Chapter 74: Having an extra Black leader is indeed hard to accept.
Steve was startled by the sudden voice.
His muscles tensed up, and he assumed the standard starting stance of military boxing, his eyes locked firmly onto Lin Zhen, who was wearing a chicken mask.
"Motherfucker, you just woke up and instead of staying put, you dare to dismantle my spawn point." Lin Zhen stood up and stretched his wrists.
Steve didn't waste words; he pushed off with his legs and lunged forward.
Lin Zhen shouted, "Eat fist!"
Before his voice faded, Lin Zhen suddenly lifted his right leg, delivering a vicious front kick straight to Steve's abdomen.
Steve reacted extremely quickly, crossing his arms to protect his chest.
A dull thud echoed.
Steve slid back four or five meters across the metal floor, leaving two clear black marks. He lowered his arms, his arm bones aching faintly.
Steve's heart sank.
The strength of this person wearing the ridiculous mask was completely on par with his own.
"Who exactly are you?" Steve asked in a deep voice.
"I am your father."
Steve's expression darkened, and he launched another fierce attack.
He changed his strategy, no longer going head-to-head, but instead utilizing exquisite special forces combat techniques.
Jabs, roundhouse kicks, and close-quarters grappling—every move was aimed at vital points.
Relying on the super-high agility attribute granted by the system, Lin Zhen dodged Steve's attacks without even letting them touch the hem of his floral shirt.
"Too slow, too slow. Your attack speed isn't even as good as a mob's. Watch my Serious Punch!" As Lin Zhen spoke, he threw a straightforward, unadorned right punch.
This punch was incredibly fast; Steve had no time to dodge and could only take it head-on.
The fist smashed into Steve's chest, sending him flying backward to crash heavily into the metal wall behind him, creating a huge dent.
Steve slid to the floor, clutching his chest and coughing violently.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up again, leaning against the wall.
His eyes shone with unyielding light as he assumed that classic defensive stance.
"I can do this all day," Steve said, enunciating each word.
Lin Zhen rolled his eyes.
"Motherfucker, does this NPC have a health lock cheat enabled?" Lin Zhen muttered.
Lin Zhen flashed forward, appearing instantly in front of Steve.
Just as Steve raised his fist, Lin Zhen's right leg kicked out with a whistling sound.
This kick wasn't aimed at Steve's head or chest, but precisely and dishonorably struck Steve right in the crotch.
Steve's eyes widened, his face turning from red to green, and then from green to purple.
He clutched his vital area tightly with both hands, fell straight to his knees, broke out in a cold sweat, and couldn't stop his body from convulsing.
"Do this all day? With my strength stat, I could sterilize a cow with a kick. What are you going to use to keep up with me?" Lin Zhen brushed the sunflower seed dust off his hands.
Lin Zhen walked over, crouched down beside Steve, and habitually reached out to rummage through the pockets of Steve's hospital gown.
"What a poor guy, didn't even drop a single coin. What a waste of an SSR rating." Lin Zhen grumbled, and casually ripped a button off Steve's hospital gown and stuffed it into his own pants.
The elevator doors opened with a ding.
Nick Fury, accompanied by a dozen heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, rushed into the hallway.
The barrels of their guns were all aimed straight at Lin Zhen.
Lin Zhen:???
"Hey, brother, are you blind? I'm on your side!"
Steve forced himself to lift his head despite the excruciating pain.
He saw a man wearing a black leather trench coat, an eyepatch, with a bald head and a black face, walking over with long strides.
Steve gritted his teeth and said, "Which branch of Hydraare you from, letting a pirate be the Commander?"
Fury's face turned completely black instantly.
Lin Zhen laughed out loud from the side, pointing at Furyand saying, "Did you hear that, Nick Fury? Even the NPC thinks you look like a villain. Your character model is definitely flawed."
Fury glared at Lin Zhen and raised his hand to signal the Agents to lower their weapons.
"Captain Rogers, we are not Hydra. This is the S.H.I.E.L.D.New York branch." Fury looked at Steve. "You are safe."
Steve struggled to stand up, leaning against the wall, his gaze still full of vigilance.
"I don't trust you," Steve said.
Fury sighed, "I know you have many questions. Peggy Carter founded this agency, and we have been waiting for you to wake up."
Upon hearing the name Peggy Carter, Steve was taken aback.
Fury turned and walked toward the elevator.
"Follow me, Captain. I'll take you to see the world outside," Fury said.
Steve hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to follow.
The elevator doors opened, and the group walked out of the building, arriving on the streets of New York Times Square.
The sunlight was blinding.
A massive LED screen was playing an advertisement for Hammer Industries' new weapons. The streets were bustling with traffic, with all kinds of new energy vehicles shuttling back and forth, and people holding smartphones were hurrying past.
Steve stood at the intersection, looking at everything before him.
A seventy-year time span—no airships, no Nazi flags, no old-fashioned radios.
Everything felt incredibly strange.
His breathing quickened, his eyes filled with confusion and loss.
He seemed to have... missed that era, missed the girl he had promised to have a dance with.
Fury walked up beside Steve.
"You've been asleep for seventy years, Captain," Fury said in a low voice. "But we need you now."
Steve kept his head down and didn't speak.
Lin Zhen stepped forward and reached out to give Steve's broad shoulder a heavy pat.
"Buddy, I can really understand how you're feeling right now."
Lin Zhen said solemnly.
"After all, waking up to find that you suddenly have a Black leader—that's really hard for anyone to accept."
Chapter 75: That Was Milk!!!
The bustle of Times Square left Steve feeling somewhat lost; he stared at the massive LED screens and the endless stream of new energy vehicles, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
Nick Fury had his hands buried in the pockets of his black trench coat as he turned his head to look at Lin Zhen, who was busy munching on caramel sunflower seeds next to him.
"Lin Zhen, I need you to keep an eye on him, help him get familiar with this world, and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble," Fury said, lowering his voice.
Lin Zhen was just about to open his mouth to refuse babysitting this dead weight.
[Ding! Side mission triggered: Modern Life Guide for a Century-Old Veteran.]
[Mission reward: EXP +5000, Points +20, $30,000 cash.]
Upon seeing the dollar amount on the panel, Lin Zhen's tone instantly shifted: "No problem, leave it to me. I guarantee I'll take care of him properly; I'll even report back to you on what color underwear he's wearing."
A vein throbbed on Fury's forehead as he turned to look at Steve.
Steve hesitated for a moment, his gaze fixed intently on Fury: "Peggy... is she still around?"
Fury was silent for two seconds, then sighed: "She's still alive, married, has her own family and children, and just celebrated her ninetieth birthday a few days ago."
