Snatching Chestnuts from the Fire

The instant Lin Xiao's fingers touched the reagent vial, an icy chill spread from his fingertips.

It was not cold in the physical sense—the bottle was only slightly cool to the touch—but an instinctive warning. Fragments of memories from his previous life surged through his mind: Extremis, A.I.M.'s orange flames, soldiers reduced to ash in explosions...

This was not a rare metal.

This was something a hundred times more dangerous than metal.

He quickly scanned the scattered documents, their pages reflecting a deathly pale light beneath the emergency lamps. A.I.M.'s emblem—the insignia made of gears and an atomic symbol—was clearly visible in the header of every page. Russian and English terms leaped out at him: "thermodynamic instability," "cellular-level energy release," "Red Snow Project derivative sample RS-7"...

Lin Xiao's heart suddenly tightened.

The Red Snow Project. He knew that codename. In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret archives in his previous life, the term had appeared only once, marked: "Soviet Union biological weapons research, terminated in the 1980s." But the documents before him were dated 2001—A.I.M. had not only restarted the research, but pushed it to a stage even the Soviets had never reached.

"Lin Xiao." Su Ying's voice came from the tunnel entrance, kept low. "The gunfire outside is getting closer."

The gunfight deeper in the warehouse was indeed moving. Short bursts from AK-74Us, pistol return fire, Russian curses and screams—the sounds surged inward from the warehouse entrance like a tide. Fletcher's people and Blood Axe's men were fighting as they retreated, and the battlefield was shifting toward them.

Lin Xiao rapidly assessed the situation.

The green gas had spread through a third of the warehouse, but its concentration was dropping. Some of the fallen soldiers were beginning to struggle back to their feet, coughing as they tore off their useless gas masks. The gas was not lethal—confirming his judgment—but it was enough to create plenty of chaos.

Chaos was both an opportunity and a danger.

"Wolf." Lin Xiao turned toward the scrawny man cowering in the corner. "Monitor Fletcher and Blood Axe's communications. I need to know how long before they rush in here."

Wolf nodded shakily and shoved the headphones back into his ears. His fingers worked rapidly over the surveillance equipment, blue screen light illuminating his deathly pale face.

Lin Xiao crouched down and began checking the three technicians lying on the floor.

The first was a middle-aged man, struck in the forehead by a stray bullet. Blood had already dried on the metal floor. His pupils were dilated, and he had no pulse.

The second was a young woman with a shrapnel wound across her neck so deep that bone was visible. Lin Xiao pressed his fingers to her carotid artery—nothing.

The third...

Lin Xiao's fingers stopped.

A faint pulse. Extremely faint, like a candle flame in the wind, but undeniably there.

She was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Her short blond hair was stuck to her forehead with blood, and she wore thick black-rimmed glasses—the lenses had shattered, but the frame still hung crookedly on her nose. She wore a white lab coat, and an ID badge was pinned to her chest: Anna Koch, Level Three Researcher, Biological Laboratory.

"Doctor," Lin Xiao murmured, reading the name on her badge.

He quickly examined her injuries. She had been shot through the left shoulder, but no major blood vessels had been hit. There was a head injury, likely from striking equipment when she fell. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, but steady.

She was alive.

"Wolf," Lin Xiao said. "Come over and try to wake her."

Wolf froze for a moment, but when he saw Lin Xiao's expression, he hugged his equipment and shuffled over. He crouched beside Anna Koch, hesitantly reached out, and lightly patted her cheek.

"Ma'am... ma'am? Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

Lin Xiao had already risen and begun gathering the scattered documents. He moved quickly but methodically. He picked up the pages marked with the A.I.M. insignia and keywords such as "Red Snow Project" and "RS-7," skimmed their contents, then folded them and stuffed them into the inner pocket of his tactical vest. Molecular structure diagrams, toxicity test data, stability reports... every document confirmed his suspicions.

These blue reagents were precursors to Extremis.

They were not the finished version—A.I.M. would not develop stable Extremis until more than a decade later—but a cruder, more dangerous prototype. The data in the documents showed that the RS-7 samples had only 17% of mature Extremis's energy-release efficiency, but their stability was appallingly poor. If stored above 25 degrees Celsius for more than forty-eight hours, there was a 43% chance of spontaneous explosion.

"Lin Xiao." Su Ying's voice grew tighter. "The gunfire has stopped in the middle of the warehouse. They may be regrouping."

Lin Xiao looked up.

