Staten Island, across the sea from Manhattan, is known as the forgotten area of New York.
Unlike Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, there are no ubiquitous financial buildings and rarely any speeding traffic. There are only quiet suburban roads and scattered private houses.
The blue swimming pool, beach chairs and parasols are always placed in the narrow backyard of each house, which has a strong South American style.
On weekdays, the residents here are happy to enjoy a peaceful and comfortable retirement life and rarely participate in carnivals like tonight.
And behind the noise, a conspiracy is unfolding.
"Who are you working for?" In an interrogation room, Justin Hammer, with a stubble on his face, stared at the burly man in military uniform in front of him with a look of vigilance.
"Army Colonel Joseph, my department worked with you once a few years ago, but it was not very successful."
"You guys screwed me over badly last time." Justin Hammer understood that it was this unsuccessful order that sent him to jail.
Justin Hammer leaned back in his chair with a sullen look on his face.
"Mr. Hammer, are you trying to blame the last failure on us? No, no, no, that time it was Hammer Industries that lost to Stark. It was a complete failure. I think, after being in prison for so many years, you should understand this." Joseph took the coffee and took a sip as if nothing had happened.
"Then why? Why did you choose a loser like me?" Justin Hammer raised his head.
“We want to work with you.”
"Cooperation? I'm in jail now, how can I help you?" Justin Hammer laughed at himself.
"Although you are here, you actually have absolute control over Hammer Industries... And although Hammer Industries has fallen into decline over the years, it still has a rich foundation, which is why we are interested in it," Joseph said frankly.
"Why should I agree to that?"
"You should know the current situation of Hammer Industries. Ever since you lost to Stark, Iron Man and his Stark Industries have been at their peak. They have become the symbol of the national spirit of the new era. But what about your Hammer family? You have been pushed to the margins. Look at all the shabby businesses you have done in Bolivia, Myanmar, Ethiopia... If we hadn't endorsed you, the international community would have regarded you as a low-level workshop."
"Cooperating with us is a great opportunity for the Hammer family to make a comeback. How could you refuse, Mr. Hammer?"
"Heh, Stark... Why don't you go find Stark? Aren't you guys always flirting with him?" Justin Hammer smelled something.
"This involves some secrets. Stark has become increasingly connected to certain departments, and their actions are increasingly out of government control. Not long ago, we learned from certain channels that Stark is doing something very dangerous. We need checks and balances."
"Heh, so your target is Stark. Why, don't you in the military find this ridiculous? If you had accepted Hammer Industries' Mechanical Legion plan, you wouldn't be facing the problems you have today." Justin Hammer said sarcastically.
"No, this is another concept. Stark has his own value, but this value must be under the control of the government, and the same is true for you."
"So, what new research makes you so nervous?" Justin Hammer was curious.
"A powerful robot army." Joseph stared at Justin Hammer and said indifferently.
"Ahaha, ahahaha, this is ridiculous." Justin Hammer slammed the table, almost laughing to tears, "Excuse me, your behavior is really incomprehensible."
"No, Mr. Hammer, Stark's robots are not the crude imitations you had before. They are highly intelligent and self-repairing products. Their appearance will greatly threaten the value of our soldiers' existence." Joseph became serious. The reason why he participated in this project, maintained a good temper and negotiated with the unscrupulous black-hearted businessman in front of him was because he felt multiple threats from above.
"I understand. You mean, we have a natural alignment of interests?" There was a gleam of light in Justin Hammer's eyes.
"You can understand it that way." Joseph tapped the table.
"Deal." After a brief silence, Justin Hammer accepted the deal.
"Very good, Mr. Hammer. We in the military appreciate straightforward people like you the most." Joseph smiled, got up, made a cup of coffee, and pushed it to the other party. "The information will be delivered soon. The people I sent out have succeeded now, but they encountered some trouble on the way."
"I thought you would be more rigorous in your approach. When facing Stark, only what you have in your hands is the most reliable." Justin Hammer sneered.
"Relax, Mr. Hammer. The person we sent this time is quite safe. She is the secret weapon of the military and has never failed. She has just sent you a catalog. The things on it should be just what you want."
"What are these?" Justin Hammer took the page of paper handed to him by Joseph and read it carefully.
"These are the names of the preliminary research materials of all the cooperating manufacturers for this project." The man in military uniform said slowly.
"Preliminary research data? Are you kidding me?" Justin Hammer sneered and slapped the paper on the table. "Tony Stark is a lunatic. Those preliminary research data are just weird ideas that popped out of his mind. God knows whether they can be realized. They are bullshit! Colonel Joseph, only those data that can be put into practice are valuable!"
"As expected of someone who has been against Stark for half his life, Mr. Justin Hammer, your understanding of Stark is truly impressive." Colonel Joseph said this, but in fact he looked displeased. "Perhaps you underestimated our preparations. The resources we have mobilized this time are far more than you thought."
"for example?"
"For example, the person who provided us with the catalog you have in your hand. With her help, I believe our project can proceed smoothly."
"Oh?" Justin Hammer became interested.
"I don't know if you have heard of the Stargate Project that was secretly carried out by the military in the 1970s." Joseph's expression was indifferent.
"That secret program to study special abilities and child prodigies?" Justin Hammer had heard of it.
"Yes, it was the golden age of technological development. Relying on the technological accumulation after the two world wars, humans went further and further on an unknown road, and finally encountered a bottleneck."
"Just as a great man like Newton inevitably indulged in the study of theology in his later years, governments around the world began to find new ways and turned their attention to the long-standing supernatural phenomena."
