Gwen looked at Natasha expressionlessly.
"I don't know."
"…"
Natasha looked at Gwen, who was calmly looking at her, and said in a deep voice, "What happened last night really wasn't us. If we wanted to find you, we would have come earlier. Why wait until now?"
Gwen ignored Natasha's words.
"Are you here to arrest me?"
"No."
As soon as she finished speaking.
Gwen pushed open the car door and got out.
Natasha also opened the passenger door, got out, and looked at Gwen, who had closed the driver's door.
Gwen's voice was calm.
"Thank you for driving the car over for me."
"Gwen."
Natasha frowned, watching Gwen turn and walk into the house without looking back after saying that. After a moment of silence, she also turned and opened the door of the black van parked nearby.
As soon as Natasha got in the car and closed the door, she immediately contacted Maria Hill, who was currently in charge at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion.
"Commander."
"How is it?"
"She won't talk."
Natasha reported the situation truthfully.
She could have captured Gwen and tortured her to reveal Hulk's whereabouts.
But…
Natasha saw Gwen and remembered the scene of waking up after being hit by a stick and realizing she wasn't dead. This option was instantly ruled out.
Maria Hill listened to Natasha's answer and seemed unsurprised, saying directly, "No need to ask. We've already found Hulk's whereabouts."
Natasha was slightly stunned.
"Found Hulk?"
"Yes."
"Quantico?"
"No, New Mexico."
"New…"
Natasha was bewildered: "How did he get to New Mexico?"
Maria Hill looked at the video just sent back by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in New Mexico, and after a moment of silence, said, "The General Ross family cemetery has been destroyed."
As she spoke, Natasha took out her phone, which had just received a message.
She opened a video that had just been sent.
What met her eyes.
In the video, as far as the eye could see, tombstones were destroyed, and graves were like bomb craters, with shattered coffins and various debris almost filling the entire cemetery.
Not to mention the General Ross Manor in front of the cemetery.
After the video panned over, the exquisitely decorated manor had become dilapidated and completely reduced to ruins.
Natasha was shocked.
"This…"
"Agents in New York have just confirmed that Hulk's sister Anna's grave has some minor damage, which should be due to last night's battle. If nothing else, the destroyed General Ross Manor and the General Ross family cemetery are Hulk's revenge."
"Hiss!"
Natasha gasped, then seemed to think of something and instinctively asked a question.
"Does General Ross know?"
"Yes."
"Then he must be going crazy?"
Natasha asked instinctively, then looked at the video playing on her phone screen again.
Others might not know, but if her family cemetery was wiped out like this, she would definitely go crazy.
However…
Serves them right!
Natasha pouted.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was still in the process of assessing Hulk's danger and budgeting how to approach him, but the Military, on the other hand, didn't waste any words and just charged in headfirst.
Did they really think that just because Hulk's name sounded similar to Hulk, he was the second Bruce Banner?
Bruce Banner could only hide from your pursuit, but don't really think everyone else will hide from you.
Now look.
As arrogant as they were at the beginning, that's how uncomfortable they are now, right?
Tsk tsk.
This probably even dug up the bones of that Mr. General Ross who came down from the Mayflower, didn't it?
Natasha marveled inwardly, then suddenly her expression froze.
"Commander, that's not right. New York City is very far from New Mexico. Only six hours have passed since the incident, how could he have reached New Mexico so quickly?"
"To be precise, he only took less than three hours to reach New Mexico."
"What?"
Natasha said in shock: "That's impossible."
Maria Hill said in a deep voice: "But that's the truth, and now is not the time to dwell on how fast he is. If I'm not mistaken, his next step should be Quantico."
Perhaps Hulk seeking revenge for his sister by killing Hulk didn't reveal much.
But after the General Ross family cemetery was wiped out, one thing became clear.
Hulk always gets his revenge.
So…
He even wiped out the General Ross family cemetery, how could he let Thaddeus Ross, who supported last night's operation, go?
Although S.H.I.E.L.D. once again lost track of Hulk.
But…
Maria Hill was very certain about Hulk's next destination.
It was Quantico.
Natasha frowned, listening to Maria Hill's speculation.
