Death Spores

Strucker showed no surprise at Alex and the others' sudden appearance, as though he had expected it all along. And indeed he had. At Strucker's command, more than a hundred soldiers wielding large energy guns suddenly emerged from all around them, their fist-sized muzzles resembling cannon barrels.

"Walked right into a trap?" Alex showed no sign of panic. He leisurely surveyed his surroundings, his tone carrying a hint of teasing amusement.

Natasha lightly brushed back the hair by her ear and said calmly, "Looks like it."

"Captain, what's the plan?" Logan braced his hands, and a pair of Bone Claws slowly pierced through the skin on the backs of his hands, savage and terrifying.

Steve chuckled and suddenly hurled the shield in his hand. His body shot forward, leaving only his commanding voice in the air: "Attack!"

At Steve's signal, the Howling Commandos sprang into action in an instant, charging fiercely toward their prey like a pack of wolves. Since their roles had already been assigned, everyone found their own target. The scene looked somewhat chaotic, but only the soldiers were in disarray.

Alex took note of the situation and found that everyone had performed beyond his expectations. The weapons and equipment Howard had provided were also exceptionally powerful. In just moments, Nick Fury and Bucky had wiped out most of the hundred-plus soldiers. Nick Fury's heavy machine gun in particular was like Death's scythe, mowing down swathes of enemies.

The soldiers suffered devastating losses, and Baron Strucker was in a rather sorry state as well. With Wolverine, a true master of close combat, facing him, Strucker was thoroughly outmatched. With Steve standing by nearby, Baron Strucker soon gained several bloody holes in his body, all inflicted by Logan's Bone Claws.

Seeing that the situation had been decided, Alex immediately ran outside. His task was no lighter: he had to stop the soldiers and Hydra agents rushing over from outside. To deal with this kind of large-scale battle, Alex had specifically picked up several energy guns from the defeated soldiers.

Watching a large wave of soldiers charge at him with shouts, Alex fired the energy guns in both hands at once, repeatedly striking the crowd. The energy in the guns had been converted from the Tesseract and was immensely powerful. When a shot hit someone, that person seemed to turn to ash and vanish outright.

The two guns' destructive power was astonishing, and people constantly died beneath their fire. But even two fists could not fend off four hands. At last, the soldiers charged forward at the cost of their lives.

Alex had prepared for this. He pried the energy crystals from the guns, struck them hard, then threw them into the crowd like grenades.

With a boom, the energy crystals exploded. The blast covered a radius of more than ten meters, sending soldiers flying backward while coughing blood. The lucky ones survived, while the unlucky ones were blown to death on the spot.

After he threw several in succession, the surging soldiers finally halted their advance and kept their distance. No one was a fool; no one would knowingly march to their death.

"Thanks, Howard!" Alex said with a grin. He casually threw out several more crystals, forcing back quite a few soldiers trying to sneak closer, then immediately returned to the base.

Inside the base, no one remained standing except the Howling Commandos and Baron Strucker.

"Captain America, do you really think you've won?" Seeing Alex appear, Baron Strucker suddenly gave a strange smile. A device resembling a remote control suddenly appeared in his hand, its bright red central button especially eye-catching.

Logan retracted his Bone Claws and crossed his arms over his chest. Calm and unhurried, he said, "Do you still have a chance to escape?"

"Why would I escape?" Strucker rested his thumb on the red button, the smile on his face growing ever more eerie and terrifying. "With all of you buried with me, I, Baron Strucker, still come out ahead!"

"Explode, Death Spores!"

At Strucker's roar, the entire base suddenly began to shake violently. Countless clouds of Death Spore gas then spread out from all directions, filling the entire base in an instant.

Alex's expression changed drastically at those words. He thought of the corpses in the tunnel. "Everyone, be careful! This spore gas is poisonous!" As he shouted, Alex hurriedly spread out his Psionic Power, shielding everyone as he used Teleportation to escape the base and return to the camp.

The moment they returned to camp, Alex anxiously looked over everyone and asked worriedly, "Are you all okay?"

Steve lowered his head and examined his body, looking surprised. "I'm fine? I feel great. Nothing's wrong at all."

Logan, Nick Fury, and Natasha all shook their heads, indicating that they were fine.

Seeing that Bucky had not reacted for a long time, Alex reached out and patted Bucky's shoulder before asking again, "Bucky, are you okay too?"

To everyone's shock, Bucky's body fell directly to the ground beneath Alex's hand!

Alex and Steve froze for a moment before coming back to their senses. They hurriedly rushed forward, flusteredly lifting Bucky up. Cradling Bucky's head, they cried out anxiously, "Bucky! Bucky!"

Hearing the commotion, Howard rushed over as well. Seeing Alex and Steve holding Bucky and weeping uncontrollably, he looked at the other three in confusion. "What happened?"

Hearing Howard's voice, Alex hurriedly stood and grabbed his arm. "Howard, take a look at Bucky. What's wrong with him?" Logically, if the Death Spores had taken effect, the others should not have been completely unharmed. But if they were ineffective, what had happened to Bucky?

Howard was a mechanical engineer, not a doctor. At Alex's request, he awkwardly stepped forward and took a few looks. "What happened?" From Howard's observations, Bucky's bodily functions were still in good condition. He was merely unconscious for some unknown reason.

Alex explained what had happened. When he finished, he looked at Howard nervously. "What are Death Spores? Will Bucky be okay?"

Howard's calm expression vanished the moment he heard the words Death Spores. He froze completely, not even hearing Alex's final question clearly. He muttered to himself in disbelief, "How could it be Death Spores?! How could it be Death Spores?!"

Watching Howard mutter distractedly to himself, Alex could not help letting out a furious roar. "Howard, tell me, what exactly are Death Spores?!"

The shout jolted Howard back to his senses. He lowered his head to look at Bucky in Steve's arms, remained silent for a long while, then finally explained, "Death Spores are a special virus. Once they multiply in large numbers inside the human body, they can cause death."

"Death?!" Alex and Steve abruptly looked up, their eyes filled with horror.

"Why are the rest of us fine?" Nick Fury lowered the heavy machine gun in his hand, his dark face full of confusion. "We were all in the Death Spore gas. Why was Bucky the only one affected?"

Steve quickly regained his composure and anxiously asked Howard, "Is there any way to save Bucky?"

Howard gave a bitter smile and slowly said, "There's no cure, but low temperatures can slow the virus's reproduction."

"Freeze Bucky immediately. I'm going to find Hydra!" Alex vanished the instant he finished speaking. He believed that since Strucker had developed these Death Spores, he must have an antidote.

But when Alex returned to the base, the Death Spore gas had already dissipated. Not a single living person could be seen in the vast base. Baron Strucker was lying on the ground as well, without the slightest trace of life. He was dead!!!

P.S.: The bonus chapter is here. Scorpion was exhausted and immediately went to sleep. There was still an early wake-up tomorrow!