Death Countdown

"30! 29! 28..."

William stared at the numbers counting down, his heart beating faster and faster. Sweat covered his face.

To uncover the Skull Gang's secrets, he had prepared a meticulous plan, even working out an escape route. But he had never imagined the USB drive would contain a terrifying self-destruct program!

He looked around and saw that no one had noticed him. He ran a hand through his messy hair.

In all those blockbuster movies, self-destruct devices were terrifying things. He couldn't imagine how powerful one would be when it exploded.

"24! 23! 22..."

William pressed the computer's power button hard, but it seemed to be broken. Nothing happened. He began to regret renting such a beat-up computer. It was going to get him killed at the worst possible moment!

"I've got it!"

He glanced at the laptop's battery. If he cut the power completely and shut the computer down, that should stop the self-destruct countdown, right?

With that thought, he didn't hesitate any longer. He steeled himself and yanked out the battery.

As soon as he had it, he hurried beneath the table, ducked his head, and closed his eyes.

"Sir, sir, are you all right?" A waitress nearby noticed William acting strangely and hurried over, asking with concern.

"Don't come over! Stay back! It's dangerous here!" William opened his eyes and saw the waitress's long legs right in front of him. Frightened, he quickly waved his hands at her.

The waitress looked at William as if he were an idiot, wondering if he might be mentally ill.

William had ducked under the table because he was worried the USB drive would suddenly explode once the power was cut. But no explosion came, so he returned to his seat.

Normally, a computer without a battery should have shut down by now.

But when William sat back down, he was astonished to see that the computer was still on. Even the screen hadn't gone dark. The familiar Skull Gang symbol was still there, and the self-destruct countdown continued!

"20! 19! 18..."

How was this possible? William's eyes widened. How could a laptop with no power keep running? Was this some kind of haunting in broad daylight?

He looked at the USB drive, whose blue light was still blinking. Maybe it had nothing to do with the computer and everything to do with the drive? Maybe if he pulled it out, the self-destruct sequence would end.

But as soon as his hand touched the drive, he hesitated again.

He figured that if he could think of it, the person who made the USB drive could, too. A computer working with no power was bizarre enough. Maybe the self-destruct device would explode the instant he pulled out the drive!

No, that wouldn't work!

If all else failed, he could grab the laptop and run, getting away from the café and away from the crowds. Maybe that would at least reduce the damage.

He began to curse himself for not being a hacker. Maybe then he could have disabled the self-destruct countdown. But there was no point thinking about that now. He had to get out of there.

Wait! A hacker?

Just as he picked up the computer and prepared to run, something suddenly occurred to him. He remembered the reward he'd drawn from the Overwatch System—the Sombra skill card!

"I can hack anything, and anyone..." Sombra's beautiful figure appeared in the air.

Sombra: Hack: This skill can hack any network, computer, or electronic device.

Note: This skill card is consumable and can only be used once.

"Athena, Hack!" There was no time to hesitate. William immediately used the skill card.

In an instant, the entire laptop was engulfed in a purple glow. It appeared and vanished just as quickly. The red light on the USB drive stopped blinking and turned purple.

"16! 15! 14."

The death countdown had finally stopped.

William panted nonstop. The back of his shirt was soaked with sweat. He downed his coffee and finally managed to pull himself together.

The day before, he'd gotten Sombra's skill card from a loot box. Since it could only be used once, he'd decided to save it for a moment of absolute necessity.

He hadn't expected that moment to come so soon. Fortunately, Sombra's skill had saved him. Otherwise, William would have been in serious trouble today.

As Hack took effect, William also saw the USB drive's entire structure. It contained no tracking device, and its self-destruct mechanism had been successfully destroyed.

Hidden inside the USB drive was a deeper layer of storage. It required a level-two password to unlock, along with someone's fingerprint.

That was all the information William could see. Hack had only been used once, yet he'd essentially figured out the USB drive's secrets. But to uncover what lay deeper, he needed that person's fingerprint.

Perhaps if he managed to unlock Sombra as a hero, he'd be able to fully unravel the USB drive's secrets.

Whatever else, he'd survived another close call. If he hadn't drawn the Hack skill card earlier, he'd have been dead by now.

With that thought, he looked at the computer screen again. The Skull Gang symbol was slowly changing.

The white skull was stained a blood-red color, and the black snake in its mouth gradually disappeared.

Beneath the skull, six tentacles like an octopus's appeared against a circular black background...

William's expression changed at once. He recognized the symbol all too well. It was none other than—

Hydra!

Hydra was a notorious supervillain organization in the Marvel Universe. Its name came from the giant serpent Hydra in Greek mythology. Legend had it that the serpent had nine heads, and whenever one was cut off, two more would grow in its place.

This became Hydra's guiding principle and creed, symbolizing its endless, inexhaustible existence.

During World War II, Red Skull was obsessed with mythology and ancient power. Following Norse mythology, he found the Tesseract. He soon betrayed them, hoping to use the Tesseract's power to win World War II and rule the world.

In response, the Allies founded the Strategic Scientific Reserve. They used the Super Soldier Serum to create history's first superhero—Captain America. Leading his Howling Commandos, Captain America defeated Hydra and foiled Red Skull's plot.

In the end, Red Skull vanished in the Tesseract's dazzling light, while the Tesseract and Captain America sank into the cold ocean.

"Talk about a headache." With the threat of a self-destruct explosion gone, William pulled out the USB drive and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

He didn't know what secrets the USB drive held, but if they were connected to Hydra, their discovery could cause an uproar around the world!

Anyone figured it out?