Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman Chapter 766: The Final Ultimatum

Norman Osborn hurriedly said, "Actually, I have some good news to tell you. Some time ago, we conducted animal tests for the Physical Enhancement Program. The white mice that inhaled the vaporized serum all showed a certain degree of enhancement.

"Even the weakest mouse had physical capabilities more than ten times greater than before. The strongest one was so powerful that it was almost impossible to believe it was a mouse. We simply haven’t finished compiling the full written report yet, which is why we haven’t reported this to the military."

"Excellent." General Stryker stopped and turned back toward the people from Oscorp. "Dr. Storm, have there been any side effects during the experiments?"

"Only one case."

Norman Osborn cut in. "All the other animal experiments were extremely successful. That exception was merely a statistical outlier and has little value as a reference."

"I wasn’t asking you! I was asking Dr. Storm." General Stryker made no attempt to conceal his hostility. "What was the side effect?"

The head of Oscorp’s Research Center looked at the overbearing general, then at his boss’s face, which had turned darker than ever. Naturally, Dr. Storm found himself in an extremely difficult position.

But the conscience and objectivity of a scientist compelled him to tell the truth. "In fact, one of the white mice became extremely irritable and mentally unstable. Its aggression was exceptionally high."

"And what is your recommendation?"

Norman Osborn stepped in once again. "That was simply a failed test. We may have made an error during the experiment that we haven’t identified yet.

"In fact, aside from Dr. Storm, every member of the research team believes we can proceed to the next stage. Namely, human trials."

General Stryker nodded impassively. "Dr. Storm?"

Norman Osborn reluctantly stepped aside, not forgetting to signal his longtime subordinate with his eyes.

But Dr. Storm ignored Norman Osborn’s hint and admitted frankly, "We have to take the entire research program back to the equation stage and review it from the beginning."

"No!" Norman Osborn glared at his subordinate. "I believe this is simply a matter of dosage. As long as we determine the optimal dosage based on the subject’s body weight, we can reduce the side effects to a negligible level."

After explaining himself to General Stryker, Norman Osborn moved closer to Dr. Storm and whispered viciously, "Have you gone insane? You want to go all the way back to the equation stage and start over?"

That was tantamount to tearing everything down and starting from scratch. How could Norman Osborn possibly accept that?

Although General Stryker had not heard their whispered conversation clearly, how could he fail to understand what this scene meant? Anyone who had risen to the rank of general had seen all manner of bizarre situations.

Moreover, although Stryker had not been the one to initiate the Physical Enhancement Program with Oscorp, he knew what lay at the core of the project.

The inherent flaw of "making good people better and bad people worse" had always been a side effect that the secret program struggled to eliminate. A truly excellent soldier should simply know how to obey orders. Whether someone was good or evil was fundamentally irrelevant.

With that thought, General Stryker suddenly lost interest. Oscorp’s project ought to be terminated, and its funding redirected toward other projects where it could produce greater value.

General Stryker called out loudly, interrupting the internal dispute at Oscorp. "Dr. Osborn, although I don’t have much confidence in the prospects of this program, I’ll still give you an opportunity."

At this point, Oscorp board member Fergus stepped forward. "The general is scheduled to visit Exploration Aerospace in two weeks to observe the testing of their humanoid flight armor.

"On paper, that fully enclosed armor far surpasses your flight glider in both performance and protection. Its chances of receiving a military contract and becoming standard-issue equipment are very high. The general intends to support that project."

General Stryker continued, "Actually, it isn’t a question of whom I intend to support. It’s about using our limited funds more efficiently. The military has to terminate certain projects that offer insufficient returns.

"If you want to continue researching the Physical Enhancement Program, then achieve a breakthrough within two weeks. Convince me, and convince the members of the House Armed Services Committee.

"If you can’t do that, we’ll have no choice but to invoke the termination clause in the original contract and shut down the program, while sealing away all its files, finished products, and unfinished products.

"After all, the core of this program originally belonged to the military. We merely borrowed Oscorp’s research capabilities. It isn’t the case that anything you develop automatically belongs to you. Is that clear?"

Though it appeared to be a two-week grace period, this declaration was essentially a final ultimatum.

Once the program was shut down, it wouldn’t simply mean that the military would stop providing funding and reclaim and seal away the research materials and results it had originally supplied.

Never mind whether Oscorp had made additional investments along the way. The mere possibility that everything related to the project could be classified as part of the program under the pretext of "military secrets" was already disastrous enough.

For example, could the secret manufacturing process for the dementia medication, or that nanoprocessing machine, be classified as an extended research product of the Physical Enhancement Program and consequently sealed away by the military?

Oscorp could certainly submit evidence and testimony from researchers working on the different projects to establish that the machine had nothing to do with the Physical Enhancement Program.

But that would take time, and it would mean fighting the military in court. It wasn’t as simple as saying a few words or submitting a couple of documents and expecting the military to immediately release everything.

Until the military clarified the matter, those assets could not be touched. When military secrets were involved, mistakes could mean far more than a fine. Everyone responsible could end up in prison.

It might look like something that could be resolved by spending some time in court. But who had accompanied General Stryker?

Two members of Oscorp’s board of directors!

Oscorp’s board was no harmonious gathering of friends, nor was it Norman Osborn’s personal fiefdom. Those bank representatives were nothing more than starving hyenas. The moment this bull showed any weakness or exposed an opening, they would tear him apart and feast on him!

With the U.S. military, Oscorp’s largest customer, standing together with the bank-appointed directors, there was no way they weren’t plotting something!

At least, if Norman Osborn had been given the same opportunity, he would never have hesitated to make a move himself.

So, although this seemed like something that could be solved with enough time, time was precisely what Norman Osborn lacked.

The board members would never let this opportunity slip away. The Jewish financial groups behind these banks had coveted Oscorp for a very long time.

After seeing off the military delegation, Norman Osborn also noticed the two board members wearing expressions of absolute confidence.

He understood better than anyone that this was only the beginning. His own cards were few, and his chances of winning were slim.

To survive this crisis, the only option was for the Physical Enhancement Program to succeed, leaving the military with no reason to cancel it and forcing them to continue providing support.

To achieve that goal, an aggressive idea gradually emerged in Norman Osborn’s mind.

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