On the other side.
The golden light dispersed, and Leon and Bruce Banner appeared in the living room of a luxurious seaside Villa.
The Villa was situated on a cliff, with an endless view of the Pacific Ocean outside the French windows.
The afterglow of the setting Sun spilled onto the sea, shimmering and beautiful like a painting.
"Wow."
Bruce Banner adjusted his glasses, unable to suppress a gasp of surprise.
His souvenir T-shirt and shorts were completely out of place in the opulent surroundings, making him feel as if he had stumbled into a billionaire's party.
"Where is this?"
"Tony Stark's house." Leon casually walked to the wine cabinet and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"I'm borrowing it. I don't think he'd mind."
Bruce's mouth twitched.
Are you sure you're 'borrowing' it?
He felt certain that Leon hadn't even bothered to say hello.
He could imagine Tony Stark's exasperated face upon discovering his house had been occupied.
But then again, this Sun god seemed to have the right to do so.
Leon, holding his wine glass, walked to the French window, gazing at the setting Sun outside, his thoughts beginning to drift.
Subduing the Eternal was the first step of his plan.
These tools, possessing immortality and various superpowers, were indeed excellent soldiers.
Although their minds weren't very sharp, and their faith was fragile and easily shattered.
But it didn't matter; he had plenty of time and means to mold them into the form he desired.
Ikaris's laughable loyalty, Sersi's overflowing compassion, Kingo's flashy yet superficial entertainment spirit… in his view, these were all exploitable traits.
He didn't want thoughtless puppets, but a group of weapons capable of thinking and absolutely loyal to him.
Behind them was Arishem the Judge, the apparent leader of the Celestials.
Speaking of which, Leon recalled a popular meme circulating online in his previous life about Odin fighting the Celestials.
Regarding this matter, many people hadn't read the original comics, so they were misled.
This story occurred in issue #300 of the first volume of the ancient comic series "Thor."
The overall story unfolded from Thor's perspective, recounting Odin's redemption through the Eye of Odin. To save Earth and the Gods, he ultimately donned the Destroyer armor, blessed and forged by the Gods, to confront the Celestials.
After Thor escaped from the realm of the Eye of Odin, he returned to Asgard and found all his people dead. Although his father, Odin, appeared to be dead, Thor sensed something was wrong.
He eventually learned that Odin had worn the armor blessed by the Gods and had also gathered the souls of all Asgardian Gods into the armor.
Furthermore, Odin had arrived at the agreed-upon location with the Celestials.
The battle had already begun when Thor arrived.
With the other Celestials watching, Odin swung his divine sword and severed a Celestial's arm.
This sounded quite imposing, but the other party was merely playing with Odin, and his arm regenerated the next second.
Then they realized that Arishem the Judge had given an order in advance; he wanted to see how powerful Odin could be in that armor.
After assessing his combat strength, Arishem the Judge lost interest and directly ordered a group attack on Odin.
Odin, who was already struggling, was instantly overwhelmed. It was already difficult to fight one, and with several more suddenly appearing, he quickly fell into a disadvantage.
Finally, as the Celestials were about to kill Odin, Thor's biological mother (according to the comic's setting), Gaea, appeared.
Under Gaea's earnest pleading, the Celestials magnanimously spared Odin and abandoned Earth.
This battle nearly wiped out Asgard and the Gods of Earth, and Thor almost became the last Asgardian.
Shaking his head, Leon stopped thinking about these matters.
This comic issue was too old; the Celestials hadn't been nerfed back then, so their combat power was naturally strong.
As for now? Leon could only scoff.
"How do you feel, Dr.?"
Leon turned and leaned against the French window, swirling the red wine in his glass.
"First time controlling the power, doesn't it feel pretty good?"
Bruce snapped out of his shock. He glanced at his hands, nodded, his expression excited.
"Yes, it's wonderful. I can feel the Hulk's rage, but I'm not consumed by it. We're like one person."
