After savoring the taste of Tony's future happiness for a moment, Heisenberg quietly drifted off to sleep.
Quietly…?
No, Jessica arrived…
"BOSS～～"
"F**k!"
When he woke up again, Jessica was long gone, and Billy was already standing beside him, gently reminding him:
"BOSS, maybe you should have some lunch first. You still have a meeting to chair this afternoon."
"Meeting? What meeting? What the hell?"
Heisenberg instinctively asked, then remembered his work for the day.
Ah, right. Those damn mob bosses were supposed to come here to meet their end!
Cough cough.
Meeting, meeting—how could he say those idiots were coming to die?
So, Heisenberg got up from the lounge chair and went to the nightclub to eat something.
Thanks to his earlier orders, the nightclub was completely empty of customers today.
Meanwhile, over thirty professional cleaners had already been arranged backstage.
Why cleaners instead of assassins…?
Heisenberg's men didn't need assassins, because assassins kill by ambush, while Heisenberg's men never kill in secret.
Slowly swallowing the last bite of steak, he popped the final oyster into his mouth.
He put down his knife and fork and patted Billy on the shoulder.
"At three o'clock, wake me when they've all arrived!"
"Yes, BOSS!"
With that, Heisenberg returned to the rooftop, leisurely soaking up the sun.
If you examined his life closely, you'd find that he seemed to spend nine out of ten days sunbathing.
He basked until 3:15 PM, when Billy finally came to wake him.
"BOSS, everyone seems to be here!"
"Hmm? Hmm!"
Heisenberg nodded knowingly, then got up from the lounge chair and headed toward the now-closed nightclub.
Taking the elevator downstairs, he arrived backstage, where Jessica and Bullseye were waiting.
Seeing Heisenberg arrive, the two nodded at him, and Bullseye whispered:
"Boss, we're all ready!"
"Hmm, make it clean!"
Heisenberg replied, then walked through the now-empty backstage area, past the various dancer outfits, into the nightclub, which had no customers.
The nightclub's main doors had long been sealed, and in the center, over forty men sat haphazardly in chairs.
Some were nervous, others indifferent, sipping the drinks brought by Heisenberg's men.
When Heisenberg arrived, more than half of them stood up decisively and greeted him.
"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Heisenberg!"
The men who stood up said respectfully.
As for the rest, who didn't even bother to stand, they didn't even glance at Heisenberg.
But Heisenberg felt the same way—he didn't bother to look at these mob bosses either.
He slowly walked to his seat.
*Smack!*
He lightly tapped the table and spoke in an extremely gentle tone:
"Today, I only have one thing to say: Are all the bosses of New York here? Is anyone missing?"
As his words fell, one of the bosses who had stood up quickly shook his head and replied to Heisenberg:
"My lord, we're all here!"
His expression was even a bit excited as he answered, perhaps thinking he could now wield the power Kingpin once gave him.
But he had no idea…
When Heisenberg heard his reply…
"All here? Good, let's begin!"
Heisenberg said softly, then turned around and walked back the way he came.
In an instant, his men, led by Bullseye, pulled out their weapons.
In the blink of an eye, countless gun barrels, filled with bloodlust and slaughter, were aimed at the mob bosses.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Boss, say what you need to say first! Don't start shooting without even talking!!!"
"Damn it, you're going to start now? At least tell us your demands! Maybe we can meet them!"
"Heisenberg, you son of a bitch!"
"You've got guts, you bastard! You dare pull something like this?!"
"You'll pay for this!!!"
*Rat-a-tat-tat…*
Before they could finish speaking, gunfire erupted, and Bullseye even grabbed a machine gun, ensuring every bullet found its mark in the bosses' chests.
In mere moments, the room was littered with bodies.
Heisenberg looked at the corpses and nodded in satisfaction.
"Everyone's here, right? That's the only thing I needed to say!"
He declared.
"Since no one's late, take them all out.
Bullseye, take your men and the elites Rumlow sent to the streets. From tonight, New York's darkness belongs only to Heisenberg!
Jessica, have the nightclub staff clean up this mess. Don't let these greedy bugs stain my floor.
And Billy, I appreciate your skills. Don't let greed and ambition cloud your judgment like these dead men.
Everyone has the chance to achieve greatness and happiness through me, but those who betray me do not.
Get to work, and tell these damn bastards goodbye for me!"
With that, Heisenberg strolled back to the rooftop.
Perhaps his mood had finally lifted, for he lay on the rooftop looking especially relaxed.
