The Demon-like Army roared silently throughout the cosmos, the mechanized modifications on their bodies flickering with deadly cold light. Creatures resembling spiders, with strong bodies and eight limbs, opened their mouths full of fangs, drool dripping from the corners. The laser cannon on their backs was fully charged, and a dazzling beam of light flashed as a laser beam shot forward. Six to seven meter tall multi-armed giants swung their modified steel fists, smashing everything within sight. The cosmic snakes composed of countless energy nodes stepped over one trap after another, getting blasted apart but quickly regrouping. The slime monsters with bird wings and scorpion tails spat corrosive saliva full of acidic material onto the mechanical defense shields, dissolving most of the metal.
All the humans behind the defensive line watched this scene, their expressions became grave. The single soldier strength of the Demon-like is even higher than that of the soldiers from the Three Great Empires, and they are not limited to mechanical bodies. The mechanical modifications bring out the inherent advantages of their race exquisitely. On top of this, their numbers are comparable to the terrifying soldiers of the Three Great Empires.
At this moment, everyone was roaring inside, "Batman!! Look what you've brought!!!"
However, upon careful thought, the deeper meaning is even more chilling—Batman is facing such opponents? He can actually negotiate with such beings, even bringing the entire planet to the battlefield. Does this mean that Darkseid, who possesses such a terrifying army, also has to avoid Batman's sharpness?
We can't think further about it. Steve took a deep breath, reminding himself: The most important thing in frontline confrontation is morale, we cannot let others' strength extinguish our own power.
He was the first to realize everyone looked uneasy, so he understood he must immediately divert their attention, not let them continue thinking.
"We can't rely solely on the mechanical defense!" Steve shouted in the communicator, "Get ready!"
"Hulk, please intercept those giants immediately." Professor X's voice rang in everyone's minds. "Captain America, deal with the monsters spraying slime. Doctor Destruction, energy-type monsters are turned over to you. Asgard's personal guard, continue guarding against the Green Lantern Fleet..."
Once the combat tasks were assigned, everyone collected their thoughts and rushed to the battlefield immediately.
The first to enter the fray was Hulk, who jumped from the surface to outer space, directly charging towards the giant fist monster. Although the opponent was larger in size, the strength was much inferior. Prime Universe Hulk pounded his chest and roared: "Hulk!!!!"
He first punched the monster's chest, carving a large hole directly, then grabbed the monster's leg, swung it in a circle fiercely, smashing several flying monsters away. Then he used this double-fist monster as a weapon, smashing wherever displeased, until the monster's entire upper body flew out, leaving only some remnants of the lower body.
Finding the smashing insufficient, he dismantled a huge shield from the mechanical defense shield and started playing the "whirlwind great sword" among the Demon-like Army, swinging the shield wherever was wrong. Every creature in contact wasn't his match, instantly smashed into mince.
Though Hulk was strong, the activation state was unstable. The Central Universe and Prime Universe Hulks had already jumped up, and there were still several in Bruce Banner's form just waiting on the surface.
"Professor X, help me!" shouted one of the Banner doctors, "For some reason, Hulk is not responding to me! Find a way to call him out!"
"I'm afraid I can't." Charles said, "If I directly summon Hulk, it could severely anger him, causing him to go berserk on the surface. But no worries, I'll teach you the Meditation Method, which can better facilitate your communication with Hulk..."
Charles taught Bruce Banner in Mind Space, like teaching Prime Universe Thor, how to better control and utilize Hulk. The Banner doctors were quick learners.
Most Bruce Banners resisted Hulk, but those willing to participate in war here were more open-minded, wanting to leverage Hulk's power for their universe. As long as the Banner doctor doesn't strongly resist Hulk, he can actually communicate with Hulk.
After the Central Universe Banner frequently vented his anger in the cosmos, Hulk became very calm. The Banner doctors also repeatedly attempted communication with him. Although Hulk is like an unruly child, with enough patience, a good cooperative relationship can be achieved, like a human host with a symbiont.
Symbionts consume two cans of chocolate balls every hundred kilometers, but Hulk works purely for free. Because of this, Banner couldn't resist him, primarily using 'coaxing', making him second to none at coaxing kids other than Scarlet Witch.
As Hulk entered one after another, it was the Green Lantern's turn to frown—the destructive power of the giant sharing their color was too strong. They watched helplessly; the formerly defensive carapace-like Demon they used as practice targets had its once-proud armor providing zero protection; a single punch from the giant turned the shell and flesh into paste.
"Hulk is irrational, we can figure out how to divert them." Prime Universe Batman said, "Martian Manhunter, use Mind disruption to further trigger his anger, then have them shift their target to you, take them away from the battlefield."
