Duncan knew he was being watched and listened to, so he hadn't wanted to discuss the Umbrella Corporation's secrets in the Resident Evil world. But after meeting Steve, he wasn't so worried about Isaac's methods anymore.
The Marvel Universe was teeming with talented people. All he had to do was go there and rally them with a speech: "I'm Umbrella's largest shareholder. Once I take back control of the company, I'll reward you handsomely!"
With that, a steady stream of highly educated Marvel minds would be willing to work with him. Surely they could develop a T-virus serum in no time?
All he had to do now was help Steve and the others get through this crisis. Then he'd invite Steve to join the effort to save the world, pull the Red Queen's motherboard out from beneath the Hive, and take control of her. That would be as good as controlling the entire Umbrella Corporation.
In Duncan's eyes, the Red Queen was an artificial idiot. A true artificial intelligence ought to be capable of making its own decisions, rather than being a useless machine that only knew how to follow orders.
He could think of several ways to cripple the Red Queen and turn her into a mechanical maiden who did nothing but obey him.
"Argh!"
The excruciating pain in his body interrupted his thoughts. Before him, the action team members were busy hauling supplies. Someone had hastily bandaged his wounds, and while they waited for Isaac to send people to capture them, they had to pack up and move to the Marvel Universe.
Steve and the other two were helping, too. The equipment here would be a big help to them. Every problem came down to a lack of firepower. If they had a nuclear bomb and could bring themselves to use it, they could just blow up S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters and make things simple.
But he knew Steve wouldn't do that. He was a good man.
Ha!
Duncan watched the fine American ass carrying four boxes of grenades past him and silently laughed. Then he put on a grimace and called to his trembling female secretary, "Susan, hurry and help me to the bathroom!"
After he'd finished relieving himself, Duncan endured the pain and climbed into the same car as Captain America. They drove off, reentering the Marvel Universe.
Only half an hour had passed since they'd left the Marvel Universe. After Crossbones's Hydra-S.H.I.E.L.D. action team discovered that Captain America had vanished, they spread out across the area in their vehicles to search.
The cybersecurity and transportation departments investigated together, but found only a few useless clues.
Umbrella's cars had no license plates. In their place was only the Umbrella Corporation's emblem, a red-and-white umbrella.
All they could conclude was that an unknown force had taken Captain America away by a means they couldn't detect.
After half an hour of searching without success, they called off the search and left the mess to the police.
They knew Steve's goal: to stop Project Insight from being carried out. All they had to do was have S.H.I.E.L.D. deploy heavy security.
Once the Security Council's auditors arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters and passed the system verification, Hydra could launch Project Insight.
What could Steve possibly accomplish in just fifteen hours?
So when Duncan's convoy burst out from beneath the overpass again, only a few police officers had set up a cordon nearby.
The bewildered officers stared at the four cars that had suddenly appeared. They didn't react until the four black SUVs drove right past them. Then they finally remembered what they were supposed to do, jumped into their patrol cars, and gave chase.
"Keep the police back, but don't shoot," Duncan ordered over the radio, watching the pursuing officers in the rearview mirror.
Everyone in the cars rolled down their windows and displayed their automatic weapons, making the convoy look like a venomous centipede no one would want to mess with.
Seeing that, the police cars behind them wisely hit the brakes and stopped chasing. Even if they wanted to continue, they'd have to wait for backup.
They were paid peanuts, and now they were supposed to get themselves killed? This had to be a joke!
Watching Duncan and his team, Steve felt a little uneasy in the second car. Would people from another world have trouble adjusting to theirs?
With no police getting in their way, they sped onward, taking a long detour toward the outskirts of Washington.
They weren't in any shape to launch a surprise attack. Duncan and Bark were both injured, and at the very least, they needed to find a safe house. The strain of traveling wouldn't help their injuries heal.
As a veteran who'd fought in World War II, Steve was a rough-and-ready tactician. He'd already come up with a good plan while they were in the car.
He'd used a similar tactic to defeat the Hydra forces led by Red Skull, so he was familiar with it.
The plan was as follows:
At night, Steve and the other two would join Duncan's James Squad and sneak into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters building with explosives. They'd blow up the engines and control centers of all three Valkyrie Shuttles, then use the broadcast system to wake up the agents Hydra had deceived.
Once chaos broke out, they'd storm the big boss's office—Alexander Pierce's—and give him a good beating. Then they'd hand him over to the World Security Council for trial.
Mm, a perfect plan.
At least, it seemed that way to Steve...
Fortunately, Natasha was still an excellent agent. With her guidance, the convoy soon lost the pursuing police and drove to a farm outside Washington.
The four cars drove into the farm's barn. There was no one here, and no electricity, but it would do as a temporary safe house.
With Susan supporting him, Duncan climbed out of the car. The medicine had eased his pain considerably, but the bones in his left hand had been broken outright. If they didn't deal with the splintered fragments, his left hand might never heal.
"It's three in the afternoon. Let's set the operation for one in the morning," Steve said, glancing at his watch before looking at the others.
Natasha had no objections. Sam said he needed to get his Falcon gear.
One member of James's squad had died. To prove they weren't in league with the Umbrella Corporation—and to save themselves—they needed to take part in this operation as well.
They had plenty of time for now. Thinking about Captain America's plan, Duncan asked in confusion, "Only you three are handling this? What about Tony Stark?"
"He just had surgery. He's in no condition to take part in an operation." Natasha wasn't surprised that Duncan knew about Tony. She'd automatically assumed he'd gathered information in advance so he could enter their world; otherwise, he wouldn't have recognized Steve as Captain America.
Steve frowned, too. "I know him. If we let him know, he might put the people around him in danger..."
"Right..." Natasha lowered her head. That was exactly why she'd even been afraid to ask Barton for help.
Barton had a family, and he was going to retire soon. They really shouldn't drag him into this. Hydra had too much power hidden behind the scenes. Fighting Hydra—
Duncan rolled his eyes. "Come on, don't try to be heroes! If Hydra in your world had the same kind of global influence as Umbrella, then fighting an underground war would make sense. Umbrella would even dare to drop a nuclear bomb on a city with hundreds of thousands of people. Would Hydra? An organization that has to keep hiding—how powerful can it really be? If Tony's actually smart, he should know what to do!"
After hearing Duncan speak so frankly, Steve and Natasha both looked a little embarrassed. They had to admit he had a point.
Thinking of how Tony had fearlessly carried a nuclear bomb through the portal during the Battle of New York, they really ought to trust him a little more...
Sam, who was practically invisible in the darkness, couldn't get a word in. Compared to the three talking, he was still too young.
Before you continue