Run! Run for Your Life!

In this life, Chu Hang had never run so fast.

In his previous life, not even when his boss chased him for a proposal at work had he run this fast; not even when he jaywalked and nearly got hit by a car. Chu Hang felt like his legs no longer belonged to him. They were like two tiny motors, with only one command: charge forward, charge forward for his life.

The wind howled past his ears, yet he could hear nothing. No—he could hear it, more clearly than anyone.

He could hear the rapid thud-thud of Steve's military boots striking the metal floor as Steve dragged him along at a dead sprint, like a march of death. He could hear his own useless heart pounding wildly in his chest, as though it would burst out of his throat the next second.

But the sound he heard most clearly came from behind them.

It was a sound he never wanted to hear again for the rest of his life.

"Hiss... scrape... thud..."

It was a hair-raising symphony of sounds blended together. There was the noise of some heavy, slick mass of flesh dragging across the metal floor, like a butcher hauling a freshly slaughtered whale; the shriek of countless tiny metal parts and pipes scraping against the ground because they could no longer support that immense weight; and... that heartbeat.

"Thud... thud... thud..."

It had caught up!

That damned thing—that monster stitched together from flesh and machinery—had really emerged from the laboratory, and it was chasing them!

Chu Hang did not even need to look back. With his enhanced hearing alone, he could paint an utterly horrifying image in his mind: that enormous, legless lump of flesh was using the chaotic metal struts on its lower body as legs. Like a grotesque giant spider, it crawled down the narrow corridor toward them at a speed completely at odds with its massive size!

Chu Hang cursed inwardly. This thing can move, and it can chase people? What the hell did those Hydra bastards create?!

"Quick! The ladder!"

Steve's voice rang out ahead like a thunderclap, blasting Chu Hang awake from his boundless terror.

Only then did he see that they had reached the end of the corridor. The vertical ladder leading to the upper electrical room was right in front of them.

Steve did not hesitate in the slightest, nor did he slow down. At the very last moment before reaching the ladder, he shoved Chu Hang hard in the back and roared, "You go first!"

Then he spun sharply around to face the direction they had come from, raising the Vibranium Shield firmly before him. He actually intended to hold off the pursuing monster alone and buy Chu Hang time to climb up!

"Captain!" Chu Hang's eyes went red.

"Quit talking! Move!" Steve roared without looking back, his voice carrying an unquestionable command. "Get up there and tell Logan! Plan B!"

Chu Hang felt as if something had squeezed his heart viciously. He knew that any hesitation now would betray Steve's trust. Gritting his teeth, he stopped thinking and climbed the ladder for his life, using both hands and feet.

Chu Hang had never felt that this short ladder was so long.

He could feel the entire corridor beneath his feet trembling faintly. The monster was getting closer! He could even smell that suffocatingly strong stench of blood and formaldehyde surging madly upward through the opening beneath him.

"Steve!" Halfway up, Chu Hang could not help looking back.

In that instant, he saw a huge black shadow mixed with pallid flesh and cold metal, nearly filling the entire corridor entrance as it lunged at Steve's not-so-tall blue figure!

Boom!

A deafening crash rang out.

Chu Hang felt the entire metal platform shake violently. That was the sound of Steve using his shield to withstand the monster's charge head-on.

"I'm fine! Get up there!" Steve's voice sounded muffled, but it was still steady.

Chu Hang did not dare look again. Summoning every ounce of strength he had, he scrambled up the remaining distance in a few quick motions, flipped over, and rolled into the electrical room.

"What happened?"

Logan's hoarse voice immediately rang out. He had already been waiting beside the entrance. Seeing Chu Hang's terrified state and smelling the strange odor wafting up from below, his expression had turned incomparably grim. He gripped the two grenades in his hands tightly.

"There's... there's a monster down there!" Chu Hang shouted between gasps. "The captain's holding it off below! Plan B! Hurry! Execute Plan B!"

Logan's pupils suddenly contracted. Without another word, he turned and charged toward the two enormous transformers.

But just then, something changed!

Bang!

With a tremendous crash, the metal hatch beneath their feet—the entrance they had just climbed through—was struck viciously from below by unimaginable force. The entire hatch bulged high upward!

Then, a pale tentacle thicker than Chu Hang's thigh, covered in barbs and metal plates, shot through the forced-open gap like a venomous snake crawling out of hell, streaking straight for Logan's back!

