James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America's best buddy, was called Bucky for short!
He had been Captain America Steve's comrade and support during World War II, and their bond was stronger than gold.
If Steve ever got brainwashed, all anyone needed to do was whisper in his ear, "Bucky and Carter are getting married!"
Steve would immediately regain his senses, then snatch one of them away to be his bride!
As for which one he snatched, Steve wouldn't care, and neither would the other two!
Back then, he had fallen off a train into a mountain valley during a mission. Not only had he survived, but Hydra had picked him up.
Hydra's Doctor Zola had brainwashed him into obedience and fitted him with a new metal arm to replace the one he had broken in the fall.
He had become HYDRA's important weapon, the "Winter Soldier."
He had once carried out a mission to murder Tony's womanizing old man, Howard Stark.
Now he followed the orders of Alexander, this Hydra leader, and basically had no thoughts of his own.
His combat strength was on par with Captain America's. Maybe he was even a tiny bit stronger than Steve?
Now this pure killing machine was looking at Su Zhou without any expression.
Looking at the machine-like Winter Soldier before him, Su Zhou instinctively swallowed.
"Sir, who is this?!"
"The Winter Soldier, Hydra's secret weapon. He was once injected with a serum that enhanced his body.
"For the next three days, he'll train you in close-quarters combat!"
Alexander didn't introduce the Winter Soldier in detail, merely mentioning him briefly.
Then he dangled a promise before Su Zhou, one so enticing that Su Zhou's eyes lit up!
"If you can pass the assessment in three days, I'll consider giving you a dose of lesser serum.
"Yes, a lesser version of the Super-Soldier Serum. It can enhance your body too.
"This lesser serum isn't as effective, but its advantage is that it's very stable and has hardly any side effects."
Su Zhou: (✧◡✧)
Hadn't I just hit the jackpot?!
Although he would have to take a beating for three days, he could get a lottery reward out of it.
That works for me!
"Then what exactly does the assessment involve?"
"Survive five minutes under the Winter Soldier's all-out attacks!"
Alexander patted Su Zhou's shoulder again and said encouragingly:
"It's fine if you can't last five minutes. You just won't get any serum!"
At that moment, Su Zhou activated [Super Vision] and scanned everyone in the room.
Crossbones's muscle and bone density were higher than his own, but he still wasn't as strong as the Winter Soldier.
It looked like he had also been injected with this lesser serum. No wonder he could become the captain of the special rapid-response unit.
As for the others in the room, none of them had such powerful bodies.
So this lesser serum was probably still quite precious even within Hydra!
Last five minutes against the Winter Soldier? I still have four character trial cards!
When the time comes, I can have Black Tiger Alfred possess me and pin the Winter Soldier to the ground for a beating while talking smack.
Are you scared of Tornado Destroys Parking Lot!?
"All right, sir. I accept your proposal, but I'd like to skip the three days of close-quarters training.
"How about starting the assessment right away? I'm confident I can last five minutes against him!
"To be honest, my time is precious. If I disappear for too long, Nick Fury will get suspicious!"
Su Zhou decided to go straight to the assessment, because even three days of training with the Winter Soldier would be useless.
Learning anything himself was too slow, nowhere near as fast as using the system lottery!
He might as well fight the Winter Soldier, snag the lesser serum, and get out of there!
Alexander fell silent at Su Zhou's words. Su Zhou had started acting strange after his visit to the alien spacecraft.
If the lie detector hadn't proven Su Zhou's loyalty, he would have suspected that Su Zhou had defected!
"Actually, as long as you made it through these three days, I would have given you a dose of serum anyway.
"That was your original reward. The assessment was just meant to put pressure on you.
"But since you're so confident, let's go straight to the assessment!"
Alexander nodded and agreed to Su Zhou's proposal. After all, driven young men like him
were exactly what HYDRA needed right now!
"Rumlow, take Su Zhou and the Winter Soldier to the training room. You'll keep time for them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Crossbones accepted the assignment and led the way out of the interrogation room.
The Winter Soldier and Su Zhou immediately followed him, arriving at an enclosed room in less than three minutes.
It was about a hundred square meters, with only one door aside from the ventilation ducts!
Crossbones led them to the center of the room, then had the Winter Soldier and Su Zhou stand facing each other.
They stood about ten meters apart. Then he gave Su Zhou a pitying look.
"You can start fighting once I close the door. When I open it again,
"the five minutes will be up, and you can stop!"
Crossbones spoke as he walked toward the door they had entered through. By the time he finished his last sentence,
he was already standing outside the room. Then he slammed the door shut!
Bang-!
The sound of the door closing was like the starting pistol at a sporting event. The Winter Soldier raised his fists and charged at Su Zhou!
Su Zhou had been getting ready ever since he entered. By the time Crossbones reached the door,
he had already readied the character card in his mind. The instant the door closed, Su Zhou silently said:
System, use [Character Trial Card: Alfred]!
[Character Trial Card: Alfred (My name is Black Tiger Alfred. Prepare to die!)]
The Winter Soldier's mechanical arm punched toward Su Zhou's face with a whistle through the air.
But Su Zhou merely stepped back once, then grabbed the Winter Soldier's arm,
using the force of his punch to throw him away!
The Winter Soldier hadn't expected Su Zhou to be so strong either. Caught off guard, he was thrown seven or eight meters.
He rolled twice on the ground before getting up, his metal arm throwing up sparks as it scraped the concrete floor!
Su Zhou assumed a traditional Chinese martial arts stance, planting himself in a horse stance.
His eyes were as sharp as razors as he stared fixedly at the Winter Soldier crouched on the floor!
"My name is Black Tiger Alfred. Prepare to die!"
After Su Zhou struck his stance, that damn mouth of his started spouting trash talk as though it were out of his control!
"Take my Black Tiger Takes Heart!"
Su Zhou shaped his left hand into a tiger's claw and lunged for the Winter Soldier's chest at incredible speed!
Seeing Su Zhou's fierce approach, the Winter Soldier advanced instead of retreating, throwing a punch at Su Zhou's chest!
But halfway through his attack, Su Zhou suddenly pushed off the ground and leaped up, dodging the Winter Soldier's punch!
In midair, Su Zhou spread his arms and tucked his legs into a ball!
"Crow Takes Flight!!!"