Although she had the support of Mikasa's experience pack, this was, after all, her first actual combat operation of the Omni-directional Mobility Gear; the stimulation of walking a tightrope on the edge of life and death made her calves tremble slightly even now.
"Hey, up there."
Alice raised her head and looked toward the high tree canopy.
"Mr. Long-Face, the battle is over. You can come down now—oh, wait, never mind, it seems you can't come down."
On the redwood tree tens of meters high, Strange was clinging to the trunk like a koala, looking utterly hopeless.
It's easy to climb a tree but hard to get down, especially when there's no ladder, no rope, and one shoe is missing.
Ten seconds later.
Alice used the Omni-directional Mobility Gear to fly back up the tree.
She held the steel wire with one hand, hovering in front of Strange like she was on a swing, a playful smile on her face.
"Need a ride, Doctor?"
Strange looked at the girl in front of him, fully geared and covered in blood, his expression extremely complex.
There was shock, awe, and a trace of frustration as a man.
"Alice, did you do that? I mean, you were flying around, and then you cut it up like a steak?" He swallowed, pointing to the massive Pterosaur corpse below.
"As you can see, Doctor." Alice shrugged.
Strange sighed, giving up on using medical common sense to explain any of this.
"Alright, I only have one question now: what exactly are you, or rather, are you even human?"
"I am Alice Mason, a shipwreck survivor with a bit of good luck."
Alice reached out her hand to him.
"As for this equipment and these abilities, you can think of them as an inheritance I picked up on this deserted island, or maybe God thought I was too cute and gave me a cheat code. Explain it however you like, just don't send me off to be sliced up for research."
Strange looked at the small hand extended toward him, still stained with blood, and gave a wry smile.
"Don't worry, a Doctor has an obligation to protect patient privacy, although you look more like a bodyguard capable of protecting me right now."
"Hold on tight, Doctor. We need to get back to the mountaintop; Banner and the others must be going crazy with worry."
Alice pulled the trigger with her other hand.
"Whoosh!"
The steel cable shot out.
"Wait, slow down, my waist still hurts... ah..."
A scream echoed through the forest once again.
Strange once again experienced that Omni-directional Mobility Gear flight, being swung around in the air like cargo.
He swore that if he could make it back alive this time, he would definitely write a paper on "The Vomit Threshold of the Human Body During High-Speed Directional Changes."
On the mountaintop, on the exposed rock platform.
Banner knelt on the ground, staring at the radio transmitter, its green indicator light blinking lonely in the twilight.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
The signal was being sent, but there was no reply.
Only the monotonous sound of static echoed across the empty mountaintop.
Not far from him, Hughes was still curled up on the ground, holding his head in his hands, his body still trembling slightly.
The scene from just moments ago had completely shattered his psychological defenses.
The moment Strange jumped, that resolute back view was like a loud slap across the face of this so-called man.
"They're dead, they're all dead," Hughes muttered, his voice hoarse. "Alice is dead, the Doctor jumped down and died too, and we're next."
"Shut up!"
The usually gentle Banner stood up abruptly, rushed over, grabbed Hughes by the collar, and hoisted up the burly man who was half a head taller than him.
"They risked their lives to save us. If you aren't going to help, then keep your jinxing mouth shut."
Hughes was stunned, staring blankly at the physicist who was usually so timid, unable to say a single word.
Just then.
"Whoosh—"
A Strange sound of wind being broken came from below the cliff.
Banner's ears twitched, and he turned his head sharply.
He saw a silver steel cable suddenly shoot out from the clouds and mist below, precisely embedding itself into a boulder at the edge of the platform.
Immediately after, accompanied by the hissing sound of gas ejection.
Two figures flew up from below the cliff.
"Bang!"
The two landed heavily on the grass and rolled forward a few times before stopping.
Banner widened his eyes in disbelief, even forgetting to release Hughes's collar.
He saw that the one wearing a Strange leather jacket and carrying a metal box was... Alice?
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