Norman had already begun the complex process of reclaiming control of Oscorp, assembling teams of lawyers, financial analysts, and strategic consultants to execute his carefully planned corporate comeback.
Ben didn't need to involve himself in the intricate details of the acquisition—Norman's expertise in corporate maneuvering far exceeded his own. All Norman required from Primus Technologies was the legitimacy that came with having an established business partner, and he had decades of experience managing the rest.
"Ben, you should also consider purchasing some Oscorp shares while they're still at rock bottom," Norman suggested with obvious confidence. "Trust me—they're going to rise dramatically once I regain control."
Ben found himself surprised by the recommendation. Given that Norman had nearly lost his company specifically because of share distribution issues, Ben would have expected him to jealously guard every available share to maximize his control over the board of directors.
Norman seemed to recognize Ben's confusion and offered an explanation.
"You need to think about protecting your family's financial future," he said with genuine warmth. "Ben, if it weren't for your help, I might have lost my company permanently. I don't forget my debts."
The sentiment was clearly heartfelt, and Ben found himself moved by Norman's gratitude.
"I appreciate that," Ben replied. "And you're right about the investment opportunity."
After Norman regained control of Oscorp, the company's stock price would inevitably recover as investor confidence returned. Purchasing shares at their current depressed levels was essentially guaranteed profit, so there was no logical reason to decline the opportunity.
Norman then excused himself to handle other business matters, leaving Ben alone with Harry in the mansion's comfortable sitting room.
Away from his father's imposing presence, Harry seemed more relaxed, though still somewhat subdued compared to his usual energetic demeanor.
"You're absolutely incredible," Harry said with obvious admiration.
"Jealous?" Ben asked with a teasing smile.
Harry shook his head slowly. "I'm honestly past the point where I can feel jealous anymore. What you've accomplished is so far beyond anything I could imagine that envy doesn't even make sense."
His tone shifted to one of genuine curiosity as he continued, "What's your strategy for developing Primus Technologies? What market are you planning to enter first?"
"We're going to start with communications technology," Ben replied, pulling a sleek device from his jacket pocket.
The smartphone he had created was something of an impulse project—assembled quickly before his visit to demonstrate Primus's capabilities. By Galvan standards, it was essentially a children's toy, but compared to Earth's current mobile technology, it represented at least a decade of advancement.
Ben had no intention of making telecommunications his primary focus, however. He had a much more valuable card to play when the time was right.
Connors' lizard serum—properly refined and stripped of its dangerous side effects—represented a revolutionary breakthrough in regenerative medicine. The potential for regrowing severed limbs, healing spinal cord injuries, and treating countless other medical conditions would make Primus Technologies one of the most valuable companies on Earth virtually overnight.
Of course, perfecting the serum would require considerable research and development, particularly in eliminating the psychological side effects that had proven so dangerous in its current form.
But Ben's ambitions extended far beyond even revolutionary medical treatments.
"Are you familiar with the Stark Expo?" he asked Harry.
"The World's Fair that Tony Stark is reviving? I heard he's planning to make it an annual event showcasing cutting-edge technology."
Ben nodded. The Stark Expo represented an ideal opportunity to demonstrate Primus's capabilities to the world, but he also knew the event wouldn't proceed smoothly.
Justin Hammer, CEO of Hammer Industries and Tony Stark's self-proclaimed nemesis, was planning to use the expo as a platform for revenge. He would be bringing Ivan Vanko and his drone technology to create chaos and humiliate Iron Man in front of a global audience.
While Ben had no particular interest in Tony Stark's personal problems, he was very interested in the business opportunity that Hammer's inevitable failure would create.
Hammer Industries, despite its CEO's obvious incompetence, possessed substantial assets and government contracts. When Hammer's schemes collapsed—as they inevitably would—the company would become vulnerable to acquisition.
The proximity of Hammer Industries to Primus Technologies made the opportunity even more attractive. Ben had always believed in aggressive expansion when circumstances favored it, and Hammer's self-destruction would create exactly the right circumstances.
Of course, executing such an acquisition would require careful timing and substantial resources. Ben hadn't shared these plans with Harry yet—partly because they were still theoretical, and partly because some strategies were better kept confidential until the moment of execution.
