"It's done."
The pen tip jabbed hard into the tabletop, tearing through the yellowed paper.
Walter Hardy shoved aside the pile of drafts covered in formulas, braced both hands on the edge of the table, and gasped for breath.
His eyes were horribly bloodshot. He hadn't slept in thirty-six hours. Pressure, fear, and utter mental exhaustion made him look like a dying man.
But he had done it, forcing calculations that should have taken a week into half that time.
"These are the complete parameters." Walter stared fixedly at the massive figure beyond the blast-resistant glass. "Now let my wife and daughter go!"
Kingpin stood outside the glass, his white suit spotless. He raised a finger.
A researcher hurried inside, picked up the paper, and scanned it. His eyes instantly lit up with feverish excitement. "Boss, the logic checks out! The neural stabilizer ratio is perfect. This will absolutely neutralize the serum's aggression-inducing side effects!"
"Prepare it," Kingpin said in a low voice. "I want the finished product immediately."
Clutching the formula, the researcher rushed toward the sterile workstation at the back.
Walter shook the metal table with all his strength. "You have the formula! Fisk! You gave me your word!"
"I promised not to kill you." Kingpin turned the ring on his left thumb. Under the cold light, the dark red scar on the right side of his face looked like a dead centipede. "But I never said the experiment wouldn't need a host."
Walter's face went deathly pale.
The blast door slid open. Two fully armed mercenaries dragged Felicia inside.
"Felicia!" Anastasia screamed and tried to rush toward her, but the guard behind her struck the back of her neck with his rifle butt. She crumpled to the floor.
"Mom!" Felicia struggled, driving her Martin Boots hard into