Rescue

The cabin grew gradually quiet as the four of them stopped talking. Han Lin simply looked out the window.

Rumble... Thunder and rain lashed against the exterior.

The sky went dark in a fraction of a second.

The vault of heaven, split by lightning, illuminated the night hidden beneath ink-wash clouds, and the sky itself became that same pale ink.

Rumble... With a deafening crash, the battle drums of that celestial war sounded. Someone struck that invisible drumhead, and the rolling waves of sound—carrying the scent of dust left in the wake of iron cavalry and an oppressive wind—swept past. It was not as sharp as a sword, but it was certainly not gentle.

Then came two more loud bangs. The sound lacked the dull boom of ordinary spring thunder; instead, it was uniquely sharp, as though it meant to split this chaotic world apart and shatter the haze lingering in people's hearts.

Mist shrouded the distant sky as the ink-like darkness deepened. A sudden flurry of raindrops beat a pattering rhythm against the windowpane. Between heaven and earth, nothing remained except the plane tearing through the firmament. Every raindrop was like a skilled weaver maiden, their bodies plunging and intertwining in midair to form a needleless web of mist. The view outside blurred into a hazy wash, while the roar of an old television tuned to maximum volume filled the ears, interspersed with the rolling peals of thunder echoing all around.

Crack-boom... Another startling clap of thunder exploded beside his ears. Han Lin snapped out of his state of deep stillness.

The plane shook more and more violently, resembling a frail skiff tossing upon huge waves.

Han Lin walked into the cockpit, looked at the fully focused Howard, and asked with concern, "How much farther? If it really comes to it, let us down first. You two turn the plane around and head back."

Howard shook his head. "It's too late. We're still an hour away. The clouds behind us have blocked our route back; I can only push forward now. Turning back is a dead end."

"Then what about you and Carter? This mission is very dangerous. We need to go save people, but the price isn't sacrificing our own lives."

Howard gave a bitter, helpless shake of his head. "Don't underestimate me and Carter. It's just that we haven't seen the battlefield, but our fields are different. Both Carter and I have the means to protect ourselves."

Before his voice had even faded, crack!—a series of electrical sparks erupted across the instrument panel as lightning struck the aircraft.

Hit by the conducted current, Howard quickly stood up and moved away from the cockpit. "Get ready to parachute," he said with a helpless sigh.

All the unexpected events turned a two-person operation into a four-person mission.

Upon landing, Han Lin hesitated slightly over whether to bring Howard and Carter along.

After only a brief moment of thought, Han Lin retrieved two sets of elite Hydra soldier faceplates and uniforms from his spatial storage, having Howard and Carter change into them. When the two of them returned in their new attire and caught sight of two brand-new motorcycles, Howard stammered, "Did you prepare these for me? How on earth did you bring them along?"

"A little trick. My squad all knows about it, probably related to my ability," Han Lin said with a light chuckle.

The two looked at Han Lin in disbelief, then turned their gazes to Steve. Seeing Steve nod, their internal curiosity toward Han Lin grew even stronger. The term "human-shaped ferocious beast" was no longer sufficient to describe him; Han Lin always possessed an endless number of secrets. But having chosen to trust him, all they needed to do was continue offering their full support.

Mounting their motorcycles, they sped through the forest. The rainy mountain woods posed zero obstacle to Han Lin and Steve. Racing forward along the planned route, the two men—burdened by their two tagalongs—rapidly approached the enemy military camp.

As they drew near the encampment, the four of them dismounted.

Han Lin looked out from a distance at the heavily guarded base. Had it just been him and Steve, Han Lin would have chosen to infiltrate together.

Now that Howard and Carter were with them, however, Steve had to stay behind to guard them, waiting until Han Lin created a disturbance inside before launching a surprise assault.

Leaving Steve behind, Han Lin gazed at the tightly defended base and felt a slight sense of trouble. After waiting for half a day, he still saw no military vehicles appearing.

Han Lin had no choice but to run over to the perimeter wall. Cloaked in shadow, he waited for the enemy forces to enter their most exhausted hour before scaling it.

As the sky began to grow light, Han Lin kicked off the wall and vaulted into the base through a brief gap in the patrols.

