After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., Peter returned to Queens, while Ben went to Primus alone.
As expected.
Not long after he arrived at Primus, Tony Stark showed up.
Tony Stark was relatively polite. After a brief period of anger, Tony calmed down considerably. He didn't even put on his Battle Armor, but drove his A8 to the entrance of Primus.
Seeing the two Iron Soldiers, which had been greatly altered and were now serving as guard dogs, Tony walked past without any fear.
As expected, the soldiers didn't react.
He immediately realized that Ben was likely waiting for him.
"Not even a receptionist?"
Primus was as empty as ever.
Just then, Eunice's voice sounded over the broadcast: "Tony Stark, sir is in the recovery area, please proceed to the elevator."
"An electronic receptionist, that works too."
He nodded, then said to Jarvis in his earpiece, "Jarvis, I suddenly feel that a female voice is more comfortable, why don't you change your gender?"
"Sir, theoretically, I do not have a gender."
Jarvis didn't care about this at all.
The recovery area was on a low floor, and the elevator quickly reached its destination.
Tony stepped out and almost thought he had arrived at a hospital. Everything was white, and even Ben was pretending by wearing a white coat over his clothes.
"Did you change careers to become a doctor?"
"How about it, want me to treat you too?" Ben looked up and pointed at Tony's chest from afar.
"No thanks."
Although he had switched to the New Element, Tony hadn't removed the Arc Reactor.
The key was that he didn't dare to have surgery.
To have surgery, the Arc Reactor would have to be shut down. Once the Arc Reactor was shut down, the shrapnel would flow to his heart, and if the shrapnel flowed to his heart, he would die.
Therefore, surgery = death.
This was Tony's logic.
"You should know why I'm here."
He casually pulled up a chair and sat down, then looked around and asked, "When can you hire more people?"
"Eunice can handle most of the work," Ben said.
"It's not about the Artificial Intelligence, but about providing jobs in this way to benefit Primus's reputation. More importantly, you don't even have a beautiful receptionist here!"
Tony Stark was frustrated by his lack of ambition!
Such a large company, and a convalescent home too, wouldn't they need to hire a hundred or so beautiful women? Half in suits as OLs, and the other half in white or pink nurse uniforms?
Work ability?
Work efficiency?
Were those things important?
"No matter how capable Eunice is, she can't help you with everything," Tony winked mischievously, speaking like an experienced person.
"Don't tell me you're still a little boy."
Ben sneered and said, "Come talk to me about experience after you've dealt with aliens."
"Aliens... So, you really have a connection with the Galactic Plumbers?"
The two finally got to the main topic.
Tony came to see Ben for two reasons: one was to find out the identity and location of the killer who murdered his parents, and the other was because of the Galactic Plumbers.
Speaking of the Galactic Plumbers, Ben put down the report from Flash and stood up, looking at Tony, and said, "I thought you'd be more interested in the killer."
"I want to know both."
"The Galactic Plumbers is an interstellar law enforcement agency. It hasn't been around for long, and its headquarters are not on Earth. Its members are composed of aliens from different planets, and of course, Earth is one of them."
Ben briefly explained the composition of the Galactic Plumbers.
"And I am the Security Officer appointed by the Galactic Plumbers on Earth."
But Tony wasn't buying it: "Interesting, why would those aliens meddle in Earthlings' affairs?"
He still couldn't forget how XLR8 had killed an Earthling right in front of him. Although he had investigated the deceased Earthling's records afterward and confirmed that the person deserved to die, it was still not up to aliens to intervene.
"The Galactic Plumbers establishes branches under its jurisdiction, and the members of the branches are appointed by the Security Officer of that planet. Therefore, in most cases, aliens do not arbitrarily interfere in Earth's internal affairs, unless the branch actively requests assistance."
Ben explained.
He bypassed the topic of XLR8 because it was difficult for him to explain the totem to Tony.
