Chapter 146: Three and a Half

That is easier said than done, however. Bruce Banner currently had no clue whatsoever.

It was much like how everyone knows being a billionaire is exceptionally wonderful, yet who actually knows how to become one? Aside from winning the genetic lottery or being fast asleep, very few people could provide an answer.

Consequently, Bruce Banner found himself trapped in precisely this awkward predicament. He knew this might well be the only escape opportunity of his entire lifetime... but upon seeing those two menacing submachine gun barrels pointed at him without a shred of mercy, try as he might to rack his brain, he could not conceive of any way to escape.

At that moment, he even began to feel, to a certain extent... that it would be wonderful if he could still transform into that monster.

At the very least, that creature was completely impervious to blades and bullets, capable of casually storming military bases with ease, let alone dealing with these two submachine guns.....

Bruce Banner covertly rolled his eyes once more, intending to scan the surrounding area for any weak points in the perimeter so that if a situation truly arose, he would be better positioned to break through.

Yet his minuscule movement did not escape the notice of the operative holding the submachine gun.

The corner of the operative's mouth beneath the mask curled into a mocking smirk as he barked, "Stay still!"

Simultaneously, he abruptly shifted the menacing submachine gun muzzle even closer to Bruce Banner's head.....

Bruce Banner gave an involuntary shudder... and raised his hands slightly to signal that he was not attempting any sneaky tricks.

Then, he sighed softly in his heart:

Let's hope the police step up their game and manage to slaughter this pack of motherfucking terrorists soon.....

————

After obtaining the precise coordinates from Ivan, Zhong Shenxiu wasted no time and hurried over without stopping.

Along the way, he had not stopped pondering.

For instance, what on earth could have caused such a high-intensity gamma-ray signal?

Could it truly be the fluctuation of the Space Stone?

Had the S.H.I.E.L.D. Space Stone research facility in New York experienced massive fluctuations due to the artifact's power, resulting in a high-intensity gamma-ray leak—one that just happened to be captured by Ivan's testing equipment?

As Zhong Shenxiu considered this... he abruptly began to feel the probability was rather low.

Yet one must always hold onto dreams, so he accelerated his pace accordingly while casting a "Haste" magic spell upon himself. He moved through the unmonitored alleyways like a sudden gust of wind.

If he had known that what awaited him ahead was not that blue gem he yearned for day and night...

...but rather a muscular, green, eye-offering brute of a giant.....

Zhong Shenxiu would likely have turned around and fled in an instant!

However, by the time he realized this, he had already arrived at the location.

......

When Zhong Shenxiu was still some distance away from his destination, he was drawn by the sudden sound of gunfire.

Thus, he advanced even more cautiously toward the source of the noise.

The first sight that greeted his eyes was a ring of police cruisers resembling a low defensive wall, accompanied by riot-shield-bearing officers who were engaged in battle with an unknown adversary.

The rat-tat-tat of gunfire was not overly dense.

Clearly, the battle had not yet reached its white-hot peak.

From Zhong Shenxiu's current vantage point, it was rather difficult to discern the specifics of the unfolding situation; mostly, he could only see flashes of yellow and red muzzle fire and gray dust churning up in the dead of night.

Yet his methods of observation had never relied merely on his naked eyes!

Zhong Shenxiu possessed the "Eyes of True Sight," an ability that richly deserved to be called a divine scouting artifact.

Eyes of True Sight.

Zhong Shenxiu channeled the chaotic magic power within his body, causing it to ripple outward like waves toward the battlefield ahead.

This was an advanced application of the Eyes of True Sight that he had developed himself.

Initially, he could only control his magic to radiate outward in all directions to perceive his immediate surroundings, but now, with his enhanced control over magic, he could appropriately alter this emission range.

For instance, at present, he guided his magic to sweep across the battlefield in a fan-like shape... while the vast expanse behind him—areas he had already traversed and thoroughly investigated—no longer required him to waste superfluous magic power.

This refinement did not necessarily boost his precision by leaps and bounds—after all, it had already reached the absolute ceiling, and no radar in the world could likely match his level of exactitude.

However, it was genuinely much more conservative with magic power.

That had been the primary objective behind his modification.

As the Eyes of True Sight blanketed the area, Zhong Shenxiu quickly gained a general understanding of the personnel configuration of the opposing sides in the engagement.

Police officers: 472.

Good grief... had they deployed the mobilizable manpower of nearly the entire New York Police Department?

