"This—" Laveti's lips twitched a few times, but he chose to swallow his own words back. His previous statements have already made him lose face, and it is better to keep a low profile now.

Anyway, in the midst of this meeting, there was another one who made him attack Norman. Osborne's Authority Opportunity.

The events that followed were rather uneventful. It took more than twenty minutes for the heads of various departments to give a brief overview of the performance of the last quarter. After a round of applause, the curtain was drawn on this brief review. And the spirits of the various shareholders have been lifted again. Now comes the main event.

With Tony. With the disappearance of Stark, the entire Stark industry has been semi-paralyzed. The main decision-maker of Stark Industries is Obadiah. Stan, he's a great businessman, but that's about it. He doesn't have Stark's influence over the military, nor does he have the brains that can create countless black technologies.

What's more important is the loss of Tony. After Stark, he lost the confidence that had been hanging over Stark's industry. Nothing thinks that in losing Tony. After Stark, they were able to maintain their absolute technological superiority over their competitors as before.

Now, all Osborne had to do was bite as many pieces of meat as possible on Stark Industries, a giant whale stranded on the beach.

One of the senior technical advisors in the room stood up first and began his speech: "Our first goal is the acquisition of the Komolat Institute, a division of Stark Industries. They were involved in the development of Stark Industries' Ark Reactor and hold several patents to aid the exoskeleton armor technology we are working on. If successful, our Super Soldier program will save at least two years of research and development time. ”

All the shareholders in the room nodded, this is the plan they had agreed to a few days ago. Now it is just a formality to bring it up at the meeting.

"Secondly,. The acquisition of M. Laboratories. The technical advisor continued. There is some overlap in the genetic modification techniques that we are currently working on to cure disability and the projects we are currently working on, especially those led by Dr. Connor. At present, the other side has received initial investment from the military, and I think there are many achievements that we can learn from. ”

At this time, Laveti interrupted the technical advisor: "I'm sorry, but I have some questions about this acquisition. ”

Although the technical adviser looked a little embarrassed when his words were interrupted, he still gestured to the Indian businessman to ask questions with great professionalism.

"First of all, I'm not saying that acquiring AIM Labs was a completely wrong choice. Buying it would really give us enough benefits. But—" Laveti spread her hands. "The first thing we have to think about is opportunity cost. There are so many acquisition opportunities right now, and if we buy it as long as we make money, we're probably going to have to spend all the money very quickly. I believe everyone agrees that what we need are those options with the highest return and investment ratio. ”

"However, in my opinion, is the research project of the AIM Lab really that important to us? According to my understanding, Dr. Connor's research on genetically modified agents is quite mature, and I believe that it will not be long before a preliminary finished product can be produced. Do we really need to spend so much money to buy such a small amount of time? ”

After saying his words, Laveti was quite satisfied with his performance. This acquisition plan was proposed by Norman himself, and if he could seize the loopholes in it, his prestige would naturally be affected.

And he had been preparing for these words for most of the morning.

The technical consultant was obviously in a bit of a dilemma, and the question of investment was clearly beyond his scope of expertise. At this time, Norman picked up the conversation.

"The significance of this acquisition is more to prevent the other party from developing mature products before us." He said in his hoarse voice. "If the other side develops a mature product before us, it will be a heavy blow to our super soldier research and development project."

"Oh?" Laveti was also prepared for this reply. "Not to mention that their main research area is limb regeneration for medical purposes. Even if they can succeed a few months before we do, will AIM Labs have the matching exoskeleton armor and armed aircraft? ”

"AIM Labs, it may not be, but don't you think Stark Industries has either, or Hammer Industries can't get it?" Norman's face was already a little more disdainful. "Let's not talk about what black technology there is in Stark Industries, Hammer Industries' technology in military equipment is not worse than ours at all. Most of our technology is still in biotechnology, and there is still some basic respect for these established arms developers. ”

Laveti choked on him, and he clearly didn't think that far ahead. At this time, he couldn't think of a better way to fight back for a while, but he couldn't watch this great opportunity pass by in his hands like this. He gritted his teeth and finally decided to throw his killer move.

"Then Mr. Osborne, did you really decide to continue funding Dr. Connor's research because of the Super Soldier program?" A cold smile flashed across his face. "All of you are well aware of Dr. Connor's talent in the biological world. He has not been able to come up with a successful super soldier serum replica for so long, what is the real reason, I believe everyone knows. ”

At this moment, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly condensed. Almost everyone didn't expect this audacious Indian businessman to bring it up. Their gaze was nervously on Norman. Osborne and Laveti wandered between to see who would blow up the powder keg first.

"Oh?" Norman raised his brow. "I don't understand what you mean."

Norman repeated his old trick and threw the topic to Laveti again. At this time, he was already riding a tiger, so he could only continue to say what he hadn't said before.

"Mr. Norman, your condition is no longer a secret. I have heard of the series of requests and changes you have made to Dr. Connor. Of course, I sympathize with your situation, but the Osborne Group is no longer a family business. It doesn't seem like a good idea to use the money that we, the shareholders, have invested in your own service. ”

Now that the skin has been torn, then naturally there is no need to care about how ugly it is. Laveti knew that he had offended many of the people sitting in this room, but again, the rest of the group would naturally become close to him because of it.

To his surprise, Norman remained calm.

"In fact, you may have misunderstood this whole thing." Norman said unhurriedly. "I'm going to talk about this at the end of the meeting. In fact, after a series of investigations, Dr. Connor was found to be grossly negligent in conducting the research project. ”

Hearing this exciting news, everyone present couldn't help but look at each other. Norman, on the other hand, ignored the commotion and continued.

Not only did he make a series of decisions that delayed the progress of his research, but he was even suspected of embezzling funds. Dr. Connor fled last night, and we are working closely with the authorities to find his whereabouts. That's why we need the help of AIM Labs more than ever. I am very convinced that Aldridge. Dr. Killian was good enough to take Dr. Connor's place. ”

The moment he finished speaking, the entire conference room was boiling. Almost all of them began to speak out loud about their questions, and Norman confidently answered everyone's questions one by one. At this moment, almost all of them forgot about Lavetti's previous questioning.

-----

After the meeting, Harry followed Norman's assistant to his own office, and Norman, supported by a cronie, walked into the elevator to the laboratory floor.

When they stopped steadily on the destination floor, Norman didn't step out of the elevator. He typed a twelve-digit password into the keypad, and the elevator doors closed again, slowly moving.

When the door opened again, Norman was confronted with a laboratory in which more than ninety percent of the people in the Osborne Building did not know it existed.

This is the most hidden place in the Osborne Group.

The two guards guarding the elevator saluted Norman, but Norman's eyes didn't linger on them for a moment. His eyes were drawn to the huge container in the center of the lab.

In the container, a large humanoid monster bubbled in a yellowish nutrient solution. It looks like a strange blend of Komodo dragons, dinosaurs and humans.

It is nearly 2.5 meters tall, and its skin surface is obscured by a layer of green bone scales half a centimeter thick. Its muscles that would make any bodybuilder jealous suggest that it is no less powerful, and its stout tail, which is nearly half the length of its body, has a lot of bony barbs, and the sharp teeth and sharp claws in its mouth indicate that the creature is definitely not low.

And the two pipes that pierced the creature's back confirmed it. Every half hour, the creature is injected with a full 500 milliliters of powerful anesthetic to ensure that it remains unconscious. After all, once this monster does wake up, it's really hard to say whether the dozen or so heavily armed guards here will be its opponents.

Norman. Osborne slowly walked over to the container that held the monster in captivity, a faint smile on his face.

"Dr. Connor—" he murmured. I hope your research can really be so effective. ”