A Pit Dug for Betty

V-Force Avengers?

What kind of ridiculous title is that.

Speaking of which, if you count this title, I already have several. If a few more years pass, just recalling these titles might take me an hour.

Lake, feeling a bit speechless, waved the photo in his hand and looked at Ross. "V-Force Avengers? I think ‘V for Vendetta’ would be a better name."

Ross hummed and looked at Lake. "Do you know them?"

Lake shook his head. "No, I don’t. But I’ve heard of their reputation."

"Tell me about it."

"I don’t know much, and I only heard about it by chance. They say that after World War II, because of the international community’s attitude towards Germany, this group came together to judge the remaining extremists. Also, it’s said that this group is provided with bases and equipment by a small faction of Jewish people. This one with the ‘V’ hasn’t had plastic surgery, but these eleven people reportedly change their faces every five years. If exposed, they’ll immediately change their faces."

Lake fabricated the history of the V for Vendetta, introducing it to General Ross like that.

Ross listened intently.

Lake’s thoughts raced. After filling in the outline, he stopped talking and shrugged. "That’s all I know."

Ross frowned.

An organization secretly formed entirely by Jewish people after World War II, specifically targeting those surviving extremists?

It’s quite possible.

After all, Germany had deeply harmed the Jewish people back then, almost to the point of genocide. So, something like this happening is perfectly reasonable.

But…

General Ross frowned. "But we haven’t found any information about this organization."

Lake shrugged. "I hadn’t heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. before either. This organization rarely operates within the Federation and doesn’t do things so openly. Perhaps they never expected an entire nation’s population to be clones."

Ross nodded thoughtfully.

Actually, Lake had initially considered assassination, but after thinking about it, he gave up. Assassination has a relatively short deterrence period. Directly overpowering them with overwhelming force would provide deterrence for a long enough time that he could enjoy some peaceful years.

As the saying goes.

Lake felt that he had completely wasted this year, either playing with the Hulk or dealing with Hydra. He hadn’t accomplished any of his own goals.

This won’t do.

Lake decided he absolutely had to take a proper break for a while.

At the very least, Lake wouldn’t be bothered to do anything next year.

The reason?

Rachel is pregnant. Her due date is in April next year. Lake didn’t want to waste his precious time on these trivial matters.

Therefore, when Lake returned, he had already made his plans for next year: peace and quiet, staying in New York, whether lounging around or tending to a farm. Even if something huge happened, he’d deal with it the year after next.

Ross put away the photo Lake handed back, set it aside, and changed the subject. He brought up another matter. "Your department head is preparing to make a move against S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you know about this?"

Lake shook his head. "I’m not aware."

Ross said, "Obviously, this incident is also due to S.H.I.E.L.D. Coupled with the previous incidents, it has directly led Kelly to use the overlap in investigative authority between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Department of Homeland Security as a reason to try and disband S.H.I.E.L.D., or at the very least, force S.H.I.E.L.D. to move out of federal territory."

"The department head is mighty and powerful."

Lake raised an eyebrow, cheering for his department head internally. Then he said, "That’s unrealistic. The Federation spent a lot of effort back then to bring in the other four major powers and get them to contribute funds."

S.H.I.E.L.D. is less the Security Council’s and more the Federation’s. The Federation is using assets provided by the other four major powers to maintain its own S.H.I.E.L.D., which has international law enforcement authority.

Directly disbanding S.H.I.E.L.D., even if Mr. President had the idea, he would choose to refuse. The reason is that "freebies" are also very appealing to Mr. President.

Lake and General Ross discussed a few other things. Regarding this matter, once it was discussed, it was forgotten.

In the evening.

Karen delivered some explosive news to Lake and the others. After this Christmas, Karen would be going to Paris to become the new ambassador.

Lake and Betty were stunned.

Ross seemed to have known about this for a while and showed no surprise.

Lake and Betty quickly offered their congratulations to Karen. Skye also sent her best wishes to Karen, as did Rachel and Josie.

From a certain perspective, Karen’s change in status this time symbolized something.

Karen intended to officially enter the Washington D.C. system. Previously, she was a Federal Prosecutor, only within the Justice Department’s system. This time, she was completely entering the Washington D.C. system.

Karen accepted Lake and Betty’s congratulations with a smile, then said to Betty, "I’ve spoken with your father. Since you don’t like military work, you’ll be coming with me to Paris. You’ve always wanted to go to Paris."

Betty was instantly stunned.

Lake seemed to realize something and looked at Ross.

My goodness.

