Steve is a very motivated person!
Arthur sees himself as an ordinary person, waving the flag of “world peace”, while he just wants to hide.
Of course, this attitude has changed a bit now, but he still only wants to protect the few people close to him…
This is why he has always resisted the so-called hero label from beginning to end.
But Steve is different.
The impressions you get from the movies are only partial; only when you really work with this guy can you feel the strength of the conviction he has in his heart!
This determination has even infected everyone else except Arthur.
Although their beliefs are different, their goals are the same… This made their cooperation smooth and effective.
When they were together, they were a formidable unit. Even when separated, each leading his own team, they remained unstoppable. Their battlegrounds were no longer limited to Schmidt’s military factory!
In fact, Arthur’s performance stunned everyone!
Everyone knows where Steve’s strength comes from – it is known all over America.
But Arthur’s displayed strength was no less than Steve’s.
Though slightly inferior in physical ability and strength, Arthur’s marksmanship, tactics, hand-to-hand combat, long-range sniping, and even small-scale battle command surpassed Steve’s.
Their combined efforts yielded remarkable results.
Schmidt’s military factories were repeatedly destroyed, and the scale of their victories continued to grow.
In the process, Arthur also gained significantly.
Though he couldn’t collect all of the weapons when he cleaned up the battlefield after each fight, each battle brought some gains. Sometimes he could collect five or six Tesseract energy weapons per battle, and at least one or two.
With so many eyes watching, Arthur couldn’t just openly stash away the weapons into his Disassembler space.
Nevertheless, he collected about twenty small colorless crystals in total.
This gave Arthur the feeling that he always had a strong energy within him… even though he still wasn’t very skilled at using it.
At most, he could turn small flames into small fireballs… which he couldn’t throw.
Even if he could throw them, they would dissipate in the wind, so Arthur mostly used them as lighters.
He became increasingly proficient at killing and arson.
Besides that, he also had gains in Battle Souls.
Earlier, Arthur had conducted decapitation operations, assassinating important enemy targets.
Although the Disassembler was in upgrade mode and couldn’t be used at that time, Arthur collected their personal weapons.
Later, he concentrated on Disassembling them, and the best Battle Soul he got was a shining one!
As he continued to collect and disassemble weapons on the battlefield, he accumulated various Battle Souls.
These Battle Souls greatly improved Arthur’s physical fitness, agility, and endurance.
It could even be said that in a direct confrontation with Steve, he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage if he relied solely on his physical abilities.
The perception of being slightly weaker was just him holding back.
Even now, he couldn’t quite explain how he improved his skills. When he reached Steve’s level, it might cause problems.
Playing cool might feel great at the moment, but it could lead to disaster!
Arthur definitely didn’t want to end up like that.
The ability to handle firearms, for example, needs no further elaboration. Today, Arthur’s skills with various weapons such as rifles, sniper rifles, submachine guns, and pistols have all reached the Intermediate level.
Intermediate, however, is a bottomless pit. Even though Arthur’s rifle skills have been at this level for some time, they have yet to reach Advanced.
His hand-to-hand combat skills and use of various cold weapons have also reached Intermediate.
To provide a benchmark, let’s use Steve as a unit of comparison… If Arthur were to fight without restraint, he could probably beat Captain America without much difficulty!
…
…
Arthur’s strength was growing, and his victories were piling up.
Everything seemed to be heading in a positive direction, but two sudden pieces of news made Arthur immediately abandon his frontline mission and return to the London headquarters.
There was good news and bad news!
The good news was that Dr. Zola, whom Arthur had been fixated on, had been captured by Steve and his team.
The bad news also came from this operation… Steve’s good friend Bucky, the future Winter Soldier, fell into a valley during the battle!
This sudden news left Arthur somewhat dazed.
By the time he returned to London headquarters, he had extracted a vital piece of information from Dr. Zola!
The Valkyrie Aircraft had been completed and contained the power to destroy the world, and… Schmidt could unleash that power at any moment to play a massive game of… explosive art with the world!
…
…
London, Operations Command Room!
Arthur had just returned and was sitting in a chair with a somewhat grim expression on his face.
The situation had reached this point, which, while not entirely beyond his expectations, had taken him by surprise.
He had originally thought that he and Steve would be able to slow down Schmidt’s progress with a quick attack.
They had even split into two groups to do double the damage to Schmidt.
But judging by the current outcome, Arthur had still underestimated Schmidt’s determination… and desperate stubbornness.
After looking around and not finding Steve, Arthur asked Agent Carter, who was sitting next to him, “Where is he?”
“He isn’t doing well, he is depressed. But his girlfriend is comforting him…”
“This lovesick guy…”
Arthur scoffed, “No wonder he’s called ‘the man.'”
“That nickname and this situation… have no connection whatsoever, do they?”
Agent Carter frowned at Arthur, “Besides, what’s wrong with being in love?”
Arthur remained silent.
Agent Carter seemed to be about to say something when Steve arrived.
Arthur looked at him, “Man, even though you couldn’t save your good friend, you saved my life, so don’t be too down on yourself.”
Arthur’s way of comforting was obviously hard to take, and Steve was confused, “I didn’t save you, did I?”
“Hmph!”
Agent Carter snorted coldly.
At that moment Colonel Phillips entered, glanced at the group, and walked over to the map, “John Schmidt should be put in a madhouse; he thinks he’s a god and plans to blow up half the world to prove it, and his first target… is America.”
(End of this chapter)
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