Although both Osborn Group and S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to cover up the Lizardman incident, the Daily Bugle had rendered all their efforts futile—the truth about Doctor Lizard had been exposed.
The Daily Bugle not only provided photos of Doctor Lizard, but also laid out his background in meticulous detail—everything except the Vampire matter.
Inside Osborn Mansion, Norman Osborn, his face dark and menacing, cursed loudly. "Damn Daily Bugle! How do they know so much? I'm suing them. Tell Legal to prepare a lawsuit."
Norman was truly furious, because Osborn Group had been doing terribly lately.
Osborn Group was a massive conglomerate with considerable achievements in pharmaceuticals, arms manufacturing, and energy. The problem was that all of those sectors had run into trouble recently.
In the arms sector, the Iron Suit had appeared and stolen all the spotlight. In energy, Stark Industries was preparing to make a full-scale push into clean energy. As soon as that news came out, Osborn Group's stock price plummeted.
And now there was the Doctor Lizard incident. It was easy to imagine how badly Osborn Group's stock would fall. The board would definitely hold Norman accountable, so it was only natural that he was furious.
Nothing had gone right lately.
Norman's trusted aide, the Indian Niles, said, "It seems to be connected to Andrew Wang from Rebirth Group. He appeared at Osborn Group yesterday, and one of our intern researchers is his girlfriend."
"Andrew Wang? The TikTok guy?"
Norman thought for a moment and said, "Arrange a meeting with him. I want to have a chat. Perhaps he'll be willing to invest in Osborn Group. If he joins us, the pressure from the board will lessen considerably."
Niles was somewhat surprised, but he nodded. "All right. I'll contact him."
Norman said, "The Group's performance has been poor lately. If we want to turn things around, our only hope is the Human Enhancement Potion we're developing with General Ross. Urge them to speed things up."
"Chairman, aren't you worried something else might go wrong?"
Niles asked hesitantly. Doctor Connors had run into trouble because Norman wanted to proceed directly to human testing with the potion. Connors had refused, been fired as a result, and in his despair, chosen to inject himself with the potion.
Norman said viciously, "Then be more careful."
Niles did not dare say anything else and left respectfully.
After Niles left, Norman began coughing repeatedly. He was in such a hurry not only because of the stock price, but also because his body was failing.
The Osborn Family had always suffered from a hereditary disease. Both the Lizard Potion and the Human Enhancement Potion were actually Norman's means of saving himself. Now that the Lizard Potion had proven ineffective, he could only place his hopes on the Human Enhancement Potion.
Norman thought with a determined expression, Harry, I will help you break free from the Osborn curse.
The next day, Norman met with Wang Nanxuan. After going to enormous lengths, Norman finally persuaded Wang Nanxuan to agree to inspect Osborn Group.
Norman did not know that Wang Nanxuan was only pretending. From the beginning, he had intended to become a new shareholder of Osborn Group.
Why did Wang Nanxuan want to become a shareholder of Osborn Group? Because Osborn Group possessed the world's finest genetic laboratories and weapons production lines, some of which could not be bought even with money.
When the opportunity came in the future, Wang Nanxuan would use his position as a shareholder to purchase those laboratories and production lines, then send them to Rebirth Hell.
Would such an opportunity arise? Of course it would. Osborn Group was practically a gathering place for villains.
While the Doctor Lizard incident was causing an uproar, the Vampire civil war finally erupted. However, unlike everyone had expected, it began quickly and ended even faster.
One day. The Twelve Pureblood Nobles were defeated by the Hybrid Vampires in just one day, and that even included the time everyone spent waiting for Speaker Gennaro to be purified by sunlight.
"Even a bunch of pigs would have more fighting ability than those Pureblood Vampires, wouldn't they?"
That was what Nick Fury said after learning the results of the battle. With trash like that, how could they possibly deserve to stand on equal footing with humanity?
Deacon Frost not only destroyed the Vampire Council and captured the Twelve Elders alive, but also stormed Blade's hideout and captured Blade.
Blade's mentor and partner, Whistler, was severely wounded by Deacon while trying to save Blade. Deacon did not kill him, leaving him in the base to die.
As he felt his life gradually slipping away, Whistler was filled with unwillingness. There were still so many Vampires left to kill. How could he die?
"Do you want to know the meaning of life? Heh, just kidding. Whistler, do you want revenge? Do you want to keep killing Vampires? As long as you sell your soul to me, all of that can be fulfilled."
A voice suddenly rang out in Whistler's mind. Unable to speak, Whistler replied with his thoughts, Take it. As long as I can keep killing Vampires, you can have whatever you want.
This respected old man had lost his family to Vampires. In this life and the next, he had only one thought—to kill Vampires.
"As you wish."
With those words, Whistler sank completely into darkness. When he woke again, he could not feel his body. It was as if he had been trapped in a Little Black Room, and the discomfort was unbearable.
"You're awake? Don't worry. The fusion will be complete soon."
A voice spoke at that moment. Whistler was still confused when he suddenly felt the presence of a body again, though it seemed very different from his former one.
Whistler hurriedly opened his eyes and discovered that he was in a laboratory. Even more surprisingly, countless readings floated before his eyes—temperature, air pressure, and so on—as if he were wearing a pair of high-tech data glasses.
Then Whistler saw himself in a mirror and froze in shock—he had become a two-meter-tall silver robot. His sleek body was filled with industrial beauty. Moreover, his face was largely modeled after his appearance before death. He even had a beard—well, a metal beard.
Hell Lord Wang Nanxuan said to Whistler, "Whistler, welcome to Rebirth Hell."
Whistler climbed to his feet and demanded angrily, "Who are you? Why did you turn me into a robot?"
Wang Nanxuan said, "Don't be so angry. This was your own choice. Have you forgotten your obsession before death?"
"My own choice? Right, this really was my own choice."
Whistler paused, then remembered what had happened. He said readily, "As long as I can kill Vampires, becoming a robot is fine. But can this robot actually do the job?"
Trask, who existed in robot form, snorted. "How could my work possibly fail? This is a Vampire-Hunting Robot I built specifically for you. It's worth over a hundred million dollars."
Whistler whistled and said to Trask, "Over a hundred million dollars? Never thought I, Whistler, would get to use something so expensive. Buddy, give me an introduction."
"Its standard weapons include a Gatling Machine Gun, miniature missiles, Explosive Flying Needles, anticoagulants, a High-Vibration Silver Sword, and more."
Trask said, "In addition, your eyes can release Ultraviolet Rays, with several different modes."
"Ultraviolet eyes? Cool!"
Whistler was overjoyed. Never one to care much about manners, he reached down to scratch himself as usual. Then he asked in astonishment, "You actually built that thing too? Does it work?"