"Sir, the investigation results are in."
Everyone was eating in the cafeteria. Tony looked completely uninterested, absentmindedly chewing on bread and drinking milk when JARVIS's voice suddenly rang out.
Tony pulled out his phone, and a holographic projection immediately appeared.
The image showed a man sitting in the corner of a hotel lobby reading a book, a cup of coffee placed in front of him. He looked perfectly relaxed, while outside the hotel was a world of snow and ice.
"Helmut Zemo. Formerly employed by Sokovia's intelligence department. He once led an assassination squad known as Echo Scorpion. After Sokovia was destroyed, he disappeared without a trace."
JARVIS's voice echoed through the room as Zemo's appearance was displayed in the hologram.
"Where is he now?" Tony asked.
"Moscow. However, he purchased a sightseeing train ticket bound for the Siberian Plateau."
JARVIS immediately displayed the ticket information.
"Siberia? I heard the fake Bucky mention before that the Winter Soldier base was somewhere in Siberia," Steve said at once.
"Then there's a good chance Zemo is heading there. But the fake Bucky also said the place had already been destroyed. Could there be another hidden fortress?"
"JARVIS, use the satellites to track the target. I want the exact location."
Tony viciously bit into his bread.
After breakfast, everyone immediately gathered in the conference room.
"Zemo has shown himself. Once JARVIS tracks his final destination, we move out immediately," Steve said first as everyone took their seats.
"I've also had Shuri use satellite positioning to track him. He won't get away," Erik said while rubbing the vibranium beads around his wrist.
---
Moscow.
Wearing a heavy coat and hat, Zemo boarded the train heading toward Siberia in a deliberately low-profile disguise.
His destination wasn't the final stop.
He planned to get off midway, then use a snowmobile to reach the location.
The plan went smoothly.
Zemo disembarked halfway through the journey and arrived at a rundown warehouse, where a snowmobile was parked inside.
Driving the snowmobile across the snowfields, he eventually reached the HYDRA fortress.
From behind him, Zemo pulled out a large backpack stuffed with more than a dozen high-explosive timed bombs.
He intended to destroy the entire place.
Whether it was the Super Soldier Serum or the Winter Soldier test subjects, all of it would vanish from the world forever.
Zemo hated superpowered individuals.
They were the ones who destroyed Sokovia.
Destroyed his homeland.
Ever since then, he had sworn to eradicate all superhumans and everything capable of turning humans into superhumans.
And this HYDRA fortress was the first step toward fulfilling that goal.
Skillfully opening the massive gate, Zemo slipped through the gap, and the doors slowly shut behind him.
Not long afterward, a Quinjet suddenly decloaked and slowly descended in front of the fortress entrance.
The hatch opened, and everyone stepped out.
"Looks like we found the right place. He got here before us," Tony said, pointing at the snowmobile beside the jet.
Judging by the snow accumulation on it, the vehicle had clearly arrived only recently.
"Be careful. Who knows what kind of traps he set inside," Steve warned as he removed the shield from his back and cautiously approached the door.
"Password lock. Even if we smash it apart, the door won't open without the code."
"Easy."
Tony walked over and extended a finger. A device resembling a lockpick popped out and violently jammed itself into the keypad, instantly destroying the screen.
A string of numerical combinations appeared before Tony's eyes while his helmet rapidly analyzed every possible password sequence.
Only a few minutes later—
Click.
The giant metal doors slowly opened.
"Let's move. Stay alert."
Steve immediately stepped inside first.
This wasn't his first time infiltrating a HYDRA bunker. These underground fortresses were massive mazes where it was easy to get lost.
Fortunately, neither Steve nor Tony had any trouble navigating them.
"JARVIS, deploy the micro-bots. Scan the entire facility."
"Yes, sir. Deploying micro-bots now."
At Tony's command, a compartment opened on the back of his armor, releasing countless insect-sized micro-robots that rapidly scattered in every direction.
At the same time, a detailed map of the fortress gradually formed before Tony's eyes.
"Follow me."
Using the scanned map, Tony led everyone toward the central control room.
Most fortresses followed the same design philosophy—the most important facilities were always located in the central control room, protected by layers upon layers of defenses.
The HYDRA fortress was enormous, practically a labyrinth.
Following Tony through countless twists and turns, Karl felt dizzy from all the winding corridors.
After more than ten minutes of navigating the maze, they finally arrived at the control room.
But the entire room was pitch black.
Only one area remained illuminated—the office on the upper level.
Then suddenly, every light in the control room switched on at once.
Rows upon rows of incubation pods appeared before them.
Inside each pod lay a person.
But every single one of them was already dead.
These were all Winter Soldiers.
And the bullet holes riddling the pods made it obvious they had all been executed by Zemo.
"This… this is—?!"
Everyone was shocked.
They had guessed the pods contained Winter Soldiers, but none of them expected there to be so many.
"Their deaths came while they slept. Winter Soldiers remain in prolonged hibernation until activated."
Zemo's voice rang out.
At the same time, his figure appeared behind the window of the office above them.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out as Sam immediately drew his pistol and fired at the window.
But the glass remained completely unharmed—not even a scratch appeared.
"Bulletproof glass?!"
Sam exclaimed in surprise.
Realizing his guns were useless, he holstered them again. Against that kind of reinforced glass, his dual Scorpions were meaningless.
Zemo ignored Sam entirely and continued speaking.
"Did you truly think I would allow people like them to continue existing? This world has no need for superhumans. Your existence only disrupts the natural order of the world. You are the source of violence and slaughter. You are the root cause of crime itself."
Zemo's voice echoed through the loudspeakers.
"But I'm grateful to these Winter Soldiers. They led all of you here."
"And all of you will die here together with them."
Zemo raised a hand and wiped the glass in front of him before lightly tapping on it.
"Oh, and one more thing. This room was specially designed by HYDRA. It can even withstand missile strikes."
"Missiles? My firepower's stronger than that."
Rhodey scoffed.
The weapon systems on his armor were far more destructive than ordinary missiles.
He was even carrying two thermite bombs—and a compact thermobaric bomb.
If necessary, he could vaporize the entire fortress without difficulty.
No defensive structure could survive a thermobaric bomb detonating point-blank.
Thermobaric weapons were widely recognized as the most devastating non-nuclear weapons in existence, second only to nuclear arms.
If Rhodey fired one in here, the entire fortress would be erased from existence.
Not even ashes would remain.
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