Su Ying stood in the shadows at the tunnel entrance, her body slightly inclined forward like a leopard ready to pounce. Her ears twitched faintly—that was her habitual movement when she was listening intently to distant sounds. Lin Xiao could see her fingers tightening around her dagger, her knuckles turning white.

"How long?" Lin Xiao asked Wolf.

Cold sweat beaded on Wolf's forehead. "Fletcher... Fletcher is calling for reinforcements. He says... says Blood Axe's men have gone crazy and wants heavy equipment brought in to clear the area... Blood Axe is cursing, saying Fletcher hid something... they're arguing..."

"Specific time."

"Fletcher said... it'll take eight minutes to bring the heavy equipment over from Warehouse Three... four minutes have passed..."

Four minutes.

Lin Xiao's mind raced.

Four minutes later, whether it was flamethrowers or high-pressure water cannons, this area would become hell. They had to take the reagents and retreat to a safe area within four minutes.

But the reinforced container in front of them was still locked.

It was a waist-high metal box with a shell of alloy steel plates two centimeters thick. Its front had the double protection of a keypad lock and a physical lock. The keypad display had gone dark—either the power was out, or it had been damaged by stray bullets. The physical lock was a standard cross-pin lock and required a key.

Su Ying had already stepped up to the container. She crouched and examined the lock's structure, then drew a long, thin metal wire from her waist—a lockpick.

"It'll take time," she said, her voice terrifyingly calm. "This lock has anti-pry protection. At least three minutes."

"We don't have three minutes," Lin Xiao said.

His gaze swept rapidly across the laboratory. Emergency lighting cast wavering shadows across the walls, while the dying glow of equipment screens outlined the shapes of various instruments. His eyes finally settled on the side of the container—there was an inconspicuous circular valve, about ten centimeters in diameter, with a manually operated handle.

An emergency manual pressure-release valve.

Lin Xiao had seen a similar design in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment depot in his previous life. When pressure inside a container became too high or its electronic lock failed, a manual valve could be used to open a maintenance hatch from the side. But the valve required a special tool—a slotted wrench—to turn the heavy gears inside.

A tool...

A scene from when they had infiltrated the laboratory flashed through Lin Xiao's mind.

They had descended from the maintenance platform, passed through the edge of the green gas, and moved along the gaps between cargo crates. Along the way, they had passed a half-open tool cabinet. Its door hung crookedly, and it was filled with maintenance tools: wrenches, screwdrivers, hydraulic cutters...

That tool cabinet was about fifteen meters from the laboratory entrance.

At the edge of the green gas zone.

"Su Ying," Lin Xiao said. "Cover me. I'm getting the tool."

Su Ying turned to look at him, a flicker of doubt passing through her eyes before it swiftly became understanding. She nodded, rose to her feet, and switched her dagger to a forward grip.

"Wolf." Lin Xiao looked at the scrawny man still trying to wake Anna Koch. "Keep trying to wake her. If she comes around, tell her we're here to save her and make her stay quiet."

Wolf nodded vigorously, his movements growing more forceful.

Lin Xiao drew a deep breath and adjusted his tactical vest. The three reagent vials were securely fixed in its inner pocket, and the documents were stowed away. He checked the ammunition in his AK-74U: around twenty rounds remaining, plus two spare magazines.

Enough.

He rushed toward the tunnel entrance.

The air in the warehouse was so murky it was suffocating.

Although the green gas had thinned, it still hung about a meter above the floor like a layer of poisonous mist. Lin Xiao lowered his body and crawled forward almost flat against the ground. The chill of the concrete floor seeped through his tactical uniform, mixed with the smell of rusted metal and chemical reagents.

His eyes swept rapidly behind the lenses of his gas mask.

Fifteen meters ahead, the tool cabinet leaned crookedly between two cargo crates. Its door was half-open, and its interior was pitch-black, making it impossible to see what was inside.

But closer by—about seven or eight meters away—there was movement.

Lin Xiao stopped and held his breath.

A soldier was struggling to get up from the floor. The man had torn off his useless gas mask. His face was covered in red blotches, and his swollen eyes could barely open. He coughed, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, then swayed upright and looked around in confusion.

He was still holding an AK-74U.

Lin Xiao calculated the distance, angle, and timing.

If this soldier spotted him and fired, the gunshots would expose their position, and Blood Axe's men would rush over immediately.

If he went around, it would take at least twenty extra seconds—and they had less than four minutes in total.

Lin Xiao's finger curled around the trigger.

But just as he was about to fire, an explosion sounded from deep within the warehouse.

