"So this is the inside of Hammer Industries. It really is huge!"
Ghostfreak's lone eye darted through every gap in his body in an instant, taking in the full view of Hammer Industries.
As a top-tier military contractor second only to Stark Industries, Hammer Industries possessed far more than just a single office building. Inside, it also had several factories equipped with highly precise machinery.
Hammer Industries had many factories, though most of them were not located in New York, but scattered across the United States.
For a resource-oriented industry like manufacturing, no idiot would build its factories in a place like New York.
The purpose of the underground factory in Queens was not mass production, but research, development, and prototype manufacturing.
Bant was clearly very satisfied with the future location of his company.
And he was also very satisfied with those steel robots.
"Ready-made machines. A bit outdated, sure, but with some modifications, they'll be perfectly usable. Blowing them up as disposable tools would be too much of a waste."
Leaving everything else aside, the raw material cost of those tin cans alone was already very high. Blowing them all up just for the bang was not a luxury Bant could bring himself to indulge in.
But if he did not blow them up, that would create another problem.
At the end of the day, they were a budget substitute for Iron Man suits. If those armors were preserved, then whether it was the military or S.H.I.E.L.D., after seeing their power, neither of them would be willing to let them go.
Competing with them was beyond Bant's financial means. Even with Tony helping him, it still would not be enough.
If Tony Stark did not want to share his technology with them, fine. But if they wanted Hammer Industries' tech too, and Tony still tried to interfere, that would be harder to justify.
So what Bant really needed to consider was how to make both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government give up on Hammer Industries of their own accord.
For him, that was not difficult at all.
A huge part of why Justin Hammer was such a joke, aside from his own stupidity, came from the weapon he invented: the Ex-Wife.
When Rhodey confidently told the villain, "I'm gonna blow you away with the Ex-Wife," only for the missile to turn out to be a dud, everyone knew Justin Hammer was an absolute clown.
Even though some people later realized the Ex-Wife was not actually that terrible, that it simply required tremendous force to activate, that still was not enough to restore Hammer Industries' image.
What Bant intended to do was the same.
He only needed to turn those steel robots into laughable pieces of junk.
For Bant, it could not have been simpler. He did not even transform into Little Qibing. He simply inserted a USB drive into Hammer Industries' computer.
In an instant, a new program was implanted into Hammer Industries' system.
Of course, he did not intend to completely ruin all of Justin Hammer and Ivan's preparations. After all, for a major corporation like Hammer Industries, if the incident was not big enough, it would be hard to bring the whole company down.
There had to be a balance.
The only question was how well he could control it.
And just like that, the days passed one by one.
Before the Expo began, Bant split Storm's fortune with Norman.
To be fair, while that guy had been a shareholder in Oscorp, he had definitely siphoned off quite a lot of money.
He had even used his wealth to establish a foundation, so in theory, even now that his identity as the Green Goblin had been confirmed, Norman should not have been able to touch that money.
But Norman had spent many years fighting his way through the business world. He was no amateur.
When it came to these twists and turns, there was always room to maneuver.
Things that should not work in principle sometimes worked just fine. Things that should work in theory sometimes did not. In short, flexibility was everything.
That was especially true in a country where everyone worshiped money.
Under Norman Osborn's promise of a huge payout, none of this was a problem.
At this moment, Bant and Norman were sitting in the study at Osborn Manor, drinking tea while dividing the spoils.
"So you're planning to absorb Hammer Industries?" Norman asked, a thoughtful look on his face.
Just moments ago, once Bant explained that he had noticed Ivan, the man who attacked Iron Man, had faked his death, been rescued by Justin Hammer, and then gone on to manipulate a series of things behind the scenes, Norman immediately understood Bant's intentions.
Then he began thinking about how feasible the plan actually was.
Frankly speaking, it would be very difficult.
"A full acquisition is almost impossible," Norman said.
"Back when it was at its peak, Hammer Industries was roughly on the same level as the original Oscorp Group. And after Stark Industries announced it would stop manufacturing weapons, Hammer quickly seized the weapons market and became the military's biggest partner. They're at the height of their momentum."
"Justin Hammer is an undeniable idiot, but the company's other shareholders can't all be fools. Even if something happens and Hammer Industries collapses, its factories and production lines still won't be ignored by other industrial companies."
Norman's reasoning made perfect sense.
But from another angle, Bant having noticed all this in advance really did give him a head start. Even so, compared to those long-established corporations, Plamos was still very weak right now.
