"Good afternoon, Peter, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Mr. Osborn. How is Dr. Connors?"
Peter's mention of Connors was, of course, not aimless; in reality, it was an expression of his dissatisfaction.
Based on the information Gwen had gathered, Otto's hacking into Oscorp was intentional on Norman's part. All of it was to gain leverage over the Pentagon, allowing the Savage Force project to secure more funding from them. Norman knew that if Otto truly wanted revenge, he would have to seize Oscorp from him, and the only entity Otto could rely on was the Pentagon, so Norman was prepared beforehand.
For this, Dr. Connors became a sacrifice, injected with the Lizard Serum, and temporarily turned into a monster. Although it was unlikely Norman knew the exact means Otto would use, that he would choose Dr. Connors as a target, these things could ultimately have been avoided, yet Norman watched it all happen.
"Dr. Connors is recovering quite well, and the Savage Force project still requires his leadership. And despite some accidents, his research progress has advanced significantly. Furthermore, the laboratory security upgrades have been completed. This place is now very safe."
To Peter's question, Osborn acted as if nothing had happened, maintaining that neighborly, good-uncle smile.
It must be said that shamelessness is a kind of skill.
Peter temporarily ignored this. As long as Norman hadn't become the Green Goblin, the only way to deal with him was through commercial means. Commercial matters would have to be left to Tony; others wouldn't be able to solve them.
If Tony could actually acquire Oscorp one day, that would truly be hilarious.
"Although I haven't seen the equipment inside the spherical container, based on your description, I've roughly guessed what the so-called Pumpkin Bomb is and completed a recreation of it."
"Hasn't Oscorp tried to make something like it before?"
"I made two versions of the Pumpkin Bomb," Norman admitted without reservation. "But neither version had such a small blast radius. It was only after you explained it that I figured out the manufacturing method. In reality, they are not traditional bombs, but... incinerators."
The two quickly entered a laboratory. Inside the lab were several 3D printers and a few finished Pumpkin Bombs.
Norman put on a pair of safety goggles for himself and handed a pair to Peter. Then, he had a mechanical arm place a Pumpkin Bomb in the exact center of the testing chamber.
"The detonation will be initiated by a laser. We can observe the detonation method of the Pumpkin Bomb."
Peter watched the testing chamber intently. After the Pumpkin Bomb was activated, the entire bomb first flashed green light, then diffused a spherical shockwave, enveloping a spherical space with a diameter of less than three meters around it.
Then the explosion occurred, but the flames erupted from the spherical edge diffused by the shockwave. Furthermore, these flames did not rush outward but contracted inward toward the blast center, directly causing the flames to disappear. Only after the flames dissipated did an impact similar to an explosion occur.
"How is this..."
"Oscorp's new high-combustion material, the purpose of which is counter-terrorism operations, carrying out detonation within a limited area."
Norman introduced his company's product to Peter: "Peter, as you saw, its effect is very obvious. It can control the blast radius within a safe zone, and the temperature within the blast radius will increase sharply, theoretically capable of directly carbonizing the human body."
Peter fell silent. Carbonizing the human body? Did that mean that without special protective measures, once hit, there was virtually no possibility of survival?
"This is our latest invention, and Oscorp has not yet mass-produced it. But the enemy has already used it for large-scale production and weaponization."
Norman looked genuinely helpless. This person from the future had directly leaked Oscorp's major commercial secret, and there was no way to stop it. More troubling was that the Avengers would not let the public know that these came from a future person, so Oscorp's stock would still be the one suffering the consequences.
Peter was unmoved by Norman's pitiful display. He was only concerned about the effect of this weapon. Theoretically, the high temperature of the Pumpkin Bomb shouldn't kill him instantly, but the cost would be that Venom would certainly be severely wounded. Venom's resistance had improved, but he still couldn't withstand continuous attacks from the enemy.
Three shots, he could probably withstand three shots, which was close to his limit. This thing could directly carbonize the human body. Even with Venom, he could only take three hits. The good news was that the damage range of this thing was small, so dodging should be convenient.
Peter then asked Norman: "Are there any drawbacks?"
"If I had to say one, it's that the explosive is too stable and difficult to prematurely detonate. The fuse must be sufficiently timed before it ignites the bomb. You can totally throw it away or knock it back before it detonates," Norman thought for a moment and provided an answer. "But there are also risks, for example, the opponent could set different detonation times for the fuse or choose to detonate it remotely."
Peter scratched his head. This seemed a lot simpler. At least he had his Spider-Sense, which allowed him to time things very accurately, but this was still not good news.
"I'll send you the data for the opponent's armor and glider right away, Peter, but those might not be the most important things."
Peter knew what Norman was worried about. He was afraid of what would happen if he really turned into the Green Goblin. A villain using the Pumpkin Bomb had already emerged, and he had started taking action. Due to his alternate personality, Norman couldn't be sure of one thing.
Could it be that he turned into the Green Goblin at night and went out to act?
"We'll find out, Uncle Norman. The most important thing for you now is to ensure your psychological well-being, you know? Harry has never thought you were a good father, maybe you can try to redeem yourself a little."
"I'll try. It's really not suitable for me to work overtime recently."
Peter received the data and said goodbye. He needed to use the data from Ned's portion to run a test to verify the accuracy of the data.
As for Norman Osborn, he merely watched Peter's retreating back, sensing the reproach and slight distance in his words—of course, Norman didn't care about that.
He just thought of what Peter had said, about Harry.
"It seems I do need to take a break. However... if Harry could be as outstanding as you, I would surely be a good father."