Lin Zhen spat a sunflower seed shell into the trash can nearby and chimed in naturally: "I heard from the medical department that when that old lady blew out her birthday candles, her lung capacity was so great she nearly blew her dentures out, spraying the person opposite her with a face full of spit."
Steve's fists clenched instantly, his knuckles popping.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surge of heartache and anger.
"I want to go back to Brooklyn and take a look," Steve said, looking at the unfamiliar streets, his voice low.
"Sure, but you'll need to prepare some change first," Lin Zhen said, brushing the dust off his hands. "That dump you lived in back in the day was confiscated by the government long ago and turned into the Captain America museum. You'll have to pay fifty bucks for an admission ticket just to go back to your own home."
Steve stood frozen, a wave of intense loneliness washing over him. Not only had he missed out on his era, but even his final sanctuary was gone.
The two arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. underground garage.
Lin Zhen walked straight to Fury's designated parking spot, where a brand-new black armored SUV was parked.
"We don't have the keys, and Director Fury doesn't seem to have authorized us to use the vehicle," Steve said.
"Mother F*cker, who do you think I am? I'm a Senior Inspector of the Federal Chicken Head Administration." Lin Zhen pulled out a pitch-black frying pan and delivered a heavy blow to the driver-side bulletproof glass.
With a dull thud, the special glass, which claimed to be able to stop armor-piercing rounds, shattered all over the ground.
Steve's eyelids twitched violently.
Lin Zhen reached in to open the car door, sat down in the driver's seat, and yanked hard on the cover plate under the steering wheel, pulling out a handful of colorful wires.
He picked out the red and blue ones, expertly stripped the insulation, and jammed them together.
Crackle! Sparks flew, and the V8 engine let out a low roar.
"Get in," Lin Zhen said, rolling down the window and honking the horn twice at Steve.
Steve stood still: "This is blatant theft. Is this what S.H.I.E.L.D. is like?"
"Cut the crap. This is called efficient resource allocation. If you don't get in the car, I'll tie you back under the skateboard and drag you along," Lin Zhen urged impatiently.
For some reason, Steve's body instinctively shivered, and he obediently opened the passenger door and got in.
The SUV drove out of the underground garage and merged into the traffic of Manhattan, New York.
On a street corner, several young people with green and pink hair were huddled together, smoking cigarettes of questionable composition.
"What has this country... actually become?" Steve muttered to himself.
Lin Zhen steered with one hand while pulling a bag of potato chips from his crotch with the other and tearing it open.
"It's become something you can't even begin to understand," Lin Zhen said, stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth and speaking indistinctly. "Look, buddy, let me give you the lowdown: you'd better watch what you say when you go out now. We have over a hundred genders these days. If you dare to use the wrong pronouns for someone, they can turn around and sue you until you're bankrupt, and you'll have to hand over your shield as part of the settlement."
Steve was stunned: "Over a hundred? Aren't humans only male and female?"
"That's ancient history. Now there's even an attack helicopter gender," Lin Zhen sneered. "And it gets even wilder. See those supermarkets on the side of the road? You can walk in now, take anything under nine hundred dollars without paying, and just stroll right out. The policewon't even look at you. It's called zero-dollar shopping, and it's perfectly legal."
Steve's fists clenched instantly: "This is simply condoning crime!"
"You absolutely must not try to be a hero," Lin Zhenglanced at him. "Especially if you encounter those black-skinned brothers; they're the daddies of political correctness right now. Whoever dares to mess with them gets cyberbullied by the entire internet and suffers social death, understand?"
Steve took a deep breath and leaned back against the seat. He felt that the country he had protected with his life seemed to be suffering from a severe illness.
To dispel this sense of absurdity, Steve decided to recall the purity and greatness of his own era.
"No matter what this world has become, some spirits will never change," Steve said, looking ahead with a firm gaze. "Back then, to prevent Schmidt's bomber from dropping bombs on New York, I didn't hesitate for a second. I piloted that plane manually and plunged straight into the cold, deep sea."
His voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a tragic heroism of someone who had faced death without fear.
The car fell silent, with only the roar of the V8 engine echoing.
Lin Zhen stuffed the last chip into his mouth, turned his head, and looked at Steve with an extremely strange expression through his chicken mask.
"Buddy, I have a technical question I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead," Steve said, thinking Lin Zhen had been moved by his heroic deeds.
"Since you had already locked the plane's steering wheel, why didn't you open the cockpit door and parachute out before it crashed into the sea?" Lin Zhen asked with an extremely sincere tone.
Steve's expression instantly froze.
He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but found his mind completely blank.
Yeah, why didn't he parachute?
At the time, the bomb's course had already been controlled, and the plane's crash into the sea was inevitable. He had plenty of time to find a parachute or just jump into the sea directly—at least that would have been much better than smashing into the ice with the plane.
"I... the situation was urgent at the time, maybe there wasn't a parachute," Steve's voice became extremely lacking in conviction.
"Bullshit. Such a massive Hydra strategic bomber, and it didn't even have a spare parachute pack? Was Schmidt dirt poor? I think you just had heroism on the brain and insisted on adding some tragic drama to your story. As a result, you ended up frozen as a popsicle for seventy years, and your first love turned into an old lady with no teeth."
Steve covered his face tightly with both hands, burying it deep into his knees.
He didn't want to talk anymore; he felt his faith collapsing.
Upon arriving in Brooklyn, Lin Zhen parked the car casually next to a fire hydrant and took Steve toward the Captain America museum.
While lining up to buy tickets, Lin Zhen pulled out the loose change he had swiped from Fury's desk.
"One adult ticket, and one half-price senior ticket. He's over ninety," Lin Zhen said to the ticket seller, pointing at Stevebehind him.
Steve pulled his cap down, fearing someone might recognize his face, which hadn't fully de-swelled yet.
Entering the museum, it was packed with people. The two followed the tour route to the deepest part, the "Steve Rogers Old Residence" 1:1 restoration exhibit.
Tourists were taking pictures from behind the railing.
Steve looked at the familiar iron-frame bed and the worn-out wooden wardrobe, a flash of nostalgia in his eyes.
Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a temperature-controlled glass display case on the nightstand.
Inside the glass case, a yellowed vintage pictorial was displayed upright. On the cover was a scantily clad, sexy woman, and on the opened page, there was a large, extremely obvious dried stain.
On the official introduction plaque next to it, written in bold black font:
[This is a private collection discovered in a hidden compartment of Captain Rogers' nightstand. There is a suspicious dried stain on the page. Experts speculate this may be a personal trace left by the Captain under the high-pressure environment of the war, showing that even great men are ordinary people.]
