"General Ross."
Batman, dressed in a white lab coat, blended seamlessly with the other Osborn Enterprises employees trailing behind Norman Osborn. He listened as the multinational corporation's CEO greeted the general with practiced ease.
Beside Batman stood several other researchers in matching white coats, his presence among them drawing no suspicion. All eyes were fixed on General Ross.
"We're deeply honored by your visit…"
Norman Osborn's face radiated a warm, welcoming smile as he shook hands with General Ross. But the gray-haired general wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. Cutting straight to the point, he said:
"I want to see how far the Super Soldier Program has progressed."
Norman Osborn, still smiling broadly, gestured for General Ross and the military entourage to follow him. Their destination wasn't the human experimentation lab on the second basement level but another facility entirely.
The space was expansive, with seven or eight athletic young men wobbling through the air on winged gliders resembling demonic wings.
Around them, researchers bustled, meticulously recording data.
Those must be the gliders mentioned in the "Spider-Slayer" project, Batman thought, silently trailing the group.
The previous day, while in the lab, Batman hadn't had time to fully review the "Spider-Slayer" project. His understanding was limited to its purpose: neutralizing Spider-Man.
"We've resolved issues with parallel gliding and gravitational balance," Norman Osborn explained to General Ross. "We've already produced the first-generation prototype…"
General Ross, however, remained stone-faced.
"I saw the gliders last time," he said curtly. "That's not why I'm here."
Without waiting for Norman Osborn to lead the way, Ross strode purposefully toward the second basement level's laboratory, clearly familiar with the route.
The military delegation followed his lead, with the others hurrying to keep up. Norman Osborn's expression flickered between composure and unease, but he quickened his pace to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with the general.
The group stopped before a transparent tank. Inside, a human figure lay unmistakably dead. Neither General Ross's party nor Osborn's researchers showed any surprise.
They all seemed well aware of the experiments being conducted here.
"What's the progress?" General Ross asked.
"The experiments are ongoing, and we're making rapid strides," Norman Osborn replied vaguely, sidestepping a direct answer.
But the fifty transparent tanks, each containing a deformed human body, told a different story—one of repeated failure.
General Ross halted, his expression unreadable as he fixed Norman Osborn with a cold stare for several seconds.
"Sixty years ago, the serum was successfully created," he said. "Now, with superior technology and better infrastructure, you still can't replicate it."
"Mr. Osborn, I'm giving you two weeks. If the Super Soldier Serum isn't successfully developed by then, the military will pull all funding from your company."
Pull funding!
The words hit Norman Osborn like a sledgehammer to the chest.
Ever since General Ross, representing the military, had invested in Osborn Enterprises with the promise of a long-term partnership contingent on replicating the Super Soldier Serum, the company had poured nearly all its resources into the project.
Subsequent military grants had emboldened Norman Osborn to double down, despite growing discontent among other shareholders. With the Super Soldier Serum project in one hand and Dr. Otto Octavius's nuclear fusion energy project in the other, Osborn had never doubted his eventual success.
But now, with the serum still unrealized and General Ross threatening to withdraw funding, Dr. Otto's experiments were also stalled at a critical juncture.
"General Ross," Norman Osborn said through gritted teeth, "as an Air Force lieutenant general, why are you so fixated on the Super Soldier Program instead of the gliders or individual combat suits, which could revolutionize Air Force warfare?"
Faced with the threat of losing funding, Norman Osborn's tone shifted, his frustration boiling over.
Ross, sensing the change in demeanor, met Norman's reddened, glaring eyes with his own rising temper.
"You want to know why?" Ross snapped.
"Do you have any idea what kind of failures I've endured?"
"Three years ago, I deployed an entire division—twenty tanks, seven aircraft—just to take down one monster!"
"Do you know the outcome of that operation? Failure! Utter, complete failure! Do you know how many wives and children waited at home, only to receive a corpse?"
"Those were living, breathing people! Those were my soldiers!"
Ross's face and neck flushed red with rage as he spat at Norman Osborn.
"If I had an army of super soldiers, none of this would've happened! Now do you understand why I don't care about your damn gliders?"
Norman Osborn stood silent, saliva clinging to his face, his eyes lowered as he absorbed the general's fury.
Behind him, a few researchers' faces betrayed a flicker of sympathy.
"In 2003, the Hulk clashed with the military in a massive battle. Afterward, the Hulk vanished…" Batman recalled a CIA report the moment Ross mentioned "attacking a monster."
"Someone sent an email to the Daily Bugle today about human experimentation," Ross continued, his eyes boring into Norman Osborn. "It included surveillance footage and a recorded video."
"If your company fails to replicate the Super Soldier Serum in two weeks, the military will no longer cover up your exposures. And we will pull our funding."
With that, Ross waved his hand and led the military delegation out of the Osborn Enterprises building, leaving Norman Osborn standing alone, his expression a storm of conflicting emotions.
"Mr. Osborn…" someone called softly.
Norman ignored them. He returned alone to his office on the sixtieth floor, stepping over scattered files and overturned cabinets without a care. Such trivialities no longer concerned him.
After a long pause, he summoned his secretary.
"Halt all research funded by Osborn Enterprises," he ordered. "Divert every cent into the Super Soldier Serum."
"And release the Spider-Slayer. I want Spider-Man's shadow in my sights before the sun sets tonight."
The secretary, a sharp, thirty-something woman with brown hair neatly tied back, hesitated as she looked at Norman Osborn, slumped in his chair.
"Mr. Osborn, are you sure? This could lead to the other shareholders voting you out…"
"I have a contingency plan," Norman snapped impatiently. "There are allies among the shareholders. Do as I say!"
"And…" the secretary ventured cautiously, "what about Dr. Otto's nuclear fusion research? Should that be halted too?"
"Stop it. Stop everything!"
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze