You Must Believe in the Organization

Should I go out and surprise her?

Lake listened to Betty’s mumbling words, a strange thought crossing his mind.

After entering puberty, Betty naturally picked up some bad habits, like her newfound love for parties. These parties were often held secretly at friends’ houses, so Betty would sometimes sneak out after her parents were asleep.

Lake naturally couldn’t just ignore this.

He could easily imagine what a group of hormone-fueled teenagers would get up to. After catching Betty sneaking out several times and being lectured by Karen on multiple occasions, she had given up on the idea.

Even…

Betty was once jealous of Lake.

The reason was simple.

Betty loved parties, while Lake was the opposite. He wasn’t interested in those little kids’ gatherings. He’d rather spend his time thinking about where he could earn money.

For this, Karen grounded Betty and encouraged Lake, saying it was fine for him to go. Even if he didn’t come back all night, Lake wouldn’t be grounded. In such a situation, how could Betty not be jealous?

But Lake still didn’t plan to go.

Undoubtedly, the two of them were once again taken to see a psychologist by Karen.

Soon.

After Betty had driven for nearly an hour, and Lake had followed for over an hour, as they entered Alexandria County near the Potomac River, Lake felt Betty’s car slow down. He got out ahead of her and then, with a whoosh, leaped onto the roof, observing Betty from above.

Even though this area was close to the Special Administrative Region, like in federal territories, once night fell, there were basically no people wandering the streets. Even if there were, most of them belonged to the underworld.

After a while.

Betty’s car stopped at a closed fried chicken shop near a public phone booth.

She got out.

Betty looked around, tightened her jacket, and softly called out, "Bruce?"

As expected.

Lake, hiding on the roof, raised an eyebrow.

"Here…" a voice came from behind the bushes next to the fried chicken shop. After a rustling sound, a white man with messy hair, shirtless, poked his head out from behind the bushes.

Betty looked, slightly stunned: "Bruce?"

It wasn’t that Betty was stunned, but rather because Bruce’s physique and appearance had changed drastically.

Let’s put it this way.

Bruce’s previous physique was like a stick figure, but now, just looking at the width of his shoulders, although he wasn’t yet comparable to a muscular man, he had at least moved out of the stick figure category.

Then there was his appearance.

Although his former self could still be discerned from Bruce’s face, it had also changed greatly.

Bruce gave a wry smile: "Yes, can you give me some clothes first?"

Betty snapped back to reality and quickly threw over a few high-end clothes she had "borrowed" from home, belonging to General Ross.

Bruce said thank you and hid in the bushes again to change.

After a moment.

Bruce put on his clothes and stood up from behind the bushes. He looked around warily and said to Betty, "No one followed you, right?"

Betty nodded, then asked with confusion, "Bruce, what exactly happened? Everyone at the base said you and that Yusuf were dead."

Bruce’s expression turned a bit grim.

Unlike Yusuf, who was raging and completely lost consciousness, Bruce had some awareness when the Hulk emerged. Unfortunately, he couldn’t control the Hulk’s actions at all. It wasn’t until the Hulk fell asleep in the Potomac River that Bruce regained control of his body. But he only dared to wait until late at night before emerging from the sewage outlet.

Then, relying on his knowledge, he directly used the public phone by the roadside to call Betty.

"…Do you know about those two monsters?"

"I know. They all said you were killed by those two monsters."

"…Those two monsters were us."

"What?"

"It was me and Yusuf, Betty."

"…"

Betty blinked her eyes, came back to her senses, shook her head, and looked at Bruce, bewildered: "I don’t understand."

Bruce gave a wry smile: "After Yusuf and I entered the laboratory, Yusuf had a premeditated plan. Both Yusuf and I absorbed excessive Gamma Rays, and the result was…"

He paused.

Bruce shook his head and looked at Betty: "Did you bring the money?"

Betty took out a stack of Franklin bills from her bag: "I only have ten thousand US Dollars at home."

"That’s enough," Bruce said. "I have to go, Betty."

Betty was slightly stunned: "What?"

Bruce still wore a bitter smile. "Betty, you and I both know what kind of treatment I’ll receive if I go back."

Betty: "…"

What treatment?

The treatment of being experimented on.

Of course.

Perhaps there were exceptions. For example, if you had connections, and then you mutated, the most you’d face would be military supervision, with scientists discussing how to conduct experimental research on you.

But did Bruce Banner have connections?

He did.

