Upon hearing Jarvis's guidance, Tony pressed the wall to his right.
A hidden mechanism activated, revealing a secret door. Behind it was a narrow stone corridor leading down a staircase.
"Nice find, Jarvis."
["Always at your service, sir."]
Without wasting any time, Tony began descending the stairs toward the underground section of the base.
Meanwhile, in another wing of the castle, Steve had also managed to infiltrate the complex on his own.
After taking down the last soldiers guarding that sector, he found exactly the person he was looking for.
Strucker was quietly trying to escape through a side corridor when Steve stepped into his path.
"Baron Strucker." Steve stopped in front of him with his shield raised. "Hydra's number one lackey."
Strucker smiled contemptuously.
"Strictly speaking... I'm just a lackey of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Strictly speaking... you've already been fired."
Without giving him time to respond, Steve stepped forward.
"Where are the results of your mutant research?" he asked.
"Ah... right behind you." Strucker grinned mockingly as he suddenly pointed behind Steve.
But Steve didn't even turn around and kept staring at Strucker with the same impassive expression.
"You really think I'd fall for that?" Steve mocked.
The moment he finished speaking, an intense crimson energy erupted behind him, and a female figure appeared almost out of nowhere.
Before Steve could fully react, a wave of scarlet energy struck him, sending him several meters forward.
He rolled across the ground, braced himself with his shield, and immediately began getting back up to counterattack.
However, the woman disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared.
Steve narrowed his eyes and immediately activated his communicator.
"I was attacked by a woman with unknown powers," he reported. "Stay on guard."
Strucker began laughing.
"Hahaha! Captain America... you're truly an idiot. You should start learning how the world really works."
Steve didn't even bother responding.
He simply took a step forward.
BAM!
His kick struck Strucker squarely in the abdomen.
The Baron completely lost his breath before passing out instantly.
Steve looked down at the unconscious body.
"I've captured Strucker," he reported through the communicator.
On the other side of the base, Tony replied immediately.
{"Really? I think I found something even more interesting."}
As he spoke, Tony finally reached the massive underground complex hidden beneath the castle.
As soon as he entered, he involuntarily slowed his pace.
The place was enormous.
The remains of the Chitauri army that had invaded New York were stored there.
Huge slain Leviathans occupied almost the entire area, while dozens of Chitauri corpses remained scattered throughout the laboratory, secured to metal frames and operating tables.
Various scientific machines were still running.
Tony frowned and slowly walked toward a massive computer terminal.
"Jarvis, copy absolutely everything. I want to know exactly what Hydra was working on."
["Understood, sir."]
"Found anything, Arthur?" he asked through the communicator.
{"I found the area they used for mutant experiments,"} Arthur replied. {"This place is now officially in my top five most disgusting places I've ever been to."}
"Is it really that bad?"
{"Let's just say... this is definitely the last place I'd ever want to be."} Arthur replied as he looked around.
The room Arthur had found was a grotesque spectacle straight out of a horror movie.
It was obvious that someone had removed most of the contents recently, but incomplete experiments and mutilated corpses still hung from operating tables.
{"If I find the bastard responsible for this, I guarantee his death will be a million times crueler."}
While Tony continued talking with Arthur, a figure silently appeared behind him. Without making a single sound, she reached toward Tony's temple.
The next instant, that energy penetrated directly into Tony's mind.
His entire field of vision changed.
In front of him, one of the massive Chitauri Leviathans slowly raised its head.
The creature came back to life and seemed to charge straight at him.
Tony watched the monster take flight as it soared through space.
Following its movement, he realized he was looking down at Earth.
Above the planet, a gigantic wormhole remained open.
Thousands of alien creatures were advancing toward the planet.
Then the scene changed again.
Tony fell to his knees.
The lifeless bodies of every Avenger were scattered around him.
Then his eyes found another figure.
His best friend's body was covered in blood and completely broken.
"Arthur!" Tony desperately ran toward him.
Arthur slowly raised his eyes and forced a smile.
"I'm sorry..."
"...I couldn't protect you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he died.
Tony felt his entire body turn cold.
"No..."
"No..."
"NO!"
He clenched his fists tightly, unable to accept what he had just seen.
Then a familiar voice came from directly behind him.
"It's not very polite to scare people like that, Ms. Mutant."
The entire world seemed to shatter, and the next instant he came back to reality.
Tony's eyes widened as he immediately turned around.
Arthur was standing there, and beside him, a woman discreetly extended her hand once again, preparing another attack.
But she didn't even have the chance to complete the movement before a blur shot across the corridor.
Ushiwakamaru appeared before her at astonishing speed and, without the slightest hesitation, drew her sword and unleashed a horizontal slash aimed directly at the young woman's neck.
For a samurai...
...hesitating before the enemy of her lord was unthinkable.
If one strike could end the battle immediately, that strike would be delivered.
At the very last instant, however, a silver figure appeared between them, grabbed the woman around the waist, and disappeared before the blade could complete its cut.
Even so, Ushiwakamaru did not stop her assault.
She immediately charged after the young man. Each of her strikes was even faster than the last, forcing him to retreat repeatedly while protecting the woman in his arms.
Even using all of his speed, the young man realized that this woman was unbelievably dangerous.
After barely avoiding several more slashes, he decided not to push his luck.
Holding the woman even tighter, he shot down the corridor like a silver blur.
Ushiwakamaru took a few steps to pursue them but quickly realized that her normal movement speed couldn't match his.
Unless she resorted to her Noble Phantasm, she wouldn't be able to catch them.
"Tsk..."
She slowly sheathed her katana and knelt before Arthur.