"Watch out!" Chu Hang screamed himself hoarse.

Logan's reaction was simply inhuman. Like a beast sensing danger, he did not even turn his head. His body twisted sharply at an unbelievable angle where he stood.

Swish!

That horrifying tentacle flew past, barely grazing his back before slamming heavily into the control console beside him. Amid a barrage of crackling noise, the steel console exploded in sparks and was whipped into a massive dent!

Chu Hang's eyelids twitched. If that blow had landed on a person, would they not have been split in two on the spot?

Having dodged the blow, Logan showed no relief whatsoever. Instead, a savage fury flared across his face.

Roar!

He let out a beastlike roar, and the muscles in his arms instantly bulged.

Snikt!

Three Bone Claws gleaming with a grim white chill shot out from between his knuckles! He turned, dropped into a forward stance, and swung the claws viciously at the tentacle as it tried to retract!

Clang!

A piercing clash of metal rang out.

Logan's Bone Claws struck the metal-plated section of the tentacle, but they only threw off a string of dazzling sparks, leaving behind a few shallow white marks!

Logan himself was sent staggering back several steps by the enormous recoil, an incredulous expression appearing on his face.

At that moment, Steve finally climbed up from below. He looked somewhat disheveled, his uniform smeared with sticky green fluid, but his eyes remained sharp. He glanced at the wildly writhing tentacle as it prepared to attack again, without any hesitation.

Whoosh!

The Vibranium Shield in his hand became a streak of blue and red light, smashing at an extremely tricky angle into the relatively fragile fleshy section where the tentacle connected to the body below.

Splurt!

A dull sound, like a blade cutting into tough hide. The tentacle jolted violently, and a stream of foul-smelling dark green fluid instantly sprayed from its surface. In pain, it swiftly withdrew into the hole.

An opportunity!

Through the chaos in his mind, a flash of clarity struck Chu Hang.

Staring at the dark opening, he did not think twice. He pulled a grenade from his waist, yanked out the pin, took aim, and hurled it down!

Boom!

A muffled explosion erupted from underground, shaking the entire electrical room violently. A plume of black smoke mixed with the smell of burning surged out of the opening.

"Good work!" Steve roared, then shouted at the still-stunned Logan, "Logan! Blow them up!"

Steve's shout snapped Logan back to his senses. He looked at his right hand, still numb from the impact, then at the dark opening. The ferocity in his eyes only grew stronger. Without hesitation, he dashed to the two massive transformers and wedged the two stick grenades in his hands tightly between their cooling fins.

"Three seconds!" Logan pulled the fuses and roared without looking back.

"Run!"

Steve snatched up his returning shield, grabbed Chu Hang's arm with his other hand, and spun around to sprint toward the electrical room's door.

Logan followed close behind, no slower than either of them.

The three of them were like cannonballs fired from a barrel, using every last ounce of strength to charge out of the electrical room and into the factory's inner corridors.

Behind them came the massive roar of the two grenades detonating the transformers, like the wrathful bellow of a thunder god!

Booooom—!

An indescribable sonic blast, powerful enough to tear their eardrums apart, swept toward them from behind alongside a devastating shockwave. Chu Hang felt as if an invisible giant hand had shoved him hard, sending his whole body flying forward.

The walls and ceiling behind them were ripped to pieces in an instant by the violent electrical current and explosive force. Every light in the factory went out at once!

Darkness—absolute darkness—descended.

The three of them stumbled and crawled through the darkness and chaos, unable to tell which way was which. They could only follow instinct and rush toward the nearest exit they remembered.

He did not know how long they ran, but Chu Hang felt like his lungs were about to explode.

Suddenly, a tightly shut iron door appeared before them.

Steve did not even look at it. He slammed into it shoulder-first, his entire body like a battering ram!

Crash!

The heavy iron door, along with its frame, was sent flying by the impact!

A frigid gust of air, carrying snowflakes and the scent of gunpowder, rushed into their faces.

They... were out!

The three of them staggered into the wind and snow outside. Before they even had time to catch their breath, the massive Hydra Factory they had just escaped from began to emit a teeth-grinding screech of twisting metal, like the mournful cry of a dying beast.

Then, centered on the electrical room, a world-destroying chain explosion began!