Dr. Connors's regeneration laboratory was located on the twenty-first floor of the Osborn Bio-Industry building.
The entire laboratory was filled with a dazzling array of instruments.
Some of those instruments looked incredibly expensive based on appearance alone.
However, what caught Hawk's attention most was the stone inside a transparent case behind the glass in front of him.
Hawk did not know what kind of stone it was.
But...
His instincts told him that this was what he had been searching for.
A thought crossed Hawk's mind, and he looked at Gwen beside him.
"What is that?"
"What?"
Gwen was briefly stunned. She withdrew her gaze from Max Dillon, who was undergoing repairs, glanced in the direction Hawk was pointing, then looked back at him.
"Oh, that? Gamma Rays."
"?"
Gamma...
And rays?
Another question mark appeared over Hawk's head, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "My physics grades might not have been as good as yours, but they weren't bad. Since when could Gamma Rays turn into stones?"
Gwen laughed.
However...
After thinking for a moment, she looked around first, seemingly making sure the other researchers were not paying attention to them. Then she lowered her voice and said to Hawk, "Do you remember what happened in September 2009, when the Hulk tore through New York City?"
Hawk froze slightly, then nodded. "Of course I remember."
How could he possibly forget?
That day could be said to have been the most unforgettable day since he had transmigrated here.
Not only because that was the day his cheat ability came online.
There was another reason as well.
In short, Hawk remembered that day with absolute clarity.
Gwen shrugged.
"Then you should know about Abomination. He used the Hulk's blood to mutate into that ugly monster."
"Yeah."
Hawk nodded again, then seemed to realize something as he looked at Gwen.
"You mean this stone is... Abomination?"
"Of course not. These stones were transported here from Quantico Military Base."
Gwen laughed. "The Hulk... Dr. Bruce Banner mutated because of an explosion at the Gamma Lab, but it seemed that some unusual changes occurred during the explosion. These stones were dug out of the laboratory after the blast."
Hawk was dumbfounded.
"Then why did you mention Abomination just now...?"
"Oh."
Gwen suddenly understood and shrugged. "I thought you didn't know the Hulk was Bruce Banner, seeing as you don't have a computer or a phone..."
Gwen paused there, then seemed to think of something and looked at Hawk. "You haven't still not bought a SIM card for the phone I gave you last time, have you?"
Hawk pulled out the phone from his pocket. Its appearance was remarkably similar to an iPhone 4. "I did."
Gwen had given him this phone twenty days ago, when she brought him to Osborn to start work.
He had not wanted to accept it, but Gwen had given him a reason that was hard to refuse.
As everyone knew.
Workers needed to clock in.
Osborn was no exception.
And Gwen had not even given him a chance to refuse. She had stuffed the phone into his hand and turned to leave.
After taking out his phone and giving it a shake, Hawk brought the conversation back to the stone behind the glass that gave him such a strange feeling.
"How did a stone from Quantico end up here?"
"Because Dr. Connors's experiment also has military backing."
Gwen explained.
More accurately, most experimental projects invested in by Osborn had military support. Some experiments were even conducted jointly with the military.
After all, Osborn Industries had always maintained close ties with the military.
In the beginning, Osborn Industries had merely been a food factory that made herring cans. But when war came, the still-young Norman Osborn saw an opportunity and decisively sold off the herring can production lines to replace them with weapons and ammunition lines.
Even now, although Osborn Bio-Industry no longer sold arms, it had continued to maintain a strong cooperative relationship with the military.
Dr. Connors was one such example.
Dr. Connors's research project was a joint venture between Osborn and the military; the laboratory had simply been placed at Osborn Bio-Industry.
After all, Dr. Connors had previously been a military doctor.
After hearing Gwen's explanation, Hawk nodded in understanding.
At that moment, inside the laboratory behind the glass, a researcher was securing a vial of unknown serum, then operating a mechanical arm to pick up the so-called Gamma Stone.
"What are they doing?"
"Regeneration Serum Experiment."
"Lizard Serum?"
Dr. Connors's attempt to study lizards and uncover the secret of their ability to regenerate severed limbs was no secret.
After all, Dr. Connors's papers were right there.
But most people did not think much of it.
There were many reasons for that.
Hawk had not looked into it closely. Whether before awakening his Cosmo or now, he had never intended to pursue scientific research.
So Gwen was not surprised that Hawk knew about it. She nodded and said, "Dr. Connors believes that combining Lizard Serum with Gamma Rays might be what he has been searching for all along."
Hawk nodded, then looked at the stone held by the mechanical arm. A thought crossed his mind, and he looked at Gwen. "Can I go in and take a look?"
He wanted to confirm something.
When Gwen heard that, she recalled the scene of Hawk reading papers in the library.
"You aren't actually interested in Gamma Rays that can turn people into monsters, are you?"
"No. I'm interested in the Gamma Rays inside this stone."
Hawk shook his head. From a scientific perspective, Gamma Rays could not be stored; after all, once Gamma Rays were emitted, they disappeared.
What?
This was the Marvel Universe, where science did not matter.
Fine, then never mind.
Gwen thought it over. After confirming that merely taking Hawk in for a closer look would not spoil Dr. Connors's experimental progress, she nodded.
Hawk was delighted inside. But as he followed Gwen in, he called out to Max Dillon, who was still being repaired nearby, "Max, I'm going in to take a look at that magical stone."
He did not call him Mr. Dillon because Max would not allow it. Perhaps because Hawk knew Max's name, Max regarded him as a friend.
Yeah.
It would be better if Max's skin were a little lighter.
Hawk thought to himself.
Max, who had been bent over his repairs, turned around and gave him an honest smile. "All right. I'll be done fixing this soon too."
Hawk thanked him, then followed Gwen, who had swiped her card ahead of him, into the laboratory.
Just then.
As Hawk followed Gwen into the laboratory, his gaze locking once again onto the Gamma Stone held by the mechanical arm.
In an instant.
A message came from his Cosmo.
It was it.
It was it.
This was it.
Gamanion!
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