"The most precious thing for a person is life; life belongs to a person only once. A person's life should be lived in such a way that when they look back, they won't regret wasted years or feel ashamed of an idle life. Thus, when facing death, they can say: I have dedicated my entire life and all my energy to the most magnificent cause in the world—fighting for the liberation of humanity."
Standing in the narrow bedroom, beside the narrow army bed, Su Ming recited the famous passage proficiently in Russian, standing on the dark floor covered with a colorful Bohemian-style carpet.
This is the villa given by the upper echelon of the Fur Bear in 1935 to Ostrovsky, where the writer spent the last years of his life. His mother and sister also lived here to take care of him.
After his death in 1936, the upper echelon took back the villa in 1940, converting it into the exhibition hall for visitors, while a museum three times larger was built on the left side of the villa to showcase the great master's various belongings during his lifetime. On the right side of the villa's street-facing position is a newly built photo studio and ticket office.
Visiting the villa is free, the museum charges an entry fee, and the photo studio requires a ticket purchase, though they do gift a postcard full of the era's atmosphere, which is quite interesting.
Unfortunately, Su Ming and his two companions cannot leave a photo trail outside, safety first.
The three left the 'Celestial Ring,' arriving in Sochi quite early and finding it's not yet lunchtime. Natasha suggested they stroll around the small town.
Although the population of Sochi is small, its area is not little at all, fully embodying the Fur Bear's concept of vast land with sparse population and freely built houses.
Of course, now it is the cold Russian winter, whereas this place is the inland Hawaii. Many people come here for recuperation, and the streets, already not spacious, are everywhere with people strolling leisurely. It's not just high-ranking officials who can come here for recuperation. On the contrary, there are more brothers of workers here.
The air is filled with the scent of Vodka and the tune of a joyous accordion; this is indeed a city full of sunshine.
"Boss, you don't really look like someone who enjoys reading," Natasha also asked in Russian, her face rich with expressions. She indeed didn't know her boss had a literary side.
"Appearances can be deceiving; your leader, I am indeed a jack of all trades, Comrade Romanoff," Su Ming replied with a smiling face, the two seemingly playing roles, but in fact here in this era, "comrade" is just a common address.
Natasha spun around in place, looking at this very ordinary bedroom, but such a common bedroom she only saw when she was very young. She couldn't help but strive to recall past events, yet those were blurred memories of being with Ivan.
"Does this sentence from the famous book mean something special to you?"
She snapped back to reality, catching up with the departing Su Ming and Gin, as there were other tourists waiting for the visit behind.
"Certainly." Su Ming lowered his voice, speaking into Natasha's ear: "I think perhaps the author met Aliens before, realizing if humanity falls behind, it might end up in a tragic situation within the Cosmos; thus, he aimed to liberate all humanity."
"Uh... I've always felt the author didn't mean that when writing the book."
Natasha rubbed her itchy ear, giving her boss's nonsense an eye roll.
Su Ming chuckled, stepping out through the villa's door, nodding to greet strangers outside, acting like an exhilarated tourist, though he had no intention of visiting the museum next door.
Despite Sochi's small population, apart from the small museum of Ostrovsky here, there are five other large museums, seven parks, three ski resorts, and countless hot spring inns.
All are prepared for incoming tourists.
Taking it slow, Su Ming planned to stay here to rest for several days more, as an injured person, he decided to try the hot springs.
The slight hassle in accommodations is that to stay in a good inn, a letter of introduction from a unit is needed, but falsifying such a craft was something Natasha had systemic training for in the Red House.
First steal a genuine letter of introduction from someone's hand, then imitate and create a fake one; this is not difficult for her, not to mention this being the Fur Bear's place, which she knows best. She has many ready-made official document formats in her mind.
She even boldly created a KGB letter of introduction, which did scare the inn staff quite a bit.
Su Ming found this slightly ostentatious, after all, they occupied the best suite in the Seagull Inn, where the Black Coast's best scenery is, where many leaders had stayed.
However, after some thought, he let Natasha go ahead with her arrangements, realizing that soon she might officially start her 'deep dive' mission. Now he let her enjoy herself, since in this place, nothing could go amiss.
Gin knew only a little Russian, Japanese, and Italian, picked up during her interactions with those lively social groups back in the day, she rarely spoke when outsiders were around, appearing aloof.
Yet entering the room, she immediately checked what wines were available in the cabinet, kicking aside her pretty high heels.
