Chapter 101: The Cruel Norman Osborn

At Oscorp Industries...

Jack and his men found themselves back in Norman's lab. As he looked at the homeless man inside the glass chamber, who had undergone a drastic personality change, Jack frowned deeply.

"Norman, is this the side effect you mentioned?"

Jack had originally thought that the enhancement serum was a success, something that could completely improve a person's physical abilities—turn them into a superhuman.

But the side effect he was now witnessing made him hesitant.

The homeless man inside the glass chamber no longer resembled a human; he looked more like an enraged madman. His eyes were bloodshot, and thick veins bulged across his skin, writhing like worms on the surface of his body. He hammered his fists against the glass with all his strength, producing loud bangs.

Norman, busy mixing some kind of chemical at the experiment table, responded without looking up, "Yes, as of now, the test subject is showing symptoms of dissociative identity disorder."

"Dissociative identity disorder?" Jack narrowed his eyes, gaining a new understanding of the serum's side effects.

Looking once more at the homeless man in the chamber, Jack realized that the original man might already be dead—killed by the new personality that had emerged.

At that moment, Jack completely dismissed any thoughts of using the serum on himself. Using it now was no different than committing suicide. His lackeys, meanwhile, watched the homeless man with curiosity, like they were observing a monkey in a zoo, occasionally making mocking comments.

After a while, Norman finished preparing a vial of white liquid. "Alright, you all need to step back a little."

Though Jack's men were reluctant, they obediently moved away from the glass chamber. Norman walked over with the vial in hand, saying, "If it truly is a case of dissociative identity disorder, there's still a chance we can treat it."

Jack's eyes lit up. "There's a way to treat it?"

Norman nodded, inserting the newly mixed serum into a tube. "Whether we can treat him or not, we'll need to get him out first."

"With the kind of strength he has now, we can't handle him," Jack admitted.

No kidding—those muscles. Even a single punch from him would be devastating.

"You won't need to. Just pull him out once he's unconscious. Now go over there and put on the protective suits and masks," Norman instructed.

Jack and his men suited up and returned.

"Alright, let's begin..." Norman glanced at them before pressing a button in front of him.

Moments later, white vapor began to emerge from the top of the glass chamber. In just a few seconds, the vapor filled the entire space. The sound of the homeless man banging on the glass gradually faded away.

Jack looked puzzled. "What is this?"

"A sedative I developed—strong enough to knock out an elephant instantly," Norman replied. "He should be unconscious now. You can take him out."

Norman pressed another button, and the vapor quickly dissipated. The homeless man lay motionless on the floor, his previous wild energy completely gone.

Jack furrowed his brow. "How can you be sure he's really unconscious?"

Norman gave Jack a sly look, one that Jack found deeply unsettling. But then he saw a robotic arm inside the chamber prod the homeless man a few times. The man remained limp, like a corpse, showing no reaction to the arm's movements.

"Are you convinced now?" Norman asked.

Jack chuckled. "Yes, but I still have another question for you."

"Go ahead."

"You've managed to create something like this. Can you make a suit like Tony Stark's Iron Man armor?"

Norman, his expression calm, replied, "We're working in different directions."

"Tony Stark is nothing without his Iron Man suit. But I'm working on making a person truly strong."

Of course, Norman wouldn't admit that he couldn't replicate Tony's technology.

Jack, half understanding what was going on, nodded and motioned for his men to help move the homeless man out of the chamber. It took all of them an enormous amount of effort to get the man onto a hospital bed, where they bound him securely.

Looking at the small hospital bed, Jack wasn't entirely convinced. "Are you sure this bed can hold him if he wakes up?"

"Don't worry," Norman replied calmly, "I added a muscle-paralyzing agent in the drug I administered earlier. Even if he wakes up, it'll take at least 24 hours for him to regain his strength."

Only then did Jack nod in relief. He knew that if this guy woke up suddenly and went on a rampage, no one present—no, no one in the entire Oscorp building—would be able to stop him.

A monster like this? Only heroes like Daredevil, Spider-Woman, or Iron Man could take him down.

"Alright, I'm going to continue my experiment now. You're welcome to watch if you like," Norman said, almost as if he didn't care. "I won't stop you."

Jack smirked. "Fine by us. We thugs don't get to see scientific experiments every day."

Norman chuckled too. "Suit yourselves. But I can't guarantee you'll enjoy what you see."

His sarcastic remark only further annoyed Jack's men. They were about to snap back when Jack's glare silenced them. Instead, they stood quietly, watching Norman prepare for his experiment.

However, after observing for a while, Jack couldn't help but comment, "Is this an experiment or surgery?"

Norman, fiddling with tools commonly used for craniotomy, didn't even look up as he replied, "Human anatomy is similar in principle. I'm going to remove a portion of his brain tissue to see if it affects his personality shift."

As Norman pulled down a surgical curtain, the others could only see his vague outline through the screen. Hearing Norman speak so casually about such a cruel procedure made even Jack frown in silence, opting not to say anything more.

They watched in silence.

Norman was about to use the craniotomy tool to open the homeless man's skull when, suddenly, the man's eyes snapped open. Norman, taken aback, froze for a moment.

Bloodshot eyes stared coldly at Norman as the man spoke in a chilling tone, "I told you... once I get out, I'll kill you all."

From a distance, Jack couldn't hear the homeless man's words. All he saw was Norman pause. With a sneer, Jack taunted, "What's wrong, Norman? Don't tell me you're chickening out."

But before Norman could respond, the homeless man suddenly broke free of one of the restraints and grabbed Norman by the arm. With a violent yank, he hurled Norman across the room.

Jack watched as Norman crashed through the curtain and flew straight out into the open.

Meanwhile, outside Oscorp...

Peter Parker jumped out of the cab, tossed the fare into the backseat without bothering to wait for change, and dashed into the building. He sprinted towards Norman's lab, ignoring everyone who tried to greet him along the way. Right now, all he cared about was finding Norman and getting to the bottom of everything.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the direction of the lab, followed by a panicked shout: "Run for your lives!"

...