Ch: 11-20
Chapter 11 Sharon Carter is completely conquered by Steve
Sharon didn't notice Steve's display of skill; her mind was completely occupied with what Steve had just said.
"You...when did You find out?"
Steve quickly finished his sandwich, then handed the other sandwich to the stunned Sharon, saying casually:
"When? From the first day I moved in, and then a beautiful neighbor just happened to move in next door the very next day, I already noticed You."
"Although I was dormant in ice for decades, the experience from those years fighting HYDRA made me very sensitive to people around me, especially Agents."
"Although You played the role of a Nurse almost perfectly on the surface, there's still a fundamental difference between a Nurse and an Agent. You can disguise the surface, but You can never hide the inner sharpness of an Agent."
As Steve said this, the smile on his lips slowly faded, and with a hint of recollection in his eyes, he said:
"However, these weren't actually the main reasons I suspected You were an Agent. There's another, most important reason. Do You want to know what it is?"
"What...what is it?" Sharon stared blankly at Steve, her mind a complete blank, having completely lost her self-judgment as a top Agent.
Love can make a person blind, even an Agent like Sharon Carter.
However, Steve wouldn't, because he was a scumbag.
But the words Steve spoke next were sincere, as they came from the deepest memories left by this body.
Steve sighed softly:
"Because I saw the Shadow of an old friend in You, the Shadow of the World's strongest female Agent. Her name was Peggy Carter..."
"Aunt Peggy?!"
Sharon gasped, immediately covering her mouth, realizing she had accidentally let something slip.
However, she immediately noticed that Steve wasn't particularly surprised by her words, his expression remaining calm.
Sharon couldn't help but ask in surprise, "You even knew that Peggy was my Aunt?!"
Steve shook his head, saying insincerely, "I didn't know, I just had some suspicions, after all, an Agentwith a temperament so similar to Peggy's is rare..."
Steve Rogers himself indeed did not know Sharon's identity; the one who knew was another soul within this body, Roger.
Hearing this, Sharon's gaze towards Steve suddenly became a little strange, and she whispered, "You've already guessed that I'm related to Aunt Peggy, and You still made a move on me. Isn't that a bit perverted...?"
Niece and prospective uncle, this...
Just thinking about it is... *cough* *cough*...
Steve looked utterly confused: "Huh???"
Sharon's voice became increasingly faint: "Because I'm Aunt Peggy's niece, and You're her ex-boyfriend, isn't this morally wrong for us...?"
Steve was full of question marks.
No, sister, is this right?
Didn't You send me signals first? I'm the one who was pursued, okay!
Now You're being so heartless, saying I'm wrong? What the f—
However, as a man with high emotional intelligence, Steve would never say that out loud.
Instead, he changed his narrative, a narrative belonging to the original Master of this body:
"Sharon, 'Steve Rogers' doesn't belong to this era. He belongs to seventy years ago, to the era when Peggy was still waiting for him..."
"Now, although Peggy is still here, she no longer belongs to the 'I' of today. She has her own life, a family, a husband, and two children. I shouldn't bother her anymore..."
"The old Steve died the moment he woke from the ice and realized he had missed that dance with Peggy. What survived was merely a soul without a home in this era..."
"And this soul is lonely, but also free. He is not the Steve Rogers of seventy years ago; he is a brand new Steve Rogers belonging to this era!"
"So, there's nothing wrong with You falling in love with me, or me falling in love with You. You don't need to have any psychological burden because of it."
"Because I am no longer Peggy Carter's Steve Rogers; I belong to myself!"
Steve finished in one breath, his face not red and his heart not pounding, not feeling guilty at all.
Because these were all his true feelings; he was just expressing the changes that had occurred in this body in another way.
As for how these words should be interpreted, that was up to Sharon's own imagination.
And Sharon did not disappoint Steve; at this moment, the powerful imaginative ability belonging to an Agent came online at an inopportune time.
It allowed her to self-imagine a reasonable explanation for why Steve's life became so wild and unrestrained after waking up, differing greatly from his rumored personality.
Who wouldn't be unable to accept it when they wake up to find seventy years have passed, all their former friends and comrades are gone, and their only beloved has been missed, now having a husband and children of her own!
This also led to such a significant change in Steve's personality.
Because he was constantly trying to integrate into this new era alone, to accept the people of the new era.
But just as Steve said, he is like a lonely soul without a home in this era; the people of this era can never perfectly match him.
This must also be why Steve changed nineteen girlfriends within a year!
Because he is still searching for his new-era self alone, searching for a suitable person!
He is truly great! I love him so much!
"Steve, You'll never have to face the new era alone again. I'll always be with You, forever!"
After 'figuring it out,' Sharon's face was full of heartache. She instinctively stood up and hugged Steve's head, letting him rest on her C-cup, trying to give him some warmth belonging to this era.
Although Steve didn't know what this young woman Sharon had imagined, it didn't prevent him from feeling warmth from it, on a physical level...
After a moment of tenderness, Steve used his strong willpower to force himself out of Sharon's embrace and said:
"I know You'll always be with me, because You're different from all of them. You're the most special one to me..."
This was the umpteenth time Steve had said this. Whenever a new girlfriend had a new profession, he would say this.
Because to him, every girlfriend with a different profession truly was quite special...
And he had never had an Agent girlfriend before, at least the soul of Roger hadn't, so it was not an exaggeration to say Sharon was the most special among them.
Sharon, of course, wouldn't know any of this. She had been so charmed by Steve's sweet words that she was completely dazed, and her love for him grew even more infatuated.
Sharon's tender, Water-like eyes were hard for any man to resist making a mistake.
But Steve resisted today, because he had more important things to do right now.
"Although I'd like to stay with You longer, You just heard that Natasha is missing and her whereabouts are unknown. I must rush over immediately."
Chapter 12 She runs away and he chases her, she can't fly away even if she has wings~
Although Sharon was full of Steve at the moment, as an Agent, she still knew what was more important. She immediately got up and went next door to get Steve the stealth combat suit he wore yesterday, as well as his standard vibranium shield.
Steve was not polite. He stripped naked in front of Sharon and changed into his stealth suit, placing the shield on the adsorption device on the back of his combat uniform.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man. Steve, having changed into his stealth combat suit, immediately had a different aura.
He instantly transformed from his original sunny and cheerful big boy self into a calm and cool super soldier!
While Steve was changing, Sharon also put on a S.H.I.E.L.D. combat uniform and said, "I'll go with you!"
Steve reached out to stop her, shaking his head and saying, "No, this isn't your mission. The enemy's strength is unknown this time. Even a top Agent like Natasha isn't their match. I don't want you to be in danger because of this!"
Sharon was very touched by his words and knew that Steve was right; her presence might only hinder him. She no longer insisted.
"I understand, but if you are in danger, you must notify me. No matter the cost, I swear I will come to save you!"
Steve nodded, no longer procrastinating, and turned to leave.
An hour later, Iran, somewhere on the border.
A Quinjet descended from the sky onto a cliff edge. The cockpit opened, and Steve emerged from it.
This was the last known coordinate Nick Fury had sent him before Natasha lost contact.
He did not bring a Special Forces Team for this mission but chose to come alone.
Since the enemy's information was unknown, having more people would not be an advantage; instead, it would slow down his search speed.
Steve glanced at the crashed jeep at the bottom of the cliff, then leaped down directly in front of the jeep at the base of the cliff.
This mere dozens of meters of cliff height didn't even require Steve to bend his legs.
He ripped off the deformed and stuck jeep door, then looked inside the jeep. Steve raised an eyebrow.
There were bloodstains in the jeep, but no bodies, and there was a laser-cut hole in the car's undercarriage.
Apparently, Natasha had successfully escaped by cutting through the car's bottom with the nuclear engineer.
Steve was not surprised by this outcome.
After all, she was one of Marvel's protagonists; how could she die so easily?
Knowing that Natasha was not dead and his mission had not failed, Steve was no longer in such a hurry.
He began to check for other clues.
Soon, he discovered the true culprit that caused the jeep to crash.
It was a prominent, indented fist print on the front hood, clearly indicating that someone had used immense force to forcibly stop the moving jeep with a single punch.
Fist, immense force.
