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Chapter 554: When the Flames are Ignited (2)

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of Stark Tower, Stark was standing at a table, tinkering with some models.

These models appeared to resemble his Iron Man combat suits, but they were different. You could see there was structure inside the armor through the seams, unlike the hollow interior of a combat suit.

Clearly, these things weren't freshly made by Stark, as you could see traces of technological iteration on them.

Looking from left to right, the model on the far left appeared more like the Iron Man combat suit, with a similar basic structure but filled with internal components.

The next one resembled the Hulkbuster, and after that, there was one with tentacles attached. As you moved towards the back, they became sleeker and more streamlined, with simpler structures.

Stark picked up the model on the far right and scrutinized his recent work carefully. He took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, then took out his mobile phone and called Peter, asking, "Peter, do you have some free time now?"

"Oh, I'm at a party with Gwen right now. What's up?"

"Nothing," Stark replied, lowering his head to hang up the phone. But just as he was about to end the call, Peter shouted from the other end, "Hey, guys, I've got something to take care of. You go on without me."

After that, Peter's voice came through the phone again, louder this time, "JARVIS! Open the south-side windows of the building! I almost crashed into them last time!"

It wasn't until JARVIS's "beep beep" sound that Peter disconnected the call. Shortly after, Peter, wearing his Spider-Man combat suit, arrived in the laboratory.

Seeing the table full of models, Peter immediately got excited. He walked up and said, "Wow, what's this? I haven't seen this in the laboratory. Is it a new combat suit?"

"How come there are so many versions? Is it a new mechanical legion? Enhancements for the Avengers? Or..."

"Stop," Stark interrupted him, feeling a headache from Peter's rapid questions. He looked at Peter and asked, "You're in your senior year, have you decided on a college?"

"New York University," Peter shrugged. "It's not too far, and my uncle and aunt would be devastated if I went any farther. Plus, with you, Dr. Connors, Dr. Banner, and Dr. Schiller around, it doesn't make much of a difference where I go."

"Are you choosing New York University just to keep your uncle and aunt happy?" Stark asked, turning his head to look at Peter.

"Not entirely," Peter replied, picking up one of the models and fiddling with it. "I grew up in New York. Everything here is familiar—my friends, classmates, teachers, and girlfriend. I'd miss it if I left."

"I thought you'd have more of an adventurous spirit," Stark said, also starting to play with the model in his hand. "After all, many top schools are on the East Coast, not too far from here."

Peter seemed to recall something, paused for a moment, and then said, "About a month ago, I mentioned to Dr. Connors on the phone that we were planning to go to Harvard's laboratory for experiments."

"In that conversation, he and Dr. Banner argued about whether I should go to Harvard or MIT. They both offered to write me recommendation letters, but they had different opinions."

"When Dr. Connors called me, Dr. Banner happened to be there, and they started arguing again. It got quite loud, and my aunt was in the kitchen next door cooking, and she overheard. She told my uncle."

"What did they say? Were they upset?"

"They were ecstatic. I've never seen my uncle so happy. He never used to drink because his electrical work required extreme caution for safety. But that night, he drank a whole bottle of champagne and got drunk."

"My aunt didn't mind him getting drunk at all; she didn't scold him. They said they wanted to take me to the restaurant I loved as a kid to celebrate me becoming a college student."

Stark pursed his lips, his expression showing some emotion. It seemed he could empathize with Peter's uncle and aunt on some emotional level.

"But later, when I told them I didn't plan to go and that I would attend New York University instead..." Peter sighed and continued, "Their expressions became complicated. They weren't entirely happy, nor were they completely angry."

"They wanted you to go to the best university, but they couldn't bear to let you go. After learning of your decision, they felt regretful but happy that they'd still get to see you often," Stark summarized.

Peter nodded, put the model down, and looked at Stark. "But some things are just like that, not perfect, but good enough now."

Stark hesitated for a moment, as if making a decision. He placed the model he was holding on the table and said to Peter, "For the next few days, I might be very busy. I'm giving you full access to the building. If you want to conduct any experiments, feel free to use the laboratory."

"Alright, but why are you going to be so busy?" Peter asked, eyeing Stark. "Is it because there's a new combat suit? Can I try it out?"

Stark replied, "No, it's not my new combat suit. It's a new friend, or should I say... an old friend."

