Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 794 Let Me Talk to Hulk

Deep within the Avengers base, the heavy alloy gate groaned under the constant impact, as if it would be torn apart by the endless sea of ​​decay outside at any moment.

From the crack in the door, the stench of corpses, thick and pungent, and the low, inhuman roars seeped in like cold, viscous water.

Bruce Banner, a man who should be one of the most powerful forces on Earth, was now like a frightened rabbit, his back pressed tightly against the cold control panel, his glasses askew, and his wrinkled white lab coat soaked with sweat.

He gripped the edge of the control panel tightly with both hands, and roared almost hoarsely at the empty corner, or rather, at the raging entity within his own body:
"Come out! Hulk! Please! Now! Right now! Come out immediately—!!!"

The only response he received was the even more frantic pounding from outside the door, and the deathly silence within his body.

It felt as ridiculous and pathetic as desperately shaking the key and begging for help in a moment of crisis from a fellow inmate you locked in the deepest dungeon, tortured and abandoned.

Banner's facial muscles contorted with fear and strain; he nearly ground his teeth to powder, trying to forcefully pry open the invisible shackles with sheer willpower: "Listen! Hulk! I know. I know I did terrible things to you! I... I'm sorry! Really! But this isn't the time for tantrums! We need you! I need you! Those things outside... they'll come in, tear us apart! Chew us up! Eat us! Can you hear me?! Hulk—!!!"

silence.

A suffocating silence.

Just as Banner's despair was about to overwhelm him, a low, muffled voice, filled with immense grievance and resistance, seemed to emerge with difficulty from the deepest part of his soul, through thick layers of mud:

"Hulk doesn't want to."

The voice was faint, yet it struck Banner's heart like a heavy hammer.

It wasn't out of guilt, nor because he finally understood Hulk's pain.

What surged into my heart in that instant was an even colder, more piercing fear—even my last trump card had completely failed!

Hulk would rather watch himself be devoured by zombies than come out!

"No! No! Hulk! Don't do this! You can't!"

Banner was rambling incoherently; all his plans for "stripping away," "eliminating," and "controlling" the Hulk now seemed like boomerangs, piercing his own back with deadly precision.

He regretted it, but the root of this regret was the fear of being devoured, which far outweighed his remorse for everything the Hulk, as an independent consciousness, had suffered.

Just as Banner was about to suffocate from this double despair—

Boom! ! !

A deafening roar, far louder than a zombie's impact, smashed through the roof!
The sturdy top structure of the Avengers base was instantly torn apart, and a large number of building debris mixed with dust poured down like a waterfall!

A huge, irregular hole appeared in the center of the ceiling, and blinding, lifeless sunlight poured in.

Banner was jolted to the ground, coughing and looking up through the billowing smoke, still shaken.

At the edge of the hole, a familiar figure stood firmly on the broken steel bar with an extremely professional posture, drawing a bow and nocking an arrow.

"Clint?!"

Banner's ashen face instantly lit up with the wild joy of surviving a close call. He practically scrambled to his feet, his voice trembling with excitement, "Hawkeye! That's great! Quick! Down there! Down there are zombies! Help!"

His shout got stuck in his throat.

Because he finally saw it clearly.

The eagle's eyes at the edge of the hole, that face that was once as sharp as a hawk's, are now covered with a deathly gray aura, and the skin has an unnatural bluish-gray color.

His signature eyes, which always seemed to lock onto their targets, were now completely murky, as if covered by a thick blood film. His pupils were dilated, and only pure, inhuman hunger was burning within them!
His mouth was stretched open, with a thick, dark red saliva hanging from it, and he made an unintelligible "hoarse" sound from his throat.

That wasn't Hawkeye who came to rescue him.

That's the zombie Hawkeye!

Banner felt as if his blood had instantly frozen into ice crystals. Instinctively, with an agility unbecoming of a scientist, he lunged to the side!
"call out--!!!"

A sharp whooshing sound almost grazed his scalp!

boom! ! !
A deafening explosion rang out behind Banner!
The violent shockwave sent him flying, crashing heavily onto the control panel, his internal organs feeling as if they had shifted out of place.

He turned around in horror to find that the thick bulletproof glass door, which had been struggling to hold up the base's last line of defense and was said to be able to withstand rockets, had been blown open with a huge gap!

Spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the remaining portion.

"No—!!!" Banner's scream was drowned out by the terrifying sound wave that erupted the next second, like a tsunami breaking through the dam!

Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
Countless rotting, mutilated arms rushed in through the gap, grabbing at the edges and tearing, instantly widening the gap!
Like a black, foul-smelling tide, the horde of corpses roared, pushed, and trampled as it surged into the base!
Banner scrambled backward as his adrenaline surged to its limit.

But there were too many zombies, and they were too fast! Several swift zombies pounced on him in an instant, their foul saliva dripping onto his face, and their rotten teeth biting his arms and shoulders!

Excruciating pain! A cold, numb sensation instantly spread along the wound!

"Uhhh-!!!"

Banner let out a piercing scream, struggling desperately, using all his strength to shake off some of the zombies that were pressing down on him.

Just as he was about to be completely submerged and devoured—

Om-!
The base's automated defense system has finally been triggered!

Dozens of dark gun muzzles suddenly sprang out from the ceiling and wall cracks! Rat-a-tat ...
Dense tongues of fire spewed out wildly!
A metallic storm instantly swept through the horde of corpses in the entrance area!

