I Became Masaki Keigo (First Guaranteed Update, Please Subscribe!!!)

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Lake raised an eyebrow and looked up toward the distance.

An armed transport plane coming from the direction of Washington appeared in the sky. It was moving fast, sweeping toward them.

WTF?

A question mark appeared above Lake’s head.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

"Sir, we’ll reach the coordinates in ten seconds."

"Good."

General Ross, who was inside the cabin, immediately looked toward the frail-looking Bruce Banner beside him. Bruce had officially transferred from a clerical position to a combat role. "Can you do it?"

Bruce Banner nodded.

The cabin door opened.

As the countdown continued, when it reached the final number, Lake saw an unidentified object drop from the armed transport plane.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

"Roar!"

As the unidentified object fell from the sky, it let out a cry resembling fear. But when it was only a hundred meters from smashing into the ground and becoming a meat pancake, that fearful cry abruptly turned into an enraged roar.

Boom!

A flash of green light shot into the sky.

Black Heart Demon, who had been using his dark tentacles to teach Iron Man a lesson as the latter darted about the sky like an agile ant, said something when he saw the green shape suddenly appear above his head.

Then…

Rumble!

Boom!

Black Heart Demon was sent flying. As the green light faded, Hulk appeared and slammed headfirst into Black Heart Demon, driving him straight into the Brooklyn water plant behind him, which was shrouded in black mist.

In an instant.

Blazing flames shot into the sky once more, accompanied by the roar of a violent explosion.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

"Retreat!"

After losing more than a dozen agents on the ground, S.H.I.E.L.D. received an order from the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Center. They immediately waved their arms, signaling the personnel on the scene to withdraw toward a safe area.

"This is…"

"Bang!"

"Ah."

Black Heart Demon let out a furious roar. Endless darkness exploded outward in an instant. With a boom, he blasted Hulk away after Hulk had just pinned him down and pummeled him. Black Heart Demon then emerged from the flames with a hideous expression. "You disgusting insect. You disgust me."

Hulk got to his feet, spat a mouthful of saliva, and then, with another boom, launched his fist once more. He leaped from the ground and swung as if wielding an invisible hammer, smashing it toward Black Heart Demon again.

Atop a distant building.

Lake looked up at the sky.

This wasn’t right.

I was told that, in a dark world, someone would always have to come out and save the world. I thought it would be me. Could it be…

The clown actually…

No.

Could I be Masaki Keigo?

And Bruce Banner is Tiga?

Wait.

Lake put the thought away for the moment and shook his head. Looking down at the astonishing scene on the ground, which resembled a monster blockbuster brought to life, he pondered a question.

I went so far as to bring Hulk over to the military. So why is the military still cooperating with his enemy, S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Lake raised his head and stared at the armed transport plane hovering in the sky, his eyes flickering.

Could it be…

Someone had betrayed him?

Lake immediately focused his consciousness on his Department of Homeland Security clone. The Lake on that side promptly took the Satellite Phone from Tiffany and called General Thaddeus Ross.

Soon.

Lake understood why.

After recovering the information, S.H.I.E.L.D. had realized what they were dealing with. After all, once Tony Stark left the Department of Homeland Security, he had also visited New York S.H.I.E.L.D. because of his connection with Peggy Carter.

And then…

S.H.I.E.L.D. had no top-tier combatant capable of going head-to-head with a demon, but someone else did. For example, the military, which possessed Hulk. This could be considered a mutually beneficial arrangement.

After all, the military also needed a battle to test Hulk’s combat strength. A demon appearing in New York City was obviously a suitable opponent.

Besides…

The military needed a publicity campaign to prepare for Hulk’s legitimate public debut in the future, just as the military had molded Captain America into the first superhero in the early days. Now, the military wanted to replicate that success with Hulk.

That wasn’t difficult for the military.

Bruce Banner?

His opinion didn’t matter. Or rather, after Bruce Banner initially believed that the military had no intention of cutting him open and dissecting him, it would be easy for him to become immersed in the military’s routine indoctrination.

Wasn’t there also a group of fools in the Eastern Kingdom who had never even been to the Federation yet firmly believed that the Federation was the land of freedom?

If outsiders could be like that, how much more so the people of that country?

If you were a citizen of that country and didn’t love the Federation, that was easy enough to explain, too. The Federation might decide that you had no value whatsoever. Whether you loved your country or not, killing you only took a few bullets. There was no need to waste time and effort making you patriotic.

Hulk?

As Lake had said before, because of his intervention, the relationship between the military and Hulk had already become similar to the relationship between the Grandmaster’s garbage planet and Hulk.

The military worshiped the strong. And to be frank, first impressions were also very important to Hulk. So far, the military had not opened fire on Hulk. Furthermore, under the military’s instructions, the soldiers Hulk encountered all looked at him with obvious admiration.

