Chapter 33 Ace
The moment the giant rock broke free from the mountain, the World seemed to be muted.
Chu Hang's pupils constricted into pinpricks. The super soldier serum had catalyzed his senses to an unprecedented degree; he could hear the grating 'creak' as the giant rock scraped against the mountain wall, feel the subtle wail of the ice beneath his feet as it succumbed to the immense pressure, and even smell the crisp, dust-and-ice-laden air being squeezed out.
His brain, this enhanced biological computer, spun wildly in an instant, yet could only arrive at one conclusion: it was over.
The giant rock was too large, like a small truck, hurtling down with an unstoppable, crushing force. And Steve, he was firmly pinned to the nearly vertical ice wall by that cursed strap. To his front, back, left, and right, all paths led to Death.
He couldn't dodge it, couldn't block it.
Even the perfect human, the culmination of Dr. Erskine's life's work, would be reduced to a blurry, red-and-White smear on the ice wall if hit head-on by such a behemoth.
"Steve!"
A heart-wrenching roar came from the side. Logan's eyes instantly became bloodshot; his Beast-like intuition made him smell Death immediately. He didn't even think, muscles exploding as he tried to pounce, but those few meters were now an insurmountable chasm. His speed couldn't outpace gravity.
Time, in Chu Hang's perception, stretched infinitely. He watched helplessly as the enormous Shadow completely enveloped Steve.
However, in that less-than-half-second moment of life and Death, Steve, at the center of the predicament, made a reaction that Chu Hang would never forget for the rest of his life.
He showed no panic, no fear, not a hint of despair. He abruptly looked up, his clear, azure eyes bursting with astonishing light. His gaze didn't linger on the giant rock above, but rather swept like lightning across the ice wall below the giant rock. His brain, at this moment, surpassed its limits, countless data streams pouring in frantically and being processed instantly. He wasn't waiting for Death; he was searching, searching for that one-in-a-billion fulcrum that could shift fate!
Found it!
"Logan!"
His roar was no longer gentle, but like a clap of thunder, filled with an unquestionable will of steel.
"Three o'clock, upper left! See that protruding black rock? Hit it! With all your might!"
What? Chu Hang's mind completely froze. At a time like this, hit an irrelevant rock? Had he gone mad with fear?
But Logan didn't hesitate for even a tenth of a second.
He didn't even think about whether the order was reasonable. The person giving the order was Steve Rogers, and that was enough.
This was absolute trust. It was the unconditional obedience to a Commander, etched into his bones, forged with blood and life amidst the hail of bullets on the European battlefields!
"Roar!"
A suppressed roar erupted from deep within Logan's throat; his body had reacted before his brain. He pushed off the ice wall with his robust body, the ice beneath his feet instantly shattering, and he shot upwards at an incredible angle like an enraged ape.
"Clang—!"
Three chilling White bone claws fiercely shot out from his fists, scraping against the ice wall with an ear-splitting screech and a shower of sparks. He practically glided along the ice surface, precisely plunging his bone claws into the black rock Steve had mentioned.
The rock was only the size of a basketball, utterly inconspicuous.
But the moment the bone claws plunged in, Chu Hang's extraordinary hearing caught an incredibly crisp 'crack' sound coming from deep within the mountain!
As if something crucial had broken.
That black rock was, in fact, the hidden fulcrum supporting the bottom of the giant rock above!
With the fulcrum shattered, the trajectory of the giant rock, which had been crashing down like Mount Tai, instantly shifted by a minuscule, almost imperceptible degree.
It was this tiny deviation that separated life from Death.
The giant rock no longer plummeted straight towards Steve, but rather grazed the right side of his body, falling violently with a tearing roar through the air!
"Boom—!"
A deafening roar finally came. The giant rock slammed heavily into the mountain wall below, unleashing an earth-shattering power. Countless shattered rocks and ice chunks were flung high, creating a small avalanche that poured down towards the behemoth at the foot of the mountain.
Although he had avoided a direct hit, the violent wind pressure from the giant rock's near miss struck Steve like an invisible giant hand.
"Ugh!"
Steve grunted, the veins on the arm gripping the strap bulging. The immense force blew his entire body outwards, almost causing him to lose his grip. Chu Hang's heart leaped into his throat.
Fortunately, Steve was Steve after all.
"Hoo-ah!"
He roared, his core erupting with terrifying strength, forcefully pulling his swinging body back and reattaching himself to the ice wall like a magnet.
He was saved.
Chu Hang went limp, gasping for breath, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. He stared blankly at Steve above, then at Logan, who was adjusting his posture on the other side, only two words echoing wildly in his mind.
Ace.
Steve's critical judgment beyond his limits, Logan's absolute execution without thought—the tacit understanding between these two had transcended language. Compared to them, he had been utterly useless, only capable of shouting "Be careful."
"Don't just stand there! Get up!"
Steve's roar was like a sudden blow, pulling Chu Hangout of his self-negation.
At the foot of the mountain, the monster was hit squarely by the avalanche. Countless tons of ice, snow, and shattered rock poured down, yet it only produced a 'crackle, crackle' of noise, as if it had merely been showered with hail.
It angrily shook off the accumulated snow, its single eye, burning with Fire, once again locked onto the three tiny insects on the mountain wall, letting out a deafening roar.
"Boom!"
Another punch! The entire mountain ridge trembled violently, and more cracks, like black lightning, spread wildly across the mountain. If they didn't leave now, the mountain would be torn apart by it!
The three no longer dared to delay, scrambling upwards with hands and feet, climbing as fast as they ever had in their lives.
Finally, feeling his lungs were about to burst, Steve was the first to scramble over the ridge. He immediately turned, pulling Logan up, and then the two of them together hauled up the exhausted Chu Hang.
The three of them lay sprawled in the snow like dead dogs, greedily breathing the cold air.
Survival after a catastrophe. Chu Hang turned his head, looking at the two beside him. Steve was checking his shield, which had a shallow mark on its edge from where the giant rock had grazed it. Logan, meanwhile, casually shook his hand, the blood oozing from his knuckles instantly freezing into dark red shards, but his face showed only the excitement and exhilaration of battle.
Being teammates with these two monsters... didn't seem like such a bad thing after all.
"Are we... safe?" Chu Hang asked, panting.
Steve walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The behemoth was stopped below the ridge, pacing back and forth restlessly, its Talon occasionally digging at the ground. With its clumsy body, it couldn't possibly climb this nearly ninety-degree cliff.
It seemed they had temporarily shaken it off.
Chu Hang let out a long sigh of relief, but Steve's expression remained grim.
"Something's not right," he suddenly said in a low voice.
"What's not right?" Logan leaned closer, his beastly intuition also making him uneasy.
"It's too calm," Steve's voice was chilling. "Given its previous ferocity, losing its target should make it wildly destroy everything around it. Not like this... as if it's waiting for something."
Waiting?
Chu Hang's heart sank with a 'thump,' and an ominous premonition instantly surged through him. He quickly closed his eyes, extending his hearing to its limit.
The heartbeat was steady, the footsteps had stopped. But a completely new sound invaded his hearing.
A high-pitched, sharp hum, like countless bees simultaneously flapping their wings by his ear, growing louder and more piercing, almost tearing through his eardrums! The source... was its head! It was that wildly rotating turbine engine!
"No!" Chu Hang's face turned pale, and he screamed, "That turbine is accelerating! It's accumulating energy!"
