Ben thought about it later and felt he really hadn't handled things correctly.
Alien X, as an entity transcending dimensions, time, space, and everything else, wasn't just an unconscious gene within a broken watch, but a real existence.
He had subconsciously treated them as tools for his own use, and it was no wonder Enara and Oyana were angry.
In fact, it wasn't just Alien X.
The other aliens within the watch also possessed their own consciousness and emotions. Treating them as tools was the most mistaken approach, and something Azmuth would least want to see.
"I need to find time to apologize."
He pondered for a moment, then decided to apologize after some time had passed.
Right now, Enara and Oyana were still upset, and he wasn't sure if they would accept his apology. Besides...
"Mainly, I really don't have that much time to spend with them slowly completing all the agenda items."
After temporarily setting aside the matter of Alien X, Ben found he had no particularly important tasks at the moment.
So, he returned to his ordinary life.
Going to school, spending time with Felicia or Mary Jane, returning to Queens...
Compared to Peter, who was incredibly busy, he seemed leisurely and at ease.
However, he noticed that Felicia and Mary Jane seemed to be hiding something from him. When he asked them, they would both play dumb simultaneously.
Ben didn't really pay it much mind.
Among women, especially best friends, there were always little secrets.
Anyone who's had a girlfriend knows that the most shameful thing for men is their browser history, while for women, it's their chat logs with their best friends.
At this moment, Felicia and Mary Jane were hiding from Ben, their red and golden heads pressed together, whispering.
"When do you think Benny plans to tell us about his Hacker Spider-Man secret?" Felicia asked.
"Maybe never?" Mary Jane shook her head uncertainly. "I think he's not telling us to protect us."
"Look, that criminal last time targeted Peter precisely because he was always taking photos of Spider-Man."
"I don't want to always be protected," Felicia sighed. "I want to protect him too, or, stand by his side."
Mary Jane felt Felicia was right, but the two of them truly had no superpowers.
"I don't want to turn into a lizard," she said. "No offense, but if my face became like Mr. Connors', with sharp teeth every time I opened my mouth, I'd have a breakdown."
"I don't want that either," Felicia sighed.
"Can Doctor Otto invent some kind of serum?" Mary Jane asked.
"Of course not, Doctor Otto studies physics, how can you not even distinguish that?" Felicia was exasperated by Mary Jane's poor academic performance.
"And he was fired by my mom."
Because of previous events, Otto's actions had greatly displeased Mrs. Hardy.
Even though it was eventually proven he wasn't wrong, Mrs. Hardy still forced him to hand over all his research materials and then kicked Otto out of the Hardy Foundation.
This wasn't just known to Felicia; Ben knew about it too.
Connors was the first to tell Ben.
Ben held Doctor Otto, a great scientist, in high regard.
Thus, Otto, who had been unceremoniously dismissed from the Hardy Foundation, was seamlessly invited to Primus before he could even feel down.
His previous research materials were no longer of interest to anyone, as a more advanced nuclear reactor was right before Otto's eyes.
Its core, emitting a blue-white cold light like an O-type star, far surpassed what Otto had been pursuing.
At that moment, feeling inferior, he lowered his head and self-deprecatingly asked:
"Then, what else can I do for you?"
Ben told him, "Doctor, humans have the power to move forward. The artificial sun and reactor are your pursuits, but they shouldn't be your only pursuits. Just like you told me before, don't waste your talent, work hard."
After Ben fed Otto a bowl of "chicken soup," Otto seemed to have received a shot of adrenaline and perked up.
However, before he could start other research, he began studying Ben's reactor.
The fundamental technology behind the reactor was actually in Tony's hands, while Ben mastered the new element, which was the energy itself.
Therefore, Doctor Otto's previous research wasn't entirely useless.
It wasn't just Doctor Otto; Banner also stayed at Primus.
Returning to the present.
Felicia and Mary Jane were troubled by their inability to obtain superpowers.
But they weren't the only ones looking to gain superpowers.
Hell's Kitchen.
Kingpin stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying the underground criminal empire he ruled.
He had suffered heavy losses recently due to provoking Spider-Man and Hacker.
Actually, Hacker was the main problem.
