Although Hulk's condition was unstable and he wasn't exactly obedient, Arthur had a great idea. However, when it came to executing it, there were still plenty of challenges.
Seeing Hulk again, the massive green figure seemed incredibly excited. He nearly bumped into Arthur, picking him up and tossing him into the air. Arthur was caught off guard, falling and being caught by Hulk, only to be thrown up again. It took him a moment to realize what was happening.
What really drove Arthur crazy, though, was what Hulk shouted: "Up high!"
"…Who taught you that?!"
Arthur's eyes widened in disbelief. 'What on earth had these people been feeding into this giant's mind?'
Natasha watched Hulk cautiously, but since Arthur was there, he spoke to Hulk in detail, patiently correcting his distracted thoughts. Yes, this big guy was easily sidetracked.
He often became curious about everything around him. For example, he would wonder about the hardness of the ground, and if Arthur hadn't reacted quickly, the underground prison might have collapsed by now. He'd also be curious about the height above his head, trying to jump, but Arthur intercepted him mid-air.
After observing this for a while, Natasha decided, "You stay here for the interrogation; I'll go check on the progress over there."
She felt that even if Hulk obeyed, she wouldn't be able to control him on her own!
"Have some patience. When dealing with children, we need to be patient. It's a quality we adults must have," Arthur said earnestly.
Arthur's patience quickly paid off. Hulk sat on the ground, eyes locked on Arthur with unprecedented focus.
Arthur continued as he had been.
Eventually, Hulk transformed back into Banner.
After a moment of staring at each other in shock, Arthur stood up in frustration. "Looks like this is something only you can handle now."
"Hulk didn't cause too much chaos, did he?" Banner glanced around before closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked at Arthur. "It seems like he didn't really understand what you meant."
"Huh?" Arthur blinked. "So, he didn't go back on purpose? He just couldn't understand me, so he went to ask you. Can you two really communicate that much now?"
"We can communicate simply," Banner replied. "But Hulk's condition has never been very stable. Sometimes he might seem smart, but at other times, he can be very childish…"
"Then try sending my meaning to him."
Banner nodded. "I'll try."
He closed his eyes again, and before he could open them, he transformed back into Hulk.
Then he stared at Arthur.
Arthur handed the paper to Hulk. Hulk looked at it and said, "Don't know…"
"Then read it out loud."
Arthur coached him sentence by sentence. Hulk had learned his language on his own, so some words were clear, while others were vague. Sometimes he struggled to express himself properly, and occasionally he even contradicted himself.
Arthur thought to himself that after this, he really should set up a tutoring class for Hulk. Though a life of attending various tutoring sessions from a young age might be tough, it would likely be necessary for effective growth.
After an hour of effort, Hulk finally memorized everything.
Given his "vicious appearance," when he recited the lines, it was still quite terrifying.
Natasha was a bit shaken. "He's not going to take this seriously, is he? He looks kind of scary!"
"He's adorable!" Arthur looked at Hulk and laughed. "Look at him, so clumsy and cute."
"…Where do you see that?" Natasha was shocked.
Arthur replied, "Anyway, I'll leave this to you. If anything goes wrong, contact me immediately. I can come back right away. It should be fine; no accidents will happen."
Natasha nodded and glanced at the row of small compartments along the wall, each containing a different teleportation array, feeling slightly reassured.
However, Arthur didn't leave immediately. Instead, he personally brought someone out and watched Natasha and Hulk work together for the first time before finally stepping away.
And this cooperation was nothing short of perfect.
Hulk scared the poor person so badly that they almost wet themselves. Although the person didn't spill every detail, they answered all the questions obediently and behaved very well.
Natasha integrated the information, sent the person back, and pulled another one out.
Hulk then continued his earlier performance. During a break, he even gave Arthur a thumbs-up and winked!
This left Arthur both amused and exasperated, muttering, "You've gotten too cheeky."
Just then, Parker's information came through, and Arthur stepped onto the teleportation array, arriving at Camp Lehigh.
"Three documents!"
Parker handed the documents to Arthur. "Mr. Stark is getting a bit anxious."
"Mm."
Arthur glanced at the documents in his hand. They were all plans created by Hydra during the battlefield years. For example, military factories, the expansion of secret bases, and so on. The document headers were all early-stage files, so Arthur decided to head over to Tony's side.
Tony was frowning, working intently on his computer. "Do you know what this feels like to me?"
"What?" Arthur asked, curious.
"It's alive."
Tony looked at Arthur, his expression serious. "Otherwise, with this old relic, it wouldn't be able to hold on till now."
"Feels like you're indirectly insulting me," Arthur said, patting Tony on the shoulder. "Can I see the headers of the documents?"
"Can't see them," Tony shook his head. "I can't see the specific content of the documents here. The simulation data, summaries, reorganization, and prints… Only after they come out do I know what's written on them. And right now, what you're seeing is exactly what I'm seeing."
Arthur glanced at the computer, which was mostly filled with various data codes. "Well, no choice then. I guess we'll have to rely on luck."
"Do you have a specific request?" Tony asked, looking up from his screen.
Arthur replied, "I want to know their plan to infiltrate SHIELD."
"That's no small task," Tony said, furrowing his brow. "We have to prepare for the worst. I'm worried we won't be able to read all the data. This computer might end up deleting itself. Could its core also be an AI system?"
"There was someone named Dr. Zola among the people who created this computer," Arthur said. "Do you think, given their capabilities back then, it's possible they could have stored a person's soul, their will, or consciousness inside a computer? Becoming the core of the system?"
(End of Chapter)
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