Entering The Hive

Duncan's clear and logical words made them, accustomed to the muddled nonsense of American politicians, immediately feel that Duncan was a sincere man. His words were full of honesty and were quite convincing.

The police officer who had been emotionally agitated was now much calmer. He stared fixedly at Duncan, his tone carrying a warning as he said, "Fine, I will remember what you said today!"

Duncan maintained a serious face, nodding as he replied, "The promises I make will definitely be fulfilled, because I am not one of those hypocritical politicians! Furthermore, Umbrella Corporation is doing its utmost to stop the spread of the crisis. The security department is already clearing out the infected, and I am heading to the front lines of the outbreak myself to do my part in stopping the crisis from expanding. Farewell!"

Having said that, under the complex gazes of the police, Duncan climbed over the barrier and walked toward the depths of the city.

Not until they disappeared around the corner did Sam lose his composure, complaining to Duncan, "Shit, businessmen are just as absurd as politicians! I suspect you've lied to others as well."

Walking in front, Duncan heard this and said with displeasure, "How can you slander an innocent person out of thin air? Once I take over Umbrella Corporation, I will certainly honor my promises. Don't associate me with those politicians!"

The members of James's squad kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, offering no opinions whatsoever.

At this moment, Steve and Natasha, who had driven to the entrance of The Hive, had also arrived at the entrance of the mansion located in the suburbs.

Tony had relied on flight to arrive at the mansion ahead of them, and having already figured out the location of the entrance, he did not wait for Steve and entered the train entrance to the underground Hive first.

Steve and Natasha carefully entered the mansion. Not seeing Tony, Steve asked through his earpiece, "Tony? Have you already gone in?"

"Yes, I left markers for you. Just follow the traces and you'll find the entrance."

Tony was currently connecting to the network at the console next to the train, attempting to access information from inside the underground Hive via its local area network.

However, he found that hacking into the internal network of The Hive was difficult. It wasn't that it was impossible, but it would take some time.

By the time Steve and Natasha entered the underground and met Tony, he still hadn't succeeded in gaining control over the underground facility's network.

"What are you doing, Tony?" Natasha watched as Tony kept his fingers inserted into an interface, standing there motionless for a long time, and couldn't help but be curious.

Tony's voice sounded slightly frustrated as he said, "I'm seizing control of the base's internal systems. It might take some time; that artificial intelligence is putting up a fight. What was its name again? Oh, Red Queen! They actually have an artificial intelligence with such a high degree of completion. It's a pity, it's still a bit inferior to my Jarvis!"

As a genius in computer information technology, Tony had always wanted to replicate an artificial intelligence like Jarvis but had never succeeded. He had accumulated a large number of weak artificial intelligences, and whether in Marvel or this world, he dared to call his research on artificial intelligence the best in the world!

As for this Red Queen, a piece of scrap metal that could be forcibly shut down by a broken laptop, she should have been finished off in another half a minute.

But things took a turn; the Red Queen couldn't resist Tony's forced intrusion, but she could forcibly disconnect the network!

With a click, a prominent notification popped up inside his armor's helmet: "Connection Interrupted." Tony yelled in anger, "She actually cut the connection! What a cunning bad girl! She must have never received an education from Uncle Tony, which is why she dares to play dirty like this!"

"Alright, Tony, we should go in." Steve sighed slightly. If it weren't for the fact that Tony's help while undercover at S.H.I.E.L.D. had been very effective, he would have already rushed underground and punched those capitalists a few times by now.

As for computer information and such, he would likely never be able to handle it with any flexibility in this lifetime.

This time, Tony didn't refuse. Although the Red Queen had forcibly disconnected the network, Tony had already obtained control over most of the smart devices in the underground Hive, and he could even open the cryo-chambers deeper within. He immediately boarded the descending train parked to the side.

The three of them rode the rail train downward, heading toward the underground Hive.

The train's functions were still intact, though there was some minor damage and residual bloodstains, clearly left by the victims who had entered The Hive previously.

Gurgle!

The train consisted of two engines and one carriage. They were currently in the front engine, and the middle carriage was locked by a metal electronic door with no observation ports.

Unable to sit still, Tony went to pick the lock, firing a palm repulsor blast at the lock core before reaching out to pull the iron door of the carriage open.

Before he could even step inside, a hideous monster lunged out from the carriage, instantly tackling him to the ground. A massive mouth filled with messy, sharp teeth snapped open, wide enough to fit Tony's entire head inside.

Snap!

Just as the massive jaws were about to bite down on Tony's head, he raised his hand to block the bite.

The other two people in the train only then reacted, and upon seeing the monster that had tackled Tony, their hearts trembled.

Tissue resembling human muscle was exposed, and a brain had replaced the position of the eyes, ears, and nose, occupying two-thirds of the head. Its reptilian limbs were thick and long, and it possessed a pair of terrifying, sharp claws. The monster's appearance was like that of a person who hadn't been skinned properly, with their brain still exposed.

A Licker. Duncan's provided data contained information on this type of monster, but this was the first time the three of them had seen one in person.

After the initial shock, Steve swung his shield, smashing it hard against the Licker's side, knocking it off Tony and into the carriage wall.

Natasha used her small pistol to fire continuously at the Licker's exposed brain. She emptied her magazine in less than two seconds, yet still failed to completely kill the Licker.

The exposed brain was not a fragile weak point; after the pistol bullets entered the Licker's exposed brain, it only incited even greater ferocity.

With an agile flip, the Licker opened its massive mouth and lunged at Natasha. Its pale pink teeth gnashed together, a foul wind whipped up, and a terrifying aura surged toward her.

Clang!

Tony aimed both palms at the iron carriage wall and, coordinating with the energy jets at the base of his limbs, leaped like a fish in the sea, slamming into the Licker mid-air and pinning it to the ceiling of the carriage.

The Licker struggled incessantly after being slammed into the ceiling, its massive claws scraping against Tony's back, creating a harsh, grating sound.

Hum!

The reactor in his chest suddenly erupted with intense energy, and Tony's rarely used chest repulsor blasted a hole through the Licker's torso at point-blank range.

He had expected that with a large hole in its chest, the Licker would die after a bit of struggling, but he hadn't expected that even after holding onto this mass of a monster for half a minute, it was still struggling just as violently.

Tony fired another shot from his palm repulsor into the Licker's head, and only then did the monster stop struggling.

Thud!

The Licker's corpse dropped into the carriage. The three of them looked at the dead Licker, marveling at the monster's strength.

Steve, having been modified by the Super Soldier Serum, could lift tens of tons of steel at his peak strength. If an ordinary person were hit by his shield, it would basically result in broken bones and damaged internal organs.

This hideous Licker had been struck by the shield, yet not even its bones had been broken, which hadn't affected the Licker's movements in the slightest.