49 Chapter 49

"Do you want to fight with me? Is it your own idea, or theirs?" Mark showed no signs of panic in response to the mechanical tentacles' movement.

This Dr. Octopus is really unstable.

When things really escalated right now, he can just use a bit of spatial power to activate "Flash Step" and directly break through the defense of the mechanical tentacles, delivering a deadly punch.

However, spatial power is just one type of power within his body, and it's not easy to recover. Until he finds a new source, he prefers not to use it if possible, even if using it only consumes less than 0.1 percent of his spatial power.

"Huff..." Dr. Octopus forced himself to calm down and shouted, "Quiet! All of you, be quiet! We can't beat him! Quiet!"

The last sentence was obviously directed at the artificial intelligence within the mechanical tentacles.

This puzzled Mark.

The artificial intelligence should only influence Dr. Octopus' mind and make him more extreme, so how come it seems they can communicate with each other?

Does that mean its intelligence level can rival that of Iron Man's J.A.R.V.I.S?

But that shouldn't be possible.

Apart from not being from the same era, their fields of expertise are completely different!

Dr. Octopus is a nuclear physicist. Would he even know how to design an AI as advanced as that of Tony's?

Moreover, with a technological boom like the one they are experiencing, a difference of ten years is enough to propel technology several times forward!

For example, more than ten years ago, we had 2G and 3G networks, and it took several seconds to download an image or several hours or even half a day to download a large online game.

Now, with 4G and 5G coverage, you can download a game of over 100GB in just over ten minutes!

In this era, there shouldn't be any supercomputers capable of supporting high computing power for artificial intelligence.

So, it's safe to say that Dr. Octopus' mechanical tentacle's intelligence level is not that high.

After ruling out the possible options, the truth is...

Could this guy have hysteria?

Mark seemed to understand.

Hysteria, also known as a dissociative disorder, is a mental illness caused by apparent psychological factors, such as inner conflicts, emotional excitement, and self-suggestion, leading to partial or complete loss of self-identity and past memories.

Due to the stimulation of electricity, the chip that suppressed the mechanical tentacles' influence on his brain was destroyed.

As a result of the failed experiment, he fell from the right path and even lost his beloved wife.

Under the influence of these external factors, his brain can experience strong stimulation, leading him to hallucinate the consciousness of the mechanical tentacles and even communicate with them.

But in reality, the mechanical tentacles were never designed with a sound device, so they couldn't speak from the beginning!

Doctor Octopus can communicate through the neurons linked to them, without needing to speak.

He was just talking to himself or convincing himself!

Doctor Octopus turned out to be mentally ill!

Mark frowned.

He had intended to control Doctor Octopus for his own purposes, as he seemed much more reliable than the female version.

All he needed to do was to capture him and install an inhibitory chip.

But it seems the problem goes beyond the chip; it's just one of the factors!

Having a mentally ill scientist as a subordinate, Mark felt a headache.

"Okay, we don't want to fight you," Doctor Octopus took a step back, raising his hands in a harmless gesture and retracting his mechanical tentacles, "But since you don't know how to solve this, why are you telling me all this?"

Mark furrowed his brow, "I already told you it will fail. Are you still planning to restart the experiment?"

Doctor Octopus laughed heartily, "So what if it fails? Is there any experiment that succeeds on the first try? The greatest inventions in the world are the result of learning from failures! Since I'm walking on this great path, I've already prepared for failure!"

"You are indeed a competent scientist," Mark shook his head slightly, "But you're clearly not on the right path."

"Hmph!" Doctor Octopus was dissatisfied with Mark's remark, but he didn't dare to act due to Mark's power.

"I recall someone telling the younger generation this phrase: Intelligence is not a privilege, it's a gift. And you use it for the good of mankind" Mark said slowly, "And now, you are trying to use your intelligence to create machines that could destroy the entire city, disregarding human lives! Do you consider your intelligence a gift or a privilege?"

Doctor Octopus was taken aback after hearing that.

When Peter Parker visited him not long ago, he gave Peter Parker an advice. Peter Parker is a student of his friend Dr. Connors. Dr. Connors mentioned that Peter Parker is a very intelligent child but lazy and not focused on studying, which saddened him. So, as a good friend, Dr. Octopus shared this very phrase with Peter when he visited, hoping to guide him back on the right path.

"Do you know Peter?" asked Dr. Octopus.

"Kind of." Mark shrugged.

Just then, Spider Toby jumped down from the ceiling and urgently asked Mark, "Dr. Octopus, where did you take Mary Jane?"

Mark looked at him, puzzled, "You haven't found Mary Jane?"

Toby Spider shook his head but kept his eyes on Dr. Octopus.

Dr. Octopus wasn't surprised by Toby Spider's arrival and casually said, "I've taken her."

Originally, he intended to say that he handed her over to Harry Osborn to keep the two Spider-Men away from interrupting his experiments. But then he thought that knowing the hostage's safety, Spider-Man would stay and interfere with his experiment. So, instead, he decided to use this information gap.

"What have you done to her?!!" Toby Spider was both anxious and angry.

"If you leave now, I will return her safely after I finish my experiment; otherwise," Dr. Octopus smiled sinisterly.

"No, this isn't you, Dr. Octopus!" Toby Spider looked at Dr. Octopus's face, recalling their past friendly scenes, feeling utterly unfamiliar.

"This is me!" Dr. Octopus roared, "Now, get out! Otherwise, I'll kill her!"

"Damn it!" Toby Spider was torn.

On one side was his dearest person, and on the other was the whole New York City. He found it challenging to choose.

Mark sighed, "Since things have come to this point, then I can only..."

Buzz—

At this moment, his Spider-Sense tingled!

°°°

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