Copy! Target: Captain America!

Chu Hang mimicked the tough guys from the movies, merely tugging at the corners of his mouth as a response, then cast his gaze back toward Gabe behind him.

"Sir, my teammate is badly hurt," Chu Hang said in a deep voice, dragging the topic back to business. Now was no time for a reunion; staying alive was the top priority.

The smile on Captain America's face instantly vanished, replaced by a grave and solemn concern. Without the slightest hesitation, he strode over and knelt beside Gabe.

First, he glanced at Gabe's face, pale as paper from blood loss and the cold, then let his gaze drop to the thigh Chu Hang had simply bandaged. When he saw the ferocious wound and the torn flesh exposing bone, even he couldn't help but furrow his brows tightly.

"Animal trap?" Steve's voice carried a trace of fury.

Setting such vicious traps in a place like this was something only those unhinged bastards from Hydra would do.

"Yes, sir," Chu Hang replied. "We scattered when we parachuted. He had bad luck and stepped on it right as he landed."

Steve reached out, gently touching Gabe's neck to feel his pulse, then flipped back his eyelids to check them, his expression growing even more serious. "He's lost too much blood and is showing signs of hypothermia. He needs professional medical treatment immediately, or he won't last long."

With that, he stood up and swept his gaze around, seemingly rapidly assessing the next course of action.

Yet right at that moment!

"Splash—!"

A harsh, piercing sound of water suddenly burst from the river not far away!

Chu Hang and Steve instantly tensed, turning their heads almost simultaneously to look in the direction of the noise!

There, in the freezing cold river water, a soaked figure like a water ghost staggered up from the water!

It was that Hound!

He actually wasn't dead!

A close-range explosion of C4 explosive hadn't even managed to take his life!

At this moment, his appearance was wretched to the extreme. The black tactical gear on his body had been blown to tatters, and his face and hands were covered in blood. Gruesome wounds gaped open, making him look like an evil ghost crawling straight out of hell.

One of his arms was unnaturally twisted, evidently broken, but his other hand still tightly gripped a gleaming combat knife!

He didn't look at Chu Hang, nor did he even look at the heavily wounded Gabe.

His eyes, turned bloodred by rage and pain like two burning chunks of charcoal, locked relentlessly onto Captain America!

In his eyes, a small fry like Chu Hang was merely a fly that fired potshots.

Meanwhile, this man wearing the Stars and Stripes uniform before him was the biggest target on his mission list, the culprit who had ruined his perfect hunt!

"You... are dead!"

A low roar like that of a beast issued from the Hound's throat.

Disregarding his own injuries entirely, he pushed off the ground fiercely with his one good leg and charged straight at Captain America!

This fellow was an absolute madman!

Steve's reaction was swift to the extreme. Almost the instant the enemy moved, he shielded Chu Hang and Gabe behind him, simultaneously raising his left arm so that the indestructible Vibranium Shield was already planted firmly in front of him.

"Clang—!"

The combat knife hacked viciously against the shield, erupting into a blinding cascade of sparks!

The immense force caused Steve's body to sway slightly.

He could clearly sense that the enemy's strength was definitely not at the level of an ordinary soldier. This guy very likely had also undergone some degree of human enhancement!

A blow missed, and the Hound's attack came like a raging storm, endless.

He completely abandoned defense, executing a life-for-a-life style with every move.

The combat knife traced tricky, lethal trajectories in his hand—stabbing, slashing, or slicing—every single blow targeting vital areas like Steve's neck, eyes, and heart!

Yet Steve remained steadfast as a mountain. The shield in his hand was like an insurmountable fortress; no matter how frantic the enemy's attacks grew, he blocked them every single time.

Amidst the offense and defense, the sound of clashing metal rang out endlessly, sparks flying in a way that made one's heart leap to one's throat.

Standing to the side, Chu Hang felt his palms break out in cold sweat.

This was a true Super-Soldier duel! Speed, strength, technique—none could be lacking! Even though he possessed the Healing Factor, compared to the two monsters before him, he still lagged far behind in combat experience and technique.

