Brothers, We Can't Leave Anyone Behind!

People, sometimes, are just very contradictory animals.

Take Chu Hang right now, for instance. It felt as though two little figures were fighting inside his head.

One little figure in a suit and tie, with a shrewd expression, said in his ear, "Hey, Chu Hang, get a grip! Why did you come to this world? To survive, to grow stronger! The opportunity is right in front of you now. As long as you go alone and shake off this dead weight, you'll have a great chance of tracking down Captain America and copying the Super-Soldier Serum! Once that happens, the sky's the limit, what are you afraid of? Misplaced pity will only harm you!"

Another little figure in World War II military uniform, smelling all over of gunsmoke, kicked that suited figure flying, then pointed at Chu Hang's nose and cursed, "Are you still a man or not, damn it? Why is Gabe lying here? Was it to save you? No! It was for the whole team, for the mission! Now he's wounded, and you want to leave him behind? Then how are you any different from those backstabbing Hydra scum? Have you forgotten how Logan fought side by side with you? Have you forgotten how Dugan patted your shoulder and said welcome aboard? The Howling Commandos never abandon any teammate! You said those words yourself, you want to treat them like fart?"

Chu Hang irritatedly grabbed his own hair.

To be honest, the suited figure's words made a lot of sense. They completely fit his survival rules as a corporate slave in his past life: court advantages and avoid disadvantages, maximize personal benefits. Carrying Gabe would increase the risk factor by at least tenfold, while reducing the probability of success to less than ten percent.

No matter how he calculated it, this account didn't add up.

Yet, damn it, he just couldn't get past that mental hurdle in his heart.

The moment he closed his eyes, he could picture the resolute look Gabe gave him just now, telling him to go alone. That was the look of a true soldier preparing to sacrifice himself for the collective interest.

What about himself? What was he? An opportunist who got by in life relying on a golden finger?

If he really abandoned Gabe today, even if he ended up copying a hundred superpowers later and becoming as powerful as an immortal, could he sleep soundly at night? When he saw Captain America's shield again, wouldn't his face flush with shame?

To hell with it.

He finally managed, in this damned world, to have a group of comrades who could trust each other with their backs and a little feeling of being a hero, so how could he revert to that selfish and cowardly wretch just because of a little hardship?

"Chu..."

Just as Chu Hang was fighting an internal battle, Gabe spoke up beside him. His voice was weak, but exceptionally clear.

"Don't hesitate, go. I know what you're thinking. You're stronger than me, and smarter too. Only you have a chance to find the captain and complete the mission. If I stay here, I'll only drag you down. Listen to me, this is the right choice."

Chu Hang abruptly opened his eyes, turned his head, and stared fixedly at Gabe.

"Say that again?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a suppressed heat.

Gabe was taken aback by his gaze, but still insisted, "I said, you go alone..."

"Shut up!" Chu Hang roughly interrupted him. "My ears aren't fucking deaf! I'm asking you, what do you mean the right choice? Leaving a wounded man like you in this freezing snow to wait for death is the right choice? Then what are we? What are the Howling Commandos? A bunch of cold-blooded machines that can casually sacrifice teammates to finish a mission?"

His emotions were a bit agitated, and his voice involuntarily raised.

Gabe fell silent. He looked at the agitated Chu Hang with a complex gaze. He hadn't expected this Eastern boy, who usually looked a bit frivolous and even slightly slippery, to possess such stubborn foolishness deep down in his bones.

"But, the mission..."

"The mission is to take out Hydra, that's right!" Chu Hang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "But the premise of the mission is that we fight like human beings! Not like a bunch of animals! Let me tell you, Gabe, today either both of us walk out of this forest alive, or we die here together! There is no third choice!"

Having said that, he no longer looked at Gabe, but took the radio communicator he had captured from the Hydra officer out of his backpack.

Looking at the black iron box in Chu Hang's hands, Gabe was stunned. "What are you going to do?"

"Wait to die? Of course not." The corners of Chu Hang's mouth curled up once more into a familiar, slightly roguish smile. "Since they set a trap for us, we have to return the favor, don't we?"

He handed the communicator to Gabe. "You know how to use this thing, right? Can you understand what they're howling about?"

Gabe took the communicator and nodded. "I know how. I also know some German, daily military communications should be fine."

"That's good." Chu Hang's eyes lit up, just like a starving wolf that found its direction in the dark night. "Right now we're like blind and deaf men, completely in the dark about the situation at the factory. This fake map tricked us, but it also gave us a chance."

"What chance?"

"A chance to wiretap them in return!" Chu Hang lowered his voice, his eyes flashing with excited brilliance. "They must think we've stepped into the trap, or are walking right into it. They'd never imagine that we're hiding in their weak defense zone right now, holding their communicator and eavesdropping on all their movements!"

Gabe's breathing instantly turned hurried.

