Familiarity comes with repetition.
After a few hours, being carried up into the sky by the giant eagle again, Bruce reaction was no longer as panicked as the last time.
With arms bent, as if holding onto the safety bar of a roller coaster, he clung to the giant eagle huge talons gripping his body.
Soaring through the air, feeling the strong wind against his face, watching various dinosaurs moving about the streams and forests below, he actually felt the excitement of touring a prehistoric-themed park as if on an amusement ride.
The distance of nearly twenty kilometers passed in a flash.
Soon, the giant eagle carried the two men to the "base" Shi Xiaolei had mentioned, landing in a spacious plaza.
"Good boy."
Jumping off the giant eagle, getting a few pieces of succulent fresh meat from the food box at the side to feed it, stroking the feathers under the giant eagle neck, Shi Xiaolei patted it gently twice.
"Alright, go play now."
"Coo coo."
Lowering its head and gently touching Shi Xiaolei chest with its beak, the giant eagle called softly twice, then flapped its wings and left the plaza.
Turning around to face Bruce Banner, Shi Xiaolei pointed to a small building at the side of the plaza.
"Shall we go sit over there?"
"I'll follow your lead."
Being an accommodating guest, Bruce Banner agreed readily.
Looking at the gradually departing giant eagle, his face showed a hint of admiration.
"It looks really magnificent."
"It's alright, hehe."
Shi Xiaolei smiled.
"In terms of appearance, it's definitely the most beautiful one."
Species like the T-Rex, Allosaurus, and Velociraptor actually only had the advantage of being "more formidable" while ancient mammalian creatures like the saber-toothed tiger, dire wolf, and marsupial lion didn't really conform to modern aesthetic standards.
If asked which creature in the original "ARK: Survival Evolved" game had the best appearance, only the unicorn, of which there was only one on the entire map, could compete with the Argentavis.
Shi Xiaolei had actually caught a unicorn when he played the game, but at that time, he didn't know how rare unicorns were.
He thought they were like regular Equus and could be found if he looked hard enough.
As a result, during one of his map exploration outings, he carelessly let it die.
Thus, among his many tamed pets, the giant eagle was undoubtedly the most handsome.
"You've tamed many dinosaurs? I met a white T-Rex earlier. If I'm not mistaken, it's also your pet, right?"
"You mean Big White."
Shi Xiaolei led Bruce Banner into the house while answering with a smile.
"That one I raised from small. I've been taking care of it since the moment it hatched from the egg."
"...Are you a biologist?"
"Hmm?"
Taking two cans of coffee from the refrigerator, suddenly hearing such a question, Shi Xiaolei was somewhat surprised.
"Why do you ask that?"
"Although I'm not an expert in biology, and know even less about ancient creatures, I guess that the technology for hatching dinosaurs must be more difficult than hatching chicken eggs, isn't it?"
Taking the canned coffee Shi Xiaolei tossed over, Bruce opened the pull-tab while answering.
In the game, hatching eggs was really simple, but...
Precisely because it was too simple and couldn't be explained with real-world scientific theories, feeling that this topic would be too difficult to discuss, and might not be something an ordinary person like himself could explain clearly, Shi Xiaolei didn't elaborate further.
"Hehe, it's not as difficult as you think."
Casually responding, Shi Xiaolei directly changed the subject.
"If you're interested in learning more, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Now, let's talk about your plans. Dr. Banner, what do you want to do next? Continue hiding here, or..."
To be honest, Bruce Banner hadn't expected Shi Xiaolei to ask this, or at least, hadn't expected him to be so straightforward, immediately returning the choice to him.
It wasn't that Shi Xiaolei's attitude hadn't been gentle enough before, but because when they just landed in the plaza, Bruce Banner had already seen the tech-filled buildings surrounding them.
As a scientific researcher, at first glance of those buildings, Bruce Banner had some misunderstandings, feeling that this place wasn't just a "survival base" as Shi Xiaolei had described earlier, but rather a research-type base established primarily for studying ancient creatures, with living support functions attached.
Since this was a scientific research facility, and they were researching biological projects, how could someone like himself, a mutated human, possibly be easily released?
Bruce Banner instinctively assumed that his activities would be restricted by Shi Xiaolei, and even imagined the worst possibilities.
But now, Shi Xiaolei was showing such a carefree attitude, giving him the choice.
The gap between what he had imagined would happen and the current reality was too great, no wonder Bruce Banner was surprised.
"..."
Staring into Shi Xiaolei eyes, Bruce Banner couldn't help but confirm.
"Are you saying that if I want to, I can leave here?"
"Of course."
Shi Xiaolei shrugged.
"The situation then was a bit tricky, so as an emergency measure, I brought you here. Now, several days have passed, and the military lockdown has been lifted... I'm not a slave owner; I certainly won't restrict whether you stay or go."
Observing Shi Xiaolei expression, confirming that he wasn't deceiving him, Bruce Banner felt relieved and began to think.
Not disturbing the other's thoughts, but just quietly waiting, after about two or three minutes, Shi Xiaolei received Bruce Banner answer.
"I want to leave here."
Although he didn't know where this place was, thinking about it a bit.
Considering the types of animals and plants appearing here, if people had discovered this place, it would certainly have caused a sensation, attracting countless reports and attention.
Following this logic, the conclusion could be drawn that this must be a secret place unknown to the public.
In other words, hiding here would certainly avoid the military sight, without worry of being discovered by them.
However... this was only his first transformation, and he hadn't yet experienced the predicament of "being hunted by the military for a long time."
At this point, Bruce Banner hadn't truly realized what kind of whirlpool he had been dragged into, and didn't have much sense of the seriousness of the situation.
Simply put, he wasn't yet like his later self who fled to Mexico, placing "avoiding military pursuit" as his top priority.
Wanting to meet his girlfriend, seeking psychological comfort from Betty; wanting to quickly find a way to eliminate the changes caused by the experimental accident.
With so many concerns in his heart, and his mindset far from the level of "abandoning everything" it wasn't hard to understand why Bruce Banner made this choice.
"Alright then."
Nodding, Shi Xiaolei promised.
"The way in and out of this place is a bit special, and I don't know how to explain it to you. Anyway, please wait patiently for two days, at most not more than three days, and I'll take you away from here."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [p@treon.com/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)