"Mr. Osborn, there are rumors that you killed a foreigner in the Clinton District (Hells Kitchen) a few days ago. How do you explain this?"
As usual, after every major event, Harry had to deal with troublesome press conferences.
Although Harry was confident in solving these problems, he still had to go through the motions, especially since it was a critical period in Norman's political career.
"Miss Reporter, I'd like to correct your statement. That wasn't a 'foreigner,' but a professional assassin. My actions were in self-defense. In fact, my lawyer is already handling the matter, and you can continue to follow up on it."
When Harry said the words 'professional assassin,' there was a gasp from the audience.
"I'm sorry, my phrasing was problematic." The reporter quickly apologized and sat down.
In reality, this question had been arranged by Harry himself—someone would always ask, so it was better to have one of his own people do it.
"It's fine," Harry nodded with a smile, pointing to a spirited young man in the audience. "You there, reporter, what's your question?"
"How did you subdue that professional criminal? Rumors say your performance was as heroic as Captain America fighting the Nazis. Some even speculate whether you've undergone human enhancement like Captain America?"
Harry smiled; this was also a pre-arranged question.
"What's your name, reporter?"
The young man froze for a moment, then realized Harry was giving him a chance to become a familiar face. He immediately replied excitedly:
"My name is Eddie Brock. You can call me Eddie. I'm still in college."
"Working while studying, self-reliant? Then we're colleagues in a sense?"
Harry's answer made everyone laugh. Many cast friendly smiles at Eddie. Sometimes, giving these young people a chance while leaving a good impression was very important.
"Back to the topic, thank you for your question, Eddie. This question involves our company's new product."
Harry signaled for Hurley to step forward.
"This is a new type of exoskeleton designed specifically for law enforcement. It enhances the user's stamina and strength and is equipped with bulletproof steel plates."
In the video, Hurley lifted a 300kg barbell and made it look effortless.
Next, a video demonstrating the exoskeleton's simulated combat test was shown on-site, leaving everyone in awe.
"As everyone knows, our company was attacked and robbed a while ago, and many industrial exoskeletons were stolen. This caused panic, and for that, I am deeply sorry."
Harry put down the microphone and bowed deeply.
"Mr. Osborn, we all know it wasn't your fault. It was the criminals' fault. You don't need to blame yourself," Eddie continued.
"No, using technology to improve lives and achieve the future has always been the mission of the Osborn Company. That's why I developed this exoskeleton and decided to sell this equipment to the NYPD at cost!"
The audience burst into applause.
"In fact, we have reached a deep cooperation with the NYPD over the past few months to clean up several areas in the city with high crime rates, especially Hells Kitchen!"
Applause rang out again.
Harry paused and took a sip of water. Everyone waited obediently for him to continue.
"I know some people have argued that my father and I mentioning this name publicly is a form of discrimination. But is true discrimination a matter of a name?"
"Drug proliferation, poor security, difficulty finding jobs... a child born in Hells Kitchen might learn to use or even sell drugs by age ten or earlier. Turning a blind eye to these things while fussing over a name is the real discrimination against them!"
"The Osborn Group is about to launch renovation measures. In the future, once these problems are solved, you can change it to a more meaningful name if you wish!"
"You know what to do! Vote for Norman Osborn!"
The press conference ended amidst applause.
Watching the recording of last week's press conference, the father and son clinked their glasses.
"You seem to have more potential to be a politician than I do, my son."
"Please, Father, that was just a script Hurley wrote beforehand. If I had a choice, I'd rather have her give the speech."
"So, the two of you..." Norman straightened up and made a gesture.
Harry rolled his eyes at his father. "Please, I'm only 17, Father. And I still have some things to confirm. At least wait until you become President before making any decisions."
"Come on, don't I know you? By the way, you're about to become an adult. Is there anything you want?"
"New York City's power grid. Just that." Harry shrugged.
"Speaking of which, the Mayor agreed to delay the project's progress, but the new grid must use Dr. Otto's nuclear fusion technology. I agreed."
Harry didn't care. Nuclear fusion was meant to be used for the New York grid anyway. Speaking of which, this should count as over-fulfilling the task, right? After all, the original grid design used hydroelectric power.
The only problem now was Kingpin. However, to checkmate that big fat man, things still needed to simmer a bit more. These days, that desperate fat man had stirred up quite a bloodbath.
Ring ring—
Norman's phone rang.
"General Ross." Norman gave Harry a look. "How have you been?"
"Not great, Norman. Stark has been missing for too long. Congress is worried that the new weapons will fall into enemy hands."
Speaking of which, Harry found it a bit strange. He remembered that the duration of Stark's disappearance shouldn't have been this long?
Suddenly, he thought of something—in the movies, the U.S. Military didn't have the power armor he developed. This meant that the timing of Stark's trip to Afghanistan and the events that would occur might all be different. Besides, this World wasn't exactly the movie World he was familiar with.
Was this the butterfly effect?
"Is Harry with you?" General Ross specifically asked for Harry.
"Wait a moment, I'll go call him over."
After a moment of silence, Harry spoke up:
"General Ross, is something the matter?"
"I'll be blunt. Is that rumor true? Human enhancement technology?"
As expected. General Ross had always been obsessed with human enhancement and had created something like the Hulk. He had never stopped tracking Banner after he went missing.
"No, General. If we had obtained controllable technology, we would have approached you for cooperation immediately." The father and son smiled at each other.
As for uncontrollable technology, that wasn't necessarily the case. Ross, of course, understood Harry's little conversational trick, but he misunderstood Harry's meaning. He thought Harry was talking about the Green Goblin Enhancer, the project they had abandoned.
"..." The other end of the line went silent.
At that moment, Harry suddenly thought that as a Military bigwig, General Ross's support was highly valuable. Perhaps he could have deeper contact and cooperation with Ross.
"However, General, there's another project of ours you might be interested in..."
Harry reported the research Dr. Connors was conducting to General Ross. Unsurprisingly, he indeed became interested.
As long as he secured Ross's support, with heavy bets placed across Military, political, and business sectors, Harry didn't see how Kingpin could turn the tables.