A black car stopped by the deserted coastline. Several people first walked to the cliff, then came to the shore. In the end, they only discovered a man's corpse on the rocks.
They conducted an inspection and checked the surroundings, but obviously, it was impossible for the rocks to retain footprints. The place was so secluded that even seabirds didn't come, so naturally, there wouldn't be any clues.
While they were struggling to drag the body out of the rocks, Selina was hanging upside down on the arching cliff, watching their figures. She was silent, like a black shadow. Only after the people got in the car did she walk onto the road, watching the direction they departed.
Selina wasn't in a hurry because she had placed a tracking device on the man's body. These people clearly hadn't conducted a thorough inspection, so she could follow the signal to locate the base.
Before long, on the winding mountain road of the northern mountains of Forward York City, a Buick sedan stopped by the roadside. Selina closed the car door, popped a piece of gum into her mouth, and stepped towards the mountain.
She was still wearing the bright vacation outfit, carrying a small bag, looking like a tourist hiking. But the path she took was unusual, as she didn't follow the road up, but took the shortest direct line between two points, climbing straight up.
Even though the area was all wild mountains with not even a small path, Selina moved agilely, constantly weaving between trees and bushes, and quickly reached halfway up the mountain.
There was a very hidden bunker here, but Selina spotted it immediately. Moreover, this wasn't a heavily guarded military base; there wasn't even a guard at the door, and Selina didn't even see any cameras from a distance.
She sighed again, walked to the front of the door, and knocked hard.
"Is anyone there?! Is anyone there??!!"
Inside, there were very faint footsteps that stopped at the doorway for a moment. Selina deliberately picked up her phone and complained, "Isn't this supposed to be a niche spot? Why can't I get in? Where did that blogger take the photo?"
Suddenly, the door opened a crack: "Who are you? What are you doing here? Photos aren't allowed here!"
"I saw someone posted a really beautiful photo, and the location was marked as here, so I wanted to take one too." Selina said innocently, "What are your entry fees? How much is the ticket?"
"No photos allowed here!!!" The other person shouted impatiently, "Get lost!!!"
"No way, I took a bus for two hours to get here. You have to let me in today." Selina said as she pulled at the door.
The person inside immediately tried to close the door, but Selina quickly shouted, "Wait, wait, wait, can't I just pay? I'll pay anything as long as I can take a nice photo!"
Saying that, she rummaged through her small bag, pulled out a wad of US Dollars, as if it were just spare change, and stuffed it into the person's hand. The person inside hesitated but eventually took the money.
As soon as he took the money, instinctively wanting to check the amount, Selina, in that instant of distraction, lifted her leg high and kicked his chin, pulled the door open and followed with a front kick that knocked him to the ground, swiftly cutting his throat.
She quickly slipped into the shadows, but even after waiting for a while, no companion of the person came. She surveyed the environment inside the bunker; it wasn't some high-tech base, as many circuits had aged and there was junk piled on the ground.
Selina walked inside and soon smelled a strong scent of alcohol. She peeked through the door gap and saw a few people passed out on the ground. So she stopped pretending and opened the door, walking straight in.
The drunks thought they were seeing things due to their intoxication, laughing and trying to grab Selina. Naturally, they were all swiftly dispatched by Selina, one by one, with a knife.
Further inside was the dormitory, where two people lay. One was asleep, and the other faced away from the door, looking at something. Selina quietly approached, first slitting the throat of the sleeping one. The other, hearing the noise, turned around, instinctively drawing a gun. Selina kicked the gun away with another kick, stabbed him in the shoulder, causing him to fall in pain, before slitting his throat too.
There were only a few people in the entire base. Selina checked all around, inside and out, but found no other enemies. She rummaged through the room storing documents and found a list of the base's employees, cross-checked it, and found that two were still absent. She didn't care.
She threw all the bodies into the back mountain and, with the found directory, dialed a phone number.
"Hello? How's the infiltration plan into Stark Group progressing?... What are you guys up to? Wasn't it said to sneak in during Stark Group's recruitment to get a share of the pie? Forgotten?"
"Ah, hold on, sorry, I dialed the wrong number. This is the headquarters line. I'll hang up first."
On the other end of the line, the operator was somewhat puzzled. Headquarters had recently not issued any tasks regarding Stark Group, so he found it a bit strange and reported the contents of the call.
