The Sacrifice Is About to Begin

Hulk was simple-minded: you hurt him, and he would beat you up. It was as simple as that!

"Hulk!" he roared, taking a step forward and throwing a heavy punch.

"Hey, here’s another man who’s made a grave mistake!" Zhan Liu sighed. Then he flashed behind Hulk, raised his hand, and thrust his palm into Hulk’s spine. With a hard squeeze, he crushed it to pieces.

He could tell that Doctor Banner clearly wanted to die, but was unable to kill himself, so he intended to borrow Zhan Liu’s hand.

Although Hulk had also reached the Fifty Heavens, he was far too immature. He had moves but did not know how to use them, and his Complete State was extremely low. Zhan Liu could defeat him with ease.

If Zhan Liu had wanted to kill him, that attack just now could have pierced his heart and finished him off completely.

Hulk let out a terrible howl and fell to the ground, his body rapidly recovering. But how could Zhan Liu allow him to recover freely without stopping him?

Zhan Liu stepped on Hulk’s back and crushed his spine and limbs with a few casual stomps. Then he used Magnetic Field Force to suppress him, slowing his recovery.

Hulk possessed immense strength, but only knew how to use brute force. Against a weakling like Loki, he could rely on his level to overwhelm him, but when he encountered a true expert, victory or defeat was decided in an instant.

Hulk writhed across the ground like a giant green worm, but the recovery ability in his body could no longer heal his injuries as quickly as before.

By the time Tony arrived, this was the scene he witnessed.

He knew Doctor Banner would not be a match for his master, Zhan Liu, so he had activated the unfinished Nano Armor in advance. He had considered that it might be able to stop Zhan Liu if his master tried to kill Doctor Banner.

He had also sensed Doctor Banner’s murderous intent, but did not know that it was directed at the Hulk inside Banner. Instead, he thought Zhan Liu had done something else and accidentally formed a mortal grudge with Doctor Banner.

That was perfectly normal.

Zhan Liu had no ties in this world and regarded no one else, never considering others when he acted. Yet he was also a Magnetic Field expert, and his influence was too great. Every move he made could affect other people. Who knew when he might casually throw a stone and kill someone?

He had originally thought Doctor Banner and his master, Zhan Liu, would have a fierce battle, and had been somewhat worried that their fight would affect nearby New York. Who could have known that he would discover Zhan Liu’s Complete State was even higher than he had imagined? Facing a Hulk at the Fifty Heavens, Zhan Liu had subdued him with ease.

Zhan Liu cast a sidelong glance at Tony flying over and asked curiously, "What level are you at now? Why don’t I see any armor on you?"

"…" Tony was briefly at a loss for words before asking in return, "Didn’t Junior Brother Wong mention it to you? Doctor Banner and I modified the Strong Magnetic Armor into Nano Armor, changing it from external armor to internal armor. That way, it won’t be affected by the material-conversion function."

"That damned bastard! I treated him so well, yet he turned out to be a traitor! He betrayed the sect and ran away! The next time I see him, I’ll have to purge the sect of him!" Zhan Liu cursed angrily.

"Ran away?" Tony suddenly understood. "So that’s how it is. He stole our research and went off to live freely."

He and Doctor Banner had always suspected that Zhan Liu had sent Old Wang to steal the Nano Armor, so they could only force themselves to endure it and let the matter go. Now that they knew it had been Old Wang’s own private act, they could no longer spare him. They would issue a warrant for him later.

If that bastard thought he could look down on everyone with just a tube of Nano Armor, then they would have to let him know that scientific products all came with backdoor programs.

"He stole your research too?"

"That’s right! We had already made a prototype of the Nano Armor earlier, but we considered that there was still a lot of room for improvement, so we never injected it for use. Who could have known he would steal it? The one I’m using now was made later, after Doctor Banner and I started over."

"What level are you at? Can you modify genes yet?" This was what Zhan Liu was truly concerned about.

"Not quite yet!" Tony lied through his teeth. "The more advanced the research, the harder it becomes. Fortunately, Doctor Banner has been helping me all along. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have progressed so quickly."

He was afraid Zhan Liu would refuse to let Banner go, so he deliberately exaggerated Banner’s importance.

"Master, leave Doctor Banner to your disciple. I’ll find a way to bring his consciousness back."

"He wants to die himself. What use is there in bringing him back?"

Zhan Liu had not intended to kill anyone in the first place. Hearing this, he lifted his leg and kicked the Hulk beneath his foot over to Tony. Tony reached out to catch him and likewise used Magnetic Field Force to suppress his recovery.

"He wants to die himself? What do you mean?"

Zhan Liu explained what had happened during the battle, then said, "Clearly, when he turned into Hulk, he must have killed the most important person in his life, committing a mistake that could never be remedied. Now he regrets it and wants to kill himself. I have no idea how to deal with this. Do you have any way?"

"Uh…" Tony was also stumped by this situation. He might have been good at comforting girls, but he had never consoled a grown man before.

"Perhaps I can find him a good psychologist?"

"Then you have to first guarantee that when he becomes emotionally agitated, he won’t slap the psychologist into a pulp."

"Hmm… He probably won’t, right? Doctor Banner is quite reasonable when he’s lucid."

"Do as you please."

Zhan Liu dusted off his backside and stood up before leaving. Right now, he was pondering how to fill the system’s final missing slot: a local War God at the Fifty Heavens.

At the same time, far away in the United Kingdom, in the city of Greenwich, a massacre was taking place.

A great number of space gates opened, and a group of Dark Disciples dressed in black clothes and robes surged out. They first used magic to cut off communications in the surrounding area, then began slaughtering people frenziedly.

In the city center, Kaecilius was drawing the sacrificial array, while Ollro of Hydra assisted him, handing over various precious spellcasting materials.

With Hydra’s help, Kaecilius successfully completed all the preparations for the sacrifice to Dormammu.

Tomorrow was the day most suitable for a sacrifice in the mystic arts, and Greenwich was the ideal sacrificial site.

For this day, Hydra had arranged for a large number of people to infiltrate the city beforehand, killing all the superheroes and supervillains in Greenwich who might interfere with the sacrifice.

After finishing the array, Kaecilius carefully inspected it once more. Then several space gates opened beside him. Behind each gate was a squad of Dark Disciples, transporting fresh corpses through the gates toward the array.

The work had been divided up in advance, so the Dark Disciples removed the bloody organs in an orderly manner and placed them in their designated positions.

Kaecilius, meanwhile, used magic power to push the blood along the channels that had been carved beforehand.

Through the space gates, the sound of misery could be heard from the other side, with the entire city filled with wailing. The stench of blood and resentment surged into the sky, but was blocked by an invisible magical barrier at the outermost perimeter, unable to seep out at all.

As the sacrificial array grew more complete, the people in the city gradually became frenzied. They seemed to have lost their minds and began slaughtering one another in a frenzy.