Black Widow vs. Winter Soldier

Inside the power plant.

Not far from the entrance.

"A special operations team was attacked. There was only one enemy."

Holding a tablet and watching the live feed, Coulson looked grim. "Hydra has someone this powerful? His physical abilities are incredible, beyond the limits human training can achieve. He's comparable to the Captain America data preserved by the Strategic Scientific Reserve... Wait, that face shape looks familiar."

Coulson was a loyal Captain America fan and had paid close attention to the team Captain America led.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had related files with relatively low clearance levels, including photographs of those people.

The man on the tablet gave him a familiar feeling.

His face and build both seemed familiar.

But with his face covered, Coulson could not recall who he was, much less connect him to Bucky, Captain America's brother-in-arms who had fallen from a cliff and vanished all those years ago.

Natasha glanced over, then froze completely. Her pupils dilated, and a rare trace of apprehension appeared on her face.

"Agent Romanoff, do you know him?" Coulson keenly sensed that something was wrong.

Even the famous Black Widow, Agent Romanoff, who had endured the harshest and cruelest training since childhood, could feel apprehension?

"A killer many intelligence agencies refuse to believe is real. Those who do believe call him the 'Winter Soldier.' Some think his appearance heralds the arrival of winter. Others believe the Winter Soldier is a program, and that there is more than one."

Natasha uneasily flexed her wrists, carefully adjusted her Widow suit, and tightened her grip on her pistol. "Over the past fifty years, he has been considered the culprit behind more than twenty assassinations. He has never failed. I suspect Howard Stark was assassinated by him as well. Now it seems he works for Hydra!"

"Fifty years?"

Coulson frowned deeply. "He looks young. No older than forty."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has files on him. Level Seven clearance—you can request access at any time. Researchers in the science division believe it is related to cryogenic technology. He may have lived from World War II to the present day, spending most of that time in suspended sleep. That technology is not particularly difficult."

Natasha said, "I was seriously injured once. I almost died. You know that, right?"

Coulson said, "No."

Although my clearance is higher than yours, you only ever take orders from the Director. Your whereabouts are highly classified. S.H.I.E.L.D. rarely even sees you in person; all we have are stories about you. How would I know?

Natasha explained, "At the time, I was escorting a nuclear physicist out of the Middle East. Someone shot out my tires near Odessa, and the car went over a cliff. The Winter Soldier did it. We barely escaped. Then the Winter Soldier opened fire. I shielded the scientist, and the bullet passed through my body and killed him."

She lifted her shirt, revealing a wound on the right side of her waist. "Goodbye, bikini."

"I heard there are perfect scar-removal procedures now... Right, our salaries are not enough for that. The Director definitely would not reimburse it."

Coulson thought of his year-end bonus, which had practically gone down the drain, and his mood instantly went from bad to terrible. "How dangerous is he?"

"His hand-to-hand combat skills are about equal to mine. He is better with firearms than I am. He never speaks, has no humanity, and is cold and silent. That makes him even more dangerous."

Without hesitation, Natasha said, "He is physically powerful, on the same level as Red Skull and Captain America. He has undergone physical enhancement. His left arm is a high-tech mechanical arm with anti-tracking technology that even the tech division cannot crack. It disrupts electromagnetic waves. I'll deal with him. The rest of you provide support."

"Okay."

Coulson did not put on airs.

Physically powerful, and a Hydra agent—Coulson immediately thought of the Super Soldier Program.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the Winter Soldier had also been injected with the Super Soldier Serum.

His strength was at the ton level, his speed at the family-sedan level, his endurance at the regenerative level, his perception and reflexes at the monster level, and his combat experience and ability at the Black Widow level.

This kind of monster was not someone he could handle.

Wait...

Ward had said that only one person had rescued Eli, someone even stronger than Agent Romanoff.

Could it have been the Winter Soldier?

He certainly had the ability.

But why would the Winter Soldier show mercy to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of killing them all?

Could he be connected to S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Suddenly.