The moment Steve read that text, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
His face turned bright red to the tips of his ears, and the veins on his neck bulged.
"This isn't mine!" Steve, no longer caring about his disguise, pointed at the glass case and let out a heart-wrenching roar. "Bucky put that on my nightstand, and the stain on it is from milk that I accidentally spilled!"
This roar was like a thunderclap in the quiet exhibit area.
The surrounding tourists all turned their heads in unison, looking at him with expressions reserved for a pervert.
Lin Zhen reacted extremely quickly. He immediately pinched his nose, jumped back three meters in an exaggerated manner, and even pulled a passerby in front of him as a shield.
"Mother F*cker, don't try to explain to me. We're both men, I get it, but your taste is way too heavy." Lin Zhen pointed at the pictorial with a look of extreme disgust. "The woman's thighs on that pictorial are thicker than your arms. How could you even do that to this thing? Weren't you afraid of shaking the bed frame until it collapsed?"
"It really was milk!" Steve gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, wishing he could smash that bulletproof glass with one punch. "Bucky stole my milk back then and accidentally spilled it on it. I hadn't had the chance to throw it away yet!"
"Fine, fine, milk. High protein, right? I believe you." Lin Zhencurled his lip, though the disdain in his eyes was about to overflow.
Just as Steve was about to have a heart attack, a burst of rapid shutter clicks came from nearby.
Peter Parker, wearing a red hoodie, was holding up his phone, his entire body practically pressed against the glass case, crazily snapping photos of the pictorial without even turning off the flash.
"This is so cool! I knew coming here to write my report on historical figures was the right move!" Peter exclaimed excitedly while scribbling notes in a small notebook. "So Captain America looked at this stuff in private and even left such a historically significant trace. This will definitely get me an A+ on my report. My teacher will definitely be impressed!"
Steve looked at this stranger he didn't know at all and felt his vision go dark.
"That was milk! Don't write nonsense!" Steve shouted at Peter in despair.
Peter turned around, looked at Steve's swollen face that hadn't fully recovered yet, and then looked at Lin Zhen, who was wearing the chicken mask next to him.
"Chicken Brother, who is this uncle? Why is he so into the role? Does he really think he's Captain America?" Peterscratched his head in confusion.
"Just a fanatic fake fan who hasn't seen much of the world." Lin Zhen walked up and threw an arm around Peter's shoulder. "Keep shooting. Remember to highlight in your report that Captain America's hand speed was as fast as his shield. This is called historical detail."
"Got it, thanks, bro!" Peter nodded excitedly.
Steve:???
Steve covered his face in agony and slowly slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
The only thing he wanted to do right now was find a glacier and bury himself back inside.
Chapter 76 You Fake Fan!
Peter took over a dozen photos of that magazine before looking back at Lin Zhen: "By the way, why are you here too? Are you guys fans of Captain America as well?"
"No, I'm just bringing Mr. Rogers here for a stroll." Lin Zhenshook his head, pointing at Steve beside him. "As for whether he's a fan of Captain America, that depends on how narcissistic he is."
Peter was full of question marks; he still didn't understand what Lin Zhen was saying.
"By the way, how are things going with that girl named Jane?" Lin Zhen asked, gossiping.
Peter said bashfully: "We're getting along pretty well."
"Did you get to first base?"
"Huh???" Peter widened his eyes, and even through his mask, one could feel the heat on his face. "Bro, wh-what are you talking about? We just established our relationship; we're still in the stage of getting to know each other."
"Tch, useless thing." Lin Zhen pulled a handful of caramel sunflower seeds from his crotch and expertly cracked them open. "You haven't even reached first base. Are you worthy of the presidential suite that little brother Harry cleared out for you? It's a complete waste of resources."
Steve sat on the ground, covering his face tightly with both hands.
Listening to their conversation, he only felt that this worldwas so degenerate it was despairing.
He stood up abruptly, grabbed Peter's arm, and said extremely seriously: "Kid, the stain on that pictorial is really milk. You can't write nonsense in your report. This concerns the reputation of a veteran who participated in World War II!"
Peter was startled by Steve's swollen and distorted face. He quickly broke free and hid behind Lin Zhen: "Bro, does this uncle have something wrong with his brain? Why does he keep saying he's a World War II veteran?"
"Don't mind him. He's roleplaying; he's too deep into character and can't get out." Lin Zhen spat out a sunflower seed shell and casually pried open a glass case on the nearby display stand labeled "Military Compass Used by Captain Rogers," shoving the chipped compass directly into his crotch.
"What are you doing!" Steve's eyes went wide; that was something he had used back in the Alps.
"Taking some souvenirs. This broken compass can't even find North anymore; it's just taking up space here." Lin Zhen patted his crotch righteously.
Just as Steve was preparing to make a move to snatch the compass back, the phone in Lin Zhen's crotch vibrated violently.
He took out his phone and pressed answer. Nick Fury's extremely urgent panting came from the other end.
"Lin Zhen, take Rogers and leave there immediately. A Hydra assault team has locked onto your location. S.H.I.E.L.D. is out of control!"
"What's the situation? Nick Fury, did you get taken out?" Lin Zhen's eyes lit up, his voice rising a few notches. "Did they drop any gold coins? Do you need me to come over and collect the corpse?"
"Shut up! Take Rogers to the safe house. The coordinates have been sent to you. Don't let him die on the street!" A deafening explosion came from the communicator, followed by the signal being forcibly cut off, leaving only a harsh dial tone.
Lin Zhen looked at the darkened screen and curled his lip: "This old guy, he's still so arrogant when asking for a favor."
He turned his head to look at Steve and put away the sunflower seeds: "Brother Rogers, your vacation is over. Someone has come to risk their life with you."
Steve's expression changed instantly. The original decadence and collapse were swept away, replaced by a veteran's alertness and sharpness.
He quickly scanned the several exits of the memorial hall and lowered his voice: "How many people?"
"I don't know, but I guess they must be very rich." Lin Zhenrubbed his hands and pulled the pitch-black frying pan out of his crotch.
As soon as he finished speaking, the explosion-proof glass doors of the memorial hall were smashed directly by two black unplated off-road vehicles.
Glass shards splattered everywhere, and the crowd erupted in terrified screams, fleeing in all directions.
The car doors were kicked open, and eight fully armed assault team members wearing black tactical masks rushed in, holding assault rifles.
The burly man in the lead raised his muzzle, and the infrared beam locked onto Steve's chest without hesitation.
"Target confirmed, fire!"
Steve reacted extremely quickly.
He pushed Peter aside, rolled forward, and dodged the first round of dense gunfire.
He grabbed an aluminum alloy high-imitation Captain America shield from the display rack beside him and blocked it tightly in front of him.