Spider-Man, in the end, was just one person, indecisive at that. Even if he disrupted Kingpin's operations daily, he couldn't stop much.
Kingpin could easily use one deal as a front and hide the real transactions much deeper.
Spider-Man would be spread too thin.
The key issue was Hacker and Green Goblin.
The last time, those two had been so ruthless, directly causing Kingpin to lose several key lieutenants, and even Bullseye had died.
Kingpin had come to a realization: since Hacker was so powerful and Green Goblin held such a high status, why not just avoid them?
Don't provoke them, don't get involved!
However, losing several top enforcers had put him in an awkward position within Hell's Kitchen and even the Villains Alliance.
He desperately needed special talent now.
Not just one or two, but a group, a large number!
He had heard about someone.
—Master Thief Cat Burglar.
Legend had it that Master Thief Cat Burglar might be the only person alive who knew the formula for the Super Soldier Serum.
And he was imprisoned somewhere within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s facilities.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone now. H.A.M.M.E.R. has taken over, and Hydra agents are being apprehended daily. This is our chance to infiltrate and find Cat Burglar."
Standing before Kingpin was a man who looked like an albino version of Red Skull.
Dmitri.
Also known as Chameleon.
He was Kraven's younger brother, recruited by Kingpin after Kraven's death.
"Can you find Cat Burglar, Chameleon?"
Kingpin asked coldly.
"Of course."
"Excellent. Don't disappoint me." Kingpin was pleased.
He had endured too many failures lately. Of course, Kingpin wasn't afraid of losing; those losses meant little to him.
But constant defeat had put him in a bad mood.
Kingpin ordered Chameleon to act.
Chameleon's ability was to impersonate others, making infiltration into H.A.M.M.E.R. a non-issue for him in the short term.
The biggest challenge was locating Cat Burglar.
In different Marvel continuities, S.H.I.E.L.D. had four well-known prisons: The Raft, The Cube, The Vault, and The Dome.
In this universe, when Ben and Norman took over S.H.I.E.L.D., there weren't so many prisons yet.
This wasn't surprising.
After all, mutants hadn't appeared in this universe yet, and the number of superheroes and villains wasn't that high.
There were some deviants, but most remained hidden.
Ben and Norman were planning to build a super-prison to house criminals.
"The prisons are almost full. We need to find a new place to dump all these Hydra scum."
The number of Hydra spies was simply too vast.
Wealthy individuals, officials, members of Hell's Kitchen gangs – Hydra was everywhere.
Norman could eliminate the high-ranking ones, but he couldn't kill them all, at least not openly.
It wasn't out of Norman's mercy, but as the director of H.A.M.M.E.R., he had to feign public benevolence.
So, they could only stuff them into prisons.
But the problem was, prisons had capacity limits. What if they were full?
Hydra agents were relatively easy to handle; they could be openly imprisoned and secretly executed.
However, some villains truly didn't deserve death. If not killed, there was a constant worry they would escape repeatedly.
So Ben had an idea: why not create a super-powered prison?
The prison situation wasn't urgent.
Now there's another problem – Steve and the others found out about the Tesseract.
On the H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier.
Norman and Ben sat together, with a few Avengers also present for the discussion.
Captain America and Iron Man, for example.
Steve Rogers looked at the glowing cube on the table with a helpless expression, his eyes showing fatigue.
"You shouldn't have retrieved it."
During this time, Steve had been helping organize the documents left behind by the original S.H.I.E.L.D., and accidentally discovered research related to the Tesseract.
So he found Hill to ask about the situation and the whereabouts of the Tesseract.
Then Hill repeated what Ben had told her at the time.
The situation had now escalated to this point.
Tony also showed up to join the fun, as it concerned a life-threatening crisis for half the universe.
"We didn't retrieve it, Captain, it was Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.," Norman immediately shifted the blame. It wasn't entirely shifting blame, as it was the truth. "Especially Fury, who even used it to build weapons."
Hill couldn't refute this.
"So this thing is one of the Infinity Stones you mentioned, the one that can wipe out half of us in an instant?" Tony looked at Ben and asked.
"If he wanted to, eliminating everyone would be a mere thought."
Steve said, "Since this thing is so dangerous, it should be destroyed directly."
