Chapter 70: Good Neighbors in New York

Tony Stark was stunned by Moses' series of serious topics that were inconsistent with his daily life style. He was stunned for a long time before making a pause gesture.

"I've been out of high school for years but Midtown High School probably didn't teach this. How did you know? Hack into a New York government database?"

"Of course not."

"And it involves Arkham—you hacked into Batman's computer?"

"...I think the New York government database is easier. Just kidding, I would never do that."

"It's not a question of whether you do it or not. It's -" Tony didn't know what to say for a moment. As soon as the topic touched on the professional work of superheroes, the relaxed atmosphere when talking about school life just now disappeared. He frowned, "It's a question of who should be responsible for it."

"Excuse me, you are not old enough to be called a man yet." He sat on the sofa on the first floor of Aunt May's small apartment with one leg up. "That's why I came to see you today. I can see the city hero Spider-Man every day after school. Has the homework been reduced?"

The boy sitting on the other side of the sofa couldn't help but look frustrated.

He whispered, "Hey, can we not talk about this? I have three papers to finish and two exams to study for before Friday."

Spider-Man's careers fighting street crime have almost become his after-school entertainment. Not that they're not serious, but they're relaxing enough to soothe the nerves in comparison.

However, Tony was not convinced by him, and said expressionlessly: "Then do what you should do."

This was not the conversation Moses had envisioned.

You have to know that Iron Man had met Nightwing and Robin before. The fact is, whether Americans admit it or not, superhumans have childhood and adolescence just like ordinary people. They are more uncontrollable than adults at this age. If they are not properly guided, they can easily go astray because of social discrimination and cold violence from others.

Fighting crime isn't even extraordinary; it's exceptionally conscious.

The government is still debating whether to lower the age at which superhumans can be hired to increase the employment rate of mutants. However, they are also worried that this will give unscrupulous bosses a legal excuse to send brainwashed minors to the battlefield, exacerbating the sense of separation between this special group and ordinary people...

All in all, this is a social problem that cannot be solved in the short term.

The attitude Tony expressed was more like an excessive protectiveness brought about by a certain anxiety.

But for Spider-Man, it is okay not to join the Avengers, but it is not okay to be a bystander even though he has the ability.

"I can do both," he tried to convince the other party, "as long as I am fully prepared."

"But the last time you fired the spider silk, the sleeves of your uniform almost fell off your shoulders. Was it because the manufacturer cut corners or did I misunderstand what is meant by being fully prepared?"

Iron Man couldn't help but stand up from the hard and slightly chipped old sofa. He began to pace back and forth, organizing his words.

The fact is, Spider-Man did a really good job. As a minor, his performance in most crisis moments was good enough that he could directly compete for the Avengers or the Justice League - it has nothing to do with strength, but mentality is the factor that stops many people.

Spider-Man had the patience to ask Professor Lizard if he had any difficulties despite his face that looked like it had just crawled out of a swamp and was covered with moss, and the threat of death. His calmness and broad-mindedness were far beyond that of ordinary people.

Young, energetic and vibrant teenagers reminded Tony of when he was in the eighth and ninth grades, and he could still go to class the next day after partying all night. As he grew older, his brain was still being filled with knowledge, but the steps of adults moving forward were always heavy and hesitant.

The more experiences you have, the heavier the yoke you carry. Humans are used to dressing it up as experience and seeing it as part of growing up.

Just like Tony Stark now, several alien invasions have made Iron Man realize that human power is limited. The world is too vast, and he is just an ordinary person under the armor. But is Superman not strong enough? Is Thor not strong enough? They will still be trapped by the enemy.

The word "strong" has become a false proposition. Who am I? What should I do? How will I protect the people I love from harm? The more responsible a person is, the more likely he is to be dragged down by excessive and boundless self-demands. Tony once thought he was not such a person. And his cognition of himself was not clear enough.

"I never claim to be perfect," Iron Man once told the media, "My hands are stained with blood, but I want to work hard to make this world a better place."

This is the common goal of almost all those heroes who move forward with blood and sweat.

It is too high and therefore seems unrealistic, just like staring into the deep sea and feeling small and powerless. Because of this torment, Tony would rather let Peter sit in the classroom to study than see Spider-Man defeat those opponents again today. Becoming a superhero is not something worth celebrating, it is better to come later.

"You have no idea what we are really facing." Finally, he stopped and said, "Don't worry about Osborne's affairs anymore. I will investigate. The follow-up of the magic incident has been handed over to the Justice League. Philadelphia is Shazan's base, which is convenient for them to handle."

When Moses met Tony's eyes, he found that he could almost understand the other person's thoughts. After all, he was experienced enough.

For some reason, a scene suddenly flashed through my mind: In a certain world, Iron Man was flying into space with a nuclear bomb. The heroic figure disappeared at the end of the line of sight, like a martyr who had made a desperate attempt.

