Chapter 7: Otto's Inspiration
In Otto's laboratory, the world-renowned nuclear physics expert stared intently at the Squid-Man photo in the Daily Bugle.
From school through his career, Otto had always been the sharpest, most brilliant person around. So brilliant that he'd developed "intolerance for stupidity," unable to accept working with clumsy people.
Even though those who could become his assistants were already one in a hundred, Otto still held them in considerable contempt. When he focused on conquering clean fusion energy, not a single person remained in his laboratory.
The only things that could help him daily were several mechanical arms mounted on wheeled bases with pulleys—similar to those commonly used in factory workshops.
But these mechanical arms barely satisfied Otto's needs, far from achieving finger-like precision.
On the Daily Bugle's front page, the photo of Squid-Man was like a pillow arriving during a nap, showing Otto exactly what he should do next.
"If I also had four mechanical arms mounted on my body, driven by my neural impulses, my experiments wouldn't need forced pauses when alarms sound. Instead, I'd have the capacity to rapidly troubleshoot experimental malfunctions!"
Otto's eyes grew brighter. He quickly grabbed paper and pen to design mechanical arm blueprints. Soon, behind a stick figure representing himself, four retractable, radiation-resistant, multifunctional mechanical arms appeared on paper.
Calling them mechanical arms wasn't quite appropriate. These four resembled octopus tentacles more.
To solve the problem of the arms' weight and operational loads potentially overwhelming the body, Otto also designed a simple but reliable support system on the stick figure's back, waist, and legs.
This was just a draft with many things needing refinement, but looking at the blueprint, Otto couldn't help laughing aloud.
His smile had barely lasted a few seconds when knocking interrupted him. Harry pushed the door open, with a young man Otto found somewhat familiar behind him.
"I remember you. Peter... Parker, correct?"
Otto quickly recalled who this plaid-shirt-wearing young man was, offering him a friendly smile.
As long as someone didn't disrupt his experiments, Otto wasn't difficult to get along with.
"Yes, Peter. My best buddy."
Harry forcefully squeezed the shoulder of the person beside him.
'I can't abandon Peter Parker's identity. I need this identity to do many things 'Batman' cannot accomplish, just like the Bruce Wayne identity.'
'So I can't completely discard Peter's former relationships. I even need to actively maintain them, like here with Otto.'
'This way, when I later improve the fusion formula as Peter and profit from it, it won't seem abrupt.'
With this thought, Batman's face showed a somewhat forced smile as he greeted Otto.
Otto returned the same kind smile and nodded:
"You're both not here for the first time. As long as you don't disturb my experiments, do whatever you like."
Then he found an opportunity to call Harry aside, asking quietly:
"Peter's mood seems off? Three days ago in my laboratory, he suddenly seemed... like he'd lost his soul. Seems he still hasn't recovered."
Harry also spoke quietly:
"A month ago, Peter lost one of the people who loved him most in the world."
A month ago was when Ben Parker was killed. Harry thought it over—only this event could cause such a change in Peter.
Otto was somewhat surprised by this answer. He understood why that young man's smile seemed so forced:
"As his friend, Harry, you need to comfort him properly. Peter's a good kid. He needs to collect himself and move forward."
"That's why I brought him here again, hoping to redirect his energy elsewhere," Harry said.
Otto had no complaints about this. As a child, he and his mother were frequently beaten by his father, but his mother always shielded him with her body.
When Otto's mother died, his mental state had been even worse than Peter's now.
So his gaze toward Peter held additional tenderness:
"Seems Peter is quite interested in nuclear physics."
Batman was now standing before an experimental instrument, looking seriously at the various data displayed.
While Harry and Otto talked, Batman suddenly spoke as if discovering something:
"Dr. Otto, I found the error that triggered the laboratory alarm last time."
This statement immediately attracted Otto and Harry's attention. They quickly walked to Batman's side.
Last time's laboratory alarm had even triggered the "spider-sense." Batman could use today's opportunity to resolve it, laying groundwork for correcting the formula later.
"I told you Peter's a genius." Harry and Otto exchanged a smile.
Without lingering long in Otto's laboratory, Harry and Batman left together.
"Peter, I know you miss Uncle Ben very much." Standing at the street corner, Harry said. "I miss him too. But you can't keep going like this. You still have Aunt May, you have me. You need to live well with Uncle Ben's hopes."
"I will," Batman said.
Harry said no more, getting into a Cadillac with an understated design that Batman immediately recognized as extremely expensive, and drove away.
"Now to the illegal factory to manufacture nitrogen gas springs and create my first piece of equipment."
Batman watched the Cadillac disappear around the corner, then turned and strode toward the Williamsburg Bridge.
Near the Williamsburg Bridge, beneath an unremarkable old building.
Several basement rooms here had been connected and converted into a small factory. The distinctive smell of metal shavings mixed with machine oil and sweat made Batman frown the moment he stepped inside.
"Hey! Who are you? Get out..."
A Black man wearing black clothing —bared his snow-white teeth and grabbed a crowbar to drive Batman out.
Before he could finish speaking, Batman's fist had already added a red mark to his face.
"Motherfucker, we got a crazy!"
The Black man shouted. With a clatter, several other factory workers surrounded them, holding crudely made but absolutely lethal firearms.
"Five thousand dollars for one hour of factory time."
Before these people could say anything, Batman directly tossed out a stack of bills to shut their mouths.
Unlike ordinary cylindrical nitrogen gas springs, Batman needed to create something flat with a certain curve, similar to a military canteen.
An hour later, Batman quietly left with three completed nitrogen gas springs. After filling them with high-pressure nitrogen at another factory, he returned to the abandoned shipyard.
Next, he only needed to assemble the web shooters with the nitrogen gas springs. His first piece of equipment would be complete.