As soon as Nick Fury uttered those words, Bruce instantly froze in place.
The next second, he abruptly looked back at the tombstone in front of him.
Betty's photo on the tombstone seemed to be smiling at him, her smile radiant.
Bruce fell silent.
An hour later, Bruce Banner returned to his apartment, carrying a cardboard box filled with Betty Ross's belongings from the bedroom. He went downstairs to the living room on the first floor.
He carefully took down the wedding photo from the wall, leaned it against the wall, and then sat down on the floor, gazing at the wedding photo.
Bruce was lost in thought.
Just then, his phone chimed.
Bruce snapped out of it, took out his phone, and opened the email Nick Fury had just sent. He looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital examination report in the email, said nothing, but found Nick Fury's number and dialed it.
The call connected quickly.
"Bru—"
"Were you also part of the plan, or did you help create this plan, Nick?"
"What?"
Nick Fury on the other end of the phone was startled by Bruce Banner's words, his heart sinking.
Bruce calmly looked at the wedding photo in front of him.
"You must have also told Betty that the killer of General Ross and the killer of Hulk were the same person."
"What?"
"I'm not an idiot, Nick."
Bruce Banner's voice was also calm. As he looked at Betty, who seemed to be smiling at him in the wedding photo, he self-deprecatingly chuckled to Nick Fury on the other end of the phone: "My IQ might not be high, but it's definitely above yours. However, I now wish my IQ wasn't higher than yours."
Nick Fury on the other end didn't speak immediately. After his breathing slightly deepened for a few seconds, he finally spoke again.
"I don't understand, Bruce, you—"
"Betty couldn't have been pregnant. At the very least, I don't have the ability to get Betty pregnant."
"What?"
"I was once exposed to high-intensity gamma radiation."
Bruce took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the wedding photo in front of him: "I'm very curious. Betty wanted me to transform into Hulk again to avenge General Ross, but what about you, Nick? Why did you create such a fake pregnancy report? Did Betty ask you to?"
In a flash of lightning, Nick Fury on the other end also let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Yes."
"You're lying, Nick."
"What?"
"Again, my IQ might not be high, but it's definitely higher than yours."
Bruce Banner's tone was faint.
"I used to hide everywhere from General Ross's pursuit. For some people, whether they are lying or not, even without meeting them, I can make an accurate judgment based on their tone. And you, Nick, you lied."
"I—"
"But your IQ is really not that great. Betty already rejected your proposal, but you still did it. I'm very curious, why?"
Bruce Banner interrupted Nick Fury on the other end, took out another phone from his pocket, found the last video Betty left on the phone, and played it.
The video was recorded on the morning of Betty's death.
Betty sat calmly on the sofa, facing the camera.
"Bruce, by the time you see this video, I will already be dead."
"I'm so sorry."
"I thought about forgetting everything and starting a new life with you."
"Really."
"But I couldn't do it. My father might not be good in many people's eyes, but in my eyes, he was the best."
"In the years we were apart, I could never forget every little bit of our time together."
"Similarly, I could not forget the tragic death of my father."
"..."
"When I finally made up my mind to act, Nick Fury found out about it and offered me a good solution."
"Pregnancy, this was an important bargaining chip to ensure you would avenge me after I put myself in harm's way."
"But I refused."
"I could use love to bind you to avenge me."
"But I would never use deception to bind you to avenge me."
"..."
"He's here."
"Finally, Bruce, no matter what decision you make, please remember, I love you. At the very least, the moment I walked into City Hall with you, I married you because I loved you."
"Goodbye, Bruce."
"Your eternally loving Betty."
"..."
Betty's video ended there.
After the video message ended, Bruce said to Nick Fury, whose breathing had audibly quickened on the other end of the phone: "Nick, you didn't expect Betty to leave me a last will, did you?"
He really didn't expect it.
Nick Fury thought to himself.
However...
"He's too dangerous."
"We need someone who can step in and prevent everything from happening when he does something unpredictable."
"Natasha and Barton won't do."
"Captain America won't do either."
"Tony Stark has already decided to remove the arc reactor from his chest and is no longer Iron Man."
"Thor hasn't appeared since he went back."
"Right now, only you, Bruce, only you, who can reawaken Hulk, can prevent all of this from happening."
