Osborn's Stars

"Apologies, everyone. Doctor Otto and I were delayed by some matters."

Every movement of the massive mechanical arm drew exclamations from the crowd, and several military personnel's eyes lit up.

"Ahem." Harry stepped to the center of the stage, tugging at his collar. "It seems everyone is quite interested in Doctor Otto's assistant, but this is not for sale."

"Mr. Osborn, Doctor Otto, we all know that during the last demonstration, Doctor Otto had to control the reactor on-site. Will it be the same this time?" a reporter raised their hand to ask.

Harry looked at Otto and handed him the microphone.

"No, not at all." Doctor Otto forced a smile and said, "After repeated experiments, we've established a new mathematical model and refined the magnetic confinement device accordingly. There's naturally no need for manual control anymore."

"We've constructed a magnetic confinement system using multiple non-planar coils. As everyone knows, when isomagnetic lines form a continuous closed curve..."

"Wait, Doctor Otto!" Whether it was from consecutive all-nighters making him groggy, Harry quickly stopped Otto from rambling on with technical jargon.

"Uh... sorry."

Laughter rippled through the venue.

"Apologies," Harry smiled at the audience. "Doctor Otto is exhausted. Let's not say too much and get straight to today's main event."

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you share my feeling? The starry sky always makes us feel so small—the stars are beautiful yet out of reach."

"Today, however, is the closest you'll ever get to the stars. Please enjoy the stars of Osborn Group!"

As Harry gave the command, beams of high-energy rays shot through the suspended Tritium Element, triggering resonance as Otto had envisioned. A dazzling light appeared in the reactor core—

Hummm—

Even with sunglasses on, the blinding glare forced everyone to shut their eyes. Only Harry could gaze directly at this masterpiece without flinching!

"Now, Osborn Group holds the stars in its hands."

[Quest: Energy Monopoly]

[Establish and control New York City Power Grid: Completed]

[Nuclear Fusion Project achieved: Quest Overfulfilled]

[Quest Reward: Electric Lifeform, Superconducting Materials Science]

Zap!

A terrifying bolt of electricity suddenly burst from the energy storage facility, then vanished without a trace in an instant.

Everyone was blinded by the glare; no one saw it. Only Harry felt a strange sensation.

His consciousness connected with this newborn little life.

Just as Gaia gave birth to Uranus and the pantheon of gods, as God created Adam and Eve, Harry was the creator of this little life.

"And I... will call you Leining."

The little one's joy transmitted into Harry's mind, then disappeared into the power grid.

"Total energy output is positive. The reactor is running smoothly, Mr. Osborn! Everything's going well!" Max's voice rang through the venue via the communicator.

Now, it was time for applause and cheers!

"The Sun on Earth: Osborn, the Light of Humanity." — New York Daily

"We've Grasped the Stars: Cheer for Osborn Group!" — Daily Bugle

"New York Electricity Prices Plummet: Citizens Across States Cry, 'Governor, Get Us One Too!'"

"With Falling Electricity Prices, New York State's Production Costs Drop Sharply: A New Industrial Revolution on the Horizon?"

Evening.

After finishing social engagements, Norman and Harry returned home.

"You're my pride, son." Norman looked at Harry with immense satisfaction. "I know I've set the bar impossibly high for you before, but I never imagined you'd exceed my expectations ten-thousand-fold."

Harry shrugged and poured Norman some red wine.

"Honestly, I don't see it as pressure."

Harry spoke the truth. In his past life, he was an orphan, always alone even after stepping into society. Expectations from family never felt like a burden to him.

"Compared to what you've achieved, it's hardly pressure at all," Norman joked. "What's the next step? By the way, barring any surprises, the results for the gubernatorial election after New Year's are already locked in."

"As expected."

Given Norman's current standing, running directly for US President wasn't impossible. But the presidential election had just ended, so there was nowhere to run even if he wanted to.

Besides, if he ran for president now, he'd hit the alien invasion right at the transition—the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Of course, becoming New York State Governor wasn't much better, but Harry naturally had ways to help his father.

"I heard Stark's been cooking up something remarkable over there. It could pose a threat to us."

Norman said as he turned on the projector.

The image displayed information obtained through his intelligence channels.

Unsurprisingly, it described the Mark I and "some kind of powerful energy source"—the Arc Reactor.

"That's indeed the case." Harry waved his hand.

"But the threat isn't from that shiny reactor—it's from the thing in front of it."

Harry's words piqued Norman's interest. In his view, the contraption Stark had cobbled together couldn't hold a candle to their own Power Armor.

"Still, Father, no need to worry too much. Remember the positioning of our Power Armor?"

Designed for war—an armored unit to shield infantry on vast battlefields, fully replacing tanks in urban combat.

This technology came from the system, its prototype rooted in a series called Fallout, though the battery used was a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. The system was stingy in that regard.

This was a wartime technology meant for ordinary soldiers, not a superhero's suit. Functionally, it fell short of the Mark armor soon to debut.

The key to Harry's tech lay in the Exoskeleton. Power Armor, in simple terms, was a layer of skin wrapped around an exoskeleton—functionally akin to a tank, but more agile. The Mark armor, meanwhile, packed in a lot of extras: filtration systems, weapon systems, a personal computer—speaking of which, Harry suspected that thing's computing power could even be used for mining, and with decent efficiency at that.

And besides... Harry clearly remembered that during Stark's first test flight, he'd slammed head-on into the wing of a fighter jet at high speed—and walked away without a scratch.

The Power Armor in Harry's hands might not crumple into scrap from such an impact, but the person inside? That was another story.

In movies and shows, these combat units were often portrayed as flimsy as paper, yet now they stood before Harry as an unsolved mystery demanding his attention.

"So... you're saying his tin can, despite its advanced tech, won't replace ours?" Norman seemed to grasp Harry's line of thought, though he couldn't figure out how his son had reached that conclusion.

Harry nodded.

"Then... what about that mysterious reactor?"

At his father's question, Harry smiled and opened the hidden door in the living room.

"You mean this?"

In the lab beyond the door, a reactor glowing with blue light shone brightly.

"We've already cracked Cold Fusion technology. Miniaturization is just one step away."