Clang, clang, clang! The bullets hit the inferior aluminum alloy shield and went straight through it.
Bloodlines immediately appeared on Steve's body.
Steve:???
Steve looked at the blood seeping from his arm and looked at the shield printed with the Stars and Stripes in his hand in disbelief.
The center of the shield was ruthlessly torn apart by several 5.56mm caliber assault rifle bullets.
"This is impossible. Howard said this was the hardest metal in the world. How can it not even block ordinary bullets?" Steve gritted his teeth, performed a clumsy tactical roll to the side, and hid behind a thick marble load-bearing pillar, his chest heaving violently.
"Motherfucker, has your brain been frozen by ice? That's an aluminum alloy pot lid from the memorial gift shop that costs nine-point-nine with free shipping. You're using it to block armor-piercing rounds; are you tired of living?" Lin Zhen's extremely punchable voice came from the other side.
Steve turned to look, and the scene before him caused this battle-hardened World War II veteran's worldview to collapse once again.
Lin Zhen was carrying a pitch-black frying pan, walking swaggeringly through the hail of bullets as if he were strolling in his own backyard.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Dense bullets poured onto Lin Zhen like a rainstorm, but were all casually blocked by that seemingly ordinary frying pan.
Even more bizarrely, after those bullets hit the bottom of the pan, not only did they not ricochet wildly, but it was as if they had grown eyes, rebounding back along their original path one hundred percent of the time.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"
The three Hydra assault team members charging at the front didn't even have time to let out a scream before they were precisely pierced through their tactical helmets by their own bullets, falling straight into a pool of blood.
"Experience plus fifty, only fifty experience? You poor bastards, why give so little? Has the drop rate for this Hydra been secretly nerfed!" Lin Zhen cursed while sliding smoothly into the enemy ranks with a ground-hugging slide.
The frying pan in his hand slammed into a burly man's chin. Amidst a crisp sound of bone cracking, the man spun and flew out, spraying a mouthful of teeth all over the ground.
Lin Zhen didn't stop, his left hand reaching into the opponent's tactical vest with extreme proficiency, ripping off three fully loaded magazines and two high-explosive grenades. He didn't even spare the Casio watch on the opponent's wrist, stuffing everything into his own bottomless pair of big shorts.
Steve looked at the high-imitation shield in his hand that had turned into a colander, and then at the frying pan in Lin Zhen's hand that hadn't even lost a speck of paint, and a feeling of extreme imbalance suddenly welled up in his heart.
He, the dignified Captain America, was actually completely crushed in terms of equipment by a cooking pot?
"Lin Zhen, lend me the pot in your hand!" Steve shouted, tossing the broken aluminum alloy shield at an approaching enemy while leaning out to grab a gun.
"Lend you my ass, this is my exclusive bound purple gear, you white-level noob can't use it!" Lin Zhen knocked out a Hydra Agent who tried to sneak attack with a pan, stripped off the opponent's bulletproof vest, and turned to shout at Steve, "Brother, if you're really short on gear, I have a nine-percent new bulletproof vest I just seized. For the Director's sake, the original price is 100,000 USD, now it's bone-breakingly cheap at only 10,000. I support credit cards and installment payments. You won't lose out, you won't be fooled!"
Steve almost spat out a mouthful of blood. What time was it, and this guy was still doing business!
"I don't need this thing!" Steve roared, relying on the terrifying explosive power of a Super Soldier, he rushed out from behind the load-bearing pillar. With a powerful front kick, he kicked a Hydra Agent, along with his gun, more than ten meters away, slamming him heavily into a glass display cabinet, shattering the glass everywhere.
He took the opportunity to pick up the assault rifle that had fallen to the ground, expertly chambered a round, and began precise point shooting.
"Cool, why do I feel like you're a bit like Captain America? Are you a fan of Captain America? Do you often COS as Captain America?"
Peter Parker didn't know when he had changed into that red and blue spandex suit, hanging upside down from the ceiling like a flexible monkey.
"Although you are very much like Captain America, I still don't want you to imitate him, after all, he is sacred."
Steve:???
He really wanted to say, you fake fan, shut up.
I am the genuine Captain America!!!!
"I am..."
Before he could finish, an Agent came hacking towards Captain America with a knife.
The next instant, two tough spider silks shot out from Peter's wrists, precisely sticking to the Agent and pinning him firmly to the wall, unable to move.
"Spider-Man, stop it! Don't steal my experience and gold coins, these are all my mobs!" Lin Zhen panicked, kicked off the ground, and shot out like a cannonball. The frying panhit the back of that person's head with two "clang, clang" sounds, forcibly stealing the kill.
System notification sounds rang out one after another. Lin Zhen looked at the experience points received, hummed with satisfaction, and casually swiped the walkie-talkies, tactical daggers, and wallets of these two people as well.
The battle ended in just three minutes.
The eight fully armed Hydra elites didn't even have time to call for reinforcements before they were unilaterally slaughtered by Lin Zhen, and incidentally stripped down to nothing but their underwear, lying all over the ground in their whites.
Steve threw away the empty assault rifle, looked at the white flesh all over the ground, his eye twitching wildly, and his hand pointing at Lin Zhen was trembling: "Lin Zhen, do you not even spare the clothes of the dead?"
"They came to hack you, isn't looting them back standard procedure?" Lin Zhen rolled his eyes.
Peter also swung down from the ceiling, landing steadily beside Lin Zhen, asking somewhat excitedly: "Bro, how was my cooperation just now? Was it very much like the tacit understanding of superheroes? I feel like my practical combat experience is improving by leaps and bounds!"
"Tacit understanding my ass, you almost stole my last hit. If you dare to mess with my mobs next time, I'll have Harrycuckold you again!" Lin Zhen glared at him unhappily.
Peter smiled sheepishly.
Then he seemed to think of something and looked at Steve.
"Sir, please do not imitate my idol Captain America. He is sacred and should not be imitated by others!"
Steve:...
Again?
Enough, you fake fan!!
Chapter 77 The Project Insight Begins
"I am Captain America..."
"You're a damn Captain America, get over here and help me loot the corpses! These NPCs are so poor they're only wearing their underwear. If we don't strip them clean before they respawn, what are we going to do!"
Lin Zhen interrupted Steve extremely rudely. He was sticking his butt in the air, searching a Hydra Agent's corpse. He forcibly pried a large gold tooth out of the guy's teeth, wiped it on his floral shirt, and stuffed it directly into his crotch.
Watching this scene, Steve felt his stomach churning.
As a dignified World War II hero, his first battle after waking up was actually to strip dead men's underwear with a pervert wearing a ridiculous chicken-head mask.
