Return in Triumph

Active Skill Card: M1A2 SEP (Green)

Although Hong Fei had obtained Active Skill Cards before, this one was completely different from the previous ones.

Strictly speaking, this should have counted as a piece of equipment, only now it had taken the form of a Skill Card.

Considering Hong Fei's earlier actions, it had undoubtedly dropped from General Ross.

In an instant, a bold idea came to Hong Fei.

If he locked Ross up and beat him once a day, could he collect every kind of land, sea, and air weapon?

The thought vanished as quickly as it came. Hong Fei stared at the card from every angle, especially the tank image on its face, as if he were about to stare flowers out of it.

Even though he still did not know what that string of code meant, no matter what, this was a genuine tank!

After taking a break, he felt his physical condition beginning to improve again. The soreness in his bones and muscles rapidly faded, while the energy within him slowly increased as well.

Perhaps because he had not landed a killing blow, and because his main target had been the somewhat weaker Abomination rather than Hulk, the improvements from both were limited.

The increase in energy was probably related to the collapsed building. Fortunately, everyone inside had already evacuated, so no one had died. Otherwise, his energy would likely have broken through long ago.

From that perspective, although he had spent the entire night busy and clashed with both the military and S.H.I.E.L.D., he was undoubtedly still a good person overall. Without him, Hulk and Abomination's battle would have caused even greater destruction and losses, and more innocent people would have died as a result.

Even if Hong Fei had fired ten shells in the city, it still would not have caused more damage than letting those two monsters fight without restraint.

Inside the Card Slot, the blue Passive Skill Card, "Hidden Identity," had been glowing faintly ever since he changed outfits. Because Passive Skill Cards continuously consumed energy, his remaining energy was down to only one-fifth. This increase had come at just the right time.

As the highest-grade card Hong Fei currently possessed, Hidden Identity's actual effect was not as good as Superman's glasses, but it worked along similar lines.

As long as Hong Fei did not openly expose both his appearance and voice, no one could trace him based on his build or other factors alone. Even if countless clues pointed toward him, investigators would ultimately overlook him in an almost instinctive manner.

This was the result of Hong Fei's experiments over the past month. Its effect was practically a different kind of magic.

To Hong Fei, tonight's events had been an unexpected incident—something he had anticipated, yet could not control. Every action and decision had been made on the fly.

The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. had been no different. They had neither anticipated nor prepared for this, and they had no idea where things were heading. Aside from Ross and a handful of others, no one even knew where Abomination had come from.

So everyone had more or less started from the same line.

The military and S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed more personnel and resources they could deploy.

Hong Fei's only advantage was that the enemy was in the light while he was in the dark.

There was no need to wait until tomorrow. He believed many people were already lying awake tonight. Once dawn came, another tidal wave of public opinion and conflict would surely erupt.

An hour later, an old truck sped down the highway, followed by two black SUVs.

Hong Fei sat in the passenger seat, occasionally turning around to look at the cargo bed.

Frank could not help saying, "A liter of anesthetic. You're not afraid of poisoning him to death, but you're afraid he'll wake up?"

"You don't understand. A creature like that can't be judged by ordinary standards. Otherwise, nine shells hitting him dead-on would have killed any normal creature on Earth."

Frank retorted, "But he's still carbon-based. And does he look like he's about to wake up? The smell alone is making me dizzy."

Abomination lay motionless in the cage in the cargo bed, his entire body limp as though he had been kneaded out of dough.

Hong Fei sighed. "It's all for everyone's safety. If he wakes up, even if we attack together, we won't be able to beat him."

"So you made him drink a whole liter of anesthetic?" Frank could not stop himself from complaining. "That wasn't a liter of water, and you made him take it orally! Seriously, I'm starting to think you're terrifying."

Hong Fei snapped back, "What else was I supposed to do? You saw it too. The needle couldn't pierce his skin. Was I supposed to blast him with another shell? I could only force him to drink it. I just accidentally gave him a little too much."