"So, Betty's death, I'm very sorry."
"But Bruce, you should step up."
Nick Fury explained in a deep voice on the other end of the phone.
In short, the core idea was one thing.
Hulk is too dangerous and needs to be controlled by us, and you, Bruce Banner, are our best weapon to control Hulk.
But...
Bruce listened to Nick Fury, who, after his scheme was exposed, showed no remorse and instead offered a self-righteous explanation, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Nick Fury, you're really hypocritical."
"Bru—"
"Aren't you just worried that Hulk will one day find out that General Ross was able to find and attack him because you provided General Ross with Hulk's information and location? Are you worried that Hulk, after knowing, will stomp your head like he did to General Ross?"
"You're scared."
"So you wanted to use Betty's eagerness to avenge General Ross to complete your plan."
"But you didn't expect Betty to reject your proposal."
"After Betty died, you didn't appear at first, but merely wanted to observe whether I wanted to avenge Betty or not."
"As a result, I remained unmoved, with no thought of revenge, and then you couldn't sit still."
"So you appeared and created this fake pregnancy report."
"What for justice?"
"You're truly hypocritical, Nick Fury."
Bruce Banner was merciless, tearing off Nick Fury's fig leaf without any hesitation, exposing Nick Fury's shiny black butt: "But this is very much like you, just like last year, when I accepted your invitation to help you deal with Loki, and you still prepared a prison cell for me."
Nick Fury on the other end of the phone listened to Bruce Banner's words, his expression unchanged.
Perhaps because it was too dark, even if there was, it probably wouldn't be visible.
Besides.
He has dark skin, and Bruce has white skin.
So...
This is discrimination!
"Bruce, I'm sorry you feel that way."
"You really should be sorry."
Bruce Banner didn't humor Nick Fury, scoffed, and directly exposed Nick Fury's current thoughts: "Nick, the reason you haven't hung up the phone yet is just because you don't want me to tell Maria Hill and the others, isn't it? Don't worry, I won't tell them. Now you can hang up in a fit of pique."
As the words fell, the dial tone immediately sounded from the other end of the phone.
Just as Bruce had told Nick.
His IQ might not be very high, but it was definitely above Nick Fury's.
Bruce Banner looked at the disconnected call, shook his head, and didn't take the matter to heart.
He indeed had no intention of telling Maria Hill about it.
No need, and it didn't matter.
Because...
His heart was already dead.
Bruce Banner sat on the floor, continuing to play the last video message Betty Ross recorded for him.
He actually already knew what Betty was doing on the day she died.
As he said, his IQ was decent.
What he hadn't expected was that Betty had recorded all of it and laid it bare, telling him everything.
In the video, Betty, who already knew her death was imminent, had a calm expression. She recalled every little bit of their time together while imagining the future they would have experienced if none of this had happened.
Three meals a day, a family of five, the park downstairs, growing old together.
Betty spoke very earnestly, and also with great regret.
Just as she said in the video, she loved Bruce, and she also loved her father.
So, because she loved her father, she chose to put herself in harm's way.
At the same time, because she loved Bruce, she chose to lay everything bare, leaving the choice to Bruce.
Bruce had already made his choice.
He hadn't actually made a decision at first, but after seeing the video Betty left, he had made his choice.
"Actually..."
"I wasn't lying when I told you Hulk was dead."
"Hulk is dead, but I feel like I can bring Hulk back."
"But it will come at a cost."
"My life, for Hulk's life."
"A life for a life."
"Betty, I actually don't like Hulk, really, I really don't like him, because Hulk destroyed everything I had."
"But it doesn't matter now."
"You're dead, and there's no need for me to keep living."
"So!"
"I will trade my life for Hulk."
"Wait for me in hell."
"I'll be there soon."
In the dark apartment with no lights on, Bruce Banner murmured as he looked at Betty on his phone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On my Patreon, I have several advance chapters available if you're interested in more than 100:
- For $1, you get 20 fewer chapters than the $2.50 tier.
- For $2.50, you get 40 fewer chapters than the $4 tier.
- And for $4, you get them all.
The number of chapters is updated every 7 days and increases by 7 to 8 chapters.
My Patre*n: pa*r*on*com/FanTranslator