Chapter 780: A Different Target

Chapter 780: Chapter 780: A Different Target

While Norman Osborn was changing, Henry was not sitting idly in front of the surveillance screens, watching a grown man clumsily put on armor that looked no different from a hockey player’s protective gear.

Compared with the Green Goblin armor, which was secured with buckles and straps and contained little in the way of high technology beyond its materials and a limited number of button-operated functions, the Wild Boar Armor Henry had to put on was far more troublesome.

The Wild Boar Armor likewise emphasized airtightness. The application of Isu technology was primarily reflected in the miniaturization of its components and the reduction in the weight and thickness of its equipment, but it still contained all the necessary components.

Compared with the Isu Eagle Armor designed for Cassandra, the Wild Boar Armor had a much greater proportion of mechanical technology. It was essentially a transitional design, partly because it had been cobbled together temporarily from spare test components.

Without mechanical arms to assist with putting it on, there were certain sections of the armor that the wearer could not put on alone. Not to mention all the bolts used to secure the various components—tightening them took quite some time.

Basically, Henry was like one of those medieval European knights encased in a tin can. Without the assistance of squires, even putting on his armor could be a problem.

Therefore, even with a relatively sophisticated dressing system to assist him, the time Henry needed to put on the Wild Boar Armor was about the same as the time Norman Osborn needed to change into his Green Goblin armor.

In Henry’s view, the most important part of the Green Goblin armor was actually the pair of boots that allowed it to be securely attached to the flight glider.

They did not appear to use an ordinary magnetic mechanism, yet they allowed the Green Goblin to stand firmly on the flight glider and perform all kinds of aerial maneuvers. Moreover, when the Green Goblin separated from the glider in midair, the flight glider would actively pursue him and reconnect with his feet in midair.

The rest of the armor was essentially just bulletproof protection.

The Green Goblin’s formidable performance was primarily due to Norman’s own body, which had been enhanced by the Green Goblin serum.

Henry just wondered whether there were any surveillance cameras, such as an action camera, mounted on the armor that could record footage of the Wild Boar Armor’s combat.

If he wanted to leave behind no evidence while also making sure everyone knew that Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin himself, the Wild Boar had taken an extra electromagnetic pulse grenade and attached it to the weapons belt around his waist before departing.

Once he was ready, the Wild Boar arrived at the launch apparatus.

The windows of the secret base on the eleventh floor were merely for show. The curtains were kept drawn year-round, and behind them was actually another wall.

Not only could no one outside see what was happening inside, but even if an enemy tried to fire tear gas through the windows, it would be stopped by the enclosed passage between the inner and outer rooms.

Aside from the door leading to the elevator, the secret base’s other exit was a launch passage leading to the rooftop.

The launch passage allowed the armor to fly out, but to enable daytime deployments without attracting attention, Henry had installed an electromagnetic launch system as well. It could give the armor an extremely high initial velocity as it left the rooftop, reducing the chances of anyone discovering this base of operations.

This was also partly because the Wild Boar Armor’s flight capabilities were inferior to those of the other armors. At best, it could float and hover, with a top flight speed of less than sixty kilometers per hour, roughly on par with the auxiliary drones and spy drones. Its acceleration was not particularly impressive either.

Therefore, if he wanted to quickly escape the building’s vicinity, he had to rely on the electromagnetic launcher.

And this device was nothing like the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, where a catapult assisted a fighter jet’s acceleration.

It was more like an enormous railgun that simply shot the armor into the sky!

This was Henry’s first time using the device, and even after becoming a Kryptonian and being exposed to yellow sunlight, it was the first time he had experienced a sensation of dizziness.

By the time he regained his balance, he discovered that he had already reached an altitude close to the stratosphere. The armor had only just managed to stop its upward momentum.

Looks like this railgun hit a little too hard...

With the Sparrow spy drone tracking the Green Goblin from behind and his private satellite in geosynchronous orbit providing assistance, the Wild Boar quickly pinpointed the Green Goblin’s location.

He immediately turned and headed downward, entering free fall. He even activated the flight function, which was normally only suitable for hovering, to provide additional thrust.

He had to intercept the Green Goblin before he reached East Forty-Ninth Street.

That left the Wild Boar with very little time...

Hmm, it seemed he did not need to worry about that after all.

Because after leaving the Osborn mansion, the Green Goblin was not flying north.

He was flying northeast—or, more precisely, toward Queens.

Would he turn midway? Or had the Green Goblin decided to cause trouble for the young Spider-Man first?

Henry had not abandoned his original objective, but the Wild Boar did not mind observing the situation and acting accordingly.

So he stopped using the flight system for propulsion, using it only to adjust his direction and slow his descent instead of allowing himself to remain in unrestricted free fall.

For the optical camouflage to function properly, his speed had to remain below a certain threshold.

If he moved too quickly, the electromagnetic ion coating generated by the armor would immediately be blown away by the air pressure, making stealth impossible.

The Green Goblin suddenly broke into the top floor of an old apartment building and set it on fire!

Was he trying to lure Spider-Man over?

The Wild Boar landed on a nearby rooftop where he could see the burning apartment. Most of the partitions and interior furnishings in the old apartment building were made of wood, so the fire quickly spread until visible flames and thick smoke began pouring from the windows.

There was no one else inside the apartment the Green Goblin had set ablaze, but downstairs, there was a woman and a baby in swaddling clothes.

They were completely unaware of the fire raging above them.

Because of the intense heat, most of the spy drone’s detection capabilities had become useless. The few remaining systems were also suffering severe interference and could barely observe the target’s position.

As a result, the Wild Boar gradually lost control of what was happening inside the building.

However, the fact that the Green Goblin could remain inside the burning building was enough to show that the armor was not as inadequate as Henry had imagined.

Or perhaps Norman Osborn, enhanced by the Green Goblin serum, was stronger than Henry had anticipated.

Although the Green Goblin had not immediately set out to take innocent civilians hostage, judging from the way the fire was spreading, it was only a matter of time before the flames completely engulfed the apartment below and sent the mother and baby to their deaths.

Should he intervene?

The fire had not yet spread downward. While the Wild Boar was still standing on the apartment building’s rooftop and weighing the pros and cons, a police car patrolling nearby and a fire crew responding to the emergency call had already arrived at the scene.

The police began establishing a perimeter and directing residents from the other floors out of the building.

The firefighters moved even more quickly. They connected fire hoses to the hydrant and fire truck, then took another hose equipped with a fire nozzle and advanced up the stairs toward the top floor.

Another hose was positioned on the street to spray water through the windows and fight the fire from outside.

By then, the flames were already burning fiercely and had begun spreading outward from the floor where the fire had started.

Firefighters broke down the door and dragged out a smoke-injured woman, while the other members of the crew continued spraying water to contain the flames.

The rescue did not go smoothly. The woman, terrified and disoriented by the sudden fire, occasionally struggled against the firefighters.

After they brought her down to the street, the woman finally caught her breath and regained her composure.

Only then was she able to tell the others that her child was still inside.

The firefighters who had just rescued her were stunned.

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