2 chapters will be uploaded on daily basis i.e. 14 Chapters will be uploaded every week apart from the bonus chapters.
1 Bonus Chapter will be uploaded for every 50 Power Stones or 1000 Collections.
[email protected]/Heroicverse
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The confusion on Banner and Blonsky's faces turned into astonishment.
He wondered if he was hallucinating.
Banner adjusted his black-framed glasses, feeling a little bit unbelievable.
Demolition team? Paid? Five social insurances and one housing fund?
This doesn't sound like recruiting two monsters who almost razed the entire Manhattan borough, but more like a Fortune 500 company conducting campus recruitment.
Blonsky's reaction was more direct. The stratum corneum that he had just retracted seemed to be about to emerge again.
He was a warrior, a soldier.
He could accept orders, fight, and even die.
But he couldn't accept his future fighting. It sounded like a job?
And one with ridiculously good benefits? It was an insult to his dignity as a soldier!
Of course, the most important thing was that he originally thought he was a loser, and Henry promised him not to hand him over to Ross, so he originally thought of just working for free.
But now, why...it sounds pretty good?
"Are you kidding, Mr. Stark?" Banner asked cautiously, trying to find any trace of joking on Tony's face but failing.
Tony's expression was more serious than ever.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tony spread his hands, looking as if it were a matter of course.
"I, Tony Stark, never talk nonsense, especially when it comes to money. I offer the most generous employment contract in America, no, in the world. Tell me, Dr. Banner, where else can you offer such comprehensive employee protection for a seven-foot-tall, green-skinned guy who likes to tear down houses?"
Banner opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.
It seems that there really isn't one.
"We are not mercenaries." Blonsky finally spoke, his voice low.
"We are soldiers."
"Oh, come on, don't be so rigid, big guy," Henry said casually, crossing his legs and choking on a lollipop.
"Soldier? You mean like Ross, who wanted to use Banner as a guinea pig, injected him with a bunch of nonsense, and then threw it away like garbage? Or the kind who keeps him in a cage and tours the world like a treasured animal?"
Blonsky's face turned pale in an instant.
Henry's words were like a sharp knife, piercing the thing he least wanted to happen.
If the Stark brothers hadn't suddenly intervened and brought him back with Banner, he might still be treated as a specimen, soaked in formalin.
"That's different!" He squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.
"What's the difference?" Henry pointed it out bluntly.
"We're all being used as pawns. The only difference is that if you work for Ross, you'll only get a meager salary and a medal that could be taken away at any time. But if you follow us..."
He paused, a confident smile on his face.
"Not only will you get a salary that will provide you with comfortable food and clothing for the rest of your lives, but you can also personally send those bastards who used you as tools to hell. Oh, and by the way, we also provide free psychological counselling and post-war trauma recovery services, which will be personally managed by my brother. Although I seriously suspect that his mental condition may be worse than the two of yours combined."
"Hey!" Tony protested dissatisfiedly.
"I'm mentally healthy! Jarvis, pull out my psychological evaluation report from last week and let these two new employees see what a healthy mentality is!"
Banner looked at his brothers, who were bickering with each other as if no one was around, and felt that his brain was overwhelmed.
The development of things was completely beyond his expectations.
He originally thought that this was an ordinary mission, but now it seems that they really just want to recruit a few employees?
"Actually, I've always wanted to ask you why you do this? I think the superhero theory you talked about last time... you know." Banner shrugged and asked the biggest question in his mind.
"You have enough power to crush everything. Why do you still need us?"
This question instantly quieted the atmosphere in the laboratory.
Henry dropped his playful expression.
He took a sip of red wine and looked at them with deep eyes.
"Because..." He spoke slowly, his voice low.
"There are some things that we can't accomplish just by the two of us."
He turned and looked at Banner and Blonsky with a serious look in his eyes.
" Hydra is like a cancer on this world. They have infiltrated every corner, corrupting everything we hold dear. We are the surgeons tasked with removing these tumours."
"However, no matter how sharp the scalpel is, it still needs help."
"I need your strength, Banner. You need a place where you no longer need to fear your other self, but can treat him as a comrade. You need a goal, a proper outlet for your anger that has nowhere to go."
"And you, soldier. You need a real war, a war to protect, not to kill. You need a commander who will not treat you as a consumable but as a comrade."
He turned his gaze back to Blonsky.
"And we," he said with a confident smile on his face.
Tony listened quietly on the side and couldn't help but give Henry a thumbs-up in his heart.
"I will be your strongest support."
This guy, it's a waste of talent not to join a pyramid scheme. He almost believed what he said.
But most of what he said was true.
What's in my heart.
Henry is such an awkward guy. He clearly wants to form a team, but he insists on saying he's hiring employees, just like him.
Banner and Blonsky were silent.
Henry's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting their hearts hard.
Banner recalled the days when he had been hiding from place to place and lived in constant fear.
He is afraid of hurting others, and even more afraid of hurting himself.
He used to long for peace, but he couldn't escape that green nightmare.
Blonsky recalled his experience of fighting bravely on the battlefield but being abandoned in the end.
He longs for power, honour, and recognition.
But when he truly possessed the power, he found that he had lost far more than he gained.
They are all people abandoned by the world, monsters walking on the edge of light and darkness.
And now, someone reached out to them.
Although the owner of this hand looks a bit unreliable and a bit like he also deserves a beating.
"I need to think about it." After a long time, Banner spoke slowly, his voice a little hoarse.
"Of course." Tony nodded understandingly.
"We can give you a day. You can wander around the villa freely, except for my bedroom and wine cellar. Oh, by the way, there are two new roommates at home, but I suggest you don't disturb them, especially the red-haired one, she has a bad temper."
"I'll join in."
A deep and firm voice interrupted Tony.
Everyone turned their attention to Blonsky.
The man, who had had a tense face since he came in, now slowly straightened his back.
He looked at Tony with a determined look.
"What is my mission?" he asked simply.
Henry was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"Welcome aboard, soldier." He extended his hand and shook Blonsky's hand tightly.
Banner looked at the scene before him, then glanced at Tony, who had a look on his face that said;
"I knew he would be like this," and finally gave a helpless smile. With such good treatment, why would he hesitate?
He pushed up his glasses and said softly, "Okay. I'll join. Actually, I prefer technical work."
"No problem." Henry smiled even more happily.
"The position of technical department director is reserved for you. You can name your annual salary."