Capture Incoming

"Not bad. It's rising pretty quickly!"

Carl lounged imperiously against the sofa, glancing at his [Reputation Points].

It had unexpectedly climbed to [4283] in such a short time.

Although that was still not enough to raise [Dimensional Strength] by one level,

it was undoubtedly a delightful start!

However, Carl also understood that more than half of those points had actually come from the mages of [Kamar-Taj] and that bald old fellow, the Ancient One.

But all of them were golden leeks that would be very difficult to harvest a second time!

So if he wanted to reap more [Reputation Points] next, he would have to turn his attention to ordinary people—whose individual values were low, but whose numbers were immense.

Born a beauty, yet forced to become a thief.

System, you're forcing me to stir things up in a high-profile way!!!

"Looks like I'll have to come up with a more detailed plan."

Carl stroked his chin and muttered thoughtfully,

"At the same time, I need to find a way to make a name for myself. Otherwise, how long will it take before [Dimensional Strength] reaches Lv3 or higher?!"

Outside [Sokovia].

2:32 a.m.

At the quiet edge of the city.

Eight armed helicopters outfitted with special noise-reduction technology sliced through the night sky, racing toward Summit Base beneath the cover of darkness.

To avoid alerting the enemy too soon,

the helicopters ultimately hovered above the northern woods roughly one kilometer from Summit Base.

The cabin doors opened.

Ropes were dropped.

Rapid descent.

Ground assembly...

In just three minutes, a total of eighty-eight special operations personnel from the [Hydra Rapid Response Force] successfully completed their tactical deployment.

The eight helicopters then immediately turned and departed, the entire operation executed in one smooth motion...

After landing, these fully armed and highly trained soldiers automatically split into eight tactical squads.

They remained on high alert for activity around them while quietly awaiting their commander's next orders.

"Before the operation officially begins, I'll repeat our mission one final time."

Old Mo, a commander nearly two meters tall and built like a bear, spoke with a grave expression.

"Our primary objective is to capture a special target: Experiment Subject No. 380, Carl Mala, and recover that alien scepter!"

"Our secondary objective is to retake control of Summit Base and eliminate all enemies inside."

"Pay special attention. According to the video footage, the target is an [Enhanced Human] whose superpowers were successfully activated by the alien scepter. He possesses some sort of Energy Projection ability,

and can fire high-frequency pulse attacks from both hands. He can also fly. The range of his attacks is currently unknown, so no one involved is to let their guard down."

"Furthermore, real-time surveillance images transmitted by the [Swarm Satellite] have basically confirmed that the target did not leave Summit Base after the riot..."

"Next, we'll secretly enter the base through the tunnel at the foot of the northern mountain. Other than the target and the missing Dr. List, kill everyone on sight!!"

"Attention. I'll reiterate this one last time: Commander Strucker's order is to capture the target alive at any cost... All right, move out!!"

"Yes, Commander!!!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the eight squads swiftly vanished into the woods under the leadership of their respective squad leaders.

Hydra's primary armed forces could roughly be divided into the following three types:

the [Hydra Armed Security Force], which was specifically responsible for maintaining the daily security of each base and branch;

the [Hydra Combat Force], which was specifically responsible for external warfare;

and the supposedly omnipresent [Hydra Spy and Agent Force], which specialized in infiltration, intelligence gathering, assassination, and similar work!

The [Hydra Rapid Response Force] was the absolute cream of the crop within the [Hydra Combat Force], its members all elites selected through layer upon layer of screening.

Any one of them, chosen individually, was no less skilled than Crossbones Brock Rumlow.

The overall combat power of each squad could easily crush the vast majority of special forces units at the same level.

And this time, Baron Strucker had dispatched eight squads at once to capture Carl, which was enough to show just how seriously he took this operation.

Furthermore, in order to suppress Carl's superpowers to the greatest extent possible, the members of these eight squads carried not only conventional weapons and tranquilizer guns, but also a large number of new weapons and equipment.

These included:

a new [High-Frequency Energy Rifle] improved from the [Chitauri Folding Rifle], with extremely high penetrative power that could ignore any bulletproof vest currently on the market.

the [Pulse Blaster], improved from the [Chitauri Infantry Arm Cannon], which could easily blast through heavy tank armor after charging. If it struck a human directly, it would instantly incinerate most of their body, making it equivalent to a man-portable anti-tank heavy weapon.

the [Simplified Exoskeleton Power Unit], improved from the [Chitauri Infantry Exoskeleton Armor], which granted equipped soldiers far-superhuman sprinting and jumping abilities, low-altitude flight, enhanced close-range striking power through reinforced gauntlets, and the ability to fire energy beams from their wrists.

the [Anti-Gravity Gun], developed from the anti-gravity technology on the [Chitauri Flying Chariot], which could generate one or several powerful traction fields within its effective range after charging, allowing it to lock onto, drag, or repel objects dozens of times heavier than itself.

However, the purple energy crystals used by the Chitauri were extremely unstable. After suffering a certain degree of impact or electrical shock, they could destabilize and self-destruct.

Therefore, the energy supply cores of all these new weapons had been replaced with more stable and efficient custom-made [Energy Storage Blocks] containing [Mind Stone] energy!

A few minutes later.

The eight squads passed through the woods without incident and arrived before the secret tunnel at the foot of the northern mountain.

"Deploy the drones. Snipers, move into your assigned positions early... Hm?"

However, just as Commander Old Mo was preparing to order his men over the communicator to first deploy infrared drones for aerial reconnaissance,

and send snipers equipped with Exoskeleton Power Units flying upward from the outside to seize the high ground,

a burst of piercing static suddenly sounded in everyone's tactical earpieces.

"Commander, our communication signals have suddenly been hit by extremely powerful pulse interference..."

"Damn it, we've been discovered!!!"

A bad feeling immediately rose in Commander Old Mo's heart.

Before the soldier could finish speaking, he hurriedly ordered,

"All personnel, prepare for combat..."

But almost at the very moment his words rang out.

Boom...!!!