Don't Yell at Me

Although Baron Strucker was reluctant to admit it,

there was no doubt that this was the most likely possibility.

If some other person or organization had intervened,

then Hydra's intelligence network in Sokovia, along with the Swarm Satellite's around-the-clock surveillance,

would have alerted him at once.

Yet,

nothing had happened over the past two days.

Therefore, he was certain that Carl had been the one to act!

At that thought, Baron Strucker could not help showing a deeply rueful expression.

Based on the intelligence reports, when they learned that Carl had not chosen to flee,

he and his subordinates had almost unanimously concluded that the other party had probably overused his superpowers and suffered severe physical exhaustion.

That was why he had been temporarily unable to leave the base.

Otherwise, in that situation, the first decision any ordinary person would make would one hundred percent be to run away!!

But now, it seemed that not only had they all been wrong,

they had also paid an enormous price for that mistake.

Just then, a soldier rushed into the office with a panicked look and reported,

"Sir, the New York Branch just sent over a video. They say it may be connected to the missing special operations squad..."

A trace of suspicion appeared on Baron Strucker's face.

He then took the tablet from the soldier and opened the video.

As the image appeared, a somewhat excited male voice came through.

"Huh? This thing can really film at night?"

Then another male voice, rich and magnetic, followed.

"Of course. This is high-end equipment. You could use it to film the moon without a problem... Get ready over there. The show's about to begin!"

The camera then shook as its focus adjusted toward the distance several times.

At last, it settled on a forested mountain area.

Even from so far away, every detail was visible on the screen, from branches and leaves trembling in the wind to birds and beasts perched on them, preening their feathers.

Before long...

A figure suddenly moved at the edge of the frame.

Eight heavily armed special operations squads were advancing through the night, silently approaching like ghosts.

However,

just as the soldiers reached the foot of the mountain and were about to enter a tunnel,

a figure glowing with golden light crashed down from the pitch-black sky like a god descending upon the world.

A terrifying boom instantly echoed through the entire forest like thunder.

The surging shockwave sent those burly soldiers flying far into the distance.

The male voice, sounding like a narrator, spoke again at that moment. "Wow, so cool! That was a textbook superhero landing!!"

What followed was a spectacular one-sided slaughter.

Though those battle-hardened soldiers had all been equipped with advanced weapons straight out of a sci-fi blockbuster, they were still beaten without any ability to fight back.

Nearly all of their attacks were blocked by the "energy shield" surrounding that golden, glowing figure.

In just a few minutes, the entire force had been wiped out.

The video ended abruptly there.

There was no doubt that the eight squads annihilated in the video were the Rapid Response Force led by Captain Boka.

And the "golden glowing man" was naturally Carl.

However,

compared with the rookie who had rampaged through the base two days earlier,

the "glowing man" in the video looked every bit like a seasoned veteran!

And the kind who killed decisively and mercilessly.

"This is simply unbelievable... Test Subject 380 grew to this extent in just two days!!"

Even though Baron Strucker had already guessed the outcome,

he was still so shocked that he nearly lost control of his expression.

On the one hand,

Carl's monstrous rate of growth and immense future potential filled him with both greed and awe.

If he could capture the boy and subject him to deep brainwashing,

then the branch of Hydra under his command

would experience an unprecedented surge in power.

At that time...

S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and those superpowered drug addicts

would all become insignificant trash before him!!

But on the other hand,

the strength Carl had displayed made him feel a long-forgotten hint of wariness and concern.

That video was enough to prove it.

Conventional weapons, and even new weapons reverse-engineered from alien technology,

could no longer effectively restrain Carl's superpowers.

How to continue the capture operation had now become the most urgent priority!

But one thing was certain.

No matter what, Baron Strucker did not dare give Carl another chance to keep growing.

Still...

A large-scale troop deployment at this point would inevitably draw the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

That would increase the risk of exposure, making it more trouble than it was worth!

Besides that,

there was another matter that deeply puzzled Baron Strucker.

How had Carl "foreseen" the movements of Boka's squad in advance?

"Could there be a traitor inside the base who leaked the operation to Test Subject 380?"

"Or had that brat deliberately concealed another superpower in the video, such as telepathy..."

Although Baron Strucker was more inclined toward the latter possibility,

that did not stop him from planning a thorough loyalty purge within the base!

But before he could sort out his thoughts, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

After glancing at the number, Baron Strucker's expression immediately darkened.

"Strucker, what the hell is going on with that video online? Why was the Rapid Response Force's operation filmed?"

"And... who is that superpowered individual fighting the Rapid Response Force in the video?"

"Is he from Vought Group, or some Asgardian who popped out of Asgard or some other damned place?"

"What the hell are you people doing over in Sokovia?!!"

The moment the call connected, a string of harsh questions, nearly roared out, came from the other end.

"Hmph." Faced with the questioning, Baron Strucker replied with a cold sneer,

"Pierce, what I do does not seem to be any concern of yours as the person in charge of the North American Branch, does it?"

The caller was none other than Alexander Pierce, the World Security Council minister who had appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Not only was he Nick Fury's superior, he was also one of the main leaders of Hydra's North American Branch.

Although the different factions within Hydra normally operated independently and did not interfere with one another,

when it came to certain critical intelligence or serious incidents,

they would still share information and lend each other a hand.

That was also one of the reasons Hydra had never been completely eradicated.

"You... you are truly a hopeless idiot!!"

Alexander Pierce's voice on the other end suddenly rose several decibels.

"Do you know that if Dr. Zola had not accidentally found that video while conducting big-data screening,

and promptly cut off its channels of distribution while suppressing its existing traction as much as possible, it would have already gone viral online."

"By then, it would definitely have drawn the attention of Nick Fury and the Avengers, allowing them to notice something suspicious on your end..."

However,

before he could finish,

Baron Strucker casually said, "Don't yell at me. I never asked you for help!"

"Besides, so what if we were discovered?"

"...S.H.I.E.L.D. can't do anything to me anyway, got it?!!"

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