"Where is he?" General Ross pushed open the door to the operations command room and loudly questioned the busy elites.
"General, the target just appeared at a highway gas station two hundred kilometers outside Philadelphia. We've lost his trace now. But we intercepted an email he sent!" Someone immediately reported the current situation to General Ross, and this was his main focus.
"Where is that email? What exactly did it say? Let me see!"
Under General Ross's command, the contents of that email were sent to him. He glanced at it and immediately realized what was inside. It was all of Bruce Banner's experimental data from before the accident, or rather, the cause of everything that happened to him.
"Why would he send something like this out?" Everything before this made General Ross feel strangely abnormal. A guy who had been hiding for five years suddenly popped up; it seemed odd no matter how he looked at it. And he took such a big risk just to get a piece of data. This made him feel even more strongly that there must be a hidden reason.
"Where was this email sent? Does anyone know?" He asked the elites who were deciphering the source, and he quickly got an answer.
"The recipient of this email is Mr. Blue. The email was sent to Columbia University."
"What about his identity? Who exactly is this Mr. Blue?" General Ross continued to press, already having a bad premonition.
"We're checking, and we have results. That Mr. Blue is named Samuel Sterns, a Professor of Cell Biology at Columbia University!"
"Professor of Cell Biology? What does he want to do?" General Ross reviewed everything that had happened recently in his mind: Bruce Banner's sudden appearance, his academic connection with the guy named Mr. Blue, and his willingness to risk danger for experimental data. All of this quickly led him to a general guess. "Damn it, he wants to cure himself!"
As soon as this thought emerged, General Ross could no longer remain calm. For him, the Hulk was his creation, and his most perfect product to date. He would absolutely not allow Bruce Banner, this thief, to destroy his hard work.
So he immediately issued an order.
"Everyone get ready. We'll depart for New York within two hours. Contact the National Guard and Police in New York and have them monitor that Mr. Blue. Bruce Banner, what about him?"
Seeing General Ross's agitated and somewhat angry appearance, his assistant hesitated and asked,
"General, what about that new guy who appeared?"
This was a problem, because General Ross had never considered the possibility of another Hulk appearing before. This was good news, meaning the Hulk's accident could be replicated. At the same time, it was bad news, because he was completely unprepared to deal with another Hulk.
The Hulk's destructive power was incredibly astonishing. Even now, they didn't have full confidence in capturing the Hulk. The only reason they persisted was General Ross and the U.S. Military he represented, obsessed with the power the Hulk displayed.
"For now, we'll primarily focus on Bruce Banner. If something unexpected happens, then we'll make the other one a target."
After some thought, General Ross still made Banner his primary target. They had made too many preparations for him, and it was unlikely they would abandon all the work they had done on him because of one variable.
"Yes, Officer!"
With the orders, the Soldiers' movements became exceptionally swift. They mobilized all available personnel and weapons, boarding Military planes bound for New York within two hours. And all of this was observed by another group of people who had been watching them.
"Officer, General Ross and his team have started to move." On S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, One-Eyed Dragon Nick Fury received a report from his subordinates at the first opportunity. Just as General Ross had been monitoring Bruce Banner's whereabouts, he too was monitoring General Ross's movements.
Of course, their goals were the same. Just as General Ross coveted the Hulk's power, Nick Fury also drooled over the Hulk. This was an incredibly powerful entity; as long as he could control him, Nick Fury even had confidence in confronting any threat in this World. This even included the Dawn Knight.
Just as Zhou Yi had always been wary of S.H.I.E.L.D., he also harbored extreme vigilance towards Zhou Yi. Any power he couldn't control was worth watching out for; this was a principle he had formed during his many years as an Agent. Moreover, Zhou Yi's power, whose origin was unknown, clearly made him more uneasy than the Hulk, who was the result of a laboratory accident.
If Zhou Yi's displayed power hadn't been too immense, and if their relationship had not been somewhat amicable, he would have taken action against Zhou Yi long ago. He wouldn't be merely having his subordinates contact him, as he was now. The reason he hadn't contacted Zhou Yi himself yet was because he hadn't fully made a decision about the Dawn Knight.
