And the truth was, if she didn’t have Banner as her cousin, Jen would just be an ordinary person. Alone, she never would’ve stood a chance against the gang. She would’ve died here today.
But fortunately, her cousin was Banner—the Hulk.
"Roar~~~!"
As Banner let out a furious roar, the crowd around him froze for a mont, then imdiately panicked and bolted in every direction.
Why? Because PTSD kicked in. The damage Banner had caused to the city in the past wasn’t small. Seeing the Hulk right in front of them—of course they were terrified!
The assassin, realizing Hulk was there, instantly put away his weapon and tried to retreat.
Normally, assassins aim for the heart first. A shot to the head doesn’t always kill, but a pierced heart guarantees death. To be safe, they’ll always go for the heart. On top of that, a hard skull makes small-caliber bullets prone to ricochet.
But in the next instant—
"Bang!"
The enraged Hulk leapt dozens of ters and landed right in front of the assassin!
"Oh my god!"
The assassin imdiately turned to run.
"Roar~!"
But Hulk snatched him up with one hand and hurled him against a wall.
With a sickening splat, the assassin’s head burst like a waterlon!
And this scene was captured by reporters.
After killing the assassin, Hulk gradually cald down. He rembered his cousin.
He quickly bounded over to Jen.
By then, she was lying in a pool of blood.
In her final monts, she turned her head slightly to look at the furious Hulk. Then she lifted her chin faintly, gazing toward the northern skyscrapers of New York.
Instead of focusing on the sensation of death, her last thoughts drifted back to Lorien’s words.
"Where there is light, there must be darkness, Miss Jennifer. So can you accept all the consequences of appearing in this trial?"
"I’m certain."
Yes. She had admitted it herself. But she never expected it to be this dark.
She had considered the possibility of death, but not that it would co so suddenly...
This world is truly dark... Mr. Lorien...
A world with superheroes should be getting better, shouldn’t it?
So why... why is it like this?
Jen’s pupils began to lose focus. That empty stare signaled her life was about to end.
"No, no, Jen, wake up!"
Banner stared at the blood-soaked ground, at a loss. Call 911? Carry her to the hospital himself? Try so kind of ergency treatnt?
It was too late! Banner knew it was too late!
The bleeding, the location of the wound—she’d been shot through the heart. With the world’s current dical level, there was no saving her.
No matter what, Jen wouldn’t make it!
What could he do? Jen was dying!
He was a physicist, not a surgeon!
A doctor?
Yes—a doctor!
Lorien was also a doctor. Could he have a solution?
As the saying goes, desperate tis call for desperate asures.
Banner grabbed his phone and called Lorien.
The line connected, and Banner blurted out in panic,
"Lorien, it’s ! My cousin was shot in the heart—she’s losing blood fast and about to die! What do I do?!"
He didn’t waste ti with details. Everyone knew a bullet to the heart ant death.
Apply pressure? Pointless. That wouldn’t save her.
Under normal circumstances, Jen was already as good as dead.
But she had a superhero cousin.
Lorien glanced at the breaking news on his screen and spoke calmly,
"Are you related to her by blood?"
"Huh?"
Banner froze, confused why Lorien was asking that. But he quickly answered,
"Yes, Jen is my cousin!"
"Good." Lorien leaned back and crossed his legs onto the desk.
"Listen, the reason you can withstand being the Hulk isn’t a coincidence. It’s because your genes are exceptional."
"So now you have only one option. The only way."
"What way?" Banner asked urgently.
"Wound yourself. Let your cousin drink your blood. Then there will be two Hulks in your family."
"...!!"
Banner’s eyes widened.
His blood wasn’t sothing no one had ever consud before. But the last person who did—died.
Yet Lorien had said genes were everything. If Banner could survive becoming the Hulk, then his cousin could too.
Banner hesitated for a second. He looked at his wrist, then at Jen, whose gaze was already slipping into emptiness.
The next mont, he tossed the phone aside. The call was still connected.
"Roar!"
"Ssshh~!"
Banner let out a furious roar and tore open his own wrist with his bare hands! Nothing ordinary could harm the Hulk—he himself was the strongest weapon!
So Banner bit down on his wrist, ripping it open wider and wider until green blood began to pour out. He imdiately pried open Jen’s mouth and let the blood flow straight in.
