Hulk's Blood

Suddenly, a whooshing rush of air came from above.

A massive floodlight turned the entire area as bright as day.

"Don't move. You are suspected of illegally crossing the United States border. Cooperate with the investigation."

Only an idiot would cooperate. Dozens of illegal migrants scattered in every direction.

"Rat-a-tat-tat..."

Bullets from the mounted machine gun poured down like rain...

"Ah... Ah... Help..."

Migrants were immediately struck and killed. Those hit in the limbs had their arms and legs blown clean off by the mounted machine gun's massive rounds, severed limbs flying everywhere.

Apocalypse's hair stood on end in terror. He gritted his teeth and charged toward the woods nearby.

Beyond the small grove lay a forested mountain range stretching for hundreds of kilometers, impossible to search thoroughly.

That was one of the reasons the smugglers chose this area for illegal crossings.

The helicopter circled overhead for a while, its searchlight sweeping back and forth, before quickly giving up.

After all, hundreds of thousands of people entered the country illegally every year. They could not search an entire mountain range over one or two insignificant fish.

After sneaking along for several days, Apocalypse finally emerged from the woods and entered a small city near the United States border. For the moment, he was safe.

At that moment, a news report caught his attention.

A blonde female anchor said before the camera, "The military exchanged fire with an unknown enemy on the campus of Culver University. The military has called it a rumor, but two sophomore students witnessed the entire event and recorded it on their phones."

As she spoke, the camera pulled back, revealing lawns and buildings that had been wrecked beyond recognition.

Then two male students stepped forward, still shaken:

"That giant was green all over and stood three or four meters tall. Bullets hit him and bounced off like they were toy BB pellets. Even .500-caliber artillery did nothing to him. Armored vehicles were like children's toys in front of him—he flipped them over with ease. Later, the military even deployed sonic cannons..."

The two students then excitedly showed the video footage on their phones:

Phone cameras of this era were still terrible, but they could not conceal Hulk's several-meter-tall green body, nor the savage, oppressive aura it radiated.

After a moment's thought, Apocalypse realized this was clearly the plot of The Incredible Hulk.

Many people also called The Incredible Hulk Hulk 2, because there had been an earlier movie called Hulk.

Hulk explained earlier background details, such as Hulk's father's research, and the two had some continuity.

At this point, Banner should have gone to find his girlfriend, Elizabeth Betty Ross, only to fall into a trap laid by the military, which hoped to capture him alive.

The outcome was obvious: Dr. Banner transformed into Hulk, smashed and killed his way through everything, and broke out of the encirclement.

Hulk 2 was a relatively early Marvel storyline. The entire Superhero War had not begun yet.

Apocalypse relaxed slightly. He still had some time left.

A plan began to take shape in his mind.

The United States was known as a nation on wheels. Without a vehicle, one could barely get anywhere.

Apocalypse did not have a cent, so he could only stand by the roadside with his thumb out, asking for rides.

Apocalypse was Asian. Asians might face discrimination in the West, but people were generally not afraid of them.

After all, Asians were famously law-abiding and had the lowest crime rate of any race.

He was turned down countless times along the way, but there were always kindhearted people willing to give Apocalypse a ride.

Traveling day and night from the border of the Land of God, he crossed half the United States and arrived in New York City.

Apocalypse's goal was clear: Hulk's blood!

In Hulk 2, Dr. Banner had mailed a blood sample to Dr. Stern at Greystone College in New York, hoping to remove the gamma radiation from his body.

Dr. Stern was quite capable as well. The blood sample Hulk sent over was tiny, yet Stern forcefully purified and cloned it with genetic technology until its concentration exceeded even Hulk's own blood.

The entire laboratory was piled high with copies.

According to the plot, Dr. Banner would come to him and ask for help removing the gamma energy from his body.

At the same time, a military special forces soldier—Blonsky—would come and force the doctor to inject him with Hulk's blood, eventually transforming into a gray giant called "Abomination"!

The two giants would eventually battle...

But none of that had happened yet!

Apocalypse was counting on this gap in time.

Before the plot unfolded, he wanted to obtain Hulk's blood in advance.

The university environment was relaxed. Disguised as a student, Apocalypse easily learned the location of Dr. Stern's laboratory.

"Knock, knock, knock..." Apocalypse knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Dr. Stern was the one who opened the door.

"Doctor, I want you to perform an experiment for me."

"Not today. I'm getting off work. Come back tomorrow if you need something."

Apocalypse smiled faintly. He had not expected the doctor to obediently comply, so he forced the door open and walked in.

With a flick of his hand, he pointed a pistol at Dr. Stern.

The doctor looked somewhat terrified. "What are you doing? This is a laboratory. There's no money here."

"I don't want money. I want Mr. Green's blood."

Banner was being hunted, so naturally he would not use his real name. He had taken the alias Mr. Green.

Dr. Stern's face changed. "How do you know Mr. Green?"

"That isn't important. I want to inject Mr. Green's blood. Aren't you in need of a human test subject? I'll be your test subject."

"No. Every animal used in the experiments has burst apart and died. It is nowhere near the stage for human trials. It's too dangerous."

"That's none of your concern."

"Young man, I don't know why you want to do this, but the energy level in this blood is far too intense. Human DNA chains simply cannot absorb gamma energy. I can guarantee that you'll eventually rupture and die..."

"Enough nonsense. Do it!"

Not wanting to risk further complications, Apocalypse said no more and aimed the gun at Dr. Stern.

At the same time, with a thought, he took a recovery potion from the storage slot in his mind.

Unfortunately, the system was too stingy to store external objects. Otherwise, those ten thousand dollars would not have been stolen earlier.

The recovery potion could remove all negative injuries.

That was the confidence that gave him the courage to gamble!

Holding the recovery potion in his mouth, Apocalypse lay down on the experiment bed.

"Young man, your hands and feet need to be restrained so you don't struggle if the pain becomes unbearable."

Dr. Stern pointed at the straps beside the bed.

Without Apocalypse's permission, he did not dare tie him down, afraid Apocalypse would misunderstand and shoot him.

Apocalypse said, "No need. Bring me the highest-concentration, most potent blood."

"This... all right."

Before long, Dr. Stern emerged carrying a pile of glass bottles of various sizes. "We should start with the smallest dose and see what happens."

"I want all of it!"

"What?!" Dr. Stern froze.

If he injected only a small dose, there might still be a sliver of a chance of success. But injecting all of it would nearly make a person burst from the sheer volume alone, not to mention the gamma energy contained within.

He seriously suspected that this young man had come here to kill himself.

Dr. Stern felt like crying inside:

When the police saw a ruptured corpse lying in my laboratory, how was he supposed to explain it?

They would definitely think he was some mad scientist who kidnapped innocent people for human experiments!

And his research was being conducted in secret, so he would not even be able to defend himself.

God... I was really being forced into this!

But under the barrel of a gun, he had no choice but to comply.

Transfusion tubes were connected to Apocalypse's body, arms, and feet.

"Hiss..."

Accompanied by the mechanical sound of the injection, Hulk's blood—at the highest concentration and greatest dosage—flowed continuously into Apocalypse's body.

Apocalypse immediately swelled to twice his size, like a balloon inflated to its limit, on the verge of bursting apart.