"Psssh—hissssss—"
A deep, powerful hiss of compressed gas release, like the sigh of a deep-sea behemoth, echoed within the heavy airtight alloy doors.
At the entrance to the main passageway, the enormous doors personally designed by Tony Stark—capable of withstanding the water pressure at depths of several thousand meters—slid open smoothly and silently to both sides under the precise operation of the hydraulic system.
Beyond the doors lay the eternally dark, crushing Atlantic abyss. Within them stood Neptune's Eye of Insight—an island of human wisdom and technology forged beneath the sea, now casting warm, brilliant light outward.
The light outlined a figure.
Bruce Banner stood at the doorway, still carrying the chill of long interstellar travel and a deep-sea shuttle.
He wore a pair of faded khaki trousers and a somewhat oversized, outdated olive-green field jacket, as if he had just stepped out from the corner of some remote laboratory.
His trademark black-rimmed glasses rested on his nose. Behind the lenses, his gaze held a mixture of travel fatigue, the caution born of living long-term with "another tenant," and a particular, guarded anticipation toward an unknown challenge.
His perpetually messy curls swayed faintly in the circulating air inside the base.
He carried an exceptionally heavy-looking silver-gray alloy briefcase, its surface spotless and gleaming. The edges of the case bore Stark Industries' signature curved lines, clearly having received special reinforcement and protective treatment.
He forced a mild smile onto his face, but beneath it lingered an inescapable unease.
"Tony?"
Bruce's voice was hoarse and dry from the long journey as he cautiously broke the brief silence following the opening of the doors.
"Bruce!"
An energetic shout instantly dispersed the chill in the passageway.
Tony Stark strode toward him from the depths of the corridor as though he came with his own