Chapter 83: MD-Chapter 83 Please... Be Yourself!
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The silence was deafening, almost suffocating.
It was an incredibly uncomfortable and awkward silence!
Banner, even when he wasn't transformed, was a very cultured person. Although he looked somewhat disheveled, he carried himself with grace.
After a long, awkward pause, he was the first to break the silence: "I think there must have been some misunderstanding."
"Mm-hmm, you're right," Arthur agreed quickly, nodding. "Please come in."
As Banner stepped inside, Arthur was still a bit dazed.
Why had this legendary figure suddenly shown up at his place?
Thinking about the note Banner had been holding earlier, Arthur's mouth twitched.
Shaking his head in resignation, he closed the door and went inside.
Seeing Banner walking in front of him, Arthur couldn't help but look down at his pants...
He quickly slapped his own face. What a messy situation!
If he annoyed this guy, Hulk could tear the place apart in no time!
Hulk's destructive power was more ferocious than anyone could imagine.
Banner looked around and seemed to be complimenting Arthur's place: "Your place is..."
After thinking for a moment, he could only say, "So spacious."
"You're right," Arthur replied. "I've been thinking about getting a desk, maybe changing the signage, and opening a detective agency or a jack-of-all-trades shop. After all, people keep coming to me for help, and I don't even know when I became the go-to guy for such things."
Arthur couldn't help but smile.
Banner looked embarrassed: "If I've caused you any trouble, then I..."
"No, it's not your fault," Arthur sighed. "I know a little bit about what happened to you."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Banner finally said, "Before we continue, can I confirm a few things with you?"
"Sure, let's go upstairs to the living room and talk."
---
Once upstairs, with another glass of water in hand, Banner seemed a little uneasy as he spoke: "Before we go any further, I need to confirm something. Was it you that night?"
"Well, I really didn't mean to rip your pants off," Arthur felt he had to address this directly.
"It's okay," Banner replied instinctively, then realized his answer was problematic.
What do you mean, it's okay? Ripping your pants is okay? He thought for a moment and added, "As long as you don't do it often..."
"So occasional tearing is okay?"
Arthur was surprised when he heard this and asked back.
"Of course not..."
Banner was at a loss. What a messy situation he had found himself in!
Arthur wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "This is a misunderstanding. It's all a big misunderstanding!"
"Anyway..." Banner reorganized his thoughts and continued, "You seem to know a lot about my situation. If you're the person from that night, then I can be a little more at ease. You see, sometimes I can't control my emotions, and when something like that happens, I need someone to keep me from doing things I'll regret."
"So confused..."
Arthur clicked his tongue and said, "Before we get into that, can you tell me how you found me?"
"Of course."
Banner said, "I originally wanted to leave the country, but in the end, I was stopped by the military. You see, they're very different from what I thought the military was. They didn't want to arrest me, they wanted to talk to me. Although there were some minor unpleasant moments at first, we managed to communicate successfully. They suggested that the way to help me was... to find you!"
Arthur sighed softly. "And then?"
"Then I came here."
"..." Arthur was speechless. That was rather hasty, wasn't it?
"They don't seem to be bad people," Banner continued. "And they told me that if there's anyone in the world who can help me, it's you! I don't have too many demands. In fact, if I can just keep my sanity in... this state and not harm those around me, I would be satisfied.
Arthur fell silent after hearing this.
The military… and that note… everything seems like a mess!
It seemed that Pepper had indeed been hiding a lot of things from him.
If she was so willing to help with the experimental supplies, she must have known about Banner coming here, right?
If that was the case, Arthur was beginning to have trouble understanding her intentions.
The fact that Banner was sent here clearly indicated that someone had access to certain information!
And... they must have confirmed his identity!
The creation of the Hulk was a tragedy that resulted from the military's research into Super Soldier Serum.
The inventor of the Super Soldier Serum was Dr. Erskine!
In this world, the number of people who knew of his connection to Dr. Erskine could be counted on one hand... and now, the only person alive who knew was probably one person!
Agent Carter!!!
Only Agent Carter could have made this situation possible!
"Is it you?" Arthur frowned slightly. "But if it is you, why go through such a large circle to reach me?"
Unless there are reasons that force you to do so?
In the silence, Arthur suddenly pulled the note out of his pocket, opened it, and saw a line of neat handwriting: "Please... be yourself!"
There was no additional information, just that one sentence, and Arthur fell into deep thought after saying that.
At that moment, his mind was in turmoil.
Seventy years is enough time to change a person, but some deep-seated things don't change!
If it were Agent Carter, once she was sure of his identity, she wouldn't go through such a roundabout way to reach him.
Unless she's in a situation where she can't contact him directly!
So something unexpected must have happened to bring things to this point.
But if that was the case, Arthur suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Not rushing to find Agent Carter after arriving in this world might have been the best choice!
Using the name Instructor and appearing in some people's view might have inadvertently given Peggy Carter a good hand!
And if Agent Carter really had a plan, then now, his identity was probably only known to a few.
Otherwise, SHIELD should have come knocking by now.
Looking at Banner, Arthur was basically certain of his guess.
"Please…" Arthur's mouth curved into a slight smile. "No need to be so formal with me. We're… old comrades after all!"
...
Chapter 84: MD-Chapter 84 Research and Analysis
Arthur agreed to Banner's request.