Meanwhile, Justin Hammer remained blissfully unaware that a predator was already circling his company, waiting for the right moment to strike. He was far too focused on his schemes against Tony Stark to notice threats from other directions.
"I should sue Stark for monopolistic practices," Hammer muttered to himself while reviewing news footage of Iron Man's recent battles. "His refusal to share the armor technology represents a clear threat to national security. Congress should force him to make his designs public!"
Hammer genuinely believed his legal maneuvering would somehow compel Tony Stark to surrender his most valuable intellectual property. He wasn't alone in this delusion—several senators and military officials shared his naive expectation that legislative pressure could overcome Tony's legendary stubbornness.
Of course, none of these political machinations concerned Ben directly.
Dr. Connors had finally moved out of the sewer system and taken up residence in his new laboratory at Primus Technologies. Since he currently had no permanent housing, Ben had converted a section of Connors' office into a temporary living space.
"It's not as luxurious as Oscorp Tower," Ben said apologetically as he showed Connors around the facility, "but it should meet your research needs."
"Compared to living in a sewer, this is a palace," Connors replied with obvious gratitude. "I'm not particularly concerned with luxury anyway. What matters is getting back to work on perfecting the serum."
His priority was clear—eliminating the dangerous side effects that had turned him into a monster while preserving the regenerative benefits that could help millions of people.
"Then let's get started," Ben agreed, immediately transforming into Grey Matter to maximize his analytical capabilities.
"Every time I witness your transformation, I'm amazed," Connors observed. "Is it possible that your watch technology operates on principles similar to my lizard serum? The ability to acquire genetic traits from other species and then return to baseline human form?"
The comparison was surprisingly insightful. Both technologies involved temporary genetic modification and species transformation, though the Omnitrix was obviously far more sophisticated and controlled.
"The difference," Ben explained, "is that the Omnitrix was never designed as a weapon. Its creator built it to break down barriers between different species and promote understanding throughout the galaxy."
Gaining abilities without physical transformation—that had been the goal of the Unitrix prototype, though its development had taken a different direction.
"Now that we have Dr. Animo's genetic manipulation device as a reference," Ben continued, "we should be able to make rapid progress."
Working together, Ben and Connors began developing new formulations, starting with fundamental decay rate calculations and building toward more sophisticated applications.
"Do you understand why Peter was able to inherit spider abilities?" Ben asked during a break in their calculations.
"His father performed genetic modifications on him," Ben explained before Connors could respond. "Genetic pre-adaptation."
From a scientific perspective, this was the most logical explanation for Peter's successful transformation. The radioactive spiders that had bitten him had been engineered to be compatible with his specific genetic markers from the moment of their creation.
Of course, there were other possible explanations involving mystical forces and animal totems, but Ben preferred to focus on verifiable science when possible.
"So Peter gained superhuman abilities without becoming a monster because the spider DNA was already compatible with his genetics?" Connors asked. "That makes sense, but what about you? I know you also possess spider-based powers, but you're not related to Peter."
Ben's explanation was characteristically brief. The Omnitrix could acquire genetic templates from energy-based lifeforms and even magical entities, so adapting spider powers presented no particular challenge.
"I see," Connors said thoughtfully. "So if we want to create a truly safe serum that grants lizard-based regenerative abilities, we would need to start with genetic pre-adaptation for each individual patient? That would make the treatment extremely expensive and limit its availability to a very small number of people."
His disappointment was obvious. Connors had always been motivated by a desire to help as many people as possible, and the prospect of creating treatments available only to the wealthy troubled him deeply.
"Unless the government decided to include genetic therapy in universal healthcare coverage," he added hopefully.
"They'd sooner include spa treatments than cut into pharmaceutical industry profits," Ben replied with obvious cynicism.
He paused in his calculations and looked at Connors directly.
"But Dr. Connors, I think you're missing an important point. We're not trying to develop a super-soldier serum—we're working on treatments for people with disabilities and injuries. Why would we need to give them superhuman abilities at all?"
The distinction was crucial. Creating treatments that restored normal human function was a completely different challenge than creating enhancements that exceeded baseline human capabilities. The latter was far more complex and carried significantly greater risks.
"Our goal should be healing, not enhancement," Ben continued. "And healing is a much more achievable—and marketable—objective."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~