insight."

"Obviously, the famous Tony Stark is on the list. And so am I, of course."

Ben shrugged.

Tony Stark, however, felt a chill run down his spine.

After all, he was just an ordinary person, and it was impossible for him to wear armor 24 hours a day. Once this so-called Project Insight was launched, he might really be killed.

"Madman!"

He slammed his fist on the table, cursing his father Howard's foolish decision in his mind once again.

This old man, Deng, not only let the wolf into his house, leading to his own and his wife's assassination, but now even his son is under threat.

"Despite strong public opposition to the 'Cloud-Covered' operation, he still foolishly thought he was being clever and repackaged the same old 'Operation Paperclip' in a different guise..."

At that moment, Tony even lost the idea of competing intellectually with Howard.

My father, who is so smart, made a stupid mistake in this matter.

"We must stop Project Insight from launching!"

Tony said angrily.

But Ben leaned back easily, sinking into the sofa. He spread his hands and asked, "Why should I stop you?"

"What? Is that even a question? If Project Insight is implemented, who knows how many people will be killed, and the world will be completely plunged into Hydra's oppressive rule!"

Tony said matter-of-factly.

He found it strange; since Ben had presented this plan to him, surely he understood the consequences of Project Insight it?

But Ben said, "We shouldn't stop him; on the contrary, we should encourage him."

He stretched out his hand and pushed it forward in the air. "I've already agreed to help Nick Fury modify the aircraft carrier's propulsion system."

"Are you crazy?! Even if you don't reply, you're still Hydra, aren't you?!" Tony jumped up from his chair, pointed at Ben's nose, and yelled, "Do you know what you're doing?! You... wait, what are you trying to do?"

"It took you so long to realize?"

Ben rolled his eyes. "I was starting to doubt your intelligence."

"Let me upgrade the aircraft carrier. Do you think it will ultimately belong to Hydra or Ban? Hydra thought these three aircraft carriers would become powerful weapons for their world domination, but in reality, from beginning to end, the carriers' guns have always been pointed at them."

Ben's expression turned cold. He pursed his lips, stood up from the sofa, and at that moment, he seemed to be standing on a high command platform, announcing the enemy's fate of defeat!

"Their Project Insight allows us to find every Hydra, cut off one head, and have two grow back? Humph, I don't like beheadings, I prefer to grind my enemies to dust!"

Looking at Ben at this moment, even Tony couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

His lips turned pale, and he thought to himself that his backup plans, including those so-called anti-dinosaur Anti-Heatblast Armor, could be put on hold for a while.

The most urgent task is to first develop a full-fledged Anti-Ben Armor...