The sound of bullets tearing through flesh and shattering bones was like popping beans!

The zombies that pounced on Banner were instantly riddled with holes, and blood and bits of flesh splattered all over his head and face.

Banner seized the opportunity and, with his last ounce of strength, struggled to crawl out from a pile of still twitching, mangled zombie remains.

He leaned against the corner of the wall, breathing heavily and greedily like a broken bellows. He was covered in blood, his clothes were tattered, and his arms, shoulders, and back were covered with deep bite marks and scratches that exposed bone. They burned with pain, and a cold numbness was spreading from the wounds throughout his body.

The bites from ordinary zombies have been temporarily dealt with, but a greater threat lurks in the shadows.

Hawkeye!

That super zombie who possesses top-tier marksmanship, is proficient in all kinds of deadly arrows, and is currently filled with pure gluttony for him!

Banner felt as if his heart was being squeezed by an icy hand.

He knew Clint too well; turning him into a zombie would only make him more dangerous, because his fighting skills and instincts would still be there!

Banner's eyes darted frantically across the wrecked interior of the base, littered with corpses and pieces of flesh, thick smoke billowing, and sporadic gunshots still ringing out.

We can't hold this place!

His gaze suddenly locked onto the gate of the base, which had been blown to smithereens. Not far away, a black bulletproof SUV with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo was parked quietly, its doors tightly shut, like the only ark emitting a faint light in the dark apocalypse.

That was his last chance at life!

The instinct for survival overwhelmed fear and pain. Banner sprang up from the corner and, with a speed disproportionate to his bulky frame, stumbled and staggered toward the armored car! If only he could get in and start it!
Just as he was a few steps away from the car door, his fingers almost touching the cold metal—

call out--! ! !
The familiar, chilling sound of something cutting through the air rang out again! Sharp and deadly!
Banner's pupils contracted sharply, and almost the instant the sound rang out, his body instinctively made him fall to the side!
boom! ! !
An explosive arrow, wrapped with a red indicator light, struck precisely the hood of the bulletproof SUV in front of him!

The violent explosion overturned the heavily armored vehicle!
The scorching heatwave and shrapnel from the explosion sent Banner flying again!
He fell heavily to the ground, his back aching from the impact, and he saw stars before his eyes.

The overturned vehicle burst into flames, completely blocking his escape route and reflecting the despair in his eyes as the last glimmer of light faded.

"Ugh," Banner struggled to get up, making painful gurgling sounds in his throat, looking desperately at the burning wreckage.

Done
everything is over
At the edge of the hole in the base's roof, where thick smoke billowed, the figure of the zombie Eagle Eye reappeared.

With stiff yet precise movements, he drew another arrow, gleaming coldly, and smoothly nocked it to the bowstring. His rotting face was expressionless, only deathly still, locked on to its prey with unwavering focus.

The bowstring was slowly drawn back, making a teeth-grinding "creak" sound, and the arrowhead was steadily aimed at Banner, who was struggling on the ground.

Banner stared at the arrow aimed at him, and the chilling aura of death instantly froze him.

This time, he didn't even have the strength to fall down.

Just as the bowstring was about to be released, and the deadly arrow was about to leave the bow—

hum!
An extremely subtle, almost imperceptible ripple in space, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, spread out out of nowhere behind the zombie Hawkeye!
Next!

A glint of cold light, so fast it defied the limits of visual perception, like the sigh of death, swept silently yet with unparalleled sharpness across the ripples!

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

The zombie eagle-eyed's bow-drawing motion suddenly froze.

His ashen head, which had been in a aiming position, slid silently down his neck along a smooth tangent.

thump.

His head slammed to the ground, rolled twice, and his murky, dead fish eyes still held the ferocity of someone locking onto a target. Saliva from the corner of his mouth stretched into a disgusting, sticky strand.

The headless corpse remained frozen in the bow-drawing posture for half a second before collapsing with a thud like a puppet with its strings cut, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Bruce Banner stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape involuntarily, his face a mixture of extreme shock, unbelievable elation, and the overwhelming exhaustion of surviving a close call.

He struggled to turn his stiff neck, looking in the direction where the cold glint had disappeared.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, two figures appeared silently, like ghosts leaping about.

Stephen Fang stood in front, still smelling of wind and gunpowder, his expression calm and unwavering, as if he had just casually made a shot into thin air.

Doctor Strange hovered in mid-air, his hands still bearing the golden glow of his spell, his face showing a mixture of solemnity and relief at finally catching up.

Seeing these two figures who seemed to have crawled out of a bloody battle in hell, yet descended like saviors at this moment, especially Stephen Fang in front of him carrying a blood-dripping longsword with an expression that said "it's just a little bit of hardship," Banner's nerves, which had been stretched to the limit, finally snapped completely.

Overwhelming ecstasy and a feeling of utter exhaustion crashed over him like giant waves, almost bringing him to tears.

He gasped for breath greedily, his lungs burning, each inhale aggravating the bite wounds all over his body, but he paid no heed, his gaze fixed on Stephen Fang, his voice hoarse and trembling, yet filled with an almost manic conviction:

"I knew it! I knew it! Bringing you from the future was absolutely the best decision I ever made!!"

Stephen Fang scoffed, "Let's not talk about that now, I want to..."

“Hulk, let’s talk.”

(End of this chapter)