It was not a grenade—the sound was duller, like a pressure vessel rupturing. It was followed by the shriek of tearing metal, then the thunderous crash of cargo crates collapsing in large numbers. The whole warehouse floor shook, and dust sifted down from the ceiling.

The soldier was drawn by the blast and turned toward the sound.

Lin Xiao moved.

He sprang off the ground like a shadow, crossed the distance behind the soldier in three steps, clamped his left hand over the man's mouth, and drove his tactical dagger through a gap between the ribs with his right hand, piercing the heart with precision. The soldier's body convulsed violently once, then went limp. Lin Xiao gently lowered the corpse, pulled out the knife, and wiped the blood clean on the man's tactical uniform.

The entire process took less than five seconds and made no sound.

He continued forward.

The tool cabinet was right in front of him.

Lin Xiao pulled open the crooked cabinet door, which gave off a shrill metallic scrape. He quickly scanned the contents. Various wrenches were piled together in a mess, most of them rusted. His eyes locked onto a large adjustable wrench—the width of its jaws was just right for the manual valve's handle.

He grabbed the wrench and turned around.

The moment he turned, gunfire erupted again in the middle of the warehouse.

This time, it was not scattered exchanges of fire, but dense automatic gunfire. The full-auto crackle of AK rifles tore through the air like ripped cloth, mixed with pistol fire and furious Russian shouting:

"They're over there!"

"Block the exit!"

"Fletcher! You fucking dare to screw me over!"

Blood Axe's voice was hoarse and mad.

Lin Xiao's heart skipped.

The firefight was moving toward the laboratory. Blood Axe's men might have been fighting while retreating, or perhaps... they were actively advancing toward the laboratory.

He picked up speed and nearly sprinted back toward the tunnel.

The green gas stung his eyes. Even through the gas mask, those chemical particles still caused irritation. His throat began to itch, and he wanted to cough, but he forced it down. His lungs burned as if they were on fire.

He covered the fifteen meters in six seconds.

The instant he rushed into the tunnel, Su Ying's figure flashed out of the shadows, her dagger already raised. She only lowered it after seeing that it was him.

"The tool," Lin Xiao panted, handing her the wrench.

Su Ying took it without a word and rushed to the side of the container. She crouched, fitted the wrench over the manual valve's handle, and pulled with both hands—

The wrench slipped off.

The valve handle had a layer of anti-slip grooves, but they had worn down. Combined with Su Ying's gloves, there was not enough friction.

"I'll do it," Lin Xiao said.

He took the wrench and removed his right glove. His palm touched the cold metal directly, and he could feel the subtle ridges on the valve handle. He adjusted his stance, braced his feet against the ground, and exerted force through his waist and abdomen—

The wrench turned.

It was heavy. The gears inside the valve had clearly gone without maintenance for a long time. They produced a harsh metallic screech as they turned, like rusty hinges groaning. Lin Xiao gritted his teeth, arm muscles tensing to their limit as veins bulged across his forehead.

One turn.

Two turns.

Three turns.

Each turn produced a soft click from the valve—the sound of gears meshing. Lin Xiao could feel the resistance gradually weakening. The internal mechanism was activating.

On the fifth turn, a soft hiss came from the side of the container.

A gap appeared.

It was a circular maintenance hatch about twenty centimeters in diameter. It had originally been sealed by internal pressure, but now that the valve had released the pressure, the seal loosened and the cover sprang outward about a centimeter.

Su Ying immediately stepped forward, grabbed the edge of the cover with both hands, and pulled hard—

The hatch opened completely.

Cold air poured out from the container, carrying a strong chemical smell. Lin Xiao leaned over to look inside. There were three layers of foam racks, each with three recessed slots. Six slots were empty, while three each held a blue reagent vial.

Identical to those in his tactical vest.

RS-7 samples.

"Take them all," Lin Xiao said.

Su Ying reached in, moving with precision and speed. She removed the first vial and inspected it. The bottle was intact, without cracks, and the blue glow within the liquid pulsed steadily. She handed it to Lin Xiao, who carefully placed it into another empty magazine pouch on his tactical vest.

The second vial.

The third vial.

All of them were safely stowed.

Just as Su Ying removed the third reagent, a faint groan came from Wolf's direction.

Anna Koch had awakened.

Her eyes slowly opened. Her gaze remained unfocused for several seconds before rapidly sharpening. She saw Wolf's terrified face, saw Lin Xiao and Su Ying, saw the open container and the empty slots—

"No..." Her voice was hoarse like sandpaper scraping. "You can't... you can't take them..."

