Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Split-Personality Moon Knight! Calculating Biological Time!
"How do you know my name?"
Steven had barely finished speaking when he suddenly panicked.
"No, that wasn’t me—it was him!"
But the next moment, Steven spoke again.
"What do you know?"
"No, don’t listen to him!"
It was like he was arguing with himself, splitting into two voices. One was speaking directly to Lorien, while the other kept interrupting.
Of course, Lorien already understood what was happening.
Steven was the man in front of him—the normal personality, the original self. Marc was the one inside his mind. He was Steven too, but as a separate personality—the true Moon Knight.
That was why speaking only to Steven was pointless. Lorien had to talk to both of them at once.
Watching the two bicker, Lorien reached out and tapped the table.
"Knock, knock~~"
A red ripple spread from the point of contact, quickly filling the entire room.
Steven instantly calmed down, and so did Marc, the Moon Knight within his mind.
Only then did Lorien speak.
"One sentence each. No more. Got it?"
Steven glanced at the mirror.
The Marc inside nodded in sync with him.
"Alright."
Once both were calm, Lorien folded his arms and said evenly,
"Steven, what problem brought you here?"
At those words, Steven turned to look at the mirror, then faced Lorien again.
"The other presence in my head... it’s messing up my life. I lost my job because of him. I can’t even... I can’t even chase the girl I like."
Lorien gave a slight nod, then shifted his gaze to the mirror.
"And you? What’s your problem?"
At first, Marc had nothing to say. But after glancing at Steven, he spoke.
"We have a greater mission, Steven. Your existence is far more important than you realize. You can’t go on living like this."
Steven immediately wanted to argue.
"Why?"
But Lorien waved his hand, cutting them both off. They fell silent and looked at him.
"Let me clarify your case first."
"Steven, there isn’t someone else living in your head. You’ve had schizophrenia since childhood."
"You and Marc are the same person, but with independent emotions and consciousness. A complete split, growing separately."
"That’s why you feel like there’s someone else in your mind. But in reality, the split happened when you were a child—you just didn’t know."
"If you want to cure it now, the only option is to wipe all your memories and start over completely. Are you willing to do that?"
Put simply: it can’t be cured. Unless you’re willing to reset everything—like reinstalling an operating system.
Hearing this, Steven immediately shook his head.
No way. After a reset, the hardware might still be him, but the software wouldn’t. It would be someone new.
Seeing his refusal, Lorien turned back to the mirror.
"And you, Marc."
"You’re a mercenary who received the fate and blessing of an Egyptian god, and you fight against the messenger of another god."
"You two keep switching identities, and in the end, everyone’s life gets thrown into chaos."
"But have you ever considered working together? Sharing each other’s tasks, splitting time properly, and actually cooperating?"
Steven still shook his head, unwilling to accept it.
Since he was the one mainly in control, he felt like his life was being ruined—not shared.
Marc, on the other hand, thought for a moment, but he wasn’t sure what to do either.
Watching Steven refuse, Lorien smirked.
"Then what? Do you disappear? Hand full control over to Marc? At least he can be a superhero. You’re just an ordinary man."
Steven shook his head even harder.
"No, no, no!!!" He rejected the idea outright.
But Marc in the mirror nodded and forced Steven’s body to say,
"Alright, alright!!!"
"No, no, no!!!"
They almost started fighting each other.
"Knock, knock~~"
Lorien tapped the table again. When they looked over, he continued,
"Then what about you, Marc? Would you give up the power of the Moon Knight, stop doing your own thing, and let Steven live his life?"
The answer was obvious.
Marc quickly forced Steven to nod.
But Steven fought back, making himself shake his head.
"!!!"
"???"
They struggled against each other until Lorien sighed helplessly.
"So here’s what I’m saying. Talk it out. Divide your time properly. Work together and help each other. Can you accept that?"
"Steven, you’ve already lost your job, and the girl’s gone. Why not take a look at Marc’s life and goals?"
"Marc, you can’t fully control Steven and make him live only for your mission. When you’re not fighting, let him handle things."
"Make some money, live a good life. Steven won’t need a nine-to-five, and together you might even win the girl back. Wouldn’t that be perfect?"