"So, you want me to join the Galactic Plumbers?" Tony asked. "Let me be blunt, you can't afford me… wait, you actually can afford me…"
He cleared his throat lightly, easing the awkwardness.
"You've been to S.H.I.E.L.D., so you should know about Nick Fury's Avengers Initiative, right? Why would I join your organization instead of the Avengers?"
"Because I can tell you who killed your parents, and Nick Fury can't. It's that simple," Ben said.
Tony was surprised. "I thought you were going to say, 'Whether you join or not, I'll tell you anyway,' and then wait for me to be moved and join voluntarily."
"I don't want to play games. The reason I'm looking for you is because you want revenge for your parents, and I need to help my cousin find the guy who killed his parents.
"We have a common enemy."
"Who?"
"Hydra!"
Then, Ben slowly recounted the entire story to Tony.
Unlike Captain America, who was constantly monitored, Primus was very safe, and Tony's stance was different from Captain America's, so Ben said more and was clearer.
The person who killed his parents was the Winter Soldier, but in the end, it was Hydra.
"Absorbing Hydra's researchers, what was he thinking?" Tony was almost amused to the point of anger.
In a sense, Howard was asking for it. He insisted on keeping Hydra's people, wanting to harness their intelligence for their own use, which did bring tremendous progress to American technology.
But the problem was that it was also like inviting a wolf into the house.
In the end, Howard Stark reaped what he sowed and died under a Hydra assassination.
"Hydra's influence is too great; I can't eliminate them alone, so I need your help."
"What do you plan to do?"
Tony asked.
Ben knew that Tony Stark wasn't the type of person to be fooled by a vague plan. He told him: "The plan is to find all of Hydra and eliminate them all."
That was no different from saying nothing.
The key was, how to find them, and how to eliminate them?
"I have a few Hydra strongholds," Ben didn't play coy and revealed the intelligence he had on Hydra.
On a world map, scattered Hydra strongholds were marked in red one by one.
"So many?"
Tony was very surprised.
Because Ben had found dozens of bases. If all these bases were destroyed, it would indeed deliver a huge blow to Hydra.
Some of these strongholds were known to Ben from watching movies in his previous life, like the one in Sokovia, but more of them were clues found by Eunice searching the entire internet.
Clearing all of these would be equivalent to severing several of Hydra's heads, at the very least.
But how could Ben be satisfied with just that?
"These are just small snake nests. The biggest snake nest is S.H.I.E.L.D. itself. But we can't be the ones to directly confront and destroy S.H.I.E.L.D.," Ben glanced at Tony and smiled, "Otherwise, we'd be rebels."
"Then who should do it?"
"I've found a banner, a banner that can symbolize America," Ben said.
Tony raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
"Captain America, Steve Rogers."
He didn't hide it from Tony and revealed Steve Rogers' existence. Although surprised, Tony quickly accepted this premise.
"Having him deal with the hidden Hydra is indeed very suitable," Tony nodded.
If Ben or Tony were to declare to the world that S.H.I.E.L.D. had long been infiltrated by Hydra, no one would believe them.
Instead, it would put both of them in a passive position, leading to a crisis of trust, and eventually, Hydra would turn it around and accuse them of being Hydra, which wouldn't be surprising.
But it was different the other way around.
As the first super hero in human history, America's propaganda about Steve during World War II was overwhelming!
And after his "sacrifice," this propaganda not only didn't weaken but was greatly intensified!
A dead hero was more useful than a living one.
For so many years, Captain America had been portrayed as a symbol of America, a spiritual totem representing the country.
Whether it was the older generation or the younger generation in America, many were admirers of Captain America.
To say that Captain America was Hydra was like saying Lenin betrayed socialism.
Wasn't that absurd?
Even if you dared to say it, no one would believe you.
In the comics, when the real Captain Hydra ruled the world, the public and all the superheroes refused to believe Captain America was Hydra until their deaths.