However, Arthur couldn't decide about the residence on his own.
After all, the house belonged to Lily.
So Arthur called Lily, and after explaining his situation, the girl roared like thunder on the phone but finally agreed.
In fact, she was a girl who liked to put on a fierce front but was soft-hearted and kind inside.
Whenever Arthur met such people, his heart felt softened.
"But… what's going to happen next?"
Arthur had a headache. Even if everything was as he suspected and this was all part of Agent Carter's plan, he hoped she wouldn't keep sending people his way.
To be honest, even if it was Agent Carter's request, he didn't want to deal with various problems all the time.
Besides, he still couldn't be sure if this had anything to do with Peggy Carter!
...
...
After Banner successfully moved in, the first thing he did was help Arthur with the basement.
It had been unused for a long time and was quite damp, so it needed some work.
The place was relatively secluded and Arthur didn't want to involve others, so the two men just rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Banner was a man of few words, often with a melancholy look in his eyes.
To many, the Hulk was an impressive ability, but to Banner, it was an extreme and troubling burden.
Given the choice, Banner would rather not be the Hulk.
It made him perpetually melancholy and sad, perhaps reminiscing about his past romantic escapades.
After all, it seemed he couldn't even enjoy a romantic moment after becoming the Hulk.
It was said that an accelerated heartbeat could trigger his transformation, so scenes that were supposed to be exciting could turn out to be horrifying or even bizarre.
This kind of Banner was somewhat wooden and somber at work, but at least he didn't let up.
Combined with Arthur's formidable physical abilities, their working speed was quite good.
Still, it took the two of them almost three days to organize the entire basement.
The finished basement looked even better than expected. When Pepper's equipment arrived, the two of them moved everything in.
A complete set of equipment wasn't possible; even if they managed to get it, it wouldn't fit in the basement.
The entrance to the basement was even too small for some items.
Fortunately, some basic equipment was enough to support certain aspects of Arthur's research... after all, he wasn't planning to mass-produce the serum just yet.
But when Arthur saw Pepper, he was confused. Why would she be associated with Agent Carter?
Upon reflection, it seemed logical.
Pepper had joined Stark Industries while Howard was still alive.
Anything was possible in those days.
After a casual conversation with Pepper about Tony, she told Arthur, "Tony said that when he was captured, he encountered a... well, a madman?"
"..."
Arthur was speechless. Who taught this kid such bad manners?
Howard wasn't that rude.
Seeing Arthur's frustration, Pepper couldn't help but smile. "The articles have been delivered. I have to go to a ball tonight. See you later."
After saying goodbye to Pepper, Arthur remained silent for a while. He didn't ask about anything, and Pepper didn't seem inclined to explain either.
That in itself was a form of communication!
As for the troublemaker, Arthur decided to let it go for now, hoping that sooner rather than later he would evolve into an Iron Man troublemaker!
...
...
In the lab, Arthur studied the test results in silence.
After a while, he scribbled and rearranged notes on paper.
Banner sat quietly off to the side, not daring to interrupt. After a while, Arthur put down his pen, sighed, and said, "Your problem is even more serious than I thought!
Banner sat up straight: "Go on."
"First and foremost, the biggest variable is that the data from your experiment is unstable."
Arthur scratched his head and continued, "The most direct result of this is that your current state is even more unstable! Of course, to a certain extent, this is also the basis of your improvement! Your strength has almost no baseline, it's determined by your anger. But at the same time, anger also causes you to lose your rationality! It's not just... well, it's a Hulk thing, it's not just a Hulk thing. Even a normal person loses their rationality when they're angry. It's just that the Hulk is more easily provoked. Also... you usually transform under extreme emotional conditions, which also affects the Hulk. This results in every appearance of the Hulk being in a state of extreme instability!"
"Have you ever tried to transform in a completely calm state?"
Arthur asked.
"..."
Banner paused and then said, "That night!"
"The night you fought the Abomination?" Arthur said. "No wonder you were so focused that night. You must have been conscious most of the time, right?"
"Yes."
Banner nodded.
Arthur thought for a moment: "This could be a possible approach, but it's not definitive!"
With that, Arthur summoned Abomination, also known as 'Strong Green Bald Guy'!
Banner immediately tensed up, looking at Arthur and then at Abomination: "This... Abomination?"
"You learned from me too? There's no time to explain. I'm afraid this guy might wake up. I don't want the lab we've worked so hard to set up to be destroyed by the two of you."
Arthur took some blood samples from the Abomination's wounds and then placed the Abomination in the Disassembler space.
"Where did he go?"
Banner asked with a surprised expression on his face.
"To an interesting place," Arthur said. "Actually, I have an experiment to perform. Would you like to be my test subject?"
"No!"
Banner said firmly. From Arthur's expression, he could tell that this was definitely not an interesting experiment!
Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance: "How boring."
After diluting the blood samples, Arthur extracted a new sample and began conducting research.
Banner was also skilled in this area as well, and their progress was rapid.
When the data results came out, Arthur compared the data of the two and couldn't help but smile: "Interesting. Strictly speaking, what you both used is essentially the same thing. Even though the serum he later used was optimized in some way, it could not have led to such a significant leap! So why is there such a big difference… Could it be a matter of physical constitution?"
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 20 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395
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