Hydra isn't short on super-soldiers; what they lack are super-soldiers that meet Hydra's specific requirements. They have plenty of muscle with combat power beyond ordinary soldiers, but super-soldiers like Captain America and the Winter Soldier are few and far between. And unfortunately, Madame Viper doesn't have such exceptional super-soldiers under her command.
For example, among Madame Viper Ophelia's Serpent Society, there are many super-soldiers with enhanced abilities. Most of these individuals are failed experiments from the "Weapon Upgrade" project, but not completely failed to the point of death. These half-failed individuals were then incorporated into Viper's Serpent Security company.
Take Bushmaster, for instance: his limbs were modified, with his lower body resembling a snake and his upper body fitted with two prosthetics. Then there's Cottonmouth: in addition to being a special forces soldier skilled in combat, his bite force was significantly enhanced during experiments, allowing his mouth to extend like a real snake's, large enough to swallow a human head, with a bite force capable of crushing steel. And there's Copperhead, who cosplays as a single-clawed Wolverine: she has a 20-centimeter long blade implanted on the outside of each of her arms. Since they're externally mounted, she doesn't have a healing factor...
Ophelia sighed. Currently, Anaconda from the Serpent Society was charging into battle with Spider-Man. This woman possesses the unique ability to extend her limbs by 50%, making herself resemble a snake, and she also has super strength, capable of twisting and deforming a steel pipe 2 feet (61 cm) in diameter and 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick.
Her opponent was just a spandex-clad freak who could punch with 22 tons of force, support hundreds of tons of overpass for several minutes, turn invisible, climb walls, and discharge bioelectricity. Nothing to be afraid of.
Yeah.
How the hell are they supposed to fight him?!
Ophelia's so-called super-soldiers weren't super at all; they were quickly beaten down one after another. She frowned, discussing tactics, when she suddenly noticed that the woman who had been following Spider-Man on the monitors was gone.
Without even attempting to stop Spider-Man or considering capturing Luke Cage, Ophelia instantly concluded that everything was over.
However, she didn't plan to interfere further. After all, one purpose of these individuals was to destroy the lab, and the other was to rescue the test subjects. So Ophelia simply used her communicator to notify the two scientists she had hired: "Dr. Koyama, Dr. Octavius, you need to evacuate immediately. You have at most five minutes to reach the escape submarine."
As Ophelia spoke, she opened a cover in the main control room and pressed the self-destruct button. Five minutes later, the base would initiate its self-destruct sequence, and the Serpent Security company's access tunnels would be destroyed beforehand. By then, even Spider-Man would be buried beneath the Hudson River.
Further entanglement was meaningless. It was better to have her subordinates stall Spider-Man. Even the loss of an entire laboratory would be a huge gain if it meant eliminating an Avenger here. A competent manager needed to assess the situation. Hydra had infiltrated America; they weren't short on resources; what they lacked were scientists capable of advancing their experiments. As long as Koyama and Otto Octavius were alive and working for them, Hydra wouldn't be considered a failure.
However, upon hearing this news, Dr. Koyama frowned, because he had just completed a new batch of super-soldier experiments, and three test subjects who had undergone preliminary testing were already strapped to the examination tables, undergoing experiments. Giving up now was truly a pity. He glanced at the time, then took a deep breath, looking at the three individuals on the test tables, deciding to take one last gamble.
A Caucasian girl, an African-American boy, and an Asian man. These three would test the new generation of super-soldier serum Koyama had created.
As for Otto Octavius, he wasn't as fanatical. He showed no emotion upon hearing the news, merely asking curiously: "May I ask what has happened?"
He received a surprising reply from Madame Viper.
"Spider-Man found our underwater base. Now I'm initiating the self-destruct sequence to bury him here."
"Spider-Man?!" Otto Octavius's voice rose an octave, followed by an unspeakable rage: "Why is it Spider-Man again?!"
Madame Viper was also helpless. Thinking about it, Otto's last job was working for Kingpin. Kingpin, who had battled Daredevil for years, started losing men and resources as soon as Spider-Man got involved. None of the numerous modified warriors Otto created for Kingpin could defeat Spider-Man. And now, he wasn't even working for Kingpin anymore, nor was he researching anything to combat Spider-Man, yet Spider-Man had pursued him even here?!
So Viper thought Otto might be naturally at odds with Spider-Man, while Otto only believed Spider-Man must have been sent by Osborn. Otherwise, there was no explaining why Spider-Man was here again. Yes, he, Otto Octavius, wasn't a good person, but did this pest really have to chase him every single day?!
Otto Octavius was furious. He decided he would settle the score with Spider-Man. But that was for later. First, he had to shut down the current experiment, secure those symbiotes, and pack them away.
And just as he was operating the equipment to collect those items, Felicia happened to sneak into the lab. With just one glance at the people being consumed by the symbiotes, Felicia couldn't help but sigh. The symbiotes disintegrated under ultrasonic vibrations, turning into a puddle of goo, while the experimental subjects had vacant stares, clearly finished.
Felicia shook her head, quietly approaching. She saw five empty slots on the wall, with only one pure black viscous substance not taken out for experiment. She wondered why.
She glanced at the monstrous life-support tank that was frantically collecting symbiotes, then took out her electronic lock pick and pressed it against the wall. With a crackling sound, all the electronic locks on the entire wall instantly failed. Felicia then picked up the canister and cradled it in her arms.
The not-at-all-cute black symbiote inside, the moment the canister was picked up by Black Cat, revealed its ferocious eyes and fangs, gesturing at her—but unfortunately, a symbiote without a host was very weak and couldn't even break the glass canister.
"Oh, you're really not cute."
"Neither are you, madam."
The moment the containment device failed, Otto Octavius understood what had happened. His mechanical tentacles lunged viciously towards Black Cat.