Chapter 11. Having Hope and Hulk.

Although, it was nice to occasionally do good.

But, seeing the middle-aged man in the antique shop once again, Ryan's mood at the moment was somewhat nuanced.

'What is it now?'

"Sir, this gemstone?"

Inside the shop, the middle-aged man's expression was restrained as his eyes swept over the shop's furnishings. He subconsciously paused when he saw the familiar jade bracelet on the pile of groceries behind Ryan.

"A nicely finished sapphire, fairly translucent in terms of cut, between a third and fourth grade in terms of colour, a little on the blue side, a little smaller in size but still a decent, fine gem." Ryan looked at the familiar gem in his hands, and his heart felt speechless. He wasn't expecting the gem he had given away to come back to him after such a roundabout way.

"In terms of prices, the price of gems has dropped a bit recently, but it's been largely stable. The sapphire is close to 3 carats, which would translate into a price of between 10,000 and 15,000, but of course, this is only my preliminary estimate. If you want a more accurate price, I will need to analyse it carefully with instruments."

Although he knew everything about the gem in his hand, Ryan pretended to look around a bit before assuming a professional demeanour and addressing the man in front of him.

"How ... how much?!"

Although he was aware of the preciousness of the gem, knowing its actual value from Ryan's mouth, the man was still a little too excited to hide his emotions.

[Reputation points from New York citizens +0.5]

Looking down at the contents of the data panel, Ryan's face continued to remain motionless as he replied, "Floating between 10,000 and 15,000."

"10,000? 10,000! 10,000, that much ..."

Standing in the antique shop with an expression that seemed like he could cry and laugh for a long time, he muttered.

Only then did the man suppress his mixed emotions, and a bright gleam appeared in his eyes, "Sir, I'd like to exchange this sapphire for cash if I can."

With that, the man's eyes subconsciously swept over the bracelets on the grocery pile again, "And …"

"Hmm, he seems... different?"

In the laundry shop, Jack looked at the familiar back coming out of the antique shop, but a slightly puzzled look passed over his face.

"Why is it different?"

Ryan walked out of the antique shop, heard Jack talk to himself, and couldn't help but ask.

"That man's look. He changed a bit, as if he found hope again."

Jack cocked his head, a little unsure.

"Isn't that a good thing? "

"Indeed." Jack nodded but noticed that Ryan was ready to close his shop.

"Why is the shop closed so early today? "

"Because there's an important appointment waiting for me." Ryan smiled and turned the sign at the door to the side where it said 'closed.'

"Haha, really? Which girl has fallen under our young Ryan's spell now? " Old Jack said with a chuckle and a teasing tone.

"A nice girl."

Jenny's beautiful golden hair flashed through his mind, while Ryan accepted Jack's joke with open arms.

"Yeah? Well, good luck with your date Ryan."

"Thank you."

Ryan slightly nodded and accepted the blessing from Jack.

"It's good to be young."

In the laundry shop, Jack watched Ryan's leaving back, whispered a little, and then returned his gaze to the newspaper in his hands.

However, in Jack's hand, the full-page entertainment section on the other side of the newspaper was reporting about the grand party Tony Stark, the famous New York City playboy had thrown last night.

　　...

"Ryan, thank you!"

Coming from the movie theatre with Ryan's arm in her hands, Jenny leaned on his shoulder with a delighted look.

"Hey, Jenny, you don't need to thank me."

Shaking his head, Ryan reached out and ran his hand through the young girl's smooth blonde hair and replied in a gentle tone, "It would be an honour to spend a wonderful evening with the beautiful young woman in front of me."

"Ryan." Ryan's lines were corny, but they still moved the young girl, Jenny, deeply.

She looked at the man in front of her, her eyes misty.

Boom --

However, just then, there was a huge explosion as well as a scream.

It turned the warm scene in front of them into a disaster movie.

"What's going on?"

Shielding Jenny in his arms, Ryan looked around at the panicked crowd with a puzzled expression.

'Are aliens attacking New York?'

'No, Tony hasn't turned into Iron Man yet, and Captain America is still frozen in the Antarctic. The timing is completely wrong.'

However, it didn't keep Ryan confused for too long.

With a loud bang, the high wall of the movie theatre was smashed straight through. Immediately afterwards, a huge dark green figure appeared in front of his eyes.

"It turned out to be the Hulk..."

The huge size and the green skin with the iconic trousers instantly reminded Ryan of the other man's identity -- a member of the future Avengers, the Hulk.

Ryan nodded his head in a daze, followed by an instant reaction, 'Now isn't the time to think about that.'

The Hulk in this period was far less talkative than he would be later in his Avengers days, as the endless pursuit by the US military caused his inner rage to grow at every turn. Had Banner, hidden inside the Hulk, not been trying to exercise restraint and escape, New York would have been reduced to a wreck in the midst of the Hulk's fury.

Ryan looked at the movie theatre wall in front of him, where Hulk had crashed through, leaving a human-shaped passage, and turned his head to look at the helicopter hovering overhead. He was basically sure of it. The situation at hand must have been another case of the US military luring Banner through some means with the intention of capturing him, only to accidentally set Hulk free, resulting in the scene before them.

There were times when Ryan simply couldn't understand the mindset of some of the US military people, knowing full well that Hulk's power was so great that normal conventional weapons wouldn't be able to do much to him. Yet they consistently took a hardline approach to capture rather than using a flexible approach to engage with Banner.

Banner was the perfect person to talk to, rather than the uncontrollable Hulk. Not to mention that Banner himself had always held the idea of controlling and even destroying the Hulk. At this time, if the military could soften its attitude and show goodwill, it could actually work together with Banner and even study it.

But it was the military, or General Ross, who was in charge, who chose to take the hard-line of confrontation.

The military turned a good win-win situation into an unmanageable outcome.

The overbearing and unreasonable nature of the US military was evident.

....

-:Binge:-

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