Mutation

Left alone in the lab, Franski gasped for breath, frantically sniffing the lingering scent of Hulk in the air. It constantly stimulated his taste buds, driving him to a mad urge to devour everything in its path.

Just then, several soldiers carried a box past him, which contained bag after bag of blood.

"What's this?"

Franski asked Samuel Stern, who was heartbroken as the soldiers took away his research findings and experimental equipment one by one. Without hesitation, Franski replied, "Bruce Banner's blood sample—he only sent me a very small amount. I cloned many of them for research—only by continuing research can we unlock its infinite potential."

These blood samples had been collected by General Ross's men, but a small portion was returned to make the biological laboratory look more legitimate. Now that the matter is resolved, the blood will naturally be recycled.

Upon hearing Samuel Stern's explanation, Franski could no longer contain himself. He strode forward, pushed the two soldiers aside, took a blood pack from the transport crate, tore it open, and poured the blood inside into his mouth.

So delicious!

A sigh of admiration escaped from Franski's soul, and his pupils shrank to pinpoints with extreme excitement.

"More! More! It's so delicious!"

Driven to madness, Franski drank one blood pack dry, then picked up another and gulped it down. In the blink of an eye, most of the blood packs in the transport box were gone, as if he were drinking some kind of addictive beverage rather than diluted, highly toxic blood that could send a single drop to the hospital.

"Major, please stop what you're doing!" Upon seeing this, the two soldiers responsible for transporting the blood samples immediately raised their guns and aimed at Franski —his behavior was not a normal reaction.

Having tasted Bruce Banner's blood, Franski could no longer restrain himself. The cannibalistic urge overwhelmed his self-awareness and the defenses left by the Super Soldier Serum, instantly engulfing his consciousness.

"Not enough, far from enough!"

The transformation of cell structure generated enormous heat. The water in Franski's body was converted into steam by the high heat and expelled from his pores. The sudden and violent change in air caused an explosion, pushing everything around him away. The heat generated even ignited some flammable materials, which quickly burst into flames.

At this moment, Franski could no longer be recognized as a human. His clothes had been torn to shreds by the drastic change in his size and were scattered around him with the steam explosion. His height had increased to two and a half meters, his muscles were bulging, all his hair had fallen out, and his body was smooth with a yellowish-brown tinge. His bones had become large and his muscles protruded, covered by a thin but very tough layer of skin.

But that wasn't the end of it. The blood Bruce Banner had just drunk was digested and absorbed by Franski, and the energy from the gamma rays caused another mutation in the Amazon Cells within his body.

After another steam burst, Franski was completely transformed into a monster. His arms, which were originally in proportion to a human body, were stretched and thickened. The length of his hands, which was longer than his knees, was not even an accurate description. He could touch the ground with just a slight bend in his waist.

Furthermore, his skin had calcified into scales, layer upon layer covering him, and sharp bony blades grew at his joints.

From his appearance, Franski looked like an overdeveloped gorilla, wearing a suit of armor tailor-made for the gorilla.

"Hulk! Hulk!"

Franski roared at the opponent he had been waiting for. His enhanced senses allowed him to hear the sound of the helicopter's fan blades turning. He knew that the person with the Hulk inside him was being transported to the secret base on that helicopter.

With his legs slightly bent and then exerting force, Franski launched himself out like a cannonball. The sturdy brick and concrete exterior wall was less than paper, and Franski smashed it to pieces in one go. Then, with undiminished momentum, he rushed towards the slowly taking off helicopter.

Downstairs, a group of soldiers were loading equipment onto a vehicle. They immediately used the vehicle as cover, thus avoiding being hit by flying construction debris. The lead soldier grabbed the vehicle's communicator and shouted, "Hulk has appeared..."

The soldier thought for a moment, "Wasn't Bruce Banner captured by our own people? This shouldn't be the Hulk." He immediately changed his tune, saying, "A new monster has appeared, it came from the Cell Lab building."

"Help me..."

Samuel Stern was both lucky and unlucky. The two soldiers closest to Franski had already been scalded by the high-temperature steam generated by his first mutation, and their bodies were thrown against the wall and smashed by the steam generated by his second mutation.

The quick-witted Samuel Stern saw Franski drinking Gamma Blood and stepped aside, successfully using a research device to block the first steam explosion. However, that device couldn't withstand the second wave and instead became a deadly weapon, pinning him to the ground.

He had completely lost sensation below the waist. Samuel Stern's long-term experience in biological research told him that his spine was broken, and even if someone came to his rescue at this moment, he might be unable to leave the wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Samuel Stern's desperate desire to live drove him to call for help, even though he knew the monster's commotion would surely turn the street upside down and no one would come to his rescue.

But he was wrong. Footsteps approached him from afar, accompanied by a song sung in a language he didn't understand.

"... What exactly are you, that you inspire such fear, like a natural disaster..."

"... Like beautiful celestial music, hearing your helpless cries... Unable to control hate and love, you're as afraid as a child. Impulsiveness ultimately buries your heart..."

The singer was a white man with gray hair and a tall stature. He was wearing a white suit and carrying a briefcase with an eagle logo.

"Samuel Stern, I'm giving you a chance to live. Are you willing to take it?"

The tall white man did not rush straight to Stern, who was calling for help. Instead, he strolled leisurely through the ruins of the laboratory with great interest, while asking Samuel Stern questions.

I'll grant you any request!

Fear of death led Samuel Stern to hand over his answer to the tall, clearly ill-intentioned white man, even though the man hadn't mentioned anything, and even though agreeing would lead to his utter destruction.

As long as I can survive right now, that's enough!

Stern's answer surprised the tall white man. He was slightly taken aback for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face, clearly indicating that he was very satisfied with the answer.

He calmly walked over to Stern's side, placed his briefcase on the ground, opened it, thought for a moment, and then took out something from it—a large USB Drive.

By gently pressing the switch on the side of the USB Drive, Samuel Stern learned its name: wisdom.

This USB Drive seemed to have been born to me.