"So this is the inside of Hammer Industries. It really is huge!"
Ghostfreak's single eye instantly slipped through every crack in his body, taking in the entire scene inside Hammer Industries.
As a first-tier military contractor second only to Stark Industries, Hammer Industries had far more than just one building. Inside, there were several factories equipped with highly precise machinery.
Hammer Industries had plenty of factories, but most of them were not located in New York. Instead, they were scattered all across the United States.
For a resource-driven industry like manufacturing, no fool would build factories in a place like New York.
The underground factory in Queens was not there for mass production, but for research, development, and sample manufacturing.
Bant was clearly very satisfied with the future location of his company.
And he was just as satisfied with those steel robots.
"Ready-made machines. They're a little outdated, sure, but with some modifications, they'll be perfectly usable. Blowing them up as expendables would be way too much of a waste."
Not to mention anything else, just the raw material cost of those metal shells alone was already enormous. Blowing them all up just to hear a bang was not a level of extravagance Bant had reached yet.
But if he did not blow them up, that would create another problem.
At the end of the day, they were still cheaper substitutes for Iron Man suits. If these armors were preserved, then whether it was the military or S.H.I.E.L.D., once they had seen their power, neither side would be willing to let them go.
Bant did not have the financial strength to fight them for it. Even with Tony backing him, it still would not be enough.
If Tony Stark did not want to share his own technology, fine. But if they wanted Hammer Industries' tech and he still tried to interfere, that would be a little too unreasonable, wouldn't it?
So what Bant really needed to think about was how to make S.H.I.E.L.D. and the authorities give up on Hammer Industries of their own accord.
And honestly, that was not hard for him at all.
The reason Justin Hammer was such a joke, aside from his own stupidity, had a lot to do with the weapon he invented, the Ex-Wife.
When Rhodey confidently told the villain, "I'm gonna blow you away with the Ex-Wife," only to discover that the missile he fired was a dud, everyone knew Justin Hammer was an absolute clown.
Even later, when some people realized the Ex-Wife was not actually that terrible, that it merely needed enough distance to arm itself, it still could not restore Hammer Industries' image.
What Bant needed to do was the same thing.
As long as he turned those steel robots into ridiculous scrap, that would be enough.
For Bant, it could not have been easier. He did not even transform into Grey Matter. He simply plugged a USB drive straight into Hammer Industries' computer.
In an instant, a brand-new program was implanted into Hammer Industries' system.
Of course, he did not intend to turn all of Justin Hammer and Ivan's preparations into complete waste. After all, for a giant corporation like Hammer Industries, if the incident did not get big enough, it would be hard to make the company truly collapse.
There had to be a balance between the two.
Everything depended on how well he controlled it.
And so, the days passed one by one.
Before the Expo began, Bant and Norman Osborn split up Stromm's fortune together.
To be fair, that guy had definitely siphoned off plenty of money while he was a shareholder in Oscorp.
He had even used his wealth to set up a foundation. In theory, even if his identity as the Green Goblin had now been confirmed, Norman still should not have been able to get his hands on that money.
But Norman had spent many years clawing his way through the business world. He was no amateur.
When it came to these winding little tricks, there was always room to operate.
Things that should not work in principle sometimes could. Things that should work in theory sometimes could not. In short, flexibility was everything.
That was especially true in a country where everyone worshiped money.
With Norman Osborn promising a massive payout, none of this was a problem.
At that moment, Bant and Norman were sitting in the study of 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, Bant had explained how he discovered that Ivan, the man who attacked Iron Man, had faked his death, been rescued by Justin Hammer, and then made a whole string of moves behind the scenes. The moment he heard that, Norman understood Bant's intentions.
Then he started considering how feasible the whole thing really was.
Frankly speaking, it would be very difficult.
"A complete takeover is practically impossible," Norman said.
"Hammer Industries used to be on roughly the same level as the original Osborn Group. And after Stark Industries announced it was halting weapons manufacturing, they quickly seized the arms market and became the military's largest partner. They're at the height of their momentum right now.
"Justin Hammer may be an undeniable fool, but the other shareholders in the company can't all be idiots. Even if some accident causes Hammer Industries to collapse, other industrial companies definitely won't let those factories and production lines go to waste."
Norman's reasoning made perfect sense.
