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Chapter 122: Tony Stark's Arc Reactor
Deep into the night, all three scientists on North Brother Island remained awake, working tirelessly on their experiments.
After determining that Professor Connors couldn't find a short-term cure for the lizard DNA, Banner shifted his focus to helping Connors learn to control the monster within.
Dr. Otto stood at a nearby whiteboard, scribbling formulas with markers, frowning occasionally in deep thought.
Prosthetic limb development was child's play for Otto. He devoted most of his time to calculating nuclear fusion energy formulas.
He'd already identified problems with the equations, but without access to his previous research materials on North Brother Island, Otto had to start from scratch—occasionally discussing concepts with Banner.
Banner, who should have been hiding here with nothing to do, had become the busiest of the three. He had to teach Connors about the sensations after transformation and methods for preventing loss of control.
He also participated in Otto's fusion research. And since Banner had achievements in biology as well, he simultaneously contributed to Connors' failed regeneration serum studies.
Except for necessary eating and sleeping, the three scientists spent every moment in the laboratory. As for the recreational relaxation area Batman had prepared for them, none had touched it even once.
For ordinary people, such a lifestyle would be tedious and dull. But for these three, no place suited them better.
Batman's sudden return, however, startled all three.
Hearing the commotion, before clearly seeing who'd entered, Otto instinctively moved toward a corner to hide. Banner stepped forward, positioning himself protectively in front of Connors.
Banner wasn't protecting Connors—he was protecting the sudden intruder.
He feared Connors might transform into an uncontrolled Lizard and tear the intruder apart.
Connors remained relatively calm. He looked up toward the laboratory entrance.
That door was normally locked. Forcing it open would trigger alarms—alerting not only the three of them but Batman as well that unauthorized personnel had entered.
Otto had experience conducting illegal experiments in sewers, constantly at risk of police discovery. Banner had similarly lived years in hiding, moving from place to place.
Both men subconsciously overlooked that no alarm had triggered. But Connors hadn't.
"Extract bone marrow? What are you planning?" Connors patted Banner's shoulder, indicating he was fine, then addressed Batman.
Batman looked somewhat disheveled. The Arkham suit bore damage everywhere from his confrontation with Anti-Venom, covered in dirt and even a few grass stems.
"I found a way to defeat that extraterrestrial organism. It's in my fourth vertebra from the bottom." Batman's voice remained cold, his expression unchanged. "I need you to help me extract it."
Connors, Banner, and Otto shook their heads in unison.
"Impossible. We don't have the conditions for performing surgery here, nor the puncture needle required for this procedure."
Though Banner held degrees in numerous fields, surgery wasn't his specialty.
"Unless you want to end up paralyzed, you need to find an expert."
"I know someone who could perform this surgery. Peter has met him too." Otto suddenly spoke up.
Peter? Connors immediately looked at Otto, his brow furrowing before relaxing.
He detected from Otto's tone that the doctor didn't know Batman and Peter Parker were actually the same person.
Batman also turned toward Otto. He'd already guessed which expert the doctor meant.
"When Peter accompanied me for the mechanical tentacle removal surgery, the doctor who presided over that operation—Strange."
As expected, Otto named the neurosurgeon from New York Metropolitan Hospital known as "God's Hands"—Strange.
"I rested there several days and became quite familiar with Dr. Strange. If you need, I can introduce you." Otto offered.
"Then let's go now, Dr. Otto." Batman stated.
"Now?" Otto glanced at the laboratory clock. "It's past one in the morning."
"Now." Batman's voice rumbled low.
---
In an upscale Manhattan community primarily housing Wall Street elites and industry leaders—
Dr. Stephen Strange had just returned home after finishing his midnight party.
Removing his watch, tie, cufflinks, and handkerchief one by one, Strange was about to wash up when his private phone suddenly rang.
Few people knew this number. Only when exceptionally important surgeries requiring his specific expertise arose would anyone call.
Without time for much thought, Strange's professional ethics drove him to rush over and answer. "Hello?"
On the other end was Dr. Otto, who briefly explained Batman's needs—though he didn't mention the solution to the alien organism.
Even the three scientists on North Brother Island couldn't understand why Batman's solution would exist within his spine. Otto's cover story claimed a patient's bone marrow had issues requiring emergency spinal extraction surgery.
But Strange couldn't comprehend this either.
"Extract bone marrow to cure illness? Just remove it and that's it? Dr. Otto, I hope you're not joking with me."
"I don't want to wake up some morning and see news reports that Dr. Strange colluded with Dr. Otto to murder a patient."
Otto sighed over the phone.
"It's complicated, but this is genuinely the patient's own request... He—no, 'He' might not be quite the same as the humans you and I understand."
Otto couldn't confirm whether Batman was actually human. To dispel Strange's concerns, Otto deliberately used the pronoun reserved for referencing God or angels—"He."
"May I ask who 'He' is?" Strange's curiosity was immediately piqued.
On North Brother Island, Otto looked toward Batman, who nodded slightly.
"It's Batman."
"That recent urban legend—the vampire living in New York?" Strange agreed immediately. "I'll notify Metropolitan Hospital to prepare for surgery."
"No. No preparation needed." Batman's low voice came through the phone. "No anesthesia. No sedatives. Just simple sterilization. Use the puncture needle directly."
"Right, of course—you're a vampire." Strange considered carefully. "Twenty minutes. Metropolitan Hospital."
---
"Welding station, goggles, pliers..."
Thousands of miles away in the Middle East, Tony Stark directed Ten Rings members back and forth through the cave, moving missiles and various required tools to designated positions.
He needed to dismantle all the missiles and extract a total of 1.6 grams of palladium.
As lenses assembled into crude but functional equipment, the palladium was positioned at the forefront of multiple lens arrays.
The first step toward escaping this hell—Tony Stark would replace the cumbersome electromagnet and car battery in his chest.
He'd swap them for a miniature arc reactor, just like the large reactor his father Howard Stark had once designed beneath Stark Tower.
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