"Destroying the stone is not very meaningful."
Ben shook his head. "As long as the Time Stone exists, it doesn't matter how many times you destroy other stones; it's all meaningless."
"Then destroy the Time Stone too."
"I'd like to, but the problem is the Time Stone is in the hands of a bald man."
"Fury has another Time Stone?" Hill exclaimed in surprise.
"Another bald man."
Ben didn't continue talking about the Ancient One.
"In short, destroying the stones is unrealistic at this stage, and besides, destroying an Infinity Stone isn't that simple."
The energy of the Infinity Stones is immense. To destroy one, you would need power of the same level.
"My idea is, when Loki arrives on Earth, have him take the Tesseract back to the Galactic Plumbers Headquarters and have it sealed and stored."
"Wait, Loki? Which Loki?"
Steve was taken aback.
"The one you beat up in New Mexico. He's turned over a new leaf and joined the Galactic Plumbers," Ben explained. "Before the Tesseract fell into Earth's hands, it was always in Asgard. Asgardians know how to use the Tesseract and how to make it dormant."
Speaking of which, Ben looked at Hill and explained:
"Once the Infinity Stones enter an active period, they emit a special wavelength that resonates with other stones. When Fury tried to awaken it, the Tesseract's existence exposed Earth's location."
"Are you saying Earth could be attacked from the universe?" Tony asked.
"That's right. So the Tesseract isn't important; what's important is how we prepare for the coming war," Ben said.
At this, everyone's expression turned serious.
Nick Fury had left a mess.
But honestly, even without Nick Fury's research, the awakening of the Infinity Stones was inevitable.
As the axis of the multiverse, Earth has always been a special place.
Tony's gaze flickered between Ben and Steve, then he said with a hint of indignation, "Will no one explain to me about Asgard and this Mr. Loki?"
"I've only heard of Alaska and Texas Hold'em. I must say, the dealers there are really good. I'll take you to try next time."
Tony patted Ben's shoulder.
He seemed generous, but his tone was as if he were questioning Ben and Captain America, asking why the two of them had met other "tempting women" behind his back.
"Actually, all of this is in the files," Steve said.
"Too lazy to read it."
So Steve had to start from the beginning again.
After listening, just as Tony was about to voice his opinion, an alarm sound interrupted him.
The alarm didn't come from the H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier, but from the Galactic Plumbers communication device on Ben.
Ben placed the communicator on the table.
Instantly, Loki's stern face was projected.
He looked a bit tense, speaking quickly.
"Report, this is Galactic Plumbers Security Officer Loki Odinson. I have arrived at the Oort Cloud and am beginning deceleration. Estimated arrival over Midgard in thirty minutes."
"Understood."
Ben ended the communication.
Then he said, "Loki, Loki is here."
But Tony and the others looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"Thirty minutes from the Oort Cloud to Earth?! Is he serious?"
Steve scratched his head. As the least educated person present, he had no idea where the Oort Cloud was.
"Is there a cloud on Earth with a specific name?"
"The Oort Cloud is at the edge of the solar system; it takes light a year to get there," Tony felt utterly unable to communicate with uncultured people.
"Understand? This alien ship's speed is much faster than light!"
To this, Ben replied, "What's the big deal? That's the Tetramand engine, kid!"
Knowing Loki would arrive soon, the group stopped talking.
Norman deactivated the carrier's outer energy shield, and the group went onto the deck to wait for Loki.
Thirty minutes later.
A damaged ship tore through the atmosphere, smoke billowing as it hurtled towards the carrier.
"Is he… not doing too well?"
Steve asked uncertainly.
"Sharp observation skills, much better than a blind person, Captain!"
Tony rolled his eyes, implying, obviously.
Then he turned to Ben, "Is there anything we can do? If he keeps coming down at this speed, either the carrier or him will be destroyed."
As he spoke, they saw Loki's ship slow down.
Norman opened a gap in the energy shield. The ship passed through and crashed onto the deck.
"Now I can ask the Security Council for more money," Norman said.
Then, Loki opened the ship's hatch and crawled out in a sorry state. He was covered in dust and panting heavily, looking at Ben with terrified eyes.
"They're here!"
"Who?"
"War!"
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