These two words, linked together, made an image instantly appear in Steve's mind.
Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes!
"If it's Bucky, no wonder Natasha wasn't his match..."
Bucky had been injected with a pirated Super Serum created by HYDRA's Dr. Zola and was fitted with a mechanical arm of immense strength. His combat power was fully comparable to Captain America in his normal state, and a corrupted Bucky even had a slight edge.
In the early stages, Bucky could be said to be one of HYDRA's trump cards!
Hey, wouldn't his current mission be like a dog-eat-dog situation?
He was now a HYDRA operative, yet he was going to rescue HYDRA's target.
This truly was an unpredictable life, like a pig's large intestine wrapped around a small one...
However, Steve did not intend to abandon this mission because of it. On the contrary, knowing that the opponent was the Winter Soldier made him even more excited!
It was like searching high and low for something only to find it effortlessly!
For the past year, perhaps Pierce was afraid that Bucky and he meeting would affect their respective brainwashing, so he never let the two meet.
And at that time, his strength was not enough to overthrow HYDRA, so he couldn't actively seek out Bucky, lest he alert the enemy.
Now that he had awakened his Biological Force Field, he could be said to be invincible within HYDRA.
Even if he didn't plan to leave HYDRA for the time being, he intended to shift from a pawn to a player.
And what kind of player is one without pawns? So he needed to control some pawns of his own.
And Bucky, his former good buddy, was undoubtedly an excellent pawn.
Powerful and easy to control!
But he didn't expect that before he even went to find Bucky, Bucky came to him.
It seems this mission will not only yield enhancement points but also a loyal pawn, or perhaps a brother?
After all, he inherited this body, and if he only treated Bucky as a pawn, that would be too much...
"But the priority now is to quickly find Natasha, otherwise it will be dangerous if Bucky finds her first..."
Bucky, still the HYDRA Winter Soldier, was not to be trifled with. Even Black Widow might turn into a dead widow if she wasn't careful...
Steve looked around, his enhanced eyes scanning every detail in every corner of the cliff like a scanner.
Sure enough, in an inconspicuous corner, he discovered a mark unique to S.H.I.E.L.D.
This was a guidepost Natasha left for reinforcements, so that if she lost contact, the reinforcements would know her general direction of movement.
Seeing this mark, Steve was not happy; instead, he became more worried about Natasha's current safety, shaking his head:
"Natasha, you've outsmarted yourself. You shouldn't have used the S.H.I.E.L.D. mark..."
Because although this mark was unique to S.H.I.E.L.D., and only internal personnel knew its meaning, the person pursuing her happened to be a "S.H.I.E.L.D. insider"!
It was the HYDRA leader one rank above Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce's trump card, the Winter Soldier!
How could he not know the meaning of the S.H.I.E.L.D. mark!
So Natasha was in danger!
And just as Steve expected, Natasha, with the nuclear engineer, fled all the way to a remote small town on the Iranian border.
This town was very primitive, with low earthen houses, very few modern facilities, and hardly any electric lights.
But precisely because of this, Natasha chose to stop here.
With fewer modern facilities and no signal sources, the possibility of her being tracked would also be lower.
However, Natasha still did not take the engineer to the town's only lodging. Instead, she cautiously chose an abandoned two-story residential building for temporary rest.
It wasn't until she brought the engineer into a room in the residential building and leaned against the cold wall that Natasha finally breathed a sigh of relief. She then took out her turned-off satellite phone, intending to restart it and call Nick Fury for help.
Although logically, Nick Fury should have sensed something was wrong and initiated a rescue after she lost contact, she still intended to confirm with Nick Fury and report her current specific situation and coordinates.
But what Natasha didn't know was that the marks she had left along the way, originally for reinforcements, had now become clues for the enemy to find her!
She marked her path, and the Winter Soldier followed the marks, now arriving at the top of a residential building not far from Natasha, holding a thermal imaging sniper rifle aimed at the building she was in.
Danger!
As a top Agent and assassin, Natasha's arm, holding the satellite phone, suddenly felt her hairs stand on end. Her sixth sense screamed a warning, and her body instinctively shifted!
The next second, bang!
A bullet pierced the wall she was leaning against and penetrated her abdomen. However, due to Natasha's instinctive shift, this shot fortunately did not cause a fatal injury.
Chapter 13 Don't worry, kids, Captain America is here!
Unfortunately, that shot meant Natasha would have to say goodbye to bikinis forever.
However, Natasha's luck didn't mean everyone in the room would be as fortunate.
The nuclear engineer who had been resting opposite Natasha was instantly killed by that shot.
"Damn it!" Natasha only had time to curse before covering her wound with one hand and dragging the engineer's corpse to the corner of the room with the other.
She checked the engineer's pulse and found he was deader than dead, cold sweat pouring down Natasha's forehead.
"How could the enemy arrive so quickly? How did that guy find us? Was it a tracker, or were my marks discovered?"
Natasha considered herself perhaps not the strongest Agent, but definitely one of the best at concealment. She had perfectly cleared her escape traces along the way.
Even the most professional search team in the World couldn't have found her tracks so quickly!
So, besides a tracker or her marks being discovered, she couldn't think of any other reason why she could be tracked so quickly by the enemy.
But Natasha had checked and was certain neither she nor the engineer had trackers on them. Even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s locators and satellite phones, she had discarded and turned off during her escape, precisely to prevent the enemy from reverse-tracking her signal!
So it couldn't be a tracker!
Then there was only one truth: her marks had been discovered!
Natasha's expression immediately turned grim.
Because this not only meant her marks were discovered and the other party could decipher S.H.E.L.D.'s exclusive marks, but also that there was an insider within S.H.I.E.L.D.!
Ping-pong!
However, she no longer had time to dwell on the S.H.I.E.L.D. insider. A spherical object flew in through the window and landed not far from her feet.
Suka blyat, it's a grenade!
Natasha's eyes widened, and without hesitation, she kicked the engineer's corpse towards the grenade, her body not stopping for a moment. Ignoring the gunshot wound in her waist, she lunged out the door!
Boom————————
With a loud explosion, the engineer's corpse was scattered all over the room, but it was precisely because of his final contribution that Natasha was once again fortunate to survive the close-range explosion, though she was blown into the outer corridor by the Impact of the blast!
"Cough, cough, cough, this mission is even harder than the one in Budapest..."
Thump— Thump— Thump—
Before Natasha, lying on the ground, could catch her breath, a low thudding sound of footsteps came from deeper in the corridor. A black military boot appeared in her peripheral vision from around the corner of the corridor.
Natasha didn't even lift her head. She quickly drew her gun and fired several shots at the owner of that foot!
Bang—bang—bang—
Clang—clang—clang—
However, the sound of bullets hitting flesh wasn't heard; instead, the sound of metal colliding echoed through the corridor.
Natasha looked up, her pupils contracting. She saw that the approaching person had actually blocked all of her three-point shots with just one silver metal arm!
And the person was extremely fast, covering the fifteen-meter corridor in less than two seconds, rushing in front of her, and delivering a whip kick fiercely towards her head!
The mere sound of the wind being cut by that kick told Natasha that if she was hit, she would be dead!
She didn't choose to dodge or block. Instead, she raised her gun and emptied the magazine into the approaching Winter Soldier's face!
The best defense is always offense!
As expected, the bullets were still completely blocked by that metal arm.
But this also forced the Winter Soldier's kick to stop, giving Natasha a chance to counterattack!
Like a flexible venomous snake, she coiled up the Winter Soldier's body to his head, her legs tightly locking his arms, and her hands pulling out a gleaming metal wire to fiercely strangle his neck!
If this pulled tight, even if Tyson came, his head would be severed!
But the Winter Soldier reacted extremely quickly. As Natasha climbed onto his body, he leaned his neck back, crashing Natasha into the corridor wall!
Taking advantage of Natasha's pain, he forcibly broke free from her leg restraints with his metal arm, used his metal arm to block the deadly metal wire strangling his neck, and finally grabbed Natasha's hair and forcefully flung her away!
Cyborg!
Natasha did a backflip in the air and landed steadily. Feeling the huge power disparity between them just now, a word instantly appeared in her mind.
And after knowing the opponent was a cyborg, Natasha didn't hesitate. She immediately turned and rushed into the nearby room, then leaped out the window!
