Hawk Targeted by General Ross

When General Ross arrived at Quantico Military Base, the alert for the invasion had already been deactivated.

"Hmm."

This time, it was truly deactivated.

But that didn't mean things were over; on the contrary, the base's command center was brightly lit at this moment.

"We've really embarrassed ourselves this time."

Someone hadn't just easily infiltrated their base, but had also destroyed one of their buildings and, on top of that, managed to escape completely unscathed.

And the most important point.

They had completely lost track of the intruder.

"What do you mean, 'lost track'?"

"We lost them in the dense forest twenty kilometers south of the base."

"What about our helicopters?"

"It was night, dense forest... our helicopters couldn't possibly descend."

"Shit!"

The Vice Captain slammed his fist on the table, "Send out all our men, and the helicopters too. We must find this damn guy."

His deputy quickly acknowledged the order and scurried away.

As the Vice Captain stood with his hands on his hips, watching the first-person views from the helicopters and the search teams on the large screen, a deep voice came from behind him.

The Vice Captain flinched, instinctively turned, and saw General Ross, his face as dark as ink.

"G-General..."

"One intruder, and you managed to lose him. Well done."

General Ross said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

The Vice Captain opened his mouth but said nothing. Instead, he had a soldier by the computer pull up the footage of the intruder's escape.

General Ross looked at the big screen.

What he saw.

The intruder, standing in the smoke, was completely indistinguishable under the glare of the searchlights. Then, with a single leap, he disappeared into the forest, vanishing quickly.

General Ross stared at the scene, stunned.

The next second.

He looked at the Vice Captain. "You just said only the Gamma Building was invaded?"

The Vice Captain quickly nodded.

"Yes, General. Not long after the intruder entered, the Gamma Building collapsed. We initially thought he was some kind of bomber. We never expected that, just as I was reporting the latest situation to you, this guy suddenly burst out from under the rubble."

"..."

General Ross remained silent, listening quietly to the Vice Captain's report while having someone replay the surveillance footage of Hawk's leap away from the base.

Single person, clear target, Gamma Building, inhuman dodging ability, astonishing leaping power.

General Ross's eyes flickered.

"Did any other cameras capture the intruder?"

"The tech team is still reviewing the surveillance."

"Have you located the intruder?"

"...No."

The Vice Captain instinctively looked at his deputy, who had just returned. Seeing his deputy shake his head, he was silent for a moment before bracing himself and reporting to General Ross, "He disappeared in the dense forest twenty kilometers south of our base. We're still searching."

General Ross nodded upon hearing this.

The next second.

Without a word, he walked outside. "Send people to excavate the Gamma Building as quickly as possible."

The Vice Captain's body trembled, and he quickly snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!"

But, as they say, it wasn't until the heavy machinery arrived, cleared the debris, and uncovered the bodies buried within that dawn broke.

The helicopters that had been flying all night also returned to the base.

However, while the pilots rested, the helicopters did not. After new pilots took over and the fuel tanks were filled, the helicopters took off again, radiating outwards from the base in all directions, attempting to find any trace of the intruder who had been so audacious last night, practically defecating on the Quantico Marine Corps.

The soldiers at the base were doing the same.

The soldiers who had returned last night were resting, and a new batch of soldiers was dispatched into the dense forests surrounding the base.

It was as if they were preparing for a three-day large-scale search.

However...

General Ross did not return to rest. He sat in his car, parked not far from the ruins of the Gamma Building, leaning back in the rear seat with his eyes slightly narrowed.

Just then.

The adjutant in the driver's seat, after a phone call, grunted a few times before turning to look at General Ross, who was resting in the back seat.

"General, it's the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director calling."

"…Mm."

General Ross slowly opened his eyes and took the phone from his adjutant, putting it to his ear.

"This is Ross!"

"General Ross, I heard Quantico was quite lively last night."

"…"

The schadenfreude in the voice on the other end of the line gave General Ross a headache. "Get to the point, Nick!"

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion headquarters, Nick, wearing a black trench coat and an eyepatch, sat in his seat, watching the screen in front of him showing Hawk leaping out of the base. Hearing General Ross's words, he laughed heartily.

"How about a joint operation?"

"You're dreaming."

General Ross chuckled. "This is a military matter. I'm warning you, Nick, don't interfere. And if I recall correctly, your operational authority seems to have been frozen."

With that.

General Ross didn't bother listening to the Black Egg's reply on the other end of the line. It was bound to be nonsense anyway, so he simply hung up, handed the phone back to his adjutant, sat up straight, and rubbed his temples. "Any trace of him?"

The adjutant shook his head.

"No, sir."

"Heh."

General Ross didn't seem surprised by this outcome. He chuckled a couple of times, shook his head, and changed the subject.

"Have you dug through the Gamma Building yet?"

"About ten minutes left."

"Let's go."

Upon hearing this, General Ross opened the car door and got out. "Let's go take a look."

Seeing this, the adjutant quickly opened his car door and hurried to catch up.

At this moment, the bodies of the soldiers buried in the Gamma Building had all been excavated and were laid out in rows not far away.

Their deaths…

Each was unique, but they all shared the same expression on their faces, which remained largely intact: shock, terror, and disbelief.

General Ross glanced at the bodies and said to his adjutant, "Have the base file a report. I'll approve the highest compensation."

The adjutant nodded, acknowledging the order.

Soon.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the opening that had been buried under the ruins was dug open again.

The base's experimental personnel, who had been waiting nearby, re-entered the underground passage.

"It's gone."

"All gone."

"Unbelievable, did he absorb everything here?"

"Jesus Christ, but why didn't he turn into a monster like Hulk or Abomination?"

A moment later, exclamations of disbelief echoed from within.

General Ross's eyes lit up.

"Adjutant!"

"Sir."

"Find him, no matter the cost!"

"Understood!"

"…"