After Stark left, Peter's mobile phone vibrated, and when he opened it, he found a message from Stark with a smiley face made of symbols.

Peter recognized this smiley face; he knew it was sent by JARVIS, who was currently in the tower's laboratory. So he shouted, "JARVIS, what's up?"

At that moment, he glanced at the table full of models, then up at the ceiling, and suddenly realized something. He exclaimed, "Wait, could this be a body prepared for you? Oh my goodness, that's fantastic! You're finally getting a body!"

"Thank you," JARVIS's calm voice replied. However, Peter continued, "Now we can play games together! You should be able to help me with infinite lives, right? So Pikachu won't laugh at me for running out of lives."

JARVIS made two "beep beep" sounds, seemingly at a loss for words. Peter leaned against the lab table, saying happily, "It's about time. I've known you for so long, and we haven't even shaken hands. You're no different from us, so of course, you should have a body..."

JARVIS didn't reply, but the lights in the room gradually dimmed. Peter had noticed that the lighting inside Stark Tower reflected JARVIS's emotions. At this moment, the soft light enveloped Peter like a curtain, as if someone had draped a cloak over him.

Three days later, Schiller received a call from Strange. On the other end of the phone, Strange sounded exasperated, saying, "You need to come quickly! Stark has gone mad! He actually asked me to..."

Schiller hung up the phone and told Black Dwarf, who was sitting across from him, "I'm sorry, but today's treatment will have to end early. I have an urgent matter to attend to."

"No problem, doctor," the tall Black Dwarf across from him replied in a humming voice.

Although he had a robust physique and looked somewhat comical sitting in the small chair, his demeanor was very friendly and even carried some respect.

Schiller closed the medical records in front of him, then turned and left. Black Dwarf even stood up to escort him to the door. Schiller waved to him and then departed.

After Schiller left, Black Dwarf remained seated in the room instead of leaving. He turned back to his seat, propped his elbows on the table, and covered his face with his hands.

His dark face displayed a pained expression as he recalled Schiller's patient attitude during his psychological treatment sessions and how many of his lingering questions had been answered.

Black Dwarf's homeworld was a planet on the edge of the Dark Dimension. The reason it was called the Dark Dimension was that there were no stars in their prime; all the stars were approaching the end of their lifecycles.

With insufficient sunlight, life still managed to thrive, but in unique forms. Black Dwarf was born on a literal dark dwarf planet.

When Thanos arrived, he forced the planet's inhabitants to mine on other planets since they couldn't withstand the climate and sunlight. Over half of his fellow citizens died.

To ensure his people's survival, the strongest Black Dwarf pledged loyalty to Thanos, which would earn them better treatment. However, what pained Black Dwarf the most was that he was never truly loyal to Thanos. He always remembered how Thanos had caused the deaths of so many of his people. Yet, some of his kin were even more loyal than him, fully embracing Thanos as their master and becoming instruments of oppression against their own kind.

Thanos was cunning; he knew how to dismantle civilizations without annihilating them, how to divide them, create divisions, set examples, and use fear as a weapon.

The civilization on Black Dwarf's homeworld was exceptionally closed and had never experienced such devastation, so it fractured.

Black Dwarf suffered greatly because of this, but he was powerless. It wasn't until he arrived on Earth for a seemingly suicidal mission that he encountered Schiller.

Schiller's psychological treatment alleviated his pain and answered many questions, such as why some people were willing to serve Thanos and harm their own kin, why he couldn't do the same, and why it caused him so much distress.

However, as these questions were answered, more arose. What should he do? How could he eliminate the enemies and save his people? How could he break the deadlock and rejuvenate his civilization?

He hadn't had the chance to ask these questions, or perhaps, he didn't want to ask them because he had no hope of finding answers.

In his view, Schiller was just a psychologist, a fragile human, and there was an insurmountable gulf between them and the powerful and ruthless Thanos.

Taking a deep breath, Black Dwarf stood up. Just as he was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of another book beneath the medical records that Schiller hadn't taken with him.

Curiosity got the better of Black Dwarf, and he reached out. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to take a look, thinking he wouldn't damage the doctor's things.

Carefully, he picked up the medical records and set them aside. Then he realized that the cover of the book beneath was blank, without any text.

With curiosity, Black Dwarf used his finger to flip open the cover. The first sentence on the first page read:

"A specter is haunting, the specter of communism..."

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