Facing a cyborg, what the hell is she fighting for?!
She's just a trained ordinary person, not a super soldier like Steve!
The wind's strong, let's get out of here!
Natasha truly lived up to being at the peak of ordinary human capabilities. Any other ordinary person, shot through the abdomen and then blown away, would have lost the ability to move even if they didn't die.
Yet she could still counterattack and jump out of a building to escape!
But the Winter Soldier, being a super soldier, was clearly faster than her. Before Natasha could run far, a grenade whistled towards her from behind and exploded beside her, blowing her away again.
Boom————————
"God, this is the second time I've been blown up today...."
This close-range explosion made Natasha feel as if all her internal organs had shifted, and she was now completely unable to stand.
And accompanied by the screams of the natives in her ears, Natasha already saw that black God of Death walking towards her step by step.
Is this as far as I can go?
Bastard! I still have so many things to do, I haven't found my sister yet...
Natasha's eyes showed unwillingness as she tried to struggle to her feet.
But the Winter Soldier's icy eyes were devoid of emotion, giving Natasha no chance to get up. He removed the spent grenade casing from his gun, loaded a new grenade, aimed it at Natasha lying on the ground, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Whoosh——————
Boom————————
The grenade hit successfully and exploded!
Natasha, deceased... of course not!
Don't worry, children, Captain America is here!
As the explosion smoke and dust dissipated, the scene of Natasha being blown into pieces did not appear. Instead, a tall figure holding a red, silver, and blue five-pointed star shield first appeared in the Winter Soldier's vision.
A hint of doubt flashed in the Winter Soldier's eyes. He couldn't quite understand how the newcomer had managed to block the entire explosion of a grenade with just a small shield.
This was completely unscientific!
However, a Biological Force Field was precisely such an unscientific existence. Not only did it block the grenade's explosion for Steve, but even Natasha behind him was completely unaffected by the blast!
Though the Winter Soldier had a hint of doubt in his mind, his actions were not slow. Seeing that the grenade was useless, he immediately raised his gun and opened fire on Steve!
Steve symbolically held his shield in front of him, but in reality, he used his Biological Force Field to block all incoming bullets.
At the same time, he turned to Natasha, revealing a wide White smile: "I'm not late, am I, Little Spider?"
Natasha didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she stared dumbfounded at the bullet-shaped cookies falling from various parts of Steve's body.
No, dude?
Is this right?
It's one thing for bullets fired at your Vibranium shield to be flattened, but how did even the bullets fired at your leg get flattened into cookies as if they hit a Vibranium shield?!
Chapter 14: The Winter Soldier Killed Instantly
The bullets in the gun quickly ran out. The Winter Soldier saw that the hot weapon in his hand was completely ineffective against Steve, so he threw it away.
He rushed towards Steve like a leopard, his iron fist carrying enough force to shatter rocks, aiming for the back of Steve's head!
Natasha had personally experienced the Winter Soldier's immense strength. Seeing Steve still focused on her, oblivious to the attack from behind, she quickly reminded him:
"Watch out behind you!"
Steve naturally noticed the whooshing sound behind him, but he wasn't flustered at all.
Thud——————
With a muffled thud, the Winter Soldier's punch, enhanced by his mechanical arm to tens of tons, was caught by Steve's raised hand without him even turning his head.
No matter how hard the Winter Soldier tried, Steve's arm remained motionless.
With a physique reaching 14 points, normal strength starting at tens of tons, and a limit of two hundred tons, Steve was simply not something the Winter Soldier, with a maximum physique of 3 points, could contend with.
Your ultimate burst isn't even as strong as my starting point. How do you expect to fight me?
Steve merely exerted a little force with his palm, and the Winter Soldier's mechanical arm groaned under the overwhelming strain.
Click, click, click——————
Steve wasn't interested in having a satisfying battle with the Winter Soldier, because it simply wouldn't be satisfying!
In the Winter Soldier's bewildered gaze, Steve held his iron fist, elbowing him in the temple, forcibly shutting down the Winter Soldier.
"This... it's over?"
Natasha looked at Steve, then at the unconscious Winter Soldier Steve was holding, feeling a bit dizzy.
A super soldier who could easily overpower her was just crushed by Captain America?
Then what was my difficult fight just now?
Am I too weak?
For the first time, Natasha began to doubt if she was too weak.
To actually be chased to a dead end by this guy Steve instantly defeated...
To this, Steve could only say that there are also differences between super soldiers.
It's not that the Winter Soldier is too weak, it's just that I am too strong~
Steve held Bucky with one hand and extended the other to Natasha, teasing:
"Can you still get up? If you need me to carry you back, you'll have to pay an extra fee beyond the mission~"
Natasha glared at Steve: "Hmph, others have to pay to carry me, and you want to charge? I'll walk myself!"
Natasha said, trying to get up, but after being hit by two explosions at close range, the second time without a kind engineer to help block, she couldn't stand up at all after facing the explosion directly.
She had just gotten halfway up when she fell back to the ground.
Seeing this, Steve no longer teased her. He put his shield on his back, slipped his right arm under Natasha's knees, and picked her up in a princess carry with one hand.
Natasha didn't stubbornly refuse out of pride, but rather very obediently wrapped her arms around Steve's neck and rested her head on his solid shoulder.
"Thank you, Steve...."
Steve looked down at Natasha, who had her eyes closed in his arms, and said nothing. Holding Buckywith one hand and Natasha with the other, he walked towards the Quinjet parked outside the town.
After returning to the Quinjet and briefly cleaning and bandaging Natasha's wounds, Steve didn't rush to start the Quinjet and leave. Instead, he looked at Natasha, wondering how to get her to help him conceal the matter of the Winter Soldier.
Fury couldn't know about Bucky, otherwise the old black man, who wanted to control everything, would definitely have bad intentions for Bucky.
However, before he could figure out what to say, Natasha, who was leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed in repose, spoke first: "Although I don't know why, you can rest assured, I won't tell anyone about him."
"This mission, I was attacked by a You-Know-Who. The You-Know-Who killed the nuclear engineer, and you arrived in time to provide support. The You-Know-Who was no match and escaped. This is the entire process of this mission..."
Intelligent as Natasha was, from the very beginning, she could tell that Steve cared a lot about this attacker.
Skilled at discerning people's intentions, she could also tell that Steve wanted to conceal the matter of the attacker, so rather than waiting for Steve to make up a flimsy excuse to deceive her, it was better for her to be sensible.
"Thank you." Steve paused, nodded to Natasha, and then took the unconscious Bucky to the pilot's seat.
This is the good thing about dealing with smart people; you don't even have to say anything, and they understand what you mean.
After placing Bucky in the co-pilot's seat, Steve started the Quinjet and left.
This time, Natasha's mission to escort the nuclear engineer was considered a failure.
However, his mission was a success.
The system's voice echoed in his mind:
[S.H.I.E.L.D. Mission: Rescue the Missing Natasha (Completed)]
[Mission Reward: 300 Enhancement Points]
This reward wasn't as much as saving Tony, it was a full 200 enhancement points less, but it was still a considerable amount. This single mission was equivalent to several, or even more than a dozen, ordinary missions' enhancement points.
This solidifies it: missions related to Marvel protagonists indeed yield much more rewards than ordinary missions!
Steve still didn't have the habit of hoarding, so he directly added all 300 enhancement points to his physique.
His physique increased from 14 points to 17 points.
And his strength also went from a limit of 200T to 250T, with his normal strength reaching nearly 100T.
In terms of strength, he could now be considered a small Hulk.
If he had possessed such strength when that two-dimensional anime truck that sent him transmigrating crashed into him, then it wouldn't have been Roger who transmigrated to the Marvel Universe, but a damned pink truck!
As the most common transmigration device for transmigrators, Roger truly wished it could also experience the taste of transmigration.
Just imagine, a story about a truck transmigrating to another World and becoming the protagonist, isn't that actually more interesting than the monotonous human protagonists?
Well, don't say it, in the U.S. comic World, there are things like Transformers, so a truck transmigrating to become the protagonist is not entirely impossible!
Amidst Steve's wild thoughts, the Quinjet quickly returned to America.
