"Hello, Peter, why didn't you let me know you were coming to Oscorp?"
Norman Osborn immediately brought up money-related matters. He had heard that the first step of the regeneration serum plan was to sell it wholesale to the U.S. military, so the military could drop Lizard Men into battle, then revert them afterward—treating them like the BOWs from Resident Evil.
Unfortunately, even setting aside the question of profitability, the ethical implications alone were unacceptable. Not just Peter, but even Connors felt it was too much. He planned to significantly raise the cost of the antidote to make Osborn think it was unprofitable, thus stopping this horrible, inhumane behavior.
As for Peter, he could only offer a vague excuse for why he hadn't told Osborn about his visit.
"I decided to come on impulse, Mr. Osborn. I suddenly remembered that Dr. Connors was my father's student, so I wanted to stop by."
"Ah, I see. That's a shame," Norman sighed. "Dr. Miles Warren has been working at the European branch. Otherwise, you could have chatted with another brilliant student of your father's."
The Jackal? He was my dad's student too? I'd rather not. He'd probably just create a bunch of Spider-Man clones for me to deal with. Peter sighed, then heard Norman's question: "Oh, right, is there anything else? Peter, I have a little gift for you."
"Oh, no, I'm done..."
Norman prepared a gift for me?
Filled with curiosity, Peter followed Norman to his office. The last time he was here was when the Vulture, possessed by Whiplash, tried to kill Norman. Peter looked around and actually sensed an undercurrent of danger.
"Green Goblin, open my private lab."
The ill-ominously named AI opened up a section of the wall, revealing a space that was less a private lab and more an armory. Inside, Peter saw a familiar-looking glider and several bombs shaped like pumpkins.
This is getting even more ominous.
Peter watched Norman take out a brand-new suit—no, rather than a suit, it was more like an accessory, resembling a strange vest.
"A bio-electric field diffusion device. It was developed based on your bio-electric abilities," Norman explained the vest's function. "Its purpose is to release a powerful bio-current to create a bio-field. While wrapped in this field, as long as your body is releasing bio-electricity, it can generate a special field in a radius of about one meter. This will allow you to save people at high speeds without worrying about their physical tolerance."
"Oh, my God." Peter immediately took it, absolutely loving the vest. "This is incredibly useful!"
"I put quite a bit of effort into making this. After all, I'm still a scientist, too."
Norman smiled and then grew thoughtful. "I heard from Harry that you're going on a trip to Puerto Rico. Oscorp won't be able to provide you with backup for almost a whole week, Peter. So, I had to prepare something for you in advance."
"Thank you, Uncle Norman."
"You're very clever, Peter. I have high hopes for you." Norman smiled with a hint of melancholy. "For example, a single thought from you just now can change the research direction of a Super Soldier Serum. I wish Harry were as smart as you. Oh, and these—these are flash-bangs designed to deal with large-scale firepower attacks. They might be useful if you need to face a large group of enemies."
A few minutes later, Spider-Man was swinging between the skyscrapers of Manhattan again, carrying his new gear—Venom had immediately absorbed the vest and integrated the bio-force field ability into himself.
"I think Norman Osborn is a little too harsh on Harry."
[I think he just hates stupidity, but his bar for 'stupid' is pretty high.]
Venom offered a completely different interpretation. The two chatted as they swung to the top floor of the Avengers Tower. Venom could technically grow wings and fly Peter, but as Peter had once told Spider-Man 2099 on Earth-700:
If you can fly, what kind of Spider-Man are you?
More importantly, it was a matter of speed. A flying Venom would still fear sonics and heat, so the high temperature from friction and the sonic boom created by supersonic speed would both harm Haki Venom. The utility of flying was greatly reduced.
The good news was that Reed Richards was accelerating the development of a long-term stabilizer for symbiotes. This serum would make Venom's molecular state more stable, which would then give him resistance to fire and sonics.
"And... the Avengers Tower is empty again today. Good morning, J.A.R.V.I.S."
"Good morning, Spider-Man."
Glancing inside the tower, Peter shrugged, then plugged the USB drive—which Gwen had passed on from Black Cat—into a desktop, asking J.A.R.V.I.S. to read the information. Since he was worried about potential viruses, Peter didn't use his own computer. It would be terrible if a certain feline had put something on it that could take down the Spider-Web Base.
Never underestimate a cat's curiosity.
"Let's see: human trafficking... the final flow of these transactions points to Pentagon-related interests... hmm..."
In other words, Felicia was still investigating the Super Soldier Serum matter. Although they had already figured out the entire logical chain, the most important thing was to identify the killer of the Black Cat—the Hydra mole embedded in the Pentagon—which was probably what Felicia was trying to uncover.
Peter wasn't worried about the fighting power of a Super Soldier, but he was concerned that if Felicia's investigation led to the Winter Soldier as the assassin, she would be no match for Bucky Barnes.
"Any viruses detected?"
"No hidden programs found."
Okay, first, I'll hand this USB drive over to the Defenders. They can use this. Then I'll figure out who I should go after. During the Symbiote Swarm, the Defenders encountered quite a few street thugs. To prevent crime from worsening in New York while he was away in Puerto Rico, it was important to deal with a few well-evidenced culprits first.
Evidence...
Peter's gaze fell on the USB drive, and he took out his phone to call Felicia.
"Hey, Black Cat? Spider-Man has a question for you. Do you happen to know the location and time of any major gang bosses' transactions?"
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi