Winter Soldier

As Chen Mo pressed the pager button, the old-fashioned pager on the desk in another office not far away, which had been silent for many years, suddenly rang.

Sitting at the desk was a tall, upright, blond middle-aged man. He had a calm and elegant demeanor, an extraordinary presence, and a pair of deep blue eyes that held a calm understanding of the world. He gave the impression of a wise old man who had experienced many vicissitudes of life.

But as the pager on the table rang, his usually calm and composed gaze suddenly trembled violently, and he became extremely agitated, no longer the calm and collected man he had been before.

He suddenly stood up from his chair, a look of reminiscence appearing on the middle-aged man's face.

"Seventy years have passed, have we finally returned?"

Not long after Chen Mo pressed the pager, a familiar yet slightly hurried sound of footsteps rang out from not far away.

The footsteps stopped outside the door, Chen Mo could feel the rapid heartbeat and somewhat heavy breathing of the person outside.

Two seconds later, the office door was slowly pushed open, and the middle-aged man from before walked in somewhat nervously.

Upon seeing the familiar figure of the middle-aged man, a smile involuntarily appeared on Chen Mo's face.

"Eddie, it's been a long time."

Looking at Chen Mo sitting upright behind his desk, Albert's previously anxious and excited mood suddenly calmed down.

"Master, you're back."

Albert bowed slightly to Chen Mo, his face warm and kind.

Would you like me to make you a cup of coffee?

Chen Mo couldn't help but recall the familiar aroma of coffee; a mellow fragrance seemed to linger around his nose.

"Certainly."

Chen Mo nodded happily.

Now that he's back, there's no rush. He hasn't had old Eddie's coffee in years, and he really misses it.

Soon, Albert returned to Chen Mo's desk with the brewed coffee. Chen Mo noticed that the tray contained the exquisite sterling silver embossed coffee pot and matching coffee cups and saucers that he had always used.

Looking up at "old" Eddie, who was earnestly pouring coffee into his cup, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile.

This coffee maker is the same one they used back in Liverpool.

After Chen Mo left, Albert continued to carefully preserve them. Later, whether he went to the Martial Arts School in New York or to the HYDRA base in Norway, Albert always took them with him to ensure that Chen Mo could drink the fragrant coffee he brewed himself at any time.

Dark brown coffee poured from the slender spout, steaming hot as it fell into the exquisite sterling silver coffee cup, releasing a rich aroma.

Chen Mo picked up his coffee cup, leaned back comfortably in his chair, brought the cup to his lips, and took a leisurely sip. The familiar taste blossomed on Chen Mo's tongue once again.

As Chen Mo sipped his coffee, he learned about the current state of the world from Albert.

Seventy years had passed since Chen Mo last left.

Since Chen Mo left, the entire HYDRA has been under Albert's control, with Dr. Zola and Colonel John assisting him.

The absolute loyalty and devout faith of HYDRA in Chen Mo made Albert's rise to power exceptionally smooth, with no one attempting to seize power.

All the hidden dangers and unstable elements had long been eliminated by Chen Mo, leaving Albert with an incredibly powerful, loyal and united organization.

Following Chen Mo's orders, they remained deeply hidden in the shadows, their existence unknown to anyone, yet their influence spread throughout the world.

Norway, where the Top-Secret Base is located, is completely controlled by HYDRA in secret; the entire Norway can be considered their headquarters.

In addition, HYDRA's tentacles have reached the upper echelons of various countries, with its agents in almost every political leader's office, especially in Europe countries.

Apart from Norway, where HYDRA is completely controlled from top to bottom, its infiltration into many countries has reached the point where it can influence the political situation of those countries.

Who would have thought that HYDRA, hidden in the shadows and unknown to anyone, possesses the terrifying power to influence the entire Earth's situation?

Coupled with their powerful technological capabilities, if HYDRA remains in the hands of ambitious individuals like Red Skull Schmidt, it would be a massive catastrophe for the entire world, as HYDRA's terrifying power would make it easy for them to rule the world.

Fortunately, HYDRA has always been under Chen Mo's control, and his ideal is world peace!

In fact, HYDRA's technological development has not been fast over the past seventy years. Dr. Zola's research seems to have hit a bottleneck. Apart from energy weapons, the gap between HYDRA's overall technological strength and that of other countries has not only not widened, but has been continuously narrowed over the past seventy years. Nevertheless, they still maintain a technological lead of more than twenty years over other countries.