"My apologies, Master. I failed to behead the enemy."
Arthur let out a restrained laugh and gently patted her on the head.
"Don't click your tongue. You made the right decision, but don't treat decapitation as though it's the only possible solution," he said.
Ushiwakamaru respectfully lowered her head, accepting his affection.
"Understood."
Arthur then turned his gaze toward the corridor through which the pair had escaped.
"..." Those two seemed to be working alongside Strucker willingly.
'What did that bastard promise those two?' Arthur wondered.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Arthur walked over to Tony.
"Tony. Are you alright?" he asked the billionaire.
Tony still looked shaken.
After a few seconds, he shook his head and nodded.
"...I'm fine," he said.
"Looks like that woman messed with your mind, huh? Some kind of hallucination?" Arthur asked after seeing the expression on Tony's face.
Tony remained silent for a few moments before answering quietly.
"It wasn't a hallucination... at least it didn't feel like one."
He looked away.
"But it proves one thing." Tony slowly clenched his fist. "I still need to become stronger."
Arthur watched him for a moment before smiling.
"That's the spirit."
He stepped forward and casually draped an arm over Tony's shoulders.
"Relax a little. Today we took down an entire Hydra base with practically no casualties," Arthur said.
"So use that concern as motivation to keep improving. Obsessing over the worst-case scenario won't help anyone," he added.
Tony let out a quiet chuckle.
"You always manage to sound optimistic."
"It's not optimism. I'm just being honest. There are very few people in this universe who can actually go toe-to-toe with me."
"Then why didn't you handle everything yourself? If you're really that powerful, you could've ended this whole thing in five minutes." Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Because I lost a bet to Gwen," Arthur replied with a small laugh.
"...You're kidding," Tony asked in disbelief after staring at him for a few seconds.
"Not at all." Arthur shrugged. "As punishment, she forced me to only intervene when absolutely necessary during any operation I participated in with the Avengers or any other team while she wasn't around."
He then smiled casually.
"Besides, the kids needed to blow off some steam. Letting you have a little fun every now and then is good for you."
Tony laughed in disbelief and shook his head.
"You just called Earth's Mightiest Heroes kids... and somehow you think that sounds perfectly normal."
"Speaking of her, where's Gwen?" Tony asked.
"She's in another universe dealing with a mess caused by an alternate version of herself," Arthur replied, shaking his head with a sigh. "She left just a few hours ago."
The two chatted for a few more moments before Tony immediately got back to work.
Without wasting any time, he began copying every research file recovered from the Hydra base into the Avengers' database.
Meanwhile, Arthur walked through the underground laboratory, personally collecting physical documents and equipment he considered important.
"Cortana, perform a complete scan for anything that was recently deleted or moved from this database. I want copies of everything," Arthur said as a hologram of Cortana appeared on the small disc-shaped device in his hand.
["Understood, Arthur."] Cortana replied.
---
A short while later, with the operation completed, the group finally returned to Avengers Tower.
It had been quite some time since Arthur had last been there.
During that period, the place had changed considerably.
After the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. a few years earlier, Maria Hill had gone to work directly for Tony and was now responsible for virtually all of the team's logistics.
Bruce Banner, meanwhile, had significantly expanded the laboratory, now working alongside the brilliant Dr. Helen Cho, one of the world's leading experts in regenerative medicine.
Interestingly, at Gwen's request, Arthur had convinced her to treat Dr. Connors's arm.
As soon as everyone arrived, Helen immediately approached Clint.
"Take him to the medical lab. We need to begin treatment immediately."
Two assistants brought over a stretcher while Natasha followed the entire process.
"Is he going to be alright?" she asked.
Helen performed a quick examination of the wounds before replying,
"The bullet passed through without hitting any vital organs. With proper treatment, he should make a full recovery."
"That's a relief." Natasha finally relaxed her shoulders.
"You got lucky, Clint," Arthur said as he approached.
Clint forced a smile.
"Next time, don't call it luck."
As soon as Helen escorted Clint to the laboratory, Maria Hill approached the rest of the group with a tablet in her hands.
"Everything's ready, boss."
Tony immediately pointed at Steve.
"Please don't call me boss. The Captain is the one who leads the missions."
"I just take care of the little things. Like paying the bills and making sure everyone looks at least somewhat presentable."
Arthur let out a quiet laugh.
"So, in other words, you want all the credit without accepting the position."
"Exactly."
Steve simply shook his head, already used to those kinds of answers.
"How's Strucker?"
Hill quickly checked her tablet.
"He has already been handed over to NATO forces. His custody has officially been transferred," she replied.
Steve nodded.
"And the two enhanced individuals?"
Hill scrolled through the information on the screen.
"Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff. Twin siblings."
She continued,
"They lost their parents during a bombing when they were children and were later recruited by Hydra to participate in their experiments."
"Were you able to gather any information about their abilities?" Arthur asked as he sat down on one of the nearby sofas.
"Yes." Hill looked back at the tablet. "Pietro possesses an extremely accelerated metabolism, allowing him to move at speeds far beyond normal."
"I noticed that. He managed to dodge Ushiwaka's attacks," Arthur said.
"Next time I won't miss!" Ushiwakamaru declared as she clenched her fists.
"I'd rather you avoid killing people," Arthur teased.
"Ahem!" Hill cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "Back to the subject. Wanda displays unusual psychic abilities. So far, we've documented manifestations of telekinesis, mind manipulation, and direct interference with her targets' nervous systems."
Steve rubbed his forehead.
"Hill..." He looked up. "Can you translate that into English?"
(End of Chapter)