Victory's Return

Chapter 29: Victorious Return

The blinding blue tide of energy spread, and wherever it touched—walls, floors, or steel doors—it was annihilated into nothingness.

"Ahhh!"

The old doctor's screams, muffled by his glasses, were insignificant within it. His body slowly turned into nothingness, until it completely evaporated.

The corridor walls shattered and collapsed, and the dust continued to form a shockwave that violently blasted Kyle away!

A few seconds later, everything began to calm down.

At the end of the corridor, Red Skull tore off the mask and hood from his face, revealing a terrifying, scarlet skull.

He indifferently looked at the damaged corridor before him, which had suffered a devastating blow. He coldly uttered, "Farewell, Super Soldier," then turned and left without looking back.

After another moment, a disheveled figure pushed himself up from the pile of rubble in the corridor. It was Kyle, who had narrowly escaped.

"Cough, cough."

Kyle brushed the dust off his clothes, gazing at the torn, human-skin hood on the ground at the end of the corridor. His voice was ice-cold. "Red Skull, next time... I promise next time, if I encounter you again, you'll die a very ugly death!"

He made a mental note of this grudge!

Fortunately, he had a meat shield to block most of the energy wave, and with the Vibranium Bracer blocking, Kyle only had the sleeves of his hands burned off, and his clothes were damaged all over.

"However, I still lost the best opportunity to seize the Tesseract," Kyle sighed inwardly. He had truly suffered a hidden loss this time, underestimating Red Skull, the villain.

After all, he was the founder of Hydra. Even if his strength was slightly inferior to Steve's, and he couldn't compare to Kyle himself, his insidious methods were still hard to guard against.

Just then, an alarm suddenly blared from the partially intact hub control room. Kyle snapped back to attention and rushed in as if sensing something.

He saw the hub control room's console emitting black smoke. The main screen displayed a German red text prompt: 'Factory Self-Destruct Countdown: 61 seconds.' The seconds were still decreasing.

Opposite the control room screen, a young man, bound to a laboratory table with his upper body bare, was unconscious. On the adjacent wall was a large map with six flags scattered across it.

Kyle's sharp attention focused on the map, and a card-drawing notification flashed into his mind.

[German Factory Distribution Map]:

It recorded the distribution of six German weapon manufacturing factories and bases. White Item Card.

Draw?

"Another map, this must be unlocking the level," Kyle blinked, a cold smile curving his lips.

Red Skull, you can run all you want, but I'll destroy your nests one by one first.

Just as Kyle drew the distribution map on the wall into a card, a tall figure suddenly rushed into the room. They looked at each other and were both slightly stunned.

"Kyle?"

"Steve?"

After going in circles, Kyle and Steve reunited in the factory control room.

"What happened here?" Steve asked, looking around the severely damaged control room with uncertainty.

"It's simple—the factory commander got impatient and threw an energy bomb to stop me," Kyle shrugged, gesturing with his chin towards the unconscious youth in the room. "That must be the person you wanted to save this time."

"It's Bucky!" Steve exclaimed with joy upon seeing the young man, and quickly darted over, intending to wake him up.

"Just lift him up by the shoulder and go. This place is about to explode," Kyle said, pointing at the main screen. The countdown now showed only half a minute left.

Steve nodded and did as Kyle said, hoisting his unconscious buddy onto his shoulder. Just as Kyle was about to lead the way to escape, his peripheral vision caught sight of something on the control console table.

[Car Key]:

The car key to Red Skull's exclusive vehicle. This four-wheel-drive car was built with top German craftsmanship and boasts astonishing horsepower. White Item Card.

"Got it, follow me!" Kyle snatched the car key and led Steve towards the factory's garage.

The half-minute countdown ended. Explosions occurred simultaneously throughout the factory, and the new energy materials triggered a series of detonations, their flames illuminating the wilderness at night.

Outside the factory, the liberated American prisoners, after seizing the factory's new energy weapons and tanks, had already routed the German forces stationed there.

Seeing the factory self-destruct, all the American soldiers fled outwards.

Just then, against the backdrop of exploding flames, accompanied by the roar of an engine, a stylish and exquisite luxury car, like a work of art, suddenly burst out.

"Follow my command, break through towards our base!" Kyle shouted from the driver's seat, flooring the accelerator. He led the charge, directly smashing through the factory's wire mesh, treating Red Skull's precious vehicle like a tank.

"Keep up! Everyone keep up!!"

Seeing Steve and Bucky, who were conspicuously dressed, on the car, the American soldiers knew they were their own people. They cheered and joyfully followed the car's tail, surging into the vast, dark wilderness.

One night passed.

At dawn, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, Carter impatiently went to the training base's communication center to inquire about news.

"Second Lieutenant Kyle and Steve Rogers disappeared into Zone 3 after the battle last night. The factory in that area has lost all signs of life. The search party has returned, and we are now preparing to officially report them as deceased."

Captain Brant, personally receiving the telegram, said coldly to Carter, "Because of you, we not only lost an excellent officer and a propaganda captain, but also the lives of hundreds of soldiers!"

"If this is the outcome, I am willing to bear all responsibility," Carter replied calmly. She refused to believe that those two men had died so easily on the battlefield.

"No matter what you say now..." Brant began, but then suddenly stopped, his gaze shifting to his rear.

The sound of a car approaching could be faintly heard from the wilderness outside the base.

"Look, what's that?"

"My goodness!"

The soldiers preparing for training at the base gathered in surprise by the back gate. Soon, they parted to the sides, clearing a space.

A damaged luxury car led the way, with Kyle driving it slowly. Steve and a newly awakened Bucky sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the back seat.

Behind the luxury car were hundreds of American soldiers armed with new energy weapons. Though they had fought and broken through all night, their faces were filled with exhaustion, yet every step they took was incredibly firm.

They were back!

"This kid, he really is—" When Captain Brant saw enemy tanks being driven back at the rear of the procession, he was utterly speechless.

Did he just ransack the enemy's factory?

'Please give me a chance to show my talent as a soldier!'

The young man's resolute words still echoed in his ears. At some point, the recruit who had just entered the base had quickly become a hero who repeatedly created miracles.

"Truly, incredible!"

Captain Brant finished his sentence and started clapping, with the soldiers in the training base joining in with applause.

The thunderous applause echoed over the base for a long time.