Blonsky was being held at an underground S.H.I.E.L.D. detention base.
The rampaging mutant monster had been held there since his defeat and capture, kept asleep with large quantities of anesthetic and freezing temperatures. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military had always feared his terrifying destructive power, yet were curious about the secret of his immense strength. They could only suppress the restless gamma energy within him with ice and anesthetic, leaving the savage beast in endless silence, a forgotten, high-risk combat asset.
In the deathly silent ice prison, the low-temperature alarm, which should have remained unchanged, suddenly went silent.
The surveillance system, security system, anti-theft keys-all security measures failed in an instant, without any explosion or impact, as though they had never been activated. Several agents in black S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms walked slowly into the frozen corridor, their faces impassive. Hidden red Hydra emblems on their cuffs flashed with a cold glint under the dim emergency lights.
They fitted the groggy Blonsky with a brainwashing device, programming him to go after Rimuru. They had also brought several doses of an enhancer developed by Hydra to make Blonsky stronger and test the results of their research.
The Hydra agent in the lead raised a hand and activated a concealed device he carried, cracking the key to the final layer of restraints. A cold mechanical voice echoed through the empty ice prison. "Execute the modification procedure. Inject the enhanced gamma factor, add the rage-inducing catalyst, strengthen his regenerative ability, and further enhance all his attributes."
The injection gun's needle was long and thin, glinting coldly under the emergency lights. It was pressed directly against the area near the largest blood vessel in Blonsky's neck and driven in, piercing frost and tough skin.
Dark red and ghostly green fluids surged into the monster's body like living things.
In an instant!
"Ugh... Aaaaah!!"
The groggy Blonsky let out his first clear roar since being anesthetized, a cry filled with pain. The ice shook violently, great cracks spreading across it. Blonsky's body began to swell, slowly returning to Abomination's form. Beneath his skin, it was as though magma were coursing through him. Muscle fibers writhed and expanded wildly, and his bones creaked as they grew, making teeth ache. His golden eyes snapped open beneath the headband. The chaotic fury already in them had been forcibly directed toward a specific target by the brainwashing commands, and the explosive growth of power within him made it burn hotter and more madly still.
The peaceful and stable city of New York welcomed freedom once again.
An even stronger Abomination burst out of the base where he had been held. After smashing it to pieces, he ran into the streets of New York to play freely. Rubble and body parts flew through the air, and the streets ran red with blood. The police and military fought desperately against Abomination's rampage, but their resistance was like an impotent husband, offering no protection whatsoever.
As Abomination rampaged through the streets, he shouted the names of Hulk and Rimuru, demanding that they come out and fight him one-on-one to see who was strongest. S.H.I.E.L.D. was in deep trouble: this thing had escaped from their custody, and now, for some unknown reason, he had grown even stronger. Nick Fury's face was so black it could absorb light.
Of course, the military had it worst. The citizens didn't know an organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. existed, so they could only vent their anger on the US military, cursing them out thoroughly.
"What fucking trash! A whole street got wrecked last time, and you thought we wouldn't know because you covered up the news? The street was smashed to pieces-did you think we were blind?"
"I pay you bastards so much in taxes every year. What the hell do you spend it on? You'd get better results spending that money on a dog!"
"Damn it! That monster used my brand-new car to smash my new girlfriend. Boo-hoo, I've got it so bad."
"You call that bad? Not only did my car get smashed, but so did my house and my boss. Heh heh~ heh heh heh."
For a time, all of New York was gripped by fear. No one knew whether the monster would come charging their way the next second and destroy their families and everything they had worked for all their lives.
The ugliness of human nature was also laid bare. Those well-dressed elites who had looked so respectable immediately revealed their most primal desires amid the apocalyptic scene, smashing, looting, and robbing even faster than some black guys.
Tony and Banner received the news immediately.
Dr. Banner had been wearing glasses, concentrating on calibrating the gamma energy stability detector in his hands. When the footage suddenly appeared on the screen, his fingertips jerked, and the instrument beeped softly with an error.
In the middle of the street stood Abomination, nearly a size larger than when they had last fought. The knotted muscles all over his body bulged, and his skin had taken on a strange, dull, dark green hue. It was a mutated color produced by the violent collision and fusion of Hydra's specially formulated enhanced gamma factor with his original gamma energy.
"It's Blonsky." Banner's voice was low and grave, carrying unmistakable shock and concern. His pupils contracted behind his glasses. "His gamma energy threshold is completely out of control, far beyond its previous peak."
Tony had just finished calibrating a set of components for a new armor. At Banner's words, he casually tossed his tools onto the workbench, the sharp clatter of metal unusually clear amid the urgent alarms. He glanced at the monster rampaging on the screen, quickly scanned the combat data, and immediately knitted his brows. A cold, mocking smile curled his lips.
