IMUC Chapter 459 Red Skull's Sleepless Night

With both hands, Caesar lifted a small mountain of rocks weighing tens of tons. With the experience of carrying a Helicarrier, he found the current load surprisingly manageable, much lighter than expected.

In response to Tony's inquiry, Caesar casually replied, "Sorry, this isn't creating a meteorite. It's much more stimulating than that."

No sooner had he spoken.

Caesar had already soared to Tony's side, being hundreds of feet above the ground. With delicate hands, he turned the massive mass of rock, many times his size, with a low growl and full force before hurling it violently toward the military base below.

Whoosh...

Hovering in mid-air, Caesar turned slightly at the waist, his hands still in motion as visible white shockwaves rippled beneath him.

Empowered with Superman-like strength, the rocky mountain instantly unleashed a howling, localized storm that caused even Tony, clad in his Iron Man suit nearby, to instinctively retreat.

Under Tony's astonished gaze, the mountain plummeted toward the empty ground of the military fortress at a speed far exceeding any meteorite, emitting a humming friction that sparked bright heat and carried a ferocious impact.

This was no mere meteorite creation. This was the true power of a meteorite!

Outside the main building of the military fortress, on the other side of the sprawling grounds that housed vehicles and supplies, Hydra guards scrambled to take cover from an unknown enemy attack.

The commanding officer took cover behind a truck and picked up an old-fashioned communicator to call Red Skull, who was stationed in the command room.

"What's the situation outside?" Schmidt inquired.

"I don't know, sir. I really don't," The officer replied nervously into the communicator. "We haven't found the enemy, but their missiles are carpet-bombing us. For your safety, I suggest we evacuate immediately!"

Pausing briefly, he hesitated, "I even suspect they might be aliens!"

"Shut up!" Schmidt scolded the officer sharply, then ordered, "Find the enemy quickly and take them out. Even if they are aliens, I want their heads delivered to me!"

"Yes, sir!"

Just as the senior officer finished his reply, he noticed that the Hydra guards around him froze, all looking up in stunned silence. Following their gaze, he looked up.

A blazing fireball resembling a miniature sun appeared in the pitch-black sky. It rapidly grew larger and closer, soon engulfing the entire area above the fortress grounds, emitting an overwhelming, oppressive aura that descended upon them.

"A meteorite..." the senior officer subconsciously murmured into the communicator.

Schmidt, on the other end of the line, apparently heard him and asked incredulously, "What meteorite? Explain!"

"The meteorite is coming, sir! Evacuate now!"

The senior officer managed to say these words before his left hand weakened and he dropped the communicator to the ground. Tears streaming down his face, he lifted his head in despair along with the other Hydra guards, helplessly watching the descending mountainous meteorite.

In the face of this natural disaster, their laser weapons and armor seemed feeble and inadequate. Escape seemed futile, so they silently awaited death.

The blazing, burning mountain meteorite crashed onto the empty ground of the fortress at an incredible speed, instantly transforming the surface into a scene similar to the simultaneous detonation of tons of explosives. Hundreds of Hydra guards were instantly reduced to mincemeat.

Boom...

The unparalleled force of the impact sent rocks and dust flying, with massive shockwaves spreading through the air and ground.

The supposedly most fortified military fortress in the world today, under the residual shockwaves of the nearby mountainous meteorite, suffered immediate devastation on its Iron-covered surface, with endless dust and debris pouring in through shattered doors and windows amidst the howling winds.

---

In the command room, Red Skull Schmidt was still puzzling over the officer's message, but the next moment the entire building began to sway under the shockwave. Dim electric lights blinked erratically, and furniture and files inside the room were thrown into disarray.

A meteorite! It was indeed a meteorite strike!

Red Skull gripped the command console with both hands, his knuckles turning white. His sinister eyes were filled with incomprehension - why had they just made progress, only to have celestial bodies turn against them?

There was no time to ponder; decisions had to be made immediately!

As the seismic tremors caused by the impact subsided, Red Skull took a deep breath. Without looking back, he quickly grabbed the box containing the Tesseract and his own car keys and hurried out of the chaotic command room.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the Fortress building...

Debris and dust from the impact swirled wildly. Steve lay face down on the raised metal grating floor, his hands clutching the floor. The miniaturized Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, huddled nervously behind Steve's head.

Neither dared breathe, waiting for the earthquake to subside and the dust to settle in the factory.

Steve coughed violently a few times, then climbed to his feet, dusting the debris from his body. He looked out through a shattered window.

Above the empty ground lay a gigantic bottomless pit with a radius of thirty meters. A little closer and it would have flattened the entire fortress.

"What just happened?" Scott Lang muttered anxiously from Steve's shoulder.

"Most likely it was Caesar. Only he could have pulled something like that off," Steve replied with a slight twitch of his mouth. He had just ordered both Caesar and Tony to intensify the bombing. He had not expected that Caesar would take it literally and raise a mountain to act as a meteorite and destroy the base of the Hydra fortress.

With that strike, at least hundreds of Hydra guards must have perished in the meteor crater. If this were to be recorded in the annals of history, it would likely become Earth's greatest unsolved mystery.

"I don't even know what to say anymore," Scott Lang sighed, tapping his forehead in resignation.

"Thud, Thud, Thud..."

Just then, footsteps descended rapidly from the third floor.

Steve turned and met the person head on. Upon seeing him, the man handed over a set of car keys and a briefcase and said in a commanding, cold tone, "Go to the underground garage and start my vehicle immediately. I need to get out of here right now!"

Recognizing the familiar face in front of him, Steve couldn't help but stop in surprise. Fortunately, a sharp pain in his ears snapped him out of it.

Picking up the car keys and briefcase, Steve nodded respectfully, "Yes, sir."

"Hurry up. I'll meet you at the back gate of the base!" Without finishing the sentence, the man quickly descended the stairs.

Once the man was out of earshot, Scott Lang emerged from Steve's helmet and patted his heaving chest. "That was close. What's going on, Captain? You almost blew your cover."

Steve spoke hoarsely, "That... was Red Skull, Schmidt."

"What did you say?" Scott Lang's eyes widened in disbelief. He lowered his head, gazing at the briefcase in Steve's hands, wearing a bewildered expression. "No way. So, the case you're holding now is..."

The Tesseract?

(End of Chapter)

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