On the first floor of the Oscorp Tower, an Oscorp executive saw a balding middle-aged man sitting on a chair in the lobby and frowned in displeasure. "Why is he still here?"
"He said he insists on seeing Mr. Osborn."
"Osborn doesn't have time to see him." The executive frowned and walked toward the balding man. "Mr. Adrian Toomes, the company has already advised you..."
"I want to see Norman Osborn!" The man shook his head and roared from his chair. The executive was about to say something more when he heard Norman Osborn's voice. "How can you be so rude to Dr. Toomes? He is an outstanding scientist."
Norman Osborn, dressed in a suit, was on his way to the "Emily Osborn Research Center," a project built by his son and Peter Parker. He was surprised to see an acquaintance with whom he had a bad relationship. Norman smiled and walked over, opening his arms as if to hug Adrian. "Long time no see, Adrian."
"You stole my technology! You used my technology to steal my project!" Adrian shot up from his chair and angrily walked up to Norman. Norman raised a hand to stop the employee who was about to rush over, looking calmly at Adrian and maintaining his smile.
"You know, Adrian. Oscorp Technologies' personal flight platform didn't win the military bid because of your technology. While they're both personal flight platforms, that other one, the Falcon project, has already been proven to have too high a requirement for the pilot and has been mothballed. Your proposal was just an improvement on the previous generation, still asking pilots to fly with wings. Oscorp Technologies' proposal is completely new."
"But I developed the anti-gravity system! I filed a patent!"
Norman nodded as if it were a matter of course. "I admit, our technologies have some similarities in this area, but that's not enough to prove that Oscorp Technologies used your technology. How about this, we can reach an agreement that the design concepts of the anti-gravity systems in the two products are..."
He made a circle with his hand in the air. "...a case of great minds thinking alike, what do you say? We can finalize this agreement for five million dollars."
"Five million dollars?! You thief! You despicable robber!"
Norman Osborn maintained his smile. He walked up to Adrian and whispered in his ear, "Yes, but your pathetic little workshop will be ruined by legal fees before you win your lawsuit. Five million is already a lot for you."
When Adrian heard these words, his pale face turned red with blood. He swung his fist at Norman, shouting a string of profanities. The staff and security guards quickly went to restrain him. Norman Osborn, who had been hit once or twice, rubbed his face nonchalantly and left the company with a smile. As for Adrian, he was subdued by security for causing a disturbance and handed over to the police.
The NYPD was not gentle either, locking him up with the group of terrorists they had just caught today. As soon as Adrian was locked in, he heard the men complaining that they had been beaten up by Spider-Man again today.
He didn't pay attention to any of that, still thinking about what Norman Osborn had said. Norman was right; he couldn't do anything to him. Even if he could win the patent lawsuit, so what? Norman had strong connections with the U.S. government, and even if he won, his proposal would most likely not get the bid. The lawsuit would also require a huge amount of time and money, and he could very well lose everything before he even won.
So should he accept Norman's offer? Take the five million? It was true that with five million, he could pay his lab employees and still have some left over, but it was nowhere near enough to start a new project.
What should he do?
Adrian let out a deep sigh.
"The world is full of freaks now. It used to be a world for us organized mercenaries. Even when special forces were deployed, we could still complete our jobs. Now, that damn Spider-Man can stop a heavy truck with just one hand, with just one hand!"
Yes, this is the era of superheroes and supervillains. Without some kind of superpower, you can't even deal with the Avengers...
No superpower?
An idea suddenly popped into Adrian's mind, but he didn't say anything. Just then, a seemingly decent police captain walked to the outside of the holding cell, looked at the people locked inside, muttered a few words, and opened the door.
"Dr. Adrian Toomes?"
The captain opened the cell door and led him out. "Norman Osborn personally called the NYPD and said that you just had a minor disagreement. Your daughter is here to pick you up."
A minor disagreement? If it was just a disagreement, why did I have to come to the police station? Adrian sneered internally at Norman Osborn's insincerity. He then walked out of the cell and saw his daughter waiting in the captain's office.
"I'm so sorry, Liz..."
Adrian sighed, but his daughter, Liz, just smiled and said it was okay, then thanked the captain, whose last name was Stacy. After they left, Liz told Adrian that Captain Stacy was the father of her friend and that he had been the one to notify her first.
"I'm really sorry, Liz."
"Well, since you're my dad, I have to accept it. Besides, you were doing it for our family's good."
After seeing his daughter, Adrian buried that bold idea deep in his heart. What was the point? I have a family to take care of. There's no need to go head-to-head with Norman Osborn. With this thought, Adrian suddenly had a change of heart. Five million is five million. Family is more important in the end.
So he first called Oscorp Technologies, leaving a message that he was willing to accept the agreement. Hearing this, Liz looked at her father with a hint of surprise.
"I thought you'd hold out. After all, you've been working on that project my whole life."
"Maybe Norman was right about one thing; the idea of putting wings on people is outdated." Adrian put his arm around his daughter's shoulder and suddenly remembered something. "What was the name of that boy you told me about from school, the one who asked you to the homecoming dance?"
"Harold Lyman. His friends all call him Harry."
"If he's a good kid, maybe you could bring him home for dinner sometime?"
