CHAPTER 15

"Huff… huff… Lord Baron, I must see Lord Baron!"

Squinting his eyes, Carl saw Dr. Liszt approaching with the electric shock device, and immediately "regained consciousness," breathing heavily and feigning weakness.

If he didn't wake up now, the electric shock would disrupt his chakra and forcibly cancel the transformation technique.

"Hades, tell me—what happened?"

As soon as Carl sat up on the hospital bed, Baron Strucker entered the medical room with two men behind him, his voice filled with urgency.

Carl gave him a quick look and made an instant assessment, matching Hades' earlier descriptions.

The one in the leather coat with a monocle had to be Baron Strucker, the base commander. The old man with the shock device—Dr. Liszt, the second-in-command. The bulky man on the left was clearly the Hydra special operations captain—likely the one who kidnapped Dr. Smith. And the lean, sharp-eyed man on the right was the head of base security.

"Perfect. All the high-ranking pests are right here," Carl thought.

But outwardly, he simply cast a fearful glance at the base commander and spoke to Strucker:

"My lord… may I speak to you alone?"

"What's the meaning of this, Hades?"

The commander, clearly uneasy under Carl's gaze, stiffened and spoke coldly.

Strucker paused, then waved his hand.

"Everyone out."

"But my lord—are you sure that's safe?"

The Hydra captain frowned, visibly worried.

"What, you think Hades could harm me?"

Strucker's voice turned frosty.

He remembered Hades' warning—something about danger, a traitor. The way he'd looked at the commander. It was unsettling.

Still, he was confident. Hades was weak, unarmed, and out of shape. Even without enhancements, Strucker was confident he could crush him barehanded.

"Yes, my lord!"

The men saluted and left the medical room with Dr. Liszt, who also shut the curtains and disabled the surveillance system on the way out.

"All right. It's just us. Talk."

Strucker stood by the bedside, arms crossed.

"As you wish, Lord Baron."

The moment he finished, Carl channeled chakra through his entire body, muscles coiled like springs.

Then, like a shadow exploding into motion, he lunged.

"Go to hell!"

"You—!"

Strucker's eyes widened, but it was too late.

Carl's hands snapped forward, twisting his head a full 360 degrees with a sickening crack. Strucker collapsed instantly—dead.

Carl yanked the pistol from Strucker's belt, then shoved the body under the hospital bed.

Without wasting a second, he reformed the hand seals and activated the transformation technique—his appearance shifting seamlessly into that of Baron Strucker.

Now fully disguised, Carl adjusted the monocle and calmly walked toward the door of the medical room.

"Boom!"

Pushing open the door of the medical room, Carl didn't hesitate—he raised his hand and shot the commander straight in the head, blasting it open in an instant.

"Lord Baron, what... what's going on?"

Dr. Liszt and Captain Hydra were both stunned, seeing Baron Strucker take down the base's head of defense without warning.

"Will was a traitor—Nick Fury's man from S.H.I.E.L.D. Soon, the base will be under attack from S.H.I.E.L.D. and FBI agents.

Brass, take control of the defense system immediately. Dr. Liszt, come with me."

Carl gave no time for either of them to process the shock—just a quick explanation followed by direct orders.

"But..."

Captain Brass hesitated. Will—a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? That didn't add up. Weren't most S.H.I.E.L.D. agents secretly Hydra moles? And didn't Nick Fury not even know about Hydra until recently?

"Are you trying to be a traitor too?"

Carl turned the gun on Brass, whose face went pale with fear. He immediately snapped out of it:

"Long live Hydra! I'll take over the defense system and prepare for a defensive response!"

Without further hesitation, he spun around and rushed toward the base's command room.

"You two, stand here and guard the door. No one enters without my direct order—not even Brass."

Carl pointed to two Hydra agents, assigning them to guard the medical room to prevent discovery of the real Baron Strucker's body.

Then, with Dr. Liszt in tow, he walked briskly toward the base's laboratory.

"The base is no longer defensible. Download all research data and initiate the self-destruct system. We're evacuating immediately."

Carl knew from Hades' interrogation that every Hydra base had a built-in self-destruct mechanism to wipe out intel and kill as many enemies as possible if compromised.

At the Sokovia base, only Baron Strucker and Dr. Liszt had the authority and knowledge to activate it.

"What about Dr. Smith—wasn't he the one Lord Garrett specifically wanted?"

Dr. Liszt asked, his tone more curious than concerned.

Although Liszt was second-in-command, he rarely interfered with Hydra's espionage operations. His focus was purely scientific experimentation. The recent killing of the base commander hadn't fazed him much.

"We're taking him too."

Carl replied without hesitation—after all, rescuing Dr. Smith was one of his main missions.

"Understood"

Five minutes later, Carl and Liszt—carrying a briefcase—boarded the top-floor helicopter with a disoriented Dr. Smith.

As the aircraft slowly lifted off from the base, a deafening explosion erupted behind them.

"Boom!"

A towering fireball lit up the sky. The Sokovia base was completely engulfed as the self-destruct system wiped it from existence—along with everyone still inside.

"My lord… the base…"

Dr. Liszt stared at the burning ruins below, a trace of sentiment flashing across his face. He had spent over a decade there.

"Real men never look back at explosions,"

Carl said coolly, his attention locked on the system notification sounding in his ears:

> Mission 'Rescue Dr. Smith' — Completed!

Mission 'Kill Baron Strucker' — Completed!

Mission 'Destroy Hydra Base in Sokovia' — Completed!

Mission rewards have been distributed to the dedicated mission item space. Please check at your convenience.

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