Arthur felt a bit conflicted as this thought occurred to him.
The Peter he encountered tonight was obviously the Spider-Man of the Amazing Spider-Man series…
But in that series, the Green Goblin barely made an appearance before he died.
In the second movie, the Green Goblin who appeared had developed a serum. Was it related to the Super Soldier serum?
Arthur wasn't sure!
While pondering, Arthur opened the computer in his lab and searched for information on the OsCorp Group.
The results were frustrating.
For one thing, there was hardly any information about Norman Osborn online!
On the other hand, there was an overwhelming amount of information about the OsCorp Group, with countless inventions, innovations, and design concepts!
But none of it was helpful to Arthur.
What he wanted to know was the current status of this Norman Osborn!
In The Amazing Spider-Man, Norman was a living corpse, tormented by a hereditary genetic disease.
But in the first Spider-Man series, Norman Osborn was a very healthy man who even used himself for experiments that eventually led to the birth of the Green Goblin!
But now, the information about him online was so vague that Arthur could not determine which version of Norman Osborn he was.
All he knew was that such a person did exist!
"This is so…"
Arthur scratched his head, feeling rather helpless.
Looking at the data on the table, he hesitated a bit before finally making a decision.
"I need to investigate this first. If that doesn't work, I'll sneak in and have a look… If Peter could sneak in and get bitten by a spider, why can't I?"
Leaning back in his chair, Arthur turned and sighed softly.
The truth was, his determination to help Banner and his willingness to take risks for the Green Goblin serum wasn't just because of Agent Carter's possible connection.
After all, it was only a hypothesis, and while it was a strong possibility, there was always the chance that it might not be true.
The real reason he was so invested in this was because of his own selfish motives.
His growth rate was still too slow. He wasn't like Steve, who practically had a cheat code, possessing the power to withstand a punch from Thanos with his peak human-level strength…
So he had to think about his own future.
After leaving the battlefield of World War II, there were few modern weapons for him to disassemble.
Saving Iron Man the last time was an opportunity, but he couldn't just spend all his time in war-torn areas, right?
The key point was that the profits from disassembling ordinary weapons and firearms were getting increasingly insufficient to satisfy his growing appetite!
Only things like Hulk's pants and Schmidt's pistol generated Battle Souls that gave him a sense of improvement.
But he couldn't just wait for Banner to transform every now and then to collect his pants, could he?
After all, Banner's opinion didn't matter in this matter.
If the Hulk was upset, he could easily rip the Earth apart to show what's inside.
If he relied on regularly collecting Hulk's pants to get stronger, Arthur figured that Hulk would probably crush him before he got very far.
That wasn't feasible!
So, after witnessing the birth of Iron Man, Arthur set his sights on the Super Soldier Serum as his new target for the Disassembler.
Even though the Disassembler couldn't disassemble the Super Soldier serum initially, that doesn't mean it won't be able to in the future.
Now that the Disassembler is undergoing another upgrade, there's a chance it might be able to disassemble the serum once that upgrade is complete.
After all, it's important to have dreams!
This is why, after discovering the basement, he immediately cleaned it up and prepared it as a lab. He planned to produce the Super Soldier Serum there and give his Disassembler a chance to gain experience.
Even if, in the worst case, the Disassembler can't disassemble the Super Soldier Serum after the upgrade, Arthur can still use it!
Back then, the circumstances were unique, but now that he's in his own space, he can experiment as he pleases!
With his current physical condition, combined with the enhancements from the Super Soldier Serum, it's bound to be beneficial, even if the improvement isn't huge!
Although Banner's arrival interrupted Arthur's little plan, SHIELD's unpredictable attitude and Banner's plea for help have opened up new possibilities for Arthur!
If the Super Soldier serum can be broken down, then perhaps the serum that created the Hulk can be broken down as well.
Now, with the potential existence of the Green Goblin serum, Arthur feels he has every reason to pursue it!
Even in the worst-case scenario, where none of the serums can be disassembled and the Green Goblin serum doesn't even exist, if he can eliminate the disadvantages of the Hulk serum, could he use it himself?
Though turning green and big would be pretty unsettling, Arthur knows he's capable of anything when pushed!
Deep down, he's always had a fearless quality!
Even if all this is wishful thinking, in the absolute worst-case scenario, Banner's arrival gives Arthur a chance to increase Banner's favorability toward him!
In the face of potential future dangers, being isolated offers no benefits.
If he can help Banner control the Hulk's rage and lack of restraint, even temporarily, that would be a massive step forward!
At that point, he might be able to max out Banner's favorability!
This would provide Arthur with a measure of safety.
So, no matter how you look at it, this is a win-win situation!
From both a moral and self-improvement perspective, Arthur has every reason to pursue this.
And if he thinks about it from the angle of having a "free bodyguard," shouldn't he also consider developing his relationship with the little Spider?
All right, the kid's still young.
As for SHIELD… Arthur doesn't want to get too involved with them, even if Agent Carter is involved, he doesn't want to be involved with them.
He isn't originally from this country, and SHIELD is a national institution.
Getting too involved with them makes Arthur uncomfortable.
He had no reason to sit around and wait before crossing over, only to fight for another country after crossing over!
During World War II, he had no choice – if he didn't fight, they would have killed him.
But now, even though the world is still chaotic and there are always villains who think "living is bad" and constantly try to destroy the world, Arthur doesn't see why he should join SHIELD in pondering how to save the world.
That's what heroes are supposed to do. Is Arthur one of them?
Maybe to some people, but to himself, he's never been a hero!