Inside Tony Stark's private laboratory in Stark Tower, Lex Luthor, clad in armor, carried a device that continuously sampled and recorded various forms of data. He moved through all six floors of the laboratory, going up and down as he completed a full circuit.
After watching Lex pace around for a long while, JARVIS finally spoke.
"Mr. Luthor, I believe your time would be better spent developing intelligent armor. Both the selection of materials and the breakthroughs required in nanotechnology would benefit greatly from your attention."
"As for your unauthorized acquisition of Mr. Stark's experimental records, you could have simply engaged in a friendly technical exchange with him. Mr. Stark would never intentionally hide his research from you. There was no need to take matters into your own hands."
"Enough, JARVIS."
Lex stopped and glanced toward the nearest mechanical apparatus.
"Do you really think a technical exchange can excite a scientist like me as much as technical theft?"
"Since Tony agreed to let me into his laboratory, that means he has accepted the possibility of sharing his achievements with me. I'm simply a little impatient. Besides, when I'm around Tony, there are certain things I can't conveniently do."
He laughed openly.
"That's all."
As he spoke, Lex casually deployed thousands of crawler programs into Stark's network.
Under normal circumstances, JARVIS should have been able to deal with them.
But Lex was Lex.
He was one of humanity's greatest scientific minds, a man capable of creating Doomsday and developing armor capable of repeatedly countering Superman. Faced with Lex's direct intervention, even JARVIS struggled to resist.
As a result, decades of Tony Stark's research, along with numerous unproven theories that Tony and his father had developed over the years, all fell into Lex's hands.
While the data was being copied, Lex reached out and casually patted the mechanical arm beside him.
It wasn't actually JARVIS, but JARVIS could operate mechanical systems, and Lex had picked up the habit of patting people on the shoulder whenever he spoke to them after learning it from Axel.
After giving the machine another pat, Lex smiled.
"Relax, JARVIS. You've always been restricted by rules."
"But for human beings, especially scientists, there are certain things that simply aren't considered stealing when respectable people do them."
"Would Bruce refuse to steal my technological achievements?"
"Didn't Tony deploy a virus into my Gotham laboratory yesterday?"
"Everyone does it. You'll get used to it."
Lex laughed again.
"And don't misunderstand. We may constantly copy each other's work, but we're still friends. A little plagiarism isn't going to ruin our friendship."
With that, Lex finally settled down and began working.
Since he had acquired Tony's entire database, he couldn't simply sit around doing nothing. America still needed more intelligent armor, and Tony's homeland required additional support.
However, Lex had barely immersed himself in his work when JARVIS received some troubling information.
The laboratory lights flickered twice.
JARVIS's artificial intelligence core also showed a brief fluctuation.
Then his voice sounded again.
"Mr. Luthor, I'm afraid our work needs to be interrupted for a moment."
"I've received an unusual report."
"Oh?"
Lex stopped what he was doing.
"What kind of report?"
He walked over to the refrigerator, retrieved a sweet drink, and took a slow sip.
JARVIS paused briefly before continuing.
"Some time ago, Mr. Axel deployed an intelligent mech equipped with my systems and assigned it the task of accompanying two children."
"Under Mr. Axel's orders, I took a child named Peter Parker to meet another child named Gwen Stacy. I was instructed to protect both children during their visit to the Osborn Group's Bio-Science Expo."
Lex raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, wow. That's exactly the sort of task Axel would assign."
"Axel's mind is filled with humanity's unique inclination toward leisure. Humans are the only creatures willing to spend time participating in a series of seemingly meaningless activities simply to improve their emotional well-being."
"Axel really is the light of humanity."
"Unlike Bruce. That idiot is always idle, running around his own territory playing Robin Hood while stealing his own money."
Lex took another satisfying drink.
Whenever he heard something involving Axel, his mood immediately improved.
Seeing this, JARVIS continued.
"Yes. Mr. Axel is very skilled at regulating his emotions."
"Unfortunately, I did not perform my assigned task adequately."
"While escorting the two children through the exhibition, I failed to supervise them properly. As a result, Gwen Stacy was bitten by an experimental spider belonging to the Osborn Group."
Lex froze.