Main Universe Martian Manhunter nodded, flying with other Martian Manhunters toward the place Hulk was wreaking havoc, simultaneously estimating the speed difference between themselves and Hulk in their minds.
After some calculations, they found Hulk's speed was far below theirs. As a result, the plan to divert them should proceed smoothly. The only trouble was if they needed to disrupt Hulk's mind, they might confront Professor X directly.
"Bring it on." Main Universe Martian Manhunter said in his heart, "Sooner or later, we must face this, let's see who between mutants and Martians excels more in this realm."
He slowly closed his eyes, his thoughts shooting out like an arrow, quickly finding The Hulk's brainwaves. He sensed a layer of mental barrier, seemingly left by Professor X. The Main Universe Martian Manhunter took a deep breath and concentrated, thrusting fiercely, the barrier broke, his thoughts successfully invaded into The Hulk's mind.
"Is this a little too easy?" The Main Universe Martian Manhunter hesitated when he saw the Hulk he invaded seemed to suffer some massive stimulus, let out an earth-shattering roar, and his whole body began to emit green light.
The Martian Manhunter, sensitive to energy, immediately shouted, "Something's wrong, get away from him!!!"
The Hulk's eyes and mouth began to emit some kind of green smoke, and the muscle contours on his body became more pronounced. Just as he turned his head, the alarm bells in the heart of the Main Universe Martian Manhunter rang loudly.
Because what he saw was not a pair of eyes filled with rage, but calm, wise eyes—that was not The Hulk, but Bruce Banner!
"What's going on?!" The Main Universe Martian Manhunter retreated while asking in the Mind Network, "Why did he suddenly... Damn, we might have fallen into a trap!"
"When the anger level reaches a certain point, there will be a breakthrough," another Martian Manhunter said, "Professor X deliberately let us provoke The Hulk because he knows that it can keep The Hulk's strength while restoring his rationality, keeping The Hulk's state stable so he can stay on the battlefield."
The Main Universe Martian Manhunter's heart began to sink, realizing that what his counterpart said could be true—Professor X's defense of The Hulk's mind was too simple, completely unlike what this famous mind power user should have.
Then there's only one possibility: the other party knows that The Hulk's unstable form is only a transition, and the true strongest Hulk will only appear after the anger reaches the extreme.
But it's too late now. Most of the Martian Manhunters broke through the barrier left by Charles. But the utterly enraged Hulk neither roared madly nor charged crazily into the enemy ranks; instead, he specifically targeted those large-sized Type Demons, pushing them back again and again.
And even more terrifying, the Main Universe Martian Manhunter found himself unable to feel The Hulk's presence at all—the other party's brainwaves disappeared directly from the universe. This should not be Professor X's work, but rather that the other party possessed immunity to mind invasion.
"Too tricky." The Main Universe Martian Manhunter said in the communication channel, "Possessing invincible strength, stable state, the wisdom of a scientist, and the ability to resist mind control—what else is his weakness?"
Even though speaking to Batman rather civilized, internally he was already cursing: God, open your eyes and look at this, is this how you balance the version?!
The Green Lanterns could not help but click their tongues, thinking that our side's Superman and Martian Manhunter were already the result of God's unstable hand, didn't expect another master, whose subordinate is this?!
It was not over yet. Finding close combat ineffective, the Martian Manhunters decided to use speed advantage for long-range strikes. After the Main Universe Martian Manhunter withdrew a certain distance, red light flickered in his eyes, and then a laser beam fired out.
However, this beam was completely dissolved when it touched The Hulk's skin radiating faint green light. Not only the laser beam, any other energy attacks produced by the Demon-like Army also had no effect on him.
The Hulk, entering the "The Green Scar" state, not only possessed physical strength equal to or even greater than the Martian Manhunter but also had a sharp mind and just the right immunity to counteract the opponent's psychic abilities, as well as immunity to most energy attacks.
This state of The Hulk was extremely stable, unlikely to revert to a mortal, and very well-suited to cosmic combat. He is considered Marvel's rare and extremely versatile powerful warrior in this regard.
Just when the Martian Manhunter was troubled about how to deal with these green giants, he found that they were fighting while retreating—The Hulks began to gather in one direction, but it wasn't towards their base.
"Why did they run?" The Main Universe Martian Manhunter asked the Main Universe Batman somewhat puzzled, "What's in that direction?"
The Main Universe Batman didn't know either. But soon, they all learned because the light of superluminal leap flickered and disappeared before them—The Hulks disappeared from the battlefield as if they had taken a spaceship away.
The Main Universe Batman reacted immediately, saying, "They're probably going to support Asgard."
The Main Universe Martian Manhunter squinted and said, "They can hardly save themselves, yet at this critical time, they sent their most powerful force to support Asgard?"
"Either they're crazy, or The Hulk is far from being their strongest force."