#65 - Silk and the Green Goblin

"If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have become like this!" Norman's expression was twisted, clearly furious to the extreme. Yang Le and Gwen couldn't tell if his face was red from the heat or from anger.

"Tell me more," Yang Le said, crossing his arms to reduce his own heat. He was worried that Norman would suffer heatstroke and pass out if this continued.

Sandwiched between two superhumans and stripped of all his equipment, Norman could only honestly explain the whole story.

"It was about two years ago," Norman said slowly, leaning back on the pillow. Since he couldn't refuse, he might as well get comfortable.

"My company, Oscorp, was researching a serum at the time. We hoped that after injecting this serum, humans could gain superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and reaction abilities, just like Captain America. Do you know Captain America?"

"We know," Yang Le said without emotion. "Continue with your story. We'll interrupt if there are any problems."

"Okay," Norman nodded and continued.

"We started the research full of confidence, but we encountered difficulties right from the start. The serum we developed was practically the strongest poison. No rat could survive the experiment, and human trials were out of the question."

"Large amounts of funding were invested, but there were no results. The shareholders lost confidence in me. They threatened me that if this continued, Oscorp would have to change its chairman."

Norman said this, then clutched the blanket covering him tightly, clearly still shaken.

"During that time, I felt like a tightly stretched rope…"

"We don't have time to listen to your emotional journey. Get to the point," Yang Le interrupted Norman's complaining. "Cindy Moon, how did you meet her?"

Norman choked for a moment, his face turning ugly, but he continued.

"She approached me. I was always in the lab during that time. I was doing an experiment when she suddenly appeared in front of me and told me she could solve my problems. Of course, I didn't believe a kid's words."

"Who would have thought that she would take out a syringe from her bag, filled with green liquid. In front of me, she injected it into a lab rat, and then an incredible thing happened."

Norman's mouth was dry, but after realizing that no one was going to get him water, he could only swallow his saliva and continue.

"After the injection, the rat almost immediately began to mutate. It grew reptile scales, its claws became sharp, its size far exceeded that of a normal rat, and its aggressiveness also increased significantly. It bit all the other rats to death, even destroyed the cage, and tried to attack humans."

"Did that rat attack you?" Gwen asked.

"No," Norman shook his head.

"The rat died after breaking out of the cage. The effect of the serum was too strong. It couldn't withstand it and was backlashed. She confidently told me that this was only because of insufficient research funding and incomplete facilities. As long as I funded her, I could get the perfect enhancement serum."

"And then you got together?" Yang Le frowned, the flames on his head burning more distortedly. "But how did Cindy Moon know you were researching enhancement serums, and why did she approach you?"

"I really don't know where she got the news, but I do know something about why she approached me," Norman said, pointing to Gwen.

"The radioactive spider, which was exhibited at the expo before. The reason Cindy Moon approached me was to complete it. She needed my funding to help her, and I needed her enhancement serum."

"That's how we each got what we needed. Her semi-finished serum helped me regain my position, and I gave her a large amount of funding for the development of the serum. This delicate balance was maintained for about a year."

"But recently this balance was broken, because after Cindy Moon got my funding, she didn't continue to improve the enhancement serum. She focused all her attention on the research of the radioactive spider and spent all my money on herself."

"You can guess what happened next," Norman lowered his head weakly.

"Because she couldn't produce results for a long time, the shareholders gave me a final ultimatum. Helpless, I secretly stole the radioactive spider from Cindy Moon's lab and exhibited it as my own achievement at the expo, trying to stabilize the shareholders."

"Then someone attacked the expo. This friend must have obtained the ability of the radioactive spider in that attack. I really didn't expect that spider to be so powerful. No wonder Cindy Moon regarded it as a treasure. Thinking about it, I really ruined her good deed."

Norman suddenly laughed, clearly happy to disgust Cindy Moon.

"Do you know where Cindy Moon is?" Gwen landed on the floor, walked to Norman's bed, and asked eagerly.

After all, it concerned the safety of the people around her, so Gwen couldn't help but be anxious. She didn't want another Peter incident to happen.

"I said before, I don't know," Norman said firmly.

"She left without saying goodbye a month ago and took all the research data with her. Otherwise, why would I become like this? I can't contact her at all. Believe me, I have no reason to hide her."

Gwen looked at Yang Le, and Yang Le nodded. Just like Norman said, he had no reason to lie.

Moreover, Yang Le had been paying attention to Norman's condition. This was also something Yang Le had only recently discovered. The Pyronite race, possibly because of their ability to manipulate fire and heat, were very sensitive to heat.

He could clearly feel the heat changes of the people or things around him. When people lied, the temperature of certain parts of their body would change significantly, so the Pyronite could act as a lie detector.

But Norman's body temperature had been very stable just now. He didn't think that Norman, who had become an ordinary person, could control his body temperature, so Norman shouldn't have lied.

"The clues are broken again. What should we do next?" Gwen walked to Yang Le and asked for his opinion.

After a long period of experience, Gwen would no longer be defeated by this kind of trivial matter. She knew that instead of feeling sorry for herself, it was better to find a way to solve it.

"Actually, Cindy Moon's intentions are easy to guess," Yang Le analyzed.

"Since the first radioactive spider bit you, she, who didn't get the ability, will definitely make a second radioactive spider. Having abandoned Norman Osborn, she has no source of funding and will definitely find the next object to rely on, and that object will definitely not be weaker than Oscorp."

"Ladies and gentlemen, frankly speaking, there are basically no chemical companies in the world that surpass Oscorp," Norman couldn't help but interject.

"Oh, you're still here," Yang Le said, as if he suddenly remembered something.

"Do you have anything else to confess?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Norman said after thinking for a moment.

"Okay, Xueba, stun him."

"Xueba? Ee! Oh oh oh oh oh!"