Argentina, deep in the Andes Mountains.
Beneath the glacial fissures lies " Wolf's Lair," Hydra's largest biological laboratory since World War II.
The helicopter's rotor blades sliced through the thin air.
Gustav Schmidt, the Doctor Shinigami, descended the suspended stairs.
Dr. List, a confidant of Baron Strucker, came to greet them.
" Mr. Schmidt," Dr. List adjusted his glasses, his tone somewhat perfunctory, "It's a long journey, and I'd like to express my gratitude for your arrival..."
"Shut up, I have no interest in those pleasantries. Take me to see this so-called 'genius.' I want to see what he's actually made."
List looked rather grim.
As an elder of Hydra, he was not interested in this suddenly appearing "distant relative of Red Skull ".
If it weren't for Pierce's downfall and the fact that this guy had some key blueprints, he wouldn't have bothered to come pick him up at the airport.
"Over there."
List pointed to a heavy iron gate at the end.
"However, I must warn you, the professor's temperament... is quite peculiar. And he doesn't like to be disturbed while working."
"Strange?"
Gustav gave a cold laugh.
Within the Shocker organization, transforming people into hybrids of plants and animals is commonplace.
Strange?
Is there anything stranger in the world than those guys who put their brains in glass jars?
"Lead the way."
I haven't even reached the door yet.
A burst of stirring opera music pierced through the walls.
That's Mozart's * the Magic Flute *.
High-pitched, shrill, and hysterically neurotic.
List stopped at the door, somewhat hesitant.
"I'm not going in. Last time, an assistant went in to deliver coffee, and because he interrupted his prefrontal cortex cutting, he ended up being sewn onto the back of a Doberman."
Gustav snorted and kicked the door open.
"Bang!"
The laboratory was extremely spacious, but instead of the high-tech technology one might expect, it was filled with a gloomy Victoria- era atmosphere.
The operating table was located in the center, and a spotlight shone on it.
An overweight man wearing a bloodstained apron is working with complete absorption.
He wore his signature pig-head mask and brandished a scalpel.
A burly man lay naked on the operating table, his chest cavity completely opened, his still-beating heart exposed to the air.
"This needs to be cut off... It's not perfect... It's too rough..."
The Professor Pyg hummed a tune as the tip of his knife pierced a blood vessel.
"This vein isn't following the right path; it affects the aesthetics! Cut it off! Cut them all off!"
"Sizzle--"
Blood gushed out, splattering all over his face.
But he didn't care at all, even sticking out his tongue to lick the bloodstains on the edge of the mask, letting out a silly laugh, "Hehehe... That's right, pain is the catalyst for evolution."
Doctor Shinigami stood in the Shadow, silently watching this scene.
There was no nausea, no fear.
Instead, his eyes revealed admiration.
"Not bad," Doctor Shinigami said, "But when suturing the vagus nerve, using the barbed needle technique will increase the recipient's compliance after awakening by thirty percent."
The music stopped abruptly.
The knife in the Professor Pyg's hand froze in mid-air.
He slowly turned his head, his eyes, hidden behind the mask, fixed intently on the newcomer.
Just when List thought the two were about to fight, Professor Pyg suddenly threw away his scalpel.
"You're right!"
Professor Pyg, as if he'd found a kindred spirit, excitedly rubbed his blood-soaked hands, "The equipment here is so outdated! Those Hydra idiots only give me this kind of cheap sutures!"
He rushed up to Doctor Shinigami, so close he could smell the blood on him.
"Who are you? Your facial bone structure is perfect... Would you like me to fix it up? I can slightly raise your nose, just two incisions, hehe, just two incisions..."
The scalpel, still dripping with warm blood, was less than three centimeters from Doctor Shinigami's nose.
Dr. List gasped, his hand already reaching for the alarm at his waist.
He knew Professor Pyg all too well; this madman could slice open the throats of Hydra's top brass as easily as cutting open a loaf of butter.
Doctor Shinigami raised his white-gloved hand, not to block the blade, but to gently deflect it.
"If you ruin my face, who will appreciate your unparalleled talent? Surely not Strucker, who only knows how to read reports?"
The Professor Pyg stopped moving.
His eyes, hidden beneath the pig-head mask, rolled twice and made a strange "gurgling" sound.
"Talent... I admire..."
The Professor Pyg muttered to himself, slowly lowering the knife in his hand.
