The pauro a state of calm, but everyone could feel the rapid ges sweeping through Oscorp.

  With Reid holding 50% of the shares, equal to Norman’s, and seg the chairman position, Oscorp suddeered an era of rapid growth.

  Beyond serum and materials research, Reid expahe pany’s reato the pharmaceutical industry.

  Within just two months, Oscorp introduced several new drugs targeting different diseases. They easily passed regutory iions and began spreading their influence across the Uates.

  As the pany adva breakneck speed, people gradually fot about the former chairman, Norman Osborn. Now, all they knew was that under Chairman Lex Luthor’s leadership, Oscorp was climbing to new heights.

  Norman saw it all. Aed it.

  Though he had stepped down as chairman, his wife, Emily, remai Oscorp as a researcher.

  But now, as 1994 approached, Emily had also left the pany.

  Her hereditary illness had begun to show symptoms. Feeling her body growing weaker, she returned home, pnning to rest for a while.

  "Norman."

  Back at home, Emily looked at her disheveled husband.

  The once-proud man before her was a shadow of himself. Stripped of his position, he could only watch as Oscorp thrived under Luthor’s leadership. His ce at making a eback seemed further away than ever.

  ed by thoughts of revenge, Norman ed everything else, even his wife.

  "What is it, Emily?"

  Hearing her voiorman stood up and embraced her gently.

  "If you’re tired, the. I promise, one day, I will take back everything that belongs to us."

  Emily nodded softly, but in her heart, she hid the truth.

  She chose not to tell Norman about her worsening dition.

  ‘I'm still young. I hold on a little longer.’

  She decided to wait until Norman had recovered from his loss before breaking the o him.

  That night, after dinner, Emily went to che Harry in his room while Normareated to his workroom, his face gloomy.

  "Luthor… you bastard!"

  Just the thought of that arrogant face filled Norman with rage.

  He pulled open a drawer. I was filled to the brim with Scarlet Serum.

  Notman hadn’t just been wasting away at home, wallowing in anger.

  He had spent this time using what little influence he had left in Oscorp to secretly gather the serum.

  He had been biding his time, waiting for the perfeent to strike.

  Norman uood the situation clearly now. He was no longer in the ter of power. There was no way he could return to Oscorp under Luthor’s watchful eye.

  ‘Luthor has to die. Only then I recim what is mine.’ Norman thought to himself.

  Just then, the phone in his r.

  He didn’t answer, but hung up immediately.

  He khere was only one perso who had this number and would call him.

  Silently, Norman packed the serums into a bag and walked out of the room.

  As Norman passed by Harry's room, he saw Emily pying with their son.

  "Norman? Where are you going at this time?"

  Looking at his wife and son, Norman, whose heart had already plunged into darkness, smiled again. Only in front of them did he remain the kind ale man he used to be.

  "I'm just going out for some fresh air. I'll be back before midnight. You and Harry should rest when it's time, especially you, Emily. Your health has never bee."

  "Alright, I uand."

  Her husband's gentle words eased the worries in Emily's heart. After saying goodbye, she watched as Norma.

  'I just hope Norman pull himself together soon. As long as we're together as a family, does it really matter who trols Oscorp?'

  Seeing his mother frown, Harry, who wasn’t even a year old yet, reached out his tiny, soft hand and smoothed out the crease between her brows.

  "Oh? Harry, you don’t want Mommy to be sad?" Emily chuckled softly. "Alright, Mommy promises you, I won't be sad in front of you again."

  ……

  Norman drove straight to Hell’s Kit.

  Inside an old apartment plex, there was a stairwell ste area that he had secretly purchased and verted into his own private boratory.

  He wasn’t worried about Luthor disc this pce because he had sought help elsewhere.

  As he approached the entrance, he the two men in bck guarding the b's door.

  "Send my regards to Mr. Fisk. If I succeed in the end, he will certainly be rewarded."

  "Uood. We'll be taking our leave, Mr. Osborn."

  The two meed, leaving Norman alo the b entrance.

  The force behind him was clear—it was Wilson Fisk, or Kingpin. Having split from his previous gang, he structed his own empire, now ruling almost the entire Hell’s Kit.

  But Norman had no i in Fisk’s affairs.

  He pushed open the b door and stepped ihe first thing that caught his eye was a massive bck case.

  Entering a pre-set code, the case automatically unlocked, revealing a full set of high-tech onry.

  Guns of various sizes, explosives, khese were the very same specialized ons Reid had mentioned during an Oseeting.

  Reid had seized the opportunity when Tony Stark shifted his focus toward heavy firepower. He developed a line of specialized equipment tailored for users of the Scarlet Serum, carving out a highly profitable market that wouldn't flict with Stark Industries.

  These ons were Oscorp’s ticket to greater heights.

  And they were also Norman's key to killing Luthor.

  As Oscorp's chairman, Luthor’s security was on par with that of the U.S. president.

  It was nearly impossible for Norman to create an act or hire an assassin to take out Luthor.

  No one was willing to provoke Luthor for Norman’s sake.

  In a world where profit ruled everything, Norman held far less value than Luthor. He was so insignifit that he didn't even have the qualifications to disrupt the status quo.

  An assassin might uphold professiohics by not betraying a t, but they could just as easily refuse a job for their own safety.

  No professional assassin would risk their life tet Lex Luthor, the current darling of the U.S. military, for someone as insequential as Norman Osborn.

  **

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