69novels Chapter 92 The President's Phone Call and Compensation
Chapter 92 The President's Phone Call and Compensation
Chapter 92 The President's Phone Call and Compensation
In a dimly lit room at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury stood in the center.
Suddenly, a projection screen lit up the darkness in front of him.
A man appeared on the screen, his hands crossed under his chin, his gaze shining through the screen onto Fury, without saying a word.
This person is the current US president.
Fury was straightforward, even skipping the formalities.
"The monster your military developed is dismantling your military bases one by one, smashing them all."
"After the demolition, we'll storm the White House and smash it up too."
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"The situation is clear—no one can stop him."
He paused for a moment, staring intently at the president's motionless face on the screen with his one eye, and added a sentence in a flat tone.
"Of course, if dropping a nuclear bomb could solve the problem, I believe the president would not hesitate to drop it. Unfortunately, that monster can't even be killed by a nuclear bomb."
"His cells undergo protective fission the instant they are fatally struck, dividing at a rate far exceeding the speed of the attack. Even after the explosion, he was still standing in the crater."
"If the White House were torn down," Fury said, putting his hands behind his back and standing ramrod straight, "the president would probably be overwhelmed by the surging public opinion, and that wouldn't be a pretty sight."
The room was quiet for a moment.
On the screen, the president loosened his crossed fingers, placed his palm flat on the table, and leaned forward slightly.
"That thing was developed by General Ross of the military on his own; it was entirely his personal work."
"I will immediately notify the FBI to arrest Ross."
He paused, his voice lowering slightly.
"Can you stop that monster over there?"
"I can't do it," Fury replied without hesitation.
"But someone can—Officer Lee from the Manhattan Precinct of the New York City Police Department."
"He's right there, standing next to that green monster."
The president did not respond.
Fury took his phone out of his pocket, swiped his finger across the screen twice, and dialed a number.
He held his phone up to the screen and pressed speakerphone.
After a few busy tones, the call was connected.
A series of explosions came through the receiver first.
The dull thud, the shrill sound of metal being torn apart, the series of muffled impacts as concrete structures collapsed.
Above the noise, a young man's voice, calm in tone, was heard.
"Feed? Who is it? I'm busy here."
"Hulk! Yeah, grab that thing, the big one! Ignore the soldiers, smash all the cars first."
Another loud, twisting sound came from the other end of the call.
There was a brief silence on the receiver, then the voice came back.
"Feed? Who? Hurry up and tell me, I'm really busy right now."
Fury handed the phone towards the light screen again.
"The President wants to speak with you."
Li En's speaking speed and tone remained unchanged.
"You're the president? I'm Qin Shi Huang! We can talk to the president face-to-face when we get to the White House."
"Of course, if he were the real president, he wouldn't hide in a safe fortress at a time like this."
The president spoke in a deep voice, his tone carrying a solemnity that had been carefully crafted over time.
"Officer Lee, you're an American too. If all these military bases are destroyed, the losses will be more than just money."
"Other countries that are eyeing us with covetous intent will see our weakness, and the United States will lose its position as a world leader, with very serious consequences."
He emphasized the last few words, hoping they would penetrate the sound of the explosion and reach the other person's ears.
"Is that so?" Lee Eun's voice remained the same, unhurried.
"That would be such a shame. If the United States were to lose its leadership position and be forced to start a war because of something like this, then I would have no choice but to hide in Mexico."
The explosions continued on the other end of the phone, followed by Li En's shout: "Hulk, yes, throw that tank into the command center, it'll be more efficient! Good, well done."
The president slowly withdrew his hand from the table.
He straightened up, took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly rose in pitch.
"The entire responsibility for this incident lies with Ross. He has been removed from his post as general and will face trial by a military court!"
""
After he finished speaking, he stared at the phone in Fury's hand for two seconds.
There was no response on the other end of the phone, only the crackling of burning and the occasional snapping of metal.
In a way, Ross is Hulk's father-in-law.
The president is gambling that what Lee and Hulk want is for Ross to pay the price.
As long as Rose is made a scapegoat, the enemy's anger will find a target.
That should bring this matter to a close.
The Brooklyn military base has been reduced to ruins.
He can withstand this loss.
A base, a few helicopters, and a few rows of barracks are not a fatal flaw in the grand scheme of the federal budget.
But what if that green monster really goes all the way down, smashing New Jersey, smashing Virginia, and finally smashing the White House too?
He will not only lose his position, but will also be sent to the gallows, in a physical sense.
Therefore, someone has to take the blame today.
This person can't be too light-weight, otherwise they won't be able to handle the burden.
General Ross is the best choice.
Moreover, he was the one who started the whole thing.
But the most important thing now is not to hold people accountable, but to stop the damage.
The president spoke again, his tone shifting from anger to a calm, negotiating stance.
"That green Hulk is also a victim; he deserves compensation."
"Any requests can be made. The federal government will consider them seriously."
On the other end of the phone, Li En seemed to shout something into the distance.
"Hulk! The president is asking, what kind of compensation do you want?"
A few seconds later, a deafening roar burst from the receiver, bouncing around Fury's dimly lit room before slowly dissipating.
Just hearing that roar made the president's fingers tremble slightly on the table.
After a moment, Li En's voice came back into the microphone.
"Hulk needs compensation for emotional distress, nutritional supplements, and lost wages. You can fill in the specific amounts as you see fit."
Then his tone suddenly changed; his voice remained calm, but carried an icy chill.
"Most importantly—Hulk wants you to understand that if there are any further actions against him, he will no longer be going to kill off military bases one by one."
Click, the phone call ended.