…
Meanwhile, at SHIELD's Pegasus Project temporary command center…
Bruce Banner, the radiation expert who had squeezed into the Pegasus Project as chief commander a month and a half ago…
He had just ended his life of constant ostracism.
…
It must be admitted that, even though he truly had the intellect to deserve the position…
Even though he was more suited for the job than anyone else…
But when he suddenly parachuted into the project…
Those who hated him far outnumbered those who admired him.
However, from the first day he joined, Dr. Banner had prepared for everything.
He knew the petty nonsense of the scientific community, and he had the ability to handle it.
And now, a full month and a half later…
He had conquered countless top scientists with his professional expertise and boundless imagination.
And now, he was finally enjoying happiness he hadn't felt in years!
After finishing his work for the day, he strolled back to his dorm with light, carefree steps.
His dorm was no longer the prison-like space it once was, but an ordinary scholar's room.
Yet it was this ordinariness, this normalcy, that brought him the happiness he craved most.
He was no longer the monster in others' mouths.
Now, he had truly become one of the most intelligent scientists on Earth, a Dr. Bruce Banner worthy of his intellect!
Muttering his doctoral title, Banner sauntered into his room and expertly brewed a cup of coffee.
He still had much work to do tonight—it wasn't time to rest.
Sipping his coffee, Banner savored the taste of SHIELD's special blend while pondering the phased formulas of the Tesseract's energy fluctuations.
That's right—after confirming he wouldn't unleash the beast within and cause trouble for SHIELD, Hill had transferred him to the Tesseract research team.
Thinking of his newfound peace and happiness, Banner suddenly felt a bit grateful to Heisenberg.
In his view, if Heisenberg hadn't given the Hulk a good beating, how could he have this life now?
But he had no idea that his newfound peace was about to vanish with the Tesseract's anomaly.
Just as Banner finished half his coffee, the phone rang.
When he picked it up, his current deputy—and former Pegasus Project lead, Professor Selvig—spoke to him anxiously:
"Dr. Banner, the Tesseract's spectral records have suddenly shown anomalies. Please come observe them ASAP!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing Selvig's words, Banner had a bad feeling.
He threw on his lab coat and rushed to the Pegasus Project's main lab with perfect scientific posture.
…
Less than half an hour later, aboard the Helicarrier hovering over the Rocky Mountains, SHIELD Director Hill received Banner's call.
Seeing the caller ID, Hill tensed slightly.
She had fought to get Bruce Banner into the Pegasus Project, and if Banner caused trouble again, she'd be in a tough spot.
So, when she answered, she immediately asked:
"What happened? How's the Pegasus Project?"
"Emmm, the Pegasus Project's fine. We've developed at least three weapons based on the Tesseract's energy principles!"
Banner replied softly.
But this wasn't enough to ease Hill's worries. As a professional agent, Hill had already detected the unease in Banner's voice.
"Get to the point. What happened? You sound tense!"
On the other end, Banner seemed uncomfortable revealing the project's flaws to his superior.
After all, none of Bruce Banner's research projects had ever failed.
(°_°)...
He admitted it—his first independently led project had failed, and it turned him into the Hulk.
Since then, he hadn't participated in large-scale projects like Pegasus.
So, Banner said to Hill with noticeable tension:
"Well, the Tesseract has indeed encountered some issues. I'm not sure of the cause!"
Saying this, Banner instinctively picked up the research report, reading the Tesseract's recent abnormal fluctuation graphs, and continued:
"The Tesseract seems to be undergoing changes we can't control. It's far more active than usual, as if something's remotely manipulating it!"
At this, Banner put down the report and said seriously to Hill:
"If possible, you should come experience its changes yourself. It just had a minor energy surge. I've had to request evacuation of the Pegasus base. We may need to suspend Tesseract research temporarily."
"Hold on a few more days. I'll head to the Pegasus base ASAP. Until I arrive, don't take any action regarding the Tesseract!"
Hill quickly issued the order. The Tesseract was SHIELD's last hope in its dying days, and Hill couldn't afford to lose it.
So, after hanging up, she immediately ordered the Helicarrier to head for the Pegasus base.
For nearly two months, SHIELD had been battered by Hydra remnants and the World Security Council's pressure, and it couldn't withstand another major blow.
But Hill also knew that whether it was Professor Selvig or the now-stable Dr. Banner, they were both industry leaders.
Their judgments were unlikely to be wrong.
So, she had to prepare to abandon the Tesseract!