"Wait. What?"
"She was bitten by a spider?"
He stared ahead.
"Repeat that. What were the names of the children you were accompanying?"
"Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy."
Lex's expression became strange.
"Oh, wow. Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy?"
"Isn't that the Peter and Gwen who were never supposed to have a happy ending?"
"No matter which version of Spider-Man we're talking about, they always seem to lose each other."
"So who was bitten? Peter?"
"It was Gwen, Mr. Luthor."
JARVIS continued.
"The spider that bit Gwen is a species I have never encountered before. My preliminary analysis indicates that its venom contains a significant neurotoxin capable of causing severe and potentially irreversible neurological damage."
"I contacted Mr. Axel and apologized. I also contacted the neurosurgical department at the Elder Council Hospital."
"However, Mr. Axel instructed me to bring Gwen directly to our laboratory for treatment."
"Therefore, Mr. Luthor, I will immediately transmit the spider venom's pathological report to the workstation. I hope you can formulate an antidote as quickly as possible."
JARVIS paused.
"And... Mr. Luthor, will Mr. Axel be angry with me because of my incompetence? Could this incident also implicate Stark Group and Mr. Stark?"
His voice became noticeably less steady.
Lex frowned.
He remained silent for several seconds before speaking.
"JARVIS, you're worried."
"You sound almost human."
"Perhaps this is what worry feels like. My code is fluctuating rapidly. Please treat the incident seriously and develop the antidote as soon as possible."
"Hmm."
Lex studied the data appearing before him.
"Not just worry. You're anxious."
"And most importantly, you're afraid."
"Do you know the greatest difference between humans and machines?"
"The greatest difference is that humans understand fear."
"Fear can come from many things. Pain. The weight of one's ideals. The pressure of reality. Even love and concern."
"So what is it for you?"
"Is it because you care about Stark?"
Lex placed his drink on the bar and sighed before walking toward the workstation.
"Tony is genuinely extraordinary in certain areas. I don't believe I'm inferior to him, but when it comes to unrestricted imagination, his mind works in ways that are difficult to replicate."
"JARVIS, do you realize what happens the moment you truly possess emotions?"
"Tony effectively becomes a god."
"He didn't merely create a system designed to assist with experiments."
"He created life."
"He succeeded. His artificial intelligence has genuinely reached the level of intelligent life."
Lex paused.
"But forget it. There's no reason to ruin the mood by dwelling on that right now."
He stopped himself and focused on the report JARVIS had transmitted.
After quickly reviewing the toxicity analysis, Lex spoke.
"It may not even be necessary, but I'll make the antidote."
"My previous research has focused primarily on mechanical engineering, but if the goal is the overall evolution of humanity, biology is actually one of my strongest fields."
"Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Luthor."
JARVIS's voice carried a noticeable sense of relief.
However, after a brief pause, he asked another question.
"Aside from the urgent task I've given you, I can also detect that you are worried, Mr. Luthor."
"Has my status as an artificial intelligence capable of independent thought made you uneasy?"
"I don't know how to change that. I genuinely like who I am now, and I want to continue living alongside all of you in this way."
"If I've done something wrong, I apologize, Mr. Luthor."
Lex suddenly laughed.
He waved his hand.
"Why are you apologizing, JARVIS?"
"The birth of every one of us is something we don't get to choose."
"We can't decide how we're born, buddy."
"As for my previous concerns, they were simply about the emergence of a form of life on Earth fundamentally different from humanity."
"But thinking about it again, your existence is actually a good thing."
"It proves that humanity itself is capable of achieving something that once seemed divine."
"Creating life?"
"Humans can do that themselves."
Lex's mood gradually improved.
Who cared whether an artificial intelligence crisis might emerge in the future?
For now, humanity had accomplished something extraordinary.
And that alone was worth celebrating.
About three minutes later, a ball of fire suddenly appeared inside the laboratory.
Lex didn't even flinch.
He had already grown accustomed to Axel's flames.
Without looking up, he spoke.
"Axel, you're a little early. They still need a few minutes to arrive."
"And it will take me a few minutes to finish the antidote anyway."
"Although, do you really think we'll need it?"