One second passed.
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
Hulk didn’t even know how much blood he had forced into her. Maybe 200cc? But as soon as three seconds were up, the gaping wound on his wrist completely healed.
Banner—no, Hulk... well, at this point, it was the sa.
He tore open his wrist again, determined to keep feeding her his blood.
But in the next mont, Jen’s vacant pupils suddenly shrank! Her eyes trembled violently, until in the final instant they turned into a shimring erald green!
"Huff!"
Her chest, which had been still, heaved as she gasped for air. Then her heart began to repair itself at a rapid pace.
"Thump! Thump! Thump~!"
Her heart, which had completely stopped, was beating again.
Jen had co back to life.
"Jen?!" Banner shouted in excitent.
"Hm?" Jen’s consciousness flickered back, her mind still foggy.
In a sense... she had just died. Her body hadn’t yet gone stiff, her vital signs hadn’t fully vanished, but she had crossed that threshold. To put it simply—she hadn’t died all the way.
She was like a computer that had just been forcefully unplugged and then plugged back in. Normal sleep was hibernation. What she had gone through was a full system reboot. The difference was enormous—and she needed ti to boot up.
On the other end of the phone, Lorien chuckled when he heard Banner’s cry.
"I think your cousin should be alive now."
Hearing his voice, Banner hurriedly picked up the phone again.
"Lorien, this is amazing! Jen’s alive! She really ca back!"
"She’s just a little out of it. I’ll take her to Avengers headquarters for a check-up. Once she’s fully recovered, I’ll bring her to thank you, Lorien!"
Lorien smiled.
"No need to thank ."
Then he hung up.
Banner put his phone away and continued to watch over Jen.
By now, she had sat up from the pool of blood. She frowned at him.
"Who are you..."
"!" Banner’s heart skipped a beat. "You lost your mory? Jen!"
"Oh, cousin."
"?"
Hearing his voice seed to snap her back. She looked around.
"Why am I here? ...Oh, right. The trial..."
At that mont, several journalists had already rushed over. Seeing Banner had cald down, they sward forward, eager to snap photos and get the scoop.
But before they could—
"Whoosh~!"
A sharp roar cut through the sky as a flying aircraft descended beside Hulk.
It was the Quinjet.
The cockpit and cabin door opened at once, and Hawkeye and Natasha leapt out.
"What happened, Banner?" Natasha asked as she advanced cautiously, scanning the area. "The base registered a rage spike from you and sent us your location."
Hawkeye took a quick look around. His eyes landed on a wall sared with blood, surrounded by reporters frantically snapping pictures. He gestured toward it.
Natasha followed his gaze and her eyes widened slightly.
It wasn’t that the scene shocked her—she had seen worse, far bloodier things. What unsettled her was the implication.
A superhero had killed soone in the middle of the street.
Even if it was revenge, the fallout would be massive. Especially now, when the Superhuman Registration Act had only been in effect for barely a year or two.
Natasha thought for a mont, tapped at her smartwatch, and sent coordinates and instructions to the Agency, ordering them to handle the aftermath quickly.
Only then did she turn back to Banner.
"No matter what happened, let’s head back first. We’ll deal with it there."
Banner nodded, adding,
"Soone tried to assassinate my cousin Jen, but she’s safe now. Let’s just go back."
Hawkeye imdiately returned to the pilot’s seat, while Natasha guided Hulk and Jen aboard the Quinjet.
...
In the end, even if public condemnation ca, it was still just condemnation. Superheroes were still superheroes.
Just look at Holander—strength was still strength.
The Avengers would always protect their own first. Not ordinary people who had nothing but outrage to wield against them.
...
At the sa ti, inside the office.
Lorien hung up the phone and nodded with satisfaction.
"I did another good deed today. I really am a model young man."
After all, saving a single life is more valuable than the greatest monunt. That had to count as a great deed, right? One good deed a day~~~
...
anwhile, upstairs.
It was already past 9:30 AM. Wanda and Gwen were about to wake up, but this ti Wanda opened her eyes first, still groggy. The mont she stirred, though, she sensed sothing was off.
Wanda quickly got out of bed and hurried to the bathroom.