At the foot of the mountain, the monster slowly raised its head. Its half-turbine-engine head was spinning wildly at a heart-stopping speed, emitting a piercing shriek that tore through the air. A large amount of air was forcibly sucked in, converging at the front into a single, blindingly bright red glow, like the core of the Sun, impossible to look at directly!
The surrounding temperature instantly soared; the accumulated snow on the mountaintop began to melt at a visible rate, steaming with White vapor!
It hadn't intended to climb up at all! It wanted to... erase them, along with this entire mountaintop, from this World!
"Scatter!"
Steve only had time to roar these two words, his entire body already leaping sideways like a leopard!
Chu Hang and Logan also scrambled and rolled in the opposite direction almost simultaneously.
Just as they left their original positions.
A thick, dark red energy beam, as if capable of melting all things, shot out from the monster's mouth with a terrifying, soul-rending shriek!
The beam surpassed sound, precisely striking the mountaintop where they had just been standing!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a grating 'hiss—' sound.
Then, Chu Hang watched helplessly as the mountaintop, composed of hard rock and millennia-old ice, upon contact with the beam, silently melted, vaporized, and was directly... erased from this three-dimensional space, like a block of butter thrown into a steel furnace.
A massive circular gap, over ten meters in diameter, with edges as smooth as a mirror and still steaming, appeared on the mountaintop.
Chu Hang lay dozens of meters away, feeling the scorching heat beneath him, smelling the strong sulfur in the air, and looking at the terrifying gap, as if a piece had been erased by a god's eraser. A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, almost freezing the blood in his veins.
How the hell... were they supposed to fight this?
Chapter 34 Opportunity!
The dark red beam of light appeared without warning and disappeared just as abruptly.
Chu Hang felt a wave of scorching heat wash over him, as if he were standing at the mouth of a giant oven that had just been opened.
He instinctively raised his hand to shield his face, but felt stinging pain on his exposed skin.
The surrounding air was heated to a terrifying temperature; each breath was like swallowing a ball of scalding charcoal, burning his throat and lungs.
He struggled to lift his head, looking towards the mountain peak where they had just stood.
Then, his entire body froze, his brain feeling as if it had been tightly clenched by an invisible hand, instantly going blank.
It was gone.
A large section of the mountain peak, composed of hard, ancient rock and thick ice, had simply vanished into thin air.
In its place was a nearly perfect circular crater, over ten meters in diameter.
At the center of the crater, the rock was completely melted, forming a bubbling, dark red pool of magma, with rolling hot steam rising, distorting the surrounding air.
Chu Hang's mind completely crashed.
As a modern office worker in his previous life, steeped in sci-fi movies and video games, he had witnessed all sorts of World-destroying special effects.
Whether it was the Death Star's main cannon, positron cannons, or Kamehameha, he always thought they were just code typed by programmers and light and shadow drawn by artists.
But now, when this kind of unreasonable destructive power, existing only in fantasy, was vividly displayed before him, he truly understood what it meant to be insignificant, what it meant to be despairing.
"Oh… my… god…"
A phrase representing the most essential exclamation when human language fails, unconsciously escaped Chu Hang's parched lips.
He felt his worldview, along with his pathetic bit of courage, had been shattered by this area-of-effect attack, leaving not even a trace.
It's over, it's really over now.
It's BBQ time, we can prepare for the feast.
What's the point of fighting now?
One ultimate move from them, and they can even alter the map.
A chilling sense of powerlessness instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, almost freezing the blood throughout his body.
He stiffly twisted his neck, like a rusty robot, wanting to see if Logan, that fearless hothead, was still thinking of charging up to fight them to the Death.
Well, what do you know.
Wolverine, who usually seemed to have had three pounds of chicken blood and wanted to scratch anyone he saw, was now completely deflated.
He was half-kneeling in the snow, one hand propped on the ground, the other hand's fist clenched, making a "crackling" sound, his knuckles pale from excessive force.
Clearly, this area-of-effect attack, which surpassed the limits of his comprehension, had directly blown the fuse of his beastly combative nerves.
Chu Hang then cast his last hope towards Steve on the other side.
Well.
Captain America's face was as pale as if he'd just been pulled out of a flour sack, his lips tightly pressed, his chest heaving violently, at a frequency that rivaled an old sewing machine.
Evidently, this battle-hardened super Soldier was also deeply shaken by the miraculous scene before him.
His proud, peak human physique, if hit by that, would likely not even leave a molecule behind.
His proud vibranium shield?
Perhaps a small corner would remain as a souvenir.
The three of them, the strongest combatants in their respective teams, at this moment, simultaneously fell into a deathly silence.
The atmosphere was suppressed to an icy point.
However, just as Chu Hang thought everyone could lie down and see whose posture was more peaceful, Steve Rogers, this man who exuded the light of righteousness from head to toe, suddenly gritted his teeth!
In his blue eyes, which had been somewhat unfocused due to shock, two small flames actually reignited with a "whoosh"!
No way, Sir?
You're not giving up even now?
It's this desperate, and you can still reignite?
Do you carry a lighter, or do you have a nuclear reactor in your heart?
Chu Hang admitted that he was broken by Steve's damned, utterly ill-timed heroism.
Yes, it was too early to give up now; what if?
What if this big guy ran out of mana?
What if its next shot misfired?
What if...
Just as he was letting his mind wander, trying to cheer himself up with all sorts of unrealistic fantasies, his ears, enhanced by the super soldier serum, suddenly caught a subtle change.
The destructive beam attack was so powerful that it temporarily "cleared" the surrounding sounds, causing a brief period of deafness in his hearing.
And now, as the ringing in his ears subsided, the sounds of the World were returning.
The wind, the rustling of snow particles on the ground, the cracking sound of distant glaciers... and... "Buzz, buzz, buzz—"
The terrifying noise coming from the foot of the mountain, which had just sounded like ten thousand industrial drills working simultaneously in his ear, suddenly grew quieter!
Chu Hang's heart skipped a beat!
He immediately closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on his hearing, like the most precise sonar radar, carefully distinguishing every sound detail coming from the monster.
That's right!
The monster's head-mounted turbine fan had clearly slowed down, and the sound had changed from the previous deafening shriek to a somewhat weak, somewhat strained "huffing and puffing" sound, like an old engine being forced to cool down after overheating.
Holy crap!
An opportunity!
"Yaoyao... no, Captain!" Chu Hang, in his excitement, almost blurted out his catchphrase from playing games in his previous life.
He scrambled over to Steve, "That thing's voice is incredibly weak! Now's the time!"
Steve's eyes lit up with a "whoosh," shining like two-thousand-watt searchlights, instantly dispelling all gloom!
"Good! Good! Good!" He roared three "goods" in a row, the dejected look on his face completely gone.
"Listen up, this is our only chance, everyone pay attention! Next, I'll draw its Fire!"
What the hell?
Chu Hang and Logan were simultaneously dumbfounded.
You're going to draw its Fire?
What are you going to block with?
Your handsome face?
That thing doesn't protect against energy blasts!
"I'll attract its attention," Steve's words were as fast as a Gatling gun, but every word was terrifyingly clear, "I'll use my speed and shield to harass it from the front; its clumsy appearance means it'll turn slowly, like a dumb ass.
What I need are those few seconds it takes to turn around to chase me!"
His gaze, like two scorching branding irons, landed precisely on Logan and Chu Hang.
"Once it turns, its back weakness will be completely exposed!
Logan, your claws are tough enough, but with your own strength, you probably can't pierce its thick hide with one claw.