This softened Moses' heart.

Well, he could be more obedient on the surface, and then he could secretly investigate Osborn when he has the chance - secretly, without being discovered by the overly stressed Iron Man.

**

"So you really plan to be obedient? Even Krypton occasionally steals from Masha's refrigerator without telling Superman because he can't eat canned food."

The blue-eyed boy who was speaking sat cross-legged on Moses' bed, resting his chin on his hand and said, "You originally caught Professor Lizard. According to Damian, it was your prey."

"It's him," Moses corrected him. "There's no rush to investigate Osborne. I still have to review for the exam."

"What test?"

"History and physics. Physics is fine, but the former requires memorization."

"You can carry it while walking." Connor Kent urged him, "Let's just go to Osborne. I've never been to any lab other than LexCorp. Please--" He frowned his eyebrows, which were exactly like Superman's, and said pitifully, "I had a hard time hiding it from my dad and came to New York to find you."

Are you so sure I won't contact Superman?

Moses raised an eyebrow. He took out his phone and opened YouTube. Sure enough, he saw a video related to Superboy on the homepage.

Superboy, Superboy, Connor Kent, whatever you want to call him. This boy is a clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor using genetic technology that has been developed for many years. He is not the first generation result. There were a lot of abandoned experiments. It can be seen that the US government's guarantee of the safety of the gene bank is useless.

Luther started his research earlier, and perhaps he just wanted to create a second sheep, Dolly, before Superman appeared. Later he found that creating humans was much more interesting than creating sheep... In any case, there are now two Kryptonians on Earth.

General Zod, who is far away in the Phantom Space, should be thanked for his outstanding contribution to the revitalization of the endangered race's population.

Putting aside how Superman brought Connor home from Luther, Spider-Man's acquaintance with him was accidental.

The story begins in the Batman's family. Nightwing is about to graduate from high school. He plans to go to college in Bludhaven and become a policeman after graduation, so that he can maintain law and order during the day and be a vigilante at night.

But in this case, his scope of action will not overlap with that of Batman. Bruce has Robin and Tim, Jason is having a hot time with the Arsenal guys every day, the new Damian is still being taught love by the old Batman, and even Nightwing's ex-girlfriend, Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, has become Batgirl. Only his identity remains unchanged.

I always feel embarrassed to go back and attend family gatherings unless I make some achievements outside.

Nightwing considered forming the Young Justice League.

But he didn't really want to invite Connor Kent. Connor was indeed a genuine teenager, but he was a little too 'young'. Although he looked fifteen or sixteen years old and his mind matched his appearance, Dick felt a toothache when he thought of his real age.

At that time, Superman happened to take Connor and Krypton together on several League missions. Connor was affectionately called "Superboy" by the media and the public, but he was not very happy about it, thinking that this was an underestimation of his abilities.

"Lex said I have more than Superman," the boy complained to Clark, who was helping Martha carry the straw. "Why can't I just be Hero So-and-So?"

As soon as he said that, Superman remembered that Connor had half of the Lutheran gene in his blood - this was what Lex said the clone was better than Superman, that is, his superior intelligence. Fortunately, Connor had thick hair and did not inherit baldness.

The Metropolitan Hero couldn't help but feel annoyed: "...Can we not talk about this?"

Connor felt that his father was just being perfunctory.

Nightwing's refusal increased the young man's anger. He opened a fake account on the Internet to argue with others about related topics, and it was in this process that he met Spider-Man, who had recently appeared in New York.

It was almost impossible to hide his identity from a Kryptonian friend whose abilities were similar to Superman's. Connor soon discovered that Peter Parker was also a minor, and Iron Man also did not approve of him being a superhero.

Connor quickly and unilaterally classified Peter as one of his own. They communicated most of the time through the Internet, because one was in Metropolis and the other in New York, so they rarely saw each other. Today was the second weekend after talking with Tony. Moses casually said that he had time, but early in the morning he saw Connor flying thousands of miles from the next city, and there was even frost on his eyelashes from the high-altitude cold current.

"Wait, don't step on my floor! The snow on your shoes will melt and soak them. I just bought new circuit components and can't afford to renovate the bedroom."

Connor sat obediently on his windowsill for half an hour, waiting for the snow to melt before throwing his shoes next to the radiator and sitting barefoot on Moses' bed.

Moses thought to himself, if you had been so obedient to your father, he wouldn't have developed an escapist mentality and then been fooled by the system into becoming Spider-Man and running to New York.

Connor didn't know what he was thinking, and asked expectantly, "Have you thought about Osborne's business? We can get rid of all the bad guys and make them look at us with new eyes!"

"Okay." Moses put the handwritten quick recitation paper into his pocket, "But we have to be careful. We can't let your father find out, and we can't let Iron Man find out."

The former is basically impossible, but the latter may still be possible.