Inside the confines of the Fortress Factory…
“Warning! Alert! The prisoners confined underground in the factory have escaped. All soldiers, proceed immediately to suppress the situation!”
The walls of the factory were bathed in the glaring glow of red warning lights, while urgent messages blared repeatedly through the communication broadcast. Both the guards inside and outside the factory swiftly reacted to the unfolding chaos.
“So, Steve has already freed the captured soldiers.” Kyle, still stealthily navigating the factory corridors, heard the urgent broadcast and instantly realized that Steve had succeeded in the rescue mission.
He was a lot quicker than Kyle had anticipated! There was no time for contemplation!
Up ahead in the hallway, Kyle spotted a group of German soldiers and swiftly deactivated his stealth mode, propelling himself forward with unbridled speed.
With a military knife firmly gripped in his left hand and his right hand clenched into a fist, he surged ahead with increased velocity.
“Enemy attack!” One of the German soldiers at the front of the group panicked and shouted. In response, they pulled the triggers of their firearms, unleashing dazzling blue-white lasers like light from the muzzles.
The corridor was narrow and straight, making it easy to hit the target without much aiming. Moreover, the laser beams were several times faster than bullets, rendering it nearly impossible to evade, even with Super Soldier Physique.
Kyle’s pupils contracted as the laser beam expanded in his field of vision, causing the hair on his body to stand on end.
He made no attempt to dodge or shield himself. With a burst of speed that bordered on reckless abandon, he propelled himself forward. In the split second before the laser struck his chest, he swung his right arm swiftly.
“Chi!”
To everyone’s astonishment, the laser beam that could vaporize a human body was unexpectedly deflected by Kyle’s right arm!
The German soldiers at the front of the group barely had time to react as their own laser beams rebounded and struck them, reducing them and their battle suits to vapor within moments.
“He casually deflected the laser…”
“Who the hell is he?”
The German soldiers wore expressions of bewildered terror as they looked at this. The new energy weapons had been known for their lethal potency since their production, but it was the first time they witnessed them being rendered ineffective and sent back by the mere swipe of someone’s hand.
“Get the f*ck out of my way!” Kyle paid no mind to whether the enemy still possessed the will to fight, whether they would retaliate or flee, or whether they remained frozen in place…
None of it mattered to him!
Like a cheetah pouncing into a group of rabbits, Kyle commenced his grim harvest of lives as he tore through the enemy ranks. His small military knife became the scythe of the Goddess of Death, claiming the life of each soldier with every swift stab or slash.
With his superhuman strength and razor-sharp blade, enemy battle suits and human bodies proved as fragile as paper. Crimson blood splattered in the air, saturating the corridor in a macabre hue.
“GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Kyle murmured coldly as he delivered a devastating elbow strike, sending the last soldier hurtling through the air. His right hand, now adorned with bandages and sleeves completely vaporized by the laser beam, revealed the cold metallic sheen of the Vibranium Bracer.
Vibranium, also known as sound-absorbing steel. Not only was it one of the most resilient materials in the Marvel universe, but it possessed the remarkable ability to absorb heat, energy, and kinetic force!
Thanks to the Vibranium Bracer, the laser that had struck Kyle’s right hand lost its offensive power, and the rebound occurred due to the momentum of his swing.
After dispatching the group of German soldiers with decisive efficiency, Kyle wasted no time and sprinted toward the control room of the factory.
Unbeknownst to him, his ruthless slaying of the enemy soldiers had been clearly captured by a camera nestled in the corner of the wall, transmitting the footage to a distant location within the facility.
Meanwhile, deep inside the control room of the factory…
Red Skull, with a middle-aged officer-like figure, observed the numerous monitors before him, his faux-skin face betraying a trace of fear.
“Two Super Soldiers infiltrating the factory?”
Red Skull uttered these words upon witnessing the surveillance screens in the underground area of the factory. One screen displayed Steve, clad in blue and white striped attire, swiftly incapacitating two soldiers.
Another screen captured Kyle charging through the German ranks, leaving seven brutalized bodies in his wake as he closed in on his target.
“The first one is one thing, but why is the second one so powerful…” Red Skull couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched this scene on the screen.
He had to admit that he couldn’t match Kyle’s prowess, the way he treated the German soldiers armed with new energy weapons as if they were mere ants.
With his maximized superhuman physique, exceptional close-quarters combat skills, and a decisive killing instinct, Kyle resembled a war machine.
Both of them were Super Soldiers, so why was there such a stark difference in their abilities?
Red Skull didn’t dwell on the question for long. Calmly, he activated the self-destruct mechanism throughout the factory while the elderly scientist standing behind him was horrified and asked, “What are you doing?!”
Red Skull pointed indifferently at one of the surveillance screens, which displayed Kyle swiftly advancing toward them, and said. “No one can stop him, not even these soldiers here, and perhaps not even me.”
“Retreat immediately!” Red Skull commanded before he swiftly made his way to the control room wall. He opened a hidden compartment, revealing a perfectly square object emitting a blue glow.
The Tesseract! This object held more power than the entire factory and surpassed the combined might of ten such facilities.
“It should be just ahead!” Kyle increased his speed as he turned a corner. Before him lay a straight corridor with the control room situated in the middle.
Coincidentally, at the entrance of the control room stood a German officer holding a bag, accompanied by an elderly scientist, both preparing to make their escape.
“Are they trying to run? Leave the Tesseract behind!” Kyle snarled coldly as he swiftly closed in on them.
“Stop him!” Red Skull had no intention of engaging in combat with Kyle. He glared fiercely at the scientist, then hurriedly moved toward the end of the corridor, clutching the bag tightly in his hands.
“Damn it.” The elderly scientist’s face turned pale with fear as he realized that he had been abandoned and weakly slumped down at the doorway.
“I told you, don’t even think about running!” Kyle pursued with icy determination. He was convinced that the bag in the officer’s hands most likely contained the Tesseract.
“Worthless.” Red Skull cast a disdainful glance at the elderly scientist. He had never intended to rely on an old man to impede a resolute and decisive Super Soldier.
“Try this.” Unbeknownst to Kyle, Red Skull already held a Cube Stone Fragment in his hand and he forcefully threw it toward Kyle.
“A Cube Fragment?” Kyle looked at the energy cube in surprise. It was the raw material used to create energy cartridges, the same blue-quality item he had acquired in the large base.
Could this stabilize energy and be used as a weapon directly?
Kyle’s doubts were swiftly answered as Red Skull drew a handgun and aimed at the airborne energy cube and pulled the trigger.
“This man has gone mad!” Kyle roared in anger as he hastened his steps. He grabbed the elderly scientist lying on the corridor floor, using him as a human shield to protect himself.
Simultaneously, bullets struck the energy cube.
In the next moment, even the air seemed to freeze—
‘Boom!’
The explosion of the energy cube surged like a tidal wave, spreading shockwaves inch by inch, obliterating everything in its path!
(End of this chapter)