Chapter 434: HYDRA Has Its Own Captain Too

Chapter 434: Chapter 434: HYDRA Has Its Own Captain Too

Old Steve felt that the shocks he received today were more than all the past decades combined.

Darian was not only the king of Sokovia, but actually also the leader of HYDRA.

And S.H.I.E.L.D., the archenemy of HYDRA, had already been reduced to the S.H.I.E.L.D. HYDRA branch, leaving only Director Hill as a commander with no subordinates.

These could all be let go.

What was worse was that Wanda, who originally belonged to the Avengers, had unexpectedly also become a member of HYDRA.

You must know, Wanda was an existence capable of tearing Thanos apart with her bare hands; placed within the entire Avengers, her combat power could definitely rank in the top three across the entire Avengers.

With such a massive HYDRA, coupled with top-tier combat power like Wanda, what could the Avengers of this World use to contend against them?

Unless Nick Fury summoned that stubborn square-faced woman to Earth.

Oh, Nick Fury was also a person of HYDRA, then it was fine.

Old Steve slightly empathized with the situation of the Avengers in this World, and felt desperate for them.

Wait, Darian revealed all these messages to him, could it be...

Old Steve’s expression stiffened, and he tentatively asked, "Darian, the organization you want to pull me into, could it be..."

Darian nodded, smiling brilliantly, "That’s right, it’s HYDRA!"

Old Steve: "..."

I knew it!

Although he was old, he was Captain America after all.

Letting him join the HYDRA organization, did that make any sense?

Old Steve’s face turned dark: "Is this what you called an organization dedicated to protecting World peace and eliminating all potential threats?"

Darian shook his head and said, "Old Steve, you might have some misunderstanding about HYDRA. No matter what HYDRA looks like in your World, in this World, we in HYDRA are not interested in Earth. On the contrary, if Earth encounters any major crisis, we will still lend a helping hand."

That was indeed the truth.

This was his main server after all, and most of his foundation was rooted here. If something went wrong with Earth, his losses would be huge.

Based on this point alone, HYDRA couldn’t possibly sit idly by.

Old Steve still didn’t quite believe it: "Since you are truly protecting Earth, why not just tell the truth to the Avengers?"

Darian chuckled: "Why tell them? I am quite looking forward to the day they find out the truth by themselves, especially Steve from this World. When he suddenly finds that everyone around him is a person of HYDRA, and even inside the Avengers there are two from HYDRA, what kind of reaction will he have?"

Old Steve: "..."

What kind of reaction could he have, he would probably be played to pieces.

He suddenly felt a bit sympathetic towards Steve of this World.

Being targeted by a guy with malicious humor like Darian, he didn’t know what kind of sin he had committed.

Darian smiled slightly and patted Old Steve’s shoulder: "How about it, Old Steve, join us in HYDRA."

Old Steve lowered his head, various thoughts surging in his heart.

If he were still alone, he would definitely refuse without even thinking. He had always been allergic to seafood, especially black-and-red octopuses.

But now it was different; he was a family man, and he had concerns deep down.

If he dared to refuse, given HYDRA’s consistent style, Carter would likely be implicated by him, and he absolutely could not take that risk.

It was better to pretend to agree first, take the opportunity to probe the reality inside HYDRA, and collect as much intelligence as possible.

When it really came to a desperate moment, he could still find a way to contact the Avengers, pass the news out, and let them be on guard.

Old Steve had lived to such an age, had seen many storms and waves, and had long seen through everything.

For the greater picture, temporarily joining HYDRA was no big deal.

After making up his mind, Old Steve took a deep breath and nodded heavily: "Alright, I promise you, but let me state in advance, I will not do things that violate my principles."

"Rest assured, we in HYDRA are a peaceful organization."

Seeing Old Steve agree, the smile on Darian’s face deepened by a few points.

He clapped his hands: "From now on, you are a member of the great HYDRA, and in the future you must shoulder the mission of striking righ... cough, striking evil, understood?"

Old Steve: "..."

Is there any existence in this World more evil than you?

Darian knew very well in his heart that although Old Steve agreed verbally, he definitely did not truly submit in his heart.

But so what? As long as the person came in, don’t even think about quitting.