"The military took over the project and carried it out secretly for more than 20 years, but it ultimately ended in failure." Justin Hammer continued the story.
"It was just as the rumors said. The entire project was abandoned and countless children were sent home. But the funny thing is that not long after that, superheroes appeared in the world one after another," Joseph recalled.
"It even became a big joke among the military."
"But no one knew that this research was actually fruitful. It was just that it was unfortunately overlooked by people at the time, so that we only discovered this miracle 20 years later."
"The person who provided the information?"
"Yes, she has a natural ability of logical thinking. She can digitize any information she comes into contact with and find correlations from it. She is just like a computer." Joseph took out a photo of a girl with short hair.
"What's even more surprising is that she has some kind of innate intuition that allows her to foresee certain things in the near future."
Having said that, Joseph paused and looked at Justin Hammer.
"Perfect logical ability plus incredible intuition, he is simply a legendary prophet..." Justin Hammer narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, her abilities are considered secret by the military, and she has been involved in many important issues. Even the department that Stark is trying to curry favor with is completely unaware of this. With her help, these so-called preliminary materials will be your best operating instructions."
"When will I be arranged to meet her?" Justin Hammer looked up at Joseph.
"Oh, see, I told you you'd accept it." Joseph smiled and stood up, ready to end the conversation for the night.
But just then—
He suddenly felt as if his body was a little unwell, and he was hit by a dizziness. It seemed that the blood circulation was poor due to sitting for a long time, and he was about to fall.
“Bang!”
Joseph sank down on the chair.
Opposite him, Justin Hammer was surprised by this sudden scene. Then he felt himself becoming confused, his body went limp, and he fell on the table.
“It was a really moving inquest.”
Two figures suddenly appeared in the air. They were Lynn and Spider-Man. They had sneaked in for a long time and heard most of the conversation between Joseph and Justin.
"Hey, I didn't expect that the military and Hammer Industries were targeting Stark at the same time." Spider-Man poked Colonel Joseph, trying to see if he was really asleep.
"Didn't you hear? There is also a girl who is like a prophet."
Lynn finally understood why he was always thrown off the track.
It seems like the other person really has an early warning radar.
"Speaking of that girl, I remember Joseph just now said that she encountered some trouble on the road. Could it be that she sensed that we were coming here? So she has been hiding? If so, then we are in big trouble. The military is not someone to be trifled with." Spider-Man asked.
"Probably not. If she knew so many things in advance, she wouldn't have let us follow her here. I guess her so-called premonition ability is not that magical."
"But she can always anticipate your search, and that alone may mean we'll never catch her." Spider-Man discovered the blind spot.
"But we can cut off her connection with these two people." Lynn pulled out his wand and pressed it against the back of Colonel Joseph's head.
"Legitimate."
Lynn's consciousness instantly invaded the other person's brain.
He recalled the girl's face and began to travel back and forth in the depths of Joseph's memory, collecting information bit by bit and erasing it one by one.
"I don't know why, but your spell looks a little creepy." The little spider on the side didn't like this feeling very much.
Changing a person's personality, reading a person's memory, and so on, sounds like sorcery from ancient tribes.
"It's not that scary." Lin En shuddered slightly and woke up from her immersion. "Why don't you give it a try? Maybe I can make you braver. From now on, whenever you talk to MJ, your brain will automatically switch to confident mode, and you will smile brightly with eight teeth showing, so that she will look at you with new eyes."
"Hey, Strange should really banish you to the void. This is simply evil magic. How do you say it in Hogwarts? Dark wizard, right?" Spider-Man quickly avoided the wand.
"How can this be considered evil magic?"
"Hey, you can't manipulate people's emotions." Spider-Man tried to discuss.
"It's nothing actually. At Hogwarts, every sixth-year student has a compulsory class to learn about love potions."
"Love potion?" Spider-Man asked subconsciously.
"There are many kinds of these things. There are short-term ones, such as the magical witch potion sold in the Magic Trick Shop. It has a strong effect. It can make a stranger fall in love with you instantly, the kind of love that makes them fall in love with you to death and can't breathe without you. The disadvantage is that it can only last for 24 hours. Another example is the famous love potion, it has a long enough validity period, enough for two people to produce the fruits of their love." Lynn threatened Spider-Man with quite a bad taste.
"This is a tarnishing of love." Spider-Man stayed away.
"It can also be used as a testimony to love. Love potion is also the best perfume in the world. After using it, you will be surrounded by the scent of the person you like."
"If you send her to MJ, you can ask her what she smells in there, if it smells like beef patty, oh sorry she might like Ned."
"Hey!" The little spider wanted to cover Lin En's mouth with spider silk.
"OK, enough small talk, it's time to call it a day."
Before Spider-Man could take action, Lynn fired an Obliviate at Justin Hammer.
"What about that girl? Are we just going to let her go?"
"Are you talking about Miss Clara? She is indeed a big trouble." Lynn lowered his head and pondered.
It is difficult to guarantee that the other party has a single line of communication with the military, so he must continue to track the other party.
The problem is that his opponent's abilities are too rogue, and he will hardly put himself in danger.
He has to change his mindset.
But, what is the specific idea
Lin En didn't think for a moment that the only thing he could do was to prevent the other party from continuing to contact the military and prevent the girl named Clara from having the opportunity to send out the information and the list.
So, how can we achieve this
Lynn looked down at Joseph sitting in the chair and suddenly had an idea.
He pulled a few strands of hair off the man's head and decided to use up the Polyjuice Potion that he hadn't used up last time.
First stabilize the military, and then slowly find a way to deal with that girl.