Chapter 68: Explosive Material
On the rooftop of Metropolitan Hospital, Batman was doing more than just safeguarding Dr. Octavius's surgery.
Armor plating on his forearm slid aside, revealing his miniature portable computer displaying personal information on various journalists under his manipulation.
Batman needed to find a reporter willing to stand against pressure and reveal truth—to launch the first wave of offense against General Ross.
"I've accessed all meeting records from Congress, the White House, and the military over the past three days. Not a single authorization exists for General Ross to use force to seize Oscorp."
"This is an illegal act of military privatization."
"Within a day, Congress will demand General Ross appear at a hearing. I need to use the media to add fuel to the fire."
Batman's gaze finally settled on information about a young reporter named Eddie Brock.
From his complete profile, Batman could see this was an ambitious newsman hungry to break explosive stories.
Batman needed precisely someone like him to transmit certain messages to the world.
At Oscorp headquarters, the building was now surrounded not only by General Ross's stationed troops but also by reporters and photographers from various newspapers and media outlets.
General Ross hadn't appeared. Those silently stationed soldiers remained tight-lipped. But the research staff and employees occasionally entering and exiting Oscorp Tower became targets these reporters desperately wanted to interview.
General Ross had sealed the entire Oscorp headquarters, but he hadn't completely closed it off. When employees and scientists arrived for work in the morning as usual to conduct various research experiments, he hadn't stopped them.
Among them was Professor Connors, one sleeve hanging empty. As he arrived at Oscorp's main entrance wearing glasses, documents tucked under his one arm, countless microphones immediately thrust toward him, accompanied by reporters shouting questions.
"Professor Connors, what's your view on General Ross's military supervision of Oscorp?"
"Professor Connors, will your future research results be prioritized for military use?"
"Professor Connors, as a scientist-director of Oscorp, do you tacitly support General Ross's actions?"
The cacophony gave Professor Connors a headache. These reporters even blocked his path forward.
But as soldiers formed a human barrier with their bodies, holding back the reporters, Professor Connors could finally proceed toward Oscorp's entrance.
Connors sighed, standing before the shattered glass entrance and glancing back at the blocked reporters.
While still at home, he'd received a call from General Ross demanding he come to Oscorp to continue his experimental research. Ross claimed he wouldn't interfere with the experiments.
Choosing military supervision was merely to prevent Oscorp's biotechnology from falling into malicious hands—that was General Ross's exact words.
Whether true or false, Professor Connors had to make this trip to Oscorp, even if he chose to abandon his experiments there.
The reason was simple: all of Professor Connors's experimental data remained in the laboratory inside the tower. If he abandoned everything now, his limb regeneration experiments would have to start over from scratch—an enormous cost in time.
Inside Oscorp, aside from being quieter than usual, research and work staff bustled about, seemingly unaffected by the chaos outside.
Professor Connors figured these people, like himself, had received calls from General Ross claiming he wouldn't interfere with experiments—that's why they continued working here.
Taking the elevator to the twentieth-floor laboratory, Professor Connors pushed aside distracting thoughts and returned to his limb regeneration research.
His gaze swept across the glass cabinets storing test subjects, preparing to check and record data on each experimental mouse one by one.
According to past patterns, these mice should be thoroughly dead by now. But soon Professor Connors's gaze stopped on one glass cabinet.
He discovered with pleasant surprise that the mouse injected with regeneration serum yesterday wasn't dead—it was lively and energetic.
Most critically, the mouse's artificially severed right forelimb had grown back. Its behavioral capabilities were identical to a healthy mouse!
"This, this..."
Professor Connors's heart pounded. His lips trembled. He couldn't form a complete sentence. His eyes couldn't help moistening.
This was his first successful limb regeneration experiment on a mammal!
...
New York Metropolitan Hospital.
Heavily armed police officers stood guard here as well. The tense atmosphere was no less intense than at Oscorp Tower.
If the surgery succeeded, fine. But if it failed, no one could be certain Dr. Octavius wouldn't go berserk again. Even with police stationed at the hospital, the doctors and nurses in the operating room would be hard-pressed to guarantee their safety.
This was hardly different from performing field surgery on a battlefield. Inside the operating room, aside from necessary assistance, practically everyone was ready to bolt at any moment.
Apart from the anesthetized Dr. Octavius, Dr. Strange was the only person showing not a trace of nervousness.
His hands remained as steady as the rumors suggested, precisely using surgical tools to separate bit by bit the mechanical tentacles' connection to Octavius's spine.
Time passed second by second. When the last section of mechanical tentacle completely separated from Dr. Octavius's body, Dr. Strange spoke a single word in a flat tone: "Done."
He winked at the masked instrument nurse whose elegant bearing was still evident. "I heard there's a new three-Michelin-star restaurant in Brooklyn. Dinner tonight?"
Everyone in the operating room relaxed. Dr. Strange was the authority in neurosurgery.
Once he cracked jokes after surgery, it proved the operation was a complete success. This surgery would add another bold stroke to Dr. Strange's legendary career.
The doctors and nurses, no longer tense, spoke quietly and laughed while finishing post-surgical work.
The finishing work didn't require the famous Dr. Strange. He opened the operating room door and walked out. Before he could even remove his mask, a seemingly nervous young man stopped him.
"Doctor, how did the surgery go?"
Dr. Strange looked at this young man in a plaid shirt. Stubble on his chin added a weathered quality. He spoke without surprise. "You're Peter Parker, correct? Dr. Octavius mentioned you before surgery."
"I've never failed a surgery I've performed. This time is no different."
Batman, appearing outside the operating room as Peter Parker, having removed his Batsuit, extended his hand and shook Dr. Strange's twice. "The world's praise for you isn't exaggerated at all, Dr. Strange."
The armed police stationed here, listening to their conversation, finally let their constantly raised hearts settle.
Dr. Octavius's surgery was a complete success. With SHIELD's documentation in place, the tentacle-free Octavius had returned to being a world-class nuclear physicist.
Though he'd face necessary supervision going forward, that no longer concerned the police much.
Simultaneously, at Daily Bugle headquarters in an office building.
Eddie Brock opened his email as usual, discovering among the spam an anonymous message.
His mouse moved slowly. Eddie opened the email. The instant he saw its contents, he closed it, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then reopened it.
"Evidence proving General Ross conducted gamma experiments, personally creating the 'Hulk.'"
"Connection between General Ross and fifty homeless corpses from human experiments on Oscorp's second basement level."
"Classified reports on civilian casualties General Ross caused while pursuing the Hulk."
"General Ross..."
Dense files, all accompanied by photos or videos, pointed without exception to General Ross.
Clearly, this anonymous source wanted Eddie Brock—this news reporter who'd always craved breaking explosive stories—to publish everything, using it to attack General Ross's military takeover of Oscorp!