Before Steve could complain, a dull roar of engines suddenly came from the street outside the memorial hall.
The ground began to tremble.
The chandeliers on the exhibition hall ceiling shook violently, and glass shards fell down continuously.
"Boom!"
The load-bearing wall of the memorial hall, which was printed with the Avengers logo, collapsed instantly. Amidst the dust, two pitch-black the military wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, welded with heavy blast-proof armor, crushed the ruins and rammed arrogantly into the hall.
The heavy machine gun turrets on top of the armored vehicles rotated rapidly, and the pitch-black muzzles locked onto the three people in the center of the hall.
A harsh, synthesized mechanical voice came from the armored vehicles' loudspeakers.
"Target acquired. Eliminate the S.H.I.E.L.D. remnants. Hail Hydra!"
Steve's pupils constricted. The muscle memory of a battle-hardened veteran was instantly activated. He shoved Peter, who was beside him, and roared.
"Scatter! Find cover! These are 12.7mm heavy machine guns; ordinary walls won't stop them!"
Steve performed a clean and efficient tactical dive, hiding behind a huge marble statue.
"Da da da da da!"
A violent metal barrage poured down instantly. Under the sweeping fire of the heavy machine guns, the marble statue shattered like tofu, and stone chips flew everywhere.
Peter fired two shots of spider silk from his wrists, flying up to the second-floor circular corridor like he was swinging on a swing, narrowly dodging a string of bullets chasing his butt.
Lin Zhen, however, stood still in place.
He looked at the two armored vehicles, his eyes behind the mask gleaming with green light, and even his breathing quickened.
"Motherf***er, elite vehicle mobs! If I blow these up, they should at least drop some purple-tier materials!"
Lin Zhen rubbed his hands excitedly, holding a dark frying pan in his left hand, and reached directly into his crotch with his right hand.
Hiding behind the broken statue, Steve saw Lin Zhen's stance of not dodging or hiding and cursed anxiously.
"Are you crazy? Hurry up and hide! That frying pan of yours can't stop armor-piercing rounds from a heavy machine gun!"
"Bro, how can you, big-butt Captain America, have no gaming common sense? Who hides when fighting a BOSS? You hurry up and go aggro them and tank the damage so I can flank and deal damage!"
Lin Zhen shouted without looking back.
Steve was so angry he almost spat out blood. He glanced at his empty hands.
"What am I supposed to tank with? My head? My shield isn't even in my hands!"
"Should've said so earlier! I have some ready-made armor here, 99% new. Since we're acquaintances, I'll give you a friendly price!"
Lin Zhen flicked his wrist, and a huge silver-gray metal plate whistled through the air, landing precisely at Steve's feet.
"Clang!"
The metal plate hit the ground, forcibly cracking the hard marble floor.
Steve looked closely and was dumbfounded.
This wasn't armor at all; it was clearly a thick, heavy titanium alloy server cabinet door.
This was naturally the door Lin Zhen had swiped from the Hydra base in Siberia, and it finally came in handy.
"Where did you get such a big door? Do you usually carry a security door in your pants when you go out?!"
Steve roared, but the heavy machine gun bullets had already shaved off half the statue. He had no time to hesitate and could only grit his teeth, grab the handle of the cabinet door, and hold it up in front of him.
"Ding ding dang dang!"
Dense armor-piercing rounds hit the titanium alloy cabinet door, sparking a series of blinding flashes.
Steve's arm muscles bulged, his feet were firmly nailed to the ground, and he was pushed backward by the huge impact, but he actually managed to block this wave of violent sweeping fire.
"Quality is not bad. As expected of Hydra's the military-grade quality. This junk was worth picking up!"
Lin Zhen nodded with satisfaction, then suddenly pulled an extremely exaggerated-looking man-portable heavy rocketlauncher out of his crotch.
This was the the military heavy weaponry he had "zero-dollar purchased" from General Ross's squad on the school playground earlier.
"Spider-Man, block their vision!"
Lin Zhen roared, shouldered the rocket launcher, and began to aim.
Peter, on the second floor, understood immediately. He fired continuously from both hands, and two huge white spider silks accurately plastered onto the bulletproof windshields of the two armored vehicles.
The drivers' vision was blocked, the armored vehicles immediately lost their direction, and the heavy machine gun fire paused.
"Eat a rocket from me!"
Lin Zhen pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Boom!"
The rocket, dragging a long trail of fire, shot out of the barrel and accurately hit the armored vehicle.
The violent explosion kicked up a huge fireball. The armored vehicle, weighing over ten tons, was forcibly flipped over, and the Hydra Agents inside were thrown into a dizzying mess.
The other armored vehicle saw that things were going south and its turret suddenly turned towards Lin Zhen.
"High-threat target acquired. Switching to high-explosive grenades!"
The mechanical voice sounded again. The launch tube on the side of the armored vehicle popped open, and a black grenade, carrying the breath of death, headed straight for Lin Zhen's face.
"Watch out!" Steve held up the cabinet door, wanting to rush over to block it, but the distance was too far and it was too late.
Lin Zhen didn't even blink. He tossed aside the empty rocket launcher, swung the frying pan in his left hand in a full circle, and swatted it right at the high-explosive grenade.
"Home run!"
"Clang!"
An extremely crisp sound of metal colliding rang through the hall.
The high-explosive grenade, which was enough to level a small building, instantly violated all laws of physics the moment it touched the bottom of the pan, returning along its original path at twice the speed it came.
"Boom!"
The grenade accurately drilled into the armored vehicle's launch tube that hadn't had time to close, instantly triggering the detonation of the internal ammunition.
A huge pillar of fire shot into the sky, and the armored vehicle was directly blown into a pile of burning scrap metal.
The system's crisp notification sound flooded Lin Zhen's ears.
[Killed Hydra elite squad, EXP +1500.]
[Dropped items: Damaged titanium alloy armor plate ×2, vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun barrel ×1, charred tactical walkie-talkie ×4.]
Lin Zhen looked at the pile of smoking scrap metal on the ground, and the smile on his face instantly collapsed.
"Motherf***er, with such a big commotion, it only drops this bit of junk? There isn't even a purple-tier item. Has Hydra's benefits and treatment become this bad now?!"
Lin Zhen walked up, cursing, completely ignoring the surrounding burning flames. He pulled a large wrench and a Phillips-head screwdriver out of his crotch and began to forcibly dismantle the overturned armored vehicle.
Steve threw away the cabinet door, which was now riddled with dents, and walked behind Lin Zhen, panting heavily.
"What kind of monster are you? Why could that pan deflect a grenade? This completely defies the laws of science!"
