After this period of training, Steve had developed the resolve to be a Captain. He stepped forward with his shield in hand and looked at Carter. "What's the mission?"
"Intelligence has discovered another Hydra base. Command wants us to destroy it and bring back all the information inside." As she spoke, Carter handed Steve a file and pointed to a slightly blurred photograph. "Most importantly, bring this man back!"
"Baron Zemo?" Steve opened the file and looked at the photograph. Most striking were the eyes filled with madness and bloodlust. The text beside the photo read: "Hydra scientist, one of Hydra's leaders, proficient in all kinds of weapons and also a skilled fighter."
"That impressive?" Hearing Steve's words, Bucky raised the energy sniper rifle in his hands and assumed an aiming stance. Calmly, he said, "Perfect. We can use him to test how powerful our new gear is!"
Logan emerged from the corner, a half-smoked cigar clenched between his teeth. With an unruly expression, he said, "I've been resting for so many days, I'm about to lose my mind!"
Alex chuckled without speaking. The dagger twirling between his fingers made his attitude clear enough.
"This mission won't be easy." Seeing everyone so fired up, Carter could not help pouring cold water over them. "This base is in Berlin, Germany. Not only is it guarded by Hydra agents, but the surrounding area is protected by the German Nazi army." After a slight pause, she sighed and continued, "Taking this base will be extremely difficult."
"Berlin?" Alex frowned in surprise. "Why would Command assign a mission like this? No matter how important Baron Zemo is, they can't do this, can they?"
The others' expressions changed as well after hearing Carter. Hot-tempered Logan even extended his Bone Claws and roared furiously, "Are they sending us to our deaths?" Logan did not fear death because of his powerful healing ability, but he had no intention of dying for nothing.
Carter gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "Frontline forces have been attacked by mysterious weapons. They have no way to resist them, and casualties have been severe. If we don't find a way to counter those weapons, the Allies are very likely to lose." Her gaze swept across the group before finally settling on Natasha. "The spies hidden within Germany risked exposing themselves to find out that those weapons are all produced by this base, so..."
"We'll take this mission!" Steve put away the file and turned to the others beside him. In a deep voice, he said, "If anyone doesn't want to go, you can withdraw now!"
"Berlin isn't really anything special." Alex chuckled as he looked at Steve, though his mind drifted back to the underground base where he had been imprisoned for several days.
With Steve and Alex speaking one after the other, the others naturally had nothing more to say. They might still have looked down on Steve somewhat, but they truly respected Alex.
After leaving Howard's laboratory, Alex took the file from Steve, skimmed through it, found information such as the base's location, and quietly departed. Before leaving, he gave Steve a heads-up. "Steve, I'll go take a look over there first. You guys get ready."
In the blink of an eye, Alex returned to that underground base from before. Half a year had passed, yet the base had not changed at all. Only thick layers of dust had accumulated on the floors and tables.
After glancing around, Alex immediately walked to the main door and pushed it open. The dark tunnel was filled with the stench of rot, making him quickly shut the door again.
After finding a gas mask in the base, Alex pushed the door open once more and walked out.
"That's much better!" Alex remarked as he headed outward through the tunnel. But after only a few steps, he discovered a corpse lying on the tunnel floor. It had decayed beyond recognition, while several rats gnawed at its chest, occasionally letting out squeaks.
Alex remembered that this tunnel had been very clean the last time he passed through it.
Stepping over the corpse, Alex continued forward, full of confusion. Before long, another corpse appeared. Over the next half hour, Alex saw at least a hundred bodies. Some had completely decomposed, while others remained intact. He found no wounds on the intact corpses, nor did they appear to have been poisoned or suffocated. A person had simply died for no apparent reason, right here in this tunnel.
Thinking of the hundred or so corpses he had seen along the way, Alex felt an inexplicable tension rise within him, and his pace unconsciously quickened.
Soon, Alex reached the tunnel exit, only to be surprised to find that the once-open exit had been sealed by an iron door!
Looking at the blocked exit, Alex took out his dagger and carefully drilled a small hole in the wall beside the iron door. Peering through it, he narrowed his eyes and examined the situation outside.
"This is a Hydra base?" Alex stared blankly. At some point, a factory had been built beyond the iron door, and people wearing Hydra insignia moved back and forth throughout it.
As he stood there in a daze, more than a dozen pale-faced young men were escorted toward the iron door by five Hydra agents. A middle-aged man wearing a monocle followed behind them, muttering constantly as he walked.
Thanks to Natasha, Alex had learned German and could roughly understand what the middle-aged man was saying. They were about to conduct an experiment called "Death Spores," and those dozen pale young men were the test subjects!
"A virus experiment?" The moment Alex heard "Death Spores," he thought of the human experiments the Japanese had conducted in Northeast China, festering mustard gas, and the like.
Even as shock filled his heart, Alex tightened his grip on the dagger and peered outside through the hole again, silently calculating. Five agents, one scientist. If there's no one else, and I move quickly enough, then maybe...
Before he could determine whether it would work, the group had already approached the iron door. Alex used Teleportation to appear outside it, his dagger carving an arc through the air. The first two Hydra agents fell with horrified expressions, clutching their throats.
After instantly dealing with the two men, Alex pushed off with both feet and shot forward, reaching the other three Hydra agents in an instant. His dagger flashed, and the three agents fell without any surprise.
Everyone was stunned. The dozen young men stared wide-eyed, not even knowing to run. On the other side, the scientist quickly recovered. To Alex's surprise, he not only failed to flee but instead roared and charged at him. Judging by his movements, he seemed to have some training as well.
P.S. Things just keep coming up. I can still make today's two updates, but yesterday's make-up chapter will probably have to wait until the middle of the night...
Before you continue