Looking at the massive factory situated in the suburbs, Peter let out a gasp of surprise.
This factory wasn't like he imagined, spewing industrial exhaust; instead, it was orderly and exceptionally clean.
"Actually, this is thanks to the company's previous biological research. We've cultivated a special type of bacteria that can decompose exhaust gases produced by combustion. By the way, this project and that spider were launched together."
"That's so cool. Then why not promote this bacteria? It should be able to solve many pollution problems," Peter asked in confusion.
"Although this new type of bacteria can process exhaust, its efficiency hasn't reached the imagined level, so it's not very cost-effective. Even if it were vigorously promoted, most factories would still choose to discharge exhaust directly."
"But isn't a good atmospheric environment more important?"
"If you put it that way, of course it is. But for a company, survival is more important. There are also many reasons why our factory uses this bacteria to process exhaust."
One reason was that Harry didn't want to open factories in the East; it was too far away and not conducive to his control over them. To open a factory near New York, one had to meet corresponding environmental standards, which was the result of negotiations with officials.
The vehicle drove into the campus, and the two switched to walking. Not far away, staff members were testing a new batch of civilian exoskeletons.
"'miners friend': maximum load 450 kg, equipped with an air purifier and 50L of oxygen to handle extreme environments. The head and shoulders are fitted with anti-collision armor and a buffer system to prevent accidental injuries."
Peter rattled off a series of data points. Harry nodded; the feeling of having his own inventions' specs recited by heart was quite pleasant.
"Wearing this exoskeleton, the protection for workers is self-evident. Unfortunately, it's too expensive; it's impossible for all workers to enjoy this kind of protection," Harry continued.
"Yeah, that's a shame."
Young Peter fell silent. After looking at the miners friend, the two planned to head in another direction.
But just as Peter was looking around curiously, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head—
Boom!
A sudden explosion blew the roof off the workshop, and a massive piece of debris hurtled toward Harry!
Bang!
"Damn it, what's going on!"
Harry was both shocked and furious. If Peter hadn't pushed him out of the way at the last second, he might have been finished right then and there!
"Mr. Osborn, are you alright?" The staff rushed over, but a new situation immediately arose.
Several large trucks smashed through the gates and drove straight into the campus!
Harry realized what was happening now—it seemed someone had come to "restock" from him!
"Damn it, where's our security?" Harry cursed in anger, but the staff member stammered, saying the security had all disappeared.
"Shit! Contact the NYPD immediately! Peter, hide!"
"Mr. Osborn, what about you?" Peter was a bit worried. Although he had superpowers, he wasn't Spider-Man yet.
"Me? Protecting my property, of course!"
With that, Harry jumped into a nearby miners friend exoskeleton and charged toward the group of petty thieves who were "restocking"!
Seeing Harry charging at them, the mobsters opened fire. At that moment, Harry was glad he hadn't yet put the cost-reduced version of the Miner's exoskeleton into production—that thing had almost no body protection except for the top shield!
Harry detached the oxygen tank from his back and hurled it at the Bandits. Someone must have hit the tank, as flames instantly engulfed several of them!
Bang!
Harry slammed into a truck and flipped it over with a single shove!
"Damn, this thing is fierce! Those with guns, open fire! The rest of you, hurry up and load the goods!"
The bullets hitting Harry were like bug bites, but the protective plates used on civilian exoskeletons were just ordinary steel; taking the fire head-on could lead to an accident.
So Harry could only advance circuitously using cover, overturning trucks and kicking aside the petty thieves.
"Ah! It's that guy!"
"Damn it, my bones!"
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Hearing the commotion, Harry looked toward the source in confusion. He saw a figure in a dark red bodysuit taking down the Bandits in a matter of moments, with an efficiency even higher than Harry's in the exoskeleton.
daredevil?
"Damn it, it's this guy again!" a bandit with an accent muttered something as he turned to put on an exoskeleton.
"Don't! The boss said we can't wear those things!" another guy warned, but it was too late—the kid already had half his body inside.
Seeing this, Harry chuckled to himself. All exoskeletons produced by the Osborn Group required a password to start. Before delivery, a new password would be set according to the customer's request.
If one tried to wear it by force without knowing the password, the consequences would be just like this kid's.
"Damn it, why can't I move? Holy shit, I—mmph!" The exoskeleton quickly turned into a restraint device, and the gang member was instantly silenced.
Bang!
A loud gunshot rang out in the night, and the man who appeared to be daredevil quickly dove behind cover.
"Mr. Harry Osborn, I didn't expect you to have such skills. However, I suggest you stay still. This sniper rifle in my hand might not be able to pierce the Military power armor you sell to the Military, but it's more than enough to pierce what you're wearing now."
Everyone stopped. A guy who looked like the leader threw out a cell phone, and a low voice spoke.
If the guy in the dark red suit was daredevil, then the one speaking was Bullseye!
Harry's mind raced, and he immediately realized that the one robbing him was Kingpin!
"What do you want?" Harry said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Harry Osborn. We didn't know you would be here today. As compensation, those trucks you overturned are yours to keep, but we must take these others."
"..." Harry was furious, but at the moment, there was truly nothing he could do against these guys.
He looked at daredevil, but he was also helpless; after all, they were in the light, while Bullseye was in the dark.
"And then there's you. My goal today was only these things; why did you have to interfere?" This was directed at daredevil, but there was no response.
In silence, Harry watched as these guys hauled away three trucks of his exoskeletons, his heart bleeding.
"That guy is gone," daredevil said after a while. "Be careful of the first person who calls you." With that, he also left. It was a classic scene of a meeting between a superhero and a supervillain: both sides appearing and disappearing without a trace, leaving a mess behind.
Harry didn't stop them or say a word; he simply made a mental note of this debt—
Kingpin, is it? Just you wait.
"Uh... Mr. Osborn, is it over?"
At that moment, Peter's voice came from behind him.
"Peter? Are you okay? These goddamn bastards!"
"Of course, Mr. Osborn." After speaking, Peter hesitated, seemingly unsure if he should say what came next.
"What is it?"
"Uh, actually, the school taught us some basics about circuits recently, and I tried making a tracker."
Peter pulled out his phone. On the screen, a blinking red dot was slowly moving.
"I think I... accidentally threw it into one of their trucks just now."