Watching Lin Zhen's extremely skilled car-dismantling movements, Steve felt that this world was getting crazier and crazier.
"Science, my foot. This is what I call game mechanics. What would you, an NPC, know about 100% physical defense?"
Lin Zhen didn't even look up as he forcefully ripped off a heavy machine gun barrel that was still sparking and stuffed it directly into his crotch.
Peter swung down from the second floor. Looking at the mess on the ground, he patted his chest with lingering fear.
"Bro, are we in big trouble? These people used heavy weapons in the city center; why haven't the police arrived yet?"
Lin Zhen stopped the wrench in his hand, stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned to look at Steve.
"Bro, do you believe it now? Nick Fury didn't lie to you. These Hydra guys are bold enough to drive armored vehicles into the city to hunt you down."
Steve's expression was extremely ugly, and he clenched his fists tightly.
"They came for me. I can't stay here and implicate civilians."
"You can leave, but first settle the weapon rental fee and the life-saving fee."
Lin Zhen extremely naturally pulled a square POS machine out of his crotch and handed it to Steve.
"Considering this is your first offense, the cabinet door rental is 50,000, and saving your life is 500,000, for a total of 550,000 U.S. dollars. Card payments are accepted. If you don't have a credit card, I have a high-interest installment agreement here. Which one do you want?"
Steve's eyes widened as he looked at the green-flashing POS machine, unable to believe his ears.
"What kind of joke are you playing? I don't even have a place to live right now, where would I get the money?!"
"No money? If you don't have money, why act like a big shot? If you don't have money, take off that uniform of yours to settle the debt. I can take it to the black market and sell it as an authentic cosplay costume to recoup some of my costs!"
Lin Zhen reached out and grabbed Steve's collar without ceremony.
Just as the two were struggling, Lin Zhen's crotch vibrated.
Lin Zhen pulled out his communicator and pressed answer. The extremely suppressed, low roar of Nick Fury came from inside.
"Lin Zhen, we're in big trouble!"
"What's up, Director? Did you get kidnapped by Hydra? Need a substitute player? One price, 100 million, no bargaining." Lin Zhen said carelessly.
"Pierce launched the Project Insight ahead of schedule. On the surface, this is a S.H.I.E.L.D. project, but behind the scenes, it is dominated by Hydra. It is meant to eliminate Green Hat Hero, New York Ji Ba, Iron Man, and other superhumans who might pose a threat to Hydra in the future."
"Now, some moles lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. are hunting down S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel all over the world. I am currently trapped in an underground base, and I can't reach Natasha either!"
Fury spoke extremely fast, and the background was filled with dense gunfire and explosions.
Lin Zhen:???
New York Ji Ba?
And it involves me?
"Lin Zhen, there's no time to explain. Didn't I ask you to assemble the Avengers earlier? I need you to get it done for me within one day!"
Fury said through gritted teeth.
"You know who to contact. I need you to take them and rush back to the Washington headquarters immediately!"
Chapter 78: Avengers Assemble!
Lin Zhen hung up the phone and casually stuffed the communicator into his crotch.
Steve and Peter immediately crowded over. Steve's expression was grave; an old soldier's intuition made him sense a crisis: "Did something happen? Is there anything we can help with? I can enter the battle at any time."
Peter also raised his hand, shouting excitedly: "Bro, I can fight too! My spider silk shooter just finished charging; I definitely won't hold you back!"
Lin Zhen glanced at them sideways and waved his hand as if shooing away flies.
"Go, go, go!"
"One of you is a century-old lonely old man who just woke up, and the other is a school kid who hasn't even finished his homework. Why are you joining in the fun? Think I don't have enough experience points to share here, huh?"
Steve frowned, his tone serious: "I am Captain America. Protecting the country is my responsibility. You cannot..."
"You're a 'Captain' my foot. You don't even have an aluminum alloy pot lid right now; are you going over there to feed Hydra kills?" Lin Zhen interrupted him unceremoniously, weighing a pitch-black frying pan in his hand. "Be good and go back to your nursing home to lie down. Spider-Man, you hurry up and get back to doing your homework too. Don't force me to kick you out."
Peter scratched his head, looking aggrieved: "Bro, I'm about to graduate... I just submitted my resume to a newspaper, and they seemed quite satisfied..."
"That's still just a low-level blank account that hasn't maxed out. Stop getting in my way." Lin Zhen waved his hand, directly fished out several newly confiscated high-explosive grenades, stuffed them into his crotch, and activated the system teleportation.
With a flash of white light, Lin Zhen disappeared from the spot, leaving Steve and Peter staring at each other in confusion.
Lin Zhen calculated; Fury asked him to assemble the Avengers.
But if he looked for a rich tycoon like Tony or a monster like Hulk, they would definitely steal his limelight and experience points, and they might even want a share of the loot.
"No way. I must find a few top-tier tools who can just make up the numbers and definitely won't steal my kills and gear."
Lin Zhen teleported to a street park in New York.
On a bench, an old man wearing reading glasses with all his teeth fallen out was basking in the sun.
Lin Zhen leaned over and shouted: "Old man, want to join the Avengers!"
The old man tremblingly turned his head and cupped his hand around his ear: "What? You want to go sell sweet potatoes?"
"Avengers!"
"What alliance?"
"Avengers!"
"Avengers what?"
Lin Zhen slapped his thigh: "Alright, you're the one. This composure—unmoved even when Mount Tai collapses before you—you're absolutely a top-tier Tank!"
Lin Zhen, without further ado, grabbed the old man, pulled him into the team, and teleported together.
Next, Lin Zhen saw a little brat in a sandbox wearing an Ultraman bodysuit with two long streams of snot, playing with mud.
Lin Zhen walked over and pulled a lollipop out of his crotch: "Kid, do you believe in light?"
The kid's eyes lit up instantly, and he sucked his snot back up violently: "I am Tiga!"
"Very good. The organization needs you to save the worldnow. Come with me." Lin Zhen grabbed the kid by the back of his collar.
A few minutes later...
Lin Zhen casually grabbed a middle-aged man on the side of the road who was leaning on crutches with a cast on his leg, a professional scammer.
The man was just about to fall down to scam Lin Zhen, but Lin Zhen was quick-eyed and fast-handed, slapping a one-hundred-dollar bill right onto the man's forehead: "Congratulations, you've been hired by the New York Ji Basquad. Daily wage is one hundred, room and board included."
The man stopped limping instantly, clutching the bill tightly: "Boss, I guarantee I'll hit wherever you point!"
Looking at his makeshift "Avengers," Lin Zhen nodded with satisfaction. With this lineup, absolutely no one could steal a single cent of his loot.
The scene shifted to Washington, D.C., the secret underground base of the Triskelion building.