After taking the injured Natasha back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical department, Steve took Bucky back to his safe house in New York.
Not only did Fury have safe houses, but Steve also had his own safe houses.
Although not as widespread as Fury's throughout the World, he still had a few.
And the safe house he was taking Bucky to now was located in the most outstanding place in New York City.
Hell's Kitchen.
This place, which even Satan would approve of, was undoubtedly the most suitable for hiding.
It was a melting pot, with various evil forces and street heroes walking through its alleys and streets.
Even the New York Police were unwilling to get too involved here; it was practically a no-man's-land.
One could say this was the best hiding place.
Of course, to establish a safe house in Hell's Kitchen, you must possess a certain level of strength, otherwise, a safe house here would not be so safe.
However, the safety factor of his safe house here was quite high, because its location was not only in Hell's Kitchen but also in the tallest skyscraper at the very center of Hell's Kitchen.
In a building named Fisk Towers.
And the owner of this building was named Wilson Grant Fisk.
Who was Kingpin, the underground emperor of New York, and even the entire United States!
Chapter 15: Bullseye, Kingpin's Show of Goodwill
As for why Steve could have a safe house in Kingpin's building, this story goes back to a HYDRAmission last year.
As one of HYDRA's top enforcers, Steve not only had to complete missions for Nick Fury of SHIELD, but also some unsavory tasks issued by HYDRA.
Once, Steve received a routine robbery mission from HYDRA: to intercept a vehicle carrying a new type of rare metal extracted from deep underground by the Military near New York.
But unexpectedly, someone was faster than HYDRA. When Steve arrived at the mission location, he found that the item had already been snatched!
Seeing the darts uniformly stuck in the foreheads of the Military transport team, Steve instantly understood who this "colleague" was.
Someone who likes to stick darts in foreheads and uses darts, there was only one in all of New York.
That was Kingpin's top henchman, Bullseye, who was known for being able to kill enemies by throwing any object!
Could Steve, as Captain Hydra, possibly tolerate this?
Wearing his black and red HYDRA battle suit, he went straight to Kingpin's building.
He fought his way from the bottom floor to the top floor, finally grabbing Bullseye by the scruff of his neck and finding the big Boss of the building, Kingpin.
After a 'friendly' exchange, Kingpin, with a bruised and swollen face, 'returned' the rare metal Bullseye had stolen to him.
Furthermore, Kingpin expressed great admiration for Steve's strength and insisted on giving Steve an entire floor below his own in the building, as a gesture of friendship.
Steve, unable to refuse the generous offer, reluctantly accepted this invaluable floor from Kingpin and used it as his safe house.
Yes, a very luxurious safe house...
Have you ever seen a safe house with a bar, an entertainment room, a gym, and even a swimming pool?
Steve certainly hadn't seen one before, which is why he accepted Kingpin's goodwill.
There was no other way; he simply offered too much!
Back to the present, Steve took a bottle of what looked like very expensive wine from the wine rack and poured two glasses.
He placed one glass in front of the still unconscious Bucky and sat opposite him with his own glass.
Bucky's mask had been removed, revealing his handsome face.
Steve took a sip of the wine in his glass, leaning back on the soft sofa, and said lightly,
"Stop pretending. We're both Super Soldiers. I know the strength I used. You should have woken up half an hour ago."
Whoosh———
The instant Steve's words fell, Bucky, like a primordial beast awakening, lunged at him!
And then… there was no then.
Bucky, who had lunged forward, was pressed down by Steve's hand on his face, slammed hard onto the marble table, causing cracks to appear on the surface.
"It seems my physical reboot of you wasn't quite as effective as I hoped."
Steve raised an eyebrow, holding down the struggling Bucky with one hand.
Natasha had physically rebooted Hawkeye Barton, who was controlled by the Mind Stone, in AvengersOne, so why didn't it work for him?
Was it because he didn't use enough force?
Steve looked at Bucky's forehead thoughtfully, wondering if he should try the 'miracle of brute force' again.
The struggling Bucky suddenly felt a chill throughout his body, and a death star flashed brightly on his forehead, his mind suddenly clearing up significantly.
Looking at Steve, he even found him pleasant to look at and inexplicably familiar.
Seeing Bucky stop struggling and stare blankly at him, Steve put down his eager fist and tossed Buckyback onto the opposite sofa.
Never mind, the 'miracle of brute force' reboot method was too unreliable. What if he damaged Bucky's CPU or sent him to meet the real Steve? That would be a sin...
So Steve decided to try reasoning with him first.
Picking up the glass again, Steve poured Bucky another drink and handed it to him, saying,
"Well, have you remembered anything? Like, who I am?"
Bucky didn't speak, nor did he take the wine glass; he just looked at Steve in silence.
Steve looked at Bucky, who was as stiff as a log, and shrugged, not overly disappointed.
HYDRA's brainwashing techniques were comparable to a cult's. It was indeed a bit unrealistic to expect to awaken Bucky's memory just with his handsome face.
Even though he was really handsome!
But fortunately, he had long intended to rescue Bucky, so he was well prepared for this.
Steve stood up, went to the television, and inserted a stack of videotapes.
Then, holding his wine glass, he sat next to Bucky and raised his glass, gesturing for him to look at the TV screen.
"Relax, handsome, you can't escape anyway. Why not watch something good with me first?
Besides, this is about your past. Don't you want to know?"
Bucky first looked at Steve beside him with some vigilance.
But considering the insurmountable power gap between himself and Steve, he wisely chose not to attack Steve again, and instead turned to look at the television screen.
Because he was indeed a little curious about what his past was like...
Bucky himself didn't even realize that he didn't seem to resist Steve sitting beside him, and subconsciously chose to believe Steve's words.
Opening with a critical hit.
The first scene of the video was an old group photo of soldiers in Military uniforms.
That wasn't the most important thing; what mattered most was that the two people in the center of the photo were himself and the person beside him!
Bucky suddenly felt a headache, vaguely recalling something.
Seeing that it was effective, Steve's lips curved upwards, and he continued playing the video.
The narration began:
"This precious group photo is from World War II, featuring Captain America Steve Rogers and his best brother, Captain Bucky Barnes, who together formed the Howling Commandos to fight against HYDRA..."
As the background narration played on the television, Steve's story, along with Bucky's story, was shown.
From their childhood as childhood sweethearts (x), to their brotherhood (✓).
To Bucky successfully enlisting, while Steve was rejected every time he tried to enlist.
Then to Bucky being captured by HYDRA, and Steve, upon learning this, disregarding the danger and single-handedly breaking into HYDRA's base to rescue Bucky and many other soldiers.
The two realized the true meaning of friendship in adversity, no, they realized the harm HYDRA brought to the World.
The two, along with the soldiers Steve rescued, resolutely formed an anti-HYDRA special force called the "Howling Commandos."
This team, led by Captain America, was incredibly brave and consistently victorious in their battles against HYDRA.
But war can never be smooth sailing; there are victories and defeats, achievements and casualties.
During one mission, Bucky, in an attempt to save Steve, was unfortunately shot down a cliff by HYDRA.
A grief-stricken Steve, for the World and to avenge his good brother Bucky, chose to directly storm HYDRA's main base to settle the score with Red Skull!
Finally, HYDRA was completely annihilated under the heroic resistance of Captain America, Steve Rogers!
But unfortunately, Captain America himself, while pursuing Red Skull, chose to perish with Red Skull to prevent Red Skull's fighter jet from crashing into the city, and they crashed together into the vast, boundless Antarctic glaciers...
Chapter 16 I, the captain of Hydra!
The main story concluded.
Next were some documentaries about Steve and Bucky's daily lives.
"Ugh... ah!"
The more Bucky watched, seeing the past moments of "himself" and Steve in the video, the more his head throbbed.
Bang——————
Finally, Bucky couldn't bear it anymore. In agony, he knelt on the ground, his expression twisted in pain, and punched a large crater into the floor. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Fragmented memories drilled into his brain like an electric drill, mixing with his current memories like a blender!
The memories of "Bucky Barnes" and "Winter Soldier" constantly merged, bringing him not only physical pain but also mental torment.
On one side were the memories of the kind and sunny Bucky, on the other, the cold-blooded and dark memories of the Winter Soldier.