A short while later, she returned, her face showing faint discomfort... only to see Gwen holding her stomach as she headed to the bathroom as well.
The two crossed paths midway, exchanging puzzled looks.
Wanda: "?"
Gwen: "?"
No way.
The sa day?
That much of a coincidence?
Regardless, Gwen rushed in first. But then she realized—she hadn’t brought a pad!
"Wanda?"
She was about to call out, but when she turned her head, she spotted a pack sitting neatly on the shelf.
Gwen: "!?"
It really was the sa day. And almost the sa ti, too.
This was way too coincidental!
Still confused, Gwen ca out and found Wanda wasn’t in the bedroom anymore. When she walked into the Little Universe, she saw Wanda lying on a recliner, resting.
Gwen herself felt a little pain, but compared to before, her current constitution let her easily ignore it. It was just... different.
She walked over, sat on the recliner beside Wanda, and asked,
"Did yours usually co at this ti?"
Wanda shook her head.
"No."
Gwen tilted her head.
" neither."
And yet, sohow, their cycles had perfectly synced.
"This is way too coincidental!" Gwen laughed, finding it amusing.
Wanda, however, frowned, her discomfort showing. Being a sorcerer didn’t make her body any sturdier.
Seeing this, Gwen suggested,
"Wanda, do you want to use the Horse Talisman? You look like you’re in pain."
Wanda quickly shook her head.
"This is natural for won, Gwen. Who knows what kind of side effects the Horse Talisman might have? But if we lose this... we’d never be able to have children again."
Gwen froze, then instantly shook her head too.
"Forget it, forget it..."
If she and Lorien couldn’t have kids soday, she’d never forgive herself. The guilt alone would kill her. She wouldn’t risk it.
Then another thought struck her.
"Wait, Wanda—don’t you have any spells for imdiate pain relief? There’s gotta be sothing for local pain, right?"
Wanda thought for a mont, pulled out the Book of the Vishanti, and flipped through it.
Sure enough, she found options—and not just one.
One spell was specifically for localized pain relief. It was originally intended for combat injuries, allowing the caster to keep fighting without being hindered by pain.
Another was more advanced: a spell to block all negative ntal influences. Pain counted as one of those. It could be switched on or off, but it altered the target’s emotional state. For example, you might normally feel discomfort, but under the spell, you wouldn’t even know what discomfort was—you’d feel nothing at all.
After thinking it over, Wanda said,
"Let’s stick with the first one."
Gwen nodded eagerly.
"I want one too! Give a buff!"
Wanda drew a pattern with her hands, casting the pain-numbing spell on both herself and Gwen.
As crimson energy entered their bodies, they both felt imdiate relief.
Their bodies were still in pain, of course—but the sensation was blocked. The bleeding didn’t stop, only the perception of it.
But then Gwen realized sothing.
"Wanda, if we’re both on the sa day..."
"What about Lorien?"
Wanda: "...!!"
Oh no. She realized it too.
If both of them were out of commission and Lorien went to find Hela... wouldn’t Hela be completely overwheld?
"Wanda."
Gwen called her softly. Wanda turned her head and saw Gwen holding up the manga she had been reading last night.
"Maybe this week... we’ll just have to focus on learning so new skills."
It was a secret teaching manga, filled with Chapters of the older sister using her hands and mouth to help the male lead.
Wanda’s face turned crimson instantly.
But after thinking about it, she gave a reluctant nod.
"But... what about sore cheeks?" Wanda asked hesitantly.
Gwen thought for a mont.
"We can take turns?"
Wanda blushed even deeper and nodded.
...
At the sa ti.
Lorien was idly slacking off when a knock ca at the door.
"Knock knock~~"
He set his foot down.
"Co in."
The door opened, and the man who entered first glanced nervously around the office before taking a seat.
Finally, with unease in his voice, he said,
"Doctor, my na is Steven Grant. I think there’s sothing wrong with my mind."
"There’s soone else living in my head. He can talk to ... and even take control of my body without my knowledge or consent!"
Lorien listened calmly, sliding a bottle of milk tea across the desk toward him.
But instead of answering, he took out an antique mirror and placed it in front of Steven—no, Marc, the Moon Knight.
Then Lorien said plainly,
"Marc Spector."
At once, Steven’s expression changed.
"How do you know my na?"
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