Nick Fury: Why Did I Have to Mess with Him?!

Banner felt somewhat helpless. How had these people started chatting and completely forgotten about him?

Only after his reminder did everyone finally remember Banner.

"Dr. Banner, I'm sorry we forgot about you. But you should know we just encountered something incredibly bizarre," Stark said hurriedly.

Banner nodded and vented wildly, "Of course I know! Wasn't I involved?!"

"So, do you feel all right now? After having your soul out of your body for so long, do you feel any discomfort?" Stark continued asking.

Banner answered very seriously, "Actually, I don't feel uncomfortable. I'm just scared, so can you put me back?"

"Are you sure Hulk won't appear after we put you back?" Stark asked again.

Banner thought for a moment, then said seriously, "I don't think he'll appear again. That was just too terrifying!"

After their brief exchange, Stark introduced Dr. Banner to Luo Bai. "Luo Bai, you saw it. The one living inside the Hulk is actually Dr. Banner... It's a complicated matter. Let me explain it briefly."

As Stark spoke, he explained what had happened.

During the time Luo Bai had returned to Kamar-Taj, S.H.I.E.L.D. had discovered Dr. Banner in Brazil after he had mutated from gamma radiation exposure.

Since S.H.I.E.L.D. was short on personnel, Stark had gone to invite him.

And so, Dr. Banner joined the Avengers as the Hulk.

"Dr. Banner is actually a world-renowned physicist and a genius doctor of nuclear physics. Before transforming into Hulk, he is very approachable and gentle. But once he becomes Hulk, he loses control, just like before," Stark explained.

Luo Bai, who knew the story, naturally understood all this.

He did not ask anything else and merely greeted Dr. Banner. "Hello, Dr. Banner."

Dr. Banner was still somewhat panicked, and his gaze toward Luo Bai was full of apprehension.

Seemingly worried that Luo Bai would strike again, he hurriedly explained, "I'm sorry for causing everyone trouble. I've actually been communicating properly with Hulk lately and trying my best to control my emotions. But I don't know what happened today. Hulk suddenly came out. I'm very sorry!"

Before Luo Bai could respond, Nick Fury spoke with a stern expression. "Dr. Banner, you promised me that you would control Hulk's appearances. If S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't discovered this early and evacuated the pedestrians in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Banner said guiltily.

Banner had failed to control Hulk and allowed him to come out.

At first glance, it did seem to be Banner's fault, but Luo Bai did not see it that way.

He chuckled and interrupted their conversation.

"Nick Fury, I don't think Dr. Banner is at fault this time," Luo Bai said.

Nick Fury froze.

Before, he might have argued with Luo Bai.

But after witnessing Luo Bai's strength, Nick Fury's attitude had clearly become much better.

"Why do you think that?" Nick Fury asked in confusion.

Luo Bai smiled and said, "Stark just told me that after Dr. Banner learned about his condition, he had planned to live in seclusion in the wilderness. You specifically went to Brazil to invite him to join S.H.I.E.L.D. And before that, you already knew Dr. Banner could not completely control Hulk."

"Since you knew the full situation, you should have had measures in place to deal with it. You should also have considered that Dr. Banner could lose control. The fact that he escaped from S.H.I.E.L.D. proves that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security measures were inadequate, doesn't it? What does that have to do with Dr. Banner?"

Luo Bai laid out his argument with solid reasoning.

The moment he said that, Nick Fury was dumbfounded.

It seemed... that was indeed the case.

If Dr. Banner had stayed deep in the mountains, then even if he transformed into Hulk, no one would have been hurt, nor would there have been such economic losses.

But S.H.I.E.L.D. had invited him to New York and had him join the Avengers.

Since S.H.I.E.L.D. had brought him in, S.H.I.E.L.D. really should bear full responsibility.

Nick Fury's expression became rather awkward.

"All right, I admit it. This was indeed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s negligence. I'm sorry, Dr. Banner. I shouldn't have blamed you." With a sigh, Nick Fury offered a rare apology.

Before Dr. Banner could speak, Luo Bai continued, "Shouldn't you thank me too?"

Nick Fury paused for a moment, but quickly understood what Luo Bai meant.

"Indeed. You helped S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers resolve this crisis. On behalf of everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, I sincerely thank you," Nick Fury said.

But Luo Bai frowned and asked unhappily, "Is that all?"

Nick Fury: "..."

Of course Nick Fury understood what Luo Bai meant, but he had truly not expected it.

"Didn't you say a sorcerer's duty is to protect Earth? You want payment for that too?" Nick Fury could not help complaining.

Luo Bai shook his head and hurriedly denied it. "Come on. Sorcerers protect Earth to stop beings from other universes and dimensions from invading and destroying it. Hulk is an internal S.H.I.E.L.D. matter... What does that have to do with Earth being destroyed? It's outside my duties. I only came to help because of Tony. But I'm not familiar with S.H.I.E.L.D., so you can't just give me nothing in return."

"..."

Nick Fury fell silent again.

He took a deep breath and asked after a moment, "Then what payment do you want?"

Luo Bai thought about it.

Given Nick Fury's personality, he probably would not agree to give him anything too valuable. Why invite trouble for himself over that?

So he shrugged and said helplessly, "Just give me some compensation for my trouble."

Although Luo Bai had already won three million dollars earlier and was not short of money for the moment,

who would ever complain about having too much money?

But Nick Fury did not understand and could not help asking, "You're a sorcerer. What do you need money for?"

"Sorcerers are people too. We have living expenses. Why wouldn't we need money?!" Luo Bai could not help saying.

Before joining Kamar-Taj, Luo Bai had indeed thought sorcerers did not need money.

But later, he discovered that sorcerers needed money too. It was just that their ways of earning it might differ from ordinary people's.

Of course, ordinary people might not really understand that.

"I thought sorcerers could conjure money," Nick Fury could not help saying.

Luo Bai smiled and replied, "Of course we can. Sorcerers could even empty out every bank in New York. Do you want to see that happen?"

"Of course not!" Nick Fury said.

Although they were both joking, Nick Fury roughly understood what Luo Bai meant.

With a sigh, Nick Fury said, "I'll have someone deliver the money to you later. As for Dr. Banner, can you return his soul to his body?"

"Of course," Luo Bai said.

With a lift of his hand, Dr. Banner's soul instantly returned to his body.

As his soul returned, Dr. Banner reverted to normal.

"Oh my God, guys! I'm finally alive again!" Seeing that he was still standing there perfectly fine, Dr. Banner shouted excitedly.

But Nick Fury could not feel happy at all.

Honestly, he had suffered the greatest loss in this entire incident.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had to spend money repairing the public facilities Hulk had destroyed, and that was a huge expense!

More importantly, he still had to pay Luo Bai...

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s budget... he did not even know whether it would be enough...

At that moment, Nick Fury suddenly felt regret.

Why the hell had he gone and messed with Luo Bai?!

Sigh.