"Sir, there's an intruder."
"Sir, there's an intruder."
JARVIS's voice sounded muffled, as if it were coming through several layers of clear glass. It made Tony feel like someone had split his skull open with an axe, the pain so sharp it nearly blinded him.
"Ah…"
He reached up to clutch his head, only to hear a crisp metallic clink.
Only then did he remember. He was wearing the armor. His hands and head were all wrapped in metal.
Once he was a little more awake, a sudden urge to pee hit him. Tony did not even think. He just let it go inside the suit. A moment later, he gave a satisfied shake, as if even the drunken haze had thinned out a bit.
Then he heard a voice that sounded somewhat unfamiliar.
"You're seriously peeing inside the armor? That's disgusting."
Tony froze. He immediately sprang up from the floor, knocking over several bottles of top-shelf liquor. He did not care in the slightest. Instead, he stared warily into the distance.
There, a figure in a black skintight suit was sitting in his chair. A huge white spider, like a piece of bone, clung to the figure's chest. On both arms, gray chains were wound tight.
"Spider-kid?" Tony subconsciously wanted to rub his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming, but the moment he raised his hand, another crisp clink sounded.
"When did you change outfits?" he asked.
Clearly, Tony had not paid attention to anything outside these days. Otherwise, he would have known the person in front of him was not the Spider-Man from his memory, but Hacker.
He had been drinking and wasting away day after day, convinced that the life he had snatched back from Death was still going to reach its end anyway.
"Honestly, I'm really curious. How do you pee inside the armor?" Bant asked, puzzled. He distinctly remembered Tony wore clothes under there.
"Do you just release it and let the urine soak your thighs? Or did you stick a catheter tube in the front?"
Tony's face darkened. He clearly did not want to continue that topic.
He took a breath and dumped his irritation on JARVIS instead. "JARVIS, how did you let this guy in?!"
"Sir, I already warned you. There was an intruder. He breached my security system…" JARVIS replied.
"What?"
Now Tony was even more shocked.
Ever since his security system had been infiltrated once by some bald black egghead, Tony had specifically reinforced it.
He was extremely confident. No one could break through his firewall.
And yet, this guy had.
Tony's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "If I remember correctly, you're only sixteen, right?"
On one hand, it was genuine shock at Bant's talent. On the other, it was also a warning, telling Bant that he already had his information and he'd better not get any crooked ideas.
"I must remind you, sir. He and Spider-Man are not the same person," JARVIS cut in out of habit. "His alias is Hacker. Based on the information we have and pattern matching, there is an eighty percent probability that Hacker's true identity is Bant Parker."
Tony Stark might have been living under a rock these days, but JARVIS had not been idle. He continuously gathered outside information. The moment Hacker Spider-Man appeared for the first time, JARVIS had already begun investigating.
With the premise that Spider-Man was Peter Parker already established, suspecting Hacker was Peter's cousin was perfectly reasonable. With height and other data comparisons, JARVIS considered the likelihood extremely high.
With his first layer of identity exposed, Bant showed no emotional change at all.
To be honest, the entire value of "Hacker Spider-Man" was to ensure the watch's secret would not be discovered.
I'm already Spider-Man, so you are not allowed to guess I'm an alien anymore, okay?
So after hearing JARVIS's analysis, Bant casually tore off his mask and tossed out a compliment. "Your AI is impressive. I only showed up once, and you still noticed."
"Actually, twice, sir," JARVIS said.
"A month ago, you wore a different suit and appeared together with Spider-Man. The one who rescued Councilwoman Andrea's niece was not Spider-Man, but Hacker."
"You even know that?" Bant was a little surprised.
Sure enough, for an AI that never needed sleep and never tired, a normal person's energy and attention span simply could not keep up.
Tony listened to their back-and-forth as if he were drifting in fog, but he at least understood one thing. Bant probably was not an enemy.
Before his condition worsened, Tony had investigated Peter too.
That energetic little bug was obsessed with doing good deeds. If the guy in front of him was Peter's cousin, then he should be a good person too, probably.
Still, Bant had broken into his lab without warning, and even mocked him for needing a catheter to pee. Tony reserved judgment on Bant's character.
Good or bad would depend on what he wanted.
But what Tony was even more curious about was this.
"How did you break my firewall?" Tony opened his faceplate, walked to the liquor cabinet, took out a bottle, and tossed it toward Bant. "Drink?"
"Underage."