Betty was his girlfriend. From a certain perspective, General Ross was Bruce Banner’s connection. But it was a shame. If Betty were his wife, it might be different, but she was merely his girlfriend. Common sense dictated that General Ross would never approve of a boyfriend ten years older than his daughter. Mentioning this connection wouldn’t help; it would likely escalate his situation from being experimented on to being dissected for research.

Besides.

Over the years, quite a few people had been recruited by the military for experiments due to special abilities. Bruce Banner himself had participated in some of those experiments.

It was just that back then, the consequences weren’t falling on him, so he didn’t care.

But now?

Now that the consequences were falling on him, Bruce Banner suddenly understood what the volunteers in those experiments must have felt.

Betty shook her head. "They won’t, Bruce. You’re an important asset to the military."

Bruce Banner had been highly recruited by the military from outside. With seven doctoral degrees, he was worth seven people.

"I can’t afford to gamble, Betty."

"Then…"

Bruce Banner shook his head. "I plan to go lie low somewhere."

At the very least, he didn’t dare to gamble right now. One wrong move, one lost gamble, and everything would be over. He’d spend the rest of his life in a military laboratory.

Betty fell silent.

Although she really wanted to say that the military might consider Bruce Banner’s value and opt for a cooperative approach, Betty recalled the attitudes of her brother, Lake, and her father, Ross.

Without a doubt.

Lake and Ross knew that Bruce Banner wasn’t dead, or at least, no body had been found. Yet, both of them had chosen to tell her that Bruce Banner was dead.

Why?

This basically explained Bruce Banner’s fate if he were caught by the military. The reason they told Betty was to make her believe Bruce Banner was dead.

Damn it.

Her brother had sold her out without hesitation again.

Betty mentally thrashed the little effigy of Lake, then looked at Bruce. "Where are you going? I’ll take you."

Bruce was just about to speak.

Just then.

"You’re not going anywhere."

"…Brother?"

Lake emerged from the darkness across the street, his expression unreadable. He was wearing a well-fitting suit with a red tie. He looked at Betty, who had turned her head, and said, "Surprised?"

Betty asked, "Were you following me?"

Bruce looked warily at Lake’s sudden appearance, a hint of green appearing on him.

Lake looked at Bruce with amusement.

Betty looked at Lake, who had walked up beside her. "Brother, didn’t you know…"

Lake interrupted her directly and looked at Bruce Banner. "Planning to run off to India?"

Bruce was slightly taken aback.

He… had indeed been thinking that.

Let alone him, even if others in the Federation were to flee, they would instinctively choose India. As for the reason, perhaps it was because of so-called yoga being in India.

Lake’s expression remained unchanged. "Why?"

Bruce was stunned again. Why? Was he supposed to stay and wait to be dissected?

Lake said directly, "Dr. Banner, do you have a misunderstanding of yourself?"

Fine.

Lake had changed his mind.

"Dr. Banner, you’re a top-tier genius with seven doctoral degrees. Do you really think the military would ignore your knowledge and resort to simple, crude dissection just because of the monster inside you?"

"…"

In the original plot, there were many reasons why the military launched pursuit and attack operations against the Hulk.

Simply put, it’s because Bruce Banner doesn’t trust the military, and the Hulk has also caused losses to the military. Furthermore, the military has always been straightforward: if you don’t cooperate, we’ll arrest you. This situation also involves Betty and Bruce’s relationship, which caused General Ross’s displeasure, leading to increasingly simple and crude actions.

As a result, this really ignited the situation.

This time?

Lake decided to try a different approach: "Dr. Banner, even if the military wants to research the monster within you, have you forgotten that you’re not the only one?"

Bruce Banner was slightly stunned.

Lake chuckled and said, "The monster Yusuf transformed into, and you – what do you think the military will choose?"

Betty looked at Lake, somewhat confused. "Brother?"

Lake looked at Betty. "What, are you surprised?"

Betty nodded hesitantly. After all, Lake’s and General Ross’s previous actions clearly indicated they wanted Betty to give up on Bruce Banner so the military could act more easily.

But now?

Lake’s sudden appearance, seemingly advising Bruce not to flee, left Betty feeling confused.

It felt very subtle.

It was as if Lake had said both the good and bad things, leaving no room for others to imagine or speculate.

Lake chuckled.

He looked at Bruce Banner and spoke earnestly.

"Dr. Banner, you must believe in your own value, and you must believe in us. You are an important asset, just like those professional football players in the clubs – one of the untradeable players."

"You have to trust the organization!"

"…"