Climbing the Behemoth and the Test Subject

The air in the underground maintenance passage leading to the Triskelion was dry and scorching.

Muffled roars kept coming from overhead: dozens of Quinjets taking off and landing, and the three behemoths-the Project Insight Helicarriers-undergoing their final engine thrust tests.

Zhao Fan and Old Dog had already stripped off their cumbersome hazmat suits, revealing the D.O.D.C. tactical gear underneath. Zhao Fan wore his black lightweight exoskeleton, while Old Dog carried his beloved modified shotgun, several tactical devices hanging from his waist and a heavy magnetic-attachment backpack full of high-energy explosives on his back.

"Fan, where do you think that old popsicle Captain United States is right now?" Old Dog panted as he followed Zhao Fan. The prolonged forced march burdened his lungs. Even with the support of recovery potions, the burning pain remained.

"If I'm right, he should be giving the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents a speech over the broadcast system." Zhao Fan stopped and pressed his earpiece. "Ben, how's it looking?"

Benjamin's voice came through clearly but urgently. "Boss, good news and bad news. The good news is, the captain really did just make his broadcast! The whole Triskelion is in chaos. This is your chance. The bad news is, Hydra started the launch sequence early. The carriers lift off in five minutes!"

"Five minutes?" Old Dog's eyes widened. "We're still at least five hundred meters from the landing pad, with several hundred Hydra assault troops between us and it!"

"So we're not taking the landing pad." Zhao Fan looked up at a ventilation opening above the passage. Through the grille, he could see the gray sky and the carrier's enormous shadow outside. "We're hitching a ride."

"Hitching a ride on what?"

"The supply line." Zhao Fan pointed toward the end of the passage. A thick fuel pipe there connected to the underside of the carrier above. "To meet the needs of its aircraft, the carrier needs to refuel before takeoff. That's our only way up."

The two quickly reached the pipe.

It was thick enough to take two people to encircle it with their arms, its surface covered in grease and maintenance ladders.

"Hold tight." Zhao Fan extended his left hand and activated [Weak Energy Perception] at full power. He could clearly sense the high-energy aviation fuel surging inside the pipe, like a violent fire dragon.

The instant they climbed onto the ladder, the teeth-grating sound of metal breaking came from overhead.

Boom!!!

The ground shook violently.

Through the vent, Zhao Fan saw dazzling blue flames jet from the three Helicarriers' turbine engines. The support arms connected around the carriers began falling away one by one.

"They're taking off!" Benjamin screamed over the earpiece. "Boss! You have to get up there now! Once they're above five hundred meters, the defensive force fields will activate. Even a fly would be electrocuted to ash!"

"Old Dog!" Zhao Fan roared.

Old Dog understood immediately. He pulled a grappling launcher from his backpack and fired at a maintenance platform farther up the fuel pipe.

Whoosh-

The grappling hook wrapped precisely around the railing.

"Go!"

Zhao Fan grabbed Old Dog's tactical belt. The [Kinetic Repulsion] engine inside him erupted instantly, and he used its repulsive force to launch an extraordinarily violent backward kick against the wall.

Bang!

The kick blasted a large crater into the concrete wall. With that tremendous reaction force and the grappling line's pull, the two shot like cannonballs straight up along the fuel pipe toward the belly of the slowly rising carrier.

Wind howled past their ears.

As they climbed, the view abruptly opened up. Zhao Fan saw the chaotic landing pad below, the white trails Sam Wilson-the Falcon-left in the air as he exchanged fire with Hydra, and Steve Rogers running desperately in the distance.

But none of that concerned him.

His eyes held only the enormous metal base drawing closer and closer.

"Brace for impact!" Zhao Fan barked. Just before they struck the carrier's hull, he thrust both hands forward.

[Kinetic Repulsion: Cushion].

An invisible ripple formed an air cushion between them and the metal plating. They still crashed hard onto the maintenance platform, but at least no bones broke.

"Cough, cough..." Old Dog lay on the cold metal grating, staring at the vehicles below, now the size of ants. His face was deathly pale. "Next time... next time there's a job like this, I'm not doing it even for a hundred million dollars..."

"Finish this job, and you can buy an island in Hawaii and retire." Zhao Fan pulled Old Dog up, his sharp gaze sweeping their surroundings.

They were now on the port aft engine maintenance platform of the Alpha. Less than twenty meters away, a massive turbine roared, its heat bearing down on them.

"Ben, give me a route map." Zhao Fan ducked behind a huge hydraulic pump, avoiding a patrol of drones.

"Copy. The server room is in the carrier's core section, three decks directly below the bridge. But boss, the route is packed with Hydra heavy infantry, and... I'm detecting an extremely powerful energy source moving through that area."

"A powerful energy source?" Zhao Fan frowned.

"Yes. The readings are strange. It's like a... walking humanoid reactor?"

Zhao Fan's heart sank.

Because of the flap of Zhao Fan's butterfly wings, Hydra had clearly reinforced the defenses around the core area.

"Whoever it is, they're going to die."