They would rather tell themselves that Captain America was controlled, or that the guy wasn't Captain America at all.
This is the true weight of the title "Captain America."
"Then the plan is clear. We, as the overt force of justice, will attack these Hydra bases, while that old ice pop will secretly dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. and eliminate this greatest tumor."
Tony expressed, "Great, I'm starting to understand."
But Ben shook his head.
"Wrong!"
"These are just bait."
He waved his hand, and the map disappeared, replaced by a plan.
— "Project Insight."
"What is this?"
Tony asked with a frown.
After learning about Operation Paperclip, he had become wary of all sorts of plans.
Ben didn't explain immediately. Instead, he said, "As you said, after clearing out all these strongholds, it will undoubtedly be a major blow to Hydra. After seventy years of lurking, their ever-growing ambition won't allow us to continue finding and destroying more of their nests."
"By then, they will definitely activate Project Insight."
"That's why I asked, what is Project Insight?" Tony looked at Ben with dissatisfaction.
Ben smiled slightly and drew a line in the air with his arm. A detailed plan immediately appeared before Tony.
The first thing that appeared in the holographic projection was the towering Stark Tower.
"Through some algorithmic analysis, based on the past behavioral trajectories of everyone in the world, it calculates who will pose a threat to Hydra, and then, using three Helicarriers, annihilates them all in an instant. This is Project Insight."
"Obviously, the famous Tony Stark is on the list. Of course, so am I."
Ben shrugged.
Tony Stark, however, felt a chill run down his spine.
After all, he was essentially just an ordinary person and couldn't wear his Battle Armor twenty-four hours a day. If this so-called Project Insight were to be activated, he might actually be killed.
"Madman!"
He slammed his fist on the table, cursing his father Howard's foolish decision again in his heart.
This old fart had invited trouble, leading to his own and his wife's assassination, and now even his son was indirectly threatened.
"When the public strongly opposed Operation Cloud Cover, he still, in his own clever way, replaced the name but not the game, bringing out Operation Paperclip..."
At this moment, Tony no longer even considered outsmarting Howard.
His father, who was so intelligent, had made such a foolish mistake in this matter.
"We must stop Project Insight from being activated!"
Tony said angrily.
But Ben leaned back casually, sinking into the sofa. He spread his hands and asked, "Why stop it?"
"What? Do I even need to ask? If Project Insight starts, who knows how many people will be killed, and this world will completely fall under Hydra's iron-fisted rule!"
Tony said as a matter of course.
He found it strange. Since Ben had presented this plan to him, didn't he understand the consequences of Project Insight?
But Ben said, "We cannot stop it. Not only should we not stop it, but we should push it forward."
He extended his hand and pushed forward in the air with his palm. "I've already agreed to help Nick Fury upgrade the Helicarriers' power systems."
"Are you crazy? Damn it, aren't you Hydra too?!" Tony jumped up from his chair, pointed at Ben's nose, and cursed, "Do you know what you're doing, you... wait, you mean?"
"It took you this long to figure it out?"
Ben rolled his eyes. "I was almost starting to doubt your intelligence."
"If I upgrade the Helicarriers, do you think they'll ultimately belong to Hydra or Ben? Hydra thinks these three Helicarriers will become their powerful weapons to rule the world, but in reality, the guns have always been aimed at them."
Ben's expression turned cold. He pursed his lips and stood up from the sofa. At this moment, he looked like he was standing on a high command platform, proclaiming the fate of the enemy's demise!
"Their Project Insight is perfect for us to identify every Hydra operative. Chop off one head, and two grow back? Hmph, I don't like chopping heads. I prefer to grind my enemies to dust!"
Looking at Ben at this moment, even Tony couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
His lips turned pale, and he thought that those so-called anti-dragon and anti-Heatblast Battle Armors in his backup plans could wait.
The immediate priority was to create an anti-Ben Battle Armor
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