Chapter 9: The Encirclement
General Thaddeus Ross sat inside the largest armored command vehicle, his expression cold and controlled.
Through the communicator in his hand, he directed teams of special soldiers to surround Bruce Banner from every direction.
A forward line of tanks, armored vehicles, and various specialized instruments—some of which had unknown purposes—were already deployed and closing in rapidly on Banner's position.
After years of pursuing Bruce Banner and the Hulk, Ross understood his enemy well.
This time, he had prepared more thoroughly than ever.
To deal with the Hulk, Ross had even borrowed two special devices from Stark Industries.
Everything had been arranged for a single purpose.
Capturing the Hulk.
As a career military politician, Ross had invested far too much of his life in hunting Bruce Banner.
Failures during overseas operations could always be hidden behind official reports—or even used as proof of the Hulk's terrifying power.
But acting on American soil was different.
Here, he had to succeed.
And he had to minimize the danger to civilians.
If serious damage were done to Empire State University, the university president wouldn't even need to speak.
The countless alumni in Congress alone would make Ross's life miserable.
So despite the fact that tanks had rolled onto the campus and hundreds of soldiers had already taken positions—
Not a single shot had been fired.
Everything was still, barely, under control.
"Go. Go quickly!"
At that moment, Betty Ross showed a rare moment of decisive courage.
She shoved Bruce Banner away with all her strength.
Then she ran straight toward the command vehicle where her father stood.
With her arms stretched wide, she placed herself directly in front of the armored vehicle.
Inside the vehicle, the soldiers froze.
They all recognized the woman standing in front of them.
She was the daughter of General Ross.
But without a direct order from the general, no one dared to stop the vehicle.
Even if it meant running her over.
"General! General!"
Betty stood firm, staring at the vehicle, her voice breaking as she shouted.
"Stop! Please, let him go! Dad!"
Within the military, even Betty usually addressed him as General Ross.
Her father was rigid about discipline.
But now she could only call him by his other identity.
"Stop."
General Ross finally sighed and gave the order.
The vehicle halted just moments before it would have struck her.
Ross kicked open the vehicle door and jumped down.
He didn't even look at his daughter.
Instead, his eyes immediately swept across the battlefield, carefully inspecting the situation.
The Empire State University campus had already become a battlefield between Ross and the Hulk.
"Dad, please don't do this," Betty pleaded as she rushed toward him.
No one in the world understood him better than she did.
She knew exactly what he intended to do.
"Betty, can't you see the situation?" Ross replied with a bitter smile that quickly hardened into cold determination.
"You think this can just stop now?"
He was right.
Events had already moved beyond his personal control.
Mobilizing military forces in New York required authorization from either the Mayor of New York or the Governor of New York.
Ross didn't have strong connections with either of them.
So he went directly through the White House.
The appearance of the Hulk in New York represented a national security threat.
New York was dangerously close to Washington.
If a creature like the Hulk ever reached the capital—
The consequences would be catastrophic.
Stopping him here was the only acceptable solution.
At least that explanation would satisfy Congress.
And neither New York City nor the state government would openly object.
But the cost of deploying so much military power meant Ross could not simply call everything off.
If no real threat emerged after such a massive mobilization, he would be held responsible for unauthorized military action.
His career would end immediately.
Of course—
If Bruce Banner surrendered peacefully, things might be different.
But Ross knew the truth.
Banner would never surrender.
Banner understood perfectly what Ross intended to do after capturing him.
The military wanted his blood.
They wanted to create a new generation of super soldiers.
An uncontrollable army born from the Hulk's power.
Banner would never allow that to happen.
The conflict between the two men had no middle ground.
"Take her away," Ross ordered.
He knew that arguing with Betty would solve nothing.
In fact, she might even be deliberately delaying him.
Two soldiers immediately grabbed Betty and began dragging her back toward the armored vehicle.
"No! Dad—General! Please!"
She struggled desperately, pleading for him to change his mind.
But Ross remained unmoved.
At that moment, the communicator crackled.
"General! Target sighted on the library overpass!"
Bruce Banner had already run from the library building onto the elevated pedestrian bridge.
From there, he crossed into another building connected by the overpass.
