Virus Experiment Base

After this period of training, Steve had the resolve to be a captain. He stepped forward, shield in hand, and asked Carter, "What's the mission?"

"Intelligence has located another Hydra base. Command wants us to destroy it and retrieve all data from within," Carter explained as she handed Steve a file. Pointing to a slightly blurry photograph, she continued, "Most importantly, bring this person back!"

"Baron Zemo?" Steve opened the file, looking at the photo. The eyes, filled with madness and bloodlust, were particularly striking. Beside the photo, text described him as: "Hydra scientist, one of Hydra's leaders, proficient in various weapons, and also a master of combat."

"That formidable?" Hearing Steve's words, Bucky raised his energy sniper rifle, assuming an aiming stance, and said calmly, "Perfect. Let's test out our new equipment!"

Logan emerged from a corner, a half-smoked cigar in his mouth, and declared with a defiant air, "I'm going crazy from all this rest!"

Alex chuckled softly and said nothing, but the dagger dancing between his fingers indicated his stance.

"This mission won't be easy," Carter said, trying to temper their enthusiasm. "This base is in Berlin, Germany. Not only will it be guarded by Hydra agents, but the German army will also be protecting the perimeter." She paused, then sighed, "Taking down this base will be very difficult."

"Berlin?" Alex frowned, surprised. "Why would Command assign such a mission? Even if Baron Zemo is that important, they shouldn't do this."

Hearing Carter's words, the others' expressions changed. The hot-tempered Logan even extended his bone claws, roaring in anger, "Are they trying to get us killed?" Logan, with his incredible healing factor, didn't fear death, but he was unwilling to die for nothing.

Carter gave a wry smile and shook her head. "Frontline troops have been attacked by mysterious weapons and can't resist, suffering heavy casualties. If we don't find a way to counter these weapons, the Allied forces could very well be defeated." Carter's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Natasha. "Spies hidden within the army have risked exposure to discover that these weapons are produced at this base, so..."

"We'll take this mission!" Steve put away the file and turned to look at everyone around him, saying in a deep voice, "Anyone who doesn't want to go can back out now!"

"Berlin, it's not that bad, actually." Alex looked at Steve and chuckled lightly, but his mind drifted to the underground base where he had been imprisoned for days.

With Steve and Alex having spoken, the others naturally had nothing more to say. They might have underestimated Steve, but they truly respected Alex.

After leaving Howard's laboratory, Alex took the file from Steve. After a brief glance, he found information about the base's location and quietly left. As he departed, he informed Steve, "Steve, I'll go scout ahead. You guys prepare yourselves."

In an instant, Alex returned to the underground base from before. Six months had passed, and the base was unchanged, except that thick dust had accumulated on the ground and tables.

After surveying his surroundings, Alex immediately walked to the main door and pushed it open. The dark tunnel was filled with the stench of decay, making Alex quickly close the door again.

Finding a gas mask in the base, Alex opened the door again and walked out.

"Much better!" he exclaimed. Alex walked along the tunnel towards the exit. However, after only a few steps, Alex discovered a corpse lying on the tunnel floor. The body was badly decomposed, and several rats were gnawing at its chest, emitting squeaking sounds.

Alex remembered that the tunnel had been very clean when he left last time.

Stepping over the corpse, Alex continued forward, filled with surprise. Soon, another corpse appeared. In the half hour he had been walking, Alex had seen at least a hundred bodies, some completely decayed, others intact. On the intact corpses, Alex found no wounds, nor did they appear to have died from poison or suffocation. People had simply died inexplicably in this tunnel.

Thinking of the hundred bodies he had seen along the way, Alex felt an inexplicable sense of tension, and his pace quickened.

Soon, Alex reached the tunnel exit, but to his surprise, the previously open exit was blocked by an iron door!

Looking at the blocked exit, Alex took out his dagger and carefully drilled a small hole in the wall next to the iron door. Through the hole, Alex squinted and saw the situation outside.

"This is a Hydra base?" Alex was stunned. Outside the iron door, a factory had been built at some point. People wearing the Hydra insignia were coming and going within the factory.

While he was staring, over a dozen youths with ashen complexions were being escorted towards the iron door by five Hydra agents. Behind them followed a middle-aged man wearing a monocle, who was muttering incessantly as he walked.

Thanks to Natasha, Alex had learned German, and he understood most of what the middle-aged man was saying. It turned out they were about to conduct an experiment called "Death Spores," and the dozen pale youths were the test subjects!

"Virus experiment?" Hearing "Death Spores," Alex immediately thought of the human experiments conducted by the Japanese in Manchuria, like mustard gas and so on.

Shocked, Alex tightened his grip on the dagger and looked outside through the small hole again, secretly thinking, "Five agents, one scientist. If there's no one else, if I act quickly, I might be able to..."

Before he could confirm if it was feasible, the group had already approached the iron door. Alex used Teleportation to appear outside the iron door. His dagger sliced through the air in a curve, and the first two Hydra agents fell, clutching their necks in shock.

After instantly eliminating two, Alex pushed off the ground and dashed towards the other three Hydra agents. His dagger flashed, and the three agents fell, as expected.

Everyone was stunned. The dozen youths looked dumbfounded, not even thinking of escaping. On the other side, the scientist quickly recovered. To Alex's surprise, the scientist didn't flee but let out a roar and charged forward. Judging by his movements, he seemed to have some combat training.

ps: Things are never-ending. I can catch up on today's two updates, but the makeup update for yesterday should be ready late tonight