Having changed into Hydra attire in advance, Han Lin posed as a regular soldier and walked through the base. His current outfit was that of an ordinary private, but with the massive influx of German troops over the past two days, the surrounding guards found nothing amiss about this lone soldier.

As Han Lin stepped inside the workshop, he saw various machines within the factory producing and processing energy blocks one after another.

Han Lin walked slowly through the factory, planting high-explosive charges beneath seemingly vital pieces of equipment. This time, Howard had prepared eight controllable bombs for him.

Watching the workers assemble unfamiliar pieces of equipment, Han Lin slowly crept toward the base's laboratory.

Ascending to the upper floor, he looked down the dim corridor. Ever since entering the base, a sense of crisis had lingered in the back of his mind, though no one had discovered his identity yet. He figured he might simply be too tense.

What he did not know was that the moment he entered the upper floor, all personnel downstairs were evacuated. Wave after wave of German troops armed with energy weapons appeared inside the factory, accompanied by a pair of heavy energy cannons.

Han Lin searched room by room. Finding every single one empty, the sense of crisis in his heart grew increasingly severe.

Yet the threat had no clear source.

A faint yellowish glow spilled from a room around the corner, where a figure was busy injecting an Allied prisoner with some kind of serum.

Han Lin's enhanced eyes instantly recognized the bound individual as Steve's close buddy, Bucky Barnes.

Han Lin watched as Bucky endured the agonizing pain wracking his body with a grimace of pure torment.

With a single leap, he landed right in front of the experimenter. "What did you inject him with?" Han Lin demanded, grabbing the researcher by the throat and slamming him against the wall. He tore off his own face mask.

The man's face was revealed—one of an age comparable to Dr. Erskine's, with scholarly glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

"You're Dr. Betthold Stenberg? Why are you experimenting on Allied soldiers? You sent the secret message telling us to come rescue you, yet you're using Allied lives for experiments?" Han Lin shouted angrily at the doctor.

Violently coughing from the impact against the wall, Dr. Betthold Stenberg wheezed, "Calm down, calm down... he'll be fine. Schmidt ordered me to conduct these experiments.

He believes we can cultivate a batch of elite Allied super-soldiers and then brainwash them to carry out assassinations behind Allied lines."

Hearing this, Han Lin knew now was not the time to fixate on placing blame. He simply released the doctor, stepped up to Bucky, and patted his slightly dazed face. "Brother? Do you still remember me?"

Bucky muttered under his breath, "Monday, Friday, blood..."

"Bucky, I'm Han Lin. Do you still remember me? Steve and I both met you—do you remember Steve?" Han Lin shook Bucky, hoping he would snap out of it quickly.

"Steve... Steve? You're Han Lin, that muscle-bound freak." Recognizing Steve's name, Bucky gradually cleared his head. Without sparing a moment to complain about Bucky's nickname for him, Han Lin helped him down from the fixed examination bed.

"Can you walk? I need to go ignite the armory right now. What you need to do is rescue the others imprisoned here with you. Can you manage that? Take this doctor who gave you the injection; my orders are to bring him back alive." With that, Han Lin tossed two sets of Hydra soldier uniforms onto the floor, urging them to change quickly.

At Han Lin's words, Bucky hastily hauled up the man who had just been experimenting on him. After a rapid costume change, Bucky led Dr. Betthold Stenberg away toward the prisoner camp via a familiar route.

As for Han Lin, he headed back down to the first floor. He needed to draw some of the garrison troops over to the factory area first to relieve a bit of the pressure on Bucky's end.

Reaching the corner of the stairwell, Han Lin did not dare to proceed further down, because at that exact instant, his danger-perception sense had flashed a violent warning.

Cautiously drawing his tower shield, he braced it in front of him and slowly rounded the corner.

Han Lin watched as dots of blue light came screaming toward him.

Daring not to take the hit head-on, he quickly hurled the shield forward and retreated up the stairs. Seeing the shield blasted to pieces, Han Lin realized the terrifying power of those energy weapons; he bolted away from the stairs and fell back to the second floor.

The stairway was instantly blasted to smithereens.

Han Lin also felt a trace of gratitude toward his danger-perception ability for prompting him to make advance preparations.

If you encounter ads asking "Are you a real person?", ignore them and just close the window. Do not scan QR codes or send text messages!