"Nobody appreciates it... They only want weapons, only obedient dogs. They don't understand... they don't understand how beautiful the song is when the body is reshaped."
"I understand."
Doctor Shinigami took a step forward, his leather shoes landing on the pool of blood.
"You're searching for the perfect form; you want to liberate humanity from this ugly, fragile shell. But that's not enough. Mere stitching is too crude. You need deeper evolution."
Doctor Shinigami straightened the collar of his white suit and turned to look at List.
" Dr. List, you may leave now."
"Wha... what? Mr. Schmidt, I'm one of the people in charge here. Baron Strucker ordered me to oversee the entire process..."
"In this room, there are only two kinds of people," Gustav interrupted him, his tone suddenly changing, "Artists, and materials."
"If you don't want to become part of the professor's next stitching project, I suggest you disappear."
The Professor Pyg beside him let out an excited squeal, grabbed a bone saw, and greedily gestured at List's femoral artery.
List shuddered.
madman!
Both of them are crazy!
"Okay... okay... I'm leaving. But all experimental data must be uploaded to the host computer; that's the rule!"
List, with a fierce yet cowardly air, uttered these words and turned to flee the laboratory as if escaping.
The tense atmosphere from before dissipated.
Gustav Schmidt —or rather, Doctor Shinigami —reduced the arrogance on his face somewhat.
The Professor Pyg also stopped his exaggerated trembling.
He walked to the sink, turned on the tap, and slowly washed the blood off his hands.
"The boss always has such a unique eye for talent."
The Professor Pyg's voice was no longer shrill; it sounded somewhat muffled through the mask.
"I thought he would send a polite secretary."
"To control this rotten tree of Hydra, what's needed isn't politeness, but poison."
"' Shocker ' is a good concept."
The Professor Pyg shook the water droplets off his hands.
"Turning humans into Beast, then giving them Beast intelligence—that aligns with my aesthetic. But I don't like the finished product. It's too mechanical; it's a product of an industrial assembly line, devoid of soul."
" Rider No. 1 is just the beginning."
Doctor Shinigami took a silver metal box from his pocket and placed it on the blood-stained operating table.
The box is opened.
Inside lay a deep purple reagent and a uniquely shaped microchip resembling an insect's compound eye.
"A purified variant of Compound V, codenamed ' Locust '."
Doctor Shinigami stared at the reagent, his eyes filled with fanaticism.
"With Shocker's brainwave control technology, we no longer need to stitch those corpses together, Professor. We're going to create real monsters."
The Professor Pyg came closer.
He picked up the chip and examined it closely under the spotlight.
"Beautiful structure..." he exclaimed. "Implanted directly into the cerebral cortex? That would cause a strong rejection reaction; the recipient would be in excruciating pain. Hehe, but the screams would certainly be very pleasant."
"Pain is the baptism of evolution."
Doctor Shinigami turned around and looked into the depths of the laboratory.
There is a row of cryogenic hibernation chambers there.
Has the gift from the boss arrived yet?
"Arrived yesterday. Express air freight."
The Professor Pyg pressed a button.
The pressure valve made a hissing sound.
The ground slowly cracked open, and a separate hibernation pod rose up.
The white chill dissipated.
Through the glass, you can see a naked woman inside.
She was covered in tubes, but she did not lose consciousness.
Those eyes were open, but there were no pupils; only a chaotic gray-white.
If Daredevil were here, he would definitely scream in surprise.
Elektra Natchis.
"A perfect body." The Professor Pyg's fingers traced across the glass. " The Hand altered her genetic makeup; this body is a living reactor. But she's mentally unstable, only interested in destruction."
"Perfect."
Doctor Shinigami picked up the purple " Locust " potion.
"The most crucial step in Shocker's transformation surgery is to erase 'humanity' and implant 'loyalty'."
Hydra wants a super-soldier legion. We'll give it to them.
"However..." Doctor Shinigami glanced at Professor Pyg, "When these soldiers hear the order, their allegiance will no longer be to those few old Hydra leaders."
The Professor Pyg let out a chilling chuckle.
"Shall we begin? I'd like to take her bones apart and re-grind them."
"Suit yourself." Doctor Shinigami removed his black Cloak. "As long as the core functions are preserved, Rider No. 2's stats must surpass Knight I's."
"Code name?"
" Shocker Riders Unit-02"