Darian remembered something else and added: "Right, to avoid exposing your original identity, you need a brand new identity starting from now, and your name will be Shane. I’ve already thought of the background story for you."

"You were often bullied since childhood because of a weak body, and HYDRA saved you. Thus, you felt grateful and resolved to join HYDRA to fight for the organization. After years of unremitting efforts, you finally gained the recognition of HYDRA and became the great Captain HYDRA, with a bright future."

Old Steve: "..."

After hearing this story, he only felt that his future was pitch black.

Darian earnestly instructed: "Old Steve, my expectations for you are very high. I hope you can lead HYDRA soon and defeat that evil Captain America."

Old Steve: "..."

Thus HYDRA also had its own Captain, which could be described as happy for everyone.

Of course, except for Old Steve himself.

The group continued forward, passed through several heavily guarded doors, and finally walked into a spacious laboratory.

Strucker shouted into the air: "Ultron, initiate the X-3643 experimental project."

A cold electronic voice rang out in the laboratory: "Ready. The temperature of the symbiote culture chamber is constant, the life signs monitoring system is online, and we can begin at any time."

Old Steve: "..."

Fine, Ultron is here too.

Coupled with Zemo and Strucker, isn’t this place a supervillain headquarters!

Old Steve was completely numb.

Even if he saw Thanos sweeping the floor in the corridor now, he wouldn’t feel surprised.

Strucker pointed to the isolation room ahead, turned his head, and said to Old Steve: "Just walk in. No matter what happens, do not resist."

Old Steve suddenly had a strong sense of deja vu, as if he had returned to the time when he was injected with the Super Soldier Serum back then.

Except that this time he was not in the identity of Captain America, but Captain HYDRA.

He knew he had no room for choice and didn’t ask more questions. He lifted his foot and walked into the isolation room, the door behind him automatically closing with a muffled airtight sound.

"Begin deploying the symbiote."

Following Strucker’s order, a circular opening opened on the ceiling of the isolation room.

Old Steve looked up and saw a mass of dark red viscous liquid slowly sliding down from the opening, dropping onto the metal floor with a patter, wriggling on the ground like it had life, looking just like a sentient period.

This cluster of red mucus wriggled in place a few times, seemed to sense something, and moved towards Old Steve’s position.

Old Steve instinctively wanted to dodge, when he heard Strucker’s voice coming through the loudspeaker.

"Do not dodge, it will not harm your life."

Old Steve had no choice but to hold back, letting that red mucus come to his feet, and then suddenly pounce forward.

The moment the red mucus contacted Old Steve, it began to spread rapidly around, wrapping his entire body in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, his body began to expand and deform sharply, his height suddenly soaring to over two meters, his figure becoming extremely burly and robust, muscles bulging piece by piece, and the whole person turning into a blood-red little giant.

Two pale big eyes appeared on his face, occupying most of his facial position.

Downward, a huge mouth split open, the corners of the mouth stretching all the way to the ear roots, revealing a mouthful of sharp fangs when opened, a crimson long tongue slowly whipping around in the mouth.

His hands turned into two ferocious Talons, each finger extending sharp finger blades twenty to thirty centimeters long, full of aggressiveness.

"Roar!!"

Old Steve raised his head and let out a piercing roar.

Following closely, as if he had lost his mind, his hands turned into red long blades, and he began to frantically slash around, trying to escape this isolation room.

Fortunately, the isolation room was built with Vibranium composite materials, leaving only shallow white marks on the surface, without causing much damage.

Strucker stared at the jumping data on the monitoring screen, his brows tightly locked.

"The offspring symbiote carries a large amount of the parent’s negative emotions, causing a huge mental shock to the host. If the host’s willpower cannot hold out, the symbiote will reverse the guest and host roles, letting the dark side occupy the dominant position, which is very unfavorable for the subsequent personality template fixation."

Hearing this, Darian immediately turned on the microphone and shouted: "Old Steve, if you can’t hold out, I will let Steve and Carter of this World get married."

He wanted to deliberately stimulate Old Steve’s willpower.

However, this sentence indeed had a bit of effect, but not much.

Old Steve’s roar was noticeably quieter by a few points, but he was still in an out-of-control state.

Darian continued to stimulate Old Steve with Carter, but the effect remained mediocre.

Even Carter didn’t work anymore?

Darian raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised.