"In that case, I won't take my share of the Storm Foundation funds for now." After thinking it over briefly, Norman made his decision.
Norman absolutely supported the idea of acquiring Hammer Industries. As the most powerful military-industrial enterprise in America at present, Hammer Industries possessed extremely advanced technology and production chains. Those facilities might not mean much to a biotech company like Oscorp, but for Plamos, it was a different story entirely.
And with the Storm Foundation's massive amount of cash, Plamos would gain a much stronger voice at the table.
"But you should be mentally prepared. Even with that money, it only gives you a ticket to board the ship," Norman said.
In response, Bant only smiled faintly. "Tony Stark has already agreed to provide me with cash support."
"Really?"
Norman raised a brow in delight. He had not expected Bant to quietly build a connection with Tony.
That changed things again.
He thought for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind.
"If that's the case, then let's go big!"
Norman made it clear that since even Stark, an outsider, had gotten involved, then as Bant's uncle, he naturally could not sit by without doing anything.
He was in.
"I'll temporarily suspend Oscorp's other research projects and pull all available funds into this."
At that, Bant was stunned.
He really had wanted some support from Norman, but he had not expected Norman to go all in without hesitation.
After all, acquiring Hammer Industries did not actually benefit Oscorp much. On top of that, Norman was also throwing in the money from the Storm Foundation, to the point that Bant almost started wondering whether Norman would end up unable to pay salaries if this kept going.
But Norman said there was no need to worry.
After all, this was still an old company with a solid foundation. Its core industries were more than enough to keep it afloat.
With Norman Osborn's support, Bant felt even more confident about swallowing Hammer Industries whole.
A few days later, Norman held another press conference and fully restored Connors' reputation, declaring that Connors had already been found and was currently receiving treatment together with Plamos Technology.
Although Connors, still "under treatment" in name, could not yet reunite with his wife and children, at the very least, the criticism they had suffered because of him during this period could finally begin to change.
And at last, the day the Expo opened finally arrived.
Peter stood on his toes with his backpack slung over his shoulders, took one look at the endless line, and immediately filled with regret.
"I should've just gone in with Little Bant and the others."
He let out a sigh.
As one of the exhibitors, Plamos naturally had plenty of internal admission tickets, especially since Bant happened to know Tony. Right now, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and even Mary Jane were already seated in the front row of the Plamos pavilion, waiting for the official opening of the Expo.
But for certain reasons, Peter had failed to make it in with them.
The reason he was late was not because of Spider-Man's superhero business, but because Jameson, the boss of the Daily Bugle, had found him and given him a new assignment: take photos of the Expo, and if possible, interview as many famous people as he could.
"If you can expose the true identity of that mysterious Plamos boss, my paper will sell out like crazy!"
Peter could still hear Jameson shouting at him through clenched teeth with a cigar in his mouth.
For people in the upper class, it was not difficult to uncover Bant's identity. But to ordinary people, the boss of Plamos was still a mystery to this day.
Peter shook his head and slung the camera around his neck. "Too bad Little Bant won't accept my interview."
"Who won't accept your interview?"
At that moment, a blonde girl suddenly poked her head out and blinked at Peter.
The sudden scare nearly made Peter jump. But when he got a clear look at who it was, he finally let out a breath.
"Y-you're Gwen Stacy?"
Clearly, Peter recognized her, but that only made him even more surprised.
"W-what are you doing here?" he asked awkwardly.
Gwen looked to be in a very good mood. She glanced around, then said, "I'm here to visit the Expo. Are you by yourself?"
Peter instinctively shook his head, but what came out of his mouth was, "Y-yeah, it's just me."
"Then... together?"
Peter nodded blankly.
Even though the girl he liked was Liz, Liz clearly was not interested in him.
So tagging along with Gwen for now actually did not sound too bad.
Peter Parker really was an old scumbag.
Meanwhile...
Backstage at the venue, all the entrepreneurs and scientists who had come to attend the Expo were gathered together.
The real highlight of the Expo would not happen until evening. During the daytime, visitors were simply free to explore and enjoy themselves.
Bant sat together with Norman and Harry while many people came over to greet Norman.
Bant turned his head and spotted Felicia standing behind Mrs. Hardy, waving at him. Beside them stood a somewhat heavyset man in a white lab coat.
Sensing Bant's gaze, the man walked over and extended a hand.
"A pleasure. Otto Gunther Octavius."
/-\
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