When Tony Stark learned that Obadiah had been attacked—and had been forced to amputate one hand and one foot—his anger ignited instantly.
At this point in time, Tony still regarded Obadiah as the closest family he had left. In his eyes, harming Obadiah was no different from harming his family. No matter who the culprit was, Tony Stark would never let them walk away unpunished.
He had already begun forming ideas for countering Blade Tech Industries' War Machine project. Developing his own weapons system was next on his list; the "self-defense system" he'd released earlier was nothing more than a signal—his way of warning Zod that he was gearing up for a fight. Neither of them took the "self-defense system" seriously.
Meanwhile, Oscorp was on the brink of collapse. War Machine had gutted the company so severely that its shareholders were ready to tear it apart like vultures circling a dying beast. At the critical moment, Blade Tech Industries stepped in, buying thirty percent of Oscorp's shares. Most shareholders had already dumped their stock in the panic, which meant Blade Tech's rescue was effectively a losing investment. Urd had warned more than once that Oscorp had no future, but Zod absolutely refused to watch Norman—and Oscorp—crumble.
After all, Zod needed Oscorp's Super-Soldier Serum research labs, their equipment, and the wealth of accumulated data.
With this assurance backing him, Norman stayed calm and fought the shareholders head-on. In truth, this was Zod's way of clearing the board. Even the military dumped its holdings during Oscorp's freefall. Blade Tech's thirty percent wasn't the whole pie—Norman himself had secretly bought back a substantial amount.
By the end of it, the shareholders' meeting consisted of only Norman, Harry, and Zod. The remaining minor shareholders were too insignificant to matter. And because of that, Zod felt comfortable handing the research and production of the Beast-Soldiers over to Norman.
Norman not only accepted—he volunteered to undergo the Beast-Soldier transformation himself. Zod approved him for the upgrade. As for the Ultra Beast-Soldiers, those could only be synthesized at Blade Tech's primary base.
Hoping to restore confidence and stabilize their plummeting stock, Oscorp held a press conference.
"Mr. Norman Osborn, how do you view Blade Tech Industries investing billions to acquire such a massive portion of Oscorp?"
A blonde reporter pushed her way to the front, her crimson lipstick striking under the lights.
"I can only say this marks the beginning of a partnership. Oscorp will be collaborating with Blade Tech Industries in the field of biological science. As everyone knows, the field of—"
Norman's mood was uncharacteristically good. Becoming a Beast-Soldier was, in essence, akin to joining World Serpent. Aside from one restriction—that he must not casually impregnate anyone to avoid problematic genetic hybridization—his burdens had all but vanished. The hereditary illness that had haunted the Osborn family for generations was gone; no more injections, no more looming dread.
Next, he simply had to decide when to let Harry undergo the procedure.
"Mr. Osborn, are you saying Blade Tech specifically sought Oscorp out for this biological collaboration? What exactly is the project? Who will lead it? Will Mr. Zod Heath personally participate?"
The other reporters sensed a major story. Blade Tech had completely replaced Stark Industries as the global frontrunner; every public appearance of theirs triggered a world-shaking uproar. People only had one complaint:
"Can you people hurry up and restock your products?!"
Their anti-pest formula—effective against rats, roaches, mosquitoes, and flies—was so successful that it sold out everywhere, and they still couldn't keep up with demand. They lacked the production lines to match global consumption. It was the same for Vitamin Infinity, for Lesser Kryptonium, and for War Machine components.
"The specifics of the collaboration remain confidential for now. But with Zod Heath's name attached, I'm confident you won't be disappointed. Oscorp and Blade Tech are already standing at the forefront of the next era. Please look forward to it."
With that, Norman ended the press conference.
In truth, the project Zod had entrusted to him had nothing to do with biology at all.
It was energy research.
Norman couldn't understand it. Blade Tech already had the Fireseed Reactor—why bother researching other energy sources?
Still, he followed Zod's instructions and contacted a physicist named Otto Gunther Octavius.
Otto specialized in physical sciences and had become a distinguished nuclear physicist, focusing particularly on atomic energy. He had published numerous papers highly regarded within the field. He was currently seeking investors to support his development of a tritium reactor.
When Norman arrived at his door, Otto was genuinely surprised. Only after hearing that Zod Heath had personally requested him did Otto relax. In the still-confident, pre-downfall Otto's eyes, Zod Heath was this century's Einstein, Tesla, Joule—a monster-level genius that appears once in an era.
After all, Zod had achieved something far harder than a tritium reactor—a functioning cold-fusion reactor, and a compact model at that.
Yes, Stark Industries already had a cold-fusion reactor too, albeit a gigantic one.
But that one had taken generations to refine. Zod had produced his version without any prior designs or references—all from scratch.
To Otto, of course Zod would recognize his brilliance. Monsters recognize their own kind.
Still, he had doubts.Why come to him when cold fusion was already superior and cleaner?
He fully understood that Zod and his Fireseed Reactor had crushed the tritium-reactor market. Before Zod's rise, Otto had still been able to secure sponsors; Stark's reactor dominated the market, but Otto's project at least had a place. Once the Fireseed Reactor appeared, however, investors abandoned tritium entirely. Why fund something obsolete?
After dedicating half his life to tritium, Otto had reached the lowest point of his career. Thankfully, his wife stood by him. He had even begun planning to abandon the reactor entirely and pursue another field.
"Scientific progress cannot rely on a single track, Dr. Otto."
That was Zod Heath's response when they finally met.
What followed was an extended academic exchange. Though lacking Kryptonian-level physics, Zod had studied a vast amount of Earth's atomic-energy research and had even trained under Anton Vanko and Ivan Vanko. Matching Otto in discussion was effortless.
Geniuses bow only to greater geniuses. After experiencing Zod's knowledge firsthand, Otto had no doubts left.
"Take whatever funding you need."
Zod placed a blank check on the table.
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