I Think Your Little Brain Must Be Overheated

"There's only this much here. I texted Happy to buy some burgers." Pepper came over carrying some snacks.

"Why are you here?" Tony blankly accepted the snacks and blinked.

He felt like everything around him was a little strange.

"Jarvis, why did you project your underlying code?"

"Sir, you were the one who told me to bring up the code," Jarvis said.

"Did I?" Tony looked utterly dazed, as though he had just woken from a dream.

"That's because you need to rest!" Pepper said angrily. "You only slept three hours in three days. You're insane! If you work yourself to death, I'll have to find another boss!"

"Am I really that exhausted?"

Tony strangely patted his head. He did indeed feel extremely tired.

But he also felt that things were not that simple.

"I guess I really am too tired. It can't possibly be haunted, right?" He shook his head and laughed.

Jarvis:...

"Sir, you should rest immediately."

Jarvis shut off the virtual projection.

It had originally wanted to tell Tony about the shadowy figure, but seeing how exhausted Tony was, it somehow did not bring it up.

Besides, it had not had time to activate the high-resolution cameras. Although there was footage, it was blurry and indistinct. Even after enhancing the image quality, it was still hard to make out anything. The night had been dark to begin with; perhaps it was merely an illusion caused by light and shadow.

It could not really have been a ghost, could it?

As an artificial intelligence created through science, Jarvis naturally did not believe ghosts existed in this world.

Outside Stark Tower.

Ben slid down the tower's glass exterior. Biological static electricity gave him powerful adhesion, allowing him to support his weight even on the smooth glass surface.

"Too bad so few of the spider abilities remain after transforming. Otherwise, this biological static electricity could solve XLR8's fear of slipping."

Ben leaped into the air and landed atop another building.

Only then did he jump into a dark alley and walk out onto the street.

Looking back at the towering skyscraper, the bright "Stark" logo glowed in the darkness. He did not linger and turned toward the subway station.

About an hour later, he returned to Queens.

He did not use the front door. Just as when he had left, he jumped up to the window.

Before entering his room, he glanced at the neighbor's window opposite his own—it was Mary Jane Watson's room.

The Mary Jane of this universe was different from the Mary Jane in the Toby Version. She had only recently moved here to live with her aunt.

"Peter isn't back yet."

Ben returned to his room. Rather than sleeping, he immediately turned on his computer and transformed into Grey Matter.

"This old thing can't handle an artificial intelligence on Jarvis's level." Ben kept tapping the keyboard with his frog-like hands.

Just as he had expected, after transforming into Grey Matter, his memory had improved tremendously. Jarvis's underlying code flashed before his eyes like photographs. Even the parts he had originally forgotten could be roughly filled in using Grey Matter's knowledge.

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he replicated the code.

"Next, I'll wait for Harry's money to arrive, then buy a supercomputer."

Looking at it this way, Ben would need to invest a great deal of money early on. A supercomputer alone would probably cost nearly ten million dollars.

"Buying parts would be more cost-effective." He rubbed his chin.

A finished machine would cost too much. He could buy a slightly outdated supercomputer and modify it himself, saving quite a bit of money.

But no matter how he calculated it, he still did not have enough money.

Harry could personally provide at most ten million dollars, and that was only if he sold some of his valuable collectibles.

But a supercomputer was far from the only thing Ben needed.

"If the first product is going to be phones, I'll need at least several production lines. Advertising expenses will be another major cost."

Even if he could save on research and development costs, Ben still had a headache.

He still needed money!

"But aside from Harry, who else do I know with enough money?"

His thoughts circled around before a blond girl suddenly came to mind.

"Felicia?"

Felicia truly was a rich girl.

Most of the Hardy Family's wealth had been left behind by Felicia's father, Master Thief Cat Burglar. Later, he established a foundation to ensure that the fortune could be inherited.

"Do I have to offer myself up and latch onto a wealthy woman?"

Thinking of Felicia's beautiful face and sexy figure, Ben suddenly felt that it was not entirely unacceptable.

More importantly, after Felicia became Black Cat, she had two looks: gentle and quiet as a blonde, wild and captivating with white hair...

Beautiful and rich—who would not be tempted?

But Ben ultimately dismissed the idea.

Felicia could not actually provide much money to support him. After Master Thief Cat Burglar disappeared, the person controlling the Hardy Foundation was Felicia's mother.

Ben had seen that woman several times at school. She was greedy, mean-spirited, and somewhat snobbish. She would never invest in an unknown nobody like Ben. Even if she did, she would dream of taking most of the benefits for herself.

"What a troublesome woman."

As Ben thought this, the watch core on his back flashed red again. He hurriedly jumped off the desk and transformed back into himself in midair.

After saving the file, he shut down the computer and lay on the bed.

At that moment, his Spider-Sense suddenly went off.

Ben quickly looked out the window and saw Peter clinging to it like a giant frog, craning his head to peer inside. When Peter discovered Ben was still awake, he opened the window and jumped in without a second thought.

"Whew, why are you still awake?"

Peter panted. Before Ben could answer, he spilled everything that had happened that night in one breath.

"You'll never believe it—I ran into a Lizard Man!" He reached for the zipper on his back. "Do you know how big his claws were? And his teeth!"

Only after taking off the Spider Suit did he finally look relieved.

He looked like someone who had walked more than ten miles in shoes that were too small, then finally taken them off.

"Lizard Man? I know Zalborg is a Lizard Man." Lying on the bed, Ben teased him. "Have Lizard Men already conquered the United States? I think your little brain must be overheated."

After all, everyone knew the United States was not ruled by lizards, but by squid.

(Doctor Octopus: Were you thinking about me?)

The noble Statue of Liberty was merely someone else's dog.

"No, I'm serious! You should've come with me. Then we could've teamed up and caught him." Peter rubbed his reddened skin. "But I let him get away."

"But seriously, next time I wear the suit, I need to get some body powder. I've broken out in heat rash."

Speaking of squid ruling America, Ben suddenly thought of Otto Parker becoming Mayor of New York. Wasn't that a kind of prophecy?