So, you need Chu's help!"
He abruptly turned to Chu Hang, his eyes filled with trust and expectation: "Chu, your strength is ridiculously great now; I estimate it's not much worse than mine.
Later, you go with Logan.
Logan is responsible for using his claws to pinpoint that core spot, and then, you use all your might to smash Logan's claws into it like a nail!"
Smash Logan's claws... like a nail?
Chu Hang's jaw almost dropped off.
Captain, your tactic is too damn abstract, isn't it?
What do you take Logan for?
A human-shaped self-propelled armor-piercing projectile?
Or a disposable tool to be thrown away after use?
"I understand!" Before Chu Hang could complain, a beastly glow erupted in Logan's eyes again.
He licked his chapped lips with his tongue, and a nearly perverted... no, an extremely excited smile appeared on his face, "This way of playing is exciting! I fucking love it!"
"Captain, that's too reckless!" Chu Hang finally couldn't help but complain, "If you're just wandering around in front, and it suddenly cools down and hits you again, what then?
We won't even have a chance to collect your body!"
"No 'what if'!" Steve interrupted him decisively, with an unquestionable aura.
"This is an order!
It's our only hope for survival!
Remember, we only have one chance, maybe only a few seconds!
If we fail, the three of us are going back to our old homes!"
After speaking, he gave Chu Hang no chance to argue further.
He suddenly stood up and stepped out from behind the rock's cover.
The fierce wind on the mountain peak made his blue, White, and red tight suit "whoosh" and flutter, perfectly outlining his flawless physique, comparable to an ancient Greek sculpture.
He stood there alone, at the edge of the cliff, facing the mountain-sized steel monster at the foot of the mountain.
He raised the pot lid in his hand... oh no, the vibranium shield, high.
"Hey! You big, ugly tin can!"
Steve's voice, amplified by the super soldier serum, echoed like a loudspeaker throughout the entire valley, filled with provocation.
"Your Grandpa, I, am here!"
At the foot of the mountain, the behemoth slowly rotated its massive single eye, and a crimson light instantly locked onto the tiny, suicidal figure on the mountain peak.
A furious roar, filled with rage at being provoked by an ant, boomed out, shaking the entire mountain with its vibrations!
"Come on!"
Steve roared, his leg muscles suddenly bulging, and he "whoosh"ed like a cannonball breaking free of its restraints, leaping directly from the dozens-of-meters-high mountain ridge!
Oh my god!
Chu Hang's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
He actually... he actually charged forward voluntarily!
In mid-air, Steve curled his body, tightly shielding himself with the round shield, transforming into a blue meteor streaking across the sky, carrying an indomitable resolve and fearless courage, unhesitatingly smashing towards that steel jungle representing Death and destruction!
Chapter 35: I Choose You, Humanoid Armor-Piercing Bullet!
Steve Rogers, this walking recruitment advertisement, the spiritual totem of the United States, just jumped straight down from the cliff.
His figure in the snowstorm was like a blue cannonball leaving the barrel, carrying an unyielding determination, heading straight for the HYDRA-branded "Gundam" at the foot of the mountain, which was comparable to a mobile fortress.
Chu Hang stood at the edge of the cliff, shivering from the cold wind that blew into his collar.
But he knew very well that this physical chill was nothing compared to the stormy waves raging in his heart.
Madman!
This was absolutely a 100% pure madman!
Any carbon-based life form with normal brain circuits, upon seeing such a behemoth with overwhelming size, firepower, and defense, would instinctively turn tail and run as far as possible.
But Steve, he not only didn't run, he played "face-checking the bush," actively offering himself up as a Tank.
He was treating his life as the last card in a game of all-in poker, slamming it onto the table without hesitation, betting that the two of them watching from above could find that slim chance of turning the tide, even more remote than winning the lottery, before he was flattened into a meat patty.
"Damn it..." Logan, beside Chu Hang, let out a low growl from his throat, a sound mixed with admiration, annoyance, and a hint of completely ignited beastly ferocity.
His eyes, usually half-asleep and carrying a hint of mockery, were now fixed on Steve's back, and his clenched fists made a "cracking" sound as his knuckles popped.
"That son of a bitch, the U.S. Captain, always manages to do things that make my blood pressure skyrocket."
Chu Hang glanced at Logan, a wild grin spreading across his face.
Oh, Old Wolf, that's not your blood pressure skyrocketing, I think it's your adrenaline surging, you're getting hot-blooded, aren't you?
"Stop talking nonsense, old friend!" Chu Hang took a deep breath, forcing himself into a calm state, his super soldier serum-enhanced brain began to operate at hyper speed, frantically calculating distance, wind speed, trajectory, and the lead time for every joint rotation of that iron lump.
"Captain has entrusted his life to us as a pledge of allegiance.
If we mess this up, the three of us will be sitting together in this ice and snow today, neatly waiting to be packaged and taken away!"
As he spoke, Steve had already landed.
He was like an impossibly agile blue flea, moving frantically around the feet of the colossal monster.
Each time the monster's alloy giant foot landed, it was like a small earthquake, sending up snow waves and broken stones that could bury a tank alive.
But Steve always managed to dodge and weave by mere millimeters, his shield clanging as it blocked the sweeping mechanical tentacles, creating a noise more grating than fingernails on a chalkboard.
He succeeded.
He used himself as the perfect taunt, firmly drawing all of the monster's aggro to the front.
That iron lump clearly didn't have any advanced AI chips installed; its intelligence was concerning.
It was furious at the annoying little pest in front of it, lowering its huge head, its two crimson electronic eyes locked onto Steve, completely unaware that its wide, thick back was now undefended and exposed to the view of the two "old sixes" on the cliff.
Now!
The window of opportunity was only once!
"Logan!" Chu Hang roared at the top of his lungs.
"Do it!" Old Wolf's response was just one word, concise and full of the excitement of an impending feast.
Chu Hang grabbed Logan by the back of his collar; it felt like grabbing half a cast-iron door, the muscles on this old guy were even harder than Chu Hang's face.
"Hold on tight, old man!" Chu Hang didn't forget to quip before launching, "If my hand slips halfway and I drop you, I'm not responsible for going down to collect your corpse!"
"Shut up, kid! You're the heaviest damn attachment I've ever seen!" Logan cursed fiercely, but his body was already coiled like a bow, his legs slightly bent, ready to be launched like a cannonball.
Chu Hang's legs suddenly exerted force, the terrifying explosive power brought by the super soldier serum was squeezed to its limit at this moment!
The rocks beneath his feet cracked in response, and he shot up like a cannonball from a barrel, still carrying a "human-shaped pendant" weighing over a hundred kilograms and equipped with three bone claws.
"Whoosh—"
The strong wind shrieked in Chu Hang's ears, and the sensation of weightlessness made his stomach churn.
He stared intently at the huge moving bullseye below, frantically adjusting their parabolic trajectory in the air based on its turning lead time.
"It's there!" Chu Hang roared at Logan in mid-air, his finger pointing remotely at a heavily armored area on the monster's back.
That was the only "Achilles' heel" that sounded like an energy core, which he had located using his extraordinary hearing!
Logan forcibly twisted his head in mid-air, looking in the direction Chu Hang pointed, his gaze instantly becoming sharper than the bone claws in his hand.
"Swish!"
Three bone claws, gleaming with a chilling light, shot out from his fists!
Closer! Even closer!
