chapter 167 part 1
"Toys?!"
Hearing Colin's nonchalant description, Boomerang's eyebrows twitched under his mask, clearly dissatisfied with the term.
"Collin Roper!"
Beside Boomerang, Crossbones stared at the familiar figure before him and let out a ferocious, low growl.
Ever since the disastrous failure of the operation to capture Spider-Man, the Thunderbolts had considered it a disgrace. This was especially true for Crossbones, who had even undergone Hydra's modifications to gain greater power.
"It seems you've recovered well."
Colin said meaningfully, his gaze falling on Crossbones' menacing, mechanical-looking arm.
"So he's Collin Roper?"
Boomerang hadn't participated in the previous operation, but he had learned of Colin's existence from later reports.
Turning his head to look at the nearly ruined prison and Colin standing unscathed in the middle of it, Boomerang immediately drew his special boomerang and threw it at him.
*Swoosh, swoosh—*
The V-shaped boomerang cut an arc through the air.
The moment it neared Colin, it suddenly exploded, spraying out a deadly toxin.
"How about that? Did my 'toy' give you a little surprise?"
'Poison Gas Boomerang.' This was one of Hydra's specially made boomerangs. Its hollow body was filled with a large amount of toxic gas, and the release of the gas could be controlled by a button in Boomerang's hand.
"It seems Collin Roper isn't as amazing as the rumors say."
Boomerang said smugly, watching Colin enveloped in the deadly gas.
The toxin he used was meticulously prepared by Hydra, rumored to have come from a mysterious poison expert within the organization. It was said to be potent enough to easily kill a full-grown elephant.
"..."
However, in contrast to Boomerang's smug expression, Crossbones' demeanor remained tense.
He watched Colin, shrouded in gas, not believing for a second that his opponent would fall for such a simple trick.
"It certainly gave me a little 'surprise'..."
Sure enough, before Boomerang could be smug for more than a few seconds.
Colin's voice emerged from the gas-filled prison.
The very next second, a figure flickered into existence right in front of the two of them.
Clearly, Boomerang's gas, potent enough to kill an elephant, couldn't kill him. It couldn't even affect him.
"What?!"
Seeing Colin appear completely unharmed, Boomerang's face was a mask of astonishment.
[Contact with Twisted Time Node, a small amount of Time Shard ×1 collected]
Just as I thought!
Looking at the faint text that appeared, a flash of understanding crossed Colin's mind. It seemed Moonstone was just a special case.
The other [Time Shards] were still normal.
As he pondered this, Colin's hands didn't stop moving.
He raised his arm, controlling the force in his fist to avoid a repeat of the 'tragedy' that befell the Green Goblin, and swung at Boomerang.
The fist was about to land.
Although Colin had already reduced the force by seventy to eighty percent, the punch would still be enough to leave Boomerang aching for days.
After all, based on his appearance, the man didn't seem to be a particularly powerful character.
Just as his fist was about to connect.
Crossbones shot out his modified arm and gripped Colin's wrist tightly. At the same time, two other members of the Thunderbolts, Luke Cage and Mister Hyde, appeared in the corridor.
"It's you!"
Seeing Luke Cage walk out of the corridor, Jessica couldn't help but blurt out.
She clearly remembered that he was the one who had sent her to this damned prison.
...
"Let's go, Anthony."
Inside Hydra Tower.
Scott issued a standby command to the ant army behind him through his helmet, then lay on top of a worker ant and flew cautiously out of a ventilation shaft.
He controlled his altitude, avoiding the gazes of the people around.
As he passed a thin figure, the person suddenly turned, startling Scott under his helmet. He quickly said.
"Anthony, higher, higher!"
Receiving the command, the ant beneath Scott rapidly flapped its wings, gaining altitude.
"Hm?"
On the other side, a look of surprise flashed across Banner's face behind his glasses. He blinked and glanced up at the empty ceiling of the building.
He thought he had just seen a blurry black dot flash past, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Did I see wrong?"
Shaking his head, he dismissed his doubts and turned his attention back to his earlier conversation with Dr. Hank Pym.
Why was the doctor trying to persuade him to leave?
*Phew~*
Glancing back at the top of Banner's head behind him, Scott let out a long sigh of relief and patted the ant's head.
"Good job, Anthony."
In response to Scott's praise, the worker ant wiggled the two pairs of antennae on its head.
In this manner, the man and the ant traveled through the building for quite some time.
"We're finally here."
Scott climbed off Anthony's back and looked up at the connected cables in the server room.
"Hold on, let me catch my breath."
After taking a few deep breaths to recover some strength, Scott, with Anthony's help, climbed up to the main power box at the highest point of the server room.
"Alright, let's get to work!"
Looking at the dense network of cables around him, Scott muttered under his helmet.
As he spoke, the ant army that had been on standby in the vents immediately sprang into action. Following the location signal, they surged magnificently towards Scott's position.
...
"How much longer, Scott?"
Outside Hydra Tower.
Frank asked in a low voice.
"Almost there!"
Immediately after, Scott's slightly excited reply came through the communicator.