Chapter 6: Memory Recovery
The fierce gaze Lance Ryder had felt faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
At the same moment, Betty Ross whispered near his ear with a puzzled expression.
"I think I just saw someone familiar over there."
Lance released her and turned to look in the direction she had been staring.
Under the distant tree, hidden in the shadows, a single leaf drifted down from the branches.
There was no one there.
Betty saw nothing.
But Lance's powerful mental perception allowed him to sense much farther.
At the corner of a distant building, a figure was leaving in a hurry.
That person carried an enormous, terrifying power within him—even though he looked like an ordinary man.
Bruce Banner.
The scientist who had disappeared for years… and someone Betty Ross had completely forgotten.
Yet today, he had suddenly appeared here.
Lance couldn't help letting out a quiet sigh.
If he remembered correctly, Betty Ross and Bruce Banner had no future together.
In Banner's later life, only one woman would be able to calm the Hulk—Natasha Romanoff.
"Come on," Lance said casually, taking Betty's hand.
"Let's go buy that cake."
Still glancing toward the tree, Betty finally turned away and walked out of the campus with him.
She hadn't noticed anything unusual.
During the past few days, most of Betty's conversations with Lance had focused on magic.
Although she couldn't practice magic herself, she was fascinated by everything related to the magical world.
Of course, Lance didn't reveal the full truth.
Instead, he slightly altered the facts and described the structure of the Nine Realms.
In his explanation, the Nine Realms were still centered around Earth.
Beyond Earth was the Realm of the Gods, high above everything.
Below lay the Underworld.
Other worlds included the Realm of Light, the Realm of Darkness, the World of Fire, the World of Ice, and the realms of elves and dwarves.
The Realm of the Gods corresponded to Asgard.
The Underworld corresponded to Helheim.
The Realm of Light was Vanaheim.
The Realm of Darkness was Svartalfheim.
The World of Fire was Muspelheim.
The World of Ice was Jotunheim.
The elves lived in Alfheim, and the dwarves in Nidavellir.
Lance described the inhabitants of these worlds—giants, elves, dwarves, and gods—as different forms of elemental life.
In a way, that explanation wasn't entirely wrong.
After all, the beings of those realms couldn't easily travel to Earth, and humans couldn't freely travel to their worlds either.
Betty listened with great interest to Lance's stories about life beyond Earth.
If she had read online fantasy novels from the East, she might have realized that many of his descriptions sounded exactly like stories from those worlds.
"This is the cake shop I told you about," Betty said, pushing open the door.
"Stan's Bakery."
"We come here all the time. The cakes are amazing. You'll definitely be visiting here often."
She waved cheerfully to the man behind the counter.
"Hey, Stan! I brought you a future regular customer. How are you going to thank me?"
Betty Ross had a bright, open personality.
But deep down, she was also extremely sensitive.
She tended to keep her feelings hidden, often choosing to hurt herself rather than others.
That was why so many people liked her.
The shop owner was the same.
Stan was an elderly man with graying hair and a partially bald head.
He even looked a bit like an older version of Albert Einstein.
However, for some reason, he seemed slightly unhappy when he saw Lance.
Looking at Betty, he said with mild annoyance,
"So this is your new boyfriend? Aren't you going to introduce him?"
Stan knew about Bruce Banner.
Originally, he hadn't owned a shop in this neighborhood.
But after Betty Ross lost her memory, General Ross had forced him to move his bakery to New York—directly across from Empire State University.
It had been called a "request."
In truth, it was closer to a threat.
Although Betty had lost her memory of Bruce Banner, she still had a deep emotional attachment to Stan's cakes.
When she spoke about the bakery before, she often said "we."
That word had once referred to her and Bruce Banner.
After Betty regained consciousness from her injuries, she had asked General Ross to bring her cakes from this shop.
The psychiatrist treating her suggested that giving her access to familiar things like Stan's bakery would help stabilize her emotions.
Betty's most recent ex-boyfriend had actually been that same psychiatrist.
Whether General Ross had influenced that relationship was unknown.
So Stan's poor attitude toward Lance wasn't simply because he was Betty's new boyfriend.
After all, since losing Bruce Banner, Betty had dated other men before.
The truth was—
Bruce Banner had secretly been hiding near Stan's bakery recently.
Using the excuse of delivering cakes to the biological sciences laboratory at Empire State University, he had been conducting research and communicating online with another scientist known only as "Mr. Blue."
Because of Banner's presence, Stan felt uneasy seeing Betty arrive with someone new.