She tried to sit up, but the wound in her left shoulder made her suck in a sharp breath and collapse back to the floor.

Lin Xiao walked over and crouched beside her.

"Dr. Anna Koch," he said in Russian, his voice calm. "We're here to save you. There's been a rebellion inside the base. You have to come with us."

Confusion flashed through Anna Koch's eyes, followed by fear, then wariness.

"Who... are you?" she asked between breaths. "Those samples... RS-7... they can't leave the laboratory... if the temperature goes over twenty-five degrees..."

"We know," Lin Xiao interrupted. "That's why we're taking them. If they stay here, the rebels will either seize them, or they'll be detonated during the cleanup. Which outcome do you prefer?"

Anna Koch froze.

Her eyes lingered on Lin Xiao's face for several seconds, as though judging the trustworthiness of the man in the gas mask. Then she looked around the laboratory—at her fallen colleagues, scattered documents, and shattered equipment...

Her gaze dimmed.

"Leonid is dead," she said quietly, her voice choked with grief. "Irina too... they're all dead..."

"If you want to live, get up now," Lin Xiao said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Wolf, help her up."

Wolf hurriedly reached out and supported Anna Koch by her right arm. The female researcher gritted her teeth, enduring the agonizing pain in her left shoulder as she unsteadily rose to her feet. Her white lab coat was soaked through with blood, and her face was as pale as paper.

At that moment, the gunfire deep in the warehouse suddenly stopped.

It did not gradually fade away. It stopped abruptly.

As if someone had pressed a mute button.

Lin Xiao's heart sank.

That kind of sudden silence usually meant one of two things: either one side had been wiped out, or... both sides had reached some temporary agreement.

And in this base, there was only one thing that could make Fletcher and Blood Axe stop fighting at the same time—

A larger common threat.

Or a greater shared interest.

"Move," Lin Xiao said in a low voice. "Su Ying, take point. Wolf, support the doctor and stay close. I'll cover the rear."

Su Ying nodded, switched her dagger to a reverse grip, lowered her body, and slipped silently toward the tunnel entrance like a cat. Her ears twitched faintly as she listened for movement outside.

Wolf supported Anna Koch as they staggered after her. The female researcher sucked in a breath of pain with every step, but she bit her lip and made no sound.

Lin Xiao walked last, his AK-74U raised to his shoulder, its muzzle following his line of sight. His eyes rapidly scanned the shadows on both sides of the tunnel, his finger resting against the trigger guard, ready to fire at any moment.

They reached the tunnel entrance.

Su Ying stopped at the edge, pressed herself against the wall, and cautiously leaned out to look outside.

Her body suddenly went rigid.

Lin Xiao saw the muscles in her shoulders tense. It was a reaction born of extreme nervousness.

"How many?" he asked in a low voice.

"Eight." Su Ying's voice was like ice. "Fully armed, wearing gas masks. The one leading them... is Blood Axe."

Lin Xiao's heart sank to the bottom.

He quietly shifted to the other side of the passage and looked outside from a different angle.

In the warehouse's main area, the green gas had thinned until it was nearly invisible. The emergency lights illuminated a wide stretch of space—and the eight people standing there.

They stood twenty meters from the passage entrance, spread out in a fan formation. Each wore Hydra's standard black combat uniform and the latest gas mask—the filters were intact. They held AK-74Us or shotguns, their muzzles lowered, but their fingers rested on the triggers.

The man leading them was exceptionally large.

Even from twenty meters away, Lin Xiao could recognize that build—shoulders as broad as a door, a thick neck, and that signature movement: his right hand gripping the AK-74U's handguard, his left hanging at his side, fingers twitching unconsciously.

That was Blood Axe's habitual motion before killing.

In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files in his previous life, Lin Xiao had seen that detail. Blood Axe's real name was Vasily Petrov, a former Soviet Union special forces captain who had joined Hydra after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. He liked to execute prisoners with an axe—not by beheading them, but by splitting their chests open diagonally from the collarbone, letting them die slowly in unbearable agony. That was how he got the nickname "Blood Axe."

And now, that man was staring fixedly at the passage entrance.

He had seen the half of Su Ying's head that had peeked out.

He had also seen the vague silhouettes within the passage.

Blood Axe raised his left hand and made a gesture.

The seven men behind him raised their guns at the same time, aiming at the passage entrance.

Then Blood Axe spoke.

His voice came through the gas mask's speaker, muffled and distorted, like an echo from a deep well:

"People inside, come out."

"Put down what you're holding, and I'll spare your lives."

"I'll count to three."

"One."