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Ch. 97 Persuading Banner
🕑 Added 2023-10-22 16:00:06 +0000 UTCAlthough Banner wasn't initially on his recruitment list, since he had encountered him, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring Banner into the Justice League.
In Russell's original list, the people he wanted to recruit into the Justice League included Peter, Spider-Woman Gwen, Scarlet Witch Wanda, Quicksilver Pietro, Wasp Hope, and others.
As for other superheroes or villains, he wouldn't mind recruiting them if the opportunity arose.
However, his list for the Justice League wasn't that long at the moment.
Deciding to bring Banner into the Justice League, Russell's gaze towards Banner and his girlfriend Betty began to change, as did his gaze towards Betty.
Although Betty wasn't a stunning beauty, she wasn't unattractive either.
Furthermore, in certain universes, Betty was the Harpy and the Red She-Hulk.
Watching Banner and Betty walking towards Grayburn College, Russell discreetly followed them.
After arriving at Grayburn College, he found a secluded corner and reverted back to his superhero serum form.
Although Banner had significant experience in evading pursuit, his anti-tracking skills were nothing compared to Russell's advanced assassination techniques.
With little effort, Banner and Betty found the building where Dr. Samuel Sterns was located.
Dr. Samuel Sterns had just completed his teaching tasks and emerged from the teaching building in good spirits, carrying a briefcase.
However, after taking only a few steps, Betty approached him.
"Excuse me, Dr. Sterns, sorry to bother you. I'm Betty Ross."
Hearing Betty's voice, Dr. Sterns halted and turned to face her.
"Betty Ross? Oh, Dr. Ross from Culver University!"
Both professionals in the field of cellular biology, Dr. Sterns immediately recognized Betty.
"Somebody wants to meet you!"
Without hesitation, Betty spoke up.
"Alright!"
Though Dr. Sterns didn't know who wanted to meet him, he agreed nevertheless.
Just as he finished speaking, Banner, wearing a baseball cap and a deep gray long-sleeve t-shirt, approached Dr. Sterns.
As Dr. Sterns looked at Banner with a puzzled expression, Banner spoke, "Mr. Blue!"
"You're Mr. Green?" Dr. Sterns looked at Banner with surprise.
Banner nodded.
Watching Dr. Sterns lead Banner and Betty into the laboratory building, Russell didn't immediately follow.
Seeing Banner and Betty heading towards the Grayburn College, he knew exactly what Banner was up to.
He wanted to find a way to cure his mutation and become a normal human again.
Banner's idea wasn't necessarily wrong; after all, he was a scientist, not a warrior.
For him, power was far less appealing than knowledge.
However, the issue was that he underestimated the effects of the gamma energy-induced mutation.
If everything progressed according to the movie universe's plot, General Ross and his troops, along with the enhanced Emil Blonsky, would arrive soon.
Then, the Hulk Banner would engage in a fight with the monstrous Blonsky, ultimately defeating him and embarking on another journey of escape.
However, the situation was obviously deviating from this rhythm.
Whether General Ross would bring the military was something Russell couldn't be certain about right now.
Blonsky certainly wouldn't be able to come.
Although the enhanced serum granted Blonsky astonishing regenerative abilities, it wouldn't regrow his head.
If the serum's regenerative powers were that strong, General Ross wouldn't still be obsessed with Banner.
Once Banner and Betty were led by Dr. Sterns into the laboratory, Russell retrieved a small silver-white sphere about the size of a ping pong ball from the system space.
Superficially, the sphere appeared rather unremarkable.
However, this was the latest invention from No. 3.
A bio-assistive transformation robot.
Utilizing the faint mental resonance ability from the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor rewards, the silver-white sphere in Russell's hand began to transform rapidly.
Within two to three seconds, the small sphere had completely changed form, transforming into a bio-robot with a spider-like appearance and flight capability.
After completing the transformation, Russell gently tossed the silver-white spider in his hand.
Subsequently, the spider flew toward the direction of the laboratory building.
Simultaneously, Russell took out a pair of sunglasses from the system space and put them on.
The moment he put on the glasses, the lenses displayed the perspective of the bio-spider.
Like the Endosymbiotic Battle Armor, this bio-spider was also made from fully intelligent liquid metal.
After using the excess fully intelligent liquid metal to create Endosymbiotic Battle Armor Mark 2, Russell had conceived the idea of using No. 3 to manufacture other robots.
The initial form of the bio-assistive transformation robot, starting as a small sphere, was a new product developed by No. 3.
As Russell assigned more tasks to No. 3, he increasingly understood why Tony relied so much on J.A.R.V.I.S.
With the assistance of artificial intelligence, he could indeed save a lot of energy and time.
After putting on the sunglasses, Russell went to a nearby bench and sat down directly.
Under his control, the flying bio-spider rapidly approached Dr. Sterns' laboratory.
Before long, the figures of Banner, Betty, and others appeared in his line of sight.
Along with their figures came their conversation.
Russell didn't pay too much attention to their conversation.
It was unnecessary to listen; Banner likely wanted Dr. Sterns to directly conduct human experiments on him to cure his genetic mutation.
As Banner conversed with Dr. Sterns, Russell began pondering his next plan.
While he had the intention to recruit Banner into the Justice League, he didn't have a concrete idea of how to do it just yet.
Deciding to bring Banner into the Justice League had been a spontaneous choice; he couldn't have planned ahead for it.
Moreover, aside from recruiting Banner into the Justice League, he had another issue to deal with.
General Ross!
If he couldn't handle General Ross, even if Banner was willing to join the Justice League, Russell would still have to contend with the troubles General Ross might bring.
Currently, Russell was quite satisfied with General Ross.
Most of Octopus Monster Industries' military contracts came through General Ross.
After contemplating for a while, he abandoned the crudest and simplest method of dealing with the situation – the kind of method a hitman might use.
Though killing General Ross was the easiest solution, it wouldn't sit well if he killed Ross just to recruit Banner into the Justice League.
After a brief moment of thought, he decided to stop mulling over the issue.
One step at a time!
Worst case scenario, he could offer General Ross some incentives to dissuade him from pursuing Banner.
As long as the incentives were substantial enough, persuading General Ross to abandon the pursuit wasn't impossible.
