Chapter 58: Thunderbolts

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Chapter 58: Thunderbolts

"Natasha Romanoff."

In alternate world, on Governor's Island in Upper New York Bay, inside the Thunderbolts' base.

"Identity confirmed."

"Welcome, Natasha."

After a series of rigorous security checks, Natasha arrived at a training facility.

Bang, bang, bang!

Inside the training field, the sound of continuous gunfire echoed.

Standing in the center of the firepower, Luke Cage clenched his fists as bullets hit his body. In front of him, a row of armed soldiers with live ammunition launched a fierce attack. Meanwhile, researchers from Hydra collected combat data on Luke Cage.

"...Blood oxygen level increased by 2.6%, muscle and bone density increased by 0.3% compared to previous records, unarmed resistance to explosions slightly improved..."

Clank, clank, clank...

With attention withdrawn from Luke Cage, she looked to the other side of the training facility, two security guards stood watch outside a specially designed detention cell. Occasionally, sharp playing cards flew out through the gaps in the cell window, accurately hitting the bullseye a hundred meters away.

"Hey, Natasha."

Noticing Black Widow entering the training base, the figure inside the detention cell stopped its actions.

Approaching the gap in the window, a pale and sickly face appeared, waving at Natasha in the distance. The sound of chains could be heard as he moved his arm.

Target: Lester, codenamed Bullseye.

One of the most dangerous members of the Thunderbolts.

Due to his criminal history and his impulsive tendency to kill, Bullseye must be kept in detention unless authorized. He is either chained to the floor or tied to a chair and guarded by two security personnel when not on a mission.

Only during missions is he escorted by two guards to carry out covert operations.

In fact, Bullseye's involvement with the Thunderbolts has been kept confidential from the public.

The missions he executes often revolve around assassination, targeting illegal and unregistered superheroes as well as members of the Dark Avengers.

In the previous battle against the resistance, it was Bullseye who killed the Swordsman.

Forcing herself to ignore Bullseye's provocative actions in the detention cell, Natasha walked past his location and eventually arrived at an area where a fierce fight was going on.

Boom, boom , boom, boom clank-

Having emptied his pistol, he threw it away. And the muscular man wearing a crossbones pattern roared as he charged toward his opponent, wielding a knife that emitted sharp sounds as it cut through the air. He also grabbed a crossbow from his waist and aimed it at his opponent, pulling the trigger.

Swoosh!

Accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, the crossbow bolt shot through the air, seemingly about to hit its target.

At the critical moment, The man calmly twisted his body, evading the arrow in an unimaginably agile manner. Using the slight force in his legs, he leaped high into the air like an acrobat. In mid-air, he pulled back his longbow, causing the bowstring in his hand to vibrate. In the blink of an eye, three feathered arrows flew as if propelled forward, narrowly grazing the man's ear and cheek.

If Colin were present in the Thunderbolts' training base, he would notice the striking similarity between the man's archery movements and those of Hawkeye.

The two of them seemed to be made from the same mould.

"Ah!"

At the moment the figure released the arrows, a piercing scream echoed in the air.

Songbird perched in mid-air opened mouth wide, emitting a piercing sonic scream directed at the figure who shot the arrows.

On the other side, affected by songbird's sonic attack, the muscular man instinctively covered his ears, his face filled with pain.

Clearly, even with deliberate restraint, he couldn't completely avoid his teammate's attack.

In fact, this was one of the reasons why most Thunderbolts members were reluctant to work with her.

After all, nobody wanted to be subjected to such an attack, especially when it came from their own teammate.

Affected by the songbird's sonic scream, the figure paused for a moment.

However, he quickly regained his composure, shook his head, stabilized his footing, and looked up at the songbird hovering in the air. He reached behind his back, took down a round shield with a star and red-white-blue stripes, and hurled it at songbird in mid-air.

In the next second, the shield formed a beautiful arc in the air, striking Songbird's body before spinning back into the figure's hand.

It was Captain America's shield-throwing technique.

Watching the figure's combat stance from the side, particularly witnessing the shield-throwing maneuver, Natasha's expression flickered.

She looked at the round shield in the figure's hand, adorned with a star and red-white-blue stripes.

This was the shield used by Captain America during World War II.

However, after Captain America's death during that period, it became a war trophy for the German forces. It wasn't until the modern era, with the assistance of the U.S. government and Hydra, that it was reclaimed from Germany and became a weapon used by the Thunderbolts.

"Alright, let's call it a day."

Securing Captain America's shield back onto his back, the figure scanned the fallen Songbird and Crossbones, who had been struck by the shield, then spoke.

Upon hearing the figure's words, Crossbones and Songbird visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Touching his face, which narrowly avoided the arrow, Crossbones wore an expression of lingering fear. He said, "Captain, next time we spar, could you go a little easier? I thought I was going to die with that last attack."

"If my aim had been off, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me," replied the figure, known as the Taskmaster, Anthony Masters, with a calm expression.

Anthony Masters, the Taskmaster, was the captain of the Thunderbolts. Through the injection of a special serum from Hydra, he possessed photographic reflexes, granting him the ability to perfectly and precisely replicate the physical movements of his targets. Regardless of how complex the target's movements were, Anthony could accurately reproduce them.

Leveraging the photographic reflexes granted by the serum, combined with his own formidable physical abilities, the Taskmaster flawlessly imitated the combat techniques of several opponents, including Hawkeye's archery skills and Captain America's shield combat.

It's worth mentioning that Captain America had already died during World War II.

So the shield-throwing skills mastered by the Taskmaster were actually learned through studying and imitating footage of Captain America's propaganda films from that time.

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