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With the glowing sun now suspended above New York, this history-changing experiment had finally come to a close.
Under the coordination of the military, everyone began to board ships in an orderly fashion to leave the island.
As for Tony Stark—billionaire, military VIP—obviously he wasn't gonna take a boat like the rest of the crowd.
A state-of-the-art attack helicopter had been waiting for him the whole time.
Surrounded by bodyguards, Tony made his way toward the chopper, slowly pushing past a bunch of socialites trying to slip him their numbers.
Whup-whup-whup.
The helicopter's rotors began to spin up. It was about to take off.
Just then, a skinny young man suddenly rushed over while the bodyguards were distracted. He ran right up to the chopper and shouted, "Mr. Stark, wait!"
"Looks like some reporter," Happy muttered, glancing at the guy before turning to Tony.
"Let's go," Tony said.
If it were a hot female reporter, maybe he'd have wasted a night on her. But this? Nah.
"Wait! Mr. Stark, please!"
The rotors spun faster. The chopper lifted off the ground.
But the guy didn't back down—he jumped up and grabbed onto the landing skids like he was trying to reenact that one scene from Captain America: Civil War.
"Shit… are you trying to get yourself killed!?"
Tony and Happy were both pretty helpless at this point. They had no choice but to have the helicopter land again. Happy even jumped out, pinned the guy to the ground, and held him there.
"…Alright, now I'm suddenly curious. What could be so important that this guy's willing to risk his life for it?"
At some point, Tony had stepped off the helicopter and was now standing beside Happy.
"Guess today's your lucky day, kid."
Happy muttered under his breath and let the guy go.
"Mr. Stark, hello, I'm Eddie Br—"
"I don't care what your name is. Just get to the point."
Tony cut him off impatiently.
"R-right, okay, Mr. Stark, take a look at these. I took them during an experiment at your new bio lab."
Eddie didn't hesitate. Carefully, he pulled out a few photos from inside his coat and held them out toward Tony.
"Sorry, I don't take stuff from strangers."
Tony waved his hand and nodded toward Happy.
"Here, sir, take a look at this!"
Happy took the photos from Eddie—and his expression froze the moment he saw them. Then, without saying a word, he handed them straight to Tony.
"What the hell is this…?"
Tony had looked completely uninterested a second ago, but the moment he saw the pictures, his face turned serious.
"Where did you get these?"
He put the photos away and stared sharply at Eddie.
"I took them inside your company's new bio lab."
"So… you snuck in, huh."
Happy called it out immediately.
"Uh… yeah."
"I mean, why are you giving these to me? What do you want? Money? Some other kind of reward?"
"No, no, nothing like that! I just wanted you to know the truth. And… if possible, I hope you'll shut that lab down."
Eddie frantically waved his hands, clearly trying to show he wasn't here for money or personal gain.
"Let me guess… you're an intern reporter."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Mr. Stark means real reporters aren't this naive—or stupid."
Happy didn't hesitate to throw in a jab.
"Let's go, Happy."
Tony turned around and got back into the helicopter without another word.
Whup-whup-whup…
As the helicopter lifted off, Tony pulled the photos out again inside the cabin.
He stared at the man tied to the lab table in the picture. The faint green glow on the man's arm, the expression of pure agony—like a wild beast in pain. Tony's eyes darkened as the weight of what he saw sank in.
"Hey, you were really brave back there."
Just as Eddie was watching the helicopter disappear into the sky, a pleasant voice spoke up behind him.
"Huh? Who are you?"
Eddie turned around and found himself face-to-face with a beautiful blonde woman, leaving him totally flustered.
"You were brave. And… you're a good reporter."
"By the way, do you have more photos like that?"
Hearing the compliment from such a gorgeous woman, Eddie couldn't help but blush. He quickly pulled out a few more pictures from his bag.
"Of course! I made tons of backups—I mean, I'm not an idiot."
"…So it was them."
Looking at the familiar face strapped to the lab table in the photo, Gwen confirmed her suspicions.
"Listen. Pretend none of this ever happened. This isn't something you should be getting involved in."
The smile faded from Gwen's face. She turned around and walked away without another word.
"So it really is Stark Industries… They're the ones grabbing all those missing homeless people. But what the hell are they researching?"
She couldn't shake the disturbing images from the photos. A heavy expression settled over her face.
"No. I need to find a way to sneak into that lab and see what's really going on."
Gwen silently made up her mind.
"General, let's talk this over again. Oscorp isn't just offering future weapons tech. We can also provide a formula for human enhancement…"
At that very moment, Norman Osborn was still pleading with the military, trying to get them to reverse their decision.
But all he got in return… was the back of a helicopter rising into the sky.
"Damn you, Tony Stark. You just had to come back now of all times…"
According to the contract, the military funding was supposed to be transferred into Oscorp's account in just a few days.
But now… it was all ruined.
"You forced my hand. I won't lose those contracts… and I won't lose Oscorp…"
Clenching his fists tightly, Norman's eyes suddenly turned resolute—like he'd just made up his mind about something.
Then, without hesitation, he turned around and walked away, leaving behind nothing but a lonely silhouette.
"An endless, infinite energy source?"
Inside a luxurious mansion, Obadiah slowly turned off a 120-inch TV screen. Sitting on a plush sofa, sipping red wine, he muttered to himself in awe.
"Hmph. As long as the experiment works, whether it's Stark Industries or that unlimited energy... it'll all be mine."
Thinking that, a wide grin spread across Obadiah's face.
Ding—
Suddenly, the phone on the table buzzed with a new message.
"Sir, Tony Stark just received some information that may not be in your favor. You should prepare…"
Obadiah's expression darkened as he read the anonymous text.
"Tony Stark... you sure picked the worst time to come back. I'm this close to succeeding."
"So for the sake of my bright future—and for my Stark Indust—no, Stane Industries… it's time for you to go meet your foolish old man."
With a grim expression, Obadiah slowly made his decision.
A few days quickly went by.
And by now, people in New York had gotten used to seeing a star in the night sky that shone even brighter than the moon.
At first, everyone was curious. Some even grabbed their telescopes hoping to catch the moment this artificial star exploded in space.
But after several uneventful days, folks started to realize—this artificial sun thing was seriously stable. Even in the harsh conditions of space, it hadn't shown the slightest hint of malfunction.
Eventually, people just stopped paying attention to that unusually bright "star."
Well… not everyone. The government and the military definitely hadn't taken their eyes off it. They were monitoring it closely.
Unlimited energy—something like that could literally change the fate of humanity.
And if that "artificial star" hadn't been launched into space by a man as powerful as a living god—Superman—they probably would've tried to capture and study it by now.
And so, time passed—until, a few days later, someone knocked on the window of Dr. Pym's apartment.
Dr. Pym, who'd been in the middle of working on the next-gen Ant-Man suit, quickly tidied up and walked over to the window, expecting to scold some brat causing trouble.
But what he saw instead was a familiar figure floating in the sky.
"Dr. Pym, I need your help…"
Peter's voice came from above as he floated outside the window, looking down at Pym and continuing:
"I need you to shrink the 'star' in the sky."
"….."