Chu Hang could even clearly see the thick weld seams and ferocious rivets on the monster's armor, and he could smell the disgusting mixture of oil, burnt smell, and ozone emanating from it.
Steve below also seemed to understand; he suddenly thrust his shield forward, using all his strength to ram one of the monster's legs.
This action caused little damage but was extremely insulting, successfully causing the behemoth's massive body to momentarily stiffen.
This was the moment!
"Get in there, you!"
Chu Hang let out a roar that didn't sound human, twisting his waist and abdomen, his arm muscles bulging, using all the strength he had accumulated since his transmigration, he fiercely "pressed" Logan in his hand towards that target point!
Rather than saying he pressed, it was more accurate to say that Chu Hang gambled everything, with an almost suicidal, berserk posture, using Logan as a living human-shaped armor-piercing spike, slamming him fiercely into that ridiculously thick armor!
"Clang—!"
A deafening, extremely sharp metallic screech, enough to pierce eardrums, exploded!
Logan's bone claws collided violently with the monster's armor, sending up a large shower of sparks even more brilliant than fireworks.
The bone claws, capable of tearing through the steel plates of bank vaults, at this moment only scratched three dazzling white marks on the armor's surface, failing to completely penetrate!
"Damn it!" Logan's curse mixed with the metallic friction, full of unwillingness.
Chu Hang's heart sank; did he miscalculate?
Was this turtle shell even harder than he imagined?
No! It wasn't over yet! His part wasn't finished!
Chu Hang's body followed closely, under immense inertia, slamming hard into Logan's back.
His feet landed precisely on Logan's lower back, using him as a perfect fulcrum and force transmission rod.
"I said..." Chu Hang's eyes were bloodshot from overexertion, his voice almost squeezed out word by word from between his teeth, "GET! IN! THERE!"
He gathered all the strength unleashed by the super soldier serum in his body, all his resentment as a modern office worker against 996, against the internal competition, against this messed-up World, all his fear of Death and his desire to live, all his energy, and concentrated it all into his right foot!
Then, he kicked out fiercely!
This kick, squarely and precisely, landed on the back of Logan's right fist, which was already halfway into the armor!
"Crack!"
This time, it was no longer an ear-piercing screech, but a crisp, shattering sound like tempered glass being broken!
Under the combined force of their two "super Soldier" level powers, that indestructible armor was finally pierced by their most brutal and unreasonable method!
Logan's entire right arm, along with his bone claws, was forcefully kicked into the monster's body by Chu Hang!
"Roar—!"
A painful roar, not from a living creature, filled with static electricity and system crash alarms, erupted from deep within the monster's throat.
The terrifying sound wave instantly flung Chu Hang and Logan off its back.
They tumbled through the air like two rag dolls, landing hard in the snow dozens of meters away, creating two steaming craters.
Chu Hang felt as if all his bones had come loose, his throat sweetened, and a mouthful of blood with the taste of rust spewed out.
But his eyes were fixed on the behemoth.
It was insane.
The monster, whose kidney they had stabbed, had completely gone berserk.
Its massive body twisted wildly, countless mechanical tentacles flailing haphazardly, smashing everything around it to pieces.
The huge turbine engine on its chest began to flicker erratically, dark red energy beams sweeping aimlessly, cutting deep trenches into the ice and melting mountain rocks into molten lava.
"Run!" Steve's roar came, he had already rushed to their side amidst the chaos, pulling Chu Hang out of the snow pit.
On the other side, Logan also wobbled to his feet, his right arm, which Chu Hang had used as a "nail," hung limply, clearly fractured, but it was now wriggling and resetting at a visible speed under the effect of his Healing Factor.
The three of them ran for their lives, not looking back, in the direction away from the monster.
Behind them was a scene like the end of the World.
A series of dull explosions came from inside the monster's body, and large amounts of black smoke and electrical sparks spewed from the gaps in its armor.
Finally, in an earth-shattering explosion, its mountain-like body collapsed with a crash, kicking up thousands of snow waves.
The World was finally quiet.
Chu Hang plopped down in the snow, gasping for breath like a broken bellows, feeling like his lungs were about to cough out.
Steve leaned on his shield, half-kneeling, his chest heaving violently.
Logan, on the other hand, lay flat, spread out in a "big" shape, a flattened cigar he'd pulled from who knows where dangling from his mouth, staring at the grey sky, not saying a word.
They won.
In this seemingly unwinnable battle, the three of them, these "cheaters," relying on plans crazier than the last and a desperate execution, truly dismantled that arrogant behemoth.
An unprecedented feeling, named "exhilaration," arose in Chu Hang's heart.
So, being a hero... felt like this.
It was... pretty damn good.
Chapter 36 Energy can also be copied!
The World, finally, is quiet.
The explosions, more intense than a rock concert, the metallic wails, more piercing than a pig's dying squeal, all were extinguished in that final, colossal bang, comparable to a small nuclear detonation.
Chu Hang slumped onto the snow, feeling like a hapless soul who had run an eight-hundred-kilometer marathon and then been run over three times by a dump truck. His chest heaved like a broken bellows, and every part of his body screamed that it was about to fall apart.
So tired.
Truly, it was more exhausting than a month of continuous project crunch time in his memories.
Since transmigrating, this was his first time fighting such a high-level World Boss. This thing was like a giant mech and a terrifying monster stitched together, the mental pressure was immense. Every second, his nerves were stretched taut like guitar strings, afraid that he would be stomped into a two-dimensional being if he wasn't careful.
The muscle fibers, strained from the violent output, were repairing at an astonishing speed under the dual effects of the super soldier serum and the Healing Factor.
Two powerful abilities achieved highly efficient synergy within him.
Chu Hang subconsciously clenched his fist, feeling the sense of power that seemed capable of crushing metal. He understood; after this battle, he had truly stabilized the power of the super soldier serum. Now, he was significantly stronger than before the fight.
A long, bellows-like gasp came from nearby.
Chu Hang turned his head and saw Steve Rogerskneeling on one knee, supporting himself with his iconic shield. Captain America was breathing heavily, but his blue eyes gleamed with the relief of having survived and a resolute light.
"Are you alright?" Steve asked, his voice hoarse but full of concern.
"Can't die," Chu Hang grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and with a light movement, he leaped out of the snow pit, "I feel... better than ever."
Steve looked at Chu Hang and also showed a relieved smile. He nodded, then turned his gaze to the other side.
Logan was sprawled in the snow in a 'big' character shape. The arm that Chu Hang had used as a 'armor-piercing drill' had now mostly recovered under the effect of the Healing Factor, as if the horrifying injury from earlier was just an illusion.
"Hey, old man, still alive?" Chu Hang shouted at him.
Logan didn't respond, only silently raised his hand and gave a clear, unambiguous middle finger to the gloomy sky.
"Alright, looks like he's full of spirit," Chu Hang shrugged.
Steve stood up, walked to Chu Hang's side, and extended his hand. Chu Hang paused for a moment, then took it. The Captain pulled him up steadily with a strong grip.
"Nice work, Chu," Steve clapped Chu Hang's shoulder with a force that would make an ordinary person wince, "Just now, if it weren't for you, we might have all been left here."
"Don't say that, Captain," Chu Hang quickly returned the compliment, "If you hadn't been the first to jump down and draw fire, we wouldn't have even had a chance to get close to that thing."
The two exchanged glances, a trust and tacit understanding born of shared life and death converging in their eyes.
