The next day, Richard and Mary submitted their resignations to the Oscorp Group. Both founders of the emerging Oscorp Group, Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius, tried to persuade Richard to stay.
After all, Richard's knowledge was as good as theirs, making him an invaluable talent. The Osborn brothers even considered giving up some of their shares to keep him.
But Richard wasn't leaving for a better job; he was leaving to support his family. He wanted to start a new biotechnology company with Ben. With this strong motivation, no matter how many benefits Otto and Osborn offered, Richard firmly refused, left Oscorp Group, and joined the newly established Parker Biotech.
Starting a company requires money, but fortunately, Richard and Mary had saved a lot as senior researchers over the years. This money became the perfect start-up capital for the new company.
Richard, a brilliant mind who had put much of his scientific knowledge aside, quickly regained his expertise at an unbelievable speed. He was the man who would one day say, "With great power comes great responsibility," and he was now determined not to waste his talent.
Almost as soon as Richard had finished setting up the company, Ben had transformed back to his old self, from an ordinary office clerk to a skilled biotechnology researcher. While it took some time to adjust to the research work, Richard and Mary's help made it manageable.
Parker Biotech was officially established. Richard used his connections to hire employees and immediately began researching new healthcare products. His previous work at Oscorp involved studying animal genes, seemingly to create super soldiers for the government's ongoing program since World War II.
However, Richard didn't like working on weapons that hurt people. After some thought, he realized it was 1998, and with technology advancing rapidly, living standards were improving. The most essential thing for enjoying life was health.
Richard believed that Americans with some money would be willing to spend it to ensure their health. As long as their drugs were high quality, they would succeed.
A Company Takes Off
This proved true. Relying on Richard and Mary's savings, the company, after six months of intense research, launched a drug that could prevent many common illnesses. After widespread testing and hitting the market, its simple yet effective results and excellent quality made it a success. Parker Biotech took off completely. Richard avoided bankruptcy and made Ben's family into multi-millionaires.
At the same time, May's work in the community also progressed. With Parker Industries' growing reputation, May, as a family member, naturally gained more public support, and she was soon likely to be elected as a community councilor.
As their lives changed, Clark's situation also changed. His incredible talent was now overshadowed by his wealthy family. People thought, isn't it normal for Clark to be outstanding when growing up in such a family? As long as Clark didn't act too exaggerated or defy common sense, with the power and wealth the Parker family now possessed, people around him would automatically come up with explanations they found reasonable.
No one likes to admit they're inferior. If they are, they'll blame their shortcomings on unfairness. "Look, Clark has such a good family, so of course he's better than me." It was that simple.
Unforeseen Abilities
Two years passed quickly. Once the company was on track, Richard and Ben gradually stepped back from the daily scientific research, instead providing general guidance for the company's direction.
Even so, they were still very busy every day. As a result, Clark was gradually given less direct attention. Because of his personal talent and family background, even though he was a Kryptonian with extraordinary empathy, he was still influenced by the compliments from those around him. Clark, still an elementary school student, began to act like a school leader.
If that were all, it would be fine. Clark didn't bully others. He started to enjoy being the center of attention, but he gained admiration through his abilities and charm, not by picking on the weak.
The main problem, however, was that Clark wasn't an ordinary Earthling after all, and his talents weren't limited to just physical strength and intelligence. As he got older, even without knowing his true identity, some abilities that were meant to appear under the sun slowly began to emerge.
Today was the day an ability awakened, bringing with it a problem.
At Parker Biotech, Ben rushed into the chairman's office in a panic and saw Richard sitting there.
"Richard, Clark's in trouble!"
"What? Let's go!"
Without asking what happened, Richard grabbed his bag and quickly left the office with Ben. They got into his luxury car and sped towards Midtown High School.
But when they arrived, they saw Clark's teacher and all his classmates gathered at the entrance to the restroom.
"Mr. Parker, you're finally here!" The teacher was referring to Ben Parker, not Richard Parker, as Ben was Clark's father.
"May I ask what happened?"
The teacher hesitated for a moment and then pushed forward a thin child. From his size, he seemed a few grades older than Clark, but there were shocking burns on his arms.
"I don't know what happened. Everyone said Clark was with Matthew, but after a scream, I only saw burns on Matthew's hands, and Clark locked himself in the toilet. No matter how much I asked, he wouldn't say a word."
Ben glanced at Richard, who immediately understood. He pulled out his phone and started calling an ambulance. Although they didn't know what happened, since Matthew's injury was caused by Clark, they had to take responsibility. At the very least, they'd cover all medical expenses.
At that moment, Ben slowly walked to the restroom door and reached for the handle to open it. Inside, Clark covered his eyes tightly with his hands, but even so, he couldn't hide the increasingly bright red light in his eyes.
Do you want to know what happens next? Stay tuned