Chapter 132: The Escaping Hulk

“Teacher, you’re not useless at all.” Peter’s hearing was so acute that he naturally caught Ivan’s self-mockery with ease, and immediately tried to comfort him. “No one in the world can match your skill at sewing!”

The moment he said it, Ivan froze where he stood.

Of all the things to say, he had to mention that!

Ivan was a towering man, a technological genius, and Peter was saying that his purpose was to do needlework?

Perhaps this teacher-student relationship was not worth having after all... Yes, perhaps it was better to end it. Ivan sighed inwardly.

Sensing the faint disappointment in Ivan’s heart, Peter hurriedly explained, “I’m only joking! Never mind everything else—just the fact that you can explain abstract electrical concepts so clearly is something very few people in the world could ever match.”

Hearing that praise, Ivan immediately became as delighted as a fifty-year-old child.

“Haha, am I really that impressive? That’s only because you’re so perceptive, Peter! Hahaha!”

With that, Ivan found renewed motivation and continued working.

Seeing this, Peter smiled and turned his head away.

Teacher Ivan is excellent in every way, but why does he so often act like a child? He needs to be coaxed all the time...

Peter grumbled inwardly.

What Peter did not understand was that Ivan was not being petty. His reaction was simply human nature.

When this team had first come together, Zhong Shenxiu, Wanda, and Peter had each been extraordinarily powerful superhumans. For an ordinary man like Ivan to join them, the pressure had been immense.

But Ivan had always believed that his technological abilities far surpassed those of the other three, and that he was an indispensable member of the team.

That belief was what allowed him to remain confident instead of being crushed by the presence of so many superhumans.

Yet today, with a casual improvement, Zhong Shenxiu had once again solved the problem of the Ark Reactor’s power-generation efficiency—a problem Ivan had racked his brains over for a long time without being able to resolve.

It had dealt a severe blow to Ivan’s confidence.

After all, this was the work he had always considered his greatest strength, the work that made him irreplaceable within the team. Yet Zhong Shenxiu had defeated him in it so completely that there was nothing left of his pride...

That was why Ivan had been acting somewhat childish today.

What Ivan could never have imagined was that Zhong Shenxiu’s sudden insight into improving the Ark Reactor came from the fact that he had copied all the technological knowledge of Ivan’s longtime imaginary rival—Tony Stark.

Sorry~ When you have cheats, you can do whatever you want!

————

Eleven o’clock in the morning on October 12.

Six days had passed since George Stacy was kidnapped, and two days had passed since Ivan had measured the power-generation efficiency of the improved miniature Ark Reactor.

Four days had also passed since Hill’s previous report to Nick Fury.

Today was the day of her next routine report.

Hill once again entered carrying a large stack of documents.

Seeing them, Nick Fury, who had managed to slack off for a rare moment, immediately felt another headache coming on.

“Go ahead. Start with Zhong Shenxiu,” Nick Fury said with an inward sigh.

At his words, Hill placed the stack of documents on the desk, took the top file, opened it, and began reading.

“Zhong Shenxiu has been very well-behaved lately, and the number of patients at the Zhongshen Clinic has also dropped considerably.

“However, Stark has visited several times. Our surveillance personnel observed that Tony Stark’s severed hand has already been healed.”

The arrangement of the files alone made it clear that Hill understood perfectly well how much importance Nick Fury attached to Zhong Shenxiu.

Nick Fury nodded.

It was all perfectly ordinary intelligence.

“Should we send more people to monitor Zhong Shenxiu?” Hill suggested. “At present, there’s only one recently graduated surveillance agent assigned to the task. I can’t help feeling that he may be missing a great deal of information, and the intelligence he obtains may not be entirely accurate.”

Since Nick Fury had become so concerned about Zhong Shenxiu after returning from his previous mission, why not assign several more surveillance agents? With more detailed monitoring, they would have all the data they needed.

But Nick Fury shook his head.

“No.”

At that, a rare trace of hesitation appeared on Agent Hill’s face. She was now just as perplexed as Coulson had been at the beginning.

Why was Nick Fury so concerned about Zhong Shenxiu, yet willing to assign such an unprofessional surveillance agent to watch him?

Hill had never been able to figure out this contradiction.

Still, she knew that everything Nick Fury did must have a reason behind it. She did not ask further and simply moved on to the next matter.

“There has been some progress in our investigation into Bruce Banner’s controllability. He has not lost control and transformed into the Hulk even once in the past several days. Our surveillance personnel suspect that he may have developed some method of controlling himself.”

For ease of reference, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already begun referring internally to the green monster as the Hulk.

“That’s good news,” Nick Fury said.

If Banner could be controlled, then even if he became the Hulk and lost all reason, slaughtering everything in his path, it would not matter.

He could be used as a controllable nuclear bomb.

For Nick Fury, figuring out how to deploy such a weapon properly was not difficult.

“Continue tracking and observing him, but do not make contact. No matter what happens, do not reveal your presence. Have the agents assigned to surveillance prepare for a long-term operation.”

“Understood.” Hill nodded.

She then took out another file.

“However, a group of people has recently been deliberately approaching Doctor Banner. We conducted a preliminary investigation, and they appear to be the same group responsible for kidnapping George Stacy.”

“Oh?” Nick Fury’s eyes widened slightly as he took the file and began reading.

This situation had become...

“Notify the New York police,” Nick Fury said after setting the file down. “They must be frantic by now after searching for him all these days.”

————

New York, inside an underground laboratory.

Looking disheveled, Bruce Banner carefully opened the laboratory’s iron door.

The key twisted several times in the somewhat rusted lock before he finally managed to push open the iron door, its hinges creaking loudly.

Once inside, Banner let out a long breath.

When he had seen the rusted lock, he had thought he might be trapped outside forever... Fortunately, he had at least managed to open it.

A friend had given him the key. Apparently, the laboratory was scheduled for demolition, but because the demolition plans had not yet been finalized, the place had remained intact.

Banner walked over to a cabinet and took out a white lab coat, pulling it on to cover his bare upper body and his trousers, which were riddled with holes yet somehow still holding together.

He stood before a mirror and briefly tried to tidy his disheveled hair.

Looking at his haggard reflection, Banner could not help sighing.

Life on the run was not easy.

But he did not dwell on it for long. He turned and walked into the laboratory’s operating room.

As he gazed at the enormous gamma-ray emitter beyond the lead-glass window, a sweet smile rose in his mind—the smile of his girlfriend. After days of fleeing for his life, he finally could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Wait for me.

Wait until I drive this monster out of my body.

Then I’ll come find you.