"We need to confirm," Steve's gaze turned to the massive, still-smoking wreckage in the distance, "to make sure that thing is completely finished."
Chu Hang and Logan both agreed. Finishing blows were standard procedure.
The three supported each other, trudging through the snow towards the ruins. The closer they got, the stronger the strange smell, a mix of oil, burnt circuits, and unknown substances, became. Logan's nose twitched, and he frowned, "No scent of anything alive, it's dead. But this smell... it's a bit strange."
Chu Hang also concentrated, using his enhanced hearing to scan the ruins. It was dead silent, with no heartbeats or other signs of life.
"Wait," Chu Hang suddenly stopped, "There's movement."
"What?" Steve instantly went on alert.
"Something's making a sound," Chu Hang pointed to the center of the ruins, where they had attacked earlier, "A high-frequency hum, like some device on standby."
The three exchanged a look and immediately rushed towards the sound source. After prying open a twisted armor plate, they saw their target—a basketball-sized metal sphere, its surface covered with unknown runes, and three fresh claw marks (obviously Logan's masterpiece). The sphere was emitting a faint blue light, and the humming sound came from within.
Steve instinctively reached out to touch it, but Chu Hangstopped him.
"Don't touch it! Captain!" Chu Hang's expression was serious, "This thing feels wrong, very wrong!"
Chu Hang could feel that this small sphere contained an extremely violent and familiar energy fluctuation.
The Tesseract!
Although the energy intensity was vastly different, the vastness originating from space couldn't be mistaken! HYDRA had actually mastered the preliminary technology to utilize the energy of the Infinity Stones!
An instinctive craving surged from the depths of Chu Hang's heart; every cell in his body seemed to be screaming, wanting to devour this energy.
"Ding! High-purity Tesseract energy source detected! Do you wish to replicate it?"
"Warning: This energy source is extremely unstable, and the host's current physique may not be able to fully withstand it. Forcibly replicating carries risks..."
"System Tip: High risk, high reward! Young man, take a gamble, and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle!"
Chu Hang's heart raced.
Gamble! Must gamble! Such an opportunity is rare!
He silently chanted in his mind: "Replicate!"
"Ding! Starting replication of [Tesseract Energy (Degraded Version)]... Replication progress 1%... 5%..."
He remained outwardly calm, but his heart tightened.
"We must take it," Steve's voice interrupted his thoughts, "This thing cannot be left here. Howard Stark would definitely be interested in it."
Finally, they carefully wrapped the dangerous 'power bank' in canvas, with Steve personally carrying it.
Just then, urgent footsteps approached from a distance. The Howling Commandos arrived. When they saw the flattened battlefield and the mountain-like monster wreckage, everyone was stunned.
"My God..." Dugan murmured, "You three... did you slay a dragon?"
Steve just smiled tiredly: "Cleared a roadblock. Where are our men?"
"They're all rescued! Everyone's safe!" Dugan reported excitedly.
Everyone's gaze focused on Chu Hang, Steve, and Logan, filled with awe, admiration, and disbelief.
Chu Hang met these gazes, an indescribable sense of satisfaction welling up inside him. He glanced at Captain America beside him, then at Uncle Wolf, who was trying to light a flattened cigar not far away.
He knew that from this moment on, his name, "Chu Hang," would no longer be just a code.
Steve's gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on the HYDRA Base in the distance, still brightly lit.
He took a deep breath, his voice steady and powerful:
"Everyone, rest for ten minutes."
"Then, we go bring our brothers home from that hell!"
***
**[At the same time, a secret command room of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR)]**
On the screen, flickering with static, the satellite image was fixed on the massive monster wreckage. The command room was silent, the atmosphere heavy.
"Replay," the Agent leader's voice was hoarse and cold, "Magnify the last three minutes of footage, analyze it frame by frame!"
The technician quickly operated. The screen rewound, showing Steve jumping off the cliff to draw fire, and Chu Hang descending from the sky with Logan, delivering the fatal blow.
"Stop!" the Agent leader commanded.
The screen froze at the moment Chu Hang threw Loganlike a javelin.
"Analyze the movement trajectories and power output data of these two targets!"
Data scrolled rapidly across the screen.
"Report, Officer! According to model calculations, Chu Hang's instantaneous explosive power at the moment of his jump exceeded Captain Rogers' peak record! The force applied when throwing Logan is estimated to be enough to hurl a heavy tank tens of meters!"
"And that final assisted kick..." The technician's voice trembled, "Cannot be precisely calculated! The instantaneous force superposition exceeded the explanatory range of existing physical models! The results prove that they purely relied on physical attacks to penetrate over 300 millimeters of unknown high-strength alloy armor!"
The Agent leader stared intently at Chu Hang's figure on the screen, his eyes filled with surprise and doubt.
"Chu Hang..." he muttered to himself, "Our initial assessment was completely wrong. Terribly wrong!"
"He is by no means a simple enhanced Soldier! He has hidden his true strength! That final blow... contained extraordinary power, more like a kind of... instantaneous energy burst that we cannot understand!"
"And that energy core," the Agent leader pointed to another report, "the energy body extracted by HYDRAfrom the Tesseract. It was recovered by Rogers after the battle. But the moment Chu Hang touched it, our detectors captured an extremely short-lived abnormal energy fluctuation!"
A collective gasp filled the command room.
"Officer, are you saying he can utilize..."
"I have no conclusions," the Agent leader interrupted his subordinate, "I only know that this person is a thousand times more complex than we imagined."
The Agent leader slammed his fist on the control panel.
Chapter 37 The Nest
Chu Hang's light, airy phrase, "There's something else," was like a drop of ice water in a hot oil pan, instantly freezing the atmosphere.
"Explain yourself!"
Steve Rogers' face, comparable to a Greek sculpture, instantly tensed, and his hand gripped Chu Hang's shoulder like an iron clamp.
The force was so great that if Chu Hang hadn't just completed his "hardware upgrade," his bone would have fractured.
The future leader of the Avengers, at this moment, had no trace of gentleness in his eyes; they were filled with the sharpness of a falcon locking onto its prey.
Logan, who was walking in front, also froze.
He didn't turn around, but his iconic cigar slipped from the corner of his mouth and fell to the snow, hissing as it extinguished.
He twitched his nostrils, like a lone wolf sniffing out the scent of a natural enemy, his entire body's muscles entering a combat-ready state.
"A signal source? No, that's not right..." Chu Hang closed his eyes, pushing the extraordinary senses brought by the 100% integrated super soldier serum to their limit.
His brain instantly transformed into a precise sonar, filtering, analyzing, and modeling the countless sound wave data pouring into his ears.
"It's not one, it's thousands... maybe even more!" Chu Hang suddenly opened his eyes, his expression becoming a bit strange; it wasn't fear, but more like the excitement of discovering a new continent, "They're moving, right beneath our feet, in the wall cavities, like a swarm of awakened insects.
And they seem to be... electrified?"
"The smell isn't right," Logan finally spoke, his voice hoarse as if sandpapered.
"Besides the rust and blood, there's a strong ozone smell, and burnt wires... These damn things are electrified."
Electrified.
Massive in number.
Moving inside the walls.
These keywords combined made Steve and Logan's faces darken.
They were both seasoned Soldiers and immediately realized this was not a good sign.
However, Chu Hang's mind recalled the conversation of the HYDRA officer he had overheard earlier.
"Final purification plan!" He "just right" shouted out this crucial piece of information, his face cooperatively displaying a look of "sudden realization" and terror, "That officer I heard earlier, this is what he was going to activate!