Light and shadow, like two different personalities, were fighting for control of this body!
Watching Bucky's face contort in agony, Steve could feel how excruciating it must be just by looking at him!
After a moment of silence, Steve placed his hands on Bucky's shoulders, who was kneeling on the ground, and said firmly:
"Bucky, believe in yourself. You can overcome it. You are not the Winter Soldier; you are Bucky Barnes, my brother!"
"No matter what, I will always be with you. We will face this together, just like you always stood by me!"
Bucky tremblingly looked up at Steve, the icy coldness in his eyes gradually melting, replaced by a complex emotion that did not belong to the Winter Soldier:
"Steve... I... I remember... I seem to have done a lot of bad things... and killed many innocent people..."
Steve's heart swelled with joy, but he sighed outwardly, helped Bucky up, and comforted him:
"Bucky, it's not your fault. You were brainwashed by HYDRA and used as a weapon; you had no self-awareness whatsoever."
"Besides, the weapon is never at fault; the person using the weapon is!"
Bucky felt a little better at his words, but his tone remained low: "But they ultimately died by my hand, and among them were even comrades we once fought HYDRA with, Howard..."
Steve patted his shoulder: "The past cannot be changed, but we can try to atone for the mistakes we made."
"For example, Howard. Although his death cannot be undone, we can compensate him in another way."
"His son, Tony Stark, is currently in a whirlpool of crisis. We can make up for Howard's death through him."
"Howard's son?" Bucky was stunned.
When he was the Winter Soldier, his mind was only on missions and killing; he didn't care about anything else.
So he had no idea Howard even had a son.
Steve nodded and briefly recounted to Bucky how Tony was kidnapped by the Ten Rings Gang.
"So I suspect Tony's kidnapping wasn't an accident, but that there's a traitor in Stark Industries who deliberately leaked his route, intending to kidnap or even kill Tony."
"Although I've rescued Tony from the Ten Rings Gang, as long as the traitor within Stark Industries isn't removed, his crisis will never be resolved."
Bucky frowned at his words, seemingly recalling something.
After trying to recall his Winter Soldier memories, he suddenly looked up at Steve, urgently saying:
"I remember now! Howard's death was because his secure route was leaked to HYDRA by someone inside Stark Industries, which is why HYDRA sent me to kill Howard and his wife and retrieve Howard's replicated Super Soldier Serum!"
"The person who leaked the information from Stark Industries back then was named... Obadiah Stane!"
Steve's eyes flashed at his words.
So Howard's death was also due to Obadiah Stane leaking the route to HYDRA.
It seems this guy has been plotting against Stark Industries for a long time...
Steve rubbed his chin and said to Bucky:
"Obadiah, this guy is now the second largest shareholder of Stark Industries. It seems Tony's kidnapping by the Ten Rings Gang is also connected to him..."
"Then Howard's child must be in great danger now? We must go help him quickly!" Bucky said, a little anxious.
After regaining his memories and realizing he had killed his former friend, he desperately wanted to atone.
And if Howard's only child were also harmed by the person who leaked the information back then, Bucky would probably never forgive himself!
Steve nodded, then shook his head:
"Help, we certainly have to help, but not now. We have something more important to do..."
Bucky frowned, asking in confusion: "What could be more important than the life and death of Howard's child right now?"
Steve shook his head helplessly: "Did you forget? Although you've temporarily regained your memories, the control commands are still in HYDRA's hands, and there's a risk of being controlled again at any time..."
In the movie of his previous life, although HYDRA had recited the commands to control the Winter Soldier, they were not complete.
Moreover, control and deactivation of control are two different things. Even if he had the complete control commands, it would be unrealistic to completely undo Bucky's brainwashing.
At Steve's words, Bucky also remembered this, and sat weakly on the ground.
"That's right... As long as HYDRA finds me, I could be controlled again at any time. If I go to Howard's child now, it might actually harm him..."
Steve looked at Bucky's dejected appearance, and a mischievous smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. A sudden bad idea surged within him, and he slowly said:
"Actually, HYDRA has already found you, you just haven't realized it yet~"
Bucky's pupils contracted, and he immediately half-crouched, looking around warily.
"HYDRA is here? Where are they?!"
Steve clapped his hands, crossed his arms, and raised his chin: "Far away in the sky, yet close at hand. I, Steve Rogers, am Captain Hydra!"
Bucky:???
"Steve, at a time like this, don't joke around..."
Bucky looked speechless.
What's the difference between saying Captain America is HYDRA and saying Kim *En is a Smida undercover agent?
Isn't this just nonsense?
Steve shrugged helplessly. See? When you're handsome and radiant, there's nothing you can do; no one believes you even when you tell the truth!
~Grandpa, your grandson is calling you again~
A sudden phone ring broke the awkward silence between them.
Steve didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who was calling.
The contacts in his phone all had different special ringtones.
Just like Nick Fury's exclusive ringtone was [Sunny Rainbow White Horse].
This [Grandson Calling] was Alexander Pierce's exclusive ringtone.
Steve pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed the screen to Bucky: "See? Speak of the devil, Pierce, that old HYDRA, is calling now~"
When Bucky saw Alexander Pierce's name on the screen, he was so terrified his whole body stiffened.
As the head of the largest HYDRA faction today, and his controller when he was the Winter Soldier, Bucky naturally recognized him.
Precisely because he recognized him, he was so afraid.
Not only was he afraid of the caller, but he was even more afraid that what Steve said was actually true!
Steve, Captain America, had actually joined HYDRA!
Chapter 17 Pierce's Compromise, New Mission
Before Bucky could verify, Steve put a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet first.
Then he answered the phone that had been ringing non-stop.
"Hello, grandson, cough, cough, no, Officer Pierce, do you have any orders?"
"Give me an explanation, why did you take the Winter Soldier…"
Pierce didn't waste any words and directly asked the question he wanted to know.
Steve was not surprised that Pierce knew he had taken the Winter Soldier.
Although Natasha's credibility was still trustworthy, if she said she wouldn't tell, she most likely wouldn't.
But Pierce must have known that he had just sent the Winter Soldier to kill the nuclear engineer, and then Nick Fury sent Steve to rescue him.
After all, eighty percent of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel were HYDRA, and even its own system was certified as Snake S.H.I.E.L.D., so all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions naturally couldn't escape Pierce's eyes.
So, in Pierce's eyes, the disappearance of the Winter Soldier was clearly Steve's doing.
And Steve himself had no intention of hiding it from Pierce, so he didn't waste words and said directly:
"Because I like it, Bucky is my brother, isn't it more reasonable for him to stay by my side?"
Pierce on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, trying to reason with Steve:
"But he is no longer the original Barnes, and you are no longer the original Steve. Those two died seventy years ago, and you two have no relationship now…"
"You are Captain Hydra now, and he is HYDRA's Winter Soldier. For your own good, and for his good, you shouldn't have any more interactions…"
When Pierce reasoned, Steve acted shamelessly.
"So what, I just like doing this. Either you give me the Winter Soldier, or you send someone to settle accounts with me directly. I don't care anyway~"
At S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, on the top floor of the Triskelion, in the Minister's office on the first floor of the Security Council, Pierce, standing in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, rubbed his temples with a headache.
This guy really looks like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water…
However, he actually had no intention of settling accounts with Steve.
There was a reason why Steve was able to rise within HYDRA to a position second only to him in one year.
And there was only one reason!
That was, he was strong enough!
No matter what difficult tasks HYDRA gave him, Steve could perfectly complete them one hundred percent!
And the strength he displayed was stronger each time.
The latest data report from the special operations team showed that Steve Rogers's maximum strength displayed during his recent missions had reached several times his initial strength!
A Captain America with a physique three times the peak of a human body almost caused HYDRA's demise.
If another Captain America, whose physique surpassed ten times the peak of a human body, were pushed to be HYDRA's adversary, Pierce estimated he wouldn't even be able to sleep!
Moreover, Steve actively underwent HYDRA's loyalty tests every month.
Each test result showed very high loyalty, with no signs of wanting to betray HYDRA.
So Pierce had no reason to settle accounts with him.
Of course, the main reason was that Steve was too strong.
If they really settled accounts, it was uncertain who would settle whose.
