Two months later.
Osborn Group, top-floor boardroom.
The atmosphere was solemn—almost oppressive.
A dozen or so middle-aged men and women in suits sat around the long conference table. They were the core of the Osborn Group's power: the board of directors.
A cup of coffee sat in front of each of them, but few had touched theirs.
All eyes were now fixed on the young man beside the seat of honor.
Harry Osborn.
Norman Osborn sat at the head of the table, unable to conceal his pride.
He cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
"Everyone, I've called you here today to announce something momentous—something worthy of going down in history."
Norman's voice was steady and powerful, filled with unquestionable confidence.
He gestured toward Harry beside him.
"My son, Harry, and the team he leads have made a groundbreaking research breakthrough with the assistance of Dr. Curt Connors."
Harry stood and turned on the projector in front of him.
A series of complex charts and molecular models immediately appeared on the enormous screen.
"Directors, I've found a way to precisely target and repair cancerous genes."
Harry looked around at the directors' varied expressions, then dropped a bombshell.
"In short, we've beaten cancer."
"!!!"
The boardroom erupted!
"What?!"
"Beaten cancer? Harry, do you know what you're saying?"
"This... This is impossible! Norman, this is too..."
"This is absurd!"
Doubts, cries of astonishment, and disbelieving murmurs rose one after another.
The directors' faces changed. They looked at Harry with suspicion.
Cancer, the incurable disease that had plagued humanity for centuries, had supposedly been beaten by some young kid?
It sounded like a bad joke!
"Quiet!"
Norman Osborn slammed his hand on the table, his commanding gaze sweeping across the room.
The commotion died away at once.
"I know this sounds unbelievable,"
Norman said gravely,
"but the data doesn't lie."
Harry promptly switched the projection, displaying one detailed set of experimental results after another, including animal trials and preliminary clinical reports.
The sample size was small, but the results were astonishingly consistent: cancer cells had been eliminated, regardless of where in the body they were found.
The directors studied the data on the screen, their skepticism gradually giving way to shock.
The results... were too perfect.
Too perfect to believe.
"Harry, these results are certainly... astonishing. But there's a long way to go from the lab to actual clinical use. The risks are too great."
An older director with a shrewd air and gold-rimmed glasses adjusted them, his tone cautious.
"Exactly,"
another director agreed,
"The ethical concerns, safety testing, mass production... If anything goes wrong at any stage, the Osborn Group could be ruined!"
"And the costs will be bottomless! We—"
"That's enough."
Norman Osborn interrupted them again.
He stood, bracing both hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly. His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's.
"Risk? Since when has the Osborn Group been afraid of risk?"
"We're pioneers at the forefront of our time, not cowards trailing behind everyone else, picking up crumbs!"
"Everyone here knows what this technology would mean if it succeeds!"
Norman's voice grew more impassioned.
"It would change the fate of humanity forever! And we, the Osborn Group, would lead that transformation!"
"We should give the young man a chance! Give the future a chance!"
He took a deep breath and declared, each word ringing with conviction:
"I, Norman Osborn, am willing to stake everything I own on this project!"
"Whoa—"
Even Harry was stunned.
He looked at the almost feverish light in his father's eyes, his own heart stirred.
The technical materials he'd provided were theoretically sound, but there were still many technical details to refine and verify before they could be put to actual clinical use.
He'd thought his father would offer, at most, financial and logistical support. He hadn't expected...
Such boldness. Such trust...
Harry felt conflicted.
With Norman Osborn—the company's founder and largest shareholder—backing the project wholeheartedly, the other directors, despite their lingering doubts, found it difficult to say anything more.
As the founder, Norman's authority within the Osborn Group ran deep. Besides, the project didn't seem like a pipe dream after all.
And even if it failed in the end, someone was willing to take responsibility...
Besides, if it succeeded, they would make history...
In the end, tempted by the enormous potential rewards, the board approved the project.
The Osborn Group would give Harry Osborn its highest priority for resources and its full support.
Two months later.
New York, Osborn Group headquarters, press conference venue.
Flashbulbs blazed like daylight as countless reporters and cameras turned toward the podium.
Major media outlets from around the world, experts and scholars in biotechnology, and countless people watching the Osborn Group's every move were all waiting.
The announcement the Osborn Group had made in advance was simply too shocking: they were about to reveal a major breakthrough that would change the world.
With all eyes upon him, Harry Osborn walked calmly onto the podium in a well-tailored suit.
At the sight of Harry Osborn's remarkably young face, the crowd below gasped.
Once onstage, Harry adjusted the microphone and swept his gaze over the packed audience.
The venue fell silent at once. Everyone held their breath.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
Harry's voice rang clearly and powerfully through the sound system, filling the entire venue.