But from another angle, Bant noticing all this in advance really did give him a first-mover advantage. Even so, compared to those long-established major corporations, Plamos was still far too weak at present.
"In that case, I won't take the money from the Stromm Foundation for now." After a brief moment of thought, Norman made his decision.
Norman absolutely supported the acquisition of Hammer Industries. As the most powerful military-industrial company in America right now, Hammer Industries possessed extremely advanced technology and production chains. Those facilities would not be of much use to a biotech company like Oscorp, but for Plamos, that was a completely different matter.
And with the Stromm Foundation's huge amount of cash, Plamos would have much more say at the table.
"But you should be mentally prepared. Even with that money, all it does is qualify you to sit at the table," Norman said.
Bant merely smiled. "Tony Stark already agreed to provide me with cash support."
"Really?"
Norman raised his brows in surprise. He had not expected Bant to quietly establish a connection with Tony behind the scenes.
That changed things immediately.
He thought for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind.
"If that's the case, then let's just go big!"
Norman's reasoning was simple. Since an outsider like Stark had stepped in, then as Bant's uncle, there was no way he could show nothing at all.
He was in.
"I'll temporarily suspend Oscorp's other research projects and pull all the available funds into this."
Bant froze when he heard that.
He really had wanted some support from Norman, but he had never expected the man to go all in without a second thought.
After all, acquiring Hammer Industries would not bring much direct benefit to Oscorp. On top of that, Norman was also throwing in the money from the Stromm Foundation, to the point that Bant was starting to wonder whether Norman would eventually be unable to pay salaries at this rate.
But Norman said there was no need to worry.
After all, this was still a company with decades of history behind it. It had enough core industries to keep standing.
With Norman Osborn's support, Bant felt much more confident about swallowing Hammer Industries whole.
Over the next few days, Norman held another press conference, fully restoring Connors' reputation and announcing that Connors had already been found and was now being treated together with Plamos Technology.
Although Connors was still officially "under treatment" and could not yet reunite with his wife and children, at the very least, the criticism they had suffered because of him during this time could finally begin to change.
And at last, the day the Expo opened finally arrived.
Peter stood on tiptoe with his backpack on, looked at the endless line ahead, and felt nothing but regret.
"I should've just gone in with Bant and the others."
He let out a sigh.
As one of the exhibitors, Plamos naturally had quite a few internal tickets, especially since Bant happened to know Tony. For example, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and even Mary Jane were already sitting in the front row of the Plamos pavilion, waiting for the Expo to officially begin.
But due to certain reasons, Peter had failed to get in with them.
Still, the reason he was late had nothing to do with Spider-Man's superhero side job. It was because Jameson, the boss of the Daily Bugle, had found him and handed him a new assignment: take photos at the Expo, and at the same time, interview as many famous people as possible.
"If you can expose the true identity of that mysterious boss of Plamos, my paper will sell like crazy!"
Peter could still hear Jameson shouting at him through clenched teeth with a cigar in his mouth.
For people in the upper circles, uncovering Bant's identity was not difficult. But for ordinary people, the boss of Plamos remained a complete mystery even now.
Peter shook his head and slung the camera over his shoulder. "Too bad Bant won't take my interview."
"Who won't take your interview?"
At that moment, a blonde girl suddenly popped her head out and blinked at Peter.
The sudden scare nearly made Peter jump. But once he got a clear look at her face, 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, stammering.
Gwen seemed to be in a very good mood. She glanced around, then said, "I'm here to check out the Expo. Are you by yourself?"
Peter instinctively shook his head, but what came out of his mouth was, "Y-yeah, just me."
"Then... want to go together?"
Peter nodded blankly.
Even though the girl he liked was Liz, Liz clearly was not interested in him anyway.
So going around with Gwen for now did not sound half bad.
Peter Parker really was an old scumbag.
Meanwhile, backstage at the venue, all the entrepreneurs and scientists attending the Expo had gathered together.
The real highlight of the Expo would not come until nighttime. The daytime was left entirely for visitors to freely explore.
Bant was sitting with Norman and Harry while quite a few people came over to greet Norman.
Turning his head, Bant saw Felicia waving at him from behind Mrs. Hardy. Beside them stood a somewhat plump man in a white lab coat.
Noticing Bant's gaze, that man walked over and extended a hand to him.
/-\
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