Osborn Group lived up to its reputation as a major corporation. Its efficiency was remarkable, and the test results came back very quickly.
Just as Du Mu had said.
A cancer patient had drunk the Life Potion and, in an astonishingly short time, miraculously regained normal bodily functions!
Cancer cells still remained in his body, but in every other respect, he was much like a healthy person. As long as he kept taking the potion, even cancer wouldn't pose a threat to his life.
Unfortunately, despite a detailed analysis by Osborn Group's top research department, they couldn't identify any of the potion's ingredients, let alone replicate it.
Norman was both delighted and disappointed by the conclusion.
He immediately turned to Du Mu and asked eagerly, "Mr. Doom, how much of this Life Potion do you have left?"
Du Mu shook his head. "None. This is the only bottle I've managed to make so far."
Norman: "???"
Why the hell hadn't he said that sooner?
Norman's hopes instantly collapsed.
If he'd known, he would have drunk it himself!
Before Norman could recover from his regret, Du Mu continued, "However, if I have enough materials and time, I can try to make more Life Potion."
Du Mu actually had some Life Potion left, but he certainly wasn't going to hand it over just like that. Otherwise, how could he keep fishing for more?
At those words, the gloom on Norman's face vanished, replaced by an eager smile.
He stepped forward and patted Du Mu firmly on the shoulder. "Mr. Doom, you're officially hired. From now on, you're a senior researcher at Osborn Group."
"I'll arrange your lab as soon as possible. Just let me know what you need, and Osborn Group will do everything it can to support your research."
"As for your salary and benefits, I can offer you the highest tier, including a house and a car worth at least a million. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. What do you think, Mr. Doom?"
Du Mu's expression turned solemn, and he replied with conviction, "I'm ready to go through fire and water for Osborn Group, Mr. Osborn!"
Norman smiled with satisfaction. "Excellent. I'll have someone show you around Osborn Group in a little while. I have only one request: make another batch of Life Potion as soon as possible."
"No problem, Mr. Osborn."
Du Mu nodded.
After a few more pleasantries, Norman turned and left.
As the big boss of Osborn Group, he was very busy—not like Tony, that spoiled big shot who dumped all his work on his assistant, Pepper Potts.
Before long, the door opened, and a blonde young woman in a lab coat walked in.
"Hello, Mr. Doom. I'm Gwen Stacy, and I'll be showing you around Osborn Group," Gwen said with a smile.
"All right."
With Gwen leading the way, Du Mu began touring the Osborn Building.
First, they visited Osborn Group's biology department, where they met the person in charge.
"This is Professor Curt Connors, one of Osborn Group's distinguished scientists," Gwen introduced him.
"Hello. It's nice to meet you."
Professor Connors was friendly and held out his left hand.
Du Mu noticed that he had no right arm and glanced curiously at his information.
[NPC: Curt Connors] [Codename: Doctor Lizard] [Affection: 0] [Evaluation: Marvel's Yang Guo, Spider-Man's nemesis, Peter's mentor] [Status: Missing an arm]
Another Super Villain?
Du Mu was a little surprised. It seemed like he'd run into quite a few Super Villains today.
And every one of them had a close connection to Peter and had become an enemy of Spider-Man.
Could that unlucky kid Peter have some kind of curse on him?
After that, Gwen showed Du Mu around the other departments at Osborn Group. He saw all kinds of completed and ongoing research projects, every one of them worthy of being called cutting-edge technology.
Du Mu's eyes were opened. He finally got a real sense of Osborn Group's enormous resources.
The heads of all the departments were top experts in their respective fields. It was as if every leading talent in America had gathered at Osborn Group.
By comparison, Stark Industries was basically being held together by Tony alone.
Come to think of it, that made Tony seem even more impressive.
As they rode the elevator, a Black man wearing glasses hurried inside.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
The bespectacled man apologized repeatedly to Du Mu and Gwen as he frantically pressed the elevator buttons.
Seeing the man's gleaming bald head, almost shiny enough to reflect light, Du Mu assumed he was another top talent and instinctively checked his information.
[NPC: Max Dillon] [Codename: Electro] [Affection: 0] [Evaluation: Living battery, Spider-Man's nemesis, Spider-Man's superfan]
Du Mu: "..."
Wait, had he somehow wandered into a Super Villain headquarters?
Why were there Super Villains everywhere he went?
The craziest part was that they were all Spider-Man's nemeses.
Du Mu thought Osborn Group might as well change its name to the Spider-Man Villain Training Center.
At the thought, he cast a suspicious glance at Gwen beside him.
Could she be another one of Spider-Man's enemies?
[NPC: Gwen Stacy] [Codename: Ghost Spider] [Evaluation: Daughter of the New York police chief; in the parallel universe Earth-65, she's also Spider-Man—Spider-Gwen]
Well, she wasn't Spider-Man's enemy. She was a different version of Spider-Man.
"Osborn Group really is full of talented people!"
Du Mu couldn't help exclaiming.
Then he asked, "System, what does Earth-65 mean?"
[That is the game server's designation. Each server corresponds to a randomly generated, independent game world. Familiar NPCs may exist there, but they are entirely different individuals.]
This time, the Game System didn't brush Du Mu off with some canned response. It gave him a serious answer.
Du Mu's interest was instantly piqued. "Then can I go to other game servers?"
[Yes. Players can unlock access to other servers by continuing to increase their identity permissions.]
"Awesome!"
Du Mu grew excited.
He realized that the game seemed to be far richer than he'd imagined.
There was plenty to look forward to!
Du Mu asked, "Then what's the designation of our server?"
[Earth-9527]
"That's a pretty good number."
Du Mu chatted as he finished touring the Osborn Building.
However, he still hadn't found the secret project Norman was working on with the military.
It went without saying that Norman had hidden it. It might not even be inside the Osborn Building.
Du Mu wasn't in a hurry.
After all, Nick Fury hadn't set a deadline. He could take it easy at Osborn Group and keep reading his comics.
P.S. We're almost at 100,000 words! Please keep reading, vote, and add the novel to your library, everyone. It means a lot to the author!