Ye Bai placed Hela on the sofa on the first floor and told her to get some proper rest.
He then stepped onto the stairs and headed toward the second floor.
Ye Bai could clearly sense that an uninvited guest had entered the second floor of his home.
He wanted to investigate and see exactly who was bold enough to break into his private residence.
Hearing Ye Bai’s completely unrestrained footsteps, Bruce Banner became utterly flustered.
He began frantically searching for an escape route, but he couldn’t find one in such a short time.
All he could do was pace around anxiously.
Then he found himself face-to-face with Ye Bai, who had already reached the second floor.
The air seemed to fall completely silent.
Bruce Banner and Ye Bai stared at each other, both looking somewhat bewildered.
“Oh my God, it’s you, Ye!”
“Thank God!
I don’t have to worry about getting shot anymore!”
Bruce Banner was the first to react.
A delighted expression appeared on his face as he spread his arms and moved toward Ye Bai for a hug.
Ye Bai rolled his eyes.
He never would have expected that the person who had broken into his house would be this guy.
And wasn’t this guy supposed to be in the Big Apple?
How had he ended up all the way in the City of Angels?
Seeing Bruce Banner about to give him a bear hug, Ye Bai stopped him.
“Banner, what are you doing here?
And what happened to you?”
Ye Bai pretended to be confused as he asked.
That’s right.
Ye Bai and Bruce Banner knew each other, and they were actually on fairly good terms.
Bruce Banner was a genuine genius.
At a young age, he had already earned seven PhDs, something virtually unheard of anywhere in the United States.
Even Tony Stark couldn’t accomplish something like that, which showed just how extraordinary Bruce Banner’s talent was.
Of course, the reason Tony Stark hadn’t done it wasn’t because he lacked the ability.
He was simply too lazy.
As for Ye Bai, he was also a genius, just in the field of literature.
The two geniuses had also graduated from the same university, making them academic brothers, so to speak.
Naturally, Bruce Banner and Ye Bai had become friends.
At their level, the social circle was only so large.
It was practically impossible not to know each other.
Ye Bai naturally knew that Bruce Banner was the Hulk.
That was actually why he had befriended Bruce Banner in the first place.
At that time, Ye Bai’s sign-in system hadn’t awakened yet, so he naturally wanted to hold on to a powerful ally.
Afterward, Ye Bai met Hela, and that was how his current story began.
As for Bruce Banner, he had been busy with his scientific research, so the two of them hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
Ye Bai never expected that their reunion would happen under circumstances like these.
····
“Banner, how have you been lately?
Why did you suddenly come to my house?”
In the living room on the first floor, Ye Bai gave Banner some simple hospitality.
He casually handed him a bottle of beer worth more than a thousand dollars, brewed with glacier water.
Banner accepted the beer and took a long gulp before answering.
“It’s a long story.
It all started because of a damn experiment.”
Bruce Banner had no intention of hiding anything from Ye Bai.
He told him everything that had happened to him recently.
From the experiment at the beginning, to being exposed to gamma radiation, to the monster that had been born inside his body, and finally to being hunted by the entire world.
Banner’s story was miserable enough that his voice even became choked with emotion.
He wasn’t the future superhero Hulk yet.
At this point, he was just an ordinary scientist who hadn’t experienced much of the world.
For an ordinary person to encounter so many terrible things all at once without suffering a complete mental breakdown was already a testament to his resilience.
Ye Bai appropriately expressed his sympathy.
Banner really was having an incredibly miserable time.
However, Ye Bai had no intention of getting involved.
Banner would eventually make it through this on his own anyway.
“So what are you planning to do from now on?
Keep hiding forever?”
Ye Bai asked Banner, somewhat curious about what he intended to do next.
As for helping Banner, Ye Bai decided it was better to forget about it.
He didn’t want to invite trouble.
Besides, Ye Bai had no ulterior motives toward Banner, nor did he intend to recruit the Hulk as his subordinate.
Naturally, he wasn’t going to concern himself too much with Banner’s problems.
“I…
I don’t know either.
I’ll just take things one step at a time.”
“If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll go to Africa.
There aren’t as many federal government agents there.
Worst comes to worst, I’ll just live out the rest of my life somewhere in Africa.”
Banner shook his head and answered bitterly.
Naturally, he hoped Ye Bai could help him.
But he also knew that wasn’t realistic.
To be honest, the fact that Ye Bai hadn’t immediately thrown him out after learning about his situation was already more than enough.
Banner simply couldn’t bring himself to trouble Ye Bai any further.
Besides, Banner knew that Ye Bai couldn’t do much to help him with this situation anyway.
Ye Bai certainly wasn’t going to declare war on the entire world for his sake.
“As your friend, I wish you good luck.”
“But I believe things won’t always be this bad in the future.
After all, things are already about as bad as they can get.”
Ye Bai smiled as he spoke, offering Banner some words of comfort.
Although he didn’t intend to get involved in this mess, Ye Bai didn’t want to lose Banner as a friend either.
Just like Tony Stark, having talented and outstanding people as friends was enjoyable in itself.
“Thank you.
I feel much better now.”
“You’re right.
There’s probably nothing that could be worse than my current situation.”
“I’ll be leaving now.
I’ve caused you enough trouble over the past few days.”
Banner stood up, bowed to Ye Bai, and spoke.
He also understood that continuing to stay at Ye Bai’s house would only bring Ye Bai even more trouble.
Ye Bai nodded slightly and had no intention of stopping him.
Banner leaving was better for both of them.
However, Ye Bai’s expression suddenly changed, and he frowned.
From Ye Bai’s perception, a large group of soldiers had already surrounded the villa.
The military was here.
Realizing this, Ye Bai helplessly glanced at Banner.
It seemed trouble was unavoidable after all.
Banner seemed to realize it as well, and a look of fear appeared on his face.
It seemed that all the time he’d spent running for his life had left him with serious psychological scars.
Just then, the doorbell of Ye Bai’s villa rang.
Ye Bai stood up and gave Banner a look telling him to stay calm before walking toward the door.
The first person to enter was a middle-aged man with eyes as sharp as an eagle’s.
If Ye Bai wasn’t mistaken, this should be Banner’s girlfriend’s father, Lieutenant General Thaddeus Ross.
He was also the future Red Hulk and one of the Hulk’s greatest enemies.
“Where is he?”
General Ross’s opening question carried an unmistakably arrogant tone, making Ye Bai frown.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Besides, this is my private property.
The military has no right to enter.”
Ye Bai’s expression turned cold as he protested.
That was also standard practice in the United States.
Even the police needed a search warrant to enter someone’s home.
Without one, the homeowner had the legal right to defend himself against an unlawful intrusion.
It sounded almost surreal, but that was simply the way things worked in the United States, where personal freedom was highly valued.
Just as General Ross and Ye Bai were locked in a stalemate, Dr.
Banner voluntarily stepped forward.