If the Osborne Clan's genetic illness isn't actually an illness but rather a demon's curse, everything starts to make sense.
Harry used the Spider Serum to cure his illness.
The demon lurking in the shadows was displeased, and that very night, it cursed again without hesitation, taking Harry away in one fell swoop.
The more Gwen thought about it, the more she felt the demon theory was likely. Her eyes brightened as she looked at Hawk.
"What's next?"
"Next..."
Hawk looked at Gwen, who seemed eager for drama, and smiled slightly, pausing before speaking: "I'll send you home, then I'll go home too, and we'll go to sleep."
Gwen's charming face fell.
"Hawk."
"There's a demon out there, yet I haven't found the entrance to Hell. Do you think I can find the demon that might have already returned to Hell?"
Hawk shook his head with some helplessness.
He had just left the funeral, and had fully engaged his senses, pondering if he could find the demon lurking in the shadows.
If lucky, maybe he could learn from the demon where the entrance to the Hell Dimension on Earth is.
At that time, after acquiring the Reality Gemstone, he'd go straight to Hell without delay.
Then...
Hopefully, bring his sister Anya back to Earth for Christmas.
But dreams are vibrant; reality is harsh.
He didn't see the demon at the funeral site. If the Osborne Clan's curse was indeed caused by a demon, it seemed with Harry's death, the Osborne family line had ended. Without surprises, that demon likely returned to Hell.
It's just, what exactly did Osborne do to invoke the demon's curse?
Hawk thought, pondering.
After sending Gwen home, he returned to Palm Street, took a shower, but instead of choosing to rest, he went to the study, opened the computer given by the previous owner, and started researching Osborne's curse online.
Osborne's rise is quite clear.
Norman Osborn sold their family's herring canning production line, exchanging it for an arms production line, then quickly rose through the war dividends.
At that time, Norman Osborn already had the hereditary disease.
So...
It should be something from even earlier.
But online, information about the Osborne Clan before Norman Osborn can't be described as scarce; it's practically nonexistent.
After a fruitless search, Hawk rubbed his chin, thought it through, took his phone, and dialed the third number in his contact list, Peter's number.
The call quickly connected.
"Hello?"
"The Osborne Clan aren't native to New York City, right?"
"Yep... Hiss, don't move!"
"..."
Hawk listened to the commotion from the other end, instinctively glancing at the time in the computer screen's bottom right corner: "It's eleven; still out?"
Peter, on the other end, said: "I'm back, but feeling a bit odd, decided to go out for some exercise."
Hawk responded casually, then brought the topic back.
"Where did the Osborne Clan move from?"
"London."
Peter fired a web to pin a late-night robber onto a wall while talking to Hawk: "Osborne's ancestral home is in London, otherwise why would Harry have gone to London for school."
London?
Not Texas, where demon sightings are most frequent.
Hawk thought.
"Do you know when the Osborne Clan's hereditary illness started showing up?"
"Hereditary... Why are you asking?"
"Can't sleep."
"Alright."
Peter heard Hawk's unarguable reason and after acknowledging it, frowned: "I don't know exactly when it started; Harry never mentioned it clearly, but I heard him say that when their family moved from Massachusetts to New York City, family members began to show symptoms."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, Massachusetts? I thought you said they moved from London."
"Osborne were among the first batch of Mayflower passengers; their initial settlement was Massachusetts."
Peter explained, then thought: "I remember Harry saying where they settled. Oh right, Salem. Yes, I recall because I researched it when I went back; Osborne moved to New York City after the Salem witch trials."
Salem witch trials?
Hawk's brows furrowed, suddenly feeling like he'd found the reason why Osborne was cursed by a demon.
However...
He needed to verify.
Hawk thought inwardly, put down the phone, and began searching online for information related to the Salem witch trials.
The Mayflower landed in Massachusetts in 1620.
While the Salem witch trials occurred in 1692.
These trials shook the entire Federation; records said nineteen witches were killed, and countless unrecorded ones.
As the Federation's first witch trial, the Salem witch trials have far more online buzz than the Osborne Clan.
Every year, curious netizens consistently provide new clues and updates about the Salem witch trials.
So...
Hawk didn't have to make much effort; through an online forum dedicated to the Salem witch trials, he quickly found a familiar surname in a scanned, yellowed document.
