Chapter 77: Ross's True Purpose, Birth of the Lizard Professor
The lid of the cryogenic sleep chamber filled with frigid air slowly opened. General Ross looked at the unconscious Dr. Banner lying inside and couldn't help but feel excited.
Since that gamma bomb explosion accident, he'd made this his lifelong pursuit. Now it was less than five meters away. General Ross only needed to take a few steps forward and reach out to touch it.
"General Ross, manpower insufficient on the tenth floor! Need support!"
"General Ross, please issue orders!"
In the earpiece General Ross wore, reports from soldiers downstairs came one after another.
"Damn it! Send reinforcements! Absolutely cannot let Batman reach the eleventh floor! Protect the gamma radiation equipment there!"
General Ross cursed: "That's the key to our experiment. Stop him at all costs!"
Oscorp's tenth through twentieth floors housed various laboratories. Most of Oscorp's experimental equipment was concentrated there, including the gamma radiation device.
It was stored on the eleventh floor—one of the pieces of equipment General Ross valued most in the entire building.
Simultaneously, Batman was on the exterior wall of the forty-ninth floor, listening to Prophet AI's report: "Overwrite progress seventy percent. Estimated time: four minutes."
Batman had chosen to throw the Batmobile onto the tenth floor specifically so the Prophet AI aboard could completely overwrite the internal programs of the gamma device, preventing General Ross from utilizing it.
"Four minutes remaining. Time is sufficient."
Batman silently calculated.
The listening device installed on General Ross had already picked up information about Dr. Banner arriving at Oscorp Tower's rooftop, but hadn't captured Dr. Banner's own voice.
"The suit currently lacks infrared and X-ray functionality. Cannot penetrate walls to see Dr. Banner's condition."
"Eighty percent probability he's being transported in cryogenic sleep. Twenty percent probability he's conscious but immobilized after anesthetic injection."
The sky grew darker. Batman extracted black web-fluid formula from his utility belt, replacing the white webbing currently in use.
"Either situation is advantageous to me—but simultaneously advantageous to General Ross."
With an extremely faint nitrogen spring sound, the replaced pitch-black webbing shot rapidly upward, firmly adhering to Oscorp Tower's exterior wall.
As Batman's arm exerted force, his entire body carried by whooshing wind speed rapidly upward, but the speed slowed as he approached the rooftop.
Without alerting anyone, the suited Batman seemed to completely merge into the night, arriving at the rooftop.
Most rooftop soldiers had congregated around General Ross. Soldiers on other floors had been dispatched to intercept the Batmobile.
This provided Batman—not abundant but sufficient—concealed observation points for infiltration.
"Professor Connors unconscious, no restraints on his body."
"Dr. Banner inside the sleep chamber, not yet conscious."
"General Ross less than five meters from them, surrounded by over fifty soldiers forming a defensive array."
"Personnel in lab coats not belonging to Oscorp present. They're likely the 'scientific advisory team' Ross mentioned."
The entire rooftop was divided into three areas. One part contained General Ross and his soldiers. Another was a crudely cordoned-off area with caution tape where only the unconscious Professor Connors lay on the cold ground.
The third section held a specially made metal chair, including fixed straps, chains, and massive quantities of sensors and tubes.
Additionally, General Ross's scientific advisory team was here. They'd temporarily set up an experimental platform, currently conducting tense, busy work.
"I've been deceived."
Batman thought, then soundlessly leaped down from the rooftop, body pressed against Oscorp Tower's exterior wall, using Peter Parker's adhesion ability to stabilize himself with his back against the wall.
From beginning to end, he'd been misled by General Ross into believing the gamma radiation device was paramount, even having Prophet AI overwrite its program system for this.
But now it appeared General Ross's objective wasn't utilizing Oscorp's gamma device at all.
He'd hosted the gamma bomb project in a New Mexico desert three years ago—in 2003. How could he possibly resort to military supervision of Oscorp for merely a gamma device?
Everything he'd heard through the listening device was performed for Batman. In other words, General Ross had already discovered the listening device and attempted to mislead Batman.
General Ross's true purpose was occupying Oscorp, then utilizing the massive biotechnology here to combine and experiment with Dr. Banner's blood, thus creating his ideal super-soldier serum!
Even what he'd said during the call with the unknown person before Banner's arrival—"combining unstable gamma radiation with stable regenerative serum"—was reserved, not revealing his entire plan.
Batman showed no panicked emotions about actions exceeding his plan. Though this might not be in his plan, his plan had already encompassed it.
When Batman contacted Professor Connors at noon, he'd already had the professor use his authority as Oscorp's only remaining scientist-director to transfer various experiments' core data to a hard drive.
That hard drive currently lay hidden in City Hall subway station, in a hole Batman had punched with his fist.
Even if General Ross's true plan had deceived Batman earlier, he still couldn't successfully conduct experiments.
Understanding General Ross's plan would make things much simpler going forward. At least dealing with this ordinary human general no longer required Batman to specially design dozens of plans for him.
Back pressed tight against Oscorp Tower's exterior wall, Batman's hands completely left the wall surface.
Forearm armor plating shifted aside. The miniature portable computer popped out. One key after another was pressed by Batman. Commands and code like rainwater frantically attacked Dr. Banner's cryogenic sleep chamber.
Dr. Banner still lay in the sleep chamber, not yet moved by General Ross and his scientific advisory team to be fixed on the metal chair.
Through commands, Batman attempted to seize control authority over Dr. Banner's cryo-chamber, ensuring only he could unlock or strengthen the freezing.
Over ten seconds later.
Beep.
The cryogenic sleep chamber emitted an barely audible soft sound. Batman had successfully seized its control authority. The sleep chamber's various data also synced to Batman's miniature computer.
What sustained the cryogenic sleep chamber's operation was liquid nitrogen stored in a Dewar flask, but the liquid nitrogen capacity inside was nearly exhausted—at most maintaining Dr. Banner's cryogenic sleep state for less than two minutes.
"I need to take down General Ross and his soldiers within two minutes, then take Professor Connors and Dr. Banner away from here."
Batman rapidly formulated a combat plan based on actual circumstances.
Simultaneously on the rooftop, General Ross—concentrating fully while waiting for the scientific advisory team to get in position, preparing to bind Dr. Banner to the metal chair to begin blood extraction and combination experiments with Oscorp's biotechnology—suddenly heard a soft sound.
His nerves were already highly concentrated. This soft sound escaped others but not General Ross.
He immediately stepped forward. The cryogenic sleep chamber containing Dr. Banner showed red lights illuminating. The opened lid was sliding bit by bit, about to close.
"General Ross, Oscorp's core data seems to have a problem—"
Just as General Ross prepared to order soldiers to forcibly open the cryogenic chamber lid, someone from the scientific advisory team suddenly spoke.
"What?"
General Ross's face and neck suddenly flushed completely red. Even his eyes were suffused with bloodshot redness.
He raised his foot to step forward, wanting to personally examine those data on the experimental equipment he fundamentally couldn't understand, when another soft sound came.
This time from Professor Connors, separately isolated to one side in unconsciousness.
Under the gaze of the furious General Ross, puzzled scientific advisory team, and nervous soldiers, Professor Connors's long-amputated right arm continuously emitted crackling sounds.
A complete arm grew out, tender as a baby's. Upon meeting air, it rapidly aged and shed.
Layer after layer of skin repeated this behavior, causing Connors's newly grown right hand to rapidly become wrapped in layers of aged skin.
Limb regeneration required energy. Professor Connors, who should have remained unconscious, woke in hunger. But the world before his eyes had become vastly different from before.
His eyes had transformed into reptilian vertical pupils.