The next morning.
Ben changed his clothes and drove to the Manhattan area.
"Benny, over here!"
As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Felicia, wearing a white dress not far away, waving at him.
She had a slender figure, and her blonde hair was blown to one side by the wind.
"You're here so early?"
Ben looked at her in surprise. If he looked closely, he could see dark circles under Felicia's light makeup.
Felicia stuck out her tongue and smiled without saying a word.
Of course, she had her own little plans.
If she came out early, after Ben finished his own business, they would have time to do other things.
"But why do you suddenly want to buy scientific instruments?"
Felicia didn't understand these things, but to help Ben, she went home yesterday and found a scientist funded by the Hardy Foundation—Otto Gunther Octavius.
The future, renowned Doctor Octopus.
The Doctor Octopus of this universe was still being funded by the Hardy Foundation for research.
Otto had a very poor childhood, so he was even better at saving money than Connors.
When Felicia found him, Otto generously told her several ways to buy good things and the minimum price range for some instruments.
She studied for a long time, almost staying up all night.
"Actually, the most cost-effective way is to buy directly from Osborn," Felicia said.
"The monster attack this time has dealt a very heavy blow to Osborn, and their stock has plummeted. To fill the gap, I believe Osborn will definitely sell off their remaining experimental equipment at a low price."
Osborn's stock plummeted. It should have been a good time to buy at the bottom, but no one was doing it now.
Because everyone didn't believe the Osborn Corporation could make a comeback.
"Good idea."
Ben nodded.
Ben had no qualms about Norman regarding this.
Because even if he didn't buy it, the Osborn shareholders would definitely sell the equipment to others to recover their losses. It was better to let him have it cheaply.
What's more, if Osborn even sold off their own equipment, their market value would further decrease. This would, in turn, make it easier for Norman to buy back Osborn.
Therefore, Ben not only wanted to buy but also wanted to buy it with great fanfare!
He wanted everyone who held Osborn stock to know that this once-great company had begun to sell off its assets and was only one step away from bankruptcy.
Fall!
Keep falling!
So, Ben and Felicia found a shareholder of the Osborn Corporation together.
The other party naturally recognized the daughter of the Hardy Foundation and subconsciously assumed Felicia was there to acquire Osborn on behalf of the Hardy Foundation.
He was naturally very welcoming.
He had to know that Osborn's stock couldn't be sold at all these past few days. Seeing his assets shrink continuously, he was anxious.
"Don't worry, Mr. Stromm, we're not here to acquire Osborn Corporation's stock."
Felicia's demeanor at this moment surprised Ben greatly. Facing Mendel Stromm, who had been successful for many years, she didn't seem timid but rather full of spirit.
Thanks to her father's teachings, Felicia was not the delicate type; in reality, she was very strong-willed.
And she knew who held the upper hand now.
"We just want to buy some equipment from the Osborn Corporation."
Hearing this, Stromm felt a little disappointed.
But then he thought that if he could sell off that expensive scientific equipment, he could recoup some losses.
In fact, Mendel Stromm was once a famous doctor himself.
He and Norman had established the Osborn Corporation together, but now, he had long forgotten his original intentions.
"How much can you offer?" Stromm quickly asked.
"Look at you, you're in a hurry again," Ben said with a smile.
Stromm's expression was not good.
How could he not be in a hurry?
He was too eager for progress!
No, he was too eager to get the money!
Given Osborn's current situation, every second that passed meant immeasurable losses for him.
This was precisely where Ben and Felicia could leverage their influence over him.
By the time they left, several hours had passed.
"Thank you, Felicia."
Ben expressed his gratitude.
With Felicia's help, he had purchased a lot of equipment at a price far below market value.
Some of the equipment had been damaged by the earlier conflict, but Ben didn't let that stop him. Stromm had essentially given them to him as a bonus.
After all, Mendel Stromm considered those machines to be scrap. Who would have thought Ben could repair them all?
"You're welcome."
Felicia shook her head. She glanced at the sky; it was still afternoon, and the weather was hot.
"But are you really planning to start a company?" she asked. "Do you have enough funds?"
Felicia was well aware of Ben's family situation. They weren't wealthy; in fact, they were quite poor. However, she didn't doubt Ben's abilities, only his financial resources. Even with the lowest possible prices, all that equipment would still cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Don't worry, I'm actually collaborating with Harry Osborn."
"Harry Osborn?"
Felicia was surprised that Ben knew the Osborn heir.
"Using Osborn's money to buy Osborn's equipment from Osborn..."
She looked amused, but didn't dwell on it, feeling a little jealous instead.
"You didn't need to find Harry Osborn; I could have helped you!"
Felicia said earnestly. She looked at Ben, pouting, her cheeks puffed out like a little frog.
"I can't offer much money, but I can convince my mom to sponsor you."
Ben quickly refused, "Thank you, Felicia, but not for now."
He had initially sought out Harry precisely to avoid his mother's involvement with Primus, and he certainly didn't want the Hardy Foundation getting involved now.
Still, Felicia's sincerity touched him. He reached out and gently stroked her head. Her hair was soft, feeling like he was petting a long-haired Ragdoll cat.
"Eek!"
Felicia flinched, shrinking back slightly, her face flushing red. But she didn't pull away. Instead, blushing, she asked, "I helped you out so much today, how are you going to thank me?"
"How do you want to be thanked?"
Felicia put a finger to her lips, thought for a moment, then said, "Treat me to ice cream."
"That's it?"
Ben asked in surprise. Felicia had saved him tens of millions of dollars today, and Stromm had initially tried to sell him the equipment at a high price.
"For now, yes."
Felicia hopped away from his hand like a lively kitten. She had spotted an ice cream vendor. "Quick, over here!"
A few minutes later, the two of them walked down the street, ice cream in hand.
"What flavor did you get?"
Felicia skipped into a patch of sunlight, her blonde hair fluttering, making her look like an elf. So cute!
"Vanilla."
"I got strawberry," Felicia paused, then bit her lip, looking longingly at the ice cream Ben had already taken a bite of. "I want to try vanilla too..."
...
Night fell.
Ben walked Felicia home. Her parents were very strict, and she wasn't allowed to be out late.
After seeing Felicia off, Ben didn't go home. Instead, he headed to his laboratory.
Earlier that afternoon, he had Storm deliver some of the equipment, especially a supercomputer.
At this moment, in the rudimentary lab, an advanced computer sat incongruously before Ben.
This thing had also been in Connors' original lab. Peter and he had used it to simulate experimental data models back then.
The first thing Ben wanted to do was create an Artificial Intelligence.
It didn't need to be as powerful as Jarvis or Ultron; it just needed to be able to assist him with some tasks.
He transformed into Grey Matter and inputted the modified Jarvis's underlying code…
After a short while, the program began to respond.
"Hello, Mr. Parker."
A clear female voice echoed in the lab.
"Hello, Eunice."
Thanks to the reader 20231130609_DC for the 100-point tip, thank you, boss.
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