They're not going to self-destruct; they're going to release these monsters to clear out the entire underground facility, along with our brothers!"
At this, even Steve's face turned completely White.
This was no longer a rescue; it was like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth, and at a time when a volcano was about to erupt.
"Go!"
Steve no longer hesitated, being the first to charge down the dark underground staircase.
Chu Hang and Logan followed closely, one pondering to what extent this "experience pack" would allow his new body to adapt, while the other was purely driven by the fully unleashed primal instinct of a Beast enjoying battle.
The three rushed underground, and a smell of oil, dust, and strong ozone assailed them.
From deep within the walls came a grating, teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound, as if countless crabs were crawling through pipes, and getting closer and closer.
Suddenly, on the wall in front of them, with a "crack," a concrete slab fell off, and a fist-sized mechanical spider with six metal limbs poked its head out, its scarlet compound eyes flickering as it locked onto them.
Immediately after, came the second, the third... With a "boom," the entire wall, like a dam eaten hollow by termites, instantly collapsed!
Hundreds, thousands of identical mechanical spiders surged out of the wall hole like a black tide, the sound of their limbs scraping the ground merging into a hair-raising noise, their scarlet electronic eyes forming a desperate sea of stars.
"Mechanical spiders... with self-destruct function.
HYDRA's imagination really only goes to crooked paths," Chu Hang muttered under his breath, watching the spectacular scene.
"Clang, clang, clang—!"
Steve, with his shield, perfectly embodied what it meant to be "immovable as a mountain."
Countless mechanical spiders fearlessly crashed into his shield, exploding into dazzling electric sparks, a scene as festive as "skyrockets" on New Year's.
"Roar!"
Logan, the rampaging Beast, was even more direct, not retreating but advancing, like a berserker in a frenzy, plunging into the "monster pile."
Bone claws swung, metal tearing and explosions were ceaseless, with astonishing efficiency.
Chu Hang's mind stirred, and he chose a third path.
"Let me test the limits of this new body."
He pushed off with his legs, and his entire body shot up like a weightless feather, his toes lightly touching the wall, his body flipping, and he was already hanging upside down from the ceiling, using all four limbs.
Perfect balance, gravity-defying coordination!
The agility and strength brought by the super soldier serum were being played to their fullest extent by him at this moment.
"The view from the ceiling is indeed different."
He grinned, like a true predatory spider, moving rapidly across the ceiling, each movement precisely appearing above the densest areas of the spider swarm.
Then, he stomped down heavily!
"Boom!"
The strength enhanced by the serum poured out through the soles of his feet without reservation.
A large swath of mechanical spiders, along with the concrete ceiling beneath them, was instantly pulverized.
This feeling was much more satisfying than stepping on a bunch of cockroaches.
The three, one a Tank, one a Berserker, and one a highly mobile Assassin, a classic iron triangle combination, fought back and forth amidst the spider tide.
However, just as he was fighting with gusto, his "full-map sonar" picked up an ominous piece of information.
He "heard" that the real main spider tide, that "vast ocean" of mechanical legions, completely ignored their battle and, using countless backup pipes and vents, bypassed them, now encircling the B-block cells from all directions in a three-dimensional pincer movement.
Using small units to tie them down, while the main force went to attack their base.
"Not good!" Chu Hang immediately switched back to "anxious teammate" mode, shouting down below, "Captain! We've been tricked! Their main force has gone around! Their target is still the cells!"
Steve and Logan's movements suddenly froze.
"Retreat! Charge through!"
Steve made a decisive decision, no longer prolonging the fight.
The three forcibly broke through, carving a path through the metallic tide of electric sparks and fire.
But when they rushed out of the corridor and reached the main road leading to Block B, all three stopped as if hitting the brakes.
In front of them, two machine gun positions, temporarily built from sandbags and steel plates, firmly blocked the only passage.
The dark muzzles of two MG42 machine guns, known as "Hitler's Chainsaw," were already aimed at them.
And behind them, the mechanical spider tide they had shaken off was making a grating, teeth-grinding "shhh" sound, regrouping, preparing for a new round of assault.
Heavy firepower blocked the way ahead, and endless self-destructing small monsters were behind them.
Chu Hang licked his somewhat dry lips, the excitement in his eyes growing even stronger.
This was getting interesting.
Chapter 38 Battle Results
In front were two 'Hitler's Saws' wildly spitting out deadly heavy metal, and behind was a 'shuffling' sea of mechanical spiders, ready to pounce and embrace you warmly, then take you to the heavens with a 'BOOM'.
Chu Hang was familiar with this feeling.
Isn't this the most classic scenario when playing a game? You finally fight your way to the BOSS room, only to find two elite gatekeepers with thick health bars blocking the entrance, a train of endless small monsters trailing behind them, and a blood-red timed rescue countdown displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.
A standard 'front and back pincer, blossoming in the middle' desperate Death trap.
For an ordinary player, they would probably have taken their hands off the keyboard by now, considering whether to switch professions in the next round or just uninstall the game.
But the problem was, Chu Hang's two teammates were clearly not in the category of 'ordinary players'.
Especially Steve Rogers.
It seemed the commands 'give up' and 'retreat' were never written into this guy's game dictionary at all.
"I need three seconds."
Steve's voice sounded like it was hammered directly from his chest, incredibly steady, without the slightest emotional fluctuation. He didn't even look back, but Chu Hang and Logan instantly understood that this was a tactical command issued to them.
Three seconds.
In this corridor of Death's storm, woven by 7.92mm Mauser bullets, let alone three seconds, even zero-point three seconds of hesitation would be enough to turn a cow into a sieve.
Logan let out a Beast-like growl from his throat, taking a fierce step forward, his entire body almost pressed against Steve's back, like a leopard poised to strike, completely entrusting his most vulnerable back to Chu Hang behind him.
Tsk, the trust between god-tier teammates is just that simple and unpretentious.
Chu Hang took a deep breath; his heart, which had been pumping blood rapidly due to the battle, strangely slowed down at this moment. The 100% integrated super soldier serum brought not only explosive strength and speed but also a calm brain comparable to a supercomputer.
The only way out was to use the most unreasonable, most barbaric, and most efficient method to instantly kill those two 'iron turtles' in front before the countdown reached zero!
"The one on the left is mine," Chu Hang said concisely, his voice not loud, but clearly piercing through the hail of bullets.
"Understood," Steve's response was just one word.
Now!
Almost a thousandth of a second after Chu Hang's words fell, Steve moved!
His perfect musculature suddenly tensed, his center of gravity sinking. The round shield emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes was like an unshakeable wall, protecting his entire upper body. The next second, he plunged into that Death net of fire and shrapnel like an enraged bull.
"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—!"
A series of dense, popping metal impacts instantly pierced everyone's eardrums. Countless bullets slammed violently against the vibranium shield, sending out sparks as bright as a small fireworks show. The terrifying impact caused the concrete floor beneath Steve's feet to crack inch by inch.
But he did not retreat a single step.
He was like a dreadnought breaking through waves against a Category 12 storm, using his flesh and blood to withstand the terrifying kinetic energy that could overturn an armored vehicle, advancing step by step, unswervingly.
This is the Son of the Version, Captain America! A man who plays the 'tank' role to its extreme.
Behind him, Logan's figure was almost one with him. He was curled up in the 'absolute safe zone' cast by the shield, his steps perfectly synchronized with Steve's, and his three gleaming bone claws had already locked onto the throat of the right machine gunner.