At that very moment, a voice only he could hear rang abruptly in his mind.

"Ding!"

"Cooling period ended, [Superpower Copier] is ready."

It was here!

Chu Hang's heart skipped a beat fiercely!

He had waited far too long for this moment! From the very instant he had spotted Captain America in the promotional video, he had longed and yearned for this day without a single cessation!

His gaze locked unwaveringly onto the two figures locked in fierce battle, his brain spinning at an unprecedented speed.

An opportunity! He needed an opportunity! An opportunity that would allow him to touch Captain America openly, without arousing any suspicion!

Charge straight in to help? No way! With the strength he had displayed thus far, meddling in a fight of this caliber was no different from seeking death, and it would look far too deliberate.

Wait for them to wear each other out? Even worse! What if Captain America suffered some mishap—who would he cry to then?

What should he do? Just what was he supposed to do?

Right as Chu Hang was burning with anxiety, the situation on the battlefield suddenly shifted!

After failing to break through through prolonged attacks, the Hound seemed to have exhausted his last bit of patience. He let out an inhuman roar, using his already fractured arm to slam fiercely into Steve's shield!

Steve clearly hadn't anticipated that he would use such a self-destructive method to attack. Taken by surprise, the shield was knocked slightly askew, exposing a tiny opening!

Now!

A look of ecstatic joy burst within the Hound's eyes, and the combat knife in his other hand shot out like a viper striking, moving at extreme speed to stab straight at Steve's flank!

If this strike landed, even with the protection of his combat suit, it would undoubtedly inflict a grave injury!

Steve's pupils shrank violently; he wanted to pull the shield back to defend, but it was already too late!

It was over!

Inside Chu Hang's head came a buzzing sound, leaving him completely blank!

And at that very moment of imminent peril, the instincts of his body overrode all thought and calculation!

"Captain! Look out!"

Chu Hang let out a furious roar, his entire body shooting forward from the side like an arrow released from a bowstring!

His target was neither the Hound nor the fatal combat knife!

It was Captain America!

He poured every ounce of his strength into slamming his shoulder squarely into Steve's back!

"Thud!"

A muffled impact!

Steve felt a massive force, one that completely shouldn't belong to an ordinary soldier, strike him from behind, shoving him into an uncontrolled forward stagger.

And it was precisely this stagger that allowed him to narrowly evade that fatal blade! The gleaming combat knife brushed past his side, leaving only a faint white mark on his tactical suit.

As for Chu Hang, the instant he knocked Steve aside, his hand naturally rested upon the latter's broad, sturdy back.

Right now!

Inside his mind, Chu Hang roared madly with the greatest volume he could muster in his entire life!

Copy!

"Target detected: Steve Rogers. Copiable ability discovered: [Super-Soldier Serum]. Do you wish to copy?"

Yes! Yes! Yes! Copy it for me!

Chu Hang felt as though his soul were crying out!

"[Super-Soldier Serum] successfully copied. Ability is merging with the host; full physical enhancement is projected to complete within twenty-four hours."

An indescribable, warm, and potent current instantly poured in from the spot where his palms met, rapidly spreading through all his limbs and bones! He felt every single cell in his body cheering and leaping with joy! That sensation was like parched crop seedlings finally welcoming sweet rain, like a drifting lonely boat finally finding a harbor!

An unprecedented sense of strength and security flooded his entire mind and body!

It worked!

It finally worked!

Yet before he even had time to rejoice, a piercing pain struck from beneath his ribs!

Having missed his thrust, the Hound didn't even hesitate; with a backhand motion, he plunged the knife fiercely into Chu Hang's body!

"Squish!"

Chu Hang felt a chill in his torso. Lowering his head, he saw the tip of the combat knife protruding from his flank, blood bubbling out continuously along the blade.

Damn it all, that hurts...

Chu Hang twitched the corners of his mouth as the thought flashed through his mind, and then his vision went black as his body went limp and collapsed.

"Chu Hang!"

Steve's frantic, desperate roar was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness.