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[Frog] Chapter 99: Awakening of the Second Personality
🕑 Added 2024-10-09 16:34:34 +0000 UTCOsborn Industries.
Inside an employee dormitory, Jack stood on the balcony, his gaze fixed on the direction of Norman Osborn's lab.
From behind, a few of his underlings grumbled in dissatisfaction:
"Boss, how much longer do we have to stay in this godforsaken place?"
"I haven't been to the red-light district in ages."
"By the way, Boss, I noticed there are quite a few attractive female researchers here."
"Maybe you could have a word with Norman Osborn..."
Jack turned around and gave them a displeased look, causing them to shut their mouths immediately.
"The situation outside isn't stable right now. We were way too close to Kingpin before," Jack said.
"Going out now, do you have a death wish?"
"But Boss, how long do we have to stay in this place? Being ordered around by that Norman Osborn... it's really frustrating."
"Yeah, same here," another added. "And the people here, they all look down on us."
Jack chuckled and said, "Don't rush it. Let's hang in there for now. If everything goes smoothly, I might just become the next Kingpin!"
"Really, Boss?" His underlings looked at Jack, now filled with excitement.
For gangsters like them, their biggest dream was to become someone like Kingpin.
Even though Kingpin met a tragic end, did that really matter? During his prime, he was the man every gangster aspired to be.
Even after his downfall, that dream remained. Every gang in New York now wanted to become the next Kingpin.
Jack smiled, his eyes returning to Norman's lab. "Norman, you better not disappoint me."
Inside Norman's lab.
The homeless man still lay unconscious inside a specially made glass chamber.
Norman wasn't in any hurry. He sat quietly at his lab desk, patiently waiting. In their line of work, patience was essential.
The more of a genius you were, the more patience you needed, because experiments and data collection were incredibly tedious.
If you couldn't overcome that, you weren't fit to be called a genius.
As Norman leafed through Howard's experimental notes, he kept an eye on the chamber. After two hours, the drug had taken full effect, and the homeless man's body had become incredibly strong.
His once loose hospital gown was now stretched tight, his muscles clearly defined beneath it.
Just like Steve Rogers back in the day, the once emaciated body had transformed into that of a bull after the gene serum injection.
His physical abilities had been enhanced to an unprecedented level.
So far, all of the homeless man’s changes perfectly matched the records in the data.
"Ugh..."
A sudden groan broke Norman’s concentration on the notes. He immediately stood up and hurried over.
Inside the glass chamber, the homeless man clutched his head, slowly regaining consciousness.
He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. "Where am I?"
Norman watched his reaction, knocking on the glass chamber.
The homeless man turned toward the sound, and when he saw Norman, his whole body trembled uncontrollably, fear quickly overtaking him as he retreated.
"You... what do you want? Who are you?"
Fragments of memory rushed back into his mind. The last thing he remembered before passing out was this man injecting something strange into him.
Then the pain became unbearable, and he eventually lost consciousness.
“No, don’t be nervous. I’m helping you,” Norman said gently, trying to calm the homeless man. “In fact, we found out you were sick, so we brought you here for treatment. How are you feeling now?”
“Sick?” The homeless man quickly looked down at his hands, and beads of cold sweat began to form on his forehead. He could clearly see that his arms didn’t look the way they used to.
What have these strange people done to me? Do they want to kill me?
“Yes, that’s right. They want to kill you,” a different voice suddenly echoed deep within the homeless man’s mind, sending him into a deeper state of panic.
“Who… Who are you? Who's talking? Is it you?” he shouted, pointing at Norman outside the glass chamber.
Norman narrowed his eyes, watching the man’s reaction. He hadn’t spoken, but the homeless man was clearly hearing something.
"Could it be... a second personality?" Norman mused, deciding to probe further. “I didn’t say anything. You must have misheard.”
“No, I definitely heard it. Someone told me…” The homeless man suddenly went quiet, as the voice in his head whispered, “Shh… don’t say it. If you do, they’ll kill you.”
“Now, stay silent. Leave the rest to me.”
Seeing the man stop mid-sentence, Norman grew anxious and asked, “What did he tell you? Quickly, tell me! I’m the only one who can help you.”
“I’m trying to treat you,” he added.
But the homeless man remained silent, curling up in the corner. The lab fell into an eerie silence, and even Norman began to feel a creeping sense of fear.
Norman slowly approached the glass chamber, trying to get a closer look at the homeless man.
“Are you... still alright?” he asked cautiously.
Just then, the man in the corner abruptly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, staring fiercely at Norman. Before Norman could react, a dark figure lunged at him, slamming violently against the glass with a deafening crash.
BANG!
The force of the impact startled Norman so much that he fell to the floor in shock. The homeless man burst into laughter, “Hahaha! Look at that! A fool just got scared!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… what a pathetic little guy,” the man sneered.
His demeanor had completely changed from before.
Norman got up from the floor, staring at the man in the glass chamber. “You’re not the same person from earlier,” he said.
The homeless man responded by smashing his fist into the glass with a loud thud, causing Norman to furrow his brow.
“Of course I’m not. If I were him, you’d all be dead by now.”
“This damned glass chamber!” he shouted, delivering another powerful punch. The noise was loud, but the glass didn’t budge.
Norman, now more adjusted to this new personality, started observing him carefully.
“Perfect. Your transformation is absolutely flawless…”
....