Zhao Fan drew the "alloy dagger" from the outside of his thigh, his fingers brushing lightly over its edge.

Buzzz-

A high-frequency oscillating repulsion field instantly enveloped the silver blade, producing a chilling hum.

"Old Dog, we're about to raise hell."

The Helicarrier's interior was as complex as a maze.

Alarms echoed down every corridor, and red emergency lights dyed the steel walls the color of blood.

"Attention! Intruders spotted on C deck! Not Captain United States! Repeat, not Captain United States! Two unidentified armed personnel!"

The communications channel was filled with panicked cries from Hydra soldiers.

Zhao Fan slipped like a phantom through ventilation ducts and maintenance spaces. He had not chosen a frontal assault like Captain United States. That was a hero's approach. He was a cleaner, and his specialty was cleaning filth from the shadows.

"Three on the left, two on the right. Heavy weapons around the corner."

At that moment, Zhao Fan's [Weak Energy Perception] proved more terrifyingly effective than a thermal imager. He could clearly "see" the energy flowing through the soldiers' weapon batteries behind the walls, and could even sense their nervous heartbeats.

"Do it."

At Zhao Fan's command, the shotgun in Old Dog's hands thundered.

Specially made slugs easily tore through the cover at the corner, their tremendous impact blasting two Hydra soldiers off their feet.

At the same time, Zhao Fan had already charged out.

He did not fire a gun, instead plunging straight into the enemy formation. In the narrow corridor, firearms became a burden, while the alloy blade in his hand was the Grim Reaper's scythe.

Szzzt-

A streak of silver flashed.

A soldier attempting to raise his gun discovered in horror that his assault rifle and bulletproof tactical vest were as fragile as paper beneath that man's blade. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and the heat produced by the high-frequency oscillation instantly charred it, leaving not a single drop of blood.

[Analysis complete. Obtained F-grade residue: severed Hydra assault rifle.]

[System evaluation: scrap metal.]

Zhao Fan did not pause, his movements flowing like water. His left hand activated [Kinetic Repulsion], slamming a soldier attempting a sneak attack into the wall with an audible crack of breaking bones; his right hand wielded the blade, parrying, slashing, and thrusting.

Just ten seconds.

Seven corpses lay in the corridor.

"This knife is fucking amazing." Old Dog stepped over a corpse, loading shells into his shotgun, his eyes full of fervor. "That woman Evelyn might be cold as ice, but you can't fault her craftsmanship."

"Too bad it isn't vibranium. It can't sustain the oscillation for long." Zhao Fan flicked nonexistent blood from the blade, his eyes fixed on a thick airtight door ahead. "The core server room is right behind this door. But..."

In his perception, the space behind the door was not empty.

Someone stood there.

Someone radiating an abyssal chill, yet containing explosive energy.

Not the Winter Soldier.

Zhao Fan knew that energy fluctuation well. He had seen something similar in that biochemical laboratory not long ago-an advanced enhanced version of the [Extremis Virus], perhaps... even stronger.

"Looks like Hydra hasn't been idle either." Zhao Fan drew a deep breath. The Extremis Virus cells inside him began to stir, and a faint golden-red glow appeared beneath his skin. "They used the remaining serum on their own people."

Boom!!!

The airtight door suddenly bulged outward, as though a giant beast had rammed it hard from within.

Then the entire twenty-centimeter-thick alloy door flew out like a cannonball, hurtling straight at Zhao Fan.

"Move!"

Zhao Fan shoved Old Dog aside and crossed his own arms in front of his chest.

[Hard Carapace: Full Coverage]!

[Kinetic Repulsion: Shield]!

A black keratin layer instantly covered his arms and chest, while a blue wave of repulsive force erupted before him.

Bang!

The door slammed into the repulsion shield. The enormous impact drove Zhao Fan's feet through the floor, gouging two deep furrows, but he held.

The dust cleared.

A naked, bald giant over two meters tall emerged from the darkness behind the door, his skin a bizarre lava color. Red light burned in his eyes, and a cruel smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

"I thought I'd get to meet that little United States bird. Instead, I get two little mice." The giant's voice sounded like something scraping against sandpaper. "Let me take out the trash."

"Taking out the trash?" Zhao Fan straightened and brushed dust from his arms, his gaze turning utterly cold. "What a coincidence. That happens to be my specialty."

He spoke quietly to Old Dog. "Leave this big guy to me. Get behind the server room and find a chance to insert the key. Ben will tell you exactly where."

"Can you handle him? This thing looks pretty tough." Old Dog sounded worried.

"What the hell are you scared of? He's just a half-finished product." A mocking curve lifted the corner of Zhao Fan's mouth.

In the system's analysis view, the seemingly invincible giant before him was covered in red weak-point markers.

[High-energy biological target detected: out-of-control Extremis Virus carrier (overloaded state).]

[Weakness analysis: energy circulation system extremely unstable. Requires continuous heat dissipation.]

Zhao Fan put away his dagger and clenched both fists. Golden-red light gathered over them.

"Come on, big guy." Zhao Fan crooked a finger provocatively. "Let me see what goodies Hydra gave you."