While Rimuru was enjoying a life of kingly pleasures, a news report caught his attention. A beverage factory in Brazil had been destroyed, and an old man had been hospitalized after drinking one of its beverages.
This plot seems awfully familiar. Brazil, a beverage factory, and an old man... According to the plot, Hulk should have appeared a long time ago, but the news has been suppressed all this time. And looking at the news label, this is already a rerun. Who knows how many days ago this happened? Is the plot of The Incredible Hulk about to start?
"Gillvalis, search for Bruce Banner." Rimuru sat up, wanting to see how far the plot had progressed.
According to Gillvalis's search, Banner had sneaked back into the country a few days ago. He had last been spotted in New York.
"So Hulk's fight with Abomination will happen in the next few days?"
I remember Banner came back to see his girlfriend, right? I think she was at some university. What was it called again? Come to think of it, why hasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. come looking for me?
At that moment, Banner had arrived at his girlfriend Betty's school, and his dear father-in-law General Ross had followed his scent there as well.
Rimuru rubbed his chin as his memories gradually became clearer. "Right, the University of California, where Betty Ross works. Looks like Banner has already met up with Betty. Maybe he's already caused a commotion..."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Gillvalis's alert sounded. "Sir, a large number of military personnel and vehicles have been detected in Harlem, New York. They appear to be pursuing Bruce Banner. Local news networks have begun reporting chaos."
"Already?!" Rimuru sprang out of his comfortable seat. The virtual screen before him switched rapidly, showing a live view of the streets of Harlem, which had already been placed under military lockdown.
Blonsky was leading a team in pursuit of Banner. Seeing that things were going badly, Banner had wanted to make a quick getaway, but he was unexpectedly cut off and cornered on the library roof. He saw someone tackle his girlfriend to the ground, and after a few tear gas canisters went off, he turned green on the spot.
The soldiers were like nothing more than a roadside obstacle to him. General Ross ordered Blonksy to take action, and Blonsky charged in without hesitation, grenade launcher in hand. He fired several grenades to no effect, then engaged Hulk in close combat. After a series of stylish moves as fierce as a tiger, the damage he dealt was infinitely close to zero. Who knew what Thaddeus Ross had been praising him for?
Blonsky made a tactical retreat, luring Hulk into range of the sonic weapon. Although it briefly restrained Hulk, it didn't seem to cause any substantial damage, and an even angrier Hulk promptly smashed it into scrap metal. Even then, Blonsky stubbornly kept firing his rifle. With that little thing hitting him, Hulk couldn't even be bothered to block.
General Ross: "Blonsky, retreat immediately! Don't throw your life away!"
You're wrong, General. Banner is a man, and so am I. Banner mutated, and so did I. Why don't you ask that Hulk whether he fears me?
"Is that all you've got?"
Hulk then kicked him into a tree trunk.
"The big fight has already started." Rimuru's gaze sharpened. "General Ross's troops are probably pouring fire on him to no avail. S.H.I.E.L.D. must be scrambling to assess the damage and figure out how to clean up the mess by now, right?"
He recalled that Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., had only appeared afterward in the movie. It made sense that he hadn't come looking for Rimuru now. After all, in the official records, Rimuru might still be someone with an "unknown background but harmless for the time being," while a monster was tearing up New York right before them. It was obvious which mattered more.
Just as Rimuru was happily watching Hulk fight the US military, a familiar figure suddenly appeared on the television: Iron Man. "Holy crap, what's Tony doing there? Does he really think he can take him?"
As he remembered it, Iron Man had never gotten involved in the big fight in The Incredible Hulk. Hulk had beaten Abomination up the whole time and wrapped things up himself. Why had Tony come over to join the fun?
He hurriedly raised a hand and called out to the air. "Gillvalis, zoom in! Lock on to Tony!"
The virtual screen instantly focused on the sky, where the gold-and-red armor hovered steadily. It didn't fire directly, merely hovering at the edge of the battlefield. The helmet slowly opened, revealing Tony Stark's roguish face, tinged with arrogance.
Tony was eager to test the performance of his modified armor, and this was a perfect opportunity handed to him by heaven. S.H.I.E.L.D. had merely sent risk warnings to major top-tier conglomerates and super-entrepreneurs, alerting them that an extremely powerful mutated humanoid monster had appeared in New York and forbidding unrelated personnel from approaching.
But when the proud Mr. Stark saw "an extremely powerful monster rampaging through New York," his interest was immediately piqued.
Having just won a hard fight and unlocked new parameters for his armor, he was at the peak of his confidence, utterly puffed up like a max-level newbie. He didn't feel the slightest fear. All he could think was, Can my newly improved Mark Armor stand up to this big green guy?