It seemed they still underestimated the negative emotions carried by Venom.

The offspring symbiote only inherited a portion of the parent’s emotional residue, yet it could push a person with Old Steve’s willpower to this extent.

If even Old Steve couldn’t hold out, then others were even less to be expected, unless he could bring Batman over.

However, Batman’s mental state was on par with the Joker. If he were asked to be the template for the symbiote, goodness knows what unspeakable things would be cultivated, so it was better not to try it easily.

Seeing that the experiment was about to fail, Darian held the attitude of treating a dead horse as a live horse and asked casually: "Old Steve, do you want to meet Bucky of this World?"

"Bucky!?"

In the isolation room, Old Steve suddenly raised his head, the layer of dark red symbiote on his face quickly receding like a tide, revealing his original appearance.

His eyes had already returned to clarity, with not a trace of madness left.

Strucker said in surprise: "Strange, the negative emotional fluctuations have actually completely disappeared, the symbiote has stabilized, and the host has gained control."

Old Steve: "..."

It seems it still has to be Bucky.

What Carter? Not familiar at all.

Under the blessing of the bond BUFF, Old Steve easily suppressed the negative emotions of the symbiote.

He quickly pursued: "What you just said is true?"

Darian spoke out: "Of course it’s true, Bucky is right among us in HYDRA, with the codename Winter Soldier."

As a second-run player, Old Steve naturally knew this point.

Because of this, he also knew how much pain Bucky had experienced during this period.

Previously he worried about disrupting the timeline and didn’t make a move, but now without this scruple, he also wanted to try to save his good brother Bucky, even if the other party was not the one he knew.

Old Steve immediately asked: "Where is Bucky?"

Darian happily said: "Bucky is the top star of our HYDRA after all, with first-class business capabilities. Of course he has important tasks to execute. If you want to see him, you must first prove your value; HYDRA does not raise idle people."

Old Steve knew Darian was dangling Bucky like a carrot in front of him, but he couldn’t refuse either.

He could only grit his teeth: "Alright!"

Having mastered Old Steve’s cheating password, the following matters became much easier.

Old Steve acted as the mold-casting tool person for the symbiote, letting him contact each batch of offspring symbiotes, using his personality template to neutralize the dark sides carried by the symbiotes.

If Old Steve’s willpower couldn’t hold out, mentioning Bucky’s name had an immediate effect.

After the mold-casting was completed, Wanda was asked to use chaos magic to expel the symbiote from Old Steve’s body, and then please bring out the next symbiote.

Repeating this cycle, they directly created an assembly line for symbiote cultivation.

And these offspring symbiotes were taken by Strucker for comprehensive testing, and the results were quite satisfactory.

These offspring symbiotes neutralized by Old Steve’s personality template had very stable and friendly temperaments, their aggressiveness was suppressed to an extremely low level, the fusion success rate with hosts was greatly improved, and there were almost no cases of rejection and loss of control.

As for the abilities of these offspring symbiotes, they were somewhat similar to Venom.

Most could significantly enhance the host’s physical limits, and their hands could change into whip blades or sharp blade forms according to combat needs, or turn into some weird forms.

There were also a small number of offspring symbiotes that showed special transformation abilities, such as releasing super intelligence waves, releasing high-temperature flames, super speed, and so on.

It was just a pity that Venom’s production capacity as a parent was limited.

Every time it split off offspring, it seemed to consume a special kind of energy. The specific mechanism had not been studied out yet, but in general it required a certain cooling time to re-split off offspring symbiotes, and it couldn’t provide them unlimitedly.

On the other hand, Old Steve’s mental threshold also had an upper limit.

After all, the process of symbiote mold-casting would cause a non-trivial impact on his mental state, and he also needed to rest for a period of time, unable to manufacture a batch of symbiote legions in a short time.

Darian also knew Old Steve’s difficulty, and specially ordered someone to cast a Captain America-style Captain HYDRA battle suit to give to him, letting him regain the original Captain’s glory.

Besides this, Old Steve also obtained a round shield cast from Vibranium, with a built-in adsorption function, almost identical to Captain America’s shield back then.

The only difference was that the pattern on Captain America’s shield was a star, while Captain HYDRA’s shield was a black-and-red octopus.

Old Steve: "...."

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