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After returning ho, Jimmy imdiately threw himself back into work.
He read while taking notes, scribbling ideas and reminders into a notebook.
Ti passed quickly.
By the ti Yinsen ca ho, Jimmy did not even notice.
"Hey, Jimmy," Yinsen said, setting his things down. "That looks like a lot of studying for one day."
Jimmy looked up at him, then glanced at the sky outside the window.
"Oh damn. I lost track of ti, It is not that there is more to study today. There is just a special reason, Here, this needs a guardian's signature."
As he spoke, Jimmy handed Yinsen the early graduation application form.
Yinsen took it and read it carefully.
"You want to graduate early?" Yinsen asked. "Why, did sothing happen at school?"
"No, Nothing like that," Jimmy replied calmly. "I just do not want to waste ti playing around with kids anymore. It is too immature And the lab work is finally reaching a critical stage. The Blood Orchid is about to bloom, and I want to be involved directly.
"You are a doctor, you understand what this ans for dicine."
"I may have turned the initial results into costic products, but the core research is still about cellular behavior."
"If the Hayflick limit can be broken, that would be a miracle in dical history, As soone who helped uncover that miracle, I want to be part of it."
Yinsen looked at him for a mont.
"Are you rushing things a little too much?"
"Rushing?" Jimmy scoffed. "You already have gray hair, Yinsen. I cannot wait until your cells stop dividing properly before I finish the research, If that happens, what would be the point of discovering it at all?"
Yinsen sighed.
"All right, it is your decision. If sothing is bothering you, do not bottle it up. You have to talk about it Understand and try to stay away from Damon. I do not think he is a good influence."
He signed his na as he spoke.
Jimmy raised both hands.
"Okay, okay, I will be careful, but without soone like Damon keeping an eye on that warehouse, it would get robbed easily. Insurance covers it, sure, but filing claims is a headache."
"Besides, Damon has changed. He has Mindy to take care of now, He is not the sa person he used to be."
---
During this period, Jimmy's routine beca extrely regular.
Every day was divided between studying, preparing for exams, and spending ti in the lab.
He took and passed the written driver's license test in between.
His life narrowed into a simple loop between the laboratory and the study room.
He even finished all the books recomnded by Grace Stane.
At this point, Jimmy no longer relied on intuition alone to understand complex topics.
He now understood the principles behind them, not just the surface results.
When he felt ntally exhausted, he would go check on Damon and get so physical training in.
When he felt restless, he would head into Hell's Kitchen, catch a few criminals, tie them up, and leave them neatly placed by the trash bins outside the police station.
---
These days were fulfilling.
That changed after one particular driving test.
Jimmy beca unexpectedly well-known.
After finishing the road test, he stopped at a restaurant to grab sothing to eat and cool off.
Technically, he was now licensed to drive.
But regulations required an experienced driver to sit in the passenger seat.
Only after a year could he drive alone legally.
Of course, he could ignore the law.
If he got caught, it was not impossible to smooth things over.
But that would clash badly with the image he was carefully maintaining.
So he swallowed his frustration.
At most, he could apply to be Yinsen's personal driver and handle daily commutes.
Aside from that limitation, everything else was going smoothly.
His graduation exam results were outstanding.
And the university Grace Stane had graduated from had already sent him an acceptance letter.
Jimmy even visited once.
They told him directly that as long as he included the university's na in the Blood Orchid research project, they could issue his graduation certificate imdiately.
Of course, to keep outsiders quiet, the graduation exams still had to be taken.
The books still had to be studied.
From the school's perspective, even finishing that reading list alone should take at least two years.
After that, Jimmy could sit for the exams, and they could proudly announce that he was a prodigy cultivated by their institution.
A genius producing another genius.
That story sold itself.
After all, the man flying around in that tal suit was already world famous.
Yes.
Tony had personally brought Jimmy to the school.
Officially, as Jimmy's uncle.
---
Jimmy shook his head with a faint smile.
Tony really did think of everything.
This was not about family pride.
It was a warning.
Tony was making it clear that this school was not to get any ideas about swallowing Jimmy's research and claiming it as their own.
After all, their interest in Jimmy was hardly innocent. Most of it was aid directly at the Blood Orchid project.
What Tony did not know was that the Blood Orchid could only grow properly inside Jimmy's lab.
Other facilities were missing one crucial elent.
Vibranium ore.
Without it, even if soone copied the research data, they would be unable to manufacture anything at all.
The most important raw material simply did not exist elsewhere.
"Boom!"
Jimmy was in the middle of his thoughts when a deafening explosion rocked the street outside.
Screams followed.
Then ca the unmistakable sound of automatic gunfire, cracking like firecrackers.
A citywide ergency siren began to howl.
The street erupted into chaos.
"Crash!"
Glass shattered.
Another explosion followed.
The ground shook violently.
What had just flown past the window?
A car.
The vehicle slamd into the pavent, crushed almost flat. The people inside were coughing up blood, pinned in twisted tal, There was no chance of survival.
Another car swerved to avoid the burning wreckage and slamd directly into a fire hydrant.
Water blasted into the air.
Screams and gunshots blended into a single wall of noise.
This was where the difference showed.
Here, the first instinct after an explosion was not curiosity.
It was an escape.
Jimmy stared toward Broadway.
This was not a battlefield.
So why did that sound suspiciously like a rocket launcher?
Using heavy explosives in a crowded district.
That was insanity.
When Jimmy stepped outside, he realized that rocket launchers were the least shocking part of the scene.
At the far end of the street, a massive yellow figure ca into view.
One car in each hand.
Every punch sent bodies flying.
That was not just anyone.
That was an abomination. Or rather, Emil Blonsky.
Watching it on a screen was one thing.
Seeing it in person was sothing else entirely.
The movie version had skipped a lot.
The Hulk had not even appeared yet, and Jimmy could already see dozens of bodies.
The death toll was easily over a hundred.
And once the green giant showed up, it would only get worse.
Jimmy sprinted into an alley.
Armor on.
Weapon out.
He paused.
The blade would not be useful here.
Looks like there was only one option.
His claws extended.
At that exact mont, another car was hurled through the air.
Inside, a mother and daughter scread in terror.
Their death was asured in the distance between that arc and the pavent.
Jimmy launched himself forward.
He caught the car with both hands, muscles screaming under the impact, and lowered it to the ground.
"Ma'am," Jimmy said calmly, "please stop pressing the accelerator.
If you do not, I am going to have to flip your car upside down."
He tore the door open.
Over the roar of spinning wheels, he dragged the young mother out of the driver's seat.
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