Fury put his phone back in his pocket and looked up at the light screen.
The president's face had turned ashen, and the muscles under his eyelids were twitching slightly.
Fury ignored the other person's expression and spoke in a factual tone.
"Lee En, Manhattan Precinct. No parents, no children, all alone."
"Our initial analysis suggested that he would care about his colleagues at the police station and the orphans at the school."
He paused for a moment, his single eye devoid of any extra emotion.
"Now it seems that he did care, but the way he chose was not to endure, but to perish together with others."
"My advice to this kind of madman who has no ties is—listen to him."
After saying that, he shut his mouth and stopped talking.
The room remained silent for a long time.
The president's image on the screen remained motionless, with only slight fluctuations in his breathing indicating that the image was not stuck.
Then he spoke, his voice very low, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Execute your Avengers plan immediately."
The light curtain went out, and the room fell into darkness again.
Fury's lips curled up slightly.
He pushed open the door and walked into the corridor, dialing a number as he went. The call was answered almost immediately.
"Coulson, the Avengers Project is officially underway. No more dawdling. Go wake Captain America up."
He hung up the phone, stood in the corridor, and looked down at the live surveillance footage of the Brooklyn military base on his portable screen.
Thick smoke was still billowing upwards, several rows of overturned Apache helicopter wreckage lay across the tarmac, half of the roof of the command center had collapsed, and the ammunition depot was still exploding continuously, with fireballs shooting into the sky one after another.
He turned off the screen, put the phone back in his pocket, and whispered something to the now-black screen.
"Finally, these guys have given up. I really have to thank you, you two fucking idiots."
Brooklyn military base.
Amidst the billowing smoke and ruins, the tank lay askew on the ground, its tracks broken and its body visibly deformed.
The Apache helicopter lay prone on the ground, its rotor broken in two, and its tail section nowhere to be seen.
The command center collapsed completely, with steel bars sticking out of the rubble, pointing crookedly towards the sky.
Hulk walked through the center of the ruins, stepping on rubble and deformed metal plates, and returned to Li En.
He stopped in front of Li En, stretched out his hands, his palms still covered with broken glass and grime.
This time, he plans to throw Li En into the next military base and continue to bombard him.
The phone in Li En's hand rang again.
He glanced at the caller ID: Brock.
"Hey, Brock, get to the point right away, I'm really busy here."
Brock's voice burst from the receiver, carrying an uncontrollable urgency:
-
"Li En, where have you been?!"
"I told you I was busy—"
"Chief Gallo just called and asked me to plead for you." Brock took a deep breath, forcibly lowering his voice and speaking extremely quickly.
"The federal government is willing to fund the renovation of the entire school, turning all the wasteland into a university-standard facility, and adding an independent research lab."
"You know, you can't get a deal of this size for less than 20 or 30 million."
He paused for a second to catch his breath, then added another sentence.
"Oh, right, Gallo also asked me to pass on a message."
"Five million dollars in damages for emotional distress to Mr. Bruce Banner, paid by the federal government."
Li En held the phone, slowly raised his head, and looked at Hulk, who was still waiting for him.
He moved the phone away from his ear a little, and the corners of his mouth turned up.
"See? I told you, these people need to be beaten until they know what respect is."
Upon hearing this, Hulk grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. There was no anger in his smile, only pure, exhilarating satisfaction from venting his frustration.
Brock's voice came through the receiver again: "Lee En? Lee En, are you still listening? Did you hear what I just said?"
Li En put the phone back on her ear.
"I heard you. Tell them to accept the terms for now."
"I will need to wait and see the outcome of Ross's trial and the details of how the compensation has been received."
"If anything goes wrong in the middle—"
He looked up at Hulk's big feet, which were already impatiently digging holes in the ground, and smiled.
"The next base has Apache helicopters and a squadron of fighter jets parked there."
"If I take Hulk there again, the losses won't just be tens of millions, they'll start at tens of billions."
Brock was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone, then his voice came back, this time with a subtle undertone.
"Lee En, did you... never really intend to smash your way all the way to the White House?"
Li En didn't answer the question. He hung up the phone, put his phone away, dusted off his pants, and waved to Hulk.
"We're going back."
"Hulk!" Hulk roared in dissatisfaction, his voice full of pent-up frustration.
"I know you haven't smashed enough yet." Li En looked up at his eyes, which were still blazing with anger.
"But we should always give people a chance to make amends."
"If I'm not mistaken, Ross will not only lose his position as general, but he will also be arrested and tried."
He put his hands in his pockets, and his tone became serious again.
"So, that's about it for today, we should head back."
"Moreover, using murder to solve problems should only be a last resort."
"Once it becomes a habit, it's very difficult to change it later."
Hulk exhaled a thick stream of hot air from his nose, without refuting it.
He moved two steps to the side and readjusted his direction.
This time, the direction they were facing was towards the Umbrella School.
Lee Eun once again stood on Hulk's palm.
Hulk lifted him high, stomped his right foot back, the ground exploded, and used the recoil to throw Li En violently out.
Li En once again transformed into a bullet fired from a cannon barrel, flying towards the school with a sharp, piercing sound as it cut through the air.
The streets, buildings, and rivers below were all stretched into blurry bands of color.
As he approached the school, he suddenly flipped his body in mid-air, curling himself into a ball with his back to the ground.
Landing.
It slammed onto the barren ground, bounced three or four times, and then rolled along the muddy ground for hundreds of meters before finally dissipating all its momentum.
A long and deep ditch was plowed into the ground.
He climbed out of the ditch and patted the dirt off his clothes.
He waved to the row of dumbfounded people in front of the teaching building.
"I'm back."
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