"Am I blind, or did everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. walk off the job to slack off?" Tony tapped his fingertips, and JARVIS instantly brought up earlier footage of Abomination rampaging through the streets. The entire block was a wreck, a scene of apocalyptic devastation. "What the hell was Nick Fury doing? How did he let a guy like that get out? And he's gotten even bigger. Banner, want to let your beast form out and see which of you comes out on top?"
Before he had finished speaking, Abomination unleashed another savage attack on the screen.
He casually ripped a massive concrete streetlight out of the ground. The steel-and-concrete club weighed several tons, yet it was as light as straw in his hands as he swept it viciously across the street. Several police cars that hadn't had time to evacuate were instantly flattened and torn apart, metal wreckage and shards of glass exploding into the air along with flying rubble. Military and police reinforcements formed a defensive line and poured out gunfire and grenades. Dense volleys of bullets struck Abomination's swollen, muscular skin, producing only showers of dazzling sparks. They couldn't leave so much as a shallow scratch.
A howitzer shell slammed into Abomination's chest. The violent explosion threw dust and smoke into the air as flames soared skyward. But the instant the smoke cleared, Abomination stood unharmed where he was. The damaged skin on his surface writhed and healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, returning to normal in just one second without leaving even a trace of a scar.
Hydra's rage-inducing catalyst had completely rewritten his regenerative mechanism, making his self-healing ability several times stronger than in his original state.
Even the soldiers carrying high-end weapons despaired. The things in their hands were no better than fire pokers, and even a shell did little more than make a noise for the monster. He couldn't be bothered to pay them any attention.
"Hulk! Rimuru!! Come out!!"
Abomination threw back his head and let out a savage roar that shook the entire city. The sound carried a terrifying energy shock wave in every direction, shattering every glass storefront along the street and smashing windows in buildings near and far. His crimson eyes were filled with violent, bloodshot veins. The brainwashing commands were etched deep into his consciousness, and all his fury, all his combat power, and all his desire for revenge were focused on two targets alone-defeat Hulk and tear Rimuru apart, proving himself the strongest gamma mutant in combat.
"Hiding because you're too scared to show yourselves? A bunch of cowards! I didn't get to tear you apart last time, but this time I'll level all of New York until you dare come out and fight me one-on-one!!"
He pounded his chest madly, his muscles tensing and swelling as the restless gamma energy within him poured out. The ground shook violently with his every movement, like a minor earthquake. Buildings along the street collapsed floor by floor, and dust filled the air, blanketing half the block. Panicked citizens screamed and fled in every direction, their cries, pleas for help, and blaring car horns blending into a desperate din.
Banner watched Abomination's terrifying healing speed and surging combat power on the screen, his expression growing graver. "His strength, defense, and recovery have all surpassed the limits we recorded. Ordinary firepower is completely ineffective, and conventional armor weapons will have a hard time dealing lethal damage. If this continues, all of Manhattan will be completely destroyed."
Tony had already donned the Mark Armor, layers of nanotech covering his body as blue light flowed across it, giving it a thoroughly high-tech look. He raised a hand and brought up a three-dimensional map of the battlefield, locking onto the block at the heart of the riot where Abomination stood.
"We won't take him on head-to-head with conventional weapons." Tony's gaze was sharp, his tone firm. "JARVIS, initiate the combat zone isolation plan. Evacuate all civilians within three kilometers and set up energy barriers to limit the spread of his energy. Banner, it's your turn. Only Hulk can hold this out-of-control gamma monster off directly."
"And JARVIS, if we can't beat him, contact Rimuru immediately."
As for why he wasn't contacting Rimuru now, it was because he wanted to test Giant Hammer No. 1, which he and Banner had improved together.
The two arrived at the battlefield. To get Hulk to come out faster, they went for another round of free fall: Tony simply threw Banner down from high in the air, and Hulk got another grand entrance from the sky.
When Abomination saw them arrive, he didn't even wait for Hulk to land. The instant he lunged through the air, his enormous body compressed the air until it burst, a piercing boom ringing out across the entire block.
No probing, no wasted words-just a beast's most primal, brutal instinct to fight and kill.
Abomination's increased strength utterly overwhelmed what he had possessed before. His arm muscles were taut as cast steel as he drove a fist toward Hulk in midair with crushing force, the fierce pressure of the punch tearing apart every current of air around it.
"Roar!!!"
Hulk was furious too. He had been sleeping soundly, only to open his eyes and see this ugly bastard. Without flinching or dodging, veins bulged across his green skin as he, too, swung a massive fist to meet the blow head-on.