"What?!" Tony Stark's eyes widened in shock when he saw that his attack had no effect on General Ross. Even though he was using a portable suit, the firepower system was far from weak—certainly stronger than earlier iterations of his armor. Seeing Ross's size, Tony didn't expect his blast to kill the general; that would have caused more trouble. He merely wanted to force Ross back, but Tony never anticipated that his blast would have no effect whatsoever.
This alone suggested that General Ross was far stronger than Tony had imagined. Even if the real Hulk were here, he might not be able to defeat Ross before reaching a certain level of anger. Tony even worried that Ross's strength might indeed scale with his size. If that were true, the Hulk wouldn't be a match for Ross until he grew as large as the general. Among the Avengers, only a few could potentially take down a Ross of such power...
"Heh, is that all?" General Ross sneered at Tony Stark's shocked expression. "If this is all the Avengers are capable of, then honestly, your status shouldn't be so exalted."
"Oh? Is that so? How about we settle this in the ring? If you win, you can replace us Avengers and take over our responsibilities. How about it? Do you dare?" Tony Stark, recovering from the initial shock, wasn't angered by Ross's taunts. He knew that he and Steve alone were no match for Ross, so he took a deep breath, calmed himself, and responded with a smile.
"..." General Ross, who had been arrogant moments before, fell silent as Tony's words reminded him of the previous joint effort by several official agencies against the Avengers. Although those agencies hadn't revealed all their trump cards, a single Saiyan had been enough to make them all back down.
The agencies' attempt to flip the table had been about disrupting the current order and rules, depriving everyone of their power and benefits. But if Robert were to flip the table, it would be different. The agencies' records clearly stated that Robert could end the world; he could take the Earth down with him in an explosion.
That level of table-flipping was far beyond what the official agencies could manage. This was why they hadn't clashed with the Avengers since, and some had even started to seek a truce.
As for General Ross, he was just one member of those agencies. Even with his newfound strength, confident that he could wipe out several small countries if the Saiyan didn't intervene, he was still far from being able to destroy the Earth or global civilization. He knew there was still a vast gap between his power and that of the Saiyan.
So when Tony Stark directly challenged him, General Ross calmed down. He looked deeply at Tony and said, "No matter how powerful the Avengers are, you're not so domineering that you can attack me without expecting me to fight back, are you? If today's events go public, do you think it will affect me or the Avengers more?"
"If the Avengers are so domineering, then why do we even need so many official agencies? You might as well take over everything and turn the world into your dictatorship."
"Ross! Don't twist things! The Avengers have never aimed to be dictators, nor have we tried to take over the powers of official agencies!" Tony Stark's expression darkened. He knew Ross's words were a threat, but he couldn't ignore them, given the number of officials present. "What we're discussing now is your confinement of Dr. Banner!"
"And I've already said, he attacked me, so I disciplined him. What's wrong with that?" General Ross gritted his teeth, staring Tony down without backing off.
Tony had tried to threaten Ross with Robert's power, but Ross was countering with public opinion. After all, the events that had transpired were real, and Ross hadn't falsely accused the Avengers. If it came to that, he wasn't afraid of the consequences.
General Ross was determined not to back down. He had already revealed his trump card; if he didn't show some value, that would be a real problem.
Moreover, the Avengers had destroyed his Gamma Warrior army, so Ross needed to regain some ground and find a way to rebuild his forces. While the reports indicated that much of the Gamma Warrior data was intact, Ross didn't want to miss out on the raw material that was Bruce Banner. He needed to take Banner back, draw some blood, and gather research materials.
After all, the previous research materials were already exhausted, and now that most of the Gamma Warriors were dead, Ross couldn't very well put himself on the experiment table as a test subject.
"You..." Tony Stark frowned, realizing he had no good solution to deal with this cunning old general.
"Smack!" Just then, General Ross smirked and punched Bruce Banner in the neck, knocking him out instantly and reverting him to his human form. Ross then stomped the ground and leaped into the air.
"If the Avengers want to resolve this, come to my military base and talk it out. After all, you know where it is, don't you?" Ross's voice echoed around them as he disappeared into the distance with a few more leaps.
Tony Stark couldn't believe it. Ross had just walked away in the middle of their negotiation, leaving behind his soldiers. How could he be so shameless?
But Ross had indeed cornered the Avengers. They weren't an evil or tyrannical organization, so they couldn't just detain those soldiers in front of all these officials.
This left Tony Stark with a deep sense of frustration. He knew that this incident wouldn't put as much pressure on General Ross, S.H.I.E.L.D., or the other scheming agencies as he had hoped.
