HYDRA's Movements

"You'll be staying here to take charge of Brooklyn's entire underground. How can you manage without sufficient strength? With your enhanced abilities, I believe that even if something happens, you'll be able to suppress it easily!"

"Only then can I rest easy."

Wang Kun's heart burned with fervor, and his eyes reddened slightly, yet he looked at Chen Mo with unwavering determination.

"Rest assured, Master. I'll give it everything I have and make the Seven Precepts Gang grow stronger!"

"You don't need to focus blindly on expansion. Just develop steadily according to the plan I laid out. And don't neglect your own training. Remember, the Seven Precepts Gang is only an external asset. Strength is what truly matters."

"Yes, Master!"

Chen Mo nodded, then looked at the others.

"You don't need to rush either. I'll enhance all of you after some time."

Although Chen Mo was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders and had the authority to allocate Super Soldier Serum, the serum had only just been developed. Before it had even been used internally by S.H.I.E.L.D., Chen Mo had already enhanced all his trusted subordinates. Even if Colonel Phillips and the others said nothing, Chen Mo himself felt that he was being far too blatant.

He had enhanced Wang Kun first because he was about to leave. If it was only one dose of serum, Chen Mo felt no pressure at all about abusing his authority.

Everything that needed handling on this trip back to New York had been taken care of, and there had even been quite a few unexpected gains. After arranging matters at the Martial Arts School, Chen Mo left the next day with Old Albert, Huang Quan, Han Qing, Luo Zhen, and Howard, returning to Europe.

After Chen Mo and the others left, Wang Kun, who had taken over the Seven Precepts Gang, did not move into the former Lucien Family headquarters—the grander and more luxurious building that now served as the Seven Precepts Gang's base. Instead, he continued living at the Martial Arts School with his wife and children.

After Chen Mo's departure, some people who had submitted only because they feared his inhuman power, yet remained unwilling in their hearts, began causing trouble. Wang Kun, whose strength had increased enormously after Serum Enhancement, crushed them with overwhelming force, eliminating those destabilizing elements and taking complete control of the Seven Precepts Gang.

Afterward, he followed the course Chen Mo had set and developed steadily. Once the Seven Precepts Gang was on the right track, Wang Kun spent most of his time at the Martial Arts School, practicing martial arts and shooting every day. When he had time, he taught several disciples kung fu. Only when important matters arose within the gang would he return to the headquarters on Green Street to deal with them personally.

No ordinary person could have imagined that the gentle, courteous, and highly skilled master of the Martial Arts School was the godfather controlling Brooklyn's entire underworld.

Many years later, a new Chinatown gradually formed around the Martial Arts School. That unassuming school became sacred ground in the eyes of underground forces across Brooklyn, and even all of New York. Their powerful, revered godfather was there, along with countless legends that sounded steeped in myth.

But the shield hanging in the family council hall reminded them that none of it was merely legend.

London, Britain.

After many days of rough travel at sea, Chen Mo's group finally arrived at the Strategic Scientific Reserve's underground base.

But as soon as he returned, Chen Mo had to set out again. From the personnel left behind, he learned that Colonel Phillips and Agent Carter had already gone to the Italian Front, where HYDRA had been spotted once more.

More importantly, "Captain America," Steve Rogers, would soon be heading to the Italian Front for a morale-boosting performance, while Bucky's 107th Regiment had recently been defeated by a suddenly deployed HYDRA unit, with nearly a hundred men taken prisoner.

The familiar situation surprised Chen Mo somewhat. He had not expected that, despite his large-scale intervention and the changes it had brought, events would return to their original course.

If nothing unexpected happened, once Steve learned that Bucky might have been captured, he would cross the war zone aboard a plane flown by Howard with Carter's help, infiltrate the HYDRA base, and rescue the captured Allied soldiers.

It was also this battle that would allow him to prove his worth, earn the recognition of the soldiers and the Colonel, and become the true "Captain America"!

Suddenly, Chen Mo turned to look at Howard, who was slumped in a chair beside him and refused to get up no matter what.

"What are you looking at me for? I'm telling you, if you want to go, go by yourself. I'm not going anywhere until I've rested here for a few days! I hate boats!" Seeing Chen Mo's strange look, Howard shouted with the expression of someone who had given up caring.

Although his body had been enhanced, more than ten days of rough seas had still left the seasick Howard in agony. He had vomited his guts out the entire journey and was nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Even now, sitting in the chair, he felt as if the ground were constantly rocking up and down. His mind was a complete mess, and he was terribly dizzy. He seriously suspected that the serum had amplified his tendency toward seasickness as well.

Chen Mo stepped forward, grabbed the Howard who was playing dead, and hauled him to his feet before striding outside.

"We'll fly."

Italian Front, Allied camp.

"Are you ready to come with me and beat the hell out of Hitler?"

Steve stood on the stage, wearing a skin-tight red, white, and blue outfit patterned like the Stars and Stripes. He held a shield with the same paint scheme in his hand and shouted fervently at the soldiers below.

At the time, Steve was hugely popular in the United States. He starred in films, appeared in comics, and performed in stage shows. Back home, he was a household name with countless fans—a bona fide superstar.

During his usual tours around the United States, whenever he asked this question, the enthusiastic audience below would respond with tremendous excitement.

Yet now, among the dense crowd of American soldiers sitting or standing below the stage, including those standing atop tanks and trucks in the distance, not a single person answered. They all simply watched him in silence.

The lines had all been prepared in advance, and the soldiers' lack of cooperation left Steve at a loss for a moment.

"Okay."

Seeing that no one responded after a long while, Steve could only grit his teeth and continue with the original script.

"I need a volunteer!"

"We're already volunteers! What do you think we're doing here otherwise?" The moment Steve finished speaking, a soldier below shouted mockingly.

The other soldiers laughed along with him.

"We want to see the girls perform!" someone else shouted. His words won the soldiers' approval, and they began cheering and yelling. Compared to "Captain America," who only put on a show onstage and had never set foot on a battlefield, they were clearly more interested in the pretty girls.

"They only do one dance, but..."

"I-I'll try to figure something out." The soldiers below, who refused to follow the script, had completely thrown Steve off rhythm. Having never encountered such a situation before, he could only prepare to leave the stage and comply with the soldiers' demands, giving it over to the dancing girls.

"Go on, sweetheart!"

"Nice boots, fairy princess!"

But the soldiers below showed no appreciation, calling out teasingly one after another.