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The secret room, sealed for many years, was roughly pushed open.
The thick dust and strong musty smell inside made the Baron instinctively cover his nose.
Baron Zemo surveyed the secret room that his father had only told him about on his deathbed.
The room was so small it could be seen in its entirety at a glance, containing only a small safe.
Baron Zemo opened the safe using the code his father had left behind and took out a tightly sealed waterproof bag.
There was only one thing inside the bag.
A curled, yellowed map.
The texture of the map was unusually delicate, clearly not made of ordinary paper or animal leather.
As for the specific material... let's just say those who know, know.
Baron Zemo carefully removed the map and first wiped it inch by inch with glacial acetic acid.
Then, he carefully illuminated it with a UV lamp, finally revealing the dense routes and coordinates on the map.
After confirming the map's authenticity, Baron Zemo let out a long sigh of relief.
He then pulled out a satellite phone and dialed a number he had only recently learned.
After seven rings, the call was answered.
"Hail HYDRA."
Upon hearing the standard code, the person on the other end finally spoke:
"Make it quick."
Baron Zemo gripped the Human-skin map tightly, his voice carrying a hint of resentment:
"HYDRA needs the guidance of Mr. Schmidt's descendant."
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before a raspy female voice responded:
"The Schmidt family has been away from HYDRA for over sixty years, Baron Zemo. You should know what this call means."
"I know," Baron Zemo said.
"A dead snake has no value. As long as I can bring the weakened snake back to life, I am willing to give up everything I currently possess."
"Fine words," a sneer came from the other end, followed by a slow, deliberate question:
"Then... what is your bargaining chip?"
Baron Zemo glanced at the map in his hand, suppressed his various thoughts, and spoke:
"Take me out of Eastern Europe immediately."
"I will grant you a power that even your father never possessed."
The other end was silent for a long time.
So long that Baron Zemo thought the other party had hung up.
Then the voice said:
"Eight hours from now, the old church in Budapest. Don't be late."
Click.
The call was abruptly disconnected.
Baron Zemo put down the satellite phone, took several deep breaths, tucked the uniquely textured map into his inner pocket, and began packing for his escape.
Before leaving, he took one last look at the television.
The global live broadcast on the TV had ended, and summary reports from various countries about the incident were now playing.
Bang!
Baron Zemo pulled the trigger, blowing up the television with a single shot.
"You won this time," he muttered to the black screen.
"But the game isn't over yet. Until the very end, no one can claim to be the final victor!"
A custom bulletproof sedan drove along the empty highway.
Behind the sedan, the entire Eastern European HYDRA Base had turned into a sea of fire.
To survive by cutting off his own tail, Baron Zemo decisively sacrificed the remaining three hundred and forty HYDRA Agents in the Base.
These people didn't even know what was happening before they silently met their end along with the secret Base.
Never to be remembered by anyone again!
Inside the car, the focused Baron Zemo had already imagined how the official investigation report would read:
After suffering a devastating blow in the Battle of Chernobyl, the person in charge, Baron Zemo, detonated the Base out of fear of punishment, dying along with all his subordinates.
Seven hours later, Budapest.
Baron Zemo changed his clothes four times along the way, took seven detours, and staked out a trash can at the mouth of an alley for a full five minutes.
Only after confirming that no one was tailing him and that he hadn't attracted any attention did he dash into the dilapidated old church.
Inside the church, a young nun was praying devoutly, but the Bible in her hands was completely different from a common one.
On the cover was a skull with octopus tentacles.
Without any pleasantries, secret codes, or even identity verification, the nun simply exchanged a look with him and pushed open an iron door on the side of the church. There, an inconspicuous van was parked.
The van first drove out of downtown Budapest, then onto the highway, then off it, and finally turned onto an unmarked dirt road.
Baron Zemo completely gave up tracking the route at the thirteenth turn.
The other party's vigilance was far higher than he had imagined.
From a van to a ferry, then from the ferry to a private jet.
After over ten hours of travel, the plane finally landed on an unnamed island on the western side of the Pacific Ocean.
The architectural style on the island was incredibly old, looking like a product of the 1940s.
"Welcome to the Isle of Exiles."
After the plane landed, the nun finally spoke; it was the first thing she had said since leaving the church.
Baron Zemo instinctively sucked in a cold breath.
As a high-ranking member of HYDRA, he had seen this island in top-secret files.
During World War II, Red Skull had started many private projects outside the HYDRA system.
This island was one of them; according to the records, it was used to imprison troublesome convicts who couldn't be executed through conventional means.
But now it seemed things were far from that simple.
Led by the nun, Baron Zemo arrived at an office.
In the office, a woman sat behind a desk. Because her back was to him, Baron Zemo couldn't see her face.
He instinctively surveyed the office.
The most prominent feature in the office was an oil painting hanging on the wall—depicting a strange man in a Nazi uniform with a head that was entirely a Red Skull.
Just as Baron Zemo was examining the portrait of this Mr. Red Skull he had never met.
The woman turned her chair around, allowing Baron Zemo to see her true face.
Blood-red flesh clung tightly to the bone, with no pores or the texture of normal skin—
She was almost identical to the Red Skull in the painting, though her facial contours were slightly softer.
"Cynthia Schmidt," Baron Zemo said, being the first to state her name, his tone showing no surprise at her face.
"Or would you prefer people call you 'Sin'?"
The woman took off her sunglasses.
"Either one is fine," Sin said, sizing up Baron Zemo with eyes that showed neither caution nor respect.
"Let's skip the nonsense. Give me what I want, and I'll let you live peacefully on this island from now on."
Baron Zemo frowned slightly in dissatisfaction, thinking to himself:
A bastard born from an affair with a maid dares to act insolently before a Baron like me!
However, he understood that he was in a weak position, so he submissively pushed the Human-skin map toward Sin.
Sin admired the map as if it were a work of art, casually asking:
"What is hidden inside?"
"A hammer summoned by your father, but one he could not lift."