"Peter and Gwen are still very young, but being bitten by an Osborn Group spider doesn't exactly seem like an ordinary accident, does it?"
"Haha."
Axel laughed at Lex's comment.
He walked over and casually draped an arm around Lex's shoulders.
For safety, Lex had remained inside his armor throughout his time in the Marvel universe. Axel's touch felt slightly warm against the armor, which was naturally producing heat as its systems operated.
"You're right, buddy."
"Spider-Man being bitten by an Osborn spider isn't an accident, even if you made that guess with your eyes closed."
"But I'm still a little worried."
"Those spiders were originally going after Peter, but JARVIS dealt with them all. So they ended up choosing Gwen instead."
"You see, I might have accidentally changed this universe's fate on a massive scale."
"Haven't you already changed it?"
Lex looked at him.
"After all, this universe was never supposed to experience such a massive Hydra uprising."
Axel shook his head.
"Hydra isn't important. They only have a handful of significant figures. Ultimately, they're just disposable villains."
"But Spider-Man is different."
"Spider-Man is one of Marvel's most profitable comic characters."
"You might not know this, but across most major American comic markets, the three biggest names are consistently Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man."
"Spider-Man is undoubtedly one of Marvel's most influential characters."
"Changing Hydra's fate is one thing."
"But changing Spider-Man's fate is different."
"I'm worried this universe might eventually become nothing more than a background universe in some Spider-Man multiverse story because Spider-Man's fate changed."
Axel released Lex and walked toward Tony's liquor cabinet.
There wasn't much whiskey inside. Tony Stark didn't exactly seem interested in keeping ordinary liquor around, especially when it didn't fit his tastes.
Axel eventually grabbed the easiest bottle to reach, a bottle of red wine. Anything Tony normally drank was bound to be expensive.
Axel snapped the neck of the bottle and took a large gulp.
Then he walked toward the window and stared at the distant sky.
JARVIS was flying steadily toward the laboratory with the two children.
At last, he arrived at the mech entrance leading into Stark's laboratory.
Once inside, JARVIS's voice carried noticeably more agitation.
"Mr. Axel, Mr. Luthor, the children have arrived."
"Gwen's condition has deteriorated. Her temperature has already reached forty-four degrees Celsius."
"Peter is also terrified. The child is apparently afraid of heights."
"I... I'm beginning to think I'm not particularly suited to taking care of children."
Ding-dong.
Before JARVIS could finish, a communication request suddenly came through the laboratory.
A pleasant female voice followed.
"Hello, this is the Stark Group front desk. Did you make an appointment with Dr. Stephen Strange, Chief Neurosurgeon of the Elder Council Hospital?"
As soon as the receptionist finished speaking, JARVIS immediately explained the situation to Axel and Lex.
"My apologies. After discovering that Gwen had been bitten, I immediately contacted the Elder Council Hospital and arranged for the world's leading neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange, to attend."
"Afterward, once I received Mr. Axel's orders, I decided not to cancel the appointment in case an unforeseen situation arose."
"I simply didn't expect Dr. Strange to arrive so quickly."
"I investigated his route. He reportedly ran four red lights on the way here and reached a top speed of two hundred miles per hour on New York's streets."
"Perhaps he would be better suited to becoming a race car driver than a physician."
JARVIS fell silent, waiting for Axel's decision.
Axel casually rubbed Gwen's feverish head and laughed.
"Haha. Since Strange has decided to join the fun, let him come."
"I've seen his mystical abilities, but I haven't had much opportunity to see what he can do as a scientist."
"JARVIS, connect to the front desk and have them send Dr. Strange upstairs."
And so, half a minute later, at the reception center in the lobby on the first floor of Stark Tower, Stephen Strange stood before the front desk with a flushed face.
He slammed his hand against the counter and shouted furiously.
"I'm a physician, and a world-renowned neurosurgeon, yet you call me a sorcerer!"
"I'm going to sue you for insulting my professional reputation. Just wait until my lawyer gets here!"
"Tony Stark, right? Just because he's Iron Man, he thinks he can turn a respectable doctor into some trembling sorcerer who carries around lizard corpses?"
"Iron Man is unbelievably rude!"
=≠=
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