Bant casually batted the fine liquor aside and said, "JARVIS's protection protocols are strong. It took me quite a bit of work to crack them. And he regained control pretty quickly."
The truth was, Bant had first turned into Little Qibing, then launched the attack on JARVIS together with Eunice.
Honestly, the name "Hacker" suited Little Qibing even better.
Hearing that, Tony raised his eyebrows in provocation, took a swig, and said, "That's because I'm amazing. But you're not bad either, just a little worse than me."
In Tony Stark's life, there were only two things he would never do. First, admit someone was better than him. Second, admit he was inferior to his old man.
"So, you went through all this trouble, hacked into my system. What do you want?" He waved a hand, as if Bant's purpose had already been decided. "Looking for a job with your skills? Fine. A hundred… five million a year. Go report to HR."
He flicked his hand again, signaling Bant could leave.
But Bant did not move. Instead, he leaned back in the chair and said comfortably, "Tony Stark. I'm here to negotiate terms. No, I'm here to make a deal."
Tony frowned. "Five million isn't enough? You're greedy. Fine. Ten million."
At that moment, JARVIS stabbed him again. "Sir, I'm afraid Mr. Parker does not care about ten million dollars. Based on publicly available materials, Mr. Parker is the CEO of Plamos."
"Plamos?"
Hearing that name, Tony sobered up a little more.
Before he had fallen completely into despair, he had tried plenty of approaches for his treatment plan as well.
If there was no way to replace palladium, then surgically removing the shrapnel was another option. Normally, that surgery was extremely risky. But a month ago, when Norman Osborn announced the self-healing serum's release, the risk became much lower.
Tony still refused to try it.
Because the self-healing serum was invented by someone else, and it was being sold by the Osborn Group.
And the company Tony hated most was Osborn.
If he used Osborn's self-healing serum, would that not mean admitting he, even Stark Industries, was inferior to Osborn?
With that twisted stubbornness, Tony had rejected JARVIS's proposal back then.
He just never expected Plamos's person in charge to be this young. At the same time, Tony's thoughts began to stir.
He might have been willing to die for his pride rather than use someone else's technology, but back then the situation was not as urgent as it was now.
Right now, he was truly about to die.
Author: I'm really not Cao A'man
In that case, Tony's bottom line naturally became a bit more flexible.
Buying the self-healing serum outright would be embarrassing. But if the other party begged him for help and then handed the serum to him, that would not count as losing, right?
So Tony put on a pose of casual indifference mixed with grand generosity, and asked, "Kid, what do you want with me?"
At this moment, he looked like a genie that had popped out of a lamp. Clearly he wanted something too, yet he still wore the face of, go on, tell me your three wishes.
Seeing that, Bant shook his head and chuckled. "Look at you, Tony Stark. The world-famous genius, reduced to this. How much life do you even have left to squander?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Don't play dumb. Smart people all know you don't have long," Bant said. "Palladium is a double-edged sword, right? You need it to hold the shrapnel in place so it won't flow through your blood vessels into your heart, but at the same time, the toxins are eating away at your body."
Bant stepped forward, raised one finger, and tapped the reactor on Tony's chest.
That was right. This was the deal he came to talk about.
Readers who are used to transmigration stories all know this. If you want to get some benefits from Tony, it is easy. Stark Industries stock, a new element…
It might not be original, but who would refuse to get something for nothing?
Besides, even if Bant did not do it, the bald egghead would. Since that was the case, he might as well do it himself.
Having his condition exposed so bluntly, Tony's expression turned ugly.
Being weak was one thing. Being seen through was another.
He felt like a lost man wandering a desert of death, vultures circling above his head, hyenas watching from all sides.
If he died, could Pepper hold Stark Industries?
Probably not.
Tony thought of it and remembered, even when Norman Osborn was alive, he had almost lost his company.
"What do you want?" Tony asked, straightforward.
Since this was a deal, Bant clearly held something he wanted, and Tony would naturally have to pay a price.
"A small favor. Easy for you."
Bant did not rush to reveal his goal. Instead, he thoughtfully considered things from Stark's perspective.
"I know you really dislike Osborn, and you don't like biological science either, so I'm not going to tell you to use the self-healing serum."
Tony was a little surprised, yet not at all shocked.
If Bant's method was just the serum, there was no need to make a special trip.
After all, the self-healing serum was already a clearly priced product. If Tony wanted it, he could just buy it. There was no need to trade.
So Tony lifted an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"
Bant looked him in the eye.
"A new element!"
/-\
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