Chapter 241: This Is Not Good
"Banner!"
Dr. Banner, having transformed into the Hulk, leapt into the air and grabbed two patrolling Hydra robots flying overhead. With a powerful clap between his hands, he smashed them both into scrap.
Thanks to Odin's divine power, Banner and Hulk's consciousness had completely merged, allowing him to freely switch between Hulk and Banner.
So now the Hulk had Hulk's body and Banner's brain, but was slightly larger than the fusion form seen in the movies, and his strength had barely diminished.
However, compared to the pure Hulk, it was difficult for Banner to truly get angry, making it harder to unleash his full potential through rage.
It wasn't impossible—for example, if someone killed his beloved Betty, his anger level would skyrocket and his potential would be fully unleashed.
But normally, it was very difficult.
Upon discovering the Hulk's presence, the patrolling robots surrounded him from both the sky and the ground, mercilessly firing various energy weapons at him.
The Hulk crossed his arms in front of his face, using his body to withstand the energy blasts.
At that moment, a shield drew an arc and flew from behind the Hulk, spinning like a blade through the front-line robots, instantly slicing through their extended energy weapons.
It was Captain America's shield attack.
Wolverine, hiding behind the Hulk, wasn't idle either. He lunged at full speed toward the oncoming Hydra robots on the ground, his claws slashing fiercely as he mercilessly harvested robotic heads.
Shrill alarms blared throughout the Triskelion building as the remaining Hydra soldiers quickly responded and converged on the location. Along with the Hydra robots, they began defensive operations, using energy weapons and various advanced Hydra tech to stop the three from advancing toward the building.
"There can't only be three. There must be more!"
Inside the director's office in the Triskelion, Pierce narrowed his eyes at the surveillance footage showing Captain America, the Hulk, and Wolverine.
After losing contact with Sitwell and Crossbones, he mobilized all Hydra robots and even borrowed several superpowered individuals from Strucker to ensure the plan proceeded smoothly.
This was in case Coulson and the others returned with members of the Superpower Academy to retaliate.
Now that only three people from the Superpower Academy had arrived—and the most powerful ones, Professor X and Principal George, were absent—as were Coulson, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s remnants, something felt very off to him.
He wasn't about to gamble on wishful thinking at a time like this.
"Gordon, right? Just now you said someone in your team has detection abilities. Ask him to check the area for the presence of any of those individuals."
Pierce immediately displayed on the big screen photos from the database of all the Superpower Academy members, except for the three shown in the footage, along with the dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents under Coulson's command.
After arriving, each of the superpowered individuals had reported their general abilities to facilitate coordination.
"Collins."
Gordon glanced at a young man behind him. The young man nodded, closed his eyes, and began using his ability.
His power enabled him to perform a sweeping search centered on himself, capable of locating people or objects—making him a support member of the team.
"They're not all here, but I found several of them. They are…"
Moments later, the young man opened his eyes, pointed at Coulson and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and reported their current locations.
"As expected. But why didn't that George show up?"
Pierce wasn't surprised, only puzzled.
He could understand Professor X not coming. They all had psychic shielding devices, so his mental powers were ineffective.
But for George, who could unleash large-scale lightning attacks, to also not show up… that was baffling.
"Could it be he still hasn't recovered from that massive lightning attack?"
Muttering to himself, he felt the guess was plausible but didn't lower his guard. He turned and ordered Gordon and the others:
"Go capture all those people. Try to bring them in alive."
Just in case, he would take Coulson and the others hostage. Then, even if George arrived, they could use the hostages to keep him from acting recklessly.
Once they had captured Coulson's team, he would have the superpowered individuals assist the robots in taking down the three attackers.
As long as the Helicarriers launched, there would be nothing left to worry about.
"Send the order: activate all lightning protection systems around the building."
Thinking for a moment, and after Gordon's team disappeared, he still had his men activate the lightning protection in case George suddenly appeared and struck them with lightning.
"And turn the lightning protection on the Helicarriers to maximum!"
Just ten more minutes—ten minutes, and all preparations for the three Helicarriers would be complete.
To shorten the timeline, he had scrapped unnecessary parts to launch the Helicarriers as quickly as possible.
"We've lost contact with Coulson's group. And there's no sign of any Hydra troops or robots being diverted. Looks like Pierce has some hidden cards we're not aware of."
Five minutes later, Steve summoned his shield back to block an energy cannon shot, then said to Banner and Logan:
"Now it's up to us. Let's charge in full force and find those three Helicarriers!"
"I'll take the lead!"
Banner grabbed the barrel of an energy tank and began swinging the entire tank like a weapon, smashing through the robots and Hydra soldiers in front of him with such force that they were temporarily overwhelmed.
Steve and Logan took the opportunity to sprint toward the Triskelion.
But just then, a blind man suddenly appeared behind Banner. Taking advantage of Banner's distraction, he grabbed him and teleported away in an instant.
Ahead of Steve and Logan, several young men and women who weren't wearing Hydra uniforms appeared.
The girl in the lead raised her hand and slammed it down, unleashing a powerful shockwave. Even though Steve and Logan quickly stopped and defended, they were still blown back.
"This is bad!"
Steadying himself, Steve looked on as Banner—their strongest tank—was taken, and with the remaining robots, Hydra soldiers, and several clearly superpowered individuals blocking their path, he knew completing their mission would be difficult.
These superpowered individuals appearing now clearly had something to do with Coulson's group losing contact.
Which meant Coulson's side had essentially collapsed. Now it was just him and Logan.
"Should we keep going?"
Logan tore off the tattered remains of his clothing and asked Steve.
Steve nodded:
"Keep going. Until the very last moment, we don't give up!"
(End of chapter)