Deep down, he still hoped Bruce Banner and Betty Ross would reunite.
But now she had brought someone else.
Of course, Betty herself wasn't to blame.
Stan knew she had lost every memory of Bruce Banner.
So his frustration could only be directed at Lance.
Lance didn't mind at all.
Right now, he was focused on blending into modern society.
He had already created new social media accounts and was rebuilding connections from his past life.
Eventually, organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra might investigate him.
Having normal social interactions would only help.
"His name is Daniel," Betty said. "A new friend of mine."
She had chosen that introduction carefully.
Since Lance was officially enrolled as a freshman in the Department of Biological Sciences, introducing him as a student made the most sense.
"Hello, Stan," Lance said politely with a smile.
"You can just call me Daniel."
Stan sighed deeply.
Then, with stubborn reluctance, he said,
"There aren't any other cakes ready right now."
"You can wait a little… or take this Italian strawberry cake."
"Everything you bake is the best," Betty said with a playful smile.
Stan could only shake his head helplessly and begin packing the cake.
At that moment, a voice came from the kitchen behind him.
"Stan! Stan! Today—"
The kitchen door opened.
Bruce Banner leaned halfway out, having just removed his delivery uniform.
The moment he looked up—
He saw Betty Ross.
And Betty Ross saw him.
For a moment, both of them froze.
Since losing her memory, Betty had seen Bruce Banner's photographs many times.
She had even looked through his academic files with Lance earlier.
Yet she had never recognized him.
Not once.
But now—
Standing face to face with the real Bruce Banner—
All the memories she had lost surged back like a tidal wave.
Her expression changed instantly.
Shock.
Pain.
Confusion.
Before anyone could react, Betty stood up abruptly and rushed out of the bakery.
Lance let out a quiet breath.
He glanced coldly at Stan.
Then he followed her outside.
If Stan had truly wanted to stop Bruce Banner earlier, he could have done so easily.
All he needed was to raise his voice and warn him.
But clearly, Stan still hoped Bruce Banner and Betty Ross would reunite.
So he had allowed Banner to step out.
Unfortunately, things were no longer that simple.
From Lance's perspective, Stan's actions hadn't helped at all.
Instead, he had pushed events toward a tragic outcome.
Soon, something far worse would unfold.
When Lance exited the bakery's back door, he saw Betty standing in the alley, frantically looking around.
Bruce Banner had already disappeared.
When she saw Lance approaching, Betty spun around sharply.
Her expression was cold.
"You already knew I had amnesia, didn't you?" she asked bluntly.
"So you've remembered everything," Lance said calmly.
"Yes. At first, I thought you were simply someone with the same name."
"But after I saw the photo of you and General Ross, I knew exactly who you were."
He sighed.
"But what was I supposed to do?"
"You had already forgotten Bruce Banner."
"And it was post-traumatic amnesia. You know better than anyone what happened back then."
Pain flashed across Betty's face.
No one understood the reason for her lost memories better than she did.
After Bruce Banner completed his experiment, he transformed into the uncontrollable Hulk.
He smashed everything in his path.
To stop him, countless American soldiers had died.
Even Betty Ross and General Ross had been severely injured.
As a soldier, General Ross had recovered quickly.
But Betty had been beaten so badly that she lay unconscious in a hospital bed for an entire month.
When she finally woke up—
She had forgotten everything about Bruce Banner.
In General Ross's eyes, that might have been a blessing.
He had arranged for a psychiatrist to reinforce her memory loss.
That same psychiatrist later became Betty's boyfriend and stayed by her side for several years.
"Then why didn't you wake me up?" Betty demanded sharply.
She was suddenly far more perceptive than before.
If Lance had been able to detect her mental condition, surely he could have fixed it as well.
"That's a strange question," Lance replied calmly.
"We've only known each other for a few days."
"I've never even met Bruce Banner."
"And there's been no news about him for years."
"How could I possibly know what kind of relationship you two had?"
He shook his head.
"Besides, mental trauma is complicated."
"Even though you've recovered your memory now, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing."
Betty fell silent.
Mental wounds didn't simply disappear.
Recovering them slowly might have been safe.
But forcing the memories back suddenly—
That could cause serious consequences.
Memory instability.
Mental deterioration.
Premature aging.
Even sudden death.
All of it was possible.
"I don't care," Betty said stubbornly.
"I'm going to find him."
Lance waved his hand calmly.
"You're asking the wrong person."
"If you want to find Bruce Banner…"
He nodded toward the bakery behind them.
"You should be asking the man inside."
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