Chapter 17: Still Claiming You're Not True Love?

Now, there was no way for Bren to immediately present any other technology.

He certainly couldn't transform into Bren 10's alien hero right in front of Harry and the other customers at Snow Mud Café, could he?

“Harry, I know this is hard to believe,” Bren tried to persuade Harry. “It might even sound like a fairy tale, but trust me, I can make it a reality. I promise!”

He looked at Harry seriously. Though he didn’t explain the details, his earnest tone made Harry reminisce about the Bren he once knew; steady, mature...

Maybe, just maybe, he could pull it off? Harry couldn’t help but think.

At that moment, although he still felt it was ridiculous, a part of him had the urge to believe it.

What if? What if it could actually happen?

The formulas were beyond his understanding, but perhaps what was written was true?

After all, it was Bren!

He had never failed before!

“Alright,” Harry took a deep breath, as if making a major decision, and picked up the file Bren had given him. “I’ll show it to my dad. There are plenty of experts at Oscorp, and if it’s really possible, I think he might be willing to start a new project.”

Because it was Bren in front of him, Harry had made up his mind. Even if this might make him look foolish in his father Norman Osborn's eyes, Harry would still bring the file to him.

“No!”

Harry suddenly felt a gust of wind rush towards him.

Before he could react, a force yanked at his arm, and the file he was holding was suddenly slammed onto the table!

The tempered glass on the table made a loud cracking sound, almost as if it had been struck by something powerful. In an instant, it shattered into tiny fragments the size of a fingernail!

“Bren...?” Harry was startled, staring blankly at his long-lost and now somewhat unfamiliar old friend.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine... The glass quality seems to be a bit off,” Bren explained. He hadn’t expected this result. In his excitement, he had lost control of his strength and inadvertently shattered the glass.

At that moment, the café staff hurried over to ask if they were injured.

No one suspected Bren's strength. They all thought it was the glass's fault. The manager even considered offering him compensation, but Bren and Harry waved them off.

Interrupting the conversation, they decided to move somewhere else to continue their discussion.

So, they walked along the riverbank, talking as they went.

“Don’t show it to Uncle Norman,” Bren said, his hair ruffled by the wind. “I’m not planning to cooperate with Oscorp, Harry. I only want to work with you.”

Bren had no intention of sharing his technology with Norman Osborn, who could one day become the Green Goblin.

Even though Norman was still a decent elder now, Oscorp as a big corporation was not under his sole control.

The shareholders were like vampires, and if Bren made a breakthrough, everyone would want a piece of it.

Bren could handle it, but why make it complicated?

“Do you understand, Harry? Just you and me,” he said, pointing a finger at Harry’s chest, “Maybe Peter later, but never Oscorp or any other corporation.”

“Just us?” Harry stopped walking along the river and looked at Bren in surprise.

Bren nodded, leaning on the railing and saying softly, “Oscorp isn’t just your dad’s company. I don’t want anyone meddling with my business.”

Bren was determined to make PrimeMars Tech as big as Stark Industries, even bigger. He preferred to avoid the headaches of shareholding from the very beginning.

Not just other investors, but even Harry’s dad, he didn’t trust.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Of course, it wouldn’t be polite to say this to Harry’s face.

“I understand where you’re coming from,” Harry nodded. “To be honest, if those shareholders had the chance, they’d probably tear Oscorp apart and leave nothing behind.”

“You’re right. That’s what I’m worried about. Moreover, if we succeed without Oscorp’s help, I think Uncle Norman will be even prouder of you, don’t you think?”

“You’re right, but Bren, if we’re going to develop nanotechnology, there’s no way we can do it without Oscorp’s financial resources,” Harry sighed and shook his head. “Just setting up a nanolab would cost a fortune.”

“We don’t have to start with nanotech right away,” Bren said after thinking for a moment.

High-tech nanorobots were a bit too far ahead. His only advantage now was having existing research samples, so he didn’t need to worry about going in the wrong direction, which would save a lot of costs.

“What are you thinking?” Harry asked.

Bren naturally thought about Iron Man’s suits. Many of the technologies in Mark 3 were civilian-friendly, and more importantly, once he transformed into Bren 10’s hero, he’d be able to master Mark 3’s tech in no time.

He could upgrade the armor and then sell the upgraded functions.

