Chapter 65: The Auburn Group? The Auburn Brothers?

The "Midtown West" mentioned on TV was, in fact, the official name for Hell's Kitchen.

Even so, Luka had not expected the chaos following the Kingpin's death to spread quite this far.

"These guys crawling out of Hell's Kitchen are already starting to use Chitauri weapons?"

Glancing at Shamira, who looked equally perplexed, neither of them had anticipated that the turmoil in Hell's Kitchen would become entangled with the aftermath of the Battle of New York.

*I wonder which faction will rise from the ashes of this chaos, and how it will all eventually end.*

However, neither Luka nor Shamira were the type to harbor grand, bleeding-heart sympathies for the world.

As a fighter originating from Sokovia, Shamira could care less whether ordinary American citizens lost their sense of security due to these events.

And as a soul from another realm, Luka certainly wasn't going to exhaust his own mental energy over the sins committed by mob thugs.

After exchanging a few casual remarks, the two calmly resumed eating their breakfast.

After the meal, Shamira initially suggested that Luka take a proper rest.

Yet, having just finished tinkering with the Haro repair unit, Luka was still riding a wave of high spirits. With a light smile, he remarked that "there will be plenty of time to sleep after death," and headed back to his laboratory, accompanied by a bouncing, orange Haro.

Just then, however, Shamira seemed to recall something and called out to stop him.

"Young Master, the person behind the scenes who funded the Wellhaven Hospital to set up the experimental treatment expert group—the one you asked me to investigate—we've finally found some leads!"

Luka, who had been on the point of leaving, paused and turned around with a puzzled expression.

"Hmm? Wasn't that so-called expert group just a smokescreen fabricated by the Kingpin to bribe the attending physician?"

Indeed, the day before eliminating the Kingpin, Luka had heard his mother Gina's attending physician mention at the hospital that Wellhaven Hospital was planning to form an expert team to research treatments for "Neural Synapse Encapsulation Syndrome." At the time, he had indeed asked Shamira to investigate the financial backer behind it.

However, when interrogating his good-for-nothing uncle that very night, the man had confirmed the truth.

The Kingpin had previously paid off Gina's attending doctor in an effort to drag out the legal proceedings surrounding Luka's inheritance, deliberately manufacturing the illusion that Gina's condition still had hope for recovery.

Consequently, Luka had naturally assumed that the so-called "expert treatment group" was nothing more than a fabricated excuse invented by the corrupt doctor to buy time.

Once the Kingpin was dead, Luka had cast the entire matter to the back of his mind.

He never expected that Shamira not only remembered it, but had actually managed to uncover something concrete.

***

A strange and indescribable expression crossed Shamira's face as she gathered her thoughts slightly and explained.

"Actually, this came to light after you had Green Bull go and lean on that doctor who took the black money. Green Bull shook the truth right out of him."

"The Kingpin did indeed bribe him, but the expert treatment group was also real. The doctor simply..." Shamira paused briefly, seemingly at a loss for words.

Luka smoothly picked up the thread. "Played both sides and took advantage of the situation to fleece the Kingpin?"

"Yes, exactly like that," Shamira confirmed.

Luka was left speechless for a moment.

*It seems even the most insignificant people have their own little schemes.*

Seeing that Luka understood what she meant, Shamira continued.

"According to Dr. West, that expert group was actually funded and sponsored by a company called Oscorp Biotechnology. It's an emerging biopharmaceutical company that was just established last year, so Young Master, you might not have heard of it."

"However, the company's registered capital is extremely substantial. Furthermore, its predecessor, Oscorp Biological Laboratories, was already quite renowned in New York's biomedical field. Its two founders, Dr. Norman Osborn and Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius—one specializing in biogenetics, the other devoted to neurology and mechanical engineering—are highly influential in the medical world. People in the industry refer to them as the Osborn Brothers."

"Huh?"

In truth, when Shamira was only halfway through, Luka had already frozen in stunned disbelief.

How could he possibly have never heard of the infamous "Oscorp Industries"?

It was just that...

*The MCU has the Green Goblin too?*

Luka quickly realized, however, that the world he currently inhabited wasn't strictly identical to the MCU. It merely shared so many similarities that it constantly gave him a sense of deja vu.

Even so, the rest of the information was enough to shatter his prior understanding.

*It's one thing for Oscorp to have just been founded. But why on earth did the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus found it together? And as brothers? Is Doctor Octavius really that formidable here?*

Leaving aside Luka, who remained stunned and bewildered, Shamira continued relaying the intelligence Green Bull had extracted from Dr. West.

"The experimental treatment group was able to be established in the first place because Norman Osborn, the founder of Oscorp Biotechnology, used his own funds and connections to clear the path."

"However, Dr. West didn't know the specific reasons behind Norman Osborn's actions."

"He only heard through the grapevine that Norman Osborn's wife apparently suffers from a rare genetic disease. Because cases of this illness were exceedingly scarce, Osborn originally had to rely solely on his own laboratory to research treatments."

"Yet, in the wake of the Battle of New York, a large number of patients with conditions similar to his wife's suddenly appeared. While they aren't the exact same illness, the physical manifestations and symptoms are remarkably similar."

"That's why this Oscorp company decided to fund an expert group, using patients who lacked money or had given up on treatment as trial subjects to find a potential cure."

Well, this left Luka even more bewildered.

He hadn't anticipated that in this world, the person suffering from a genetic disorder wasn't a member of the Osborn family, but rather Norman Osborn's wife—and that her genetic disease happened to share symptoms similar to his mother Gina's "Neural Synapse Encapsulation Syndrome."

Yet his shock quickly flashed through his mind and vanished.

No matter what kind of world this was, at the very least, existence implied its own rationality.

Instead, he quickly began to reason things out.

*This might actually turn out to be good news for me.*

*Previously, because our family lacked connections in the biopharmaceutical sector, I couldn't find a partnering medical lab to develop the special targeted medication needed to treat Gina.*

*Perhaps Norman Osborn would actually make a rather good partner.*

Furthermore, Luka considered another point.

Oscorp seemed to have been established only a short time ago. While quite famous in the biomedical field, it was ultimately still just a startup.

Yet Luka knew that there was a high probability it would eventually evolve into an industry titan, much like the versions of Oscorp in other worlds.

If he were to cooperate with them now, could he also secure a share of the profits?

At this thought, a flash of white light reflected across the lenses of Luka's glasses. He raised his head to look at Shamira and spoke in a calm tone.

"Aunt Shamira, find a way to help me get in touch with Norman Osborn, the founder of Oscorp Biotechnology."

"Tell him that I have in my possession a medication capable of curing Neural Synapse Encapsulation Syndrome!"