"Then I…"
"Stay there."
"Huh?"
Maria Hill said in a deep voice: "Try to find a way to stay by Gwen's side until this matter is over."
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Commander, are you saying…"
"Not sure yet, but better safe than sorry. By the way, don't mention this to anyone, understand?"
"Okay, then…"
Natasha nodded, raised her eyes, and scanned the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working on their tasks in the van.
Maria Hill seemed to know what Natasha wanted to say and shook her head: "The people sent this time are Agents whom both Victoria and I trust. They will be responsible for external security until this matter is over."
Natasha realized.
"Okay, Commander."
"Hanging up."
Maria Hill, who was in her office at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion headquarters, hung up her phone after saying that and put it aside. Then she leaned back in her chair and instinctively massaged her trigeminal nerve.
She had originally planned to have Natasha withdraw.
But…
Just as she was about to tell Natasha to withdraw, for some unknown reason, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she thought of something, which made her change her mind and tell Natasha to stay and protect Gwen.
Because she felt that the Military might use Gwen as bait if they couldn't defeat Hulk head-on.
This was not an illusion; this was a judgment based on her past service in the Military as an intelligence Officer.
The Military, in order to win a war, would stop at nothing.
And this was a war.
It was only because Hulk's girlfriend back then was Betty Ross, General Ross's daughter. If he had had any other girlfriend, General Ross would have probably already helped Hulk's girlfriend and then set a trap waiting for Hulk to walk into it.
Now Hulk had also wiped out General Ross's family cemetery.
So…
Better safe than sorry.
And also…
After Maria Hill finished thinking about General Ross, another name appeared in her mind. She instinctively looked up, her gaze directed towards the office of Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury.
Her intuition told her that Nick Fury was also involved in the Military's sudden attack on Hulk this time.
After all, among the seventy-seven federal soldiers found at the scene, one soldier's identity was detected by S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York as being fake.
That body was not a Military soldier, but a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
And very few people within S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about Hulk's existence. Even those who did, she had already strictly forbidden anyone from privately contacting or investigating Hulk without her orders.
But now, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent still appeared.
And coincidentally, he was also dark-skinned.
Maria Hill strongly suspected that this dark-skinned Agent who died on the New York battlefield was sent by Nick Fury.
The reason was simple.
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council abruptly announced that Nick Fury's operational authority had been unfrozen.
Operational authority unfrozen in the afternoon.
The Military launched an attack in the evening.
Could there be no inevitable connection between these two?
Is it possible?
Just as Maria Hill was frowning, lost in thought, the phone on her desk rang.
"Hello."
"Commander, suspected traces of Hulk have been found."
"…"
Maria Hill immediately stood up upon hearing this and left her office.
Coincidentally.
The office door across from hers also opened.
Nick Fury, whose operational authority had been restored, walked out from inside.
Maria Hill didn't wait but went straight down to the Combat Command Center using the elevator reserved for Commanders.
After a while.
She and Nick Fury entered the Combat Command Center almost one after the other.
"Hulk…"
"Where is that damned criminal now?"
Before Maria Hill could speak, Nick Fury, who had successfully made a triumphant return, walked over from behind, his voice restored to its usual booming tone, and then, as he passed Maria Hill, he chuckled: "Sorry, this is not a wartime state."
Maria Hill smiled formally and said nothing.
She was the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the wartime Commander. Simply put, only when S.H.I.E.L.D. entered a wartime state would her authority automatically supersede Nick Fury's.
But normally, with his operational authority unfrozen, Nick Fury, as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., had the final say over her.
"Director."
"A suspected sighting of Hulk was just found in Maryland."
"Pull it up."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent nodded, and then a picture appeared on the large screen, seemingly taken by an ATM. However, Hulk in this picture was moving so fast that his shadow was almost a blur.
Nick Fury looked at the photo, and with his restored operational authority, his catchphrase also returned.
"WTF, are there any other photos?"
"No."
"Analyze his desti…"
"Officer!"
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in front of the large screen seemed to have just received some incredible information, turned his head, and reported loudly to Nick Fury and Maria Hill.
"Five seconds ago, an explosion occurred at Quantico Military Base."
"…"
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