In the dim underground complex, day after day of whipping and abuse steadily drained Mr. Wade's strength. He still never begged for mercy, but he knew his chances of escaping were shrinking with every passing day.
Every day, people were carried away in bags. Even after brutal beatings, their mutant genes had failed to activate, and their final fate was to be beaten to death.
As a famous mercenary, Wade could take far more punishment than an ordinary person. He seemed like nothing but a nonstop smart-mouth, but in truth his will was harder than steel.
Dragged out for beatings again and again, he gradually lost all sense of time. The researchers here were always watching the clock because their time was valuable. To the prisoners, time meant nothing.
Judging from Ajax's daily behavior, Wade concluded that he was not the highest-ranking person at the base. The place employed large numbers of hired thugs. They had no humanity at all; every one of them was like a vicious wolf. Mr. Wade hated wolves. He hated every kind of wolf!
Wade had always assumed Ajax was a researcher. Then one day he saw the man wearing combat gear and covered in blood while a medic stitched a wound in his shoulder. Only then did Wade realize the guy was a combat operative.
"Hey, buddy, Christmas is coming soon, right? Did your mom get you a Christmas present?" Even with his chances of survival close to zero, Mr. Wade was still doing everything possible to fish for information.
Ajax's pain nerves were completely dead. The thick needle going into his body might as well have been nothing. Hearing Wade's words, he smiled.
He knew this test subject was constantly thinking about escape. Ajax understood that perfectly. His favorite pastime was crushing the other man's fantasies.
"We caught a Santa Claus named Erik Lehnsherr. In a few days I'll have him write you a postcard. I'll even make sure it has his autograph." Ajax patted Wade's face and left the experimental area looking immensely pleased with himself.
Erik Lehnsherr? As a well-informed mercenary, Mr. Wade knew that name. The world's number-one terrorist—Magneto!
"You must have knocked him out while he was on the toilet, right?" Wade continued trying to draw out information.
Ajax had already been about to leave, but his steps stopped again. Pointing at Wade's face, he said, "Science. Magneto was defeated by science. Ever heard of anti-Magneto mechanical soldiers? Scum like you obviously wouldn't know. Just three mechanical soldiers are enough to defeat Magneto."
Of course, the reality had not been nearly that easy. Otherwise Ajax would not have been injured.
Watching Ajax leave while chewing gum, Mr. Wade's mind raced.
Rescue Magneto, then the two of them could slaughter their way through the whole place, carving a path of blood from the inside out, killing anyone who got in their way. Of course, that was nothing but a dream... Cancer was ravaging his body, and the laboratory guards took turns beating him. By now, he could barely even hold a knife.
After who knew how many days in the underground laboratory, Ajax's patience with him finally ran out. He locked Wade inside a sealed chamber. Whenever Wade's heart stopped, oxygen was pumped in; once his heartbeat returned to normal, the intake valve was closed again. Through repeated suffocation, Ajax tried to force him to evolve on the boundary between life and death.
Whether Wade evolved or not was not actually important. Ajax simply enjoyed the pleasure of torturing him.
Wade lay alone inside the sealed chamber, breathing oxygen that came and went without warning. The boundary between life and death grew increasingly blurred in his eyes.
...
Elsewhere, Daisy had arrived at Alkali Lake with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite forces.
The White Queen, who had originally planned to come, had left the United States because of matters involving the Hellfire Club. Before departing, she asked Daisy to look after her "daughters" for a few days.
The Joint Anti-Abduction Task Force had more than seventy people. They had brought no heavy weapons; most carried only handguns. After all, they were here to "investigate."
Most of them were from S.H.I.E.L.D.: Crossbones and his Strike Team, Spider-Woman tagging along, and Wolverine, who had insisted on coming to search for his lost memories.
The remaining coalition from seven or eight intelligence agencies numbered a little over twenty.
"According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s figures, more than three thousand civilians are missing, nearly nine hundred servicemen, and over six hundred mutants. More than a thousand civilian bodies have also disappeared." Daisy briefed the others on the plane.
"This operation is primarily an investigation. Gather evidence, and if possible, resolve things peacefully." Looking around the plane at everyone cleaning weapons and preparing ammunition, Daisy did not believe for a second that things would end peacefully, but some words still had to be said.
Zephyr One landed at the dam at Alkali Lake, where an entrance led into the underground base. Following the White Queen's guidance, Daisy reached out with her psychic power and vaguely detected five unusual psychic signatures. She could not be sure about anyone else, but the White Queen's "daughters" were definitely here.
They had moved quickly. A base this large had no time to destroy all its evidence. They made no attempt to conceal themselves, simply walking openly to the entrance and ordering the guards to open the door.
This time they had come on behalf of the White House and the Pentagon to conduct an inquiry. They had paperwork and official travel records; the entire procedure was legal. There was no need to sneak around like superheroes.
Although the base stood on Canadian territory, the soldiers guarding it were all American troops. Once the Strike Team produced a White House search warrant, they did not even ask Stryker for instructions. They opened the gate and let the group inside.
The darkness and damp inside the base were deeply uncomfortable. As the heavy iron doors closed behind them, it felt as though they had entered an enormous tomb. An inexplicable psychological pressure settled over everyone.
The passage wound downward. The lights along the walls flickered, and several agents unconsciously tightened their grips on their sidearms.
The soundproofing here was excellent and the walls were thick, but Daisy could still hear faint screams in the distance.
"Johnson... Colonel Johnson." Stryker hurried out wearing glasses, his expression gloomy. Lady Deathstrike followed closely behind him as always, while Ajax, whom Daisy had met once before, was nowhere at his side this time.
"Colonel Stryker, I've been commissioned by the White House and the Department of Defense to investigate the missing-person cases here. Please cooperate with my work." S.H.I.E.L.D. was not subordinate to the Department of Defense, but invoking the Department of Defense's authority worked well enough. At the very least, as she spoke, the soldiers inside the base relaxed their grip on their rifles.
They were American soldiers, not Stryker's private troops and certainly not mercenaries. Between Stryker and the Department of Defense, they would still obey the Department of Defense.
They were not going to make an enemy of their country for Stryker. It was not only the ordinary soldiers; even two field-grade officers trusted by Stryker began to look uncertain. Which side should they choose? Everyone here knew what experiments the base was conducting. Now that higher authorities had come to investigate, should they pin the blame on Stryker—or take the fall themselves?
The two grim-looking middle-aged officers exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other's answer.