West of the Hudson River, southwest of Albany, lay a mountainous region spanning four counties known as the Catskill Mountains. It was a nature reserve with ninety-eight rolling peaks rising over 900 meters, home to black bears, deer, foxes, and many other animals. Bald eagles could even be spotted there.
Three months had passed since the Wall Street "Red-Clad Killer Murder Case." Adam Smith, who had broken out of the encirclement that day, had spent this time hiding in the Catskill Mountains to recover and practice his swordsmanship.
The area was rich in resources, with ample food and towns at the foot of the mountains. For Adam, who possessed Inner Force and superb swordsmanship, survival posed no difficulty at all.
Evil-Warding Swordplay was inherently a martial art that could be learned quickly. Even Lin Pingzhi, a young master with mediocre martial arts, mediocre talent, and only decent character, had needed just two and a half months of training to kill Yu Canghai and destroy the Qingcheng Sect. After three months of grueling cultivation, Adam Smith had naturally become a completely different man.
This swordsmanship could progress from the outside inward, advancing Inner Force while one practiced the sword. Though it could not compare to those famed internal cultivation manuals, its rapid results and broad accessibility far surpassed those divine techniques with their demanding talent requirements.
Its only requirement was the resolve to make one cut.
In a low-martial world like The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, practicing Evil-Warding Swordplay diligently for two or three months could make someone a top second-rate expert in one leap, perhaps even barely qualify them as first-rate.
Within a red pine forest, a red figure continuously circled and leaped around the trunks, flashes of sharp metallic light flickering from time to time.
Countless branches and leaves fell like a curtain of rain. The slender pine needles on every bough had been sliced away by sword light, pattering down like green needles falling from the sky.
Suddenly, the red figure landed atop a pine tree. Adam Smith, tall and powerfully built, stood on a thin branch and swayed up and down with it without falling.
The blade returned to its sheath, and several towering, bare red pines around him crashed down.
Those trees had already been cut countless times. Their shattered wood had remained in place only through the pull of a trace of vital energy. Once that energy dispersed, the scattered fragments collapsed, instantly turning the area into a heap of lumberyard waste.
Three months later, not a trace of stubble remained on Adam Smith's chin. Inner Force had nourished every wound across his body, and his once-rough skin had become smooth, rosy, and lustrous.
His receding hairline had lowered somewhat, while his prematurely gray hair had returned to black. The hair he had grown over the past three months now extended below his earlobes.
His lean frame had not developed bulging muscles. Instead, his muscles had drawn tightly against his skeleton, making him appear even more slender, while a hint of seductive charm had settled between his brows and eyes.
He wore a red robe, with a red cord strung around his waist and a gourd hanging from it, found who knew where. It was filled with baijiu he had acquired from a nearby town.
After practicing his swordsmanship, Adam removed the wine gourd and tilted his head back to drink deeply, imitating Invincible East's mannerisms. Though it was a poor imitation, to anyone who had never witnessed Invincible East's heroic bearing, he still seemed to possess a unique sort of carefree elegance.
"Is... is he male or female?" Behind the distant trees, an agent in camouflage held binoculars as he watched Adam Smith's profile, his expression uncertain. "Wasn't he supposed to be a man according to the intel?"
"Shut up!" Crossbones Brock Rumlow barked quietly through the communications channel.
Though he did not understand why Adam Smith had turned into what he was now, he knew the other man was extremely dangerous.
The brief, intense battle outside the New York Stock Exchange three months ago had stunned S.H.I.E.L.D.'s professionals.
They had broken the footage down frame by frame for analysis, yet still could not understand how Adam Smith, once an ordinary man, had become such a powerful superhuman in a single day.
In the footage, his brief burst of speed had even matched Captain America's recorded data. Not to mention how he had easily cleaved apart a riot shield with nothing but an ordinary stainless steel sword.
Based on the footage, experts calculated that the sword in his hand had reached a speed of roughly one hundred meters per second when swung. It was simply absurd!