"What's going on? The northern base acted without permission? Isn't that place almost abandoned? ... Ah, I understand, it must be that Adrian wanting to return to headquarters, up to his secretive actions again..."
"Stark Group?" Someone in the office paced back and forth, "Check what's been up with Stark Group lately… I know their stock price dropped, I'm talking about personnel issues."
Before long, the subordinate returned and reported, "Many of Stark Group's people have been poached, and they are currently understaffed, recruiting publicly…"
"Adrian, that bastard! Sent to the northern base, yet still dares to compete for credit with me?!" The man behind the desk said, "Headquarters surely won't miss this perfect opportunity. Let's make a move first, so we can insert some of our own people. Go call the field department, tell them there's a new mission."
The Buick stopped again at Stark Group's entrance. Selina stepped out of the car, observing a few individuals heading inside. Those were the employees for today's interview; just a glance was enough for her to see that at least half of them bore the marks of training.
Selina couldn't help but cover her forehead, it wasn't just her saying it, but how could this organization called Hydra be so incompetent?! All the employees were holding fake positions without doing anything right. The one legitimate task was still riddled with loopholes. Lasting three days in Gotham would be a stretch.
When the crowd went inside, Selina also found a way to blend in. She hadn't seen this universe's Catwoman, but it's likely that she hasn't debuted yet, which is beneficial as no one knows her.
The poised demeanor she practiced earlier was indeed useful. She strolled right in and said, "Hello, I'm looking for Ms. Bozi, we went horseback riding together, and she left her personal items with me."
"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked.
Selina shook her head and said, "I'm just here to deliver something, no need to see her. Could you pass it on for me?"
Saying so, Selina pulled out a lipstick from her bag. As soon as the receptionist saw it, they quickly said, "No, no, no, we can't help deliver personal items. Hold on, I'll make a call and ask."
The receptionist immediately made a call, but soon said: "Sorry, Ms. Bozi is preparing for an interview. I'll take you to the reception room to wait for a while."
Selina nodded. The staff quickly led her to the back reception room, offering tea and snacks. Selina waved her hand nonchalantly: "Get on with your work, don't mind me."
Seeing Selina take out her phone to make a call, the staff hurriedly left. Once they were gone, Selina put the phone down and patted her face. Whether her flying thief infiltration skills had waned was uncertain, but her social engineering infiltration skills were definitely advancing.
Mixing in the circle of wealthy ladies for long, she knew some rules. For example, lipstick is quite personal, needing to touch the lips, with brand and shade unique to each person. If swapped, it could easily serve as evidence for frame-ups. So usually, staff wouldn't deliver it, fearing consequences if something went wrong, lest they be scapegoated.
Another point is, private calls are things staff also avoid listening in on. Partly due to potential boss directives, staff sense themselves, and secondly, if a certain day's message leaked, someone nearby could be blamed.
Working in such large corporations, employees are always highly vigilant, keeping free from involvement. Especially in places like reception, requiring discernment, Pepper is sure to appoint reliable people, very aware of these implicit rules.
Once the staff left, Selina glanced around and spotted the ventilation duct. No matter the location, ventilation ducts were her highways.
Selina's smaller build was advantageous. In the flying thief's line, being too burly made successful infiltration tough, often traversing sewers, ventilation ducts, etc., larger frames risked getting stuck.
Selina's flexibility was extraordinarily good, practically bone-shrinking skill level. Her speed in the ventilation duct was rapid, soon reaching another empty room.
Here was less busy, no staff at the door, she quickly exited and slipped into the staircase, ascending swiftly—busy grabbing someone each floor to ask for the interview floors, feigning as a tardy interviewee.
Everyone cast sympathetic looks her way, pointing her directions. Soon she climbed to the 22nd floor, found the interviewees' room but didn't enter. Heading into the restroom, she climbed out of the window, hanging onto the interview room's window with a hook.
Selina genuinely feared Hydra's exposure, wishing she had a prompt screen to teach them how to speak, but it was late for that now. These folks were visibly not regular staff, their training marks unmistakable.
As entry started, Selina grew anxious. With those interviewees sitting there, if not Killer Croc, at least Bane it felt like, one might think it was a Terminator sequel actor audition here.
Just as Selina pondered how to help these folks pass discreetly, suddenly she heard someone calling her.
Selina was stunned. This was 22 floors up, how could there be someone there?!
She turned her head and saw a red-and-blue figure clinging to the wall, staring directly at her.