Factory Ambush

Peter exclaimed as he looked at the massive factory located in the suburbs.

The factory was nothing like he had imagined. Rather than spewing industrial exhaust, it was orderly and exceptionally clean.

"Actually, that's thanks to the company's previous biological research. We cultivated a special bacterium that can break down exhaust gases produced by combustion. Oh, this project was launched at the same time as that spider."

"That's so cool... Then why not promote this bacterium more widely? It should be able to solve a lot of pollution problems." Peter asked in confusion.

"Although this new bacterium can process exhaust gas, its efficiency hasn't reached the level we envisioned, so it isn't cost-effective. Even if we promoted it heavily, most factories would still choose to release their exhaust directly."

"But isn't a good atmospheric environment more important?"

"If you ask it that way, then of course it is. But for a business, surviving is more important. There are many reasons why our factories use this bacterium to treat exhaust."

One reason was that Harry did not want to build factories in the East. It was too far away and would make it difficult for him to maintain control over them. But if he wanted to establish factories near New York, he had to meet the corresponding environmental standards. This was already the result of negotiations with the authorities.

The vehicle drove into the industrial park, and the two switched to walking. Not far away, workers were testing a new batch of Civilian Exoskeletons.

"Miner's Friend... maximum load capacity: 450 kilograms. Equipped with an air purifier and 50 liters of oxygen for extreme environments. Impact-resistant armor and a cushioning system are installed on the head and shoulders to prevent injuries from falling objects..."

Peter read off a string of specifications, and Harry nodded. It felt quite good to hear someone recite the details of his invention so thoroughly.

"With this exoskeleton, the protection it provides workers is beyond question. Unfortunately, it's too expensive. There's no way every worker can enjoy this kind of protection," Harry continued.

"Yeah, that's such a shame."

Young Peter fell silent. After looking over Miner's Friend, the two planned to head in the other direction.

But just as Peter curiously looked around, a sharp pain suddenly exploded in his head—

BOOM!

The sudden explosion blew the roof off the factory building, and a huge chunk of rubble came crashing down toward Harry!

Bang!

"Damn it, what's going on?!"

Harry was both shocked and furious. If Peter had not shoved him aside at the last moment, he might have been finished on the spot!

"Mr. Harry Osborn, are you alright?!" The workers hurriedly gathered around him, but another situation immediately arose.

Several large trucks smashed straight through the gates and drove into the industrial park!

Harry finally understood what was happening. Someone had come to stock up on his goods!

"Fuck, where's our security?!" Harry cursed furiously, but the worker stammered that all the security personnel had vanished...

"Damn it! Contact the NYPD! Peter, hide!"

"Mr. Harry Osborn, what about you?" Peter asked worriedly. Though he had superpowers now, he was not Spider-Man yet.

"Me? Of course I'm protecting my property!"

With that, Harry jumped into a Miner's Friend exoskeleton beside him and charged toward the petty thieves who were busy loading up goods!

When the Gang members saw Harry charging at them, they opened fire. At that moment, Harry was glad he had not yet put the cost-reduced miner exoskeleton into production—aside from the top shield, that thing had almost no bodily protection at all!

Harry tore off the oxygen tank on his body and hurled it fiercely at the robbers. Someone shot the oxygen tank, and flames instantly engulfed several of them!

Bang!

Harry slammed into a truck and flipped it over in one motion!

"Fuck, this thing's a beast! Those with guns, open fire! The rest of you, hurry up and load the stuff!"

The bullets striking Harry did not hurt much, but the protective panels used on Civilian Exoskeletons were only ordinary steel. Something could go wrong if he took sustained fire head-on.

So Harry could only advance by circling around behind cover, overturning trucks and kicking over the petty thieves.

"Ah! It's that guy!"

"Damn it... my bones!"

"Run! Run!"

Harry looked toward the disturbance in confusion. He saw a man in a dark red bodysuit effortlessly beat the robbers into a heap on the ground, doing so even more efficiently than Harry in his exoskeleton.

Daredevil?

"Fuck, it's that guy again!" One robber with an accent muttered something under his breath before turning to put on an exoskeleton.

"Don't! The boss said we can't wear those things!" another guy warned him, but it was too late. The kid already had half his body inside it.

Seeing this, Harry secretly laughed. Every exoskeleton produced by Osborn Group required a password to activate. Before delivery, a new password would be set according to the customer's requirements before the product was handed over.

If someone tried to force their way into one without knowing the password, the result would be just like this kid's.

"Fuck, why can't I move? What the hell, I... mmph! Mmm!" The exoskeleton quickly turned into a Restraint Device, and the Gang kid instantly lost his voice.

Bang!

A massive gunshot rang out in the night, and the man suspected to be Daredevil swiftly ducked behind cover.

"Mr. Harry Osborn, I didn't expect you to be so capable. But I suggest you don't move. This sniper rifle of mine might not be able to penetrate the military Power Armor you sell to the military, but it has more than enough power to punch through that thing you're wearing."

Everyone stopped moving. A man who appeared to be the leader tossed out a phone, and a low voice rang out.

If that man in the dark red suit was Daredevil, then the one speaking... was Bullseye!

Harry's mind raced, and he immediately realized that Kingpin was the one who had robbed him!

"What do you want?" Harry said through gritted teeth.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Harry Osborn. We didn't know you would be here today. As compensation, you can keep those trucks you overturned. But we'll have to take these vehicles."

"..." Harry was furious, but there was nothing he could do about these people right now.

He looked at Daredevil, but Daredevil was helpless as well. After all, they were out in the open while Bullseye lurked in the shadows.

"And then there's you. My target today was only these things. Why did you have to come and cause trouble?" This was directed at Daredevil, but no one answered.

In the silence, Harry watched them haul away three truckloads of his Exoskeletons, his heart bleeding.

"That guy's gone," Daredevil said after a while. "Be careful of the first person who calls you." With that, he left as well—the classic scene of superheroes and supervillains meeting: both sides came and went without a trace, leaving behind a complete mess.

Harry did not stop them. He did not say a word, merely silently marking this debt down in his heart—

Kingpin, is it? Just you wait.

"Uh... Mr. Osborn, is it over?"

At that moment, Peter's voice came from behind him.

"Peter? Are you all right? Those damned bastards!"

"Of course... Mr. Osborn." After saying that, Peter hesitated, as though unsure whether he should say what came next.

"What is it?"

"Uh... actually, we recently learned a few things about circuits at school, so I tried making a Tracker."

Peter took out his phone. On the screen, a flashing red dot was slowly moving.

"I think I accidentally threw it into those people's car just now."