He organized his thoughts, continuing his excited response.
"This feeling is very powerful, and also very reassuring."
This was the first time he hadn't felt fear towards the other entity within him.
"That's not an illusion." Leon took a sip of wine, his tone calm.
"The Hulk's power originates from your subconscious. Anger is merely the key to releasing it. What you used to do was desperately hide the key and lock the door. What I'm teaching you is to pick up the key, open the door, and see the scenery behind it."
He slowly walked in front of Banner, his eyes seemingly able to see through everything.
"What you need to learn is not to suppress anger, but to master it. Let it be your fuel, your weapon, not your cage.
Imagine, Bruce, what kind of being would you become when your wisdom and the Hulk's power are perfectly combined?"
Banner's heart pounded.
The combination of wisdom and power?
This was something he had been thinking about and working on these past few days.
In the past, Bruce Banner and the Hulk were two extremes.
One was a rational scientist, the other an irrational Beast.
They were always in opposition, always in conflict.
But what if they could merge?
A being with Bruce Banner's wisdom and the Hulk's destructive power… Leon smiled. If that were to happen.
Worldbreaker Hulk? No, perhaps it would be an even more perfect form than that.
Once this thought arose, it spread like a wildfire, impossible to extinguish.
Watching the glimmer in Banner's eyes, Leon smiled with satisfaction.
"This requires training, Dr." Leon's voice sounded again.
"Long and arduous training. I will teach you how to channel power, how to keep your consciousness clear in the storm. But in exchange…"
"I will serve you." Banner answered without hesitation.
He had made his choice.
Rather than return to his past life of hiding and fear, he preferred to gamble on a new future with Leon.
"A wise choice." Leon raised his glass, gesturing to him.
"Then, welcome aboard, Dr. You are my chief scientist and chief berserker."
With that, he drained the wine in his glass.
Just then, Jarvis's voice suddenly echoed in the living room.
"Sir, an unknown visitor has been detected. I apologize, Sir, but my firewall is being infiltrated? Oh, my God, the other party has already gained supreme authority.
Good afternoon, Mr. Leon. Mr. Stark asks me to convey his regards and inquire if you would like a cup of coffee."
Jarvis's voice carried confusion and helplessness.
Bruce Banner:...Sure enough, Tony Stark already knew.
And it seemed he didn't dare to have any objections.
Leon waved his hand casually.
"Tell Tony that I'm very satisfied with the house. In return, have him compile a list of HYDRA members for me. Oh, and those lurking Skrulls. I think it's time for Earth to have a thorough cleanup."
"Understood, Mr. Leon. I will relay your orders verbatim."
Having dealt with this matter, Leon's gaze once again turned to the window.
The Eternal were already in hand, the Hulk had submitted, and HYDRA and the Skrulls were about to be purged.
The arrangements on Earth were basically complete.
Next… his gaze seemed to penetrate the endless void, looking towards the depths of the Universe, towards that golden divine realm.
Asgard… Thinking of these, a playful smile touched Leon's lips.
A few days ago, his foolish younger brother, Thor, had finally awakened the power of the God King within him, and was beginning to resemble Thor.
For someone like Thor, whose head contained nothing but muscle and a hammer, he wouldn't listen to reason unless he was beaten into submission.
Currently, Thor was obediently taking Jane Foster on a honeymoon in Asgard, and incidentally receiving further instruction from his father, Odin.
"Father, Father, you treat me as Thor's whetstone, yet you don't know that what I truly want to sharpen is the entire Nine Realms, and even the entire Universe."
Developing his forces was just the first step.
Earth, this seemingly insignificant yet crucial stage, would be his first fulcrum to leverage the cosmic order.
The Eternal, the Hulk, S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark… these would all become his subordinates.
As for Asgard… Leon's gaze deepened.
Asgard was his base, the source of his power.
After finding time to deal with Loki's problem, Asgard would be fine.
.....
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