This move… it’s brilliant.

It’s like not moving at all, but when they move, it’s a strategy to pull the rug out from under them.

As the saying goes.

What kind of relationship is most vulnerable to trials?

Long-distance relationships.

Lake thought of his own relationship with Hermione, the only time he’d been in a May-December romance that ended without a trace. If even a god-like figure like himself was defeated by a long-distance relationship, Lake couldn’t understand how Betty could possibly win.

Betty snapped back to attention and looked at Karen. "I…"

Karen said, "Are you really going to leave me all alone in Paris?"

Ross wiped his lips with a napkin and casually glanced at Lake, as if to say, "Alright, it’s your turn to perform."

Lake understood.

The next second.

Lake looked at Karen. "I can take a temporary leave. I’ll go to Paris and be your bodyguard."

Karen rolled her eyes directly at Lake. "If you go, can Rachel go?"

Rachel chimed in skillfully, "It’s okay, Karen. Lake can just take leave when my due date arrives."

A beautiful assist.

At this moment, Ross also said, "I’ll see if I can find a way to transfer to the European base next year, so I’ll be closer to you too."

A killer move!

Betty quickly said to Karen, "Of course not, Mom. I’ll go to Paris with you."

What else could she say?

Her whole family was offering various reasons to accompany Karen to Paris, and only she was saying she didn’t want to go. What kind of situation was that? And then people would ask why she wasn’t going.

Good heavens.

The thought of it filled Betty with immense guilt.

Dating?

And then if people asked about other things?

Her brother Lake was directly stating he would resign from his position as a senior federal executive to be a free personal bodyguard for an ambassador. And that wasn’t all; his sister-in-law Rachel also supported him unconditionally.

Then there was her father, Ross, who directly said he’d try to transfer to a European base next year, just to be closer to Karen.

With all this happening.

Betty suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Although she felt something was off somewhere, she couldn’t pinpoint it for a while.

After all…

Was it possible that her family was trying to break her up with Bruce?

That seemed impossible.

Karen had been promoted, not demoted. This was something the whole family should be happy about. It wasn’t like Karen didn’t approve, so she got herself promoted just to take Betty to Paris, right?

No matter how she thought about it, it felt surreal.

Forget it.

She’d tell Bruce when she met him tomorrow. She wasn’t short on money anyway. If it really came down to it, she could come back on the weekend. It wouldn’t cost that much.

What?

Why not let Bruce fly to Paris?

Bruce was practically a protected species in Quantico. At least, in this timeline, after all this time, Bruce hadn’t found any signs that the military intended to dissect him, and he had gradually felt at ease.

As for the rampaging Hulk?

The military had never attacked the Hulk from the beginning. The Hulk had come out a few times, but under the friendly greetings from the military, although the Hulk was very angry, Betty was present the first few times. The Hulk didn’t share Bruce’s memories, but he uniquely shared memories related to Betty.

Moreover…

The Hulk had a great time in the facilities provided by the military for him to vent. Frankly, Lake had watched a video of it once. Good lord, it felt like the Hulk and the military’s relationship was steadily advancing towards the relationship between the Hulk and the Collector.

The military worshipped the strong; that was a law.

If they absolutely had to say the military had any plans, it would be thinking about how to make the Hulk exist permanently. If they could separate the Hulk from Bruce, that would be even better.

A comical laugh!

In the evening.

In Lake’s bedroom.

After some intimate activity, Rachel thought about the conversation at the dinner table and asked Lake. After she had spoken, she had noticed the exchange of glances between Lake and Ross and felt something strange.

It seemed…

This was a scheme targeting Betty.

And Betty, without a doubt, had walked right into the trap, completely clueless.

Lake smiled and said, "You should know Betty is dating that Dr. Banner, right?"

Rachel nodded.

Rachel had seen it several times before when Rachel and Skye were brought to the Quantico base, not to mention that Rachel was aware of the Hulk’s existence, having simply signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Lake shrugged, "Banner is a genius, no doubt, but his self-control is terrible."

This was precisely why Karen intended to intervene.

Banner unhappy, Hulk emerges.

Banner angry, Hulk emerges.

Banner excited, Hulk still emerges.

After dinner, Lake learned from General Ross that Quantico had brought in various psychologists and deployed various equipment to help Banner control his emotions during this period.

The result?

What truly changed Karen’s mind was one night when the Hulk, bare-chested, ran into an open field. With a bang and a flash of green light, the Hulk was born.

Deep in the night.

Why did Banner transform?

The answer was self-evident.