The day finally arrived for Norman to be officially sworn in.
The entire ceremony began with the President attending a church service.
Compared to the speech in Dallas before he took office, this day formally marked Norman taking over the executive power of the United States; even the corrupt Congress could no longer plant assassins during the inauguration.
Due to the impact of terrorist attacks, Washington D.C. had been equipped with ctOS at the strong urging of the public, and every corner was under the surveillance of Osborn.
The streets that Norman was about to walk down were lined with soldiers wearing exoskeletons, and phalanxes formed by power armor units stood on the streets, waiting for the President's inspection.
After the service, Norman walked out of the church under the gaze of the masses. Voters on both sides of the street waved their hands happily, with those wearing exoskeletons standing at the very front. These voters had sewn a large piece of cloth onto their exoskeletons, depicting the portrait of Norman Osborn.
Ellis stepped out of a car nearby with a long face—as per tradition, he had to accompany Norman to Capitol Hill to attend the inauguration.
The power armor units gradually formed lines as Norman approached. If the road surface hadn't been specially treated beforehand, their uniform, synchronized footsteps would likely have riddled the road with holes.
"Congratulations, President Osborn." Ellis extended his hand.
"Thank you, President Ellis." Norman smiled and shook hands with Ellis.
Then, the two of them sat together in Norman's car.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd and the escort of the units, Norman arrived at the East Portico of the Capitol.
Here, the Chief Justice had already been waiting for a long time.
The Supreme Court was the final link in Osborn's control of the United States—members of Congress could be won over through money and various medical services, and the position of President had already been secured by Norman. After taking office, Norman would nominate Matt Murdock for the position.
Norman placed his hand on the Bible and, guided by the Chief Justice, began to take the oath.
"Now, please raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, Norman Osborn, do solemnly swear."
"I, Norman Osborn, do solemnly swear."
"That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States."
"That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States."
"And will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
"And will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The oath concluded, and the Chief Justice extended his hand toward Norman: "Congratulations, Mr. President."
"It is my supreme honor to introduce to you the 44th President of the United States, Norman Osborn!"
Bang! As the oath ended, cannons fired in unison. Amidst everyone's cheers, soldiers wearing Osborn personal armor stood on Flyers and flew in from the sky. The missiles hanging under the Flyers all flew into the sky, exploding into beautiful fireworks!
Amidst the exclamations, Norman walked to the front of the stage with a smile.
Looking at the former Presidents and high-ranking officials from various government departments below the podium, he couldn't have felt better.
He still remembered the years he ran Osborn, the years he dealt with the Military for orders. Actually, the Military was relatively easy to communicate with; the most terrifying thing was dealing with Congress, especially those congressmen he didn't know well. The questions they asked were like those of kindergarten children, yet he had to treat them with caution.
Now, he had become the World's biggest "buyer," and all those people from before had to bow and scrape before him, calling him "President Osborn" with every breath.
This was the power he wanted, not some underworld empire, criminal organization, or anything else.
Now, what he held in his hands was exactly what he wanted most.
He couldn't help but think: if only the United States were an empire.
But he was quickly amused by his own thought.
So the public only saw him smile, and then he began his speech:
"Chief Justice, President Ellis, fellow Americans, people of the World, thank you."
"All citizens of the United States, we are working together to participate in a great national endeavor: rebuilding our country, rebuilding the promise to all people."
"We will jointly decide the future direction of the United States and even the World."
"We will complete this endeavor."
"Today's ceremony has special significance. Because today, we are not just transferring power from one President to the next, from one political party to another. We are returning power from Washington to your hands, the hands of the American people."
"For a long time, a small group of people in Washington"
Although it had declined significantly, as the President of the United States, Norman's speech naturally couldn't be watched only by Americans; it contained many policy inclinations.
Simply put, regarding tax policy, he would tax the rich more, support the middle class and small businesses, and build infrastructure and manufacturing.
In terms of foreign policy, he would adopt a more inclusive and open strategy to promote globalization.
As for why the result was this way, it was all because Osborn's position was very special.
After years of development, Osborn had the technology and ability to enter all fields; the only thing lacking was manpower.
And no matter how downstream enterprises developed, Osborn, which occupied an absolute advantage in technological monopoly, was at the top. They could only do some downstream, low-end work; generally speaking, it was also a form of disguised dependence.
What could Osborn do?
Relying on nuclear fusion energy, Osborn could upgrade all industries. Relying on various construction and engineering robots, automation would change the way humanity produced.
Mining from outer space would also change traditional production and manufacturing methods, and even the economic system.
For example: Harry's next target for asteroid mining was Psyche, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was a metal asteroid with a diameter of 200km, containing metal elements such as iron, nickel, gold, platinum, and copper. If all the iron on it were transported to Earth, based on current market prices, it would be worth 100 trillion billion dollars!
And that was just iron, not including other metal elements. Transporting these resources to Earth would be enough to destroy the current global commodity system prices.
Nuclear fusion and outer space were a revolution, but most people were not very sensitive to this change; perhaps this was the stubborn ailment of this World.
On the orbital space station, Harry finished watching Norman's entire speech.
[Task Issued: Power]
[Task Content: Control more than 50% of the power in the United States]
[Progress Bar: 61%]
[Task Completed]
[Reward Distributed: New World Protocol]
[The brave pioneers will rush out of the mother's cradle]
[Task Issued: Union]
[Task Content: Create an outer space colony developed by 50 colonists of different nationalities]
[Formal union is meaningless; we need actual actions to stand together]
The progress bar for the task completion was only 61%, which was obviously a rough estimate and not very accurate—plus, since the Great Purge hadn't started yet, this value wasn't too low.
The only thing that could be certain was that the power in Norman's hands was definitely not small.
"Is this what you called the 'Board of Directors'?" Hurley looked curiously through the glass at the ground, occasionally tapping on it.
Harry smiled and said, "Yes, I guess everyone is curious now why I'm not by my father's side."
"That's true. The internet hasn't stopped discussing it. Some people even say your father is still in the hospital, and the one on the podium is someone you disguised."
"So what is the Board of Directors going to talk about? You aren't just trying to have a space date with me, are you?" Hurley sat on Harry's lap, her crystal-clear fingers hooking Harry's chin. "But it is quite romantic; I'm a sucker for this."
"That is one of the purposes, but not now. I have to connect to the ground signal in 30 seconds. Are you sure you still want to sit on my lap?"
The speech entered its final stage:
"Finally, I want to thank my son, Harry. Without his support, I wouldn't have made it to this day, nor would I have the confidence to say these words."
"You might be wondering: why is Harry not at the scene?"
Norman smiled and took out a remote control.
"Because he will show us where our future lies."
A super huge holographic projection appeared in front of everyone.
"Hello, people of the United States." Harry waved to the people in Washington.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"