An ordinary stainless steel sword had not only endured such speed, but had also split open a riot shield made of polymer materials in a direct collision, leaving behind an exceptionally flat, smooth cut.
It was not scientific at all!
If the earlier footage had already challenged physicists' entire worldview, then what Crossbones had just witnessed with his own eyes was like watching their legendary Hydra sovereign.
In just over ten seconds, the red figure had flitted up and down around several towering red pines like a ghost. He had not only stripped the branches bare, but chopped the trunks into fine pieces, then stood rigidly atop a branch less than half a meter long without falling...
"Was Captain America this strong? If Lord Red Skull had encountered this man back then, wouldn't he have been carved into a human stump?" Brock Rumlow's thoughts began to wander involuntarily.
"He..." In a villa in downtown New York, Alexander Pierce watched the live feed sent back by Crossbones and was shocked beyond belief. "He actually got stronger again!"
"How did he do that?"
Previously, they had guessed that Adam Smith might have received some sort of serum enhancement. It was also possible that toxins or energy had caused a genetic mutation, or that he had undergone an Inhumans awakening.
There were many similar cases. Hydra had seen and studied far too many of them.
The reason Alexander Pierce had sent people to track him down was that he intended to recruit him first. If that failed, Adam could at least enrich Hydra's resource pool.
He had never expected to witness something so miraculous with his own eyes.
"How did he get stronger? How can he still get stronger?" Pierce muttered, and even the whiskey in his hand no longer tasted good.
Pierce had no time to think further and decisively ordered Crossbones, "Go make contact with him!"
The order had barely been issued, and before Crossbones could even be seen rising, a flash of red appeared in the frame.
Adam Smith, who had been atop a tree more than five hundred meters away, had appeared before the camera in a single flicker.
"I'll give you three seconds. Tell me why I shouldn't kill you."
Adam Smith's voice had become gentler, but his vocal cords had not fully changed, making his tone unavoidably strange and effeminate.
Even Crossbones, hardened by years of battle, broke into a cold sweat. Seeing the other man's hand already gripping his sword hilt, he suddenly felt a chill coil around his neck.
Driven by an astonishing will to survive, Crossbones blurted out, "I have detailed information on the man your ex-wife cheated on you with!"
At that, Adam Smith released the sword hilt and held out his hand. "Give it to me!"
This was indeed intelligence he had not known. Three months ago, he had only killed several men who had taken advantage and come to gloat. He had no idea how many others there might have been in secret.
The bitch was dead, but every adulterer had to be cut down as well.
Crossbones hurriedly pulled out a portable hard drive and handed it over.
Adam Smith took it, turned, and left.
"Wait, we at S.H.I.E.L.D..." Crossbones hurriedly corrected himself. "We at Hydra need talent like you!"
Perhaps the name "Hydra" had sparked a trace of surprise in Adam Smith, because he turned back for another look.
"I'll speak with him!" Pierce, directing the operation remotely, immediately said.
Crossbones then pulled out a tactical tablet strapped to the back of his waist. After a few quick operations, he held it facing Adam Smith.
"Mr. Smith, I am Alexander Pierce, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and current minister of the World Security Council. We can use official channels to eliminate the negative consequences from three months ago, and we can also contain the situation after you have taken your revenge."
Pierce spoke sincerely. "I sincerely invite you to join us!"
"You're Hydra?" Adam Smith asked in surprise. "That evil organization from the history books that Captain America destroyed?"
"Justice and evil are both defined by humanity." Pierce smiled confidently. "Soon, we will possess the power to define good and evil for ourselves."
"Interesting!" Adam Smith suddenly revealed an amused smile. "This country really is interesting!"
With laughter ringing out, he turned into a streak of red and vanished.
"Sir, this..." The mission had failed, and Crossbones could not help feeling uneasy.
"Did you leave contact information on the hard drive?" Pierce was in no rush. He leisurely drained a glass of wine and said confidently, "Wait. He'll definitely come looking for us."