Mr. Blue
While the two were discussing General Ross and the Hulk, General Ross had already laid a trap, waiting for the Hulk —no, Bruce Banner —to surrender.
In a cell lab in a corner of New York City, Samuel Stern sits in front of a computer with a serious expression, his hands constantly typing on the keyboard. Anyone who sees him would think he is a serious researcher or a hacker who has broken through a supposedly impenetrable firewall.
In reality, Samuel Stern was simply chatting with an online friend. His online nickname was "Mr. Blue," and he was discussing the effects of high doses of gamma rays on the human body with another user nicknamed "Mr. Green."
He was an expert in the field of life sciences and knew that the result of humans being exposed to excessive doses of gamma rays could only be one thing: the destruction of proteins, nucleic acids, enzymes, and other substances in the body. Once these most basic substances that make up human cells are destroyed, the most likely outcome is to develop cancer and die painfully. As for benign mutations, one can only say that the person is one in a million lucky ones, and that the body being enhanced into a superhuman is nothing short of a fantasy.
After the other party anonymously mailed him a blood sample that had been exposed to a high dose of gamma radiation, Samuel Stern discovered that the other party was not just making empty promises, but had factual basis. At the other party's request, Samuel Stern had been researching how to eliminate radiation-induced human mutations.
Just as China pharmaceutical companies cultivate highly toxic pufferfish specifically to extract expensive, high-purity tetrodotoxin, while also cultivating mildly toxic or even non-toxic pufferfish due to the nature of the food-loving empire, Samuel Stern, while researching how to solve the problem of that "Mr. Green," also attempted to replicate his mutation process.
However, despite decades of research and countless researchers involved, the U. S. military has been unable to figure out the formula for the "Super Soldier Serum" in Captain America's blood sample. Even Bruce Banner only managed to create a semi-finished product, which resulted in unpredictable mutations after he experimented on himself. How could Samuel Stern possibly have figured it out on his own? On the contrary, he has been quite successful in eliminating the mutations caused by gamma rays, and only one final step remains to achieve success.
"Smack!"
A hand patted Samuel Stern's shoulder lightly, startling him.
"I advise you not to speak recklessly," the owner of the hand, an elderly man with gray hair and wearing a military uniform, said in Samuel Stern's ear with a warning tone. "Under certain laws, I could kill you on the spot... for what you've done."
One blood sample is certainly not enough for years of research. Samuel Stern used cloning technology to replicate hundreds of blood samples from Bruce Banner. The old man in military uniform took advantage of the researcher's lack of knowledge of so-called "Special Military Ordinance," claiming that the other party's actions were terrorist activities. This immediately intimidated Samuel Stern, who then obeyed them to try to gain merit and reduce his sentence—also because the soldiers who broke into his laboratory were armed.
"Have we found our target?" the elderly man in military uniform asked the technician next to him who was typing away on another computer keyboard.
"Sir, we've found it." The technician, also in military uniform, turned his laptop so the screen faced the elderly man in uniform. "The target is currently located at the University of Virginia."
Upon hearing this, the elderly man in military uniform picked up the communicator and gave the order, "Franski, did you hear that? Head to the University of Virginia immediately. I've entrusted all my chips to you."
"Sir, I have confidence in myself now." Franski responded to the elderly man in uniform on the other end, and then all that remained was the sound of him issuing orders and the engine starting up.
The elderly man in military uniform pulled the communicator away from his ear and muttered to himself, "University of Virginia, Betty works there— Bruce Banner, you bastard, you won't leave my daughter even after turning into a monster!"
This elderly man in military uniform was none other than Thunderbolt Ross Thaddeus Ross, the Thunderbolt General. The story begins a few days ago.
After discovering Bruce Banner's whereabouts through television news, General Ross assigned Blonsky, a former G.I. Joe commando on loan to him, to lead a team to Brazil to apprehend Bruce Banner.
Bruce Banner was easy to catch, but the Hulk was a different story. A group of elite special forces soldiers from the city couldn't even last a single round before they were all taken down. Except for Blonsky, who seemed to be blessed with protagonist's halo and emerged unscathed, the rest either ended up in the intensive care unit or in the funeral home.
Although the capture operation failed, it was not a complete failure. Nearly forty years old, Blonsky's physical abilities had passed their prime and were beginning to decline. However, he was born with a love for fighting and a never-give-up attitude. He had accumulated a wealth of experience from participating in many battles, which he used to make up for his physical shortcomings. Even after being seconded to General Ross, he was still highly valued.
After being thoroughly beaten by Hulk, Blonsky didn't wait for reinforcements. Instead, he slunk back to the United States. Despite the language barrier, he used his gun to ask around from the owner of the beverage factory to the production line manager, eventually obtaining Bruce Banner's address. He then found the laptop that "Mr. Green" used to chat with "Mr. Blue".
Following the clues left behind by the notebook, General Ross traced the trail to Samuel Stern. He knew that Bruce Banner would eventually reconnect with "Mr. Blue" in order to resolve his own problems.
Sure enough, just now Bruce Banner logged into his chat account, and the technicians who had been waiting for a long time began to locate Bruce Banner's IP address to determine his location.
In order to buy time, under General Ross's threat, Samuel Stern could only try to prolong Bruce Banner's online time, naturally discussing what Bruce Banner cared about most: the "cure" for his own problems.
However, as a highly skilled individual with seven doctoral degrees, Bruce Banner is not so easily fooled. Although kind, he is not stupid, and it is possible that his secret was discovered by someone at "Mr. Blue's " place.
Unfortunately, Samuel Stern's research did indeed make progress. He sent several parameters to Bruce Banner, who mentally compared them with the analysis graphs he had done. Overwhelmed by joy, he forgot the potential danger and began typing furiously on the keyboard, eagerly chatting with "Mr. Blue" about the technical aspects.
Ever since the Hulk has dared not have any major emotional fluctuations, otherwise his consciousness would be replaced by the Hulk and his body would swell to an inhuman level. In order not to hurt others, Bruce Banner could only break up with his girlfriend whom he loved with resentment. Samuel Stern's research gave him hope of returning to a normal life.
Just as Bruce Banner was engrossed in his conversation, a completely transformed Blonsky arrived with heavily armed men, slowly and methodically setting up an encirclement; a large net was being laid out.