He understood! He completely understood Chu Hang's intention!

This was an immensely bold, even crazy plan! But without a doubt, this was also their only way to break the deadlock right now!

"Quick, turn it on!" Gabe urged, forgetting about the injury on his leg in his excitement.

Chu Hang carefully turned the dial and switched on the communicator.

A slight buzzing sound of static electricity rang out in the narrow cave. Chu Hang turned the volume down to the lowest setting, where one had to lean in close to barely hear it clearly.

Both men held their breath, hearts leaping into their throats.

The communicator intermittently transmitted some German dialogue. Gabe tilted his ear, brows tightly locked, carefully distinguishing the words.

"...Post number three, all normal."

"...Patrol squad B has returned, no traces found."

"...Supply truck is expected to arrive at the southern gate in half an hour."

Most of it consisted of scattered, valueless daily communications. Although Chu Hang couldn't understand it, seeing Gabe's expression, he knew there was no important information.

He wasn't anxious, patiently waiting. He knew that under such tight blockade and search efforts, it was impossible for there to be zero useful intelligence.

Sure enough, after another dozen minutes or so, the sound inside the communicator suddenly grew clear and dense.

Someone who sounded like a commander issued an order in a serious tone.

Gabe's expression instantly changed.

"What did he say?" Chu Hang immediately asked.

Gabe made a hush gesture, continuing to listen with concentrated focus. After that segment of communication ended, he turned his head and said to Chu Hang with a grave expression, "Bad news. They've confirmed that at least two people successfully parachuted from the crashed plane, because they found two parachutes with severed cords in different areas."

Chu Hang's heart sank. Sure enough, they had been exposed.

"What else?"

"They said the regular search teams are too inefficient, and Lord Schmidt (Red Skull) is extremely dissatisfied with this. Therefore, they've dispatched the 'Hound'."

"Hound?" Chu Hang frowned. "Are they military dogs? We jumped into the river, that should have eliminated our scent."

"No." Gabe shook his head, his expression even uglier. "The 'Hound' doesn't refer to real dogs. That's the codename of an elite tracking squad within Hydra. It's said that their captain is a true jungle hunting expert; as long as a tiny trace is left behind, it can never escape his eyes."

A jolt went through Chu Hang's heart.

Damn it, whatever you fear most comes true. Just as they dodged a trap, they drew an even more professional killer.

This Hydra base really was crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

However, before he could even digest this bad news, another piece of intelligence came through the communicator that neither he nor Gabe expected at all.

They only heard a patrol soldier report with an excited tone of vying for credit, "Report! We've found the target on the western ridge! He's wearing a blue and white uniform and holding a round shield! Exactly like the person in the photo! We're surrounding him!"

Boom!

Chu Hang's brain exploded with a buzz.

Captain America!

Captain America was discovered!

What the hell, why did this plot differ completely from the movie? In the movie, wasn't Captain America supposed to stealthily infiltrate the factory, rescue everyone, and then dashingly lead everyone out?

How come now he was all alone and instead surrounded by Hydra?

Chu Hang's first thought was whether his appearance had triggered a butterfly effect and altered the plot.

"Don't fire! Lord Schmidt wants him alive!" Inside the communicator, the commander immediately issued a new order. "All units close in on the western ridge! Repeat, all units, immediately close in on the western ridge! Hem him in completely!"

In an instant, a clamor of responding voices erupted across the communication channel.

Chu Hang could imagine that right now, all the Hydra soldiers around the factory were rushing toward the western ridge from all directions like sharks smelling blood.

Over there, an inescapable net was about to form.

And Captain America was the fish caught in that net.

What to do?

Chu Hang's heart beat wildly.

His duplication ability still had over two days of cooldown time. Even if he rushed over now, he wouldn't be able to help much and might instead drag himself into it.

But if he didn't go...

That was Captain America! The ultimate goal of this mission! And the near-perfect hero he had always admired in his heart!

Could he just watch him get captured by Hydra and then sliced up for research?

Just as Chu Hang's mind was a mess of porridge, Gabe beside him suddenly grabbed his arm tightly.

"Chu! Listen!"

Chu Hang was startled, once again focusing his attention on the communicator.

Amidst those noisy voices of reinforcements rushing over, a faint voice—one that made the hair on both Chu Hang and Gabe stand on end at the same time—cut in.

It was a calm male voice devoid of a shred of emotion, belonging precisely to the captain of the so-called "Hound".

"Command center, this is Hound. I have reached the target drop zone. There are dragging traces on the ground, two people, one of whom is injured. They didn't head toward the trap zone, but instead... turned toward the downstream riverbank."

"They're smart, trying to use the river water to erase their traces."

"However, they made a mistake."

"The arnica in the snow didn't grow legs and walk into the cave by itself."

That voice paused, slowly speaking in a cold tone that seemed to state a simple fact.

"I smell them."

"They are right around here."