Nick Fury said these words.
Bruce was instantly stunned on the spot.
The next second.
He swiftly turned back to the tombstone in front of him.
What he saw.
Betty in the photo on the tombstone seemed to be smiling at him.
Her smile bright.
Bruce was silent.
An hour later.
Bruce Banner, having returned to the apartment, came out from the bedroom holding a box filled with Betty Ross's belongings, took the stairs back down to the living room on the first floor.
He carefully took down the wedding photo from the wall, placed it against the wall, and sat down on the floor, looking at the wedding photo in front of him.
Bruce stared intently.
At that moment.
The ding of a notification.
Bruce snapped out of it and took out his phone, opened an email just sent by Nick Fury, and looked at the examination report from S.H.I.E.L.D. Hospital without saying a word, merely finding Nick Fury's number and dialing.
The call connected quickly.
"Bru..."
"Are you just a part of a plan or is this plan something you helped devise, Nick?"
"What?"
On the other end of the line, Nick Fury was taken aback by Bruce Banner's words, his heart skipping a beat.
Bruce's gaze was calm as he looked at the wedding photo in front of him.
"Betty knows the killer of General Ross and the killer of Hulk are the same person, you must have told Betty this, right?"
"What?"
"I'm not a fool, Nick."
Bruce Banner's voice was very calm, as he kept looking at Betty in the wedding photo seemingly smiling at him, and very calmly said to Nick Fury on the other end of the line, with a self-deprecating laugh: "My IQ may not be high, but it's definitely above yours, though I now wish my IQ wasn't as high as yours."
The Nick Fury on the other end of the line didn't speak immediately, and after his breathing slightly intensified for a few seconds, he finally spoke again.
"I don't understand, Bruce, you..."
"Betty couldn't possibly be pregnant, at least I don't have the ability to make Betty pregnant."
"What?"
"I was once exposed to high-dose Gamma Rays."
Bruce took a deep breath, his gaze looking wistfully at the wedding photo in front of him: "I am very curious if Betty wants me to transform into Hulk again to avenge General Ross, then what about you, Nick, why did you create such a fake pregnancy report, did Betty ask you to do it?"
In a flash.
Nick Fury on the other end of the line couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
"Yes."
"You're lying, Nick."
"What?"
"Once again, my IQ may not be high, but it's definitely higher than yours."
Bruce Banner's tone was wistful.
"When I was fleeing from General Ross's pursuit, I could hide from some people, whether someone was lying, even without meeting face to face, I could make a correct judgment based on their tone, and you, Nick, you lied."
"I..."
"But your IQ isn't really that high, Betty already refused your suggestion, yet you still did this, I'm very curious, why?"
Bruce Banner interrupted Nick Fury on the other end of the line, while taking out another phone from his pocket, finding the last video message Betty left on the phone, and pressed play.
The recording time of the video was the morning of Betty's death.
Betty sat calmly on the sofa facing the camera.
"Bruce, when you see this video, I've already died."
"I'm very sorry."
"I thought about forgetting everything and starting a new life with you."
"Truly."
"But I couldn't, maybe in many people's eyes, my father wasn't good, but in my eyes he's the best."
"In the years we've been apart, I could never forget the bits of life with you."
"Similarly, I could never forget the horrific scene of my father's death."
"..."
"When I finally made up my mind to take action, Nick Fury found out about it and provided me with a good way."
"Pregnancy, that's the crucial chip to ensure you'll avenge me after I entered the game."
"But I refused."
"I could use love to bind you to avenge me."
"But I would never use deceit to bind you to avenge me."
"..."
"He's here."
"Finally, Bruce, no matter what decision you make, please remember, I love you, at least, when I walked into that city hall with you, I married you because I loved you."
"Farewell, Bruce."
"Always loving you, Betty."
"..."
Betty's video ended here.
Bruce spoke to Nick Fury, whose intensified breathing could be heard on the phone after the video ended: "Nick, you didn't expect Betty would leave such a testament for me, did you."
Indeed didn't expect.
Nick Fury thought in his heart on the other end of the line.