Hulk’s intelligence was fine. It was just that he had been born from anger and was often trapped in a state of rage.

With the military applying pressure from both sides, over the years, both Bruce Banner and Hulk’s favorability toward the military had risen in a straight line.

Ross was the same.

The prerequisite was that Bruce Banner didn’t get involved with his little flower. After Karen told him that Betty had barely called Bruce over the past few months, even General Ross’s gaze toward Bruce Banner had returned to the way he looked at a soldier he had personally trained and was extremely proud of.

On the ground.

The battle between Hulk and Black Heart Demon, between rage and Hell, was extraordinarily fierce.

Iron Man looked tiny between the two hulking figures. Hovering in the air and watching the shocking battle, Iron Man felt as if he had gone from the protagonist to a supporting character.

Lake, standing on a rooftop in the distance, felt the same way.

Lake had thought he was the light that would come to save the world. Instead, he suddenly discovered that the light wasn’t his golden light, but Hulk’s green light.

However…

Lake could think whatever he wanted, but it did not affect his Atomic Seed as it fully opened and continued plundering the dark energy that fell from Black Heart Demon every time Hulk threw a punch.

The Force Seed continued crying out hungrily.

Lake no longer felt any urge to enter the battle. He had fought Black Heart Demon once. To be frank, Lake felt that he could at most go fifty-fifty with him. The only reason he had been able to defeat Black Heart Demon back then was that Black Heart Demon had also sensed Lake’s power. After all, Black Heart Demon had come to Earth for serious business and didn’t want to waste time fighting Lake.

However…

As the Lake from the Department of Homeland Security was about to finish speaking with General Ross on the other side, Lake frowned and said to General Ross, "General, S.H.I.E.L.D. was the one that asked the military to cooperate in this operation, right?"

Ross grunted and then said, "Yes. Why?"

Lake smiled. "Nothing. It’s good as long as S.H.I.E.L.D. requested assistance."

As they spoke.

On the battlefield.

After Black Heart Demon was punched by Hulk yet again, he transformed from a physical body into black mist with a bang. "Heh heh heh. I’ve found your weakness. Interesting. This is too interesting."

Black Heart Demon said this, then, with a boom, swept up all the black mist around him. The mist spread around Hulk, and the dark energy instantly began corroding Hulk, whose power was fueled by rage.

"You need rage."

"I’ll give you rage."

"Come on, rage. The rage you need!"

Black Heart Demon summoned the rage from the darkness and poured all of it into Hulk. The demon’s whispers appeared beside Hulk’s ears, and the aura around Hulk gradually began to change.

I knew it.

Lake shook his head atop the roof.

Hulk was excellent at dealing with aliens, but when it came to low-whispering demonic creatures like this… How should he put it? Hulk was a berserker. Against a hell demon who had invested points into magic, he had absolutely no magic resistance.

"Tony."

"Lake?"

"Hulk’s not right. Get rid of Black Heart Demon quickly, or New York will be in danger."

"…"

Iron Man, who had been watching the show in the sky, received Lake’s call. He looked down at the ground and also noticed that something was wrong. At that moment, as the black mist invaded him, Hulk looked rather like a wild bull on the verge of going berserk.

Oh shit!

Iron Man was startled. He immediately launched the remaining four Holy Water missiles.

"Heh heh!"

The instant the Holy Water missiles approached, the black mist wrapped itself in endless darkness and vanished into the Brooklyn water plant amid a maniacal laugh. "The toy you sent over is very interesting. I’m very interesting."

With those words.

Black Heart Demon disappeared as well. Amid the constantly exploding Brooklyn water plant, the third Water Pentagram magic formation had already been carved.

"Roar!"

Hulk’s eyes gradually turned bloodshot. The air he exhaled through his nostrils resembled the furious snorts of an enraged bull.

Hulk was a furious behemoth, and the angrier he became, the stronger he grew—even without any apparent limit. But there was another word closely associated with anger.

Anger would destroy your reason.

Under normal circumstances, Hulk might be able to restrain himself while remaining furious.

But…

The anger he felt right now.

Heh.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ground seemed to notice that something was wrong with Hulk as well, especially when they saw Hulk turn around and look down at them with an enraged presence.

S.H.I.E.L.D. made a mistake.

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

"Damn it, lower your weapons!"

General Ross, aboard the armed transport plane, also realized that something was wrong. But for his words to reach New York S.H.I.E.L.D., and then be sent from the New York S.H.I.E.L.D. Operations Center to the battlefield, a certain amount of time was needed.

Hulk exhaled two streams of hot air and took a step toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Bang!

One S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was nervous, and there was no question that his gun went off accidentally.

The bullet struck Hulk in the chest.

Although it failed to penetrate his defenses, it still made Hulk feel irritated. Hulk bared his teeth. After sensing that he had been offended, he expanded his chest and roared furiously at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

The next second.

Everything exploded!