A few days earlier, after the military attempted to capture Hit-Girl, they suffered retaliation from Kong the Handsome. The military base was destroyed, thousands of U.S. soldiers were killed, and General Ross—the only survivor—was rushed to the hospital.
Ordinarily, being blasted hundreds of meters by the shockwave would have been fatal. But Ross had fortunately consumed Bruce Banner's Hulk blood, causing his body to mutate. That mutation allowed him to survive.
Even the severe injuries from having nearly every bone in his body broken healed in a remarkably short time.
As a former high-ranking military officer, Ross still possessed considerable influence. Although his blood was drawn for testing and he was brought before a military tribunal—losing his rank of general—he ultimately avoided prison.
Still, the loss of his authority, the deaths of his soldiers, his daughter's resentment, and the accusations from the soldiers' families weighed heavily on him.
Now, he sat alone in a bar, drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
"Another drink."
Smoking a cigar and downing strong liquor, Ross glanced at his reflection in the mirror and gave a bitter laugh.
Who would have imagined that a once-glorious general would end up like this?
The bar door swung open.
Dressed in an expensive suit, Tony Stark walked straight over to Ross.
"I smell beer... and failure," Tony said casually. "I don't like saying 'I told you so,' but..."
"The Super Soldier Program was shut down for a reason. Personally, I've always believed hardware is much more reliable."
Ross looked up, a faint red glow briefly flashing across his eyes before fading.
"Stark."
"That's right, General." Tony nodded and sat beside him as though they were old friends. "I heard you've run into some... unusual problems."
"You've got some nerve talking." Ross snorted. "You've caused more than enough trouble yourself."
Tony ignored the jab.
"Listen. We're putting together a team."
"We'd like you to join us."
"We?" Ross gave a drunken smile. "A rebellious playboy like you actually taking orders from someone else? That's interesting."
Tony ordered himself a drink.
"Nick Fury thinks highly of you. Your project may have failed, but in a certain sense... it also succeeded."
Ross sneered.
"You expect me to become Nick Fury's subordinate? Is he worthy of that?"
Ross had once outranked Fury in the military hierarchy, and the two had never gotten along, especially since both constantly fought over government funding.
Tony leaned closer.
"We're assembling the Avengers."
"Don't you want revenge... for those soldiers who died?"
Those words instantly ignited Ross's fury.
He grabbed Tony by the collar with one hand, effortlessly lifting him off the ground—something completely unbelievable for a man in his sixties.
At the same moment, Tony's Iron Man armor, controlled remotely by JARVIS, flew into the bar, aiming its repulsor cannons directly at Ross.
"It's Iron Man!"
"Tony Stark! My idol!"
"That's so cool!"
"Is he arresting a criminal?"
The patrons erupted into excited chatter.
Ross gradually calmed himself and set Tony back down.
"...Let's talk somewhere else."
Two Days Later
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, Ross entered a reinforced chamber constructed from specially engineered armored glass.
He stopped beneath a massive machine.
Standing outside, Nick Fury asked,
"Are you certain about this?"
"I've already made my decision."
"If you want to defeat monsters..."
"...you have to become one."
"I have no other choice."
Without hesitation, Ross stripped down until only a specially made pair of elastic shorts remained, then lay beneath the gamma-ray emitter.
He was determined to avenge the soldiers who had died and blamed everything on Kong and the Hulk.
Now he no longer possessed military authority or funding.
All he had left...
...was his mutated body.
"Begin."
Seeing Ross's determination, Fury gave the order.
The machine activated.
Several thick beams of emerald-green gamma radiation poured onto Ross's body.
Stimulated by the gamma rays, the genes fused with the Hulk Serum underwent a second mutation.
His skin gradually turned crimson.
His body rapidly expanded.
Within moments, Ross had grown to more than three meters tall.
Explosive muscles bulged across his body.
He resembled the Hulk—
except his skin was blood-red and his hair remained white.
No instruments were needed to tell what was happening.
Ross could clearly feel every cell in his body greedily absorbing the gamma radiation and converting it into tremendous power.
His strength.
His speed.
His endurance.
His regenerative ability.
Everything increased dramatically.
Though the process was agonizing, Ross had never felt more powerful.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
Watching Ross transform, Tony couldn't help asking.
Fury answered calmly,
"That chamber was specially designed for the Hulk."
"If Ross loses control, pressing this button will detach the entire containment room from the Helicarrier."
"It'll fall from ten thousand feet straight into the Pacific Ocean."
"Once he calms down, we'll recover him."
Tony silently thought:
Nick Fury isn't just dark-skinned... his heart's pretty black too.
I'd better be careful around him in the future.
Still, hearing Fury's contingency plan eased his worries somewhat.
Looking at Ross's crimson body, Tony joked,
"I was expecting him to turn green."
"I think you'd better stop provoking him," Fury warned. "No one knows just how powerful Ross has become."
"AAAAAAAH!!"
Ross—now Red Hulk—let out a roar of pain.
Slowly, his emotions settled.
Unlike the Hulk, Red Hulk did not become stronger the angrier he grew.
Instead, he possessed the ability to absorb gamma radiation to continuously enhance himself.
Even in his normal state, he possessed strength exceeding 100 tons, could withstand many missile attacks, had extraordinary durability and regeneration, and could regenerate even if vital organs or body tissues were destroyed.
He was immune to all diseases and poisons, capable of surviving extreme temperatures, and could even withstand a nuclear explosion.
Most importantly...
Unlike the Hulk, Red Hulk retained his rational mind.
To Ross, this was the perfect Super Soldier.
Of course, there was still one weakness.
He was highly vulnerable to psychic attacks.
Fortunately, that weakness wasn't impossible to address—for example, by wearing a helmet capable of blocking telepathy.
"Ross, how do you feel?"
Although Fury sounded concerned, one hand was already resting on the release button.
If Ross lost control, Fury would press it without hesitation and dump him into the ocean.
"I'm... fine."
"But this power isn't enough."
"I need... more gamma radiation."
Ross had personally witnessed the battle between Kong and the Hulk.
He knew exactly how terrifying Kong's strength was.
If he wanted revenge...
...this much power simply wasn't sufficient.
He could clearly sense his body changing as it absorbed gamma radiation.
As long as he could obtain more gamma rays—
he would become even stronger.
"I think you should get used to your new strength first," Tony advised. "And maybe try not to touch anyone."
Unlike Ross, Tony had never been fond of bodily mutation.
There were simply too many unknowns.
He preferred improving his Iron Man armor to confront powerful enemies.
More importantly...
Tony had absolutely no desire to fight Kong.
He had personally witnessed Kong lift Mjölnir, transforming into the thunder-wielding God of Thunder.
Although Tony had already begun researching an Anti-Thor Armor, he still had a long way to go before it became reality.
-----------------------
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