The Superhero Era Begins

Justin Hammer caved after holding out for just one day. He had no choice—his private servers contained plenty of information on illegal dealings. Sending even a little of it to the FBI and the IRS would be enough to ruin him.

Although the United States was governed jointly by capitalists and politicians, the capitalists themselves were far from united. Corporate warfare came in endless forms, and Hammer Industries had shareholders besides him.

Once what Hammer had done came to light, Hammer Industries would at most be fined. But Justin Hammer would definitely be forced out and made to surrender all his shares. Faced with Wang Khan's threat, he had no way to resist.

Three days later, Hammer Industries' robot processing plant in New Jersey officially changed hands.

For that, Justin Hammer was cursed bloody at the company's shareholders' meeting and nearly lost his position. Meanwhile, Umbrella Corporation acquired a top-tier processing plant at a fire-sale price, instantly easing its production-capacity shortage.

"President Wang, Hammer's processing plant is fully equipped. With some minor modifications, it can become a production base for Spider-Bots. Now, we only need to recruit enough skilled workers before we can devote ourselves fully to production."

As Carter spoke, she wore an admiring expression, like an obsessed fangirl. Any man stared at by a beautiful woman with that look would have his vanity swell beyond measure.

Wang Khan naturally knew Carter was acting, but he was more than happy to play along.

"Hahaha! How could a mere Justin Hammer possibly be my opponent? With a little trick, I made him suffer in silence. Tell the marketing department to take orders at full capacity. The time has come for Umbrella Corporation to grow at high speed."

"President Wang, you're amazing. I believe that under your leadership, Umbrella Corporation will definitely grow into a business giant like Osborn and Stark Industries."

Wang Khan swaggered over to the floor-to-ceiling window and struck the pose every boss loved: hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.

"Catching up to Osborn and Stark Industries is only the first step. My goal is to make Umbrella Corporation the number one super corporation in the world. Only then can this company become the world's umbrella."

"As long as you work hard, Sara, I definitely won't treat you unfairly in the future."

"President Wang, you will definitely succeed."

Carter wore a lovestruck expression, then went off to work full of energy. But the moment she left the office, her face immediately turned flat, and even a trace of disdain appeared deep in her eyes.

"A mere Chinese-American, yet he really doesn't know his place."

News of Hammer Industries selling its robot processing plant at a fire-sale price quickly spread through New York's business circles. Many thought Justin Hammer must have gone mad, but some of the big players understood that Wang Khan had to have gotten hold of some dirt on Hammer—and serious dirt at that.

Using it as leverage to acquire a factory at an ultra-low price was something those big players had done plenty of times themselves. Furthermore, Wang Khan had never shown his face from start to finish, and the transaction between both sides had gone through proper procedures. It was reasonable and legal, leaving others with nothing to criticize.

But after this incident, the major players began to regard Wang Khan as an opponent not to be underestimated.

Aside from the dispute between Umbrella Corporation and Hammer Industries, Green Goblin Osborn had also been having a rough time lately.

His Super Serum project had been developed in cooperation with the military, and the buyer was the US Military.

Unfortunately, the military's project supervisor was replaced at precisely this time. The new general did not think highly of the project, and the serum had severe side effects. As a result, the general planned to terminate the partnership with Osborn and instead work with Search Aerospace to develop a single-pilot spacecraft.

If the partnership was terminated, not only would Osborn's early investment go down the drain, but its stock price would also suffer a devastating blow. Its assets could evaporate by tens of billions, a loss far greater than simply shutting down one project.

So Green Goblin rode his Goblin Glider straight to Search Aerospace's experimental base and wiped out both their single-pilot spacecraft project and the general who had planned to go back on his word.

As a result, the general opposing the Super Serum project was dead, and the project would no longer be shut down. Osborn's stock price not only failed to fall, but rose sharply because of the accident at its competitor, Search Aerospace.

But just as Green Goblin happily announced the good news at the shareholders' meeting, the shareholders had actually joined forces to sell Osborn Industries. The buyer was Search Aerospace, the very company Green Goblin had just sabotaged. If the acquisition went through, Green Goblin would not go bankrupt, but he would certainly be kicked out of the company's management.

Looking at the smug expressions of the shareholders, Norman Osborn's already extremely unstable mind took another major step toward the Green Goblin personality.

A few days later, at the Search Aerospace Carnival, Green Goblin rode his Goblin Glider and directly wiped out Osborn's traitorous shareholders. There, he also clashed with Spider-Man, New York's newly minted friendly neighborhood hero, for the first time, and nearly got his own son, Harry Osborn, killed as well.

Wang Khan saw the news about Green Goblin and Spider-Man in the biology lab. In the news footage, he also saw a red-haired beauty whose appearance perfectly matched Western beauty standards: Spider-Man's destined love interest, Mary Jane.

Upon seeing those figures, Wang Khan confirmed that this world's Spider-Man was probably Peter Parker from the Original Spider-Man Trilogy, not the later Iron Man godson played by Holland, much less the Spider-Man who got Gwen Stacy killed.

It was not just Green Goblin and Spider-Man. Tony Stark also had a piece of moderately significant news.

Not long ago, the Third Tony Stark Military Family Compensation Gala had been successfully held.

Tony Stark, who had always loved being in the spotlight, suddenly appeared at his own gala just as everyone believed he would be recuperating at home. He even danced with his little assistant, who was wearing a backless dress.

The dancing was not important. What mattered was that Tony Stark had appeared at the gala, which meant his Mark 2 Suit had been completed and had just undergone a not-so-successful test flight. In short, Marvel's most iconic Super Hero, Iron Man, had been born.

"Green Goblin, Spider-Man, and Iron Man—the curtain has risen. I need to pick up the pace too."

Wang Khan was wearing sterile clothing as he walked to the operating table. Lying on it was none other than the female lead of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the future Quake, Daisy Johnson. At present, she still did not know her origins. Her name was Skye, and she did not even have a surname.

Wang Khan first drew 200 milliliters of blood from the unconscious Skye, then manipulated the equipment to drive a long needle into her spine and extract some spinal fluid.

Skye's body stiffened, and her features scrunched together as though she were enduring tremendous pain. Fortunately, she had already been anesthetized, so it did not trigger a more intense reaction.

Holding Skye's blood and spinal fluid, he placed them into the instruments.

"All right. Let's see what the Inhumans did to your genes."