Dr. Otto, Professor Warren, Norman Osborn, Professor Connors... Too many things had happened at Oscorp in the last month and a half.
Behind these events, there was a common figure: Peter Parker.
Even though Peter Parker intersected with these different people in different ways and at different times, in Doctor Strange's view, this young man either had terrible luck or was being dragged into the center of a storm.
He believed the latter, because in the last month, the memory fiber produced by Parker Industries had already made waves in the field of materials science, ranging from the medical field to battlefield rescue, parachutes, racing suits...
Memory fiber had been applied to numerous fields within just a short month.
The reason Doctor Strange could remember the name Peter Parker wasn't because the young man had left a good personal impression, but simply because Metro-General Hospital had recently been using this new material in large quantities.
People from Oscorp were meeting with accidents one after another, yet Peter Parker, the only "outsider" connected to every single one of them, was currently relying on memory fiber to frantically expand his own Parker Industries.
He had even spent a huge sum to buy a whole sixty-six-story high-rise in the center of Manhattan, six stories taller than the Oscorp Tower.
Doctor Strange found it hard not to suspect exactly what Peter Parker had done amidst this chain of events.
Proud but not stupid, Strange naturally wouldn't question Peter Parker to his face. He simply handed over a business card printed with his private number, waiting for Peter to reveal a flaw himself.
Doctor Strange did not know that his thoughts had been seen through by Batman the instant he handed over the card.
Hesitating for only a split second, Batman figured out the value of his identity as "Peter Parker" in Doctor Strange's eyes.
"I will call this number at the necessary moment, Mr. Strange." Batman kept his expression impassive, maintaining his persona as he spoke.
"Doctor," Strange corrected.
Batman ignored the correction and turned his head to look toward Professor Warren's hospital room.
Even though he had already walked a dozen meters away from Professor Warren's room, Batman could still hear the discussion inside gradually dying down, replaced by a series of footsteps.
Almost at the same time Batman looked at the room, the door to Professor Warren's ward opened. Doctors and nurses wearing sterile suits and masks walked out one after another.
"I need to take a look at Professor Warren," Batman said. "Excuse me."
Without waiting for Doctor Strange to speak, Batman had already turned and walked toward the ward, leaving the doctor standing there with his mouth open, unable to make a sound.
At Professor Warren's bedside, Batman gently placed his palm on one of the professor's arms, feeling the blood flowing in the vessels beneath the skin.
He wasn't wearing the Arkham Suit, and the Oracle AI had lost most of its functions with the crash of the disposable Batwing, but Batman was still Batman.
The medical knowledge he possessed was enough to instantly make him a world-class doctor proficient in both internal medicine and surgery.
Coupled with the super senses possessed by Peter Parker, Batman could quickly judge Professor Warren's physical condition without relying on any external devices.
"Just as Strange said, Professor Warren is out of critical danger."
The moment his palm made contact, Batman let go of half his worry, knowing Professor Warren would survive.
However, Batman wasn't so ridiculous as to be able to distinguish the condition of Professor Warren's brain using only his senses; it was unclear when the man would wake up.
But that didn't matter. Batman wasn't simply visiting; his main purpose was to observe and analyze Professor Warren's injuries.
"There is bruising on the neck. Judging by the shape, he suffered a chokehold. The wounds on the neck indicate he was bitten by some kind of creature."
"Judging from the bruising on the front of his body and the injury to his waist, Professor Warren was thrown heavily by that creature."
"The finger bones of the creature that grabbed Warren's throat... the knuckles protrude... in other words, the palms have almost no muscle, they are in a state of skin and bones."
"From the initial injury to the transport to the hospital, Professor Warren suffered secondary damage, but I already know for certain that was damage caused by Tony carrying Warren during flight."
"..."
Clack clack clack.
Footsteps came from outside the ward. Batman retracted his hand, stuck two listening devices under the bed, turned around, opened the window, and jumped out.
After jumping out the window, Batman kept his hands pressed tight against the wall, preventing himself from free-falling. Instead, he quickly moved out of the line of sight of the pedestrians on the street below and reached the roof.
After some maneuvering, Batman arrived at the twentieth floor of the Oscorp Tower, still in the identity of Peter Parker. He collected all the clues from the scene, where a battle had obviously taken place, before drilling into the sewers and driving the Batmobile back to the Batcave.
"Medical records from Metro-General Hospital show that Professor Warren had lost excessive blood when he was brought in."
"There wasn't much blood at the scene in the Oscorp Tower; Warren had already lost blood before he was thrown out."
"The 'Batman' mentioned by Daredevil is suspected of drinking blood..."
There was no surveillance on the twentieth floor of the Oscorp Group, nor in most of the laboratories involving the company's core technology.
But even so, the chain of clues ultimately pointed to the fact Batman least wanted to see: the so-called Vampire Batman was actually either Harry Osborn or Professor Morbius.
Combining this with the fact that the incident originated on the twentieth floor of the Oscorp Tower...
From the traces of the torn restraints on the insulated chair used for electroshock therapy, to Batman discovering that a vampire bat was missing from the biological specimens in the glass jars in Professor Warren's lab...
Without wasting too much time, Batman had locked onto Professor Morbius as the true culprit.
This was much simpler than when Batman had first arrived and had to run to almost every law firm in Manhattan to find a lawyer who dared to face the Kingpin.
Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, Batman quickly sketched on the paper.
Based on the "skin and bones" judged from Warren's injuries, and the characteristics of blood-sucking, the image of Morbius with a pointed mouth and fangs soon leapt onto the paper.
"Hideous enough."
California, San Diego, Blake Coast.
In the spacious and bright living room of a seaside villa, Tony Stark, wearing the Mark III armor, paced back and forth like a high-spirited rooster.
After a long while, he finally lifted his faceplate and stopped in front of a silver-gray briefcase. The case was stamped with the logo of a white bald eagle; clearly, this item had been sent by S.H.I.E.L.D.
"JARVIS, repeat what you just said," Tony Stark said.
"Apologies, sir," the JARVIS AI spoke up. "The villa's security system indeed did not detect when this case appeared."
Tony Stark sighed, plopped down next to the case, and slumped his upper body over it.
"If I had more time, I would upgrade you, JARVIS... That's twice now. You were completely unaware of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s infiltration."
"If this were a bomb, or if the person delivering it was from the Ten Rings, I'm afraid I'd be lying on the ground right now."
"Apologies, sir," JARVIS said.
Tony Stark was about to say something else when JARVIS spoke up again instantly.
"You have a call from Nick Fury, sir."
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