Post-War Persuasion

"What are you doing…"

"Wait."

"This is our equipment, you…"

"This is a violation of our rights!"

"You can’t do this."

"I’m going to expose this!"

"…"

The Sun, Washington Post, Federal Daily News, United States Daily… the moment some of the newspapers that could afford to maintain their own planes landed, soldiers who had been waiting for a long time swarmed them.

Cameras?

Confiscated.

Recorders?

Confiscated.

Voice recorders?

Confiscated.

These reporters, facing the onslaught of soldiers, were completely unable to fight back. Those shouting about citizens’ right to know and threatening to expose everything were directly taken away by military police on suspicion of leaking military secrets.

Over at The Sun.

Several soldiers approached Lake, and seeing his Major’s uniform, they were clearly taken aback.

Lake pointed to Rachel beside him, "She’s with me."

Then.

Lake left with Rachel, who seemed to want to protect her equipment as well. As for the helicopter pilot, he was politely invited to the lounge.

But the equipment on the plane received no special treatment. Like the other reporters’ equipment, it was all gathered together and then burned on the spot. Afterward, the reporters were also invited to the lounge.

Golf cart.

Lake and Rachel arrived at the other end of the runway, where the Hulk was located. General Ross and Betty had also arrived.

Betty looked at the large figure roaring at the Hulk in the field, clearly stunned.

It was nothing else.

Betty seemed to see the confusion, unease, and hesitation in the Hulk’s eyes as he looked around at everyone targeting him, just like that night when Betty had seen it in Bruce Banner’s eyes.

The next second.

Betty, with scrapes on her face and arms, moved.

Ross grabbed Betty, "Are you crazy?"

The Hulk’s combat power was clearly still focused on the Mad Demon who was almost destroying the entire port. With Betty’s small frame, let alone a punch, even a finger would probably be too much to handle.

Betty turned to Ross, "Dad, I want to try."

Ross frowned.

Just before, when Betty, Bruce, and Ross were preparing to evacuate under military escort, the Mad Demon had already locked onto Bruce as the thing it wanted.

At that time, Bruce was already very uneasy, and the Hulk was stirring. However, because Betty seemed to be by Bruce’s side, this unease was just unease, not the panicky kind.

But…

A tank suddenly roared towards them, and the Mad Demon flung it directly over their heads.

Betty, Ross, and the soldiers were all dumbfounded.

At that moment.

Bruce turned into light…

Green light.

With a roar, accompanied by a fist that blasted out from within the green light, Bruce Banner transformed into the Hulk and appeared.

The tank was sent flying and instantly exploded.

General Ross and a group of soldiers were directly hit by the blast wave from the explosion. Although they were not injured, they were still in a sorry state.

As for Betty?

Ross didn’t understand what was happening. By the time Ross reacted, he saw Betty standing not far from him, unharmed except for some scrapes on her arms and face.

Betty looked at Ross, "Dad, he won’t hurt me, I’m sure."

Ross was silent for a moment and lowered his right hand that was holding Betty. But he still shouted to his soldiers, "Everyone, remain vigilant."

Betty crossed the soldiers’ cordon and appeared in the field.

The Hulk grunted, his face still showing anger, and watched Betty walk into his line of sight.

Ross behind her tensed up.

Even Lake, who had just arrived, was prepared for Hulk to make a move. Although Lake felt his chances against Hulk were at best fifty-fifty, he figured he could still manage to rescue Betty in time.

However, this worst-case scenario didn’t seem to be happening.

Betty looked up at Hulk, who seemed to have grown to 2.7 meters due to his rage. She spoke gently, slowly extending her right hand towards Hulk. "It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s over. They don’t mean you any harm. You protected me just now, remember?"

Hulk’s chest heaved, and he remained still, staring at Betty’s outstretched hand.

The next second.

Hulk moved.

Everyone tensed up, and Ross was about to blurt out the order to open fire.

Hulk extended his giant, fan-like hand, bent down, and slowly offered it to Betty, seeming a bit hesitant.

Betty’s heart pounded, but her expression remained gentle, encouraging Hulk’s action.

Big hand met small hand.

Hulk, with his watermelon-shaped big head, showed an expression on his face, perhaps joy, perhaps happiness, perhaps something else.

Immediately after.

Green light emanated from Hulk’s body.

The green light was intense.

The light came and went quickly. By the time the light disappeared and everyone’s gaze focused on where it had been, Hulk had vanished. All that remained was Betty, squatting on the ground, shielding someone who seemed to have a exhibitionist tendency.

