When Ben heard the name Octavius, he was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized that the middle-aged man in front of him with the slightly slouched posture was Otto Octavius—the future Doctor Octopus.
Today, Otto was just an ordinary scientist.
He wasn't wearing his mechanical tentacles, nor had he turned to crime out of desperation for funding. At this moment, he was receiving support from the Hardy Foundation and conducting his research in peace.
Otto was quite satisfied with his current life.
He had endured a difficult past. Although he was a native New Yorker, he came from the lower class. His father had been a factory worker who was somewhat violent and an alcoholic, often beating both Otto and his mother for no reason.
After reaching adulthood, Otto had attended college with the help of student loans. He had already achieved some recognition while in school, writing numerous theoretical papers that made him famous in the field of atomic physics.
But later, when Tony Stark had built a nuclear fusion reactor in the garbage dump of a cave in the Middle East, he had actually realized the dream Otto had been pursuing for years—and it was even more perfect! This had depressed Otto for a long time, but he had eventually recovered.
The Arc Reactor was perfect, but perfection in one area didn't mean there was no room for improvement elsewhere.
He wanted to use science to make the world a better place, and there was more than one way to accomplish that goal.
Of course, he hadn't completely abandoned his own reactor design. The technology wasn't exactly the same as the Arc Reactor, and it still had value for different applications.
Ben didn't hate Doctor Octopus. On the contrary, he admired his abilities and pursuits.
How evil could a person be who was committed to using his intelligence and talents to benefit human society? The fact that he would become Spider-Man's enemy was simply a cruel twist of fate.
In fact, many of Spider-Man's enemies were like this. Before they turned evil, they had been both teachers and friends to Peter Parker, but eventually circumstances had made them opponents.
"Now I understand why Miss Hardy asked me where to buy cheap experiment equipment," Otto said with a smile. At the same time, he turned around and looked at Felicia, who was standing next to Mrs. Hardy but kept glancing in their direction, and sighed.
"It's nice to be young, isn't it?"
Then Otto continued, "Many people think that Norman Osborn invented the self-healing serum, but I know that's not the case."
He glanced at Norman, who was chatting happily with other entrepreneurs, and said, "He is a great scientist, but he has focused his attention elsewhere in recent years."
Otto seemed to be expressing regret.
In his view, becoming focused on capital accumulation didn't make society progress, nor did it allow others to live better lives.
In this country, corporate vampires were everywhere, and it was because of their existence that the lives of poor people became more difficult.
Norman Osborn was a genius, but genius alone was far from enough. In this world, genius was just an admission ticket, and there were always geniuses above geniuses.
Just like himself—he had already been quite famous while still in college, but compared to Tony Stark, he was still far behind.
Therefore, talent alone wasn't enough; you had to work harder.
Norman had apparently slowly abandoned his scientific pursuits, which was why Otto couldn't respect him as much anymore.
"Actually, it's your achievement, isn't it?" Otto's eyes were full of admiration.
"I did invent it."
Ben nodded. This matter wasn't a secret to many people. For example, S.H.I.E.L.D. had known about it for a long time.
Of course, he could continue to hide behind Norman's reputation, but for someone like Dr. Otto, Ben was willing to be sincere.
Otto looked as if he had expected this, and then he showed genuine emotion.
"You know what? Connors and I are actually good friends," he said. "He has been committed to studying cross-species genetics, not only to heal his own arm, but also for more people like him."
"The news said that he volunteered to be a test subject in order to prevent the Green Goblin from using innocent patients for experiments. I don't find it strange at all because that's just the kind of person he is."
Ben nodded, agreeing with Otto's assessment.
"That's why Uncle Norman and I spared no effort to find him after he disappeared and to heal him, because he is a man worthy of respect."
When Otto heard Ben refer to Norman as "Uncle Norman," he was momentarily stunned, then realized that Ben in front of him was still just a teenager.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel that Connors shared the same burden as himself.
They were all geniuses, but there were geniuses above geniuses. What they pursued all their lives could be easily achieved by others.
"When faced with geniuses like you, I always feel jealous, regretful, and relieved," Otto said. "But I guess Connors will be very happy because there is hope for his hand, and there is hope for millions of disabled people too."
As the two were talking, there was a commotion in the distance.
They looked and saw Justin Hammer walking in with a large group of reporters following him.
He never stopped moving and seemed to be annoyed by the reporters around him, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that this guy was enjoying it—enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention under the spotlight.
"I've already said that Hammer Industries has reached a cooperation agreement with the military and will develop the most advanced weapons..."