"Where is their target?" Nick Fury asked, and his subordinate immediately gave him the answer.
"New York, Columbia University. We just intercepted information from the Military. They're requesting the Police and Guard forces to cooperate with their operation, controlling everything around Columbia University. Also, they searched for one person's identity: Dr. Samuel Sterns, a Professor at Columbia University."
"It looks like he finally found his target. General Ross hasn't disappointed me after all; I thought he'd lose him for another five years! Coulson, how are your preparations coming along?"
Coulson, who walked up behind him, heard his question and smiled faintly.
"As soon as we get the order, we can immediately take over all the forces he has. Also, I've already called in external support, and he can enter at any time!"
"The external support is your responsibility. To be honest, he's the one I'm most worried about!" Nick Fury waved his hand, assigning the task.
"I've always thought you were overthinking it, Officer. That guy is actually quite easy to talk to."
"This isn't overthinking; it's proper vigilance. Phil, things aren't as simple as you see them. For people like him, I never mind observing them with the utmost caution. Because I don't believe anyone can be so pure as to help others without any return. It hasn't happened in the past, and it won't happen in the future."
Nick Fury's face darkened as he began to warn his capable subordinate.
He had noticed a change in his subordinate's mindset; his mindset was becoming less and less like that of an Agent.
"Then what about Captain America? Isn't he?" Coulson ignored Nick Fury's warning. Being in his position, he naturally knew what he should adhere to. However, as a subordinate, he couldn't refute Nick Fury. But, adding a little annoyance was still fine.
"He's an exception." Nick Fury glared at Coulson fiercely, then swung his trench coat and turned to leave. "The only exception!"
Watching Nick Fury's retreating back, Coulson smiled and muttered to himself,
"I know Captain America is an exception, but whether he's the *only* one... that's hard to say!"
Two massive organizations began to operate around one person, but for this person being revolved around, he was actually still in a state of bewildered ignorance.
At this moment, Bruce Banner still didn't know his objective had been exposed. He was still trying every possible way to enter the large city of New York.
And all of this was just to find the guy he called Mr. Blue, to restore his body to its original state with his help. Of course, now it wasn't just him anymore. His cousin Jennifer was also in the same situation.
However, Jennifer, as one of the parties involved, didn't think that way. Never having experienced the pain of Bruce Banner being wanted by the Military, she didn't consider this powerful ability a burden, or a kind of mutation that needed to be cured, as Bruce described it.
In today's era of rampant Superheroism, she saw it more as a great stroke of luck. An opportunity to become a Superhero-like existence.
But clearly, her idea was not shared by Bruce Banner, who had been tormented by this problem for several years. Although his consciousness was replaced by the Hulk after transformation, Bruce still retained memories of that time. He remembered all the destruction the Hulk caused, and it was precisely because of this that he solidified his idea of eliminating the Hulk.
He firmly believed that for this World, the Hulk's power was too dangerous, especially when he was out of control. And as Jennifer, who shared the same lineage, although she retained almost complete sanity after transforming, Bruce still disagreed with her idea of keeping the power. He wanted to eliminate all traces of the Hulk in this World, which naturally included She-Hulk, who was born because of the Hulk.
Bruce was very resolute on this matter, but Jennifer was equally so. One of the things most women dreamed of was being the center of attention, and a Superhero was clearly such a profession. Given this opportunity, Jennifer had no intention of giving up her abilities.
Having disagreed with Bruce on several occasions, she made a choice after numerous arguments: to escape from Bruce's side. With her current abilities, escaping from Bruce, who was in his normal human state, was absolutely no pressure at all. And after she stealthily left, Bruce didn't even know what had happened.
He thought she was in the gas station restroom, but too much time passed. Long enough for him to feel that something was wrong. And when Betty returned alone, he realized things were serious.
Jennifer was nowhere to be found, and he didn't even know where to look for her. He couldn't call the Police, nor could he openly search for her everywhere, because he was still a wanted man.
Being at a loss was no longer enough to describe his mood at that moment. Confusion, worry, and fear—this jumbled mix of emotions even made him somewhat unable to control his temper.
Only Betty could understand him, and Betty couldn't help him much with this matter. Helplessness—this became his only description of Jennifer.