The Eve

Pain!

This was Franski's only feeling.

What was injected into his body seemed not to be a potion that could bring him great power, but some kind of heated acid that kept burning and corroding everything about him, starting from his bone marrow, then his internal organs, muscles... and even the depths of his soul.

Because of the pain, Franski's senses were amplified, and the sound of blood flowing through his brain's blood vessels was like the roar of a great river.

"Grin, gurgle."

Franski's strong will prevented him from screaming or showing his submission to pain in front of others. His jaw was clenched so tightly that it made a teeth-grinding sound, making one wonder if a broken tooth would burst out of his mouth at any moment, mixed with blood.

It was too painful; the torture was beyond human endurance. If he hadn't been strapped to the operating table, he probably would have been writhing on the floor. If he hadn't been enhanced by the Super Soldier Serum beforehand, increasing his pain tolerance, Franski would have already fainted from the pain.

Even though Franski tried his best to endure it, his body's instinctive reaction made his muscles tense up and tremble uncontrollably. The powerful force caused the operating table connected to him to shake constantly, and all his physical values soared, quickly exceeding the limits of human physiological function.

General Ross wasn't waiting outside. He had many other things to attend to and wouldn't deliberately stay here just because a Super Soldier was born, much like family members waiting outside the operating room during surgery. The plan to capture Hulk couldn't rely solely on the strength of a single individual; thorough preparation was essential.

"Sir, the target has begun to move."

Upon meeting General Ross, the intelligence officer said, "Based on their route of advance, their final destination will be the cell laboratory."

Samuel Stern, cast out as a fishing hook, had a high chance of catching a fish. The bait wrapped around him was called an "antidote" to the effects of gamma radiation, and it smelled so good that Bruce Banner was willing to risk exposure to come to the bustling downtown of New York.

This danger is not only for Bruce Banner himself, but also for innocent civilians.

If Bruce Banner were captured, he would inevitably be dissected and studied, then mass-produced into Hulk as weapons of United States global hegemony—one superpower and many strong powers, huh, this world only needs one superpower, the rest can only be dumping grounds for products and factories providing cheap goods to the United States.

If Bruce Banner fails to be captured and instead releases the Hulk to cause chaos in order to protect himself, then innocent civilians will be the ones who suffer.

Based on General Ross's understanding of Bruce Banner, his former prospective son-in-law, he was a kind person; otherwise, he wouldn't have acted as a test subject himself.

"Contact Francis," General Ross said to the communications officer, his eyes fixed on the slowly moving red dot on the monitor.

Francis was his deputy's name; he was currently in the cell lab keeping an eye on Samuel Stern to prevent him and Bruce Banner from making unauthorized contact and sabotaging their operation.

Thanks to the global explosion of electronic technology driven by the Osborn Group, video calling technology has become very common and is no longer a technological convenience enjoyed by only a few.

Soon, the deputy's face appeared on the monitor. "Reporting, sir, the target has not yet made contact with Stern."

"Francis, let our Mr. Blue take the call," General Ross said.

"Understood, sir."

Then a commotion erupted. The soldiers were extremely rude to Samuel Stern, shoving and yelling at him as they herded him from a corner to the tablet his deputy used for video calls—he could have just taken the tablet to Stern.

"Mr. Samuel Stern, how far have you progressed in your successful study of Mr. Green's blood sample?" General Ross asked with a friendly expression.

But recalling the old man in military uniform's threatening manner, Samuel Stern shuddered and said, "I've developed a compound that can neutralize and inhibit mutations caused by gamma rays in blood samples, but its effects don't last long; they only last a few hours. Furthermore, no human trials have been conducted, so we don't know what the effects would be on humans, or how long it would last—everything is unknown."

Samuel Stern was quite willing to try human research, but as far as he knew, the only sample that had been exposed to high doses of gamma radiation and mutated was that of "Mr. Green," who had sent him the blood sample. And "Mr. Green" had long been a target of the military, so how could he, a mere cell biology expert with the title of professor at Graben College, possibly be a target?

"Very good, that's enough. In the coming period, Mr. Green will contact you on his own initiative, or come directly to you, to seek this antidote to solve his problem," General Ross said, looking at the screen.

"I...I will refuse him!" Samuel Stern said nervously.

General Ross smiled slightly and said, "No, I'm asking you to agree to his request. My men will temporarily leave and keep an eye on you from the shadows. You'll inject him with the antidote you developed, and then notify our men once it takes effect."

"As a reward for your cooperation, I would like to invite you to join my research team, where you will be primarily responsible for studying Mr. Green."

After a moment's hesitation, Samuel Stern nodded and said, "General, I agree."

Just like Mages, some people learn magic as a tool to explore the truth of the world, while others simply use the power of magic to satisfy themselves.

The same applies to scientists. Some people conduct research to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and curiosity, while others do research to exchange research data for money to improve their lives.

Samuel Stern falls into the former category, but people have two sides. Some people have noble intentions, but their behavior can be despicable. For the sake of his research, he was willing to betray Bruce Banner, whom he had never met.

Having received the agreed response, General Ross was very pleased. He gave his deputy some simple instructions, telling him to cooperate with Samuel Stern's operation as much as possible and to clean up the cell laboratory to erase any traces of their presence, so that the highly vigilant Bruce Banner wouldn't notice anything amiss. After ending the video call, General Ross began issuing orders within the base.

This operation was the closest we'd ever come to success, and we couldn't afford to fail. The personnel arrangements, the deployment of various weapons, and the negotiations with the police and other local agencies all involved a great deal of work, and we couldn't afford to be idle for a moment.

Confidence was like a youth-boosting elixir injected into his body, making General Ross feel young again. Strength surged from his entire being, and the negative emotions caused by his daughter Betty were swept away. He threw himself into his work with renewed vigor.