After departing from SHIELD headquarters, Peter returned to Queens while Ben made his way to Primus Tower alone.
Not long after he arrived at his headquarters, Tony Stark appeared at the building's entrance.
To Ben's mild surprise, Tony had remained remarkably composed. After his initial burst of rage upon viewing the surveillance footage, Tony had become much more rational and calculating. He hadn't even bothered with his armor, instead driving his Audi A8 to park directly in front of Primus's main entrance.
Looking at the two previously Hammer Iron legion units that had been repurposed as Iron Guard, Tony approached without any hesitation or fear.
As expected, the robotic guards didn't react to his presence at all.
He immediately realized that Ben was probably expecting his arrival.
"Not even a reception desk?" Tony observed, noting Primus's characteristically empty lobby.
The building remained as sparsely populated as ever.
At that moment, Eunice's sophisticated voice echoed through the building's sound system: "Tony Stark, Mr. Parker is currently in the medical wing. Please proceed to the elevator."
"AI reception—I suppose that works too," Tony nodded, then spoke to his own AI through his earpiece. "Jarvis, I'm suddenly thinking that female voices are more pleasant to listen to. How about modifying your personality parameters?"
"Sir, technically speaking, I don't possess a gender," Jarvis replied with his usual unflappable composure.
The medical wing was located on one of the lower floors, and the elevator reached its destination quickly.
When Tony stepped out, he almost felt like he'd entered a high-end hospital. There were expanses of pristine white surfaces everywhere, and even Ben was wearing what appeared to be a white lab coat over his regular clothes.
"Did you switch careers to become a doctor?" Tony asked with amusement.
"How about it? Want me to treat you as well?" Ben replied, raising his head and gesturing toward Tony's chest.
Although Tony had replaced the palladium core with the new element, he hadn't removed the arc reactor itself.
The crucial issue was that he didn't dare undergo the surgical procedure.
To perform the operation, the reactor would have to be shut down completely. Once the reactor stopped functioning, the shrapnel would migrate toward his heart, and if the shrapnel reached his heart, he would die.
Therefore, in Tony's logical framework: surgery equals death.
"You know exactly why I'm here," Tony said seriously.
He pulled up a chair and sat down, glancing around the sterile environment before asking, "When are you planning to hire actual staff?"
"Eunice can handle most operational requirements," Ben replied matter-of-factly.
"It's not about artificial intelligence capabilities—having human employees is beneficial for Primus's public image and reputation. More importantly, you don't even have an attractive receptionist!"
Tony Stark was genuinely frustrated by Ben's lack of business acumen!
Such a massive corporation, complete with a medical facility, should have employed dozens of beautiful women—half of them dressed in professional business attire as office staff, and the other half wearing white or pink medical uniforms, right?
Work efficiency? Was that really the most important consideration?
"No matter how capable Eunice might be, she can't help you handle every type of... problem," Tony said with a mischievous wink, speaking with the tone of someone who'd gained considerable experience in such matters.
"Don't tell me you're still inexperienced in these areas."
Ben let out a derisive snort. "Come back and share your wisdom after you've tried dating aliens."
"Aliens... So you really are connected to the Plumbers organization?"
Finally, they'd arrived at the heart of the matter.
Tony had come to see Ben for two primary reasons. First, to learn the identity and location of his parents' killer. Second, to understand the truth about the mysterious Plumbers organization.
When the conversation shifted to the Plumbers, Ben set down Flash's medical report, stood up, looked directly at Tony, and said, "I thought you'd be more interested in discussing the assassin first."
"I am interested," Tony confirmed.
"The Plumbers is an interstellar law enforcement agency," Ben explained. "It was established relatively recently, and its headquarters isn't located on Earth. The membership consists of individuals from different planets throughout the universe—Earth being one of them, naturally."
Ben provided a brief overview of the Plumbers' organizational structure.
"And I serve as the sheriff appointed by the Plumbers for Earth."
But Tony remained skeptical: "Interesting premise. Why should these aliens concern themselves with human affairs?"
He still hadn't forgotten that XLR8 had killed a human being right in front of him, even though his subsequent investigation had confirmed that the victim thoroughly deserved his fate.
But it wasn't the aliens' place to intervene in earthly justice.
"The Plumbers establishes regional branches within areas under its jurisdiction," Ben explained. "Branch members are appointed by the chief sheriff. Therefore, in most circumstances, extraterrestrial operatives won't interfere in Earth's affairs without authorization, unless the local branch specifically requests assistance."