It wasn't Tony Stark or Robert's fault. Both had done their jobs well, but they simply lacked enough intel on Ross. They hadn't anticipated his deviousness or his willingness to experiment on himself, turning into a Gamma Warrior and an impressively powerful Red Hulk.
"Let's go back for now," Steve said with a sigh. Ross's willingness to experiment on himself showed an incredible level of audacity. Even though the success rate of the Gamma Warriors was likely low compared to that of the Super Soldiers, Ross had taken a huge gamble with his life—and won.
"Looks like the Avengers are strong, but not invincible," some of the officials murmured among themselves after Tony and Steve left. Soon, a few agencies not involved with the Avengers began to huddle together.
Among them was Nick Fury, unaware that many of these agencies had Hydra members linking up, turning them into partners.
If, before, each agency had acted independently, seeking power and resources for themselves, now S.H.I.E.L.D., General Ross, and these agencies were uniting under the pressure of the Avengers.
They quickly reached an agreement—not to directly confront the Avengers, but to develop something that could counter them. Even if they couldn't overthrow the Avengers, they needed to strengthen themselves to resist more effectively.
These agencies knew they couldn't match Robert's power, but they refused to bow down to the Avengers. It wasn't just power-hungry people like Nick Fury who felt this way—Hydra, lurking within these agencies, shared the sentiment.
While General Ross's military base had suffered, his display of strength in the face of the Avengers gave Hydra hope and fueled the resolve of the dissatisfied agencies.
Honestly, Hydra's situation had been grim even before the Avengers came along. The Avengers' handling of extraordinary events had left Hydra with little room to maneuver, and the weakness of the official agencies had stalled Hydra's growth.
Most importantly, Hydra had been planning Project Insight, intending to use the Helicarriers to secretly monitor every person on Earth, identifying and eliminating anyone who could threaten Hydra's rule.
But with the emergence of Clark and Robert, Hydra had to put Project Insight on hold. After all, if Robert could destroy the Earth, what would a few Helicarriers matter? Could they withstand one of Robert's energy blasts or a punch from Clark?
Obviously not. And using the Helicarriers' firepower to eliminate Robert or Clark was a ridiculous notion. Their destructive capabilities were on an entirely different level.
Now, Hydra was revising Project Insight. They were either trying to find a way to acquire extraordinary powers or collect data and genetic material related to the Avengers to create their own super-powered beings. Alternatively, they were modifying the Helicarriers into space carriers as a contingency plan.
At least this way, if Robert did destroy the Earth one day, Hydra would have a means of escape, preserving their last remnants and finding a way to hide within cosmic civilizations, ready to grow a new head.
"What? Red Hulk? Is he really that powerful?" On the other side, Robert had already returned to the Avengers base with the Hulk. When Tony Stark and Steve returned, Robert learned that things hadn't gone well, piquing his interest.
"Roughly speaking, that guy's over three meters tall and incredibly strong. My energy blast hit him, and he didn't even flinch!" Tony Stark said seriously.
"Oh? Then blast me with it, and I'll gauge his strength..." Robert looked at Tony Stark eagerly.
"Fzzz!" As soon as Robert finished speaking, Tony Stark, seemingly prepared, fired an energy blast at Robert. Just like with Ross, Robert didn't budge an inch.
"Not bad. Now blast the Hulk..." Robert nodded and pointed at the Hulk, who was already busy eating.
"Boom!" The next moment, the Hulk was sent flying, crashing into the table and shattering it. He got up angrily, glaring at Tony Stark.
"It wasn't me; Robert made me do it..." Tony immediately threw Robert under the bus, looking innocently at the Hulk.
"I thought you were the strongest mutation, but it seems like General Ross is even stronger. Hmm... But if he doesn't have a way to get stronger through anger, your potential is still greater..." Robert mused, stroking his chin as
he looked at the Hulk.
"Hulk is the strongest!" the Hulk roared at Robert, clearly displeased.
"So, how do you plan to handle this? Should I go?" Robert asked, clearly intrigued by Ross's Red Hulk transformation and eager to test his strength.
"He's not like those other Gamma Warriors hiding their identities. You can't just kill him; it would cause too much trouble. He's practically the leader of a military faction now..." Steve shook his head.
"Then I'll go and bring Dr. Banner back," Martian Manhunter said with a smile.
"Thanks!" Tony Stark and Steve exchanged glances, deliberately avoiding the slightly disappointed look on Robert's face as they turned to Martian Manhunter.
"Leave it to me. I'll be back soon..." Martian Manhunter replied before disappearing instantly.
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