Everyone got out of the car.
Walking to the main gate of the castle, Dr. List stopped in his tracks, and Miss Makima followed suit, understanding the gesture.
Only Bronski, acting as a bodyguard, failed to notice this silent understanding and foolishly kept striding forward.
"Thump—"
A dull thud sounded.
A faint blue energy film suddenly appeared in front of the gate.
Caught off guard, Bronski slammed right into it, stumbling back two steps before steadying himself.
A hint of mockery flashed in the eyes of several Sokovian soldiers standing guard nearby, and they couldn't help but let out a few faint snickers.
Dr. List finally seemed to react, shouting with a hypocritical look of apology on his face, "Oh my, sorry, sorry! I forgot to remind this gentleman."
With that, he specifically called over a subordinate to bring out a controller.
After pressing a few buttons on it, the layer of blue energy film blocking the way rippled like water and dissipated.
"Miss Makima, I've made a fool of myself."
Dr. List put away the controller. Though he said that, his tone was full of unconcealable boasting. "This is a high-density Deflection Shield we extracted after reverse-engineering Chitauri technology. It provides one-way defense."
"Soldiers inside can fire outward at will, but enemies outside absolutely cannot break in."
At this point, he sighed with regret. "The only problem at the moment is that Earth's existing energy technology isn't sufficient to support it covering the entire castle. It can only be used at several core entrances."
List's words carried a clear sense of superiority, his eyes seemingly saying—
Well? Are you hicks from the United States dumbfounded now?
Facing this display of dominance, Makima remained unperturbed.
Not only was she not angry, but the smile on her face grew even more pronounced.
"Excellent technology. Thank you for the detailed explanation, Dr."
Now it was List's turn to be puzzled.
She's actually thanking us?
If it wasn't that this girl was inherently unintelligent, then it must be that their technology was indeed so advanced it left her in awe.
List was secretly delighted, but he had no idea that it was precisely thanks to his diligent introduction that Makima had figured out the details of this defensive weapon in advance.
Because before long... all these good things would soon be all hers.
Bronski clutched his sore and reddened nose, a flash of irritation in his eyes. But after glimpsing Makima's calm profile, he forced down the urge to smash List's head, snorted coldly, and followed the group.
They went deeper along a dark tunnel.
Though called a castle, this place actually had nothing to do with the magnificent residences found in fairy tales.
It was a large-scale military fortress.
Since it was for military use, comfort was naturally out of the question.
The heavy stone walls were drafty, and a bone-chilling cold permeated the corridors.
Looking out through the narrow arrow slits, the snow across the sky grew increasingly fierce, blowing in mixed with the howling cold wind.
It added a few more layers of oppression to the already cold and gloomy interior.
Along the way, carts fully loaded with munitions could be seen leaving deep ruts on the stone path, and squads of soldiers armed with live ammunition patrolled expressionlessly.
Finally, in the hall deep within the fortress, Makima met the Master of this place.
Baron Strucker.
On a towering stone throne, he looked down at the visitors—it was a typical Prussian officer's face, with light brown hair streaked with gray-white cut almost to the scalp, and facial contours as rigid as if carved by an axe.
He wore a monocle over his right eye and a well-tailored black HYDRA high-collared military uniform, with every button fastened meticulously to the very top, making him appear cold and intellectual.
The scrutiny in those eyes behind the lens also carried an innate arrogance.
Baron Strucker; the movies weakened his strength but enhanced his hair.
"Hail HYDRA."
The Baron spoke, his voice low.
List and the surrounding soldiers immediately raised their arms and shouted in unison: "Hail HYDRA!"
Makima responded calmly: "Hail HYDRA."
After the formalities, Baron Strucker's lips curled in a mirthless smile. "I have heard much of you, Miss Makima."
Makima exchanged a few polite words with neither arrogance nor humility, then signaled her Agent to hand over the silver briefcase.
Baron Strucker's eyes instantly became fervent.
The Agent brought the case up to the high platform. He flipped open the latches and stared intently at the Mind Stone Scepter lying quietly inside.
Although they didn't know it was the Mind Stone, they were well aware it was a priceless treasure that had allowed Pierce to stall at the negotiating table for so long. Even the Chitauri grunt weapons tossed in as an afterthought were so formidable; how could this weapon belonging to a god be anything ordinary?
The Baron gripped the Scepter and slowly raised it, the muzzle-like tip pointing unhesitatingly directly at Makima below.
Bronski's brow furrowed, and he clenched his fists, making a move to stand in front of Makima, but he was stopped by Makima using her Control.
Makima smiled and shook her head.
Baron Strucker did not fire. Instead, he turned his wrist, the Scepter sweeping half a circle in the room before finally aiming at a stone sculpture in the corner.
A flash of deep blue light.
"Boom—"
The sculpture, along with the thick wall behind it, was blasted with a huge gap, and rubble swirled in along with the gale.
The gazes of the Baron and List instantly became burning.
"It is indeed a good thing, well worth my efforts."
He handed the Scepter to List and commanded coldly, "Take it down and analyze it immediately."
Then, the Baron turned his gaze back to Makima, his tone measured. "I heard from that old man Pierce that he sent you this time to facilitate technical exchange between our two sides? That, of course, is no problem."
"After all, we both belong to HYDRA, and are as close as brothers..."
Makima offered no comment on this.
Su Modie's eyes, however, were about to roll to the back of her head.
"However, I also heard Pierce mention an interesting anecdote."
Baron Strucker scrutinized her through his monocle. "He said you were active in Eastern Europe in your early years and were even responsible for one of my... Genetic Mutation Projects? Strange, how is it that I didn't know I had a project by that name?"
Clearly, Pierce had indeed called to verify things here.
The Baron leaned forward slightly:
"I have never seen you before, and today is our first meeting, yet you say you were in charge of my project?"
These words were spoken calmly, but every syllable carried murderous intent.
At this critical juncture, any hint of panic would lead to her eternal damnation.
However, facing such pressing confrontation, she merely raised her eyelids slightly and spoke in a nonchalant tone, "His Excellency the Baron is truly a busy man with a short memory. If you don't trust me, you can simply pull out the archives from back then, and we can confront the facts face-to-face."
She was simply too confident.
So confident that it actually made Baron Strucker lose his own confidence.
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