Since it's time for relaxation and holidays, naturally, it involves going with the flow. After sharing a drink with Gin, the three went out again to find a restaurant to dine in, whatever was expensive, they'd eat it, flinging away Rubles as if they were blown in by a strong wind.
In this era, rubles are still quite valuable. In 1955, the exchange rate of rubles to US dollars was 4:1, but aside from secretly setting plans and purchasing materials, Su Ming didn't have much else to spend his money on, so he spent it where necessary.
Having had lunch, the three of them went swimming in the Black Sea in the afternoon, skiing on the mountain the next day, and fishing by the river on the third day, living happily.
However, after playing for about a week, when the New Year just arrived, Natasha received news from Spider Web.
The information from the girls who were lurking inside SSR indicated that SSR was officially dissolved by Congress. Following a blame-sharing meeting about the incident at the end of last year, SSR disappointingly took most of the blame. Despite sharing some with the CIA and FBI, it was still not enough. Under the surge of public opinion, dissolution was the final resort.
Hydra's invasion caused such significant casualties and adverse impacts that not dissolving would be insufficient to quell public anger and comfort the undead.
Natasha carefully burned the intelligence the three had read, looking somewhat helplessly at Su Ming, who was still barbequing on the suite terrace, and said:
"SSR has dissolved. What should I do next?"
"Don't worry. Strategic Science Corps aren't that easily dissolved," Su Ming swiftly flipped the lamb kebabs over the fire, skillfully sprinkled seasonings. Although he's not good at cooking or stir-frying, his barbeque skills are decent as a mercenary.
Of course, when sprinkling salt, it's necessary to infuse some soul.
Gin was accustomed to his antics, only smiling while skewering mushrooms on the side, wanting to eat some vegetarian food since they've consumed excessively greasy dishes these days.
"Are you saying this is a blinding technique?" Natasha squatted beside the stove, helping to brush oil onto the kebabs: "But internal personnel have already been assigned new positions or simply retired."
Su Ming took the kebabs, blew out the fire below, and put the skewers back: "That's just for those paying a little attention. Before long, these people will receive new orders, or notifications to return, then they'll start afresh in a new place."
The Caspian Camp Base might be abandoned, and the next base should be the hidden underground base 'The Playground' in New Jersey. Of course, there could also be other changes, like the emergence of a previously unheard-of new base.
The current Congress isn't foolish at all, and Hydra still exists. To really shut down SSR due to public opinion would be like cutting off an arm.
Those military apologies, televised public speeches of consolation, closure of certain departments, accountability for certain people—a whole series of performances are all for outsiders.
In reality, high-level officials secretly support SSR. With their backing and sufficient funds, the Strategic Science Corps can take root under a different name anywhere.
The current issue is, who will the next Director be? If they appoint another newcomer, it might still be Hydra...
..............
"At least we made it back..."
On the vast sea, Howard clutched the side of the small boat, seeing the distant horizon dimly, and the coast guard's warship approaching them. He couldn't help but relax, lying on the deck, covering his forehead with his hand, his eyes filled with tears.
It was too difficult; he and Steve faced immense challenges. In the Cuban rainforest, not only did they have to deal with all types of poisonous insects and mosquitoes, but AIM and local anti-American guerrillas were relentlessly pursuing them.
They fled frantically, ran out of ammunition, and at the end, Howard even made slingshots and bows. The two engaged the enemies with such makeshift weapons.
Thanks especially to Steve; without him, reaching the coastline and commandeering a small boat to forcibly row back to the United States wouldn't have been possible. During the journey, they almost got discovered by a Fur Bear submarine, a tale hard to encapsulate.
He missed Christmas and even New Year.
Steve, too, looked weary, with his green military outfit tattered. Despite being a super soldier, people need food like iron needs steel. In the wilderness with pursuers, they hadn't had a hot meal in over ten days, resorting to eating grass roots, fruits, and insects raw. Of course his complexion wasn't good.
"This world is still unsafe."
Steve adjusted the boat's sails, continued rowing toward the coast guard, finally boarding the warship under Howard's unbearably long gaze.
Returning to the civilized world, Howard's pocket full of money came in handy. Throwing US dollars around, sending out checks, telegraphs, he managed to make the warship take them back to New York Port like a yacht.
Once off the boat, Howard saw the news of his unemployment in the newspaper and before he could complain to Steve, a block of Heitan emerged from the crowd.