As for those engaged in combat with the police, their number was 49.

Wait... there was one more individual whom my detection showed was carrying no weaponry whatsoever. Could that person be something akin to a hostage?

At this thought, Zhong Shenxiu advanced his use of the Eyes of True Sight a step further, displaying the specific details of that hostage:

[Name: Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk]

[Combat Power: 7,333 ~ ???]

[Acquirable Ability: Super Soldier Serum (Rage) — Acquisition Probability: 1.5%]

[Combat Advice: Without rage, he is a total weakling; once enraged, barring special circumstances, the host is strongly advised to run away..... However, it appears that when angered, his intellect is not particularly high. At such times, might certain mind-controlling abilities come in handy?]

.....

The Green Fatty???

Zhong Shenxiu stared at the data transmitted by the Eyes of True Sight, stunned for a moment.

Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk—why was he here?

Judging from the feedback, he still appeared to be in the condition of someone who had been kidnapped.

Zhong Shenxiu's mind raced at lightning speed:

Could the faction that kidnapped Banner be people under General Ross?

According to Zhong Shenxiu's memories, within the lore of the Hulk, particularly the branch tied to Marvel, the primary antagonists of the early stages were almost exclusively General Ross.

Essentially, he was the only one who would clamor every day to capture the Hulk back for experimentation and the creation of more super soldiers.

Yet if that were the case... why on earth would the police force be fighting them? That failed to make any sense.

Consequently, Zhong Shenxiu reached a revised conclusion: these people were not military; they must belong to some faction of terrorists or the like....

Within moments, Zhong Shenxiu boldly deduced the current state of affairs:

It resembled terrorists hijacking a hostage, followed by the police arriving to surround and subdue them?

However.....

Once the magic of the Eyes of True Sight rippled far enough, Zhong Shenxiu made a new discovery.

In the distance.

Four individuals were lying prone, observing the battlefield—three men and one woman.

Zhong Shenxiu immediately increased his magic output toward that direction.

Shortly thereafter.

Based on the magical feedback emanating from their clothing, Zhong Shenxiu quickly matched it with an entry in his memory:

These were operatives from S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had also made an appearance..... In that case, this probably ceased to be a simple turf war between cops, robbers, and a hostage.

Yet, coupled with the earlier high-intensity gamma-ray signal, the bewildering scene before him became tangled enough to give him a headache.....

Therefore.

He made a decision.

He would play the role of... a spectator eating melon seeds.

Anyway, with the appearance of the Hulk, there was a high probability that this intense gamma-ray signal had nothing to do with the Space Stone.

Even though Zhong Shenxiu harbored thoughts of recruiting Bruce Banner—who was currently fleeing and represented a dual combination of super combat power and super intelligence—under his banner, now was clearly not the time. With nearly 500 people gathered in the fray, Zhong Shenxiu had no confidence in courting death amidst such dense gunfire.

It was far better to wait quietly.

Let the police and these mercenaries batter each other to mutual exhaustion; only then would Zhong Shenxiu make his move.

That would yield the greatest odds of victory.

Thus, the entire situation lapsed into an extremely delicate stalemate.

The police were waiting for military reinforcements, convinced that once the army arrived, they would utterly subdue this band of terrorists.

The 48-member combat squad was waiting for their own backup, believing that once support arrived, they would send the police packing and successfully evacuate with their target.

Zhong Shenxiu, meanwhile, was waiting for both sides to suffer heavy mutual losses, intending to step in afterward and rescue Bruce Banner.

Not only would this earn him a wave of goodwill, but it also offered a high probability of recruiting Bruce Banner—who was currently fleeing and at his lowest psychological defense—into his fold.

As for the four S.H.I.E.L.D. team members stationed furthest from the battlefield....

They were simply too weak, yet because their mission objective was right there, they had no choice but to helplessly eat melon seeds at the edge of the conflict.

Oh, right, there was also an "outsider" who was currently thinking about eating donuts.....

Everything, absolutely everything, was now waiting for a catalyst—a catalyst capable of altering the trajectory of the entire battlefield.

————

Gwen was standing on the rooftop of a towering building, using her superhuman vision to observe the massive industrial complex in the distance from afar.

The facility was a cement-manufacturing plant, and at present, numerous concrete mixer trucks remained parked within its interior.

Yet all of this was merely a daytime facade.

