Race

After Lin Hai and the others returned to New York, he and Harry gathered their other two friends again and held a get-together in the backyard of his master's clinic.

In the backyard of the Chen-Style Chinese Medicine Clinic, Peter was holding a handful of wooden spikes Lin Hai had grown, examining them from every angle. Gwen cradled a cup of flower tea and listened intently as Lin Hai recounted their half-month trip to Missouri.

Peter lightly tapped the wooden spikes against the table in front of him, producing a crisp sound. After Gwen shot him a glare, he immediately stopped making noise.

Perhaps to change the subject, Peter looked at Lin Hai and Harry. "So this alien flower bud just generously lets you mooch energy off it for free?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Choose your words carefully, Peter. We call it 'non-destructive sample research.'"

"Oh, so it's still mooching."

"Pfft, hahahahaha~" Peter's jab made Gwen and Lin Hai burst out laughing.

Harry felt a little helpless. Even now, he still could not get used to Peter's sarcastic, chatterbox side.

After night fell and he saw his friends off, Lin Hai sat alone in the backyard of the medicinal plant shop. He gazed at the still-dim stars above New York and fell into thought.

He knew that Norman Osborn would soon investigate everything that had happened during this trip down to the smallest detail. Naturally, the data in the hands of the accompanying researchers would not escape Norman's eyes either.

But he was not worried about it at all. This was the confidence brought by his growing strength. Even if Norman Osborn truly developed the enhancement serum that would not have appeared until much later because of this trip, even if Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin two or three years early, Lin Hai was not afraid.

The Green Goblin was merely Spider-Man's archenemy. When fighting Spider-Man, they were evenly matched at best, though the Green Goblin could often gain a slight advantage.

But that was Spider-Man—the poor kid Peter Parker in his homemade suit, relying on tough but not sharp webbing and overwhelming physical strength as his means of attack—not Lin Hai.

Based on Lin Hai's current understanding and command of his abilities, he believed he would not lose to Peter when Peter had first become Spider-Man. So he was confident that even if the Green Goblin emerged, he could handle the problem.

But Harry...

Harry Osborn was now the friend of Lin Hai, Peter, and Gwen. He was also Norman's son. Caught between them, Harry would definitely have a hard time when that day came.

Therefore, before the Green Goblin emerged, Lin Hai needed to complete the research he had established long ago into the Osborn genetic disease as much as possible and solve the Osborn family's hereditary illness. Only then would there be no regrets.

Norman Osborn's investigation came faster than expected. On the first day Lin Hai and Harry returned to school, Norman came looking for Lin Hai.

Two black sedans from Osborn Enterprises were parked outside the school gates. The rear window rolled down, revealing Norman's sharply defined face. "Can we talk?"

During the thirty-minute conversation, Norman did not mention the flower bud at all. He merely "casually" brought up the Human Enhancement Project currently under development, as well as "treatment plans for certain special genetic defects." Every sentence was like a carefully designed fishing hook.

But Lin Hai was not a little fish that would let others handle him however they wished after biting the hook. After responding to Norman's probing with impeccable answers, he returned to his master's clinic.

After greeting his master, he went back to the medicinal plant shop next door, picked up a pen and paper, and sat in a rattan chair.

He was recalling the Green Goblin's arsenal from the original work. Aside from a body enhanced by the serum, the Green Goblin also had a glider with a top speed of three hundred kilometers per hour and a payload of half a ton; Pumpkin Bombs powerful enough to blow down concrete walls; and armor that could withstand ordinary bullets.

After comparing them, Lin Hai realized that aside from being unable to fly, he had no other weaknesses that would be exploited. Even if he could not stop the flying Green Goblin, he would not be in any danger himself.

Time passed quickly, and it was already late May. There was less than a month left before Midtown High School's summer break in June.

At the same time, Lin Hai's research had entered a new stage, but he still was not completely certain he could solve the Osborn genetic disease. He knew that if he kept burying himself in research without genetic samples from the Osborn family, there would still be no new progress.

So he went to Harry's private laboratory in Osborn Tower. Harry was calibrating a set of gene sequencers. Lin Hai leaned against the doorframe, watching his friend's back.