And so, ignoring JARVIS's repeated attempts to dissuade him, he had put on the armor and rushed straight to the scene, planning to watch firsthand. If he could step in and settle things while he was at it, he could also rack up some goodwill with the public.
Onscreen, Tony floated high above the battlefield. In an arrogant, teasing tone, he called down to the chaos below, his voice carrying across the entire block through his loudspeaker. "Military colleagues, it looks like your firepower isn't having quite the desired effect?"
On the ground, General Ross was frantically directing the retreat. Hearing the voice, he snapped his head up. When he saw Iron Man hovering in the air, his face instantly darkened.
Dealing with Hulk, who grew more ferocious and stronger the more he fought, had been headache enough. The army's heavy weapons had taken turns firing at him, but hitting Hulk was no different from tickling him, and the casualties kept mounting. Now, out of nowhere, another freak in super armor had shown up?
General Ross's temples throbbed. Forcing down his anger, he growled through gritted teeth, "Stark? What's he doing here? Get him out of the battlefield immediately! This is a military-controlled area!"
Tony paid no attention to the order to leave. His armor tilted forward slightly, his gaze fixed on Hulk, who was wreaking havoc below. As he leisurely adjusted his armor's weapon parameters, he said casually, "Don't be so quick to send me away, General. Perhaps I can help you solve this big problem."
On the sofa, Rimuru's mouth twitched uncontrollably as he complained, "Has he been taking drugs behind my back? Tony's definitely gotten full of himself!"
"Don't you have any idea how strong you are? The current Mark Armor isn't as ridiculous as it gets later on. At best, it's a high-tech armed mech, and you're going to pick a fight with Hulk at full strength?"
"Hulk is a top-tier monster who gets stronger the angrier he gets. The sonic weapon, grenade cannon, and rifle volleys all failed just now. Is your one little suit of armor supposed to be a new toy for Hulk to take apart?"
While Rimuru was ranting, the situation on the battlefield below changed abruptly.
After being harassed by the military's successive attacks and provoked from afar by Tony, Hulk's rage fully ignited. He had only been venting his anger on military equipment before, but now he suddenly looked up. His bloodshot, fierce green eyes locked onto the gold-and-red armor in the air, and a deep, savage roar rumbled from his chest.
The roar shattered the surrounding windows with a cracking sound, and even the ground trembled slightly.
The next second, Hulk's legs tensed, and his bulky, towering body shot into the air, carrying a storm of dust and rubble as he lunged straight at Tony!
He was astonishingly fast, completely defying the stereotype of his lumbering build!
Tony's roguish expression vanished instantly, and his pupils contracted slightly. Good grief. That explosive power, that force of impact-it was several times more terrifying than he had estimated!
He didn't dare be careless. He immediately sent the armor retreating at full speed, while its shoulder weapons bay sprang open. Several miniature missiles screamed out, blasting straight toward the airborne Hulk.
Flashes of successive explosions burst in front of Hulk, and thick smoke instantly engulfed him.
General Ross and the surviving soldiers instinctively held their breath, thinking they could finally hurt the monster.
But the next second, the smoke burst apart. Hulk was covered in charred debris but completely unharmed. His roar grew even more savage, and rather than slowing him down, the force of the explosions made him faster. He closed the distance to Tony in the blink of an eye, his huge hand, as large as a palm-leaf fan, grabbing fiercely for the armor!
"Fuck!" Rimuru blurted out instinctively.
Even through the screen, he broke into a cold sweat for Tony. He knew perfectly well that if Hulk got a firm grip, the Mark Armor would be crushed out of shape and wrecked on the spot. Tony would be seriously injured at best; at worst, he would know the heavens above and be paralyzed below, becoming the next Hawking.
At the critical moment, Tony pushed his controls to the limit. The thrusters erupted at maximum power, sending the armor drifting sharply sideways and barely clear of the lethal grab.
The enormous palm swept past the armor, and the powerful gust sent it flying several meters. Several deep gouges appeared in its outer shell, and alarms blared wildly inside.
[Warning! Frame damaged! Armor integrity reduced by 15%!] [Warning! High-intensity impact encountered at close range. Minor thruster malfunction!]
JARVIS's cold warning voice sounded repeatedly inside the armor.
Tony steadied himself and looked at Hulk, who had landed below and was still glaring fiercely at him. He finally cast aside all underestimation, though a stubborn smile still curved his lips. "OK, I take back what I said. This big green guy really does have something."
Outside the livestream, Rimuru slumped back onto the sofa and pressed a hand to his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"See? See? That blew up in your face, didn't it?"
"You're just lucky you're hard to kill. You had to come show off on Hulk's home turf. Anyone else would've ended up worse than the guy embedded in the tree trunk."