“It won’t cost much. I think a few tens of millions of dollars will be enough,” Bren winked at Harry, who helplessly shook his head.

Harry thought he’d just be supporting an old friend’s startup, maybe spending a few hundred thousand to start a small company. Now it seemed like he might have to invest tens of millions...

“I guess I’ll have to sell a few cars,” he shrugged.

Then, the two discussed company shares. Surprisingly, this part was easier than expected.

Young Harry wasn’t much of a businessman, or rather, he hadn’t really seen it as a business venture.

In the end, he only asked for a small portion of the shares.

“Money’s not a big deal for me,” Harry shook his head. “You came to me for help, and I helped you. Simple as that!”

“Besides, I’ll inherit Oscorp sooner or later. No matter how disappointed my dad is with me, I’m still his only son,” Harry laughed and patted Bren’s shoulder. “The best way for you to repay me is to make this company succeed so my dad starts seeing me differently!”

“Don’t worry, Harry, I won’t let you down.”

With the funding problem solved, Bren was ready to say goodbye, but Harry stopped him.

“Wait…”

“What is it, anything else?” Bren asked.

“No way, Bren?” Harry exclaimed in surprise. “I just decided to give you all the money I’ve saved since childhood, and I might even have to sell a car, and you’re just going to leave me on the street?”

“Why are you making me sound like an ungrateful jerk who would walk away after pulling up my pants?”

“You totally are!” Harry said. “At least invite me to dinner, man?”

Without letting him respond, Harry hooked his arm around Bren’s shoulder and pulled him toward Queens. “I haven’t seen Peter in a while. I’ve finally gotten out of boarding school, and I don’t want to go back so soon!”

After all that, it turned out he just wanted to see Peter. You two are truly in love, aren’t you?

Bren rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Harry and Peter were indeed close, having known each other longer, and compared to the more mature Bren, Peter and Harry could have more fun together.

When they got home, Aunt May and Uncle Ben hadn’t returned from work yet.

To make ends meet, especially to raise two kids, they had to work extra hard. A few years ago, Uncle Ben was almost always working late into the night, and Aunt May had to juggle several jobs.

For a long time, Bren and Peter had planned to work part-time after school, but back then, Bren was too young, so Uncle Ben didn’t allow it.

However, Peter was at home.

A few days ago, after Aunt May’s incident, Peter realized he had focused too much on his late parents and not enough on the family members still around.

This made him feel guilty, so he hadn’t visited Dr. Connors in a while.

Of course, he thought the serum issue had been solved when he brought his dad’s formula over, so there was no need to go back.

“I’ll wait a while to check on how the serum research is going,” Peter muttered to himself as he squatted next to the table, working on a small gadget.

The web-shooter!

After receiving Bren’s suggestion, Peter had been pondering the suit and the web-shooter.

For some reason, he felt like it was instinctive. He knew exactly how to make a special enzyme to synthesize the webbing.

And he succeeded.

The rest was just the suit and the shooter.

“I wonder where Bren went. He said he wasn’t going to be a superhero, but he’s not helping me at all,” Peter sighed but quickly perked up.

He had an idea.

“Even if you’re not going to be Spider-Man, I won’t forget you if I find something useful. After all, you’re my cousin!” Peter grinned slyly and opened the draft Bren had given him, picking out another suit design.

“This one looks good,” Peter held up the design while his other hand held the half-finished Spider-suit, thinking about how to modify it for Bren. Just then, he heard the sound of a door opening downstairs, and a surge of electricity spread across his scalp.

“Is Bren back? Now I can ask him which suit he likes,” Peter muttered, preparing to take the draft downstairs to Bren.

At that moment, a voice he didn’t quite recognize came from outside.

“Peter?”

Before Harry even reached the stairs, he called up to Peter, then stepped onto the creaky stairs, making a noise that grated on the ears.

“Your stairs have seen better days, haven’t they?” Harry quipped, worried he might break them.

“By seniority, you could call them ‘uncle stairs,’” Bren said casually, “But don’t worry, it’s not osteoporosis; they won’t collapse.”

“Hope so.”

Harry reached Peter’s door and was about to knock when the doorknob turned on its own. Peter, holding the sketchbook filled with Spider-Man suit designs, stepped out.

“Long time no see, Peter!” Harry excitedly greeted him, then his gaze landed on the sketchbook in Peter’s hand.

“What’s this?”