119 Student Joss, the Troublemaker

Although the physical capabilities of the Sakaarians—or whoever these people might be, as everyone appearing on Sakaar is collectively referred to as such—far exceed those of ordinary humans, and even these starving, emaciated scavengers possess combat prowess capable of crushing elite special forces, they were not facing an ordinary human. Jos, even without utilizing his equipment or special abilities, could easily subdue them all through his sheer physical strength alone.

Furthermore, Jos held more than just a few trump cards. His Chaos Serum, for instance, offered benefits far beyond mere physical enhancement. It was just that the enemies Jos had encountered thus far were either so weak that he didn't need its power, or so overwhelmingly strong that even with it, he stood no chance, leaving the true potential of the Chaos Serum largely untested.

One of the secondary abilities of the first stage of the Chaos Serum was the ability to sprout several tentacles from his body, each with a combined strength not exceeding that of one of his own arms. Given that Jos could currently lift roughly five hundred to eight hundred pounds with one arm, each tentacle possessed about one hundred pounds of force—more than enough to restrain most ordinary people. If equipped with blades, these tentacles would become even more lethal. However, as controlling them required mental focus and expenditure, two tentacles were, in his current state, his most efficient form.

Although he did not intend to use the Sword of Mercy, Jos had plenty of ordinary weapons stashed in his system space. After casually picking out a few, he could easily unleash a four-sword style attack. Beyond that, he possessed significant physical damage resistance; he could, at will, turn the surface of his skin into a slime-like substance, which served to dampen the impact of strikes and slashes quite effectively.

In summary, Jos faced the ambush of these dozen or so scavengers and robbers without a hint of danger, bringing the situation under control in mere minutes.

"Let me see... you, yes, you. You're the leader here, right? Do you know how to get to that arena?" Jos stood casually in front of the scavenger who had been barking orders earlier.

"The... the arena? I know, I know! I know that place!" The man was stunned for a moment before nodding repeatedly.

As the heart of Sakaar, or at least the only place the Grandmaster truly cared about, no one living there could possibly be ignorant of its location. After all, whether they scavenged high-tech goods or found a qualified gladiator, the only place to trade such items for food or money was that very arena. It was the only part of Sakaar that possessed anything resembling civilization.

Though it sounded strange and distorted, such a bizarre social structure could only have been created by an Elder of the Universe like the Grandmaster, who dared to defy the conventions of the world.

"Fine, lead the way. The others don't need to follow; you can all disperse."

Jos waved his hand dismissively to shoo the other scavengers away, only to find them all frozen in place, seemingly reluctant to leave their leader. Jos raised an eyebrow and looked back, only then remembering that he had just beaten them all up, rendering them incapable of moving for the time being.

"Ahem... never mind. Ignore them. Just lead me there now."

He felt no particular concern for their survival. Since they dared to attack him, he had every reason to strike back. Moreover, few people living here had clean hands; if he hadn't been strong enough to defend himself, any ordinary person who accidentally ended up here would have met a grim fate. Perhaps this is what they meant when they said that those who are pitiable often have their own hateful aspects.

However, despite the miserable lives of these scavengers, Jos had no intention of rescuing them. He had no special interest in Sakaar, nor would he dream of leading a group of scoundrels to overthrow the Grandmaster's rule. Besides having no time, the cost-to-benefit ratio was simply not worth it. Whether the Grandmaster himself possessed power or not, the armies and warriors under his command were each capable of taking on a hundred, and even someone like Hulk was currently one of his champion fighters. No matter how many ordinary Sakaarian scavengers gathered, they would be wiped out in a single charge.

"Still, even saying that, if I want to take the Hulk away, the Grandmaster himself is a major obstacle..."

Jos had thought through this operation in great detail. The real difficulties were twofold. First, how to approach the Hulk. In the film, Thor was able to approach him so easily only because his combat prowess was already strong enough to command the Grandmaster's full attention.

In other words, he was on the same level as the Hulk, so they were naturally paired together. Of course, Loki might have been pulling some strings behind the scenes; the fact that a complex, brother-obsessed maniac like him had managed to get close to the Grandmaster was suspicious in itself.

Returning to Jos's situation, it would be highly unwise to try and resolve things with the Hulk through combat. He might not even be a match for the strange alien species in the arena, let alone the Hulk, who currently lived for the thrill of battle—an encounter that would surely result in certain death.

"Which means I need another way to approach the Hulk... No, before that, I need a way to approach the Grandmaster."

After all, if he could get close to the Grandmaster, he could get close to the Hulk. The former was the primary obstacle.

"But the real problem comes after that... How am I supposed to turn the Hulk back into Bruce Banner?" Jos felt a headache coming on.

The Hulk and Bruce Banner were two entirely different personalities. The current Hulk had not yet encountered the Avengers; he was a terrifying monster who would go on a rampage at the slightest provocation of anger. Heaven knows how that one-eyed spy managed to persuade such a monster, but if Jos tried to talk to him, he would surely trigger a rampage in seconds.

These two were the most troublesome issues. As for how to leave once the Hulk turned back into Bruce Banner, that was the simplest part. His teleportation ability was, after all, quite unreasonable.

"I need to approach the Grandmaster, find a way to persuade the Hulk, and avoid combat..." Jos rubbed his chin in deep thought, and a resolute light began to shine in his eyes.

"Since that's the case, there's only one way... I'll become an idol!"