But...
"He's too dangerous."
"We need someone who can step in and stop everything when he does something unpredictable."
"Natasha and Barton won't do."
"Captain America won't do either."
"Tony Stark has already decided to remove the reactor from his chest and no longer be Iron Man."
"Thor hasn't appeared since he returned."
"Right now, only you, Bruce, only the reawakened Hulk in you can stop all of this."
"So, Betty's death, I'm sorry."
"But Bruce, you should stand up now."
Nick Fury explained in a deep voice on the phone.
In short, the core idea is just one.
Hawk is too dangerous and needs to be controlled by us, and you, Bruce Banner, are the best weapon we have to control Hawk.
But...
Bruce listened to Nick Fury being discovered, yet he showed no regret, but rather couldn't help but laugh at Nick Fury's self-righteous explanation.
"Nick Fury, you're really hypocritical."
"Bru..."
"Aren't you just worried that one day Hawk will find out that the reason General Ross could find him and attack him was because you provided Hawk's information and location to General Ross, and you're afraid Hawk will stomp your head like he did to kill General Ross?"
"You're scared."
"So you want to use Betty's eagerness to avenge General Ross to complete your plan."
"But you didn't expect Betty to refuse your proposition."
"After Betty died, you initially didn't appear, just wanting to observe whether I really wanted to avenge Betty."
"As a result, I wasn't moved, had no thoughts of revenge, and then you couldn't sit still."
"So you appeared and orchestrated this fake pregnancy report."
"All in the name of justice."
"You're really hypocritical, Nick Fury."
Bruce Banner mercilessly exposed Nick Fury's cover-up, leaving no scruples about unveiling Nick Fury's shining dark butt: "But this is very much like you, just like last year when I agreed to your invitation to help you against Loki, and you prepared a prison cell for me in return."
On the phone, Nick Fury listened to Bruce Banner's words, his expression unchanged.
"Bruce, I'm sorry you feel this way."
"You really should feel sorry."
Bruce Banner did not let Nick Fury off the hook, chuckled ironically, and directly revealed Nick Fury's current thoughts: "Nick, the reason you haven't hung up the phone yet is that you don't want me to tell Maria Hill about this, rest assured, I won't tell them, now you can angrily hang up."
As the words fell.
The sound of the phone hanging up immediately filled the air.
Just as Bruce had told Nick.
His intelligence may not be very high, but it's definitely above Nick Fury's.
Bruce Banner looked at the hung-up phone, shook his head, and did not dwell on the matter.
He indeed had no intention of telling Maria Hill about it.
No need, doesn't matter.
Because...
His heart is already dead.
Bruce Banner sat on the floor, continuing to play the last video message Betty Ross recorded for him.
Actually, on the day Betty died, he already knew what Betty was doing.
As he said, his intelligence is decent.
What he didn't expect was that Betty recorded all of this and told him everything.
In the video, Betty, knowing her death was imminent, appeared calm, reminiscing about the little moments together, while imagining what future they would have faced if it hadn't happened.
Three meals a day, a family of five, the park downstairs, living together.
Betty spoke earnestly and regretfully.
Just as she said in the video, she loved Bruce, and she also loved her father.
Therefore, out of love for her dad, she chose to enter the game with her life.
And out of love for Bruce, she chose to reveal everything, leaving the choice in Bruce's hands.
Bruce had also made his choice.
He initially didn't make a decision, but after seeing the video Betty left, he had already made his choice.
"Actually..."
"I told you Hulk was dead, and that wasn't a lie."
"Hulk is dead, but I feel I can bring Hulk back."
"But it requires a price."
"My life in exchange for Hulk's life."
"Life for a life."
"Betty, I actually don't like Hulk, truly, I really don't, because Hulk destroys everything about me."
"But now, it doesn't matter anymore."
"You're dead, and I have no reason to continue living."
"So!"
"I will use my life to bring back Hulk."
"Wait for me in Hell."
"I'll come for you soon."
In the dark apartment with no lights.
Bruce Banner looked at Betty on his phone, muttering softly.
...