"As for the Iron Man armor, I can only say that it is definitely not exclusive to Tony Stark. He is just a selfish egomaniac who thinks that others cannot research armor technology, but he is wrong..."
"Today's exhibition?"
"This is a surprise!" Justin Hammer said confidently. "I welcome everyone to witness it in person. Believe me, I have everything you want to see!"
"Okay, I know you still have a lot of questions, but that's enough." Justin Hammer pointed at the entrepreneurs at the exhibition and said, "I still have a lot of people to greet."
"He really looks like a peacock."
Otto said sarcastically.
"Yeah, that's why I don't like him very much."
At this time, Mrs. Hardy in the distance waved to Otto, motioning him to come over.
The Hardy Foundation wasn't as powerful as other large companies. Mrs. Hardy wanted to obtain investment from others through scientific research, but she herself didn't actually understand science, and she couldn't do without Otto's explanation of related matters.
But Justin Hammer was walking toward them.
However, his target wasn't Ben, but Norman Osborn.
"Norman, Norman, long time no see. I thought you were going to disappear completely!" He opened his arms toward Norman from a distance, as enthusiastically as if they were good friends who hadn't seen each other for years.
But in reality, Osborn and Hammer had almost no previous interaction.
Norman didn't have to think about it to understand why Hammer was so enthusiastic—the self-healing serum.
Hammer wasn't a smart man, so naturally, like everyone else, he thought that Osborn was the boss behind Primus.
Although the self-healing serum had nothing to do with Hammer Industries, and the two parties were neither competitors nor partners, no one would be indifferent when this kind of medical breakthrough was involved.
After all, accidents could happen to anyone.
Not only that, since Osborn could launch a self-healing serum, who knew if he would come up with a life-extending serum in a few years?
Therefore, there was no harm in building good relations with the Osborn Group.
Looking at the enthusiastic Hammer, Norman couldn't help but sigh when he thought that the other party might be left with nothing in the near future.
But it was just a sigh.
He turned his head and glanced at Ben; their eyes met in the air, and then Norman walked toward Hammer with matching enthusiasm.
As a businessman, you had to know how to act appropriately.
Ben sat there bored for a while, and Felicia sneaked away from Mrs. Hardy and ran toward him. The two of them immediately left the backstage of the exhibition as if their feet had wings.
"Are you going to be on stage tonight?" Felicia asked.
Ben shook his head. "I don't like to be in the spotlight, so I'll let Harry take the presentation."
Hearing this, Felicia originally wanted to take Ben to explore the exhibition, but knowing what would happen tonight, Ben didn't intend to wander around.
"Let's go directly to Primus's site."
Considering the danger, Ben was worried that tonight would turn into a disaster, so he had set up an energy shield on the outer layer of the venue in advance to ensure the safety of all people at the Primus site.
The energy shield technology wasn't his invention, but was already available on Sakaar.
Sakaar had a lot of advanced technology, but unfortunately it was too far away from Earth, and those wormholes weren't stable. Even with the advanced engines, to be honest, Earth's coordinates weren't easy to find.
This time, he had been able to return to Earth so quickly thanks to Asgard.
It was a pity that the Rainbow Bridge wasn't his means of commuting, otherwise it would be much more convenient.
Ben took Felicia back to the Primus site. In the front row of the venue, Mary Jane, May, and Ben Sr. were sitting together, talking and laughing.
Apparently, May had taken a liking to Mary Jane.
Mary Jane had a very good relationship with her aunt, so May treated Mary Jane like her own daughter.
However, Aunt May felt a little troubled when she thought about the fact that another girl had come to their house during the month when Ben had gone out traveling.
Dating two girls at the same time was obviously not in line with Aunt May's values.
"I don't know how Ben will handle this..."
Just as she was thinking, she looked up and saw Ben and Felicia walking toward her side by side.
This time, Aunt May's expression changed.
She glanced at Mary Jane and her face suddenly became worried.
Aunt May thought that Ben was being too careless. He was letting the two girls meet before making a decision.
Are these two girls going to fight?
Fortunately, things didn't develop as she had imagined.
Mary Jane wasn't surprised at all when she saw Felicia. Instead, she greeted her happily.
"Felicia! I was wondering when you'd get here!" Mary Jane called out with genuine warmth.
Felicia also trotted over and sat next to her. "Sorry I'm late. Mom was introducing me to every scientist in the building."
The two girls began chatting as if they'd been friends for years, discussing the exhibits they'd seen and comparing notes about the various demonstrations.