"So, all of this is Kang's doing."
After watching Kang's video on the equipment sphere delivered by Norman Osborn and realizing everything, Tony rubbed his brow and sighed. This was his first formal encounter with Kang the Conqueror, and the impression the villain left on him was quite profound.
Furthermore, this sphere didn't require specific DNA or fingerprints to be opened, and it indeed contained the Green Goblin's equipment and serum, stored inside using some kind of spatial compression technology that restored them to their original size upon opening. As for the Green Goblin's gear and serum, it seemed Norman himself could now produce them.
Tony immediately reacted.
"We might need to take further measures. Everyone on that list could potentially have become a super-powered individual by now, and subsequently, a supervillain—perhaps not everyone would choose that path, but we need to act now."
"No point."
A sudden remark from the Captain interrupted Tony, who looked at him in shock: "Captain, what did you say?"
"No point. Kang wouldn't send equipment to everyone; he would only send it to those for whom life-altering events have already occurred, or those whose inherent nature drives them towards that kind of life," the Captain explained his viewpoint. "So, tracing this specific group is meaningless. They have already made their decision, either to give up or to accept."
"But..."
"Hear me out, Tony. This is what Kang wants. Imagine what happens when you shift from passive observation to active intervention. What happens before you actively intervene and decide the fate of others? Those who chose to give up won't use the contents of that sphere, but if you start forcefully dictating their destiny, what will they do?"
They might choose to resist. The very act meant to prevent their predetermined fate might instead push them toward it. As the saying goes, those who play with time will also be played by time. It's hard to predict the outcome of such matters.
But Tony was clearly not entirely convinced. Creating the future was, after all, his duty and the source of his confidence.
"And then what? We just let them become new super-criminals? Since they didn't throw that thing away immediately..."
"That brings us to the second problem, Tony: What if they simply threw it away?"
Tony Stark froze, then looked at the Captain, suddenly realizing something. Not everyone is willing to become a villain, but they might not have the guts to simply turn the items in, fearing it might cause bigger trouble.
So, they would throw these things away.
And what then?
"These spheres don't require any instructions or identity verification to be picked up..." Tony realized with a jolt. The vast majority of people might choose to just throw away the super-powered equipment they received, only for it to be picked up by new individuals. These people who find the equipment will use it, becoming new supervillains.
A large batch of supervillains, no longer bound by that list and completely outside the Avengers' control. Anyone could become a new super-powered criminal, as long as they search the streets and find these things.
Tony sat down on a chair, cursing under his breath. Now they weren't just facing an arrogant megalomaniac from the future, but a future that had once again become a random, unpredictable variable.
But why would Kang the Conqueror do this? Hadn't he already transcended the timeline? Changing history wouldn't affect him, so was all this necessary?
While Tony and the Captain were trying to figure out how to deal with the enemy, Peter was also conducting an investigation. He carefully thought about the Green Goblin-related characters besides Harry and Norman, and was surprised to realize that he didn't recognize a single one of the long list of Hobgoblins and Jack O'Lanterns.
He might recognize the first Hobgoblin if he saw his true identity, but he didn't know the person by name. Besides him, there was only one person he knew who could possibly be a Hobgoblin: Ned Leeds. He knew a little about the character prototype of this MCU Spider-Man's best friend, having learned that the character was once brainwashed into becoming the Hobgoblin.
If the pumpkin bomb wasn't thrown by Norman, it was highly likely thrown by either the Hobgoblin or Jack O'Lantern. And now, Peter only knew one possible character connected to them, so naturally, it was time to investigate.
Unlike the MCU, the 616 universe's Ned was not the same age as Peter Parker. He was a reporter for the Daily Bugle. If Peter had chosen to work there as a photographer, they might have become colleagues. But since Peter had no plans to intern at the Daily Bugle, they naturally had no such intersection.
"Alright, Ned Leeds. It's illegal entry, but we don't have any other options right now."
Peter muttered this while manipulating a Spider-Bot to enter Ned's apartment through the window. It was still working hours, so there was no one home. Peter controlled the Spider-Bot to meticulously search the house for anything suspicious.
First, near the trash can, he saw a glued-together pumpkin bomb casing, but this didn't prove anything. So Peter continued his search. He maneuvered the Spider-Bot into the closet and saw a shocking scene: a glider, pumpkin bombs, a powered exoskeleton armor, and the Green Goblin serum.
They were all neatly stacked inside.
It looked as if they were deliberately waiting for someone to investigate...
Peter recalled the general plot of the comic books: Ned's Hobgoblin identity was actually fake. He had been brainwashed by the real Hobgoblin into believing he was the villain. And he soon died, allowing the real Hobgoblin to escape capture and evade pursuit.
Since it was an old comic, Peter hadn't actually read the original, but he knew the general plot.
"In other words, this could also be a trick by the enemy. The current Ned might also be brainwashed. In any case, I need to prepare a contingency plan first and avoid alerting the enemy."
Peter mumbled, letting the Spider-Bot hack into Ned's exoskeleton armor and, after hacking into its programming, controlling the armor to leave. Next, he needed to make a trip to Osborn Industries to understand the specific structure of the pumpkin bomb. Only then could he figure out the bomb's characteristics.
After all, that bomb seemed to have many unresolved issues.
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