Pierce debated with himself, and in the end, reason prevailed, and he gave up on pursuing Steve.
He asked helplessly, "You must take the Winter Soldier?"
"Exactly."
"Then I believe you also know that the Winter Soldier is a sharp sword of mine. If you take him, it's equivalent to severing one of my arms."
"What does that matter? Am I not also one of your arms? Such a thick arm, isn't it worth two of your arms?"
Pierce suddenly became speechless, always feeling that there was something wrong with Steve's words, but also seemingly nothing wrong…
After thinking for a moment and not understanding, he had to explain more directly:
"That's not what I mean. What I mean is, if you take one of my arms, you have to return one of my arms. Everything in this World has a price, doesn't it?"
"Hey, you old man, I've been working for you for a year. Just tell me what you want. If you keep being a riddler, I'll go to your office and beat you up right now, believe it or not?!"
The relationship between Steve and Pierce was not that bad, in fact, it could be said to be quite good.
A year ago, as the brainwashed Captain America, HYDRA's emphasis on him was imaginable.
His initial positioning was not to start from HYDRA's grassroots, but to be treated as HYDRA's secret weapon, only Alexander Pierce himself, the leader of HYDRA, had the right to command him.
Therefore, HYDRA's important missions were personally handed over to him by Pierce, and the relationship between the two developed quite well.
Pierce even took the time to reclaim Steve's seventy years of salary from the U.S. Military during his slumber, totaling over a million U.S. dollars.
As well as the fees for the U.S. government's unauthorized abuse of his image over the past seventy years, totaling 4 million U.S. dollars.
This made him a millionaire shortly after joining HYDRA, even before completing two missions.
In Pierce's words, these were all what you deserved. No matter who suffers, my future left and right arms cannot suffer!
This also made Steve's impression of Pierce much higher than that of Nick Fury.
If memory serves, in the original work, Steve worked for Nick Fury, not only having to clean up his messes but also receiving low pay.
Not to mention reclaiming his Military salary and image fees, that was simply dreaming!
This guy was a pure freeloader!
No, Steve didn't even have a fart, and still had to clean up Nick Fury's mess!
Damn it, he was practically treated like a pure black slave!
He woke up to find the roles of black and White reversed. Who could he complain to?
That's why Roger, after transmigrating into Captain America, was so disgusted with Nick Fury.
However, this time Steve was going to be disappointed. This time, Pierce, the HYDRA boss who always provided exceptionally generous funds for every mission, also planned to freeload off Steve once.
"Originally, this mission was also planned for you. Completing it would not only give you a million mission bonus but also allow your status level in HYDRA to rise another step, but…"
"Given that you took the Winter Soldier, don't even think about the mission bonus and level upgrade this time. Consider it compensation for me losing the Winter Soldier, this arm."
Steve twitched his mouth upon hearing this, silently retracting the label of Pierce being a good boss in his heart.
"How stingy, but never mind, who told you you're the boss? Tell me, what's the mission this time?"
Pierce on the other side curved his lips, his bad mood from losing the Winter Soldier instantly improving.
It seemed Captain Hydra was still his Captain Hydra, not Captain America.
After all, Captain America would not go against his so-called "conscience" to work for HYDRA.
Pierce said in a relaxed tone, "The mission location this time is San Francisco, California. There, a group called the Life Foundation brought back an alien parasite from outer space. I want you to bring them to HYDRA."
"Be aware that these alien parasites will parasitize the human body and cause irreversible damage to internal organs, so remember to be on high alert during the operation. I don't want to lose my other second arm after losing the Winter Soldier, this arm~"
Steve was full of question marks. Did this old man just take the opportunity to curse me, and with the very words I just secretly cursed him with?
"The specific mission information, as well as the Winter Soldier's control and release codes, will be sent to your email. Complete the mission as soon as possible. Goodbye."
Before Steve could curse back, Pierce gave him no chance, hanging up the phone immediately after speaking.
Chapter 18 Times have changed, use magic to defeat magic!
Steve looked at Bucky in confusion, twitched his mouth, and asked,
"Did that golden-haired old man just curse me?"
"I don't know...." Bucky was even more confused than Steve.
He hadn't recovered from Steve and Alexander's familiar conversation and the large amount of information within it.
He had been controlled by HYDRA for seventy years, and his good brother had finally awakened his self-awareness.
But then his good brother turned around and told him that he was also a HYDRA operative.
This feeling made Bucky incredibly confused.
He felt like his CPU was about to burn out.
Steve looked at Bucky's questioning expression and knew it was time for him to perform his great art of deception again.
"You must be very confused as to why I joined HYDRA and why I have such a close relationship with Pierce, one of HYDRA's leaders, right?"
Bucky didn't speak, but his eyes were fixed on Steve, awaiting his explanation.
Steve sighed theatrically, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window with a sorrowful look, leaving Bucky with a back full of stories.
"Bucky, times have changed. In this era of glitz and glamour, being as straightforward as we used to be just won't work."
"Before, it was about fists; now, it's about power."
"Can you imagine? In this era, as long as you have power, even a certain type of person can become our boss. Don't you think that's absurd?"
Bucky was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement:
"That is indeed quite absurd..."
Back when he and Steve were around, although the status of Black people wasn't as low, the U.S. government even promoted the lie of equality for all in the military to encourage Black people to actively go to war.
In reality, it was just to trick more Black people into becoming cannon fodder, which everyone tacitly understood.
In their era, it was almost impossible for a Black person to become their boss!
It seems times have truly changed.....
"But.....what does this have to do with you joining HYDRA?"
Although the matter of Black people was indeed absurd, Bucky still didn't understand why Steve would join HYDRA, an organization they had desperately tried to eradicate in the past.
Steve sighed deeply again, turned around, and gazed at Bucky.
Sunlight shone on Steve from the floor-to-ceiling window, timely casting a mysterious holy light upon him!
Although Bucky couldn't clearly see Steve's face, which was obscured by shadow, he still felt a heavy aura emanating from Steve!
Bucky's expression also grew serious, and he straightened his back, listening intently to Steve's next words.
"Bucky, don't you understand yet? Because we are going to fight for power!"
"For the past seventy years, HYDRA has willingly lurked in the shadows like rats, constantly gnawing away at the power of various governments!"
"Now, HYDRA's influence is deeply rooted throughout the World, and even the largest Agentorganization in the World has been completely infiltrated. It's certainly not something You and I can overthrow alone."
"And even if we are lucky enough to cut off another one of its heads, can You guarantee that in the shadows we cannot see, it won't grow more heads?"
"So, we must fight magic with magic. If we can't defeat it, we join it. As long as we stand high enough in HYDRA and our power is great enough, then HYDRA will no longer have any heads we cannot see!"
"As long as we are in HYDRA for one day, HYDRA will always be under our surveillance!"
"As long as we become the biggest in HYDRA and control its greatest power, then HYDRA will naturally collapse on its own!"
"Understand? Applause!"
Clap, clap, clap——
After Steve finished speaking, he clapped for himself.
After listening to Steve, Bucky was greatly shocked. He felt that something was off, but it also seemed to make a lot of sense!
As long as they became HYDRA, HYDRA would always be under their surveillance!
As long as they became the head of HYDRA, HYDRA would collapse on its own!
Old Nine, he's fine!
Steve looked at Bucky's half-believing, half-doubting expression, not giving him more time to think, and immediately changed the subject.
"Alright, let's put the HYDRA matter aside for now. Let's first deal with the most important thing at hand: checking the control release command that old Pierce sent me for You!"
Indeed, when his control release command was mentioned, Bucky, who had been controlled for seventy years, trembled, and he no longer had the mind to think about anything else.
Steve took out a laptop and logged onto the HYDRA exclusive website.
There was indeed an email from Pierce inside.
It was all in Russian when opened.
Steve's face darkened. Do I look like I know Russian?
He could only look at Bucky next to him and ask, "Can You understand it?"
"Of course, the Winter Soldier was controlled by Russian commands, so he is naturally proficient in Russian."
Bucky nodded, leaned closer, and read carefully, his face growing increasingly excited.
"So that's how it is! The command to release control requires the controlled person to read out the control command themselves, and then set a new control command that only they know. Once the previous control command becomes invalid, the control is naturally considered released!"
