Chapter 49
: The Battle Against Hulk
That's right, just as Riley complained...
Although Hulk's appearance this time was to help Riley and the others, and his temper was noticeably milder after reconciling with Banner.
However, after Riley inadvertently displayed the demeanor of a modern-day Jia Xu to Banner, the trust that the two had painstakingly built up became extremely delicate.
Not to mention, Hulk came out this time with good intentions to help, but Peter repaid kindness with enmity and kicked him hard with all his might.
This caused a tightness in Hulk's chest, and his anger level soared, causing him to lose his temper once again!
The ship of friendship can capsize in an instant!
That's why, after listening to Riley's explanation, and looking at Hulk, who had stood up and was staring intently at him with his emerald green eyes, filled with murderous intent, he was immediately drawn to him.
Peter, feeling like crying but unable to, immediately lowered his eyes and pitifully cried out.
"Um, buddy... is it too late for me to apologize now...?"
"roar--!!!!"
Unfortunately, consumed by rage and transformed into a raging beast, Hulk was no longer listening to Peter's explanations.
After pounding his chest with both fists, he raised them high and slammed them down onto the ground!
Even without the spider-sense warning, Riley could guess what Hulk was planning to do from this familiar scene.
Unfortunately, the ground had already been struck by the Hulk not long ago. Add to that the huge hole the lizardman dug when he appeared…
If Hulk were to crash down, the ground nearby would likely cave in, potentially even affecting the stability of the Williamsburg Bridge!
And what if this bridge collapses...
Property loss is secondary.
But those trapped on the bridge who have no time to evacuate will completely lose any hope of survival!
"Tsk, you always manage to pull off some 'surprises'... I must have owed you something in my past life!"
Thinking of this, Riley, who had originally intended to avoid revealing too much of his trump card in the public eye due to certain concerns, had to frown as he opened the system's storage space. He took out the chicken and ox talismans stored inside and integrated them with the nanosuit.
Then, with a gruff shout, he fired spider silk, precisely hitting Hulk's hands. Before Hulk's fists hit the ground, he unleashed the monstrous strength of the Ox Talisman, combined with the covert control of the Chicken Talisman, creating a purely numerical aesthetic of power, and hurled Hulk high into the air, forcibly dragging him in front of him.
He then adjusted his posture and used the flying kick he learned from Uncle Jackie to kick Hulk into the river!
"I'll figure out a way to bring Hulk back to his senses. Until then, you help hold off those lizardmen!"
After saying this, without waiting for Peter's agreement, Riley, whose tone was serious and who was no longer in the mood for jokes, jumped into the river.
Using the river as cover, they activated the suit's diving system and began searching for the Hulk.
Before Riley could even spot the Hulk with his naked eye, a strong spider-sense alerted him, causing him to instinctively kick his legs and dive even lower. He narrowly avoided the Hulk, who was attacking him from his blind spot.
Taking advantage of this moment, Riley flipped over in the water, grabbed Hulk's ankle, pulled him closer using the leverage, and crouched on Hulk's back. Then, he suddenly straightened his legs and kicked Hulk's figure into the depths of the river!
Clearly, Riley wanted to use the resistance of the water to limit the Hulk's power as much as possible, so that he could take advantage of his own agility and quick reflexes while both of their strengths were restricted.
However, Riley, who had been having a smooth run of success lately, ultimately underestimated this absolute powerhouse who was considered the ceiling of combat strength in the original Avengers lineup.
After being thrown by Riley, Hulk did not struggle. Instead, he relaxed his body and let himself head straight for the deepest part of the river as Riley continued to toss him around.
Even after tumbling and landing heavily on the riverbed, stirring up a large amount of silt that completely obscured his figure, Hulk still did not choose to retaliate against Riley. However, the occasional surging of bubbles and the increasingly murky water proved that Hulk was indeed in this area.
This puzzled Riley, who wondered what Hulk was planning, yet was also wary of Hulk's immense power and dared not approach to investigate. He could only keep a safe distance, keeping a close watch on Hulk, ready to face his furious counterattack at any moment.
With this uneasy feeling, as the swirling sand gradually sank to the bottom and visibility returned, Riley was astonished to discover...
Where Hulk should have been, there is now a huge crater!
Even the spider sense, which had just calmed down a little, reacted violently again as if it were about to tear Riley's head apart!
Unfortunately, this time, even though Riley sensed the danger in advance, it was too late to dodge.
Because, while Riley hesitated to make a move, Hulk used his own strength to carve a temporary passage through the riverbed and circled around to Riley's rear.
After a long running start along the sloping passage, Hulk, propelled by a thunderous blast of air, leaped from the riverbed at an astonishing speed, like a rocket soaring into the sky! He made up for his clumsy movements with sheer brute force!
It gave Riley absolutely no chance to react, arriving at Riley's side in the blink of an eye.
A powerful punch was thrown, landing squarely on Riley's face!
If it weren't for the resistance of the water, and Riley's timely activation of the Ox Talisman to enhance the telekinetic control of the Chicken Talisman, which reduced most of Hulk's strength...
That one blow alone would probably be enough to shatter Riley's head like a fragile watermelon on the spot!
Even so, Riley, having been tricked by Hulk, still felt dizzy and disoriented. He only had time to instinctively assume a rabbit-kicking-eagle stance, kicking Hulk's chest to send himself flying backward and create distance between himself and Hulk.
Even worse, because the suit was not designed to collide head-on with the Hulk, the oxygen supply system broke down and stopped working after being hit by the Hulk's punch!
In this way, continuing the underwater battle actually gave Hulk an absolute advantage!
After all, putting aside the Hulk himself, his oxygen requirements are so low that he can remain active for a long time even in a vacuum...
Even if the lack of oxygen causes some damage to his body, Hulk can ignore it with his powerful self-healing ability and continue to move almost perpetually!
In contrast, Riley, having lost his oxygen supply, estimated that he could only hold on for about twenty more minutes with the last breath of oxygen he had hastily saved.
This is assuming we stay still in one place.
Taking any other action would inevitably further accelerate the rate of oxygen consumption!