Flames soared to the sky, and piercing sirens resounded through the entire metal corridor.
Nick Fury was hiding behind a thick bulletproof glass door, his left arm shot, blood staining his black leather jacket red.
Outside the door, Hydra's Crossbones Rumlow, leading dozens of fully armed Agents, was using a high-frequency cutter to force the door open.
"Fury, you can't run anymore. The times have changed. Hail Hydra!" Rumlow shouted with a grimace.
Fury gritted his teeth, escaping while taking his phone out of his pocket.
The screen lit up, and Lin Zhen's face appeared on it.
"Nick Fury, I've found the people. We'll be there after a turn," Lin Zhen said.
"Did you bring everyone?" Fury asked through gritted teeth, enduring the intense pain.
"Don't worry, New York Ji Ba... uh, the Avengers are all assembled. Everyone is a top-tier expert with unique skills. I guarantee I'll arrange everything for you clearly." Lin Zhenpatted his chest, guaranteeing it.
Fury let out a long sigh of relief, his previously tense nerves completely relaxing.
He knew that although Lin Zhen was usually unreliable, his combat power was unquestionable. Moreover, Lin Zhenhad previously been in contact with Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, and others; these people had already been verified to be very strong and full of justice. As long as he brought these people over, Hydra would definitely be in for it today.
"Boom!"
The bulletproof glass door was finally cut open. Rumlowkicked the debris to pieces, led his men in with assault rifles, and dozens of dark gun barrels were all aimed at Fury's head.
"Director, game over." Rumlow sneered.
Fury, however, was not panicked at all. He even adjusted the collar of his trench coat with his hand and looked at Rumlow coldly with his one eye: "Rumlow, you think you've won? You can't even imagine how strong my trump card is."
"Oh, really?" Rumlow curled his lip in disdain. "Who else do you have that can save you? Captain America, or Iron Man?"
Just at this moment, the ceiling above the base suddenly transmitted a violent vibration.
"Boom!"
Accompanied by the extremely piercing heavy metal music "The Most Dazzling Folk Style," the ceiling was forcibly blown open to reveal a large hole. Amidst the sky full of dust and rubble, a glittering figure descended from the sky, stepping on a ghost-fire skateboard.
"Motherf***er, who dares to touch my financier!"
Lin Zhen held the frying pan and landed arrogantly between Fury and Rumlow.
Fury's eyes lit up, and he shouted: "Lin Zhen, get the Avengers moving and wipe out all these Hydra scumbags!"
Rumlow and the Hydra Agents were also startled by this sudden situation. They raised their guns, ready for battle, vigilantly staring at the large hole, guarding against the "Avengers" about to appear.
"Little ones, make your shining entrance!" Lin Zhen waved his hand grandly.
Under the gaze of everyone holding their breath.
A teleportation light flashed.
That toothless, deaf old man fell from mid-air, trembling. He sprained his foot when he landed, looked blankly at the strong men around him holding guns, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Where are the sweet potatoes for sale!"
Immediately after, that little brat wearing the Ultraman bodysuit jumped down, rolled on the ground, struck an extremely shameful cross-beam gesture, and shouted at Rumlow: "Look at my destructive death ray, biubiubiu!"
Finally, that middle-aged scammer with the cast slid down limping. Seeing the room full of guns, his legs went weak with fear.
He plopped onto his knees, raised his hands over his head, and said: "I'm just a temp worker, daily wage one hundred, don't kill me!"
Chapter 79: Director, why are you shooting yourself?
The entire underground base fell into a deathly silence.
The Hydra Agents looked at each other, and Rumlow's mouth twitched wildly.
The smug smile on Fury's face froze completely. He widened his only eye, his eyeball almost popping out, and stared in disbelief at these three Avengers.
"Lin Zhen..." Fury's voice trembled as he pointed at the brat who was still going "biubiubiu." "Is this the Avengers you were talking about?!"
"Yeah." Lin Zhen shrugged confidently. "Don't look down on our Ultraman bond, you jerk!"
Fury felt his blood pressure surge, his vision went dark, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Motherfucker, screw you!" Fury completely lost his composure and roared hysterically.
Rumlow came back to his senses, looked at the ridiculous scene in front of him, and couldn't help but laugh wildly: "Fury, is this your trump card? Have you gone senile, finding a bunch of lunatics to throw their lives away?"
"Brothers, open fire! Turn them into sieves!" Rumlowroared.
"You dare make a move in front of us Avengers?!" Lin Zhen's eyes sharpened, and he shoved the brat who was still going "biubiubiu" behind him.
Facing dozens of assault rifles firing simultaneously, Lin Zhen swung his frying pan into a black afterimage.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The dense barrage of bullets hit the frying pan, triggering the 100% Physical Reflection Mechanism, and instantly flew back at an even faster speed.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The seven or eight Hydra Agents in the front row hadn't even reacted before they were riddled with holes by their own bullets and collapsed stiffly to the ground.
"Experience plus fifty, experience plus fifty... Broke losers, not even dropping a piece of purple gear!" Lin Zhengrumbled while riding his Ghost Fire Skateboard, charging directly into the crowd of Hydra members.
The frying pan in his hand had become a massive weapon of destruction; with one swing, he smashed a helmet, and with a smooth motion, he swiped a few magazines and some loose change from the enemy's pockets.
Seeing this, Rumlow was shocked. He had already learned the power of that pan and quickly retreated: "Grenade launcher! Blow him to bits!"
An Agent shouldered a grenade launcher and aimed at Lin Zhen.
Lin Zhen sneered, pulled the high-imitation aluminum alloy pot lid printed with the Stars and Stripes out of his pants, and threw it like a frisbee.
"Clang!"
Although the low-quality aluminum alloy shield couldn't stop bullets, it slammed into the barrel of the grenade launcher, knocking it off course.
"Boom!"
The grenade grazed Lin Zhen's scalp and slammed into the load-bearing wall behind Rumlow, collapsing half the corridor and burying several Hydra Agents alive on the spot.
"A bunch of low-level NPCs who don't even know how to dodge skills, daring to act tough in front of me." Lin Zhenslid over to Rumlow and slammed the frying pan hard against his knee.
Accompanied by a crisp sound of bone cracking, Rumlowscreamed and fell to his knees.
Lin Zhen very skillfully stripped off his bulletproof vest, swiped his watch, and didn't even spare the half-pack of cigars in his inner pocket.
"Director, the substitute service fee is fifty thousand. Cash or transfer?" Lin Zhen stuffed the loot into his pants and turned to look at Nick Fury, who was still questioning his life.