—-----------
It's a common tactic for major capitalists in America to wear down small tech companies and workshops with long and costly lawsuits to get them to give up their patents. Back in the day, the Morgan family sued their competitors for allegedly copying their AC technology, which led their rival to abandon its support for Nikola Tesla. The Morgan family then went on to support Tesla's AC project.
Chapter 159: The Web Base
Officially named the "Emily Osborn Research Center," this was actually the secret base of Spider-Man and his professional support team. Of course, it still needed to be disguised as a laboratory. By the time Peter arrived, Harry and Amadeus had already been waiting for a long time.
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late."
The lab entrance had a brand-new palm and voice recognition system. After Peter passed through, he entered a lab that was full of the "Osborn flavor." What does that mean? Well, based on Peter's last infiltration of Osborn Tech with Felicia, the lab's walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of white hexagonal polymers, and white lights emitted from the gaps between these hexagons—that's the Osborn flavor. Whatever else you could say about it, it definitely had a cool, high-tech vibe.
"This is the air pollution monitoring station. We can release drones to analyze the composition of air pollution in New York. Over there are the water quality monitoring devices and algae analysis equipment."
Unlike the patent bully Norman, Harry's mother, Emily Lyman, was a scientist who focused on ecology and environmental safety. She wasn't just a scientist who pointed out problems; she was a scientist who solved them. When she was still alive, Osborn Tech launched a considerable number of non-profit research projects. After her death, Osborn Tech shut down most of them, leaving only a small portion to appease certain groups and to maintain the company's image.
But from Harry's current behavior, it was clear that he was intimately familiar with all of his mother's research projects. Without a doubt, he had always dreamed of restarting the projects she left behind.
Meanwhile, Amadeus was busy writing some code on a computer.
As he was speaking, Harry seemed to realize something and scratched his head sheepishly. "I forgot. This lab is essentially your..."
"Ours."
"Oh, ours." After being kindly interrupted by Peter, Harry nodded. "Our secret base, just like Batman's Batcave, ours should be called... what?"
"How about the Web?" Amadeus finally spoke. "Spiders live in their webs."
"Uh, I think we should pass on that one."
It was a good and fitting name, but after the recent baptism of the "Web of Gods" in the Wasteland Universe and the feeling of suddenly switching from a normal American comic setting to a power-creeping one, Peter wasn't interested in the topic. The Web was a good name; he just didn't like it.
Seeing that Peter had vetoed it, both of them looked at him, silently asking if he could come up with a new name. Peter thought seriously for a moment, then realized he couldn't think of a good name either—he was also terrible at naming things. So, in the end, they still used the name The Web to refer to their base.
"So, this is the true form of the Web!"
As Harry said this, he pressed a button. After a scan of Peter was completed, the four walls began to disengage and recede. There were hidden spaces behind each wall, and the lighting also changed from the extremely bright white of the original space to a normal brightness.
The lab tables retracted into the floor, and new equipment rose up. The most eye-catching were the seven cabinets in the back, each capable of holding a suit—even though, including Venom, Peter only had four suits.
Besides that, there was a variety of high-tech equipment, 3D printers, scanners, and the like. All in all, it wasn't much different from the Avengers' lab. And most importantly, this place belonged only to Peter.
"What do you think? Maybe we can start by designing some brand-new suits for you? Like powerful armor? Holographic camouflage? What do you think, Peter?"
Peter hesitated. To be honest, ever since he had bonded with Venom, he hadn't considered changing his suit. Venom was already incredibly versatile. For example, after assimilating one of Peter's upgraded suits, it could even mimic its various communication functions and connect to the Avengers' network, and Venom himself didn't know how he did it.
Furthermore, the symbiote itself had mimetic abilities. Although Venom wasn't particularly good at it, he was great at changing into different colored clothes. If Peter wanted, Venom could become the classic red and blue suit.
However, new suits could also be used to test various new gadgets, so Peter thought they could start developing them and then integrate them into Venom.
"We can also design and manufacture a lot of tools, like drones and remote-controlled robots." Harry finished and looked at Peter. "What do you want?"
"Uh... I want a motorcycle? One that can drive on walls?"
Harry was immediately confused. "What do you need that for?"
"You know, what if the enemy is in Central Park or some other open area?"
Peter's request came from experience. His time in the Wasteland Universe proved that once Spider-Man was fighting on flat ground, his mobility was cut in half. Most enemies fought in a two-dimensional space, but he could fight in a three-dimensional one. If they were both confined to a flat plane, he would be at a disadvantage. At the same time, the Spider-Buggy was too bulky. A motorcycle would be useful both in the wild and in the heart of New York City.
There was also a very crucial point. "Motorcycles are just cool."
Upon hearing this, Harry immediately nodded. "You have a point."
Just as they were talking, there was a knock at the door. Peter checked the camera and saw that it was Norman Osborn, followed by a scientist Peter found slightly familiar. As Peter went to open the door, he glanced at Harry, who had gone completely silent and was looking down at the system. It seemed the relationship between the father and son was as strained as ever. Peter thought this as he opened the door.
Norman stood outside, giving his usual, concerned smile. "Peter, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Mr. Osborn."
"Thank you so much for saving Osborn Tech's cargo today. That was an Osborn Tech prototype; it was very important to us."
As he spoke, Norman turned and gave a space to the scientist next to him. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you. To provide you with better assistance, I have specifically invited a trustworthy and professional scientist."
"Come and meet Dr. Jonathan Drew."