Marcus's voice was low and seductive.
Like an invisible pair of hands, it was attempting to pry open the deepest darkness and evil thoughts within Finn's heart.
[Finn Osborn, you have to pull Harry down.]
You can have the entire Osborn Group, only then will you have a chance to survive.
Finn was truly.. left stunned.
So, I have a sickness too?
Has my brother been hiding it from me all this time?
And it's a fatal genetic disease for which there is currently no cure!?
—Is it really that miserable?
—There's such a good thing like this too!?
————————
To clarify some issues regarding the protagonists, in case some little angels are afraid of a real schizophrenic twist later on: there isn't one.
① Finn did indeed give himself a mental illness debuff, but it is not schizophrenia; it will act up later.
Finn is a transformed human, System PP is also a genuine newbie system; that is the basic setting.
③ System PP will not be an imaginary existence; PP will stay with Finn until the end of the mission.
④ Finn's birthday party is a very important milestone. Later on, a plot will occur that the protagonist himself doesn't find tragic, but everyone else finds it incredibly tragic.
Chapter 25: Silence · Death
Finn is truly certain now—
This is truly a low-difficulty world mission for him.
In addition to delivering a stack of debuffs, he was also supposed to provide villain guidance; now that his progress had stalled, he had been handed yet another major sickness.
If all these buffs were stacked together and he still couldn't reach 100 Misery Value, then Finn would truly be letting down the Main Brain's hard work.
Right next to their car, a black car suddenly pulled up alongside them.
The car window rolled down.
It was Marcus.
Finn curled his lips into a smile. Was he waiting for him here?
"Young Master Finn.." Seeing Finn about to open the car door, Joseph frowned and spoke with concern.
"Don't worry, it's just a chat." Since it was a villainous guidance delivered right to his doorstep, Finn was naturally going to seize this opportunity.
"Young Master Finn, have you reached a decision?" Marcus asked, gazing at the young man with great confidence as he boarded the vehicle.
"Where is Max Dillon?" Finn asked in return.
Marcus was stunned, failing to even realize who Max was at first.
"Max Dillon, a deceased electronic engineer," Finn said.
"Don't worry, his death is being kept strictly under wraps; it will never reach Harry Osborn's ears." Marcus thought Finn was simply afraid of the matter being exposed.
What about the body?" Finn asked in a calm tone. "How did you handle it? Was it buried?
"Someone will handle it," Marcus frowned. He merely ordered people to clean it up; he certainly didn't care how it was handled.
So it hasn't been dealt with yet," Finn said indifferently. "Take me to see it.
Are you going to see the corpse?" Marcus was stunned. "You don't actually think I'm lying to you, do you?
If you want me to announce this at the press conference, then how am I supposed to announce it? Shouldn't I announce how I properly handled the matter after I discovered Harry Osborn covered up the death of Max Dillon? Only in this way can my stance be highlighted, only then can I distinguish myself from the image of the cold-blooded capitalist Harry, right?" Finn said, staring at Marcus. "At least on the surface, I must arrange a funeral for him and erect a tombstone, rather than letting you all just settle it privately like this.
Finn's tone was very calm, sounding as if he weren't even discussing the disposal of a corpse.
Marcus frowned slightly.
He had originally thought that this Young Master Osborn, who usually only cared about eating, drinking, playing, would have lost his composure and panicked long ago when faced with such a fatal incident. But it seemed that the cold-blooded genes of the Osborn family also flowed through this Young Master Osborn's veins. It made sense; someone like him wouldn't care about the lives of ordinary people.
But at least, Finn wasn't wrong, he was actually much smarter than he had expected.
The body is in the morgue," Marcus asked. "Young Master Finn, are you sure you want to go? If there is something you want me to arrange, you can just tell me directly.
Go ahead." Finn thought for a moment; although he had claustrophobia, the morgue shouldn't be so bad that they wouldn't turn on the lights. "Bring me a very bright flashlight.
Marcus did not try to dissuade Finn Osborn again; after all, what he wanted to do was to bring Finn Osborn into his camp.
"How did you know Harry fell ill?" Finn asked.
