Even in the crowded streets of Manhattan, the three soldiers surrounded Luke without hesitation, like wolves encircling prey.
Their massive size alone was enough to send a silent wave of pressure through the crowd.
Pedestrians instinctively scattered. Some ran, others just slipped away, eyes wide, unsure what was happening, but absolutely certain they didn't want to get involved.
The group of young women who had been fawning over Doggo instantly sensed the danger and fled through the narrow gap between the towering figures, none of the soldiers bothering to stop them.
After all, they weren't part of the mission.
Now, caught between the three hulking men, only Luke remained, his thin frame seeming incredibly fragile in comparison, and Doggo, who continued to wag his tail and shake his butt, as if he didn't understand the current situation.
The soldiers wore both black masks and sunglasses, hiding their faces entirely.
But Luke, behind his gold-rimmed, see-through glasses, saw what they couldn't hide, the faint radioactive green glow in their eyes.
His heart skipped a beat.
That color was unmistakable.
It was the same unnatural hue that haunted the edges of Hulk's rage. The same shade that whispered of gamma radiation and uncontainable power.
It didn't take a genius to guess who had sent them.
Luke frowned slightly. In the Marvel movies, General Ross's super soldier experiments always ended up in failure, even at the very end.
But now, because of the butterfly effects his presence had caused, it seemed the tide had turned.
Ross had finally succeeded.
Still, Luke's expression didn't shift. His poker face had always been one of his greatest strengths. Fear, if it existed, hardly ever reached the surface.
And after a brief moment of reflection, he realized: there wasn't much to worry about.
They were just a few super soldiers.
Even if the Hulk himself stood before him, Luke wouldn't be too concerned.
Because his dog wasn't just a simple chubby dog anymore, Doggo's talents now extended to more than just wagging his butt and acting cute to please girls.
The soldier in the center stepped forward, voice deep and gravelly.
"Come with us. The General wants to see you."
His tone broke no argument. It was a command, absolute, final.
The kind of tone that expected instant obedience.
In his mind, Luke was nothing more than a twig-thin civilian, one flick away from being turned into meat paste by his newly acquired strength.
But Luke didn't budge. His voice remained calm. Light even.
"And what if I don't want to?"
The soldier cocked his head slightly, amused, then let out a short chuckle.
Behind the mask, his grin stretched wide.
With deliberate slowness, he raised his massive hand next to Luke's ear, and clenched it into a fist.
The bones popped and cracked like grinding stones, loud enough to make the nearby air tremble.
"I suggest you cooperate," the soldier rumbled. "Unless you want to find out just how strong this hand is." He actually looked forward to it, eager to try his power on a living target.
But before the echo of his voice could fade, a familiar sound chimed in Luke's mind:
[Ding~ Your pet dog has sensed a threat to its owner. In response, it has initiated the fusion of two internal energies and evolved into a third-order mutated creature: Three-Headed Dog of the Green Hell. New ability unlocked: Splitting!]
The soft, mechanical voice of the system never failed to bring Luke relief.
Right on time, he thought with a smirk.
Although his Infinite Mutation System was passive and often out of his control, it had a way of showing up at the perfect moment.
What exactly was the "Three-Headed Dog of the Green Hell"? He had absolutely no idea.
What was the "Splitting" ability? Same thing, he was even more clueless about it.
But what he did know was that third-order mutations should be a massive leap above second-order.
These muscle-bound goons had no idea how screwed they were.
Confidence blooming, Luke took a breath and spoke casually, almost conversationally:
"Since you're working for Ross, I assume you've heard of Havok?"
The three soldiers froze for half a beat.
Havok had been Ross's top enforcer,someone they could only look up to with envy once upon a time.
But… he was dead. Everyone knew that.
Luke calmly pointed to the chubby dog at his feet.
"So if you don't want to share the same fate, I'd suggest you leave. Right about now."
There was a beat of silence.
Then all three soldiers burst into low, disdainful laughter.
Behind the masks, their faces twisted in rage.
They were newly born monsters, each confident enough to take on a battalion alone.
And now this brat dared to threaten them?
Their patience, never very deep to begin with, snapped. Their new anger issues sure didn't help either.
The frontmost soldier snarled and stepped forward.
Without a word, he raised his massive foot, aimed directly at Doggo's head, intent on crushing the meatball where it stood.
The moment his foot began to fall, screams erupted from the women nearby, who had only fled a short distance.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
That adorable, bumbling husky, the dog that danced and rolled and shook his entire rear end for treats, was about to be brutally stomped?
The cruelty of it shocked them.
They just couldn't imagine how someone could be so evil as to hurt such a cute animal.
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