"The sample activity is ten percent higher than last week." Harry pushed up his glasses. His voice was calm, but Lin Hai noticed the faint tremor in his fingertips—one of the early symptoms of the Osborn family's genetic disease, a sign of neurological instability.

Lin Hai did not respond immediately. Instead, he quietly released a thread of Emerald Energy, allowing it to spread through the laboratory like thin mist. The information fed back by the energy made him frown slightly.

Although Harry's life force maintained a basically healthy rhythm, it resembled a lamp with unstable voltage. It remained lit, but sometimes brightened and sometimes dimmed. This abnormal fluctuation was identical to Norman Osborn's, only far less severe.

"Harry." Lin Hai suddenly spoke. He intended to make Harry reveal the hereditary disease. "The life force of you and Mr. Norman seems abnormal."

Harry's fingers froze above the control panel. The laboratory fell into a brief silence, broken only by the hum of the machinery reverberating through the air.

Harry slowly turned around. The gaze behind his glasses was complicated and profound. He was silent for several seconds, then took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So you really can sense it."

Three minutes later, the two stood in a private lounge on the top floor of Osborn Tower. After unlocking a safe with his fingerprint, Harry took out an encrypted file and unfolded a set of shocking brain scans.

"Osborn family hereditary neurodegenerative disease." Harry's voice seemed to come from far away. "The onset age is usually between thirty-five and forty-five. The symptoms include motor dysfunction, hallucinations, and ultimately, total organ failure."

"Starting with my great-great-grandfather, every male in the Osborn family developed symptoms of nervous system degeneration around the age of forty. They lost their memories, their emotions spiraled out of control, and eventually they died of total organ failure."

He switched to a genetic image, where the base pairs in a certain sequence showed obvious misalignment.

"My father is forty-two this year." Harry gave a bitter smile. "And my genetic test shows a one hundred percent chance of onset."

"So the Human Enhancement Project is my father's last hope for survival, and perhaps mine as well. That is why he suddenly accelerated the project's progress. The data we brought back from Missouri made certain theories possible."

Lin Hai's heart tightened. "Has he already started human trials?"

"Next week." Harry's voice was barely audible. "The first batch of volunteers has already signed the agreements."

Lin Hai understood that Norman could no longer wait. After obtaining the data from their trip to Missouri, combined with the Osborn Group's existing research results on enhancement serums, Norman could not wait to solve his own hereditary disease.

It was actually easy to understand. When a drowning person saw a lifeline within reach, he would desperately grab it.

Harry then pulled up another set of data. "By using extreme genetic recombination to forcibly repair the incorrect sequence, we can theoretically get rid of this huge problem in our bodies."

"But theoretically, it could also destroy personality stability." Lin Hai pointed to the side-effect report that had been deliberately downplayed in the file.

Harry nodded silently.

He then told Lin Hai that besides beginning human trials next week, the experiment was also scheduled to be fully completed in twenty days.

Lin Hai quickly did the math. It was late May, the final month before summer vacation. In other words, Norman planned to complete the human testing before the end of June.

"Does he know the risks?" Lin Hai asked.

Harry showed a helpless, bitter smile. "He knows. But he also knows that without the enhancement serum, in three years at most, he'll become a cripple who can't even hold a spoon steady—and after that, he could die at any moment."

The screen switched to another set of data. Lin Hai immediately recognized it as simulated experimental data for the enhancement serum. The results were alarming: seventy percent of simulated cases developed brain mutations, twenty-five percent suffered direct genetic collapse, and only five percent showed "stable enhancement."

"My father believes he's part of that five percent." Harry closed the file. "After all, the Osborn family has always been... lucky."

Lin Hai made no comment. Someone who was not lucky enough could not have founded an Osborn Group this large. But judging from the outcome in the original work, Lady Luck clearly had not favored Norman this time.

"I need a blood sample from you, Harry. If there's anyone in this world who can help you and your father, it has to be me." Lin Hai looked into Harry's eyes and spoke firmly.

"No problem." That was Harry's answer. He understood that Lin Hai was right. Lin Hai was probably the only one who could help him and his father now.

After obtaining Harry's blood sample, Lin Hai quickly threw himself into targeted experiments.

What came next was a race between Lin Hai and Norman: would Lin Hai solve the Osborn genetic disease first, or would Norman develop a finished enhancement serum first and become the villainous Green Goblin?