Caught up with Hulk’s birth?

If Thaddeus Ross had any wish outside of his family, it would undoubtedly be for the Super Soldier Serum, which appeared during World War II and directly altered its course.

Super Soldier Serum.

Referred to as the 3S Serum for short, once administered, it could enhance a user’s metabolism and all bodily functions, pushing them to the peak of human potential.

Its creator, Dr. Abraham Erskine, whose ancestral home was Germany, described the 3S Serum as the next step in human evolution.

Unfortunately…

After a single moment of brilliance, the 3S Serum fell silent. It seemed as though the 3S Serum was born solely for Captain America, Steve Rogers. On the day Captain America was created, his creator, Dr. Abraham Erskine, as if having fulfilled his mission, died in an assassination, taking the ultimate formula for the serum with him.

Even though Abraham Erskine had passed away.

For years, the federal military had never given up on recreating this 3S Serum, the "next step in human evolution." In the past few decades alone, there had been no less than three hundred replication experiments concerning the 3S Serum.

Quantico’s military laboratories bore the brunt of the research on the Super Soldier Serum. Even experiments conducted elsewhere, regardless of their success or failure, would have their original data sent to Quantico, while they merely kept copies of the experimental data.

For Thaddeus Ross, who was determined to elevate the military to new heights, the Super Soldier Serum, which could enhance the military’s overall strength, was less of an obsession and more of an obsession.

But thankfully.

In the original plot, Thaddeus Ross was solely focused on the Super Soldier Serum because his wife, Karen, had passed away, leaving him with nothing else to care about. However, in this timeline, to put it figuratively, Thaddeus Ross was like a wild horse, but Karen had always held the reins.

Lake asked Betty curiously, "Haven’t the General and his team been focusing most of their efforts on Target B recently?"

Target B.

The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes. As a soldier from the same era as Captain America, after Bucky Barnes was captured, it was clear that whether it was studying Bucky Barnes’s agelessness or his subdermal titanium armor, it was far more beneficial than researching the Super Soldier Serum, for which they hadn’t even managed to reverse-engineer the formula.

Betty blinked. "You don’t know?"

Lake looked bewildered. "What should I know?"

Betty replied, "Target B is dead."

"What?"

"Mm."

Betty seemed to recall something and said to Lake, "I overheard it when the gene experiment team was chatting during lunch. They said they found something inexplicable in the target’s genes. Just as they were preparing to conduct human experiments on the target, Target B inexplicably died on the operating table. Moreover, after death, he decomposed at an incredible speed. This matter was immediately classified by the base."

Lake stroked his chin.

Bucky Barnes was dead?

When Bucky Barnes was transferred to the Quantico base, Lake knew that Bucky Barnes would eventually be messed with by those crazy scientists at the base. But even so, upon hearing this news, Lake still felt a sense of unreality.

After all…

Bucky Barnes was, in a way, a superhero who left his mark on the Marvel Universe?

And now he had died so quietly.

Wow.

Lake felt a slight pang of emotion, but it was only a sliver, nothing more.

Betty continued, "During the research on Project B, they found a slight overlap with the Super Soldier Serum experiments. Gamma rays were detected within Target B’s body. So, the experiments were transferred to my boyfriend’s and Yusuf Atta Mohammed’s team."

Lake immediately looked at Betty.

Gamma rays?

He was familiar with this stuff. Bruce Banner turning into Bruce Hulk Banner was because of this very thing.

The next second.

Lake looked at Betty. "What’s your boyfriend’s name?"

Betty became wary again. "Why?"

This time, Lake wasn’t as nonchalant as before. He said directly, "Don’t ask, just tell me. I promise I won’t cause him any trouble."

Betty looked at Lake for a few seconds, then, with a proud smile, she said, "He’s a super scholar with seven doctoral degrees, a Ph.D. in Genetics, a Ph.D. in Biology, a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics…"

Lake’s unease grew with every word. "Just tell me his name."

Seven doctoral degrees.

This premonition wasn’t good.

Betty looked at the expression on Lake’s face. "Bruce Banner. Bro, is something wrong?"

Lake’s gaze went directly to the laboratory, which had been sealed off during the experiment, his eyes flickering.

Was something wrong?

Remove the "was."

This was a huge problem.

This wasn’t right.

Lake remembered investigating Bruce Banner one year. At that time, Banner was also working in a military laboratory, but it was at the Texas laboratory. How did he end up here in Quantico?