Although Bucky's long string of words was a bit of a tongue twister, Steve understood his meaning.
HYDRA's brainwashing was irreversible. The control commands implanted in the brain, unless forcibly cleared by reverse brainwashing, were difficult to escape through physical means.
However, the controlled person could control themselves and then set a new control command for themselves, thereby achieving an alternative form of liberation from control.
Although this method did not completely eliminate the hidden danger of being controlled, there was no better method available at the moment.
Although Steve was very powerful now, he had not yet unlocked psychic abilities.
While the Biological Force Field ability was very idealistic, he was still in the basic stage, and it was unlikely he could use it to remove brainwashing control.
To completely free Bucky from the control commands implanted in his brain, he would need the Mind Stone now.
However, that thing was currently in Thanos's hands, so he shouldn't even think about it for now.
Soon, after Bucky finished reciting a string of gibberish Russian control commands, he set a new control command for himself.
After a moment of silence, Bucky leaned close to Steve's ear and whispered a few words.
Steve's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Why are You telling me the new control command?"
Bucky, with eyes full of "affection," smiled:
"Because in this unfamiliar era, I only trust You, Steve."
"If HYDRA still has a contingency for me, at least You can use this command to pull me back!"
Steve smirked, "Aren't You afraid I'll use this command to control You?"
Bucky shrugged, his eyes filled only with trust: "No, I trust You. Even if You control me someday, there must be a reason for You to do so."
Steve was deeply moved, even his black heart felt a pang of emotion.
To have such a brother, what more could one ask for!
No wonder in Captain America 3, Captain America was willing to offend the entire World for Bucky, just to protect him!
It was only because if it were Bucky, he would also unhesitatingly fight the entire World for Steve!
In his previous life, he had been indignant about Steve and Bucky beating Iron Man together.
In this life, Roger, having transmigrated into Steve, just wanted to say, it's so good!
The two looked at each other "affectionately" ♦...
(Nothing happened)
One day later.
United States, California, San Francisco.
Life Foundation, Research Base.
Whoosh————————
A Shadow streaked across the night sky. A dark red shield, like a sharp arrow, embedded itself in the chest of the guard on the left watchtower, dragging the guard down with it.
Before the guard on the other watchtower could raise an alarm, another Shadow was thrown by Steve!
This time it wasn't a shield, but a person!
Crack————————
Bucky flew into the watchtower, precisely grabbed the guard's neck, and lifted him into the air, preventing any sound from escaping his open mouth. Then, his metal arm exerted force and crushed the guard's neck!
Casually throwing away the corpse in his hand, Bucky's eyes were only cold, devoid of any mercy.
Chapter 19 Eddie and Venom
Before coming, Steve and he had already reviewed the Life Foundation's mission data.
The people here, from the boss down to the guards, were all, one could say, bad news!
To research the alien parasites called "Symbiotes," they had captured countless innocent vagrants for illegal biological experiments!
The innocent lives that died at their hands numbered at least eight hundred, if not a thousand!
So none of these people were innocent!
Silently dispatching the two watchtower guards, Bucky leaped down from the dozen-meter-high watchtower, casually pulling out the shield from the falling corpse on the left.
Then he opened a small door by the watchtower, handed the shield to Steve, who walked in from outside the door, and asked:
"What's our plan next? Or rather, do you have a plan?"
That's right, although the two had already arrived at the Life Foundation, intending to snatch the Symbiote, the specific plan hadn't been decided yet!
But who was Steve? He smiled confidently:
"Of course I have a plan! The plan is to infiltrate with unmatched skill, eliminate all the guards here, take the Symbiote, and that's it!"
The Life Foundation might be formidable to ordinary people, but to Steve, the Life Foundation, without any supernatural powers, was not much harder than soloing the Ten Rings Gang for My Lord.
"Ah?"
Even Bucky, who had been a cold-blooded assassin for decades, was stunned.
Good heavens, after decades apart, has Steve's killing intent grown so strong?
However, Bucky didn't object, because he felt that Steve must have his reasons for doing so.
What's more, given the heinous deeds these guys had committed, they deserved to die!
The two cooperated seamlessly, one responsible for offense, the other for vigilance, advancing in a cross-pattern, and quickly eliminated dozens of outer guards silently!
Woo woo woo ————————
After dealing with the outer perimeter, just as the two were about to infiltrate (or rather, storm) the Base, the alarm suddenly blared loudly within the Base!
Steve and Bucky exchanged glances, their brows furrowing simultaneously.
The two had acted cleanly and swiftly, not allowing any guard a chance to raise an alarm. They had chosen blind spots for surveillance and dragged away the bodies, so it shouldn't have been discovered so quickly!
Before their confusion lasted long, they learned the reason for the alarm.
A disheveled, somewhat bow-legged big man ran out from the center of the Life Foundation's research lab, pursued by a large group of armed guards!
Clearly, this guy was the culprit who triggered the Base's alarm!
Steve, hidden in the Shadow, narrowed his eyes, recognizing the bow-legged big man.
"Eddie Brock…"
Bucky was startled, looking at Steve: "You know that guy?"
Steve casually explained: "Yeah, this guy used to be quite famous in America, reported a lot of big news, kind of a super paparazzi!"
Bucky nodded, half-understanding. As a centenarian, he was still a bit unaccustomed to the popular terms of this new era.
For example, the paparazzi Steve mentioned, although he knew it meant a reporter, he always felt it was strange…
"But what's a reporter doing here?"
Steve watched Eddie, who leaped over a three-meter barbed wire fence, a slight smile on his lips:
"Some time ago, he offended the boss of the Life Foundation, which led to him losing his job and girlfriend. He's probably here to steal some explosive material for revenge~"
"However, it seems the explosive material he got isn't just ordinary explosive…"
"Let's go, we'll follow him. Our mission objective should be on him!"
Eddie's abnormal jumping ability clearly indicated that Venom had already possessed him.
Steve had already accepted the HYDRA-issued mission to retrieve the Symbiote yesterday, so naturally, he couldn't let Eddie just run away like that.
HYDRA's mission failure was a small matter, but system mission failure would be a huge loss!
As one of the Marvel protagonists, Venom, the reward points for enhancement couldn't possibly be few!
Eddie ran ahead, the Life Foundation guards chased behind, and Steve and Bucky followed at the very end, quietly eliminating one lagging guard after another.
It wasn't until Eddie climbed to the top of a large tree and the head guard, Scott, lost sight of his target, that he realized the number of his own men was off!
The original pursuit team of dozens of people now only had a dozen left!
Something was wrong! Twelve parts out of ten, something was very wrong!
Scott was drenched in cold sweat, feeling as if he had suddenly transformed from a hunter into prey!
"Something's wrong! Everyone back to back, be alert!"
At Scott's shout, the remaining dozen or so also noticed the discrepancy in numbers. They all gathered under the large tree where Scott was, back to back, their muzzles pointed at the dark forest.
And this tree, coincidentally, was the one Eddie was on, which scared Eddie half to death, making him think he had been discovered!
But soon he also noticed something was off; these guards chasing him weren't looking at the treetop where he was, but rather at the dark depths of the forest, as if there was something terrifying there!
'Oh! Eddie, there's a big guy coming, I think you need to run fast!'
Eddie was still wondering what was going on when the "parasitic Venom" in his body suddenly spoke, startling him and almost making him fall from the tree!
But fortunately, the guards below the tree were all highly tense, staring into the depths of the forest, and no one noticed him overhead.
Eddie looked around in horror, trying to find the person who spoke.
"Oh, shit! Who's talking! Where are you?!"
'Don't look, I'm inside you, Eddie. I'm talking to you in your brain, you won't find me~'
The rough voice sounded again, and Eddie realized the voice really was coming from his own brain!
"Damn it! What the hell are you, get out of my body!"
'Are you sure? There's a guy in the forest that even I feel is dangerous. If I leave now, you're dead~'
Although the rough voice in Eddie's head was teasing, its tone was full of gravity.
Venom had already felt that dangerous aura getting closer and closer!
Before Eddie could answer Venom, a low thud of footsteps indeed came from the forest.
A cold gleam arrived first, followed by the shield, like a dragon!
