Not everything in this world revolves around a single person. Sometimes a butterfly flaps its wings on the other side of the ocean, and in the end, it doesn't even stir up a fart.
The so-called butterfly effect is, to some extent, an example of survivorship bias. Not every slight movement of a butterfly causes major events elsewhere in the world to change. Sometimes a storm on the other side simply swallows up the breeze stirred up by a tiny butterfly.
Even after acquiring the dementia drug, Oscorp could submit all the relevant data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review, but the earliest it could realistically obtain approval to put the drug on the market was six years from now!
The biggest obstacle, of course, was that the Americans didn't recognize the human trial data produced in India. Therefore, Oscorp had to repeat the entire drug-validation process in accordance with U.S. laws, starting from animal testing and continuing all the way through human trials.
And Norman Osborn's ambitions weren't limited to a dementia drug.
Besides verifying the drug's effectiveness against other forms of brain disease, Oscorp was also working on something else: finding a way to weaken the drug's efficacy.
The primary goal was to transform this one-time curative drug into a chronic-disease medication that patients would need to take over the long term. They didn't even need it to provide a complete cure. As long as it could prevent the symptoms from getting worse, that would be enough.
The reason had been stated countless times. Every pharmaceutical company in the world was a profit-making enterprise, not a charity. Under the logic of maximizing profits in a market economy, pharmaceutical companies weren't trying to eradicate diseases. They were trying to control them.
In short, Oscorp had obtained a money tree.
But for the time being, that tree hadn't had time to grow. No matter how hard they shook it, money simply wouldn't fall out yet.
Normally, this wouldn't have been much of a problem for a company the size of Oscorp.
Unfortunately, these weren't normal times.
The major events of the previous year had led to sweeping adjustments in American national policy and the strategic direction of the U.S. military.
Stark Industries, which had transformed itself into a military-industrial conglomerate, had finally seized its opportunity and shot straight into the sky. It had far surpassed the era when Howard Stark was in charge and had become a behemoth even the old-money families could no longer afford to ignore.
There was also a clear difference between the two generations of Starks.
When it came to influence within a single field, Tony Stark carried far more weight than Howard Stark ever had.
If Stark Industries had originally been nothing more than an eyesore to certain people, now it was as if someone had shoved a pillar directly into their eyes. No one could possibly be comfortable with it.
If an ordinary company had reached the same level of scale and influence, the U.S. government would probably have brought out its heirloom weapon—the antitrust laws.
Whatever needed to be dismantled would be dismantled. Whatever needed to be broken apart would be broken apart. If there were even the slightest hesitation, then this wouldn't be the USA.
But the defense industry was special. It had extremely strict requirements for secrecy.
The U.S. military practically wished Stark Industries' manufacturing capabilities worked like this: as long as they dumped enough ore into the factories, the company could turn around and produce a fighter jet.
Break the company apart?
You've got to be kidding.
If military secrets leaked, whose head would be hanging on the executioner's block for everyone to admire?
Thus, the rise of Stark Industries was visibly unstoppable.
Even Hammer Industries, which was merely picking up scraps and leftovers, had seen its market value inflate several times over, like a balloon being pumped full of air. Its production capacity had also expanded dramatically by riding this wave.
Originally an obscure European workshop that survived by copying Stark Industries' products and fighting over scraps of the market, Hammer Industries had suddenly transformed itself into a genuine player in America's defense industry.
That ticket into the game was an opportunity countless arms dealers could only dream of obtaining.
And Justin Hammer had managed to seize it.
They say that whenever someone profits, someone else inevitably takes a loss.
During this period, aside from Stark Industries and Hammer Industries, other companies cooperating with the U.S. military were all facing, to varying degrees, issues involving "contract adjustments."
The unlucky ones lost the U.S. military as a major customer altogether.
That was why, when Norman Osborn was at home and received word that General Thaddeus Ross had arrived at Oscorp, a bad feeling immediately flashed through his mind.
He hurriedly left home and headed for his company.
At a company of this size, there was naturally no way Norman wouldn't know where a visitor had gone. But when he learned that several board members had accompanied the general, he immediately realized that this unannounced visit was unlikely to bring good news.
By the time he reached the research center, its director, Dr. Strom, was introducing General Sokom to the flight glider.
This was the latest research project Oscorp intended to enter into bidding for the U.S. military's "individual soldier flight equipment."
A test pilot wearing a G-suit stood atop the flight glider, remaining suspended in midair while carefully maintaining his balance.
But General Sokom had absolutely no interest in the company's independent research project.
"As for the flight glider, I've seen enough of it already. My main purpose in coming here today is the Physical Enhancement Program.
"This program was launched in '92 and handed over to Oscorp. It'll have been ten years this year, won't it? What results have you achieved?
"Every year you request more funding, and every year you hand in a blank sheet of paper. Perhaps I should send you parasites who waste the taxpayers' money to a court-martial."
"General Sokom."
Norman Osborn stepped in at the right moment to smooth things over.
"Please forgive Dr. Strom. He's merely the head of our company's research center and isn't very familiar with the commercial side of things. If you have any questions, please ask me directly."
After approaching the visiting group, Norman Osborn also greeted two familiar faces.
"Mr. Barken, Mr. Fergus. We have several board members gracing us with their presence. Why didn't you give me a heads-up beforehand?"
In reality, Norman knew perfectly well that without these two board members leading the way, there was no chance General Sokom could have barged all the way into the research center—the company's most restricted facility—without Norman himself escorting him.
With the man in charge finally present, General Sokom maintained his arrogant demeanor.
"Dr. Osborn, I want to make my position clear. The Physical Enhancement Program was approved by my predecessor, and I have very little confidence in it."
"Then why not take a look at the flight glider? This is one of the U.S. military's procurement requirements for the next stage. We've produced an excellent product that meets all the requirements and are preparing to bid for the contract."
General Sokom sneered.
"Just a glider and a G-suit. How much protection do you think they can actually provide a soldier?
"And I shouldn't have to remind you of the difference in cost between soldiers who undergo the Physical Enhancement Program and equipment that requires continuous logistical maintenance.
"You should understand that financial calculation better than I do. Don't tell me I'm better at arithmetic than you are. But when it comes to discussing how to kill people, you might be better than me.
"I'll also tell you something else. General Thaddeus Ross is preparing to restart the Super-Soldier Program at the Quantico base—the same program from sixty years ago.
"He plans to gather the finest scientists and have the military take the lead, just as it did with the Manhattan Project in the past.
"It was precisely General Ross who called for the cleanup of outsourced research programs that had produced no results, in order to save funding and redirect it toward his proposal.
"I have to tell you, General Ross has the support of everyone within the military—including me."
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