And also…

In this life, Betty clearly didn’t lack paternal love. How did she end up getting involved with this Bruce Banner, who was ten years her senior?

The most important point.

Lake looked at Betty with some suspicion. "You’re saying the General has seen Bruce Banner, and he doesn’t object to your relationship?"

Betty shrugged. "When I first arrived at the base, Bruce was my mentor. Besides, I never told Dad that Bruce and I were dating. He already has trouble accepting that I’m dating that divorced reporter. Do you think I’m that stupid? If I told Dad, he’d definitely have a lot of objections."

Besides.

Betty felt that she and Bruce were just dating, and it was still a long way off from marriage. Even if she were to say something, it would be at least six months from now.

Lake couldn’t help but flick Betty on the forehead.

Betty cried out in pain, clutching her forehead. "What are you doing?"

Lake was amused and angry. "What am I doing? If I remember correctly, Bruce Banner is ten years older than you."

Betty looked at Lake with suspicion. "How do you know? Brother, you said you didn’t investigate."

Lake rolled his eyes. "I investigated when you were in college. Are you crazy? Come on, I really don’t understand. Help me explain, what about a man ten years older than you attracts you?"

Lake was thirty-three this year. If Bruce Banner was ten years older than Betty, he would be thirty-seven now. A thirty-seven-year-old man who was still unmarried, no matter how excellent, clearly had problems. And he was a thirty-seven-year-old man with seven doctorates.

Betty blinked. "Smart, knowledgeable, honest, sincere, guileless, speaks very gently, and is very serious about his work…"

Lake’s brow twitched. "Alright, I get it."

Fine.

Although she wouldn’t fall for Bruce Banner this time due to a lack of fatherly love, she was clearly infatuated this time.

Lake took a deep breath, looked at Betty, and said directly, "If you’re just playing around, I don’t care. If you’re serious, and the General doesn’t kill him, I’ll shoot him myself."

"Why?"

"You think I can’t be serious with Rachel, but you think it’s okay to find someone ten years older than you?"

"…"

Lake shook his head speechlessly, then made a zipping motion to Betty’s lips, and looked back at the closed laboratory.

Laboratory.

Gamma Ray Research.

Sealed.

Fuck!

Lake’s brow twitched, and he had a vague sense of unease. Could it be that he was about to witness Bruce Banner turning into Bruce Hulk Banner?

Could it be that coincidental?

Lake thought to himself. He snapped back to reality, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry. He directly took out his phone, found the number of a supervisor at Quantico Military Base, and called.

Fifteen minutes later.

Several squads of soldiers stationed at Quantico Base arrived downstairs in their vehicles. Lake had directly impersonated General Ross, who was away on business, to summon them.

As the saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

In the laboratory.

Dr. Bruce Banner, who looked like a typical honest scientist and was wearing a lab coat, was preparing for the final stage of gamma ray research with Dr. Yusuf Atta Mohammed, who was also wearing a lab coat.

The efficiency of today’s research was very high. The subsequent samples used for the gamma ray experiment all showed experimental effects similar to those of the Super Soldier Serum on Steve Rogers when exposed to gamma rays.

Yusuf Atta Mohammed walked over from the laboratory entrance. After the last experiment, he already knew that agents from the Department of Homeland Security and NCIS were downstairs. Once their current experiment was concluded, the homeland agents and NCIS agents outside would come and take him away.

But.

This would absolutely not happen.

Yusuf Atta Mohammed walked to Bruce Banner’s side, his expression serious, with that unique fervor of a scientist. "Bruce, let me do it this time."

Bruce was slightly stunned. "What?"

Yusuf pointed to the gamma ray instrument inside the glass chamber, which could generate and capture gamma rays. "Let me."

"…Are you crazy?"

Bruce was continuously stunned. Conducting human experiments directly? Was he crazy? The base hadn’t cut their research funding. Even if they were to conduct human experiments, he didn’t need to do it himself. There were plenty of nameless prisoners in overseas prisons available.

However.

While Bruce was still shocked by Yusuf’s words and hadn’t recovered, Yusuf had already walked quickly into the instrument. The next second, as Bruce snapped back and rushed in to stop Yusuf.

Yusuf pressed the button directly.

Ten minutes later.

BOOM!

Outside.

Lake heard the commotion from the experimental building and his brow twitched.

Had he guessed correctly?

The Hulk is out of the cage?