Hulk and Banner

Oaks's supposedly indestructible fur had been clawed into a mess, and his eyes were bruised purple—though it was impossible to tell on a bear's face.

Even his powerful front claws, enhanced by nature, trembled slightly.

In terms of attack power, he was still quite a bit inferior. And with Hulk's rage fueling him, Hulk's strength could grow almost without limit. If they kept fighting until noon, Oaks would probably have no choice but to run.

After all, in bear form, the recovery magic he could use had limited effect.

And if he switched forms... without that powerful defense, even the wind from Hulk's punches could injure him.

As for kiting tactics, he had come to test his strength, not to take Hulk down.

As for Hulk on the other side, even skin that tank main guns could not blast through had been torn open in several places by Oaks's claws. Still, thanks to Hulk's formidable healing ability, the bleeding had already stopped.

That greatly limited Oaks's bleed-focused style of attack.

"Hey, big guy, now that was satisfying!"

Oaks panted heavily. His stamina remained abundant under the effects of recovery magic, but after fighting for so long, the exhilaration was becoming hard for him to handle.

After all, across both his lives, he had never cut loose like this!

"Hulk wins!"

"...Fine, fine. You won. You won. You're amazing."

Shaking his head helplessly, Oaks watched in surprise as Hulk let out a delighted roar, then broke into a huge smile on his wild green face.

"Hulk likes Big Bear!"

"Hulk and Big Bear, friends!"

With the mind of a young child, Hulk's wild instincts keenly sensed Oaks's goodwill toward him.

Their earlier battle had given Hulk's wild nature an unprecedented release—an evenly matched opponent was hard to find!

Ever since his birth, there had been Banner's suppression, the U.S. Military's pursuit, terrified screams from anyone who saw him, vehicles and buildings destroyed by his own hands...

Everything Hulk had encountered had been fear, anger, rejection, and malice toward him.

This big bear before him was the first opponent he had met against whom he could freely unleash his nature without worrying about anything.

Most importantly, the other seemed to blend into the surroundings, so pure and natural that...

He felt incomparably at ease.

For the first time ever, Hulk said the word "friend."

He did not care, nor did he think to consider, why a bear could speak.

"Friends..."

Oaks laughed heartily and changed back into human form. "Sure. We're friends now!"

"Hulk's friend... Big Bear?"

Seeing Oaks turn from a bear into a human, Hulk widened his eyes and scratched his head—

Though his appearance had changed, Hulk could tell that he was the same big bear from before.

Since the feeling had not changed, then it was him.

Hulk wrestled with it for a second before no longer thinking about it—this person had agreed to be his friend. Hulk had his first friend, and that was wonderful.

"Haha... I can turn into a bear. When we first met, wasn't I a leopard?"

Oaks smiled as he walked forward and patted Hulk's thick arm.

"My name is Oaks. I'm a Druid. It's nice to meet you, Hulk..."

Emerald-green Nature Force gathered in Oaks's hand. The next moment, Hulk found himself enveloped in a cluster of green light as well.

A fresh scent like grass and trees flowed around him, and wounds large and small across his body rapidly healed at a visible rate.

"Hulk's better!"

Hulk slapped his chest in amazement. Even the largest wound there had healed.

"Oaks... Oaks is amazing!"

"Haha... Never seen this before, have you?"

Oaks felt rather pleased with himself. Though Marvel heroes each had their own specialties when it came to destruction, healing ability on this level was still rare.

"Hulk... sleepy!"

With his wounds healed, Hulk calmed down completely. He let out a huge yawn and plopped down onto the ground.

"Hulk sleeps..."

"Creak..."

Oaks watched with emotion as the green giant Hulk before him gradually shrank into a messy-haired white man—Dr. Bruce Banner.

"These oversized shorts really are a top-tier Marvel artifact..."

After a while.

Dr. Bruce Banner, owner of Marvel's greatest artifact, stared at the red-haired young man before him with a strange expression.

Casual clothes in a tropical rainforest? Seriously?

"Um... if you don't mind me asking, is the injury on your face all right?"

Dr. Banner considered himself to have some sense of humor. Hulk's earlier incident and the military pursuit had left him anxious and unsettled. He had tried all kinds of methods to control his emotions, but he had clearly been failing all along.

But after waking up this time, he felt somewhat different—how long had it been since he had spoken to someone in such a relaxed tone?

Well, to avoid hurting others, he had chosen to live apart from everyone. It had been so long since he had spoken to anyone.

And strangely enough, he had no real memory of what Hulk experienced during this transformation.

"Hiss..."

Oaks instinctively touched his eye. He had nearly forgotten that injuries did not disappear when he changed back from animal form.

He cast a Rejuvenation Spell, and amid swirling green light, the dark circles around Oaks's eyes visibly faded. The sight gave the bare-chested Dr. Banner quite a fright.

He instinctively tightened his oversized shorts, his expression somewhat blank.

"Good thing it didn't disfigure me. Hulk didn't do that, did he?"

"Uh, Hulk did."

"..."

Banner covered his face in anguish. Since this guy knew about Hulk, he definitely knew about him too.

Wait, something seemed off...

"Dr. Bruce Banner, it's a pleasure to meet you.

I'm Oaks Lin, a biologist."

The moment Oaks finished introducing himself, Banner's gaze turned horrified.

"Wait, Hulk only gave you minor injuries? And that green light just now... was that energy radiation? It had healing effects too?!"

Before Oaks could say anything, Banner began thinking hard again.

"Oaks? Cornell? Dr. Lin?"

"...That's me. Dr. Banner, you're remarkably well informed."

Oaks rubbed his chin. Why did everyone he met lately seem to know him?

"I have seven doctorates, after all. Naturally, I keep up with the scientific community at all times."

Banner's explanation was flawless.

"All right, Dr. Banner..."

Oaks took off his hoodie and handed it to him.

"Though you have quite the luxuriant body hair, if this is performance art, you should probably avoid displaying it in the rainforest."

"...Normally, I wouldn't take that as a compliment."

Banner blushed, took the hoodie, and pulled it on.

"It's a little tight."

Oaks handed him a vine as well.

"Free your hands."

"Ah, thank you."

Banner took the vine and tied up his pants, breathing a sigh of relief.

"It really hasn't been easy. For the past two years, everyone I've run into has either been violent or difficult to communicate with. I never expected to meet a scientist."

With a sigh, Banner looked at Oaks and gave a bitter smile.

"Has Ross gotten so extreme that he's using a young genius like you to hunt me down? How far away is the military?"

"...I'm only here to study plants. Academic research."

"..."

Banner rolled his eyes. As if anyone would believe that!