He deliberately avoided discussing the XLR8 incident because explaining the concept of Canon Event and Spider-verse would be unnecessarily complicated.
"So you want me to join the Plumbers?" Tony asked directly. "Let me be frank—you can't afford my services... Actually, wait, you probably could afford them..."
He coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment.
"You've been to SHIELD, so you're aware of Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative, correct? Why would I choose to join your organization instead of the Avengers?"
"Because I can tell you who murdered your parents, and Nick Fury cannot. It's really that simple," Ben replied without hesitation.
Tony looked genuinely surprised. "I expected you to say something like 'I'll tell you regardless of whether you join' and then wait for me to be emotionally moved enough to volunteer."
"I don't enjoy playing those manipulative games," Ben said bluntly. "The reason I approached you is straightforward: you want to avenge your parents, and I want to help my cousin find the people responsible for his parents' deaths."
"We share a common enemy."
Ben then methodically explained the entire situation to Tony.
Unlike Captain America, who was under constant SHIELD surveillance, Primus was completely secure, and Tony's position was fundamentally different from Steve's, so Ben could speak more freely and with greater detail.
The Winter Soldier had killed Howard and Maria Stark, but ultimately, it was Hydra pulling the strings.
"How could he have thought it was a good idea to recruit Hydra's scientific researchers?" Tony was so furious he almost laughed at the absurdity.
In a very real sense, Howard could be said to have orchestrated his own downfall. He'd advocated for preserving Hydra personnel and had wanted to utilize their expertise for American benefit, which had indeed led to significant technological advancement.
But the fundamental problem was that this amounted to inviting wolves into the henhouse.
In the end, Howard Stark had reaped the consequences of his own actions and been assassinated by the very organization he'd tried to exploit.
"Hydra has become too powerful. I can't eliminate them single-handedly, which is why I'm asking for your help," Ben said seriously.
"What exactly are you planning to do?"
Ben understood that Tony Stark wasn't the type of person who could be satisfied with vague strategic outlines, so he gave him the direct answer: "The plan is to locate every Hydra operative and eliminate them completely."
That was essentially equivalent to saying nothing at all.
The crucial questions were how to find them and how to eliminate them systematically.
"I have intelligence on several Hydra Bases," Ben said without hesitation, then activated his holographic display system.
On a detailed world map, scattered Hydra strongholds were marked in bright red indicators.
Tony was genuinely impressed.
Ben had identified dozens of bases, and if all of these bases were destroyed, it would indeed deliver a devastating blow to Hydra's infrastructure.
Some of these locations were facilities that Ben remembered from his previous life's entertainment, such as the stronghold in Sokovia, but most represented intelligence that Eunice had discovered through comprehensive internet surveillance.
Eliminating all of these would be equivalent to severing multiple heads from the Hydra organization.
But Ben clearly wasn't satisfied with such limited action.
"These are just minor snake nests. The largest nest is SHIELD itself. But we can't directly confront SHIELD and destroy it openly," Ben said, glancing at Tony with a slight smile. "Otherwise, we'd be branded as traitors to our own country."
"Then who should handle that problem?"
"I've found our flag—a symbol that truly represents the United States," Ben explained.
Tony raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue.
"Captain America. Steve Rogers."
Ben didn't conceal Steve's involvement from Tony, explaining the situation completely. Although Tony was surprised by this revelation, he quickly accepted the strategic implications.
"It's definitely appropriate to have him deal with those embedded Hydra operatives," Tony agreed.
If Ben or Tony tried to tell the world that SHIELD had been thoroughly corrupted by Hydra, nobody would believe them.
Instead, it would put both parties in defensive positions, which would then evolve into a crisis of credibility, and ultimately Hydra could accuse them of being the real infiltrators.
But the opposite scenario was completely different.
As the first superhero in human history, Steve Rogers had been the subject of overwhelming American propaganda during World War II! And after his "sacrifice," this propaganda hadn't weakened—it had been dramatically amplified!
A dead hero was often more valuable than a living one.
Over the decades, Captain America had been portrayed as the very symbol of American values and had become a spiritual icon representing the nation's highest ideals.
Whether among older or younger generations in America, substantial portions of the population were genuine admirers of Captain America.