More gunfire rang out, followed by cries for help through the earpieces.

"It's not just the Winter Soldier. Hydra sent others too—at least fifty! Damn it, where did so many people come from?"

Coulson could not help cursing.

Agent Ward's team had been sent off for treatment and interrogation.

The rapid-response special forces team had been wiped out. The only survivor was critically wounded and on the verge of death.

No matter how capable S.H.I.E.L.D. was, it could not summon that many people on such short notice. Even Quinjet support would take time!

Melinda May, who had always fought at his side, had left field operations after the Bahrain Incident and transferred to desk duty. Coulson felt an extreme lack of security.

"You deal with the others. Leave the Winter Soldier to me."

Natasha's face remained expressionless. "I'll keep him occupied until you can support me."

She did not say she would take down the Winter Soldier. She might not be able to.

Keeping him occupied would be enough.

The Winter Soldier was fighting.

Or rather, slaughtering.

His face was expressionless, his eyes sharp and cold, his mind completely focused.

The long-term brainwashing had left him able only to passively receive orders and carry them out. He had no other thoughts.

A twisted level of focus.

As long as someone focused on something, they could succeed at anything. Ten years was enough to become a master.

And he had been carrying out assassinations for more than fifty years.

Though he had spent most of that time frozen in cryogenic sleep, he had also spent long periods awake, undergoing constant training. He had mastered many languages and become proficient with hundreds of weapons, including piloting the latest Quinjet.

How terrifying was focus at that level?

To some within Hydra, he was even more terrifying than Captain America had been.

There were two objectives:

First: obtain the Darkhold at all costs.

Second: eliminate as much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s active personnel as possible, especially Phil Coulson and Natasha Romanoff.

The first objective took priority.

Intelligence indicated that someone had obtained the Darkhold, taken Eli away, and entered the Roxxon Power Plant, apparently to conduct some urgent secret experiment.

He did not know what exactly it was.

But one thing was clear:

This mission would not be easy.

His opponent was very likely connected to something called Ghost Rider.

The information, less than ten pages long, stated that Ghost Rider possessed strength and speed no less than Captain America's, even greater endurance, and the ability to control fire.

This would be the most terrifying opponent he had faced since his creation.

He had made thorough preparations.

But before that, he had to eliminate every enemy in his way.

He raised his gun and fired.

No one could stop him.

Countless training sessions had made his marksmanship superior to nearly everyone in the world. He did not need to aim. Every shot hit.

Suddenly, the Winter Soldier sensed danger.

A current of thirty thousand volts struck him, sending spasms through his entire body. He could barely move and nearly lost control of his bladder.

A miniature bomb exploded instantly, followed by a tear gas grenade.

A barrage of bullets came flying toward him.

A cold, beautiful tactical dagger sliced through the darkness.

A black, alluring shadow rushed at him from afar.

"Do you remember me, Winter Soldier!"

He recognized her—the female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had gotten away by luck... The Winter Soldier said nothing as a device on his left arm activated.

The miniature bomb was not powerful enough to hurt him.

The tear gas grenade was useless against him. He had tested it hundreds of times already.

The powerful current could instantly knock out an ordinary person, but it could only briefly paralyze him. And that did not include his left arm, which was immune to electromagnetic interference.

He suddenly swung his left arm, meeting Black Widow's Widow's Bite.

Fifty meters away.

In a corridor after three turns.

The wind blew past from both sides, but Old Wang suddenly stopped.

"Winter Soldier and Black Widow in a one-on-one match?"

"A lone man and a lone woman, alone in a dark room together. That doesn't seem very proper, does it?"

'You need a hundred-watt lightbulb!'

A warm, boy-next-door smile appeared on Old Wang's lips.

This was truly a rare sight.

He had to go take a good look.

But he could not ruin their fun. He needed to slow down, then slow down some more, so they would not notice him.

Old Wang stepped forward.

The wind swept past from both sides.

Three seconds later, he stopped somewhere in the darkness.