To put it bluntly, their situation was much like Banner’s.
But Banner’s other self was Hulk—someone far harder to reason with. Yet Banner still managed to merge with him. That’s true strength.
After hearing Lorien’s initial suggestion, they resisted. But when they thought about his second solution, both suddenly felt it was possible.
Steven looked into the mirror.
Marc in the reflection looked back at him.
Finally, both nodded in unison.
"We can give it a try. Thank you, doctor."
"No need to thank me."
Lorien slid the card reader over.
"Just swipe your card."
"....."
In the end, after handing over his last bit of cash, Steven stood up, looking utterly defeated.
Lorien glanced at him and suggested,
"If you don’t even have enough for a plane ticket, maybe you should consider joining the Avengers. Once you register as a superhero and sign a work agreement, you can get an advance on your pay."
Steven’s eyes lit up at the idea.
But Marc refused.
"I still have a mission to finish. Can’t we register after that, Steven?"
Steven hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
The two of them left.
Lorien leaned back comfortably in his chair.
Good—done quickly. Two grown men; he didn’t feel like wasting breath on them.
If it had been a beautiful woman, he’d gladly chat until quitting time.
But with men, it didn’t matter if he made the money or not. Faster was better. Then he could go back to slacking off.
...
By noon, Wanda had opened a portal and stepped into the office with Gwen, both carrying food.
The three of them sat down to eat, and soon the news was broadcasting the latest update.
"9:30 AM New York time—Hulk’s cousin was attacked by a gang. In a rage, Hulk killed the assassin in the street. Citizens, what do you think? Leave us your comments."
"If he can kill an assassin in the street today, he can kill us tomorrow! Oppose superheroes! They must be controlled!"
"Wait, your cousin gets murdered and you’re not supposed to be angry? This was an ordinary person targeted by a gang. Isn’t the gang the one at fault?"
"But gangsters and assassins have freedom too. How can he kill someone in broad daylight?"
"Fine, fine. I hope when you and your family get killed, you can say the same thing."
As expected, New York—and the whole U.S.—erupted with outrage over the incident.
Some insisted Hulk was wrong. How could he just kill someone in the street? What happens if superheroes lose control and kill more people later? Everyone deserves freedom. But superheroes’ freedom should be restricted. In short, not everyone can be treated the same.
Others believed Hulk was justified. His cousin was assassinated, and by gangsters at that. Of course he was right. That man tried to kill someone, so he deserved to die.
And then there were the superhero fans. They fully supported Hulk, even wishing he would wipe out the entire gang to take revenge.
In short, opinions fell into three camps: the Double-Standard Freedom crowd, the Rational Analysis crowd, and the Hero Fan crowd.
Wanda and Gwen watched the report together.
Gwen blinked in surprise.
"It was Banner’s cousin... No wonder Banner, who always seemed so mild, could explode with that kind of rage."
Yes—everyone has a breaking point. Even the most polite person can snap. That’s why you don’t push honest people. When they finally erupt, it’s the most dangerous.
Wanda shook her head with a sigh.
"Society is always like this. A mess."
"Everyone judges others through their own lens. Being a public superhero really isn’t as glamorous as it seems."
Gwen nodded in agreement.
She had kept her identity hidden all this time and was living more comfortably because of it.
As for helping people—she did when she could. If she couldn’t, then that was it.
Her Spider-Sense was sharp. If there was crime nearby, she usually felt it.
But if she couldn’t stop it, then it was just her limitation.
Then Gwen thought of something.
"So... Banner’s cousin really just died like that? Was there any way to save her?"
Lorien shook his head while eating.
"A bullet to the heart. What good would a rescue attempt do?"
"Ah... but still, he must have been—"
"He actually called me and asked for advice. I told him to give his blood to his cousin—since they’re related by blood. I’d say it won’t be long before She-Hulk shows up."
Wanda: !
"The She-Hulk?"
Wanda froze, and she and Gwen immediately began imagining what She-Hulk might look like.
The Hulk was massive. Would She-Hulk be just as huge?
But Lorien already knew her appearance.