The specifics of this matter require Dr. Zola's personal explanation, but he is not here at the moment.

Before leaving, Chen Mo injected Albert with the Improved Super Soldier Serum. The Old Albert not only regained his appearance to that of a man in his forties under the enhancement of the serum, but also gained three times the physical qualities of an ordinary person, and his lifespan was greatly increased.

But this is not immortality; his body will still age slowly, just several times slower than that of an ordinary person.

Now, seventy years later, his appearance has not changed much, and he still looks less than fifty years old.

It turns out that, in addition to Albert, Dr. Zola and Colonel John also received Serum Enhancement later. When Chen Mo left him the Super Soldier Serum, he also told him about the effects of the enhancement, which could stop lifespan consumption by freezing. So the three of Albert took turns being frozen, with only one person left outside to manage HYDRA each time, rotating every twenty years.

Twenty years is not a long time for them, whose lifespan has been greatly increased through Serum Enhancement.

Albert remembered that Chen Mo had said he would return in seventy years, so he chose to be the first to stay outside, so that when it was his turn next time, it would be the time Chen Mo had mentioned when he would return, and he would personally welcome Chen Mo's return.

He had been waiting for this day ever since he was thawed ten years ago.

Today, he has finally waited for it.

Chen Mo not only gave Albert several vials of enhancement serum, but also gave him the formula for the Improved Serum. The original group of HYDRA members were extremely loyal to Chen Mo, and Chen Mo did not intend to let them grow old over time.

Following the instructions left by Chen Mo, after HYDRA's development stabilized, Albert gradually enhanced them with Serum Enhancement and then froze them. Now, this powerful Super Soldier legion lies dormant in the cryogenic chamber beneath the Top-Secret Base, waiting for their leader to awaken them at any time.

At that time, they will once again take up arms and fight for the God they believe in!

Chen Mo gave them a new name: Winter Soldier.

However, Chen Mo had no intention of waking them up this time. The reason he enhanced their cryogenic freezing was not only because Chen Mo didn't want these loyal subordinates to die in vain, but also because he wanted to make preparations in advance to deal with powerful alien forces such as the Chitauri might invade Earth in the future.

Not only the original HYDRA members, but even though Chen Mo left, he has always been the spiritual symbol and faith of HYDRA. Later recruited HYDRA soldiers, as long as they pass the tests and are loyal enough to Chen Mo and HYDRA, will be enhanced and frozen at the appropriate time to become members of the Winter Soldier.

HYDRA has its own comprehensive selection, training, and testing mechanism, which is sufficient to guarantee the loyalty of every HYDRA member. The selection of Winter Soldier is even more rigorous, and their loyalty is beyond question.

Chen Mo was very satisfied with the development of HYDRA. As for the development of technology, Chen Mo had expected it. If it were so simple that powerful technology could be obtained just by spending time researching, then everything would be too easy.

He could easily stay in the world of Underworld for hundreds or thousands of years, since he has infinite life, but he would probably only get some advanced but ordinary technology in the end. The powerful technology in the movies is not so easy to research.

Many technologies are unique to a movie world, such as the Super Soldier Serum, space portals, Transformers, and Gundam. These advanced technologies cannot be researched simply by spending time. This is the reason why Chen Mo keeps traveling between different worlds, acquiring the top technologies and treasures of each world to strengthen himself and improve his strength.

His primary goal this time was to get the Iron Man suit!

How is S.H.I.E.L.D.. progressing now?

After taking a sip of his coffee, Chen Mo continued to ask.

"Their official name is now the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, which is overseen by the International Security Council and is responsible for handling various unusual events occurring internationally. The current director is Nick Fury."

HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D.. was beyond anyone's imagination; Albert knew everything about S.H.I.E.L.D..

"The covert S.H.I.E.L.D.. is led in rotation by Colonel Phillips, Agent Carter, Steve, Howard, and Dr. Erskine. They faked their deaths and went into hiding in the decades after you left. Most of them are now in cryogenic hibernation. Howard is in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.. on the outside."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile. It was hard to imagine how Howard, that unreliable guy, managed S.H.I.E.L.D..

What is Howard's son doing now?

Chen Mo asked the question that concerned him most.

"Tony Stark, a weapons genius and playboy, was the heir to Stark Industries after Howard faked his death when he came of age, and he continued to develop and expand it."

"He is currently..."

Albert paused for a moment, took out a smartphone from his pocket, quickly operated it for a bit, and then looked up at Chen Mo.

"Chasing girls."