Doctor Otto's Controllable Nuclear Fusion Plan

"Harry, do you have a moment? I was thinking we could grab dinner tonight..."

"Sorry, I have some things to take care of tonight."

Even though it was only the first day of school, Harry had clearly become the center of attention—no fewer than twenty blonde, blue-eyed women had asked him out in a single day.

Back when he first transmigrated, he might have been interested in that sort of thing, even looked forward to it. But now, his mind was on other matters.

"Harry, over here. Doctor Otto is already waiting for you."

His father, Norman Osborn, had been waiting at the entrance for some time. After the Energy Monopoly mission was issued, Harry had thought it over carefully. Pushing hydroelectric and grid power across the entire United States, let alone the globe, was next to impossible.

That was when he thought of the famous Doctor Octopus—a genius on par with Tony Stark in the lore, who in the films nearly pulled off a real Controllable Nuclear Fusion.

"Doctor Otto, this is my son, Harry Osborn. Harry, this is Doctor Otto."

The two shook hands amicably.

"I hear you're very interested in Controllable Nuclear Fusion. As a matter of fact, I've already started researching related topics recently." Doctor Otto took the initiative to explain his findings.

Ever since awakening the system, Harry felt noticeably sharper. By Marvel Universe metrics, he'd rate himself around a 4 or 5. Developing fusion on his own was probably out of reach, but with the answer right in front of him, he could follow a good chunk of it.

"Enhancing atomic resonance frequency to boost fusion effects for energy output... It looks like your calculations are complete..."

"Exactly! What we need now is an experiment. Even if you hadn't come to me, I would have approached Osborn Group sooner or later."

Harry smiled. This technology was a must-have, but before that, he needed to help Doctor Otto dodge a few landmines.

"Doctor Otto, based on your data, I think your experimental design seems a bit lacking in safety measures."

"Oh?" Otto froze.

"How do you plan to handle the strong magnetic fields and gravitational effects generated by this 'miniature sun' after a successful fusion reaction?"

"That, I've already considered."

Doctor Otto stood up and walked over to something covered with a gray cloth, then yanked it off.

No surprise—it was Doctor Octopus's arms, though they looked incomplete.

"These are my assistants—mechanical arms with advanced AI. I'll control them directly through my brain to suppress the magnetic fields from the fusion, as well as phenomena similar to solar flares."

"Direct neural control? And what about safety? If they're really that intelligent, how do you guarantee they won't influence you?"

"I've thought about that too. That's why I developed a suppression Microchip, right here."

Otto pulled out a shiny little gadget, and Harry smiled.

"So you're relying on this? No offense, Doctor Otto, but I hope you'll take this experiment more seriously. This external chip can't withstand high heat or strong magnetism. If anything goes wrong during the experiment, it's gone."

"And if the mechanical arms go rogue... Actually, even if they perform as intended, the gravitational pull and strong magnetic fields from the fusion plasma will heavily affect the surroundings. I'd say your safety measures are inadequate." Harry continued laying out his assessment, holding the data in one hand while calculating on the blackboard with the other.

"But..." Doctor Otto tried to interject, but Harry cut him off.

"Still, I'm glad you at least acknowledge the risk of these mechanical arms controlling you."

The lab fell silent. Norman, sensing the tension, stepped in to smooth things over. "It seems the first meeting hasn't brought us to a consensus. How about we go back and think things over?"

Doctor Otto wanted to say something, but he knew that, on reflection, the safety of the suppression chip was indeed questionable.

"No... Father, I didn't raise all these points to dismiss Doctor Otto's ideas." Harry put down the data and walked up to Doctor Otto.

"I think your approach has a very high chance of success. I'm bringing up these issues purely from a partner's perspective, hoping you'll take safety more seriously."

"P-partner?" Otto's face showed surprise. "But, the problems you just mentioned..."

"Those are just minor details. I think you're rushing a bit. Since you're confident you can create real Controllable Nuclear Fusion, I believe you can solve these problems too."

Harry cleared his throat and extended his hand to Otto.

"On behalf of Osborn Group, I'm proposing a partnership. As a matter of fact, the company still has a stockpile of Tritium Element, originally intended for this purpose."

Doctor Otto grabbed Harry's hand with both of his, visibly excited.

"Thank you for your generosity. Your company won't regret this decision!"

"Then, shall we call it a day?" Norman smiled, seeing the two had reached an agreement.

"One more thing," Harry said. "Actually, I've been running a private project on Neural Implants and Prosthetic Limbs."

In truth, this wasn't his own research—it was tech the system had unlocked.

"Could it be applied to my mechanical arms?" Otto asked tentatively.

"No, no... What I mean is, your mechanical arms gave me an idea. I think this technology has a lot of untapped potential. I plan to start a separate project on it, and the mechanical arm issues will be resolved within that project."

"But... my own project already keeps me busy. If you want me to handle another one..."

"No... of course I wouldn't ask you to manage two projects. I plan to have Doctor Connors take charge."

At the name, both Otto and Norman paused.

Connors was a former military doctor who lost an arm on the battlefield. After retiring, he became a molecular biology professor at Empire University, obsessed with reptile genetics and their regenerative abilities. He was also a close friend of Otto's and a grant recipient from Osborn Group.

In other words, the infamous Lizard Doctor from the original story.

"But... Connors is fixated on reptile regeneration. If he were willing to accept a Prosthetic Limb, he would have given up that research long ago," Otto said.

"Yeah, I wish he'd drop it too. If you hadn't insisted we keep funding him, I'd have pulled the plug ages ago," Norman added with a shrug.

"That's because the Prosthetic Limb tech on the market is garbage. Anyway, I'll convince him." Harry already had a plan. In the original story, only the experiments on Spider-Man succeeded; the rest had serious flaws.

Before this, Harry had been bankrolling Connors out of fear he'd snap from lack of funding and go rogue. Now that he had other options, that experiment had to be shut down.

Even with money to burn, you don't just torch it.