You have no idea how much effort Norman Osborn poured into treating this hereditary family disease, or how many top genetic researchers he recruited, do you?" Marcus looked at Finn with a meaningful smile, his voice carrying an air of all-knowing arrogance. "Those research projects were initiated while Norman was still alive. I had already gained knowledge of the movements of these experiments long before Harry Osborn even knew about his own condition, let alone the fact that Harry only took over later.
Finn understood.
Marcus was a veteran director who had helped build the commercial empire alongside Norman Osborn. Having operated within the group for many years, his connections were deeply rooted, his influence had long since extended into every corner. Even though Harry Osborn had taken over the Osborn Group, all of his medical treatments and movements regarding his condition were, naturally, firmly held in the other man's grasp.
Even used as leverage.
"Harry is only twenty-one, after all. Do you really think that by relying on inheritance and your own two hands, you can grasp everything of the Osborn family firmly in your palm?" Marcus sneered, his tone filled with contempt for Harry.
"But I am only nineteen," Finn spoke up to remind him.
[Since you're trying to win me over, shouldn't you at least put on a show and praise me a little?]
Finn, we are partners; you know this is a win-win situation." Marcus adopted a more sincere, elder-like demeanor, his voice soothing. "Of course I understand your resentment toward Harry Osborn. Think about it—you are clearly also a son of Norman Osborn, yet Harry has never once given you a second glance. He treats you like a useless playboy who only knows how to eat and drink, clutching the inheritance that should have been yours firmly in his hands. No shares, no voice—it's as if he has left you absolutely no room at all.
"Yeah, I think if I were the CEO of Osborn Group, I wouldn't be any worse than Harry." Finn nodded, echoing with a hint of resentment in his voice.
"You've got some nerve." Marcus: ".." I can only say that Norman Osborn had his reasons for leaving the Osborn Group to Harry.
"What do you think?" Finn asked Marcus in return, staring at him.
Marcus really couldn't bring himself to say anything flattering about Finn, so he could only follow the young man's emotions, putting on an indignant expression: "You have always stayed in New York, staying by Norman's side. In terms of closeness, you are his most beloved son. How could Norman possibly hand all the shares over to Harry at once?"
“This is clearly all Harry's doing. He is that kind of dictator—he wants to purge all obstacles and then snatch everything away.” Of course, Marcus felt that the distribution of the Osborn Group's inheritance was problematic to begin with; even if the group were truly to be left to Harry, it would be impossible to leave Finn only a tiny bit of pocket money. Harry must have tampered with it. His tone carried a hint of certain provocation.
Marcus's voice was tinged with the accumulated rage of recent times, his fists clenched involuntarily. 'Harry Osborn is nothing but a cold-blooded exploiter! Not only did he steal the inheritance that should have been yours, but he also ruthlessly stripped away all the power and benefits I earned through a lifetime of hard work for Osborn! He has no sense of gratitude; he has no idea just how vital I am to the Osborn Group!'
“Finn, I can promise you that as long as we form a united front, I will help you obtain the Osborn Group, including the research for a cure for your illness.” Having said this, Marcus quickly suppressed his anger and switched to a promising tone, his voice becoming animated, “I know you haven't been involved in the Group's business operations, but it doesn't matter. With me here, you have nothing to worry about; I will help you manage all the affairs of the Osborn Group. Under the joint efforts of you and me, the Osborn Group will usher in an era even better than the time of Norman Osborn, reclaiming and even surpassing its former glory.”
They really take me for a fool.
Finn fell silent for a moment in helplessness, then suddenly gave a slow nod. "Fine, I think that works."
The young man paused, appearing to be truly persuaded, added with great seriousness, "I've even thought of a slogan for our partnership."
Meeting Marcus's slightly surprised gaze, Finn said word by word, "Make Osborn Great Again."
Marcus: ".."
"So, when will I start showing symptoms?" Finn asked again.
Not necessarily." Marcus couldn't be sure. "Harry Osborn is one of those who develops it early; his body has already begun to undergo some mutations.
"But he is already extremely anxious," Marcus said, his words laced with a hint of gloating sarcasm.
Finn had also heard the colleagues in the Brand Promotion Department discussing privately that their CEO's low pressure had been getting heavier lately; just sitting in the same meeting room for a meeting felt nerve-wracking. But since Harry Osborn was already in a bad mood nine out of ten days, Finn didn't take it to heart.