Under Gwen's extraordinary visual acuity, she discerned that a large volume of transport vehicles was continually driving out from within, while the perimeter was densely packed with heavily armed sentries.

Gwen was no expert in sentry deployment patterns, but a casual glance at how these personnel were positioned—leaving her unable to find any obvious breach—was enough for her to deduce one thing:

These individuals were exceptionally well-trained.

Gwen surmised that this was the place where her father was being held captive.

As for how she had managed to track this location down, the story began on the day she and her mother had been summoned to the police precinct......

Back inside the police station.

At the time, Gwen had displayed a composure far exceeding her years. While her mother Helen wept tears like pear blossoms in the rain, Gwen had quietly memorized the location where her father had been abducted by the Rhino.

At the very end of 9th Street in the Bronx, New York.

Consequently, upon returning home, Gwen could not wait to don the black-and-white spider suit she had stitched herself and rushed to the scene.

As the site where Captain George had been kidnapped, the area was naturally subjected to a strict 24-hour lockdown, with numerous police officers actively investigating clues.

In particular, the massive tunnel hole the Rhino had burst upward through the ground had even tempted a few daring officers to crawl inside in an attempt to unearth potential leads.

Initially, Gwen had intended to wait until these officers departed before conducting her own investigation.

Yet, reflecting on her lack of detective skills, and considering that if these officers did leave, it would certainly take quite some time—not to mention that any genuine clues might be completely trampled and destroyed by then—she realized she simply did not possess that much patience!

Thus, Gwen abandoned the idea of waiting and instead chose to simply leap directly into the crime scene.

Unlike the thunderous superhero entrances that kicked up endless dust, Gwen's descent was far more delicate, landing as steadily on the ground from mid-air as a drifting feather.

The moment she appeared, a multitude of police officers instinctively drew their firearms in reflex!

Seeing this, Gwen felt no surprise; she had long since prepared herself psychologically.

From past words spoken by her father, she was well aware that within the police department, opinions regarding vigilantes like herself and Peter had split sharply into two distinct camps.

One faction believed that the two of them possessed formidable strength and exclusively targeted criminals, which benefited New York's public safety while easing the police's own workload.

Conversely, the other faction argued that neither of them possessed lawful enforcement authority, warning that if everyone acted in such a manner, society would descend into absolute chaos.

Coupled with the current disappearance of the police captain, Gwen's abrupt appearance at the crime scene was bound to agitate nerves that were already stretched taut.

Gwen raised both hands to signal that she carried no weapons.

Simultaneously, she offered an explanation: "I've heard the news regarding Captain George. I believe he is a good captain, so I can help you find him, but I need all the information regarding his abduction!"

Her voice had once again been artificially altered, rendering her true identity unrecognizable.

As soon as Gwen delivered this pre-conceived statement, the surrounding officers—who had initially been uniformly hostile due to tension—immediately fractured into the very two factions just described.

"We don't need a spandex-wearing clown to help us!! We can find the captain ourselves." Such was the stance of the faction opposed to the Spider-Man vigilantes.

Meanwhile, the other faction lowered their weapons. Among them, a slightly plump officer brushed aside his colleague's attempts to restrain him, walked toward Gwen, and spoke:

"My name is Kline. I've met you once before, in the Manhattan district. I was surrounded by a dozen gangsters back then, and just when I thought I was going down in the line of duty, you appeared and took them all out, allowing me to return home and reunite with my wife."

Gwen nodded, retaining a slight recollection of that incident.

"I can share the clues we've uncovered with you. I only ask that you bring Captain George back safely, can you do that?" Kline asked.

"I will definitely bring Captain George back," Gwen promised solemnly.

However, the officers behind them glared at Kline's perceived weakness and roared, "I object to sharing intelligence! We can rescue the captain ourselves; we don't need help from some clown hiding behind a mask!"

Kline ignored them.

Others might harbor prejudices against the female Spider-Man or distrust her entirely.

Yet Kline, whose life she had saved, was willing to place his trust in her. He had witnessed with his own eyes how she had single-handedly beaten that vicious group of a dozen gangsters black and blue.

The only ones capable of fighting monsters like the Rhino were likely the two most active vigilantes currently operating in New York—the male and female Spider-Men.

That was the reasoning behind Kline's choice today.

"Let's go somewhere else to talk. As for the Rhino's movements, we do have certain suspicions, but because the search radius is far too wide, we have no clue where to begin investigating...."