This coordination wasn't rehearsed; it was battle instinct honed in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, muscle memory forged through countless life-and-Deathsituations.
And Chu Hang chose a third path. A system-recommended path, full of flashy maneuvers.
The moment Steve used his 'Vibranium rice bowl' to draw all the aggro, Chu Hang's body also moved.
His right foot stomped heavily on the ground, and instead of moving forward, he shot diagonally upward, like an arrow released from a bowstring, towards the left wall.
Newton's coffin lid, I must crush you today!
Under the terrifying enhancement of the super soldier serum, Chu Hang's body felt weightless, and gravity was a joke in front of him. His toes glided effortlessly on the ninety-degree vertical wall, his body forming an eerie thirty-degree angle with the ground. He moved like a ghost sliding along the wall, so fast that he left only a faint afterimage in the air.
All the attention of the two HYDRA machine gunners was completely absorbed by the 'tin can' charging head-on with a shield. They never dreamed that the true God of Death had quietly arrived from their blind spot.
This is it!
After sprinting seven or eight meters on the wall, Chu Hang suddenly exerted force in his waist and abdomen, twisting his body in mid-air in an extreme rotation. He pushed off a thick ventilation pipe on the ceiling with both hands, completing a perfect 'giant swing' like a gymnast, silently passing over the machine gun position.
Then, gravity reasserted control over his body.
He descended like a falcon with folded wings, falling from the sky, targeting the back of the left machine gunner's head.
"Pfft!"
There was no earth-shattering bang, only a dull, bone-chilling crunch.
Chu Hang's knee landed precisely, heavily, and without any fancy moves, on the back of that HYDRA Soldier's neck. The unlucky fellow didn't even have time to whimper; his entire body instantly collapsed like boneless mud, his fingers still tightly clamped on the trigger, but the muzzle's flame had been extinguished forever.
Almost at the same instant, the frontal battlefield also decided its victor.
Steve let out a long-suppressed roar when he was less than five meters from the right machine gun position. The strength that had been suppressed by the shield for three full seconds erupted like a volcano at this moment.
With a flick of his wrist, the vibranium shield, which had absorbed tons of kinetic energy, flew out with a scream that tore through the air, transforming into a red, blue, and white disc of Death, spinning rapidly.
Its target was not the machine gunner, but a load-bearing steel pillar on the side of the machine gun position.
"Clang!"
The shield struck the steel pillar with a deafening crash, then rebounded at an angle that completely defied the laws of physics, like a boomerang with built-in GPS, smashing hard and accurately into the right machine gunner's Sun temple.
The poor guy's terror hadn't even faded from his eyes before he fell straight backward.
And just as he fell, a long-prepared Shadow flashed out from behind Steve like lightning.
It was Logan!
Like a fierce tiger finally breaking free from its cage, he covered the distance in a few strides and lunged directly into the machine gun position that had lost its Master. His sharp bone claws slashed mercilessly, instantly turning the other two dumbfounded Soldiers inside, who were about to draw their pistols, into two bleeding corpses.
Clean, swift, bloody.
From the moment Steve shouted "three seconds" until the two heavy firepower points, capable of locking down an entire city block, were completely eliminated, the entire process did not even exceed five seconds.
Chu Hang lightly jumped down from the machine gun position, glanced at Steve, who had calmly retrieved his shield, and then at Logan, who was wiping the blood from his claws on the wall. He couldn't help but let out a heartfelt sigh.
This, damn it, is what you call a textbook-perfect strong assault! A top-tier MT, a berserker DPS, plus himself, a show-off assassin—what game wouldn't consider this lineup a speedrun configuration?
"Shasha..."
The sound from behind grew closer and closer; the annoying mechanical spiders were already flooding into the corridor like a tide.
"No time to loot! Go!" Steve didn't even glance at the bodies or equipment on the ground, his gaze fixed on the closed iron door at the end of the corridor, and he roared.
The trio started again, sprinting desperately towards the B-block cells.
Chapter 39 The Prison! The Last Stand!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each heavy military boot that struck the ground was like a battering ram pounding a drum.
The entire narrow underground passage groaned under the relentless charge of these three humanoid weapons, unable to bear the strain. Dust from the walls cascaded down, constantly peeling off from the vibrations, and the already dim explosion-proof light tubes overhead flickered wildly in the intense shaking, occasionally letting out a "zzzzzt" of electrical lament before plunging into complete darkness.
Half light, half dark.
The flickering light, like a malfunctioning film projector, stretched, twisted, and cut their three figures on the cold steel walls into frames of violent, blurry specters erupting from hell.
A complex scent permeated the air.
It was the metallic tang, the acrid smell of ozone, and a faint, lingering scent of blood that, though subtle, persistently clung to the nose.
Chu Hang felt his lungs were like a broken bellows, each breath bringing a scalding sensation. But he felt no fatigue, not at all.
The explosive power brought by the super soldier serumroared and surged like a breached flood in every muscle fiber of his body. His heart pounded like a war drum struck by a giant, each strong, powerful beat pumping hot blood to his limbs, bringing waves of tingling pleasure from the surge of power.
And the Healing Factor, derived from Logan, was like an inexhaustible nuclear furnace, instantly incinerating the tearing pain from every overexerted muscle movement, transforming it into purer, more violent power!
Destroying and regenerating at the same time!
This extreme feeling of both pain and pleasure made him almost want to howl at the sky!
He looked at the blue figure running at the very front, and only one word came to mind: madman.
Steve Rogers, this man, was a blue Rocket, once ignited, that could not be stopped. His physique was as strong as a prehistoric armored bull; the words "evade" and "slow down" simply weren't in his dictionary. His eyes were locked on the despairingly thick steel door at the end of the corridor, and the concrete floor beneath his feet cracked with every step.
He wasn't running; he was carving the shortest straight line to victory with his own flesh and blood!
Chu Hang could feel that his knock-off serum was already potent enough, but compared to the genuine article in front of him, it always felt like it lacked a certain soul. It was a kind of… pure, ultimate iron will that could burn oneself alive into a flag.
And almost neck and neck with Steve was Logan.
This old man was even more direct, completely abandoning walking on two legs, and instead moved on all fours, his muscles coiling like pythons beneath his combat suit, making him look like a Sabretooth that had burst out of a prehistoric jungle, ferocity fully exposed. Three stark white bone claws had already sprung out, dragging dazzling cold light in the dimness, and a bloodthirsty growl was suppressed in his throat, each breath exhaling hot white mist.
His senses were sharper than Chu Hang's and Steve's; the increasingly strong scent of blood had completely ignited the beastly instinct in his bones.
He wasn't here to save people; he was here to eat.
In a flash, they were less than ten meters from that door!
Steve roared, his voice like a sudden clap of thunder, stirring up rolling echoes in the confined passage!
He performed no fancy moves, his legs suddenly pushing off, his body sinking slightly, pouring all his strength, all his anger, all his belief into his right shoulder, which was harder than steel!
He charged with an unstoppable momentum that could smash through a mountain, and slammed violently into the door!
"Clang—!!!"
A terrifying, deafening roar exploded, capable of shattering one's internal organs!
Chu Hang's ears instantly went deaf, his mind filled only with an extremely sharp ringing! He even felt the ground beneath his feet jump violently upwards, and a visible circular shockwave exploded from the point of impact, sweeping away all the dust and debris in the passage!
