Tricking Banner

This situation was obviously anomalous. Fanny had never seen a portal being forcibly closed before. Something must be very wrong with that place.

Fortunately, he successfully deciphered the target coordinate of that portal before it suddenly disappeared, so he didn't have to rely on luck if he wanted to find that place again.

However, despite being able to open the portal again, Fanny didn't act recklessly. That place was clearly abnormal. He couldn't rush into danger like that. He couldn't feel safe without someone like Ancient One overseeing the operation.

The accident deterred Fanny from continuing to experiment with the portal spell, even though the chance of the event reoccurring was lower than winning the lottery.

However, when he came to Kamar-Taj the next day and tried to show the portal to Ancient One, he suddenly found that he could not conjure the spell.

"What is happening?!"

Fanny was puzzled. It was as if a pressure of energy prevented him from visiting that place. This was yet another first time for him.

He couldn't describe the place, open the portal to it, nor tell Ancient One how to reach it.

"Did you say that that place was dark? And now your portal to that place was blocked?" Ancient One thought out loud.

"Master, is it possible that I accidentally opened a portal to Dormammu's dimension?" Fanny asked in fear. Ancient One wouldn't ask about how he knew so many things anyway, so he didn't beat around the bush.

"That's not it!" Ancient One shook her head. It wouldn't be as puzzling if Fanny really opened a portal to Dormammu's Dark Dimension. "But that place should be more dangerous. You'd better be careful."

Fanny was glad that he didn't continue to experiment recklessly. If Ancient One said that it was a more dangerous place, that place must be perilous indeed.

"What exactly is that place?" Fanny asked curiously. Although he had extensive knowledge about the plots within the Marvel universe from his previous life, many unknown things happened beyond the screen.

"I can't say for sure for the time being; this might involve other people's family affairs." Ancient One shook her head, which made Fanny even more curious.

However, Ancient One was more tight-lipped than him. If she didn't want to talk about it, then there was nothing he could do to make her compromise.

Billy was still persistently bothering Fanny at school about the Knight of Divine Punishment. Fanny almost wanted to stuff the table into his mouth to shut him up.

Fanny would've done something drastic if the vacation wasn't nigh.

The summer vacation arrived as scheduled.

Fanny breathed a sigh of relief, but it proved to be premature. Billy still found a way to haunt him, even during the first day of the vacation.

"Fanny, come on, for the sake of our many years of friendship. Please take me to meet Knight of Divine Punishment; I just want to see him. I won't even say a word."

"Shut up! We haven't even known each other for two years yet." Fanny glared at Billy fiercely. He almost had enough of Billy. Just to see? Forget about a word; he had already said thousands of words in the last few days alone. "I already said that I really can't help you."

Fanny helplessly looked at Billy. Although he found this persistence touching, nothing good could happen from meeting Billy as Knight of Divine Punishment. It would just bring unnecessary trouble, and Billy would just take a mile from every inch he gives. Therefore, it was better to reject Billy from the beginning.

Billy finally gave up after Fanny repeatedly gave him the same firm attitude. Despite looking at Fanny with resentful eyes, he didn't actually bear any hatred. He instead suspected that the relationship between Fanny and Knight of Divine Punishment wasn't close enough to invite each other for trivial matters.

Fanny could finally relax after getting rid of Billy. His mood improved with the excitement of the coming vacation.

Fanny decided to check on how Banner had been adapting to life in the villa, as well as to approach him about using Hulk as an experience dummy.

Fanny was quite surprised to find that Banner and Tony had become rather good friends. Perhaps their friendly relationship stems from Banner's good temper and Tony's recognition of Banner's talent.

Tony was in the villa when Fanny arrived, discussing something with Banner. The holographic display in front of them projected a model of the Stark building. Ivan Vanko had ruined the building in that one incident, so it was now undergoing reconstruction.

Fanny did not participate in their discussion, instead opting to wait at the side while eating fried chicken rolls. However, as soon as he summoned the fried chicken roll, Tony and Banner halted their discussion to ask for their own portions.

Thus, the three of them sat together, drinking wine and eating fried chicken rolls.

"Why are you here today?" Fanny asked Tony.

"I was discussing the design for a new self-renewable energy system for the building with Bruce," Tony replied.

"Is that so?" Fanny had no interest in this matter, so he stopped the conversation there. He then turned to Banner, who was eating beside them, and asked while ignoring Tony's presence, "Dr. Banner, I want to talk with you about Hulk."

Banner's expression soured a little, but as Fanny predicted, he was already attached to the peaceful and comfortable life. He asked Fanny, "What do you want to talk about?"

Tony paid attention to the conversation. Being friends with Banner hadn't curbed his curiosity toward Hulk. He also believed that Fanny wouldn't bring out the topic without reason.

"Destroying Hulk is almost impossible. I think you already knew this," Fanny gave a forewarning to Banner and then continued, "In my opinion, your future holds two paths. The first path is to merge, and the second is to divide.

"If you choose to merge, you will become a single entity. Perhaps you will retain your consciousness and intelligence while possessing Hulk's body and strength.

"But it is also possible that Hulk will retain his thoughts within your physique."

Banner's face darkened when he heard the two hypotheses. He obviously didn't like either of them.

"What about division?!"

Banner looked at Fanny. He didn't really believe that there was no way to destroy Hulk, but he was out of options for now.

"Separation means that you keep your body and consciousness, and vice versa for Hulk!"

This result would be almost ideal for Banner. There would be practically no difference for him whether Hulk lived separate from him or was destroyed entirely. He asked nervously, "Have you found the way?"

"I need your cooperation!"

Fanny still had no clue, but it didn't stop him from securing Banner's trust and cooperation. Giving hope would be the best way to do that.

And he didn't exactly lie. He really did want to help Banner separate from Hulk, although there was one thing he didn't actually say.

If Fanny could really help them divide from each other, he would remove Banner from his own body instead of Hulk. Fanny felt that the body mutated by gamma-ray was more suitable for Hulk.