On April 22, 1692, Hasson and Osborn interrogated accusations against twelve witches in person, with Osborn retracting accusations against only one witch, executing fire penalties on the rest.
In layman's terms...
They tied these eleven witches to wooden stakes and set them ablaze, burning them alive with fire.
Gasp!
Hawk felt like he found the evidence.
Just at that moment.
"Thick thanks..."
"What the hell!"
"Hawk, come quickly, under the Manhattan Bridge..."
"Beep beep!"
Hawk snapped back to reality, looking at the suddenly cut-off call from Peter, raised an eyebrow, and instantly walked out of the study.
Under the Manhattan Bridge.
Peter, dressed in his red and blue Spider Battle Armor, was suspended in mid-air, his limbs spread out in all directions as much as possible, as if bound in mid-air in a big character pose.
His phone had fallen to the side.
Bound in the air, Peter's arms kept straining, his muscles tense, trying to break free from the restraint.
But...
Useless.
The uniform on Peter's arms had split, yet he was still tightly bound in mid-air.
His eyes were wide open, staring at the unscientific scene in front of him.
A Hell Witch seemingly surrounded by blue flames, her right hand open towards Peter, slowly rotating.
Peter, bound in mid-air, also rotated with the turning hand.
The Hell Witch's voice was eerie.
"Those who help the Osborn must die."
"Is that so?"
Hawk's voice followed immediately.
The Hell Witch's blue flame-imbued eyes suddenly narrowed, and her right hand swung toward the source of the voice.
Boom!
The blue flame burst in Hawk's clenched fist.
Hawk then walked out from the bursting blue flames.
Peter thudded onto the ground, without hesitation shot out a web, and with a swish, landed steadily beside Hawk.
"Hawk, what the hell is this thing?"
"Salem Witch."
Hawk uttered, his gaze focused on the Hell Witch in front, engulfed in blue flames, and said, "We didn't know Osborn was cursed by you, which caused the family illness. There's no need to attack us, is there?"
Peter was a bit stunned on the side.
Hawk then summarized, that the genetic disease of the Osborn was likely due to the curse from the Salem Witch who was burned to death back then.
Peter was even more stunned now.
"The Salem Witch... wasn't she a myth?"
"Most likely, some were falsely accused, but this one here is definitely a real witch."
And a powerful one at that.
After all...
A witch who can escape from Hell for revenge is undoubtedly very powerful.
Peter listened to Hawk's explanation, opened his mouth, still a bit puzzled.
"Then why come after me?"
"Your blood cured Harry, and the witch took her anger out on you."
"Hiss!"
Peter gasped, then looked at the Hell Witch standing motionlessly in front, blue flames flickering, quietly watching them, recalling the scene just now where he had no ability to resist.
"How do you kill this thing?"
"You can't kill it."
"What?"
"Can you perform magic attacks?"
"No."
"Then there you have it."
Hawk's senses were fully alert, easily seeing that the Hell Witch in front was in a non-corporeal state, precisely speaking, the Hell Witch gave Hawk the feeling of a pieced-together spirit form, naturally immune to physical attacks.
As known to all.
The Phoenix Illusion Demon Fist is not a magic attack, but a spiritual attack.
The most important point.
Wearing the Phoenix Holy Armor, just to deal with this Hell Witch seeking revenge for herself?
Hawk couldn't do it.
Peter couldn't help but take another deep breath.
"What should we do then?"
"See if we can negotiate, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, I remember Harry still has a few uncles, right?"
"Didn't you see them at the funeral, they had a big argument claiming the will was fake, and Felicia just kicked them out."
If Harry left no will, logically speaking, Harry's uncles would also have inheritance rights.
But Harry left a will, and his uncles got nothing.
In a capitalist society, there's no such thing as humanitarian or humanitarian compensation.
"As long as there are Osborns left, it's fine."
Hawk said, then addressed the Hell Witch glowing in blue in front, "We didn't know beforehand, now that we do, the remaining Osborns, we promise not to meddle, you can continue your revenge, we know nothing."
The blue light on Hell Witch shimmered faintly.
After a while.
With a whoosh!
Under the Manhattan Bridge, the blue flame vanished, and the Hell Witch disappeared as well.
...