Chapter 283 Infiltrating SHIELD Alone!
On this day, near noon, people in the New York area raised their heads to see three massive metal Fortresses continuously ascending into the vast blue sky, casting a massive shadow that darkened the sky.
Feelings of confusion, tension, and fear overwhelmed the people on the streets and in the buildings. Traffic came to a standstill, and pedestrians gathered to discuss the three Helicarriers forming a triangle in the sky.
On the express road leading into the city, a black Ford, carrying Steve and the others, was racing at full throttle towards the position directly below the Helicarrier in the sky.
"Sam, step on it," Steve urged while holding the suit-clad man with a bald head and silver-rimmed glasses firmly in his left hand.
The suit-clad man, surrounded by Steve and the others, dared not move. Their combined strength rendered even the slightest chance of escape impossible.
Sitting in the car seat, he broke into a cold sweat, his face turning pale. In a defeated tone, he said, "Gentlemen, I've told you everything I know. Where are you taking me now?"
Steve didn't sugarcoat the situation. "It's simple. None of us have access to the Helicarrier's inner systems. We need to use your iris and fingerprint to bypass the intelligent security."
The suit-clad man's lips twitched slightly, and his face grew even paler. With a bitter smile, he said, "Are you all devils? Pierce will kill me for this!"
"Alexander Pierce, the current Director of SHIELD, and a Hydra spy?"
Steve couldn't help but chuckle, and Natasha and Sam in the front seats joined in.
"Don't worry; he probably has his hands full... of danger!"
A loud warning sounded in Steve's mind. He suddenly hunched down and used his left hand to forcefully push the suit-clad man downwards.
But he was half a beat too slow.
**Bang!**
The left-side window exploded as if it were hit by a sniper bullet. Subsequently, the man's head exploded from the outside, bursting inward like a watermelon, spraying red and white fluid all over the car.
It was a sniper bullet!
Steve quickly confirmed this, moving his hand away from the lifeless body's waist. His other hand had already lifted the vibranium shield from his back, blocking the direction from which the bullets were coming.
Just as he completed this action, a barrage of rifle bullets hit the car, some striking the outer shell, creating a series of dings and dents, and others clanging against the shield. The damaged bullets tumbled down like worthless scrap.
When the hail of bullets ceased, Steve hadn't had a chance to catch his breath. Natasha in the front passenger seat suddenly exclaimed, "Be careful, there's more ahead!"
In response to her warning, the Ford car abruptly shook violently, propelled by the tremendous inertia as it came to a stop after colliding with something.
In the split second that the car stopped, Steve braced himself against the rear seat, and with a sudden kick, his feet pushed upward against the car's skylight, shattering it. He lifted himself out through the broken roof.
Once outside the car, Steve turned and steadied himself on top of the Ford. He glanced forward with a keen and unwavering gaze, and his indomitable spirit stirred up waves of determination.
Before him was a military green Jeep, its front end and the Ford's front end both reduced to scrap.
But the focus wasn't on the wreckage; it was on the rooftop of the Jeep, where a young man of about thirty was standing!
The young man wore a cloth mask and had dirty, curly blond hair that covered most of his face. Only a pair of cold and unfeeling eyes were visible.
He was dressed in a uniform jacket and combat boots, and his left arm, constructed of mechanical metal, was particularly eye-catching. He held an old-fashioned AK47 in both hands.
"It's you, there's no mistaking it... Bucky," Steve took a deep breath as he spoke, excitement clear on his face.
They were separated since the late stages of World War II, both of them had experienced death and had crossed more than half a century. Now, they had finally reunited. Yet, the two comrades who had fought side by side, risking their lives together, were now facing each other with different agendas. Was this some kind of universal joke?
Steve exhaled and took a step forward.
From the familiar man in front of him, he had uttered the familiar name "Bucky."
Deep within the Winter Soldier's personality, lost amidst the maze of programmed commands, a glimmer of memory surfaced in the long-buried darkness.
But it quickly faded.
The Winter Soldier, devoid of expression, raised the AK47 in both mechanical hands and squeezed the trigger, firing at his former comrade, Steve, who was less than five meters away.
...
SHIELD Headquarters.
Although the three Helicarriers had taken off from here, they gradually deviated from their original path, moving further towards the city center as they continued to ascend. Now, they were thousands of meters away from the ground level of the headquarters building.
At this moment, a silver-haired young man in casual clothing strolled towards the main entrance. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked around, noticing the statues on the sides of the door, one holding a shield and the other a sword. He shook his head sardonically at the irony.
He took a few more steps, arriving at the closed main door. Infrared sensors scanned his face and irises.
Then, a mechanical voice sounded, "This user does not have access to enter the headquarters. Please leave immediately!"
"Very well," Kyle muttered to himself, "They've even changed my access. They've taken everything for themselves."
Since Vision wasn't by his side at the moment, he was accompanied only by a Venom.
"Since that's the case, there's nothing to hold back," Kyle said. He raised his left hand, and a black, liquid substance began to bubble and form a protective membrane that covered his entire arm.
Three sharp, dark blades emerged from the skeletal structure between his fingers. The points of the blades silently pressed against the three-centimeter-thick tempered glass security door.
At the SHIELD headquarters building, in the Director's office near the top floors, Pierce stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, gazing across the room. The three Helicarriers were still ascending steadily. He clenched and loosened his fists, palms sweaty.
All the kingdoms and powers on Earth had been subverted, and Hydra was about to change the world. This final step was all that remained.
So now, Pierce was filled with anticipation and nervousness. In this extremely tense moment, the phone on his office desk suddenly rang.
Pierce quickly stepped forward and saw that it was the headquarters number. He picked up the phone and said in a deep voice, "What is it?"
"Director, Sym... Sym... Symbol of Peace is here..." The female receptionist's words were halting and fragmented. The communication signal was strong, but her fear was making her tongue and teeth tremble.
Pierce felt an inexplicable premonition and snapped, "What? Speak clearly!"
In her fear, the receptionist finally managed to say, "Sym... Symbol of Peace is here!"
"What?!" Pierce gasped, and his usually rosy face turned pale. He almost fell into his office chair.
The one thing he feared most had finally happened.
In the SHIELD headquarters lobby.
The tempered glass security door remained tightly closed, but in the center, a triangular gap had appeared, large enough for three people to pass through. The cut surface of the gap was as smooth as a mirror, and the triangular glass piece lay inside, on the floor, like an ordinary carpet.
Treating the glass as if it were a typical rug, Kyle retracted his dark claws. Surrounding him were numerous suited agents and more armed military personnel moving closer to his location.
...