Batman had barely found the information on the genetically mutated spider when Black Cat let out a surprised gasp:
"I found it too!"
An "Shareholder Agreement" from Osborn Enterprise, where it was clearly written in black and white that Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin, owned ten percent of the shares.
The ink on this document still smelled strong, and judging by the date, Kingpin's investment was only a few days ago.
The excitement on Black Cat's face was undisguised; her rapid deep breaths almost caused the zipper of her deep V leather suit to burst open.
"What are you going to do?" Batman asked in a low voice.
The expression on Black Cat's face immediately froze, and confusion replaced excitement:
"I don't know... go back and check Google?"
"No." Batman was not just Batman; he was also once the head of Wayne Group. "You answer me first, how did Kingpin acquire a large sum of money to invest in Osborn Enterprise?"
"Taking over other Gangs, drug trafficking, arms dealing..." Black Cat was not stupid; her eyes quickly lit up.
"Exactly, these are all 'black money.' What Kingpin is doing now is laundering 'black money' through investment," Batman said. "Finding a lawyer to sue Kingpin is enough to invalidate his investment, or even send him directly to prison."
"It's that simple...?"
Black Cat was a little incredulous. In her mind, overthrowing Kingpin's Gang rule and avenging her father would take a long time, but with Batman's hint, all problems seemed to become simple.
A sweet smile reappeared on her face, and she wanted to turn around and give Batman a hug.
But there was no one else in Norman Osborn's office besides her; Batman had already left at some unknown point.
In the Sewer, Batman was currently using webs to quickly move, searching for all kinds of traces left by Squid Man.
Squid Man's unique stench was quite obvious even in the Sewer, and Batman didn't waste too much time finding his hiding place.
There were seven or eight suitcases of various sizes here, all containing the money paid by the New York Gang for hiring Squid Man. The largest amount in one box was five million U.S. dollars.
Adding it all up, it was over seven point six million.
"The Batsuit must be made by ordering a large quantity of various components so as not to attract attention. This amount of money is simply not enough."
In the deepest part of the Abandoned Shipyard, Batman frowned as he looked at the piles of cash he had gathered together.
To build a Batsuit identical to his previous model would require at least ten million U.S. dollars. It's not that a single suit is expensive, but rather that the suit is theoretically a consumable item.
Moreover, ordering a small quantity would inevitably attract the attention of suppliers, and a determined person might be able to trace him.
Under these two preconditions, Batman had to order a large quantity of components at once.
Batman didn't plan to keep all seven point six million U.S. dollars for himself. Strictly speaking, this money was the blood money of those who died at Squid Man's hands.
If the deceased were already Gang members with blood on their hands, Batman wouldn't mind using the money to arm himself, but he couldn't guarantee whether there were innocent people among them.
"I need to follow Director George Stacy's collection of criminal evidence against Squid Man. There will definitely be identity information about those who were killed, and then I will decide how to use this money."
The Sun rose little by little, and it was a new day.
Batman rested for less than an hour, shed his disguise, changed into a plaid shirt, and reverted his identity to Peter Parker. He then went out to buy a Daily Bugle and returned to the apartment Peter Parker rented.
There were no reports about Osborn Group's human experiments in the newspaper, only a photo of "Spider-Man" wandering around New York City, with the headline "Fleeing in fear or turning over a new leaf? Spider-Man has been missing for four days!"
Batman ignored this.
Aside from content related to Spider-Man, the rest of the front page focused on one thing: the Military would visit Osborn Enterprise today, and Osborn Group would be closed to the public for one day.
The Military... Batman suspected that the video evidence he sent to the Daily Bugle's email last night had not been reported, and it might be related to the Military.
Knock, knock, knock! After the knocking, a young female voice said:
"Peter, your phone."
"My phone?" Batman opened the door. Standing at the door was an unfamiliar young woman, not particularly pretty, with two braided pigtails and a slender figure.
"Who are you?" Batman asked.
"I'm the landlord's daughter, have you forgotten? My name is Ursula." Ursula smiled somewhat shyly, handing the phone she held to Batman.
Watching Ursula return to her own room across the apartment, Batman then picked up the receiver:
"I'm Peter."
"Peter? I'm Mei." On the other end of the phone was a kind elderly woman. "Today is Saturday, you need to come back."
Batman remained silent. He knew very well who the elderly woman was, and precisely because he knew, Batman had not contacted her since his transmigration.
Mei Parker, Peter's Aunt May. After her husband Ben Parker's death, she and Peter were left to depend on each other.
"Peter? Are you still there?" Aunt May's voice sounded a little anxious. "I know university life is busy, but today is an important day, you must come back."
"...Okay." Batman uttered a single word after a long pause.
Hearing Peter, whom she regarded as her own son, agree, Aunt May seemed very happy and chattered a lot on the phone. All Batman could do was mechanically repeat "Okay" and "No problem."
He could feel Aunt May's concern for him on the other end of the phone. In Gotham, only the old butler Alfred would be like this, but Alfred wouldn't talk so much.
Aunt May's concern almost overwhelmed Batman, but thankfully she eventually hung up.
"Peter, would you like to try the pizza I just baked?" Ursula, hearing Batman finish his call, quickly opened her door again and poked her head out to ask.
"Thank you." Batman refused. He couldn't get used to this inexplicable kindness.
But Ursula seemed to take Batman's refusal as agreement, happily pulling the door open and holding a plate of pizza, looking at Batman expectantly.
"..."
Three hours later, ten in the morning.
"Check the surveillance! Check it for me! Who exactly ran into my lab last night and triggered the alarm!"
"Tell the finance department to pay the Silver Sable Security people more! Make sure they don't leak any experimental secrets."
In the Osborn Group building, Norman Osborn furiously issued a series of orders and walked into his office on the sixtieth floor.
The undisguised signs of rummaging through cabinets and the scattered documents everywhere made Norman Osborn completely explode, but before he could vent his anger, a company employee burst in:
"Mr. Norman, the Military has already arrived downstairs."
Taking a deep breath, Norman Osborn didn't even look at the employee, suppressing his anger, and rushed down the elevator to greet them.
He was now very glad that the person who broke in last night hadn't damaged any experimental equipment, otherwise the Military's visit today would have definitely fallen through.
If there were no Military investment, and Dr. Otto's highly anticipated research into nuclear fusion energy had been slow to progress, Norman Osborn would inevitably face the risk of being voted out by the board of Directors.
"Fortunately, I brought Kingpin in as a shareholder in advance, which minimized my risk and kept my shareholder position relatively stable..." Norman Osborn took a deep breath to regulate his emotions.
Behind him, Batman's gaze swept across the office, which was littered with documents, and he followed, wearing clothes he had just stripped from an Osborn Group researcher.