"Today, I stand before you to announce something that will change our lives forever."
He paused slightly, emphasizing his next words.
"Today, we will change history..."
"After tireless work by the Osborn Group's research team, we've successfully developed a gene therapy."
"This treatment can repair cancerous genes in the human body with precision, efficiency, and safety."
He drew a deep breath and spoke each word distinctly:
"From this day forward, cancer will no longer be an incurable disease."
"Humanity will finally be free of cancer!"
Boom!!!
The entire press conference erupted as if an atomic bomb had gone off!
The reporters surged forward like mad, their questions crashing over one another like a tidal wave!
"Mr. Osborn! Is this true?!"
"You really have beaten cancer?!"
"This is unbelievable!"
"Could you explain the treatment's exact mechanism?"
"When will it be available?!"
Harry raised a hand, signaling for everyone to calm down.
"I know you have a lot of questions."
"To make sure this great technology can benefit all of humanity as soon as possible, the Osborn Group has decided..."
"We will make the core patents for our cancer treatment available and open them up for licensing!"
"The related research papers will also be published in leading journals over the coming weeks!"
"We hope research institutes and pharmaceutical companies around the world will get involved, so we can speed up the spread of this technology together!"
Harry continued. The potential benefits of this technology were simply too great, but the Osborn Group alone couldn't handle them.
A monopoly would only bring endless trouble. It was better to open things up voluntarily and become a leader in the field,
"We believe that by establishing an open technology platform and inviting partners around the globe to join us, we can improve the treatment and reduce costs as quickly as possible, ensuring that its benefits truly reach everyone who needs them."
The press conference swept across the globe like a Category 12 hurricane!
People from all walks of life were in an uproar!
"Has the Osborn Group gone crazy? They've sent a young man out to announce that he's beaten cancer? Have they abandoned all decency just to grab people's attention?"—That was the first reaction of countless people.
"What a publicity stunt! It's got to be a gimmick! If cancer were that easy to beat, someone would have done it already!"—Online, skepticism and mockery flooded the internet.
"Isn't the Osborn Group's stock about to hit its daily limit down? Who would dare make a joke like this?"—The financial world was largely pessimistic.
But at the same time, other voices began to emerge.
"Harry Osborn is a recognized genius! He got two doctorates at just seventeen. Maybe he really did pull it off?"
"I trust the Osborn Group! They wouldn't joke about something like this!"
"If it's true... it would be a blessing from God! My mother could be saved!"
In an instant, the entire world was set ablaze by Harry Osborn and the Osborn Group's press conference.
Debate, skepticism, anticipation, insults... All kinds of voices mingled.
The name Harry Osborn spread to every corner of the globe at an unprecedented speed.
Some hailed him as a "genius of the century" and a "savior of medicine."
Others dragged him through the dirt, calling him a "fraud" and a "clown desperate for attention."
Until...
The first batch of Osborn Cancer Targeting Agent officially went on sale.
And under the world's watchful gaze, it successfully cured the first publicly reported patient with late-stage cancer!
The patient was an elderly man who had been critically ill, with doctors having given him no hope of survival.
But after receiving Osborn's gene therapy, the cancer cells in his body disappeared at a visible rate, while his vital signs quickly returned to normal!
When the old man appeared on television, vigorous and in good spirits, thanking Harry Osborn and the Osborn Group for giving him a second chance at life...
The world erupted!
The voices of doubt vanished without a trace!
In their place came a deafening wave of praise and excitement!
"Oh my God! It's true! They really did it!"
"Harry Osborn! He's a god!!"
"The Osborn Group has changed the world!"
"Hurry! Go buy the treatment! It'll be gone if you wait!"
Leading pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions from around the world flocked to the Osborn Group like sharks scenting blood, waving checkbooks and vying for production licenses and partnership agreements.
Public opinion about Harry Osborn swung a full 180 degrees. Praise poured in from every direction!
"A giant who's ushered in a new era!"
"A milestone in the history of human medicine!"
"A shoo-in for the youngest Nobel laureate!"
Praise came flooding in like the tide.
The Osborn Group's market value shot upward like a rocket, climbing at an unprecedented and terrifying pace, breaking record after record!
Meanwhile, in a remote corner of the world...
Deep inside a secret base, dimly lit and filled with cold metal and advanced equipment,
William Stryker sat before a computer, his expression dark.
The screen displayed detailed papers on the technology that Harry Osborn's team had been publishing one after another.
Stryker stared fixedly at the complex genetic sequences and technical diagrams on the screen.
His fingers tapped the desk unconsciously. His expression shifted as he sank into deep thought.
This young Osborn... and this technology...
Perhaps... it could be used for something else...
Before you continue