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Chapter 30: Bucky Goes Offline
Dr. Zola's plan was not particularly clever, but it was sufficient for someone as reckless as Steve.
Steve learned that Dr. Zola was on a moving train. As a key figure in HYDRA's weapons development, Dr. Zola was invaluable to them. If not for his usefulness, the Red Skull would have disposed of him long ago due to his constant frustration.
Led by Captain America and Bucky, the Howling Commandos infiltrated the train, unaware that it was a trap.
Once inside, they were ambushed. HYDRA's advanced 🤖...no special forces with exoskeleton powered by Tesseract Energy, equipped with heavy artillery, overwhelmed them. To protect Steve, Bucky was blasted into the abyss.
"No, Bucky!!!"
Captain America's despair was palpable.
…
Even though Dr. Zola was captured, Steve felt no relief and spent his days drinking to numb his grief. Unfortunately, his super-soldier serum-enhanced metabolism prevented him from getting drunk, no matter how much he drank.
Extreme sorrow often leads to intense rage. For the first time, Captain America's eyes burned with hatred as he vowed to make the Red Skull pay.
…
Meanwhile, the senior officials in Washington were ecstatic. Dr. Zola's capture and his demonstrated abilities made them eager to offer him a secure position.
Dr. Zola agreed without hesitation, driven by his fear of death. He knew that without government protection, Steve Rogers would not spare him.
Washington was thrilled to gain such a brilliant scientist, and Bucky's fate was largely ignored.
Whether a dangerous element was added to their ranks remained unknown.
…
"Mission Alert! Accept the mission - Master of War: Destroy as many enemies as possible, directly or indirectly, before the end of this world war!"
"Mission Rewards: Points awarded based on completion, one point per kill, unified settlement after the war."
"Failure Penalty: System's disdain."
After a month of grueling travel, Thor and Natalia finally arrived at the northern port of Murmansk and boarded a return freighter.
The once fierce brown bear finally regained its freedom, running away with a large stash of salmon in its tears...
As soon as they boarded the ship, the system presented a new task.
Thor was tempted to disembark immediately, head to the front lines, and attack the Germans for points. However, seeing Natalia's sad little face, he restrained himself.
This girl had endured a lot recently; Thor couldn't just leave her behind.
The System spoke up, "Don't be disheartened. In your current state, even with all your power, you won't be able to defeat many enemies. Exhaustion would limit your points."
"You mean, I need to find a way to tap into divine power again?"
The System replied, "That's overthinking it. Increasing strength also raises the difficulty of tasks. Your current state is like a low-level player fighting weak monsters. Once you level up, you'll face tougher challenges."
Surprisingly, the System seemed well-informed, covering everything from astronomy to basic needs... although it may not be too knowledgeable in that last area.
Thor sighed, "I suppose exploiting loopholes isn't an option."
"Maybe there's still..."
"Maybe what? How do I do it?" Thor asked, suddenly alert.
With that, the System vanished.
Thor pondered for a long time but couldn't figure out a way to exploit any loopholes. Since he couldn't do much on the ship, he decided to focus on spending time with Natalia.
Despite the System's shortcomings, Thor found it somewhat endearing. Unlike some systems that make host face obliteration for failure, his System would only despise him, a minor consequence in comparison.
Thor suspected that the so-called disdain was something the Miss System added personally.