HYDRA Base Rebellion

Intelligence reported that Führer Hitler would be sending someone to inspect the Alps Headquarters.

Chen Mo knew that Hitler had long been dissatisfied with Red Skull. He had originally handed HYDRA over to Schmidt so that he could provide the German forces with powerful new weapons. Yet after Schmidt took over, HYDRA had begun expanding aggressively while producing very few weapons. Chen Mo's recent arrangements had only made Hitler suspicious, so it was hardly surprising that he had sent a trusted subordinate to investigate.

Besides that, another piece of intelligence made Chen Mo's gaze sharpen.

Multiple HYDRA bases had rebelled!

Before leaving Norway, Chen Mo had already ordered the bases across Europe to withdraw their forces, focus entirely on technological research and development, and stay out of the war between the German forces and the Allied Powers.

But now, apart from the three bases Chen Mo intended to retain, including the Alps Headquarters, which had completely followed his orders by going into hiding and focusing fully on technological research and development, the other bases had all been secretly defying him. Now, they had directly violated Chen Mo's orders and joined Hitler's offensive against the Allies.

"Have they finally lost patience?"

After reading the intelligence, Chen Mo could not help but sneer inwardly.

In truth, the rebellion of those bases had been entirely within Chen Mo's expectations. It could even be said that he had deliberately indulged it and brought it about himself.

While taking control of HYDRA, Chen Mo had discovered that although Red Skull had controlled HYDRA well, and most of the organization's members worshipped him as a god and carried out all his orders without hesitation, there were still some who remained loyal to Hitler.

Or rather, they were contingencies Hitler had planted within HYDRA. After all, HYDRA had originally been given to Red Skull by Hitler, only for the ambitious Red Skull to gradually seize control and slowly break free from Hitler's control.

Now that Chen Mo had transferred away everyone loyal to himself, leaving only these diehard Hitler loyalists in control of the bases, they naturally became restless. With Red Skull having vanished for so long, they had finally begun to act.

Chen Mo put the sheet containing the intelligence into his storage space, then took out another identical special sheet of paper, wrote down his orders in code, and placed it back in the hidden compartment.

The papers used to record information were specially made. If the hidden compartment was opened incorrectly, the paper would immediately self-ignite, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

Chen Mo could have chosen to use a radio. There was a HYDRA-made radio device in his storage space, but using it inside the base would make it easy for the transmission to be intercepted.

Though it could not be deciphered, it would still arouse unnecessary suspicion. Therefore, Chen Mo usually used this old-fashioned yet secretive method to transmit information.

As for the inspectors Hitler had sent, Chen Mo directly ordered that they all be killed. The rebel bases would remain under surveillance until Chen Mo dealt with them personally.

By then, Dr. Zola's research on the Cosmic Cube had already produced results. The Cube's energy could now be converted and put to use. Many of Dr. Zola's previous concepts had become reality with the support of that energy, and new weapons had been developed. Their power was immense, but they required lengthy charging times and were rather large.

Chen Mo had long since ordered Dr. Zola to continue researching and refining them rather than equipping the troops for now. Thus, the rebel HYDRA forces had not been outfitted with energy weapons.

Leaving the temporary headquarters in London for the front lines, Chen Mo would lead an elite combat squad from the Strategic Scientific Reserve in an attack on those rebel HYDRA bases. He would personally remove these festering cancers and use the opportunity to make HYDRA disappear completely from the public eye.

Before setting out, Howard called Chen Mo to his laboratory. With time pressing, Howard had no opportunity to tailor combat equipment specifically for Chen Mo, so he simply let him choose from his stockpile.

Chen Mo did not stand on ceremony. Ignoring a pile of weaponry and equipment that could be considered high-tech for the time, he directly dug out the shield from the movies. In Chen Mo's eyes, that was the truly valuable item.

The silvery-white metal shield was not as heavy in his hand as it looked.

"No, no, that one isn't finished yet." Howard hurriedly waved his hands to stop him.

"What material is this?" Chen Mo ignored him and asked as he examined it.

That shield had been incredibly powerful in the movies. Not only was it indestructible itself, but it could also neutralize any attack, preventing even the slightest harm from reaching the person behind it. In the Avengers, Steve had taken Mjolnir's full-powered strike head-on with it and emerged completely unharmed. This made Chen Mo deeply interested in the shield's material.

"Sound-absorbing steel. It is stronger than steel, yet weighs only one-third as much," Howard replied helplessly. "Most importantly, it can neutralize attacks."

The shield was round, with a diameter of a little over seventy centimeters. Held before the body, it could cover the entire upper body. With just a slight bend at the waist, it could protect the head as well. With this shield on the battlefield, both survival and combat capability would be greatly improved.

Its material was also incomparably hard, suitable for both offense and defense. Combined with Chen Mo's tremendous strength, it could unleash formidable attacking power. In the movies, Steve had dominated the battlefield and wiped out every HYDRA base, and this shield had played an indispensable role.

"Then why not mass-produce it and equip the entire army?"

Chen Mo slipped the shield onto his left arm and gave it a swing. It felt perfectly natural in his hand, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"This material is extremely rare on Earth. The one in your hands is a one-of-a-kind piece." Howard watched helplessly as Chen Mo claimed his beloved collection for himself. He wanted to object, but did not dare say a word.

He knew that once something good fell into Chen Mo's hands, getting it back was simply impossible. He could only resign himself to it helplessly. Had he known Chen Mo had such a sharp eye, he should have hidden the shield first.

"Did you make it?" Chen Mo asked, looking at Howard's unwilling, pained expression.

Howard blushed slightly at the question. "It was Dr. Myron MacLain. He is an exceptional materials scientist. During an experiment, he accidentally mixed Vibranium, iron, and some unknown substance together and created this shield. But afterward, he was unable to reproduce the process."

After speaking, Howard shook his head regretfully.

Chen Mo knew of Vibranium. It was a special metal found in a meteorite that had fallen to Earth. It was incomparably hard, but extremely scarce and precious.

However, the Dr. MacLane Howard mentioned piqued Chen Mo's interest.

"Where is Dr. MacLane now?"

"New York. He is trying to create this super alloy again, but Vibranium is incredibly difficult to obtain. Limited by experimental materials, he has made no progress." Howard was very familiar with Dr. MacLane. The two often worked together, so he knew his situation well.

Chen Mo nodded and did not ask any further questions. After having Howard paint the shield black, he left the laboratory with it under Howard's reluctant gaze.