Finn even thought that Harry was being driven so irritable by his constant clamoring to reclaim his inheritance.
So that was the reason behind the illness.
[My brother has worked far too hard. He has to shoulder the heavy burden of the group, deal with so many jumping monsters, now he even has to bear his illness all by himself.] Finn felt a pang of sympathy for Harry Osborn, thinking that he should have dealt with this [little brother jumping monster] a step sooner to lighten Harry's burden.
"So, is there any way to catalyze my illness?" Finn asked humbly. Since he had the illness, he might as well use it.
Marcus: '??' Was there really such an absurd request?
“Are you afraid that Harry will intentionally catalyze your condition? That is not an impossibility.” Marcus's brain stalled for a moment before he reacted, thinking that since these two brothers had reached the level of life-long nemeses, Finn might be afraid that Harry would also be plotting to persecute him behind his back as he sought to completely crush Harry. However, after thinking for a while, Marcus realized that such a possibility was unlikely. "But Harry is overly cautious; he would likely be more afraid of someone using the catalyzing agent on himself rather than targeting you in such a high-risk manner."
Marcus knew full well that Harry had always looked down on Finn, he certainly had no intention of resorting to any schemes to deal with him.
Upon arriving at the morgue, Finn got out of the car. This place was somewhat remote from the city center, the morgue itself appeared to be abandoned.
Butler Joseph had been following behind in the car. Although he didn't know what was happening, he immediately got out of the car to protect Finn, watching Marcus with a vigilant gaze.
"Wait for me outside," Finn said to Joseph.
"Young Master Finn.." Butler Joseph's brow furrowed. The atmosphere surrounding them was incredibly eerie, he could clearly sense that his young master had likely been swept into some kind of dangerous vortex. His voice inevitably carried a hint of worry and admonishment.
Don't worry," Finn said, his voice calm. "I know exactly what I am doing.
Marcus is an old friend of my father, so he is naturally my elder as well," Finn said without further explanation. "Just wait for us here; I will call you if anything comes up.
Marcus was quite satisfied with Finn's attitude; at least Harry was always so contemptuous and arrogant whenever he faced him. While leading Finn into the mortuary, Harry said, "The bodies are temporarily stored here. If you want to arrange a funeral, there's certainly no problem; I can have everything handled by tomorrow morning. Are you sure you want to see the corpse? He didn't die very beautifully, I'm afraid it might leave a psychological shadow on Young Master Finn."
At this moment, Finn, who was walking through the mortuary holding a flashlight, suddenly felt:
[System PP, I feel like the protagonist of that game "Escape from the Mental Asylum" right now.]
[Ding—Exploration discovery: one electrocuted corpse.]
Since entering the morgue, Marcus's gaze had been fixed on Finn, waiting for a look of terror to surface on the face of this pampered Young Master Osborn, but the young man had remained unnervingly calm from beginning to end, even casting a steady, emotionless glance at the cold, charred corpse.
This kind of reaction was far beyond Marcus's expectations.
Even the System PP in his mind couldn't help but ask: [Host, don't you feel scared?]
It's alright. Claustrophobia does make me feel a bit creeped out, but this environment is still acceptable to me." Since it wasn't exactly an enclosed space, the morgue did have cold white lights, the flashlight in his hand was indeed very bright. "Are you talking about the corpses? PP, once you have observed a hundred different worlds as a bystander, you will also find the flow of people, the departure of people, the death of people to be quite ordinary.
Did you know it was Max Dillon's birthday yesterday?
Finn suddenly looked up at Marcus, the cold white light falling upon the young man's noble features.
Those emerald eyes were like two transparent, inorganic gemstones, yet they revealed not a hint of emotion.
Being stared at with such a gaze in the morgue, even Marcus felt his heart tighten for a moment, he subconsciously asked in return, "What?"
In the files you gave me," Finn explained patiently, "yesterday was his birthday.
"That's truly unfortunate." Marcus, of course, wouldn't care about such trivial matters.
Who would have thought that someone who was still working diligently overtime in the company on their birthday would die mysteriously in the office, would be electrocuted to death by the combined efforts of a mutated electric eel and high-voltage lines.
How tragic.