The iconic shield appeared before the person. The shield transformed into an afterimage, flying out of the darkness, striking three guards at the waist consecutively, then deeply embedding itself into the large tree where Eddie was!
The large tree swayed violently, almost being cut in half directly by the shield, scaring Eddie into quickly hugging the shaking tree!
The remaining guards, seeing their companions' gruesome deaths, frantically sprayed bullets in the direction from which the shield had flown!
Ding ding ding ————————
The clanging of metal was exceptionally crisp in the night sky!
Steve, with his hands in his pockets, walked leisurely out of the woods, completely ignoring the bullets flying towards him!
At his current speed, he could react to bullets, but he was too lazy to dodge!
If I still dodge with a Biological Force Field, wouldn't that mean I awakened the Biological Force Fieldfor White?
Steve didn't rush forward but looked up at Eddie, whose face was White on the treetop, and waved at him with a wide smile.
Chapter 20 Steve was almost bitten by Big Baby
Eddie and Venom on the treetop simultaneously felt a jolt in their hearts as Steve looked their way!
It's over, we've been discovered!
The guards below the tree also noticed Steve's gaze, instinctively looked up, and found Eddie shivering at the top of the tree.
It's over, we've been discovered again!
Eddie looked at the muzzles of the guns pointed at him by the guards below, and felt his sphincter clench!
These guys wouldn't just shoot him like this, would they?
He had nowhere to hide now!
Eddie hadn't guessed wrong; the people below were indeed preparing to shoot!
Scott, who was leading them, flashed a stern look in his eyes, raised his gun, aimed at Eddie on the treetop, and simultaneously shouted to his teammates:
"You continue to suppress that guy with fire, I'll shoot this damn thief down, and immediately retreat with his corpse!"
That guy opposite was invulnerable; they couldn't deal with him at all!
Now that they had found the target, Scott just wanted to quickly retreat with the target!
Even if it was a corpse, it didn't matter!
However, their attention was entirely on Steve and Eddie on the treetop.
They completely failed to notice a figure full of killing intent rapidly approaching from behind them!
By the time Scott heard the whoosh behind him and realized something was wrong, it was too late.
As soon as he turned around, he saw a silver iron fist rapidly enlarging in his vision!
Bang—(Watermelon explosion effect)
Not everyone can take a punch from Bucky without injury like Steve; in fact, most people would end up like Scott~
Of course, Little Spider is an exception.
He would just say: Wow, dude, you actually have a metal arm, that's so cool!
Getting back to the main topic....
Scott's blood and brains splattered onto the faces of the surviving guards, and only then did they realize their leader had become a headless horseman.
They frantically pointed their guns at Bucky, who had suddenly appeared, but they still didn't learn their lesson, again only looking forward and not behind.
Behind them, an even stronger gust of wind came.
Steve, who was just a hundred meters away, appeared behind them as if by teleportation!
Steve extended both hands and grasped the back of the heads of two unsuspecting guards, his fingers burrowing into their brains like bowling balls, and with a lift of his hands, he unleashed a tornado to destroy the parking lot!
I told you not to leave your back to the enemy!
The remaining dozen or so guards were sent flying like scattered celestial maidens under Steve's nearly hundred-ton force, their souls successfully reaching heaven before they even hit the ground~
Bucky dodged two corpses flying towards him, his expression under the black mask somewhat strange.
Good heavens, why is my Steve so murderous now, even more ruthless than when he was the Winter Soldier.....
Steve casually tossed away the two heads in his hands; the bodies of their owners had long since flown to who knows where under the immense force just now.
Approaching the big tree in two steps, Steve waved at the stunned Eddie above him, and moved his lips, silently reminding him:
Big fella, hold on tight~
"What?" Eddie looked bewildered.
Did you leave your vocal cords at home?
Before Eddie could wonder further, Steve's right palm plunged directly into the tree trunk, grasped the vibranium shield deeply embedded in it, and twisted hard!
Crack——————
Big Tree: I'm literally splitting apart!!!
The big tree was directly torn apart by Steve's unreasonable strength, and it tilted backward amidst Eddie's screams!
"Ahhhhhhh~"
Eddie watched as the distance between himself and the ground grew shorter, and couldn't help but close his eyes in fear, waiting for an intimate encounter.
'I think I know why our compatibility is so high; I'm a complete failure on Klyntar, and you're a complete coward on this Planet.....'
Venom's taunt in his mind brought Eddie back from his terror, and he realized that the imagined pain hadn't come; he just felt his neck a bit tight.
Looking back, he saw a silver arm holding him up, it was the guy who had punched and exploded that security chief who was chasing him!
Bucky caught Eddie and threw him in front of Steve.
Eddie didn't stand steady and fell directly to his knees, facing Steve in a very awkward position.
'Oi~ I didn't expect you to be not only a coward but also gay, but this occasion probably isn't suitable for your human intimate activities~'
Eddie:???
"Damn it! You bastard, shut up! I'm not gay!"
"I haven't even spoken yet, but whether you're gay or not, I think that's debatable~"
Steve glanced at Eddie, who was exactly waist-high to him, and silently covered his 'big treasure', retreating two steps.
Although he thought it was unlikely, to prevent Eddie from actually biting him, it was better to stay away from him~
After all, Eddie might be G, but he certainly wasn't G!
There are two things a straight man cannot do: one, let people see his browser history; two, let people misunderstand that he is G.
Eddie, a steel-straight man, even forgot to get up, and just crawled towards Steve on his knees, explaining:
"Nonono, I'm really not gay, I just didn't stand steady, and I wasn't talking to you, please don't misunderstand!"
Holy crap! Why is this person still chasing and biting!
Steve saw his posture and believed him even less; as Eddie took two steps forward, he took two steps back.
He runs, he chases, he cannot escape even with wings~
It wasn't until Steve plunged half of his shield into the ground that Eddie was forced to stop.
Steve patted his chest with lingering fear, feeling that a year of HYDRA missions last year wasn't as thrilling as being chased and bitten by Eddie this time!
"Motherfucker! If you, you gay man, dare to take another step forward, next time it won't be the shield stuck in the dirt, it'll be you buried in this damn dirt!"
"Stay put, speak directly, understand?"
Faced with the threat of Death, Eddie finally remembered that the person in front of him was a murderous demon!
He quickly nodded:
"Understood, understood, but I'm really not gay, I was just saying I was talking to.....to....."
Eddie faltered with the words on his lips, not knowing how to explain.
He couldn't just say he was talking to the alien parasite in his body!
Who the hell would believe that!
Hey, guess what?
There just happened to be one person who would believe it!
Steve grabbed Eddie by the collar, lifted him up, and directly removed the black hood that concealed his identity.
Eddie twisted his head at light speed, closed his eyes tightly, and begged loudly:
"No, no, no! Let's talk nicely, don't take off the hood, I understand the rules, if I see your face, I definitely can't be left alive, please don't take it off!"
Steve was speechless for a moment.....
Has this kid watched too many movies...
This is Marvel, not Let the Bullets Fly for a while; even if you close your eyes, he'll still kill you!
Tapping Eddie's forehead with his finger, Steve slowly began:
"My point is, since you're unwilling to speak, how about the other handsome guy inside you comes out and talks to me..."
Upon hearing this, Eddie suddenly opened his eyes wide, looking at Steve in disbelief, and saw Steve's true face clearly.
"You....you are Captain America!"
Before Eddie could continue, a hideous black head extended from behind him and suddenly moved close to Steve.
"You're looking for me....."
Slap——————
"Oh mom, what was that, so damn ugly!"
Venom suddenly appeared, and Steve instinctively swung his hand, smacking away the approaching black head, regional dialect even scared out of him.
Venom, who had been slapped away, blinked his big white eyes in confusion, his expression looking somewhat wronged.
"You human are really ill-mannered; you called me out, and now that I'm out, you're unhappy!"
Steve coughed awkwardly upon hearing this:
"Cough cough, sorry, seeing that color made my hand move unconsciously; if you change the color next time, I promise my reaction won't be so strong~"
Venom grew even more furious upon hearing this and burst out cursing: "I'll change your grandpa! This color is natural, how can I change it? Can you change yourself to black?"
Steve shrugged:
"Hard to say, although I can't, the successor to Captain America might actually be black~"