The appearance of the Hulk made Garrett decide to try something else—like using a sonic weapon to emit infrasonic waves to slightly provoke the Hulk, then stepping in to subdue the behemoth himself.
Doing so would not only raise his clearance level within S.H.I.E.L.D., giving him access to more of the organization's core secrets, but it would also earn him the acceptance of the NYPD.
With both factors working in his favor, Garrett could already envision a future where he held S.H.I.E.L.D. in his left hand and the NYPD in his right; in that world, Batman would be utterly helpless against him.
However, the plan to provoke the Hulk became useless the moment Batman arrived.
Nathan Garrett discovered that the device he used to emit infrasonic waves was broken. There had been no jarring impacts or physical damage; Garrett hadn't even touched it again after turning it on, yet the infrasonic emitter had mysteriously failed. Garrett couldn't even determine exactly what part of the machine had malfunctioned.
Because the emitter was broken, he couldn't keep the Hulk in a state of constant irritation and rage. Consequently, when Garrett watched Batman soothe the Hulk with nothing more than a bar of chocolate, he gritted his teeth in sheer fury.
"Hmph, I suppose I shouldn't be too greedy. I'll stick to the original plan," Garrett muttered, switching off the useless emitter.
He looked toward the Adirondack Mountains. He desperately wanted to pursue the Hulk, but there were still a few dinosaurs in Manhattan to deal with, and Batman had suddenly departed. If Garrett also gave chase on his winged horse, the remaining "Iron Man"—who had almost no combat effectiveness left—would struggle to eliminate the rest of the dinosaurs.
If a civilian were to die in the jaws of a dinosaur now, it would be a devastating blow to Garrett's carefully laid plans.
After weighing the pros and cons, Garrett gripped his scepter, pulled the reins of his winged horse, and dove off the Empire State Building, flying toward the remaining dinosaurs.
"The Hulk's rage was within controllable limits after he left the Baxter Building, until he reached the base of the Empire State Building. At that point, he suddenly entered a state where Tony Stark could no longer communicate with him, no matter how hard he tried."
Batman grappled through the air, rapidly approaching the Baxter Building while reviewing the data.
"This situation didn't change when I stood before the Hulk, not until the Batmobile arrived."
The Batmobile did not possess the ability to "soothe" the Hulk, nor could Batman have successfully calmed him with a mere piece of chocolate if the Hulk were truly lost to his rage. What actually cleared the Hulk's mind was the sonic weapon mounted on the Batmobile.
Before the first Batmobile was even built, Batman had realized that sonic weapons would have a significant role to play in this world. Consequently, he had designed a system for himself that could automatically adjust frequencies to emit targeted high-frequency ultrasound and low-frequency infrasound.
It was the Batmobile's sonic weapon that had done the work. It had quickly detected the external infrasonic waves and adjusted its own frequency to match, effectively canceling them out. This was the only reason Batman was able to avoid a full-scale brawl with the Hulk.
As for the chocolate, it was simply a "way out" provided to the Hulk—a gesture of respect from Batman to the creature's persona.
"The frequency of the infrasound affecting the Hulk was different from the frequency emitted by the horns of that giant Tyrannosaurus rex."
"Tony Stark was also affected by it."
"Mysterious Black Knight... where exactly do you come from? S.H.I.E.L.D., or Hydra?" Batman asked in a low voice, his words swallowed by the wind.
Whoever his opponent was, the moment they chose to appear in the light rather than hide in the shadows like Batman, Batman had already gained insight into their psychology. Therefore, even though a few dinosaurs remained in Manhattan, Batman turned and left immediately, heading toward the Baxter Building—the source of Wilson Fisk's voice.
His opponent would work hard to eliminate the remaining dinosaurs; in fact, he would go to great lengths to ensure not a single civilian was harmed.
The distance from the Empire State Building to the Baxter Building was short, and Batman soon arrived, swinging in on a line.
"Clint Barton told me Kingpin's weight is estimated to be over nine hundred pounds. But just over a month ago, he weighed four hundred and fifty at most."
"It has exactly doubled."
Batman had once punched Kingpin across a room in Oscorp Tower; he had a precise understanding of the weight of the man who ruled Hell's Kitchen. Now, in the span of just one month, Kingpin had not only healed the bones Batman had broken and stood back up, but his weight had actually doubled.
Batman suspected this transformation was related to Kenji Oyama in Yokohama, and perhaps even to the unknown entity trading with the Dark Wind Group.
While en route, Batman had tracked the voices of Kingpin and Reed to the top of the Baxter Building. However, he didn't rush to the roof immediately. Instead, he entered Reed Richards' laboratory.
Everything here was exactly as it had been when Batman left: dinosaur carcasses strewn about, cracked floorboards, and the instruments Reed had moved.
Except for the Rescue Armor. It had been violently torn open from the outside and now lay twisted on the floor.
"Kingpin's current physical strength is capable of this?" Batman knelt down, examining the clear marks on the Rescue Armor that had obviously been made by human hands. From the contours of the grip, it could be no one else.
"Clint, I need you to report on what happened after you encountered Kingpin at the Dark Wind Group," Batman said, patching through to Ronin.
Clint Barton's voice came through after a few seconds of delay. "We fought. Or rather, I was unilaterally pulverized. If I hadn't fled as fast as I did, I'd probably be a collection of body parts in a dumpster somewhere by now."
Batman stood up and began walking toward the rooftop terrace step by step. "Do you still have the katana I gave you?"
Clint looked down at the sword clutched in his arms and gave a bitter laugh. "I have it. If it weren't for this blade, I'd have lost my life long ago."
"There is a tube of rapid biological tissue regeneration gel inside the hilt," Batman said. "Take it out and apply it to your wounds."
Clint Barton did as he was told. Seeing the jelly-like substance extracted from the hilt, he poured it over his injuries without hesitation.
"I haven't found the trade records you wanted yet, but I discovered something else interesting about the Dark Wind Group. They found a metal in Antarctica that is extremely similar to Vibranium, and by fusing it with other metals, they created a substance called Adamantium."
"Kingpin's skeleton is now made of Adamantium."
As Clint's voice faded, Batman reached the rooftop terrace. There, he saw "Kingpin" Wilson Fisk, his arm draped casually over the shoulder of Reed Richards.
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