"You can take a close look at the information on Ravencroft Institute. If I leak the evidence of human experimentation here, along with more news, the Osborn Group will be disbanded all the same."
Harry returned to the desk and began carefully examining the documents. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. The photos and facts were undeniable—every piece of information was real.
"Harry, you don't have to sacrifice yourself for a company like this. This is the opportunity I'm giving you."
Harry hesitated for barely two and a half seconds before standing up and reaching out his hand to Jack.
Jack also stood, shook Harry's hand, and then sat back down.
"Pleasure doing business. Come to my laboratory tomorrow; that's where you'll be treated. Peter will come along too—he's one of the researchers, so you should be able to trust him."
Harry smiled with relief. "Right now, he's all I have left."
Jack glanced at the two of them without any disdain. It was simply a deep friendship like that of Captain America and Bucky—nothing to be ashamed of.
Aside from offering silent blessings, the only thing he could do was stand a little farther away, lest he be "caught in the crossfire" of this sentimentality.
Jack began using Norman Osborn's highest clearance to search for unsavory content within the company's internal database.
Of course, it was actually JARVIS handling the task. Jack couldn't possibly process it all himself—there was simply too much scandalous material, and the darkness hidden by Osborn ran far too deep. He directly granted clearance and allowed JARVIS to perform a full scan of the Osborn database.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he watched the rapidly changing information on the desk.
"Just collecting some of the evil you've hidden away. With this evidence, my actions will be justified," Jack explained calmly. "When we Easterners do things, we emphasize having a legitimate reason—what we call 'starting with an army division.'"
Having received an elite education, Harry was also familiar with Eastern culture.
He understood the explanation. While many foreigners might interpret "Shi" as a teacher, Harry knew—after consulting an Eastern professor—that it referred to a military unit.
Harry understood that Jack was preparing for a massive purge. Because he had been away for years and hadn't been involved in these dirty dealings, he was excluded from the fallout.
Peter was likely part of the reason for this, and Harry felt deeply grateful to his good friend.
Although he was reluctant to lose the Osborn Group his father had built from scratch, it was nothing compared to his own life.
Moreover, these acts were far too filthy—human experimentation was completely against his principles.
If he didn't cooperate with Jack, the Osborn Group would be crushed the moment this information was released.
Now, being allowed to take half of the cash flow—several billion dollars—was enough for him to rebuild a smaller Osborn empire.
Harry pulled Peter away and left. Judging from what Jack overheard, Harry was probably going to apologize to Ben and May.
But that was no longer Jack's concern. He had given Harry a chance, and Harry had taken it. Otherwise, Jack would've waited until Harry transformed and crushed his head.
Jack left after obtaining sufficient data. He would let the Osborn shareholders enjoy themselves for a few days. When they were halfway through celebrating with champagne, he would wipe them all out—clean and complete.
Finally, amid public panic, he would take over the Osborn Group.
While holding Wanda and flipping through TV channels, Jack saw a live broadcast from Manhattan.
Spider-Man was fighting Electro—Max Dillon.
Without becoming a friendly neighborhood Garfield-Spider, Electro clearly wasn't going to be persuaded by Garfield-Spider's "Talk-no-jutsu." The two went straight into a fierce battle.
Jack put down his Bugles and asked Wanda, "Dear, can you brainwash ordinary people now? Or do something like altering perceptions?"
Wanda stuffed the Bugles Jack wasn't eating back into the bag, opened another bag of strawberry-flavored soft candy, and began eating.
"I can't change perceptions yet, and I can't do brainwashing either."
Jack: (◞ˊ～ˋ)? "Isn't that the same thing? You're so useless."
He snatched the soft candy from Wanda and shoved it into his mouth.
Wanda elbowed him angrily and opened another bag—this time cherry-flavored.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "If deleting someone's entire memory counts as brainwashing, then I guess I can do that."
Jack froze, then returned the candy in his mouth to Wanda and flashed a flattering smile.
"Dearest wife, you wouldn't delete my memories, right?"
Wanda stood with her hands on her hips triumphantly, her mouth full of two flavors of candy. "Depends on your performance. If I'm not happy, I'll turn you into Baby Jack."
They both knew Wanda couldn't actually erase Jack's memories, but life was about moments like this. As long as Wanda was happy, Jack's life would be much easier.
By the time they finished talking, the fight on TV was over.
Garfield-Spider used water from a fire hydrant to disperse Electro's electricity, then subdued him.
Jack sucked down two bags of squeezable jelly in one breath.
"Wife, don't go to Hell's Kitchen to practice tonight. Tomorrow I'll take you to my lab—I might need your help."
"I didn't even finish high school. I probably won't be useful," Wanda said while slowly drinking jelly.
Jack snatched it from her. "It's magic-related. I can only rely on you."
Wanda nodded.
The next day, Jack took Wanda to pick up Gwen.
"Sister Wanda? You're coming to the lab too?" Gwen asked in surprise.
Wanda smiled sweetly. "Someone might need a magic assistant."
Gwen leaned close to Wanda in the back seat.
Jack thought, If I sit back there, I could still drive…
"Sister Wanda, can you really not teach me magic?" Gwen asked pitifully.
"I don't know how to teach it," Wanda said helplessly. "Magic feels like an extension of my body."
"Ahem."
Jack coughed.
Gwen ignored him completely.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" Jack said shamelessly. "What if I can teach you?"
Wanda glanced at Jack but didn't expose him.
"Do you know magic?" Gwen asked reluctantly.
Jack: (°¯᷄◡¯᷅°) "Nope."
Wanda and Gwen: (￢д￢.) Whatever~
Everything else remains accurately preserved, cleaned, and consistent with Marvel canon.
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