The original plan had been for Lelouch to control Hydra's upper echelon and have them attack Steve.
With Saiki Kusuo helping Steve, he would fight his way out and then inform everyone that Hydra had returned.
But now, it seemed Hydra had realized they'd been exposed.
Still, just as Lelouch said, the impact wasn't that big.
History was always written by the victors. Once Captain America defeated Hydra again, he would be hailed as a hero, and public opinion would undoubtedly stand with the hero. With wealth and Tony Stark's and Fury's extensive connections behind him, there was no need to worry about being branded a criminal by the world's governments for attacking S.H.I.E.L.D.
They might even have a chance to poach some S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel.
Perfect.
Of course, that was assuming they defeated the enemy.
"JARVIS, connect me to Fury."
While flying toward Lelouch's location, Shen He prepared to notify Fury.
"Sir, Director Fury's communications cannot be reached."
"All right… that guy's not that easy to kill. Notify Tony instead. And tell him he can't say I didn't give him a chance to play hero." Shen He figured something must have gone wrong on Fury's end.
But he wasn't very worried. That old fox, knowing beforehand that half of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s people were spies, couldn't possibly have been unprepared. The problem was that now they could only rely on Black Widow to notify the remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—Hawkeye was still in the secret base studying the Tesseract.
Just as Shen He finished preparing for battle—
Steve, who had been transferred to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret prisons, was sitting quietly in his cell.
There had been no interrogation, no torture—just custom cuffs on his wrists and ankles before they tossed him in here.
"The files say you can hear people's thoughts," Steve suddenly thought, "is that true?"
"…It's true."
Saiki Kusuo's voice abruptly appeared in his mind.
He was standing invisibly right beside Steve. At this distance, it was too easy for Captain America to sense him.
"Can you tell me what it feels like? Seeing straight into someone's heart?" Steve seemed genuinely curious. "I used to wish I had that kind of ability. Then I'd know who was good, who was bad, who needed help, who needed to be stopped. Maybe… maybe I could have saved a lot of people I didn't save."
"I wasn't asked to chat with you," Saiki replied helplessly.
"Ah—sorry, I just…"
"Dr. Abraham Erskine," Saiki interrupted Steve's apology. "That name flashed through your mind. Is he one of the people you didn't save?"
"…Yes. And the first person to die in front of me. He was… very important to me…" Steve thought.
What a hassle… Saiki listened to the torrent of thoughts in Steve's mind.
When someone is alone, a thousand thoughts well up—and Captain America's thoughts were enough to make a person feel ashamed.
He was worried he wouldn't be able to live up to the doctor's expectations in this unfamiliar era, worried this war would cause too many innocent casualties, even worried about Chaldea's true purpose…
"A lot of people are coming!"
Saiki cut off Steve's thoughts and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Next time, he'd avoid being alone with a hero… heroes were terrifying.
And just as Saiki said, many people did come—an entire heavily armed elite unit, clearly on high alert.
"Mr. Rogers, we're here to rescue you."
The leader removed his mask and placed a small plastic explosive on the cell lock.
With a bang, the cage blasted open. Several soldiers rushed in and lifted Steve by the arms, escorting him out.
"What's going on?" Steve asked.
"Hydra has revolted! We don't know how long they've been infiltrating us! They're trying to seize control. I'm under Director Fury's orders to extract you."
The leader was a tall, broad-shouldered young white man, a bit scruffy, very handsome, clearly a seasoned elite soldier.
"What's your name, soldier?"
Being carried out of the soundproof facility, Steve saw all the guards outside—all of them dead.
That alone proved how elite this squad was. The guards hadn't even had the chance to resist.
"Ward, Mr. Rogers." Ward remained cautious, watching the path ahead.
"All right, Ward." Steve nodded. "I'll remember you—as the first Hydra agent I defeated after waking up."
"—!"
Ward dodged instinctively, but the incoming punch still slammed into his shoulder, sending him flying several meters before crashing into a wall and collapsing unconscious.
At some point, Steve's cuffs had already been removed. At this distance, the elite squad didn't even fire a shot before Captain America unleashed a dazzling flurry of strikes and knocked them out cold.
In close combat, Steve was nearly unmatched—and his physical abilities far exceeded theirs.
"You should've left one conscious," Saiki said, appearing behind Steve. "Or followed them to see what they planned."
"I'm not very good at interrogations." Steve picked up Ward by the collar. "But I'm good at taking prisoners. Did Shen send any message? Or was this part of your plan?"
"You'll know once we get outside. But for now—more people are coming."
The moment Saiki finished speaking, every door and window blew open. Dozens more heavily armed soldiers stormed in through clouds of dust.
Captain America charged without hesitation. His explosive speed closed the distance in a blink—several enemies went down in a single sweep, and he lifted their bodies as shields against incoming gunfire.
All of it happened in an instant.
"…They're not Hydra."
Saiki's voice entered Steve's mind only then.
"Mr. Rogers, I'm here under Director Fury's orders to extract you." Agent Hill pointed her gun at Steve. "Please calm down."
"…." Steve set down the soldier he was holding. "I'm very sorry."
He really envied Saiki's ability right now.
Enemies and allies wore the same uniforms, had the same IDs, even said the same lines. For a WWII veteran like Steve, this kind of tactic was still too advanced.
"Mr. Saiki," Hill lowered her weapon and turned to him, "Director Fury said you'd be here. Can you identify which members of our team are enemies? They seem to be everywhere."
"Easily."
The moment Saiki's voice echoed in everyone's minds—
Several people immediately burst into action.
But before they could pull the trigger, their bodies were yanked upward and smashed into the ceiling.
One of Saiki's psychic abilities—Affinity Detection—was perfect for this situation.
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