Where did Hulk go?

Some soldiers who were unaware of the situation stared at each other, wide-eyed. Where did that huge monster go? And who was that exhibitionist on the ground?

Many soldiers wanted to see the face of Betty’s protector, the exhibitionist, but Betty blocked them well, not exposing Bruce Banner, who had fainted, to the sunlight.

Half an hour later.

At the base medical room.

General Ross stared grimly at Bruce Banner, who lay on the hospital bed, his right hand still tightly gripping his daughter Betty. He felt an urge to kill him.

Soon.

The examination results were out.

The reason for Bruce Banner’s unconsciousness was simple: extreme exhaustion. He would wake up once his stamina recovered. Of course, there were other examination results as well.

But Lake wasn’t a doctor, and those professional terms gave him a headache.

In short.

Bruce Banner was fine. And judging by his brainwaves, he seemed to be having a pleasant dream.

After a long pause.

Ross led Lake out of the ward. A squad of soldiers stood guard outside the room.

In the office.

Ross tidied his clothes. Such a major incident had occurred at the base, and he needed to report to Pennsylvania.

"Have those reporters been controlled?"

"Yes."

The guard nodded, then glanced at Lake beside him and said to Ross, "Sir, all video footage has been destroyed, and non-disclosure agreements have been signed. Except for…"

"The reporter from The Sun?"

"Yes."

Ross said to Lake without turning his head, "Your woman, you deal with her yourself. We’ll talk about other matters when I get home tonight."

Lake opened his mouth and nodded. He had intended to tell Ross that he planned to sleep at Rachel’s place tonight, but Lake felt he had been set up by Betty.

At this moment, Ross probably thought Betty had bribed Lake, causing him to directly change his stance and side with her and Bruce.

God could bear witness.

Lake was purely considering the matter from the perspective of benefits and harm. Subduing Hulk was much better than pushing Hulk towards S.H.I.E.L.D.

Rachel was currently arranged in a separate room.

Lake walked over, nodded to the two guards at the door, and after they left, Lake pushed the door open.

Rachel, who was looking at the non-disclosure agreement in her hand, looked up at Lake. "The public should know what happened here."

Lake took off his hat. "Wrong. The public’s right to know cannot involve national security. That’s what I told you when we first met. Reporters pursue truth above all else, which is good. But when the pursuit of truth above all else conflicts with national security above truth, the former should yield to the latter."

Rachel said, "So, how are you going to explain what happened here?"

Lake walked down and looked at Rachel with a smile. "You’re a reporter, why don’t you tell me?"

Rachel smiled. "An act, an experimental accident. In any case, you won’t release the truth, right?"

Lake nodded.

Rachel looked at Lake. "What if I want to report it?"

Lake chuckled, "Then we have a disagreement."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"I’ll convince you as much as possible."

"And if you can’t."

"There’s no such thing as impossible."

"Oh."

Rachel set aside the confidentiality agreement she had been reviewing, crossed her arms, and looked at Lake with great curiosity. "You’re that confident?"

Lake thought for a moment. "My persuasion skills are pretty great."

Interrogation was equivalent to persuasion.

Most suspects would spill everything Lake wanted to know within three rounds with Lake.

Just as Rachel was about to speak, she suddenly gasped.

Lake had already picked her up.

"What are you doing?"

"Convincing you to sleep."

"…"

Lake’s approach to suspects was always simple and direct. He’d try persuasion first, then force if that didn’t work. If they still refused, he’d keep hitting them. Usually, by the time a suspect’s limbs were about to be disabled, they’d start talking.

But Rachel wasn’t a suspect; she was Lake’s woman.

Lake’s persuasion methods with her were also simple and direct. If one session wasn’t enough, he’d try again. Lake wasn’t very articulate, so he had to play to his strengths.

However, Rachel proved to be more resilient than Lake had anticipated.

This persuasion session…

Lake spent a full five hours. It was still daytime when he came in, and by the time he finally succeeded, it was already night outside.

Her legs felt a little weak.

Rachel, with her long hair disheveled and wrapped in a towel, handed the signed confidentiality agreement to Lake with a look of satisfaction. She then smiled at Lake and asked, "So, how many people have you used this persuasion on before?"

Lake smiled faintly and looked at Rachel. "Only you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

He didn’t need to persuade anyone else.

After his first night with Rachel, Lake had already wondered if he had made a mistake by getting involved with her. God was his witness, his original intention wasn’t to seduce Rachel, but merely to use her.

And the result?

He had dug his own pit and fallen into it.