"How do you accidentally give too much when you're pouring it in bottle by bottle?"

"Can't I lose count?"

"I was right beside you yelling that it was enough."

"I didn't hear you."

Frank was speechless for a moment.

After a long while, he said again, "The Hand and the Mafia will definitely go quiet for a while now."

Something this huge had rattled far too many people. As gangs, they would definitely keep a low profile now. That was extremely unfavorable for Frank's operations, and he himself would have to follow the tide and lie low for the time being.

Hong Fei watched the night scenery streak past the window. "They won't run, and they won't be willing to run. Don't rush. It's not like you're dying tomorrow."

Frank fell silent with a dark expression.

A moment later, the truck stopped beneath the cover of the mountains and forest. Hong Fei jumped out, swiftly hoisted Abomination onto his shoulder, and rushed into the woods. Frank followed behind him, while the truck was handed over to one of their men to continue driving into the distance. From then on, that man would pretend to be an ordinary freight driver.

Hong Fei would not underestimate the military or S.H.I.E.L.D. Even with Hidden Identity in hand, he had still pulled a switcheroo.

They passed through shaded forest paths, crossed mountains and ridges, and returned to the manor.

On the third basement level, Abomination was thrown into the only secret chamber constructed entirely of steel. The room contained multiple mechanisms—not only spray nozzles for anesthetizing and sedating him, but also high-voltage currents for punishment or even execution.

"Arrange for someone to watch him around the clock. If he wakes up, notify me immediately. But remember one thing: if anything gets out of control, kill him rather than let him go."

Until he could face Abomination head-on, he could not allow him to break out and wreak havoc, even if it meant losing such an almost perfect test subject.

In truth, Hulk was Hong Fei's most perfect sparring partner and test subject.

But Hulk's strength far exceeded Hong Fei's ability to control him. If Hulk turned hostile, then forget sparring or experiments—Hong Fei might not even be able to save his own life.

Therefore, unless he was certain he could protect himself or had truly learned how to calm Hulk, Hong Fei had no intentions toward Hulk whatsoever.

Ross was a general of a nation, yet Hong Fei did not have that many military resources to expend and waste.

After closing the heavy alloy door, Frank said again, "That big-headed freak you mentioned has been brought back. He's locked up next door. Want to take a look?"

By tracing backward along Abomination's route, they had a chance of finding Mr. Blue, who had also mutated after coming into contact with Banner's blood. Apparently, when his men arrived, that big-headed freak had not had time to escape.

Mr. Blue, whose real name was Samuel Sterns, was Banner's online friend. He had been helping Banner research a serum that could eliminate Hulk. Though he had not produced any direct results, he had successfully developed a drug that could suppress Hulk's emergence.

Of course, he was not truly a pure scientist. He had always been extremely interested in Banner's blood. Whether it was its self-healing properties or other effects, if he could successfully analyze, extract, and turn it into medicine, he would gain both fame and fortune.

Thus, he had used the blood samples Banner sent him to create a large quantity of serum. It was precisely this serum that had, to some extent, directly led to Abomination's birth.

Now, he too had been infected by that serum and turned into a bizarre big-headed freak.

Hong Fei thought briefly, then said, "Keep him locked up for now. We'll deal with him tomorrow. He might have some kind of Telepathy ability, so don't get too close. Monitor him remotely first. By the way, where's Dr. Zhao?"

"Sleeping upstairs."

"Mm. You should get some rest too. It's been a long night."

Arriving at the spacious area on the second basement level, Hong Fei placed the green Active Skill Card, M1A2 SEP, into the Card Slot.

With a thought, green waves rose from the bottom of the Card Slot like filling water. But after reaching one-quarter full, the green waves stopped completely.

This meant that Hong Fei's remaining energy was insufficient to use this Active Skill.

Moreover, the energy within his body had just recovered to one-quarter.

In other words, he needed to expend a full reserve of energy just to activate this green Skill Card.

With a silent sigh, he shook his head and returned to his upstairs room. Too exhausted to care about anything else, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.