He Escaped Right Under Their Noses

"Mm, Doctor Banner's capture operation is extremely dangerous. You all maintain order at the scene; leave the dangerous work to the military. Understood?"

Ross kept looking at Jack as he spoke. Everything he said was a hint to Jack: your S.H.I.E.L.D. was just a trash organization responsible for keeping order at the scene.

Real American men, real top-tier tough guys on Earth, had to be found in the military!

Jack said, "I've been in Marvel for three years, and I never thought there'd come a day when someone would fight to take the job of going head-on against the Hulk..."

After silently mourning Ross's subordinates for three seconds and sincerely wishing their families would receive compensation, Jack returned Ross's mockery with a cold, scornful smile.

That scornful smile landed in Ross's eyes and deeply wounded his "fragile" heart, making him completely hate Jack.

You were an agent, so you thought you were such hot stuff?

The military held command over this mission. Your S.H.I.E.L.D. was originally here just to coordinate things. Otherwise, how could an organization as huge as S.H.I.E.L.D. send only a useless punk like you, standing around and sneering, to deal with Doctor Banner?

By military custom, the proper way to stir up the boys' enthusiasm before a fight was to do something everyone found satisfying.

So Ross started picking at Jack. He roared at him, "Hey! You poor bastards who don't even have bulletproof vests, can you go help the NYPD maintain order and do some security work while you're at it?"

"The military notified you to come here, not to pose as male models at some host club!"

The moment those words came out, every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent frowned.

If this had been a personal grudge between Ross and Jack just now, it was no longer merely personal. It had become mutual mockery between two large military organizations.

The NYPD officers munching donuts nearby immediately sucked in a breath.

It was here! It was here!

The second wave of provocation they had been waiting for had finally arrived!

We NYPD were used to being background props in New York City anyway. The real show was watching you big shots who refused to bow to each other fight!

Fight! Fight!

This video would definitely make my Twitter blow up!

Jack had not expected Ross to have the mood to start another round when the capture operation was so imminent. He looked at his clearly displeased subordinates, then met Ross's provocative gaze.

Since you want to battle me right here, I'll grant your wish!

Even if the American president himself were standing here today, he wouldn't be able to stop me from beating up little Ross!

As Jack strode toward Ross, the agents behind him had never expected the boss they had followed for two years to have such courage.

He was actually taking Ross head-on despite the danger?!

The agents froze for a second before immediately following their superior.

The atmosphere at the scene gradually became tense.

Two NYPD detectives sped up their donut-eating while cautiously pulling out their phones, waiting for the moment Mars collided with Earth.

Stopping before Ross, Jack said coldly, "According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Emergency Situation Management Regulations, when S.H.I.E.L.D. participates as a coordinating party in an incident involving military action—"

"—if an unexpected situation occurs, we have the right to temporarily take over or withdraw from the incident."

"Right now, we have received an extremely hostile attitude from Colonel Ross of the Department of Defense."

"Therefore, we will exercise our exclusive rights, refuse to participate in this capture operation, and, under this regulation, report the full cause and course of events to my superior, Agent Sitwell."

Jack directly walked off the job, which Ross had not expected.

But... I wasn't counting on S.H.I.E.L.D. to provide support anyway...

Who were you trying to scare with that overbearing act of yours, saying you were leaving?

Ross readily stepped aside and gestured for them to leave.

"Jack, isn't this getting a little too big?" As his deputy, Marian felt she needed to give her boss a way out after seeing the two of them completely fall out.

If they went on strike, Ross's capture operation would lose support, making Doctor Banner more likely to escape.

And the more damage Doctor Banner caused to buildings—

—the better the opportunity to harvest Evil Points.

How could Jack possibly waste such a perfect chance?

"Ah~ this damned sweet air~ I'm one step closer to Homelander~"

"Report! Doctor Banner is gone!"

Jack: "..."

Ross: "..."

Marian: "..."

Ross, who had been delighted to drive Jack away, was dumbfounded.

Jack, who had thought he could simply leave and wait for tragedy to unfold before harvesting Evil Points, was dumbfounded too.

Ross rushed into the command vehicle and stared at the surveillance feeds. Dozens of cameras, including drones flying overhead, had failed to spot Doctor Banner!

Ross's heart instantly turned as cold as Captain America buried in Antarctic ice.

After great difficulty, he had convinced his superiors with the whole human-enhancement concept, gained permission to enter Manhattan, New York's most prized core district, requisitioned more than a dozen tanks, dozens of armed helicopters, all kinds of high-tech capture equipment, and an elite force of nearly five hundred men.

Such an inescapable net, such a meticulous capture operation, such an enormous investment of effort.

And the target had escaped right under everyone's noses?

What made it worse was that this was Ross's own fault. He had been busy battling Jack on the spot, causing the capture team's messages to pile up like crazy without receiving a single reply.

In the end, Doctor Banner escaped right in front of the capture team!

"You!!!" Ross, utterly enraged, smashed his radio onto the ground. If this guy had not come up and relentlessly provoked him, the capture operation should have been over by now!

Just as Ross was about to exchange a few more blows with Jack, Jack checked the system panel and saw that his points had been deducted to zero—and even into the negatives. He was furious!

Negative one hundred thousand!!!

Holy fucking shit!!!

Just because Doctor Banner had been allowed to escape and caused no damage in Manhattan, meaning Jack had indirectly done a good deed, all his Evil Points had been deducted on the spot?!!!

They had even fucking dropped to negative one hundred thousand!!!

Jack met Ross's furious eyes and roared, "You disgrace to the military! You couldn't even catch one Doctor Banner! Did you feed your military competence to the dogs?!!!"

Ross, caught off guard by Jack attacking first, froze for several seconds before asking in the most incredulous tone, "Young man, are you sure you want to be the first to throw mud at me?"

"Didn't you provoke me with your eyes first?!"

Jack immediately roared, "Fuck your eye provocation! My eyes are just a little too charming! No, wait... I've been wearing sunglasses this whole time!!! How the fuck could you even see my eyes?!!! Why were you staring at me like some old gay, unable to forget them?!!!"