Claiming that Captain America was secretly Hydra would be like suggesting that George Washington had betrayed the Constitution.
It was absolutely ridiculous.
Even if someone dared to make such an accusation, nobody would believe it.
In various comic storylines, when Hydra Captain America had actually ruled the world, both civilians and superheroes had refused to believe that the real Captain America was truly Hydra until their dying breaths.
They preferred to convince themselves that Captain America was being mind-controlled, or that the person wasn't actually Steve Rogers at all.
This was the true value of the Captain America identity.
"Then the strategy becomes clear," Tony said with growing understanding. "We'll serve as the public righteous force attacking these Hydra bases, while that old popsicle secretly dismantles SHIELD and eliminates this massive cancer."
"That's excellent—I'm beginning to see the bigger picture."
But Ben shook his head firmly.
"Those bases are merely bait."
He gestured, and the map disappeared, replaced by a different document.
"Project Insight."
Tony frowned as he read the title.
After learning about Operation Paperclip, he'd become deeply suspicious of all classified government programs.
Ben didn't explain immediately, instead saying, "As you correctly observed, after all those strongholds are eliminated, it will definitely deal a major blow to Hydra. After seventy years of patient infiltration, their ambitions have grown exponentially, and they won't tolerate allowing us to continue discovering and destroying more snake nests."
"At that point, they'll be forced to launch Project Insight."
"Which is exactly why I asked: what is Project Insight?" Tony looked at Ben with obvious frustration.
Ben smiled slightly and gestured in the air, causing a detailed operational plan to suddenly materialize in front of Tony.
The first image in the three-dimensional projection was the iconic Stark Tower.
"Through sophisticated algorithmic analysis, based on the historical behavioral patterns of every person on Earth, the system can calculate which individuals will pose future threats to Hydra, then use three flying aircraft carriers to eliminate them all simultaneously. This is Project Insight."
"Obviously, the famous Tony Stark appears on their target list. And of course, so do I."
Tony Stark felt his scalp prickling as he absorbed this information.
After all, he was fundamentally just a normal human being, and it was impossible for him to wear his armor twenty-four hours a day. Once this so-called Insight Project was activated, he could genuinely be assassinated.
He slammed his hand on the table and mentally cursed his father Howard for his catastrophically stupid decision.
That old fool hadn't just invited wolves into their home, causing his own assassination along with his wife's—now even his son was under invisible threat.
At this moment, Tony no longer even considered competing with Howard's intellectual legacy.
My father was brilliant, but he made an absolutely moronic mistake with this particular situation.
"We have to prevent Project Insight from launching!" Tony declared with righteous anger.
But Ben leaned back casually, sank into the sofa, spread his hands, and asked with apparent confusion: "Why would we want to stop it?"
"What? Do you seriously need to ask that question? If Project Insight is implemented, countless innocent people will die, and the entire world will fall under Hydra's totalitarian rule!"
Tony responded as if this should be completely obvious.
He was genuinely confused. Since Ben had presented this plan to him, didn't he understand what the consequences of Project Insight would be?
But Ben said calmly: "We can't stop them. Not only should we avoid stopping them—on the contrary, we should actively encourage them."
He extended his hand and made a pushing motion through the air. "I've already agreed to help Nick Fury upgrade the aircraft carriers' propulsion systems."
"You're insane! Are you secretly working for Hydra yourself?!" Tony leaped up from his chair, pointed directly at Ben's face, and shouted, "Do you have any idea what you're doing, you... wait, you want to—?"
"It took you long enough to figure it out," Ben said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "I was starting to question your supposed genius-level intellect."
"They want me to upgrade their aircraft carriers. Do you think those carriers will ultimately be loyal to Hydra or to me? Hydra believes these three ships will become their ultimate weapons for global domination, but in reality, those guns will be pointed at them from the very beginning."
Ben's expression turned deadly serious as he pursed his lips and rose from the sofa. At this moment, he seemed to be standing on a strategic command platform, announcing the enemy's inevitable defeat!
"Their Insight Project will allow us to identify every single Hydra operative. Cut off one head and two more will grow back? I don't like cutting off heads—I prefer grinding my enemies into dust!"
Looking at Ben in this moment, even Tony couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
His face went pale, and he realized that his backup plans for anti-Hulk and anti-Thor armor could be postponed for a while.
The most urgent priority was developing a complete anti-Ben armor system...