That specially made door, half a meter thick and capable of withstanding a direct hit from an anti-tank cannon, had its center panel terrifyingly dented as if struck by a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press!
The next second, countless dark cracks, like living vines, spread wildly outwards from the point of impact!
The entire lock system, along with the surrounding concrete structure deeply embedded in the wall, disintegrated with a burst of rubble and sparks!
The iron door, weighing several tons, flew backward with a whistle, spinning like scrap metal kicked by a giant, and heavily crashed into the space behind the door, emitting a dull thud.
The door opened.
But the scene behind the door made the three figures, who had just been full of momentum, freeze in their tracks.
Chu Hang's scalp instantly prickled.
A chill more biting than a Siberian cold front, starting from the soles of his feet, crept up his spine, as if someone had plunged an ice pick into the top of his head! All the blood in his body seemed to freeze in that instant!
What the hell… did he just poke an Alien nest?!
What met his eyes was no prison cell at all.
It was a living, black ocean made of pure despair and steel! The mechanical spiders they had seen outside were practically swarming here! On the ground, on the walls, on the ceiling... they were densely packed, like a writhing, disgusting black carpet, covering everything as far as the eye could see!
"Shashasha..."
"Crunch... crunch..."
The sound of countless metal limbs scraping the ground, the sound of gnawing steel, mixed with a pungent, nauseating smell of ozone and blood, assailed them, almost suffocating them!
The moment the door was burst open, that black ocean seemed to pause for a second.
Then, countless crimson compound eyes turned in unison, locking onto the three people at the doorway.
It was a cold, emotionless gaze, purely seeing all living things as food.
"Help!"
"Get away! Don't come any closer!"
From the depths of hell came the wails of survivors.
In rows of iron cells, the captured Soldiers were using their last ounce of strength to pound on the bars, their faces contorted by fear and despair. Their military uniforms were tattered, their bodies more or less wounded, their eyes hollow, like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Right before Chu Hang's eyes, a spider had already bitten through the iron bars of a cell with its scalpel-sharp mouthparts, its glowing red compound eyes fixed on a young Soldier huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.
It lunged!
The young Soldier's scream only half-escaped his lips.
Then, it abruptly stopped.
A dazzling splash of crimson splattered on the cold iron bars.
Then, more spiders, smelling the blood, swarmed like vultures to carrion... The Soldier's body was quickly engulfed by the black tide, leaving only a few suppressed sounds of bones cracking.
Steve's eyes instantly turned red, "Whoosh!"
Not metaphorically, but truly, genuinely crimson due to widespread capillary rupture in his eyes from extreme rage.
"No!!!"
The sound he emitted was no longer a human roar, but the most sorrowful, most furious bellow of a male lion witnessing its cub being slaughtered! Reason? Tactics? Plans? Everything was incinerated in that moment! He plunged into the black tide of spiders, a symbol of Death, like an angry blue comet, the first to charge!
"Awooo—!"
Logan's reaction was only half a beat slower, a more primal, more violent beastly roar exploding from his throat! It wasn't a human sound; it was the most primitive roar of a wild Beast witnessing its kind being slaughtered! He arrived first, transforming into a black whirlwind of Death, each swing of his bone claws sending metal limbs and blue-purple electric sparks flying everywhere!
It's over.
Chu Hang's mind went "thump."
Watching those two blockheads dive headfirst into the monster horde, the towering rage in his heart felt as if it had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
He wasn't Steve; he didn't have that "I am legend" kind of awareness, willing to burn himself for a belief. Nor was he Logan; he didn't have that detached nonchalance of having lived for over a hundred years and seeing through life and Death, fighting just for the thrill of it.
Essentially, he was still the transmigator who just wanted to live a stable life.
Under the enhancement of the super soldier serum, his brain was operating at an unprecedented speed, with countless information streams rushing through like a waterfall.
Enemy count: Estimated over a thousand, possibly more, constantly replenishing.
Enemy characteristics: Highly aggressive, medium defense, group action, fearless of Death.
Our units:
Teammate #1 Steve, Class: Tank/Warrior. Status: "Taunt Face" and "Mindless Charge" modes activated, aggro maxed, IQ offline.
Teammate #2 Logan, Class: Berserker/Assassin. Status: "Berserk" mode activated, entered "Musou" state, indistinguishable between friend and foe (possibly), only focused on slaying monsters, disregarding hostages.
Our unit Chu Hang, Class: Agile Warrior/Support. Status: Reason intact, but blood pressure soaring.
Hostage count: Thirty to forty. Status: Scared senseless, movement speed zero, defense zero, pure "escort mission targets."
Terrain: Narrow, easy to defend but also easy to be surrounded.
Damn!
Chu Hang cursed in his mind.
This isn't a fight; this is a tower defense game on hell difficulty! Both main DPS and the Tank have turned into AI auto-attackers, and he's the only player still conscious!
Fighting like this is just asking to be served!
Someone has to be the damn Commander!
"Captain! Block the door! Don't let anyone in from outside!" Chu Hang roared with all his might, his voice hoarse as if scraped by sandpaper, yet it exploded like thunder. "Logan! Clear the left! The right is mine!"
This shout finally pulled Steve back to a sliver of reason from his fury. He turned sharply, his vibranium shield with the five-pointed star crashed to the ground with a "boom," his tall figure like an unshakeable mountain, firmly wedging the door he had just burst open, forcefully holding back the second wave of spider-like creatures that were about to surge in from outside like a tide!
Logan didn't reply, but he roared, turning without hesitation to the left cell block, beginning a more efficient slaughter!
The tactic worked!
Chu Hang took a deep breath; what he inhaled into his lungs felt not like air, but scalding flames. His gaze was fixed on the right! There, a cell door was covered in spiders, and inside, a young Soldier, head in hands, was frozen with fear.
No time!
Chu Hang's figure left an afterimage in place, and in the next instant, he appeared like a ghost at the entrance of that cell!
He couldn't be bothered with the spiders; his hands shot out like lightning, gripping the gnawed and pitted cell door bars!
His feet braced firmly against the wall beside the door, all his muscles bulged like coiled dragons, and his combat uniform creaked under the strain, groaning under the unbearable burden!
"Let—me—open—it!!!"
He gritted his back teeth, squeezing out these words through the gaps!
Creak, creak, creak—!!!
The extremely grating metallic wail, like a ghost's fingernails scraping glass, made the surrounding Soldiers cover their ears in pain!
That cell door, made of special steel and deeply embedded in the wall, began to deform inch by inch outwards under Chu Hang's pure, unreasonable brute force!
Concrete chunks and rebar fragments continuously cracked and splattered from the wall connections!
In the disbelieving eyes of that Soldier, as if he had witnessed a miracle!
The cell door was, by him, forcibly… ripped off!
But he didn't discard this hunk of scrap metal.
Instead, he swung this iron door, weighing hundreds of pounds and still sparking, like an oversized fly swatter, bringing it down with the force of Mount Tai onto a mechanical spider that had just pounced close to his feet!
Boom—!!!
A deafening roar!
That spider, along with the hard special concrete floor beneath it, was instantly smashed into an unrecognizable metal pancake mixed with fragments of metal and rubble!
Chu Hang stood there, holding the tattered iron door like a demon god who had emerged from hell, his chest heaving violently. He turned his head, looked at the completely stunned Soldier in the cell, and grinned, revealing teeth stained red with blood and gunpowder.
"Don't be afraid," his voice was hoarse, yet carried an undeniable power, "I'm here."