The port of Calebari Island had already turned into a living hell.
The air was thick with the smell of blood and char.
The Gifters of the Beasts Pirates were like beasts freed from their chains, wantonly unleashing their violence upon the small town.
"Speak! Where is the scientist named Bruce Banner?!"
A Gifter with a gorilla arm lifted a local merchant into the air and asked with a sinister grin.
"I... I don't know! I'm just a fruit vendor!"
The merchant was scared witless, and his trousers became wet and warm.
"You don't know?"
The Gifter opened his large mouth, revealing a set of yellow teeth.
"Then die!"
Crack—!
A crisp sound of cracking bone rang out; the merchant's neck was brutally snapped, and his body slumped limply.
The corpse was carelessly tossed onto the ground, splashing a pool of blood.
Jack the Drought, standing in the center of the port, paid no heed to any of this.
His bloodshot eyes coldly swept over the chaos, as if watching the death throes of a colony of ants.
"A bunch of trash."
Jack spat impatiently.
"It takes this long just to find one person."
Just then, a thin, small figure scrambled out from behind a pile of wooden barrels.
He was covered in dust and bloodstains, his face showing extreme fear and a hint of morbid flattery.
It was Barry, the opportunistic pirate who had been kicked away earlier by the "T-800."
"J-Jack My Lord!"
Barry plopped down, kneeling before Jack, his forehead pressed firmly against the ground, his body shaking like chaff.
"I... I know where the person you are looking for is!"
Jack slowly lowered his head, his mountain-like shadow completely engulfing Barry.
"Oh?"
He let out a low snort, full of suspicion and contempt.
"You?"
"Yes! Yes!"
Barry felt the terrifying pressure that threatened to crush him, nearly fainting on the spot.
He didn't dare hesitate for a moment, spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube.
"I've seen that doctor named 'Bruce Banner'!"
"He lives halfway up the mountain over there! He built a small clinic himself!"
"That doctor has a strange temper, and he's accompanied by a monster bodyguard that's impervious to weapons!"
Hearing the phrase "impervious to weapons," Jack's eyes finally showed a hint of change.
He grabbed Barry by the collar, lifting him up like a small chicken.
"Guide the way."
Two cold words, devoid of any emotion.
"Yes! Yes! Jack My Lord!"
Barry nodded furiously, afraid that if he was half a second late, his head would be twisted off like the merchant's...
Halfway up the mountain.
"Bruce Banner" looked at the mess before him and felt his blood pressure starting to spiral out of control again.
"Damn it!"
"That little brat named Ace actually ran off just like that!"
"Bruce Banner" held his forehead, looking utterly resigned to fate.
"What about the house repairs we agreed on? What about the compensation?"
"Young people nowadays have no sense of contract!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he couldn't help but pace back and forth, muttering to himself.
The "T-800" standing behind him, a red light flashing in its eyes, provided the most rational analysis.
"Target 'Fire Fist Ace' has left the island's perimeter."
"Based on behavioral pattern analysis, the probability of his promise being fulfilled is less than 5%."
"Recommendation: abandon fantasies and commence reconstruction."
"Bruce Banner's" mouth twitched violently.
"Thank you for the reminder, big guy."
"Do I look like I needed you to tell me this cruel truth?"
He sighed and plopped down onto the only remaining half of a ceiling beam.
"Forget it, forget it."
"I'll just treat it as paying money to avert disaster."
Although he said this, his heart still bled when he thought about months of hard work being destroyed in an instant.
Suddenly.
The "T-800," which had maintained a state of alertness, suddenly turned its head and looked deep into the jungle.
"Warning."
"Multiple life forms detected approaching at high speed."
"Quantity: 32."
"Threat level assessment: High."
"One unit's life signs are abnormally large, exceeding the scope of conventional biology."
The cold mechanical voice instantly froze the air.
The look of helplessness on "Bruce Banner's" face froze.
He adjusted his glasses and slowly stood up.
"Again?"
"What day is it today? Is it Calebari Island's tourist season?"
The moment he finished speaking.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heavy footsteps, like war drums, approached from afar, shaking the entire ground violently.
The birds in the forest were startled and scattered.
The next second.
At the edge of the jungle, trees fell down in swaths, as if crushed by an invisible beast.
A terrifying, eight-meter-tall figure walked out first.
A metallic jaw-like mask, huge elephant tusk decorations, and eyes that seemed to burn with the fires of hell.
Jack the Drought!
Behind him, more than thirty strangely shaped Gifters filed out, completely surrounding the small clearing.
Each of their faces bore a bloodthirsty and cruel smile.
Barry, the opportunist held in Jack's hand, trembled as he raised his finger and pointed at the man in the center of the clearing.
"Jack My Lord... it... it's him!"
"The one wearing the white coat is 'Bruce Banner'!"
"Bruce Banner's" gaze passed over Jack's enormous body and landed on Barry's face, which was both fawning and terrified.
He recognized this guy.
He was one of the three pirates who came looking for trouble earlier today.
There was no anger in "Bruce Banner's" eyes, only a deep sense of fatigue and disappointment.
He let out a soft sigh.
"Ah..."
"I knew it; free medical service always brings all sorts of trouble."
Jack casually tossed Barry aside, treating him like garbage.
His oppressive eyes locked onto "Bruce Banner."
"You, are you the scientist that Vegapunk and Queen are looking for?"
Jack's voice was hoarse and low, like two pieces of rusty metal rubbing together.
"Bruce Banner?"
The surrounding Gifters wore cruel and excited smiles, looking at "Bruce Banner" as if he were prey already locked in a cage.
However.
To everyone's surprise.
Facing a scene that looked like the descent of hell, the man wearing a white coat and glasses showed no fear whatsoever on his face.
"Bruce Banner" simply adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose calmly.
The lenses reflected a cold light.
He raised his head, meeting Jack's bloodshot, tyrannical eyes, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather.
"Sir, I think you might have the wrong person."
One sentence.
Caused the scene to fall into a deathly silence instantly.
Everyone was stunned.
Including Jack the Drought.
A flicker of surprise and disbelief crossed his large, bell-like eyes.
Got the wrong person?
What a joke!
Barry, the opportunist behind him, was so terrified his soul nearly fled his body.
"No! Jack My Lord! Don't believe him!"
Barry scrambled forward, pointing at "Bruce Banner" and shrieking in a sharp voice.
"He's lying!"
"He is 'Bruce Banner'! I saw him with my own eyes! It's him!"