Support Equipment

Alexei lay on the ground like a dead dog. The Duck Leopard armor—Duck Type had disintegrated into several pieces, scattered all over the ground.

Henry, having successfully pranked someone, was now miserably taking off his shirt to use as a rag to clean up the vomit inside the hood.

The Kryptonian caught the Kryptonian completely off guard. He was already considering upgrading and replacing that mask; he figured he might as well not worry about being spotted and just fly straight back to Los Angeles...

Although the solids and liquids were removed, the smell was still a real test of Kryptonian's sense of smell.

"Sukabul! Is this the method of movement you recommended? It's even worse than the first one. What were you thinking?" Alexei, having caught his breath, was also lying on the ground. But he finally couldn't help but complain.

Henry explained, still quite resentful, "Don't you know that a short, sharp pain is better than a long, drawn-out one? If you're really willing to endure twenty-five hours of this ordeal, I don't want to talk to you. Your current distress is just a fleeting moment."

"Don't worry, with your test data, after adjustments, the next Hyper-Accelerated Ejection should be more comfortable. Previously, only my pet cooperated with the test; it's definitely not as good as a human."

Alexei stared at the speaker in astonishment. "You're using me as a guinea pig!"

Henry hurriedly denied it, saying, "No, that's not true. I didn't. I personally tested it to make sure it was safe before letting others use it."

"In terms of comfort and adaptability, not every place has super soldiers willing to cooperate with me for testing. You see, at least you successfully reached your destination and weren't ejected to Mars or Hell or anything like that."

Alexei felt a little relieved. The manufacturers had personally tested the safety features; what more could he ask for...?

Alexei stood up and looked around at the lush forest, asking, "Where are we now?"

"Within Sokovia."

"Sokovia may be a small country, but it's still over a hundred kilometers long, stretching from north to south and from east to west. Do you expect me to guess where we are? Besides, we're currently in the mountains; I can't exactly ask a fox where the Red Room is, can I?"

Well, this guy wasn't wrong. Henry had no choice but to admit, "I don't know the geography inside Sokovia. I can only tell you that there's a small town about two kilometers to the west."

"I didn't want to expose these two suits of armor to other people in broad daylight, so I chose a slightly farther place to land. This distance shouldn't be a problem for you, right? Hurry up, you can have dinner at a restaurant in town."

With that, Henry tossed the backpack containing the money to Alexei. "There's a PSM Pocket Pistol and special ammunition inside. Or do you want to use Beretta 92?"

"Give me the Beretta. The PSM's features are too obvious; it's practically telling everyone who fired it. Hmm, you didn't kill anyone with this PSM, did you? Oh well, we're already out of there, so it doesn't really matter."

A pat on the storage box on the back of the Duck Leopard armor—Leopard Type revealed a brand-new Beretta 92 and a full magazine.

Henry handed over the gun and magazine in exchange for the PSM Pocket Pistol and other accessories, saying, "You'll have to deal with the bullets yourself; these are all I have."

"Don't worry, 9mm bullets are everywhere. In this country, they're probably easier to buy than food."

Henry placed the PSM Pocket Pistol into the compartment where the Beretta had been, and noticed Alexei staring intently at him. "What, need this as a spare gun?"

"How can I contact you?" Alexei asked.

"Why did you contact me?"

"You don't think I can take on an organization like the Red Room all by myself, do you? I need support too."

"So?" Henry, realizing he'd gotten himself into trouble, was now somewhat regretting bringing the Red Guardian out of prison.

"You said yourself that you'd borrow as much as you can while you can, and pay it all back together later."

This is like shooting yourself in the foot. Henry looked utterly exasperated.

Alexei further stated, "The technological sophistication of these armors, including the ability to instantly traverse five thousand kilometers, is unlike any American or communist equipment I've ever seen."

"Whether you're doing this on your own, as you say, or there's an organization behind you, I think it's worth taking a gamble on you. It's just a matter of whether you're willing to place the bet."

Seeing the man's serious expression, Henry thought for a moment and called over Kitty, who was sniffing around. He then took the Support Mech "Little Duck" off the back of the Duck Leopard armor—Leopard Type.

As soon as it left its base, the three-lens camera on the front of the Little Duck began to rotate, preparing to detect its environment. Henry held onto the Little Duck tightly to keep it from floating in the air. At the same time, he used his mouth to shout out a special sound wave as a high-frequency key, preparing to log in a new user.

"Don't move." The Little Duck turned to face a special camera, shooting out scanning light in the opposite direction to record Alexei's facial and Iris features. "Say your full name."

"Alexei Shostakov." Although he didn't understand the process, the former Red Guardian cooperated.

After logging in as a new user, the Little Duck was released by Henry. The Gravitonium device lifted the Support Mech into the air, much to Alexei's amazement.

Henry said, "Little Duck, record the new command. Follow the new user Alexei Shostakov and enable Level 1 privileges."

"Command accepted. Hello Alexei Shostakov, I am the Support Mech, Little Duck. Nice to meet you."

Alexei stared at the robot that had floated in front of him, curiously studying how it was hovering in mid-air. He casually asked the other man, "What is this? And what does Level 1 clearance mean?"

Henry explained, "You can contact me through the Little Duck, a secret route that no one will find out. Unless you use it directly in public to talk to me."

"Level 1 privileges mean you can use most of the Little Duck's functions, including unlocking, electronic intrusion, aerial reconnaissance, reporting the movement of armed personnel within range, or the location of designated targets."

"It can be used as an electronic map with navigation functions. It also has a certain knowledge-based search function and human status monitoring, which means it has a certain degree of lie detection ability. However, do not rely on it excessively."

"For more features, you can ask Little Duck when you have time. Level 1 access will give you most answers, as long as they are in the database. However, you cannot modify user information, nor can you transfer it to others."

"However, I must also state that when you are carrying the Little Duck, it means that I can monitor your whereabouts through this Support Mech. The red light on the front means that it is operating autonomously, and when it switches to green light, it means that I am the one controlling it."

"Equipped with a special battery, it can last for thirty days under normal use. Just leave it plugged in to charge when not in use. It has a certain degree of bulletproof capability; it cannot be damaged by close-range rifle fire."

Alexei then asked, "What If...? it's compromised, can you receive signals to provide support?"

Pointing to the spot flashing red light on the front, Henry said, "What If...? it's damaged abnormally, or if someone tries to take it apart to study it, this spot will turn yellow."

"When you see the yellow light, you have one minute to escape to a distance of at least one kilometer, with 500 meters being the minimum."

"I don't think this will be a problem for a super soldier's physical abilities. To deactivate the self-destruct, you need the highest level of clearance, which you don't have. So when you see the yellow light, don't hesitate, run."

Alexei was dumbfounded and asked, "One kilometer? You don't mean what I'm thinking, do you?"

Henry grinned broadly and said, "Oh, don't worry. The explosion was powerful, but there won't be any radioactive fallout. This isn't an atomic bomb."

Am I worried about this?