Ross continued with his strength tests. Even the most advanced tank armor crumpled under his fists, shattered in mere minutes after his transformation into the Red Hulk.
In fact, brute force wasn't even necessary. He could simply hurl a tank into the sky, letting gravity take care of the rest. By the time it came crashing down, the soldiers inside would already be finished.
"So strong... so strong!" General Ross's face was full of exhilaration. "I've decided—even if it costs 130 million, I will create an army of giants! With just 100 of them... no, even 50, the USA will become great again!"
Shin curled his lips. Does the USA still dream of being great? With all the mutants and superpowered individuals running rampant in your country, I wouldn't be surprised if the USA self-destructs one day.
The comic world was full of contradictions. Stories constantly rebooted because the villains were designed too strong to be defeated outright.
The only solution? A universal reset.
If that kind of logic applied to reality, the USA wouldn't even need an external threat. It would implode all on its own.
Of course, Shin didn't object to Ross's plan. He could already see the greed flickering in the general's eyes, and he figured that if he refused, Ross might try to turn on him.
Shin had no illusions about the integrity of the US Military. But that was fine. He had already planned to scam them out of their funding and vanish.
To be honest, I don't even know how to create a Red Hulk. Even if I wanted to help the military, there's no way I could.
Well, before I disappear, I should collect all these high-tech instruments for myself. Shin's eyes glinted as he calculated his next move.
For now, General Ross had to handle the bureaucratic nightmare of securing funds from Congress. Meanwhile, Shin needed to transform another soldier to prove that the first case wasn't a fluke.
And so, his next subject was Emil Blonsky.
Yes, that Emil Blonsky—better known as Abomination.
Since Bruce Banner was still trapped in his dark dimension, Shin had an ample supply of raw materials. Transforming Blonsky would be relatively simple.
First, he injected him with a variant of the super soldier serum. Then, he added Bruce Banner's blood. Finally, he utilized the transformation effect of the Munch-Munch Fruit.
And with that, a new Abomination was born.
Blonsky wasn't exactly cooperative at first. Shin had to inject him with a suppression agent and beat him senselessly after forcing him back into human form. Only then did the man start to comprehend the true hierarchy of power.
Unlike the Red Hulk, Abomination couldn't revert to human form at will. Every time he wanted to change back, he had to rely on the suppression serum. And when the effects wore off, he would be forced into his monstrous form once more.
Ross, however, was delighted. He believed this condition made Abomination easier to control.
Shin smirked. If only you knew. This guy actually prefers his monstrous form. You have no idea what kind of trouble he'll stir up.
But trouble wasn't Shin's concern. Ross went off to fight for more military funding, while Shin took full control of the experimental base.
He systematically brainwashed the researchers and soldiers, planting electronic chips in their heads and using a Mother Box to hack into the facility's mainframe. He downloaded every last bit of research data.
Then, his focus shifted to studying the Hulk—poor Bruce Banner.
Of course, he didn't remove Banner from his dark dimension. Instead, he extracted blood samples and other body tissues. The suppressing agent Shin had developed was largely thanks to Banner's biology.
Previously, his research had to be kept secret. But now, with total control over the base, Shin could afford to be far more daring.
In a way, Hulk's blood was akin to a universal enhancer. It could easily create various subspecies of Hulks.
Of course, the process wasn't as effortless as in the comics. There, characters could mutate conveniently due to protagonist or villain plot armor. In reality, direct blood transfusion led to a staggering mortality rate. For every dozen or even hundred test subjects, only one might successfully transform into a subspecies of Hulk.
And even then, they would be mindless, unable to revert to their original form.
There were so many gamma-mutated giants in the comics only because of narrative necessity. Here, the reality was far more brutal. Most people who absorbed Banner's blood didn't mutate. They simply died.
Still, despite its risks and flaws, the Hulk serum was vastly superior to the super soldier formula in terms of raw power. Shin had no intention of abandoning his research.
A few weeks later.
Ross returned to the base with a massive influx of funding. Accompanying him were nearly a hundred low-ranking military officers.
Regular soldiers? Forget it. They weren't about to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on grunts.
If this transformation proved successful and stable, the next batch of candidates would likely be high-ranking officers.
Upon securing the funds, Shin finalized his escape plan. But he didn't leave right away. He wasn't about to waste these officers. After all, they made for excellent test subjects.
Shin wasn't interested in perfecting the Red Hulk transformation or creating intelligent subspecies like Abomination. However, he had no trouble turning people into mindless, destructive brutes. When it came to human body modification, he was something of an expert.
But just as his experiments were reaching full swing, alarms blared throughout the base.
What now?
Shin immediately created a shadow clone and sneaked out to assess the situation firsthand.
"Blonsky! What the hell are you doing?" a voice roared.
Shin arrived just in time to witness a chaotic scene.
Emil Blonsky—Abomination—stood in the middle of the base, his grotesque, mutated body radiating raw power. He threw his head back in laughter, his voice thick with madness.
"Hahahaha! This power... this unparalleled power! Only I deserve it! I am the true god! There's no way I'm letting you create a damn army of monsters!"
General Ross, now in his Red Hulk form, stepped forward with a scowl.
"Without suppressing drugs, do you want to be stuck in that monstrous form forever?"
"Of course! This is the body of a god—so mighty, so unstoppable! Why would I ever go back to being a weak, pathetic human?"
Ross's breath hitched. Though he was a hardened soldier who respected power, he couldn't comprehend Blonsky's madness.
"You've lost your damn mind!"
Without hesitation, Ross charged at Abomination.
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