He gave a mysterious smile.
"You’ll see soon enough. Maybe in the next couple of days."
"Alright."
As for her abilities—She-Hulk’s potential actually surpassed Banner’s.
It took Banner years to finally merge with the Hulk’s will.
But She-Hulk could manage it in just a few days.
The difference was enormous.
...
After lunch, Wanda and Gwen took the bowls and chopsticks back to wash them.
Wanda then went about her daily training, while Gwen did as she pleased. She didn’t have much vacation time left anyway—next week, she would be heading off to college.
Once Wanda and Gwen had left, Aria turned her head toward Lorien and said,
"Master, Wanda and Miss Gwen are currently in their menstrual cycle. According to my calculations, they will return to normal in three to five days."
Lorien: .....
Bella added at the same time,
"Master, tonight you can find Miss Hela or us to pass the time and release your needs. Aria and I can serve you at any time, in any place."
Anytime, anywhere, super detectives—da da daaa~~~!!
Hearing this, Lorien sighed and rubbed his forehead.
Their calculations were right. Gwen and Wanda’s cycles really had overlapped!
That meant his "bull" really was in trouble.
No fields left to plow!
Lorien thought for a moment, then looked at the twin Ballerinas who served him so faithfully.
How to put it... this substitute... it was time to use it.
After some hesitation, he could only nod and say,
"Tonight, then."
The twin Ballerinas nodded, then returned to their original positions, hands clasped behind their backs like dancers.
Lorien’s eyes lingered on them.
That was when he realized—they weren’t standing completely still.
When their weight shifted to the left foot, their hips tilted left.
When it shifted to the right, their hips tilted right.
Even their defined waistlines moved subtly back and forth with the shifts.
Tch~~
Weren’t they made of metal?
How could the details be this precise?
Oh, right. Their material now was even more advanced than nanometal.
Fine then. Tonight, he’d test out these two "fleshlights."
It was only 1:00 PM.
Just a few more hours to go.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Avengers Compound.
After several hours of full-body examinations, Natasha reported to Banner,
"Jennifer’s vital signs are completely stable now. She’s even healthier than most people in this world. But..."
Banner quickly pressed, "But what?"
Natasha handed him the tablet.
Banner took it and looked.
The image clearly showed Jen’s eyes had turned green, and even the one-millimeter strands of new hair at her roots were green as well!
One strand might go unnoticed, but with an entire layer like this, anyone could tell the moment her hair was parted.
Banner scrolled further.
There were Jen’s cellular analyses and blood test results.
The conclusion was...
Almost identical to his own.
At that moment, Banner remembered Lorien’s words:
"The Hulk family is going to have two members."
Which meant...
"Jen is going to become She-Hulk?"
Banner finally realized.
Natasha nodded. "Yes."
As a scientist, Banner didn’t get excited. Instead, he calmly weighed the pros and cons.
Cons:
1. They had no idea what Jen would look like as She-Hulk.
2. Jen could never return to a normal life.
And... that was it. Just those two.
Pros? Too many to list.
Most importantly, her life was no longer in danger.
Banner exhaled in relief and nodded.
"Thank goodness. At least Jen is back."
Natasha agreed wholeheartedly.
No matter what, family came first.
Living was more important than anything.
After all, aside from turning Jen into She-Hulk, there had been no way to save her when she was on the verge of death.
So this outcome wasn’t a loss.
"Uh..."
At that moment, Jen stirred awake from her sleep.
She opened her eyes and looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
Banner stepped forward to explain.
"This is the Avengers Compound."
Jen nodded slightly, pressing a hand to her head as she tried to remember.
The next second, a flood of memories surged through her mind.
Her body jolted as the realization hit.
"I helped that girl being harassed by the gang... I won! Then I got shot! Am I dead?"
Banner shook his head.
"No, Jen. You’re not dead. You’re alive."
"Why?" Jen looked at her chest. "But I was shot in the heart! I remember feeling so cold at the very end!"
Banner fell silent.
He exchanged a glance with Natasha, then nodded and said,
"Jen... whether you believe it or not, you might... become She-Hulk."
Jen: - O_O
"What?!"
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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