Chapter 298: Batman
More and more dinosaurs poured endlessly from the yellow-green vortex projected by the full-wave device, flooding into Baxter Building under the primitives' commands and destroying everything in sight.
That wasn't even the worst part. Two hours ago, when Lunella had brought the full-wave projector back to the building, it had automatically triggered the highest security protocols. The entire structure was now completely sealed from the outside world. Short of Reed manually deactivating the lockdown, the defenses were virtually impossible to breach by force.
As for Reed himself... after shoving his head through the portal, he'd apparently taken a solid hit from something—probably a dinosaur. He'd been unconscious ever since, showing no signs of waking despite being jostled constantly on Ben Grimm's shoulder.
They couldn't send distress signals. Couldn't escape the building. Lunella had been abducted by the primitives.
Since it was nighttime, Baxter Building's minimal research staff had already gone home. Right now, besides Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, Johnny, and the unconscious Reed, there wasn't a single other person who could help them mount a counterattack.
Small, agile predators like Velociraptors, Utahraptors, and Deinonychus. Massive carnivores far exceeding Earth's current largest land animal—elephants—like Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus.
Ben cursed internally. Inside Baxter Building right now, they had nothing more lethal than handguns. And because everything had happened so suddenly, the four of them only had two pistols between them.
Short of NYPD deploying armed helicopters to bomb Baxter Building, Ben couldn't think of any other way for them to survive this.
CLACK!
A dinosaur's massive jaws snapped shut behind Ben with a sharp click of colliding teeth.
With Reed slung over his shoulder, Ben's stamina was draining dangerously fast. Seeing death approaching, he summoned his strength, hurled Reed's body ahead, then spun to face the pursuing dinosaurs and fired several rounds.
BANG BANG BANG!
The bullets struck the Carcharodontosaurus but couldn't penetrate its keratinous hide.
Ben gritted his teeth and charged directly at the dinosaurs, hoping to buy Susan, Johnny, and Reed a chance to survive.
WHOOSH!
Besides the Carcharodontosaurus, seven or eight other dinosaurs of varying sizes had joined the pursuit. Their reeking breath made Ben's head spin.
As the dinosaurs closed in on Ben, Johnny and Susan couldn't help crying out:
"Ben!"
They didn't want to sacrifice him. But the current situation was clear—if they hesitated, all four would die.
Susan's eyes welled up. She quickly grabbed Reed from where Ben had thrown him, and together with Johnny, they half-carried, half-dragged him away.
After a few steps, Susan Storm couldn't resist looking back at Ben—who stood ready to sacrifice himself. Sorrow filled her gaze.
But in the next second, that sorrow transformed to shock.
Susan watched the largest Carcharodontosaurus lunge at Ben with open jaws—but instead of catching him, the dinosaur's body jerked backward, dragged by some tremendous force.
"ROOOAR!"
Behind the dinosaurs, a green giant over ten feet tall appeared. His muscles coiled like ancient tree roots across his frame. Both hands gripped the Carcharodontosaurus's tail.
With a thunderous roar, the Carcharodontosaurus's body lifted into the air horizontally. The Hulk wielded the forty-foot-long predator like a weapon, swinging it in a wide arc and smashing it into the other dinosaurs.
"Who is that?" Susan Storm's mind flashed with confusion. Watching the green giant face dozens of massive carnivorous dinosaurs alone, a thought struck her. "The Green Hulk?!"
The Hulk's existence was unknown to ordinary people. But for top-tier scientists like Reed Richards, it wasn't exactly a secret.
Susan and the others had heard information about the Hulk before, though they'd never seen him in person—until today.
The Hulk single-handedly blocked dozens of dinosaurs. His tremendous strength sent the thirty-to-forty-foot monsters flying repeatedly.
More dinosaurs continued pouring from the full-wave projector. For every one Hulk threw back, two or three more rushed forward to replace it.
"Hulk! You need to destroy that projector!" Johnny shouted at the green giant.
"HULK!" The Hulk roared back. Dinosaurs surrounded him completely, razor-filled mouths tearing at his body from all sides.
The dinosaurs couldn't match Hulk's strength individually, but their sheer numbers frustrated him enormously... especially since Susan, Johnny, and Reed weren't using this opportunity to escape. Instead, they stood there shouting something incomprehensible!
Hulk's chest heaved. These three were too close. He couldn't unleash his full power without catching them in the collateral damage.
"SMASH!" Without time for complex thinking, the Hulk furiously grabbed a Velociraptor by the neck, slammed it to the floor, then stomped down hard.
BOOM!
Baxter Building's floor roared in protest. The sounds of concrete and rebar snapping echoed in rapid succession.
Hulk grabbed a Giganotosaurus next and smashed it into the ground with even more force.
This time Hulk used over eighty tons of strength. Not only did it punch through the current floor instantly, but the shockwave and wind pressure knocked Susan and the others off their feet.
CRASH!
The entire building seemed to shake from that single blow.
Rather than simply punching through the floor, Hulk had essentially demolished most of the entire level, sending it crashing down to the floor below. The massive hole—over sixty feet across—caused Hulk and the surrounding dinosaurs to plummet together.
The shattered floor created a barrier the dinosaurs behind couldn't cross. Susan Storm exhaled slightly in relief and called out toward Ben Grimm's position.
"Ben! Are you okay?"
Ben wasn't okay. Although the Hulk had grabbed the Carcharodontosaurus that nearly bit him and Ben had planned to use the opportunity to escape...
The shockwaves and violent winds from Hulk's battle with the dinosaurs had made it nearly impossible for Ben to control his own movements. He remained frozen in place.
"Get to the roof!" Ben shouted to Susan.
FWOOSH!
Before Susan could respond, the sound of beating wings filled the air.
Four or five pterosaurs—wingspans approaching thirty feet—flapped overhead, crossing the hole Hulk had smashed through the floor and diving toward Susan and the others.
"We're done!" Johnny clenched his jaw, raising his pistol and trying to aim at one of the pterosaurs.
BANG!
The shot missed. That brief attempt at defense also cost them their last chance to run.
As the Pteranodon-like creatures swooped down, Susan Storm's heart seized—but then another smaller dinosaur covered in green scales positioned itself between them and the threat.
Unlike the dinosaurs controlled by primitives that wanted to kill them, this green reptilian creature faced away from them protectively. Its body leaned slightly forward in a defensive posture. Riding on its back was a figure in pitch-black armor, wrapped in a flowing cape.