Beyond that building lay a large grassy square surrounded by trees.
If Banner managed to reach the western edge of campus, he could jump the outer fence, cross the road—
And reach the Hudson River.
Once in the water, escape would become much easier.
Ross hadn't been in New York long.
In fact, he had only arrived less than a day ago.
Before that, he had been chasing Banner through Brazil, where Banner had mysteriously escaped.
If Banner had continued fleeing north, Ross would never have guessed he had secretly returned to the United States.
Which was why he had begun monitoring Betty Ross.
Even within America, Banner had countless possible hiding places.
A secret military base in the Nevada desert.
His former research facility at Culver University.
Or his daughter's home here in New York.
But the moment Banner was located, Ross and the Department of Defense immediately prepared an operation.
Within a short time, they arranged an extremely tight encirclement.
They even borrowed specialized equipment from Tony Stark.
Quietly moving tanks into the city demonstrated just how much authority Ross still possessed within the military.
Lance Ryder watched everything unfold from the shadows.
He had no intention of stepping forward yet.
This was not the moment.
But he could feel something else.
Several powerful observers were watching the battlefield.
One of them was Daniel Drumm of Kamar-Taj.
The sorcerers rarely interfered with events in the mortal world.
But that didn't mean they ignored them.
Another observer stood high above the city.
A slim figure crouched atop a distant building.
Spider-Man.
Peter Parker had also been admitted to Empire State University this year.
While wandering through Manhattan, his heightened senses had detected the disturbance.
But seeing the heavy military presence—and the tanks—he hesitated.
The police were one thing.
The military was another entirely.
They were far more dangerous.
High above the clouds, another observer hovered silently.
Iron Man.
Tony Stark floated hundreds of meters in the sky.
Since Ross had borrowed Stark Industries technology for the operation, Stark naturally wanted to monitor how his equipment was being used.
If civilians were in danger, Stark might intervene.
But a conflict between the military and a monster created by the military?
He wasn't eager to involve himself.
Other powerful figures were watching as well.
Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men.
The Fantastic Four, based in New York.
Such a large military operation could not remain hidden.
Yet none of them were willing to interfere.
Against criminals or police, they might gain gratitude for their help.
But interfering in a military operation without permission—
That would only provoke hostility.
Even if they were trying to help.
Far away, satellites monitored the scene.
Officials in the White House, the Department of Defense, and even Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. were watching.
Ross might not know exactly who was observing—
But he had prepared for all of it.
"Seal the overpass," Ross ordered calmly.
He had no intention of letting Banner escape.
Soldiers rushed ahead of Banner and locked the doors at both ends of the overpass.
Heavy iron chains secured the entrances.
Dozens of weapons aimed inward.
Infantry rifles.
Long-range sniper rifles.
Tanks and armored vehicles forming a deadly perimeter.
Ross remained perfectly calm.
Even if every tank fired at once, it still might not kill the Hulk.
But killing him was never the goal.
Ross wanted the Hulk alive.
A living Hulk could provide endless blood samples.
Enough to transform the entire American military into super soldiers.
"Launch two tear gas rounds," Ross ordered.
Betty Ross fell silent beside him.
Even in this suffocating atmosphere, tear gas alone seemed harmless enough.
Two launchers fired.
The canisters flew into the enclosed bridge.
Within seconds, thick white smoke filled the entire overpass.
Inside the fog, painful coughing echoed.
Then the noise slowly faded.
Silence followed.
Suddenly—
CRASH!
A massive green hand smashed through the glass wall of the bridge.
Every soldier froze.
Within the smoke, a towering silhouette appeared.
Nearly three meters tall.
Then—
BOOM!
Half the bridge exploded outward.
A gigantic green monster leapt down onto the campus lawn.
Terrified soldiers instinctively retreated.
Only one person remained frozen in place.
Betty Ross.
She stared at the creature before her.
The face still held traces of Bruce Banner.
But everything else had changed.
This Hulk was different.
Before, when Banner transformed, rage and pain battled inside him.
Now—
There was only pure fury.
Betty Ross, a PhD in biological sciences, understood what she was witnessing.
The transformation had passed a point of no return.
Everything was changing—
In a direction that could never be undone.
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