To Drex Valen's surprise, the Ancient One never appeared during Bruce Banner's full dical examination.
He had originally planned to ask her about Morgan if she showed up.
After all, Morgan was the daughter of a dinsional demon god.
For all he knew, she could end up becoming Marvel's version of Raven from DC.
"Did sothing happen to Kamar-Taj? Is the Ancient One finally reaching her limit?"
Drex thought about it briefly, but ultimately did not care too much.
anwhile, the mysterious "Mr. Blue" who had been contacting Bruce Banner, the future Leader, had already been secretly captured by Drex Valen's people ahead of ti.
As a result, the blood sample Bruce had mailed out eventually ended up in Drex Valen's hands instead.
"So my power ca from the thing inside him?"
Blonsky stared at Bruce Banner with obvious excitent burning in his eyes.
"Strictly speaking, no."
Drex Valen corrected him calmly.
Honestly, he suspected there was sothing fundantally abnormal about both the Banner family and the Ross bloodline.
Normal people exposed to gamma radiation died.
These people, anwhile, turned into giant monsters.
Where exactly was the logic in that?
The blood Drex had injected into Blonsky originally ca from General Ross before transforming him into Abomination.
Yet sohow, the results ended up astonishingly similar to Hulk's power.
At the sa ti, Drex Valen had already ordered World Serpent operatives to secretly gather biological samples from Ross's daughter, Betty, Bruce Banner's lover and the future Red She-Hulk.
He had also obtained samples from Banner's cousin, Jennifer Susan Walters, the future She-Hulk.
As for the remaining mbers of the Hulk family, they still had not been located.
Once the physical examination was complete, Bruce Banner received his own combat suit.
"…I don't really need a suit."
Bruce looked awkwardly at the outfit placed before him.
There probably was not a single combat suit on Earth capable of surviving Hulk-level combat.
"Try it on first, Dr. Banner."
Drex Valen spoke calmly.
"This suit is made from a special fiber. It's virtually indestructible."
Naturally, the "special fiber" was actually vibranium fiber.
But there was no way Drex Valen would openly admit that.
After all, Wakanda had mysteriously lost several hundred tons of vibranium not too long ago.
Though by now, Drex no longer needed to steal it anyway. His mastery over atomic structures allowed him to recreate virtually any material he wanted.
Including vibranium.
Bruce Banner did not have particularly high expectations, but he still put the suit on.
At worst, it would simply be another failed experint.
Just as Drex Valen obtained Hulk's samples and prepared to return to his research, a strange figure appeared outside Blade Tech Industries.
The man wore aristocratic noble clothing and carried a polished gentleman's cane.
His hair was slicked back so perfectly that it rivaled Drex Valen's own Aizen-level hairstyle.
The kind of hair so smooth and immaculate that a fly would probably slip off if it tried to land there.
Only one word could describe it:
Silky.
The middle-aged nobleman had originally been heading sowhere else entirely.
But the mont he passed by Blade Tech Industries, he suddenly stopped walking.
"…The scent of Hell."
The man slowly turned his gaze toward the building.
Then, without hesitation, he changed direction and walked inside.
Neither the War Machine security guards stationed at the entrance nor the Black Queen's surveillance systems reacted at all.
It was as though nobody could even perceive his existence.
The sound of his cane echoed steadily through the corridors of Blade Tech Industries.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Unlike ordinary people, Drex Valen sensed sothing wrong almost imdiately the instant the cane struck the floor.
His brows furrowed.
Yet within his electromagnetic field perception, nothing unusual appeared.
The atomic structures remained perfectly normal.
Everything looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Drex slowly put down his research materials.
Dark Knight armor instantly covered his body as he rose to his feet and stepped out of the laboratory.
The fact that he felt sothing was wrong despite detecting nothing was itself the biggest warning possible.
In situations like this, Drex trusted his instincts completely.
Even as a scientist who believed in data and laws above all else, there were tis when human intuition beca sothing strangely difficult to explain.
When Drex pushed open the enormous atomic-alloy laboratory door, a barrier designed to require over five hundred tons of force to move...
He imdiately saw the man standing outside.
And within Drex's magnetic and atomic perception fields...
The man did not exist.
"Good evening, Drex Valen."
The gentleman smiled politely.
"Who are you?"
Drex instantly realized he had encountered the kind of enemy he least wanted to face.
A supernatural enemy.
The mont that thought appeared, the Dragon Force tattoo beneath the Dark Knight armor lit up brilliantly.
And only then did Drex Valen finally see the creature's true form.
Razor-sharp teeth.
Curved goat horns.
Reverse-jointed hooves.
And darkness swirling around him like black mist.
A devil.
"Who I am isn't important, Drex Valen."
The man suddenly appeared beside him without warning, slowly circling him as he spoke.
"What matters is this."
"You carry the scent of Hell upon you."
"Have you been to Hell?"
The mont he said those words, Drex imdiately understood.
It was because he and the Ancient One had spent five full days inside that Hell Dinsion.
The aura of that dinsion must have lingered on him afterward.
And now a devil had noticed.
At the sa ti, Drex Valen quickly guessed the devil's identity.
Aside from phisto, there were probably very few demons arrogant enough to casually wander Earth during the Ancient One's reign.
Though this was clearly only a projection, not the real phisto himself.
And Drex's guess was completely correct.
As one of the rulers of Hell Dinsion fragnts, phisto possessed an extrely sensitive awareness toward unfamiliar Hell dinsions.
The infernal aura clinging to Drex Valen was sothing phisto had never encountered before.
Which ant only one thing.
Drex Valen had entered a brand-new Hell Dinsion fragnt that phisto himself had never discovered.
That kind of information was enough to drive countless devils and demons insane with greed.
phisto included.
Now that Drex understood exactly why the devil had co, he also understood there was no room for negotiation.
Dragon Force erupted instantly.
A deep blue dragon coiled around Drex Valen's body with vivid, almost divine realism, making him appear like so godlike being descended from myth.
phisto's pupils contracted violently.
As a Hell Lord who had survived for countless years without being destroyed, phisto naturally recognized Dragon Force.
And he also knew the terrifying legend behind it.
Dragon Force had once shattered the Phoenix Force itself.
Damn it!
This projection had not been easy to send into Earth's dinsion.
Before phisto could even finish speaking, Drex Valen already moved.
He threw a punch.
Dragon Force wrapped around his fist and erupted outward like Sun Wukong's Dragon Fist technique brought to life.
phisto's projection was struck head-on by the overwhelming power.
In an instant, it was annihilated completely.
Not even ashes remained.
"…That didn't seem very strong."
Drex Valen stared at the empty space where phisto had vanished, feeling slightly puzzled.
Sure, it had only been a projection.
But it should still have possessed at least so aningful power.
Especially considering Drex himself had not held back at all.
At the last possible mont, he forcibly restrained the attack's destructive spread.
Otherwise, that single punch would have been enough to flatten all of New York City.
No matter how he looked at it, though...
Being targeted by an ancient devil like phisto was definitely going to beco troubleso.
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