"It's starting! Well, what do we have here?"
A blue portal opened in the island laboratory, and Noah, clad in battle armor, stepped out. As he moved, the armor gradually dissolved, the nanomaterials flowing back into the container on his belt. When he fully emerged, the portal slowly shrank and disappeared.
Just moments ago, he had been in the "Golden Triangle" of Southeast Asia, carrying out his daily missions, when he received a message from Lissandra that the gamma detector he and Banner had set up had registered activity. Wasting no time, he immediately opened a portal and returned to the island base.
Approaching the detector, he glanced at the screen. It displayed a map where several red dots were already visible – this meant someone was making a move. He carefully examined the map, which showed the vicinity of the city and the forest where Banner was located. The plan was simple: wait for the scientist to return to the camp and then follow the gamma energy traces to find the enemy's lair.
"Only four?"
Despite the appearance of red dots on the screen, there were only four of them. Noah was puzzled: did someone really think that just four mutated creatures could handle the Hulk? Perhaps these creatures possessed incredible power?
"But they're moving fast."
He noticed that the four dots were moving quite rapidly, crossing the city. Based on their trajectory, he assumed they were most likely mutated birds.
Since the target had already been detected, Noah decided to go to the forest to observe the situation. It wasn't that he didn't trust Warwick's strength – with its new flying ability, it could easily deal with birds. But Noah wanted to see the fight firsthand and gather data for further improvements. Besides, since Banner was still there, he could help him retreat so he wouldn't lose control and transform into the Hulk. Although he didn't care whether the Hulk appeared or not, he understood that Banner disliked such transformations and decided to help him by opening a portal for escape.
Just as Noah was about to activate the portal, he noticed something strange on the screen and paused. Looking again, he saw that a large spot had appeared on the edge of the forest on the map where there had previously been only four dots. This clearly indicated something huge. But upon closer inspection, he realized that it wasn't one large creature, but a multitude of mutated creatures gathered together. And soon more and more red dots began to appear on the screen, moving towards Banner.
"So that's where the main group is hiding! Well, this will be interesting. I guess the mission should be upgraded to B-rank."
Instead of being frightened, he was delighted. After all, each of these creatures represented an addition to the mission, a source of valuable essence.
In recent days, he had specifically waited until his daily missions were about to reset so that, in the event of mutated creatures appearing, he wouldn't miss the chance to receive a reward. Right before his trip to the Golden Triangle, he completed a mission, waiting until midnight when the missions refreshed.
Now, with the appearance of these mutated creatures, he was counting on a B-rank mission. After all, these creatures weren't ordinary street thugs, but a whole army of mutants.
Wasting no time, Noah waved his hand, opening a portal to the forest to update his mission list. Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and opened another portal leading to his mansion. A few seconds later, a purple flash flew out of the portal and headed towards him.
It was Rabadon's Deathcap, or simply "the hat." Although it now resembled more of a pet and mascot, its true nature was that of a powerful magical artifact. He decided to take it with him to the fight. A long stay at home without combat practice could turn it into an ordinary trinket, and Noah feared it might lose its magical power.
Rabadon's Deathcap, with its wide-open mouth emitting blue magical energy, circled around him.
"Let's go, hat, time to fight some monsters."
Noah pressed a button on his belt, and black armor once again covered his body. Then he headed towards the portal, which had been open for some time, and from which Banner was already peering out, trying to understand why the portal was open but no one came out.
When Banner tried to approach the portal, a purple flash flew out, whizzing past him and nearly knocking him off his feet. Barely managing to stay on his feet, he looked up and saw a huge mouth radiating a blue glow in front of him.
"Ha!" A shrill roar came from the huge blue mouth, accompanied by waves of magical energy.
"Damn!" Banner recoiled, frightened by what he saw, taking a few steps back.
"Hat, stop messing around, don't scare him," Noah said, stepping out of the portal and smiling as he chided his magical hat.
The hat circled Banner, examining the stranger, and then returned to Noah.
Banner, breathing heavily, clutched his chest. The Hulk was on the verge of breaking out. When his heart finally calmed down, he realized that he had been frightened by just a purple hat floating in the air, with a huge mouth emitting a blue glow. It was clearly a magical artifact. He watched this marvel with interest, but he was more concerned about the reason for Noah's visit.
"What happened? Did the detector find something?" Banner asked directly.
"You're right. The creator of the mutated creatures is active again, and this time he sent a lot of them. It seems he's decided to deal with you and the Hulk once and for all," Noah replied.
At that moment, somewhere in the forest, a blue laser flashed towards the sky, attracting their attention. A dull thud followed, as if something heavy had crashed to the ground.
"What was that?" Banner wondered. A laser weapon? When did Noah have time to install it?
"They've arrived. I think I'll send you back first, Dr. Banner," Noah said, looking towards the source of the sounds. A fallen creature lay there – a large green mutated bird, significantly larger than usual, with a huge hole in its chest, pierced by a laser. The bird twitched weakly, trying to get up.
Noah immediately realized that this was one of the red dots he had seen on the radar. The other mutants were also approaching. And the laser beam had been fired by Warwick, whom he had sent to the forest for reconnaissance. Having spotted the target, it had begun its hunt.
The battle was about to begin, and Dr. Banner saw no point in staying here. The mutants were hunting him, and if he disappeared, perhaps they would retreat, having lost their target. However, having recently been frightened by the hat, he had released some of the Hulk's gamma energy, and this energy could attract the creatures even more.
Noah opened a portal, offering him to return to the island base. But Banner didn't move; his expression shifted until he settled on a determined look.
"Lee, there are a lot of them. Perhaps you need some help?"
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