The meeting was straightforward. After summarizing the known intelligence, it was clear that Schmidt had gone off the deep end and was planning to blow up half the world in a perfect explosion.
They also knew that Hydra’s headquarters was in the Alps… In the end, there was only one thing they could do: Stop Schmidt.
However, a battle plan proposed by Steve sparked controversy.
It was a groundbreaking plan. Considering that Hydra’s headquarters was 500 feet underground in the Alps, a frontal assault was almost impossible.
A frontal assault could never be the first choice.
So Steve’s battle plan was a feint attack!
Steve and Arthur would break through alone, drawing the attention of Hydra forces away from the front and planning to be captured.
There were two critical points to this plan. The first was to breach Hydra’s HQ gate, and the second… was to be captured intact.
Only if these two points were accomplished would the following plan be feasible.
However, as soon as this plan was proposed, it was met with strong opposition from Agent Carter.
“This plan is too dangerous! There is no way to guarantee that you will enter Hydra’s base alive…”
She rarely got this emotional, but now she stood up straight in agitation.
Steve looked at Agent Carter in astonishment.
Colonel Phillips looked at Agent Carter, then at Arthur, rubbing his temples in frustration, “Arthur, what do you think?”
All eyes were on Arthur.
Arthur twirled the pen in his hand and asked, “How much time do we have? How much time has Schmidt left us?”
“Less than… 24 hours!” Colonel Phillips replied slowly.
Howard and Agent Carter looked at Arthur.
Arthur was silent for two seconds, then smiled, “I… agree!”
…
…
With less than twenty-four hours to go before the possible end of the world, Arthur sat in his room with paper and pen but didn’t know what to write.
He had thought it would take a lot of courage to agree with Steve’s plan.
But he hadn’t expected to agree so easily.
Courage?
At that moment, it seemed he hadn’t even considered it.
“Is that why they say… men are fickle?”
Arthur felt a slight self-mockery. A person who initially dreamed of staying low until the end of World War II was now about to stop the big villain from destroying the world?
Was it for Dr. Erskine? Or for Agent Carter or Colonel Phillips?
After careful consideration, Arthur found that it was a bit of all those reasons, but more so it was his own decision.
After all… running away wouldn’t work!
Unless Arthur could get to the other side of the Earth within twenty-four hours.
But even then, it wouldn’t matter. If Schmidt really succeeded, could running to the other side of the Earth ensure survival?
As someone on Hydra’s must-kill list, Arthur didn’t think that guy would let him go easily.
So, as the saying goes… “Take life lightly, fight if you refuse to accept it!”
Since accompanying Agent Carter on that “simple quest,” Arthur had already had this realization.
There was no fear, no anxiety, no unease!
He didn’t even feel the urge to pee!
“Is this what growth feels like? But if I die… what then?”
Arthur sat silently in his room for a while, then wrote two letters.
One was to Colonel Phillips, and the other… was to Agent Carter.
After placing the letters in a drawer, Arthur stood up, gathered his gear, and prepared to head out. When he opened the door, he found Agent Carter standing there.
“Want to come in and sit for a while?”
Arthur paused, then extended his first-ever invitation.
…
…
The roar of motorcycles echoed through the forest as Arthur and Steve charged towards Hydra’s headquarters, one on the left and one on the right.
Twenty-four hours was far shorter than it seemed. Once all the plans were discussed, most of the time was spent just getting there.
By now, less than an hour remained until the final moment.
“Man!!!!”
Arthur shouted loudly.
Steve looked at Arthur.
“Isn’t this a suicide mission??”
Steve hesitated for a moment before replying, “Instructor, if you didn’t call me ‘Man’ I’d like you even more!”
“I’m not interested in men…”
Just as he said this, Hydra’s patrol units appeared around them.
Unlike ordinary Hydra soldiers, all the soldiers around the headquarters were equipped with advanced weapons.
Fortunately, Arthur and Steve’s motorcycles were not ordinary. Manufactured by the Stark Industries, they were top-of-the-line.
These two motorcycles were equipped with steel cables, machine guns, flamethrowers, and even self-destruct devices!
With Arthur and Steve’s expert coordination, these patrolling soldiers were destroyed before they could organize an effective interception.
But this was only the beginning!
They were almost at the Hydra HQ gate, and waves of Hydra soldiers were pouring in from all directions, making their progress almost unbearably slow!
Arthur and Steve exchanged a look, and made a gesture, and Arthur suddenly turned his bike and charged in another direction.
At least half of the soldiers immediately followed Arthur, with pale blue beams of light crisscrossing the air.
Arthur knew that if he was hit by one of those beams… even once, he’d be finished!
“Come on!”
Gritting his teeth, Arthur pressed a button on the motorcycle’s control panel, then lay flat on the bike and pulled out two pistols from the disassembler space, firing backward.
His marksmanship was top-notch, so he never missed a shot!
Hydra soldiers fell one by one, but more came from both sides, using trees for cover, making it impossible for Arthur to aim and fire.
“Underestimate me, do you?”
Arthur regained control of the motorcycle’s direction and fired a shot into the forest!
The shooting motion was very strange. As the bullet flew out, Arthur’s hand suddenly twisted sharply!
In slow motion, you could clearly see the bullet make a subtle arc, bypassing numerous obstacles to enter the skull of a Hydra soldier!
Curved Shooting!
Before Arthur’s rifle shooting skill reached Intermediate Level, he had always thought it was something out of the movies.
But when his rifle shooting skill reached Intermediate Level… he realized that he could master this skill, too!
This moment of realization was the source of Arthur’s astonishment when his shooting skill reached Intermediate Level.
However, in actual combat, such a skill wasn’t very practical.
Besides, Arthur mostly performed Decapitation Missions so he rarely had the opportunity to use a rifle.
Until recently, his pistol shooting skill had also reached Intermediate, and it was in this battle that his ultimate skill finally made its dazzling debut!
(End of this chapter)
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