Fury looked at the wailing Hydra Agents all over the floor, then at the brat who was circling the Hydra corpses looking for "Light Power," and painfully closed his eyes.
"Can't you ever find any normal people..." Fury gritted his teeth.
"Would normal people have this kind of entertainment value?" Lin Zhen curled his lip. Suddenly remembering something, he pulled a camcorder out of his pants and aimed it at Fury. "Oh right, Director, I recorded that look you had when you thought you were going to die. If I sell this to the Daily Bugle, I could probably get a million or so for it."
Fury took a deep breath, raised his gun abruptly, and aimed it at Lin Zhen's head.
"Lin Zhen, delete that right now!"
He was just threatening Lin Zhen; he naturally wouldn't actually shoot.
Unexpectedly, Lin Zhen took the initiative to step forward, adjusted Fury's gun, and pressed it against his own forehead.
"Come on, I bet there are no bullets in your gun."
Fury was speechless and eventually lowered the gun.
Although Lin Zhen was very unreliable, he was highly efficient at completing missions most of the time.
He had been impulsive just now...
"Don't, don't stop shooting!" Lin Zhen quickly straightened Fury's gun again.
Fury:???
"Come on, shoot! It's fine, I won't die, Director. Shoot me!"
Fury:...
He couldn't understand Lin Zhen's train of thought right now.
It was his first time seeing someone begging to be shot.
However, thinking of Lin Zhen's combat power, the guy really did have the ability to dodge bullets, so he subconsciously pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet left the chamber, fired backward, and pierced through Fury's own arm.
Fury:???
"What the hell, what's going on?!"
Nick Fury gritted his teeth as intense pain radiated from his arm.
"Hehe, this is a Reverse Gun. It shoots backward when you pull the trigger. I got it from a mission. I swapped it when you were holding it earlier. Surprised? Unexpected, right?" Lin Zhen said.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Fury was dumbfounded.
When did this kid swap the gun!
"Wait a second, let me find you a health potion!" Lin Zhenreached into his pants and rummaged around.
Fury gritted his teeth, turned the pistol around, and fired again.
Bang!
The other arm felt the pain.
"Uh... Director, what are you doing?"
Fury:...
"Why didn't you tell me when you pulled the trigger? The full name of this gun is the Cunning Gun. It shoots backward first, then forward. Didn't you know?"
"Motherfucker, you... why didn't you say so earlier?!"
Fury took a deep breath, looking at Lin Zhen with a face full of Fury.
He was certain that Lin Zhen was definitely messing with him on purpose!
He immediately turned the muzzle again and fired a shot.
This time, it finally worked!!!!
The bullet flew toward Lin Zhen, heading straight for his butt!
"Motherfucker, that'll teach you to mess with me! Hahahaha!"
Fury laughed out loud. This time, he had finally scored a point...
Just then, a loud clang rang out.
The bullet hit the frying pan tucked into Lin Zhen's butt and bounced right back.
It hit Fury again.
"Motherfucker!!!!!!"
Chapter 80: Need to Add Money!
Fury clutched his thigh and collapsed to the ground, his face livid.
Lin Zhen squatted down, pulled that bottle of primary red potion from his crotch, and dangled it in front of Fury.
"Director, this life-saving potion is a flat price of twenty thousand U.S. dollars."
Fury gritted his teeth: "You first give me back my original gun!"
He really didn't dare to use this wicked gun anymore.
If he kept using it, he probably wouldn't be able to save his own life.
"That won't do. The Backwards Gun is a limited-edition item; I had a hard time getting it."
Fury ignored Lin Zhen, snatched the red potion, and gulped it down; the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"You haven't paid yet, Director. Twenty thousand U.S. dollars, no credit."
Fury ignored him, pushed himself up against the wall, and his single eye swept over the Hydra Agents lying stripped on the ground, his eye twitching.
Those Agents lay all over the floor, pale and bare, looking exactly like a row of drying salted fish.
The brat wearing an Ultraman bodysuit was riding on top of Rumlow, hands formed into a cross, still going "pew pew pew" with his mouth.
"Is this your Avengers?" Fury's voice was hoarse.
"What, not convinced? Look at that brat; he held off Crossbones all by himself. That's called tactical value."
Fury took a deep breath, deciding not to dwell on it any longer.
"Pierce has already launched the Project Insight. Three Helicarriers are taking off. Once they reach the designated altitude, the onboard weapons systems will lock onto all targets worldwide identified as threats by the algorithm and fire simultaneously."
Fury paused: "They'll even kill ordinary people. Many innocent people will die!"
The system interface popped up immediately.
[Main Quest Triggered: Helicarrier]
[Quest Description: Stop the Project Insight, destroy or disable the weapons systems of the three Helicarriers]
[Time Limit: 20 minutes]
[Quest Rewards: EXP +15000, Points +80, ruyi jingu bang fragment x10, Random Orange Equipment x1]
[Failure Penalty: Justice Points reset to zero, Mjolnirpermanently locked]
"Fifty thousand U.S. dollars for the service fee. Payment first, then I work."
Fury glared at him: "You're still thinking about money right now?"
"Director, it's the rules. I can't start without an advance payment."
Fury pulled a black card from his pocket and slammed it onto Lin Zhen's chest: "Take it and get lost!"
Lin Zhen caught the black card, stuffed it into his crotch with satisfaction, and pulled out a communicator to throw to Fury.
"Director, you go find a place to hide. I'm going to smash those three broken ships."
Just as Fury was about to speak, Lin Zhen had already rushed out of the underground base, riding the golden ghost fire hoverboard, with the heavy metal melody of "The Most Dazzling Folk Style" trailing behind him.
Above Washington.
Three massive Helicarriers were slowly rising from the surface of the Potomac River. The roar of the turbine engines drowned out the heartbeat of the entire city, and the weapons arrays on the decks flickered with cold blue light.
Lin Zhen hovered in mid-air on the hoverboard, looking up at the three behemoths, and whistled.
"If I dismantled these things and sold them for scrap, how much would they be worth?"
On the system interface, the health bars of the three Helicarriers were so long they seemed endless, each marked with the red text [world-class BOSS].
"Motherf*cker, so much HP?!"
The communicator in his pocket rang, and Fury's voice came through.
"The Helicarrier's control system is in the onboard mainframe. You need to replace the positioning chips of all three ships, and we can take over the weapons systems."
"Where are the chips?"
"The core server room of each ship, on the..."
"Alright, alright, I'll find them myself. You talk too slowly."
Lin Zhen hung up the phone and steered the hoverboard toward the nearest Helicarrier.
Just as he approached the edge of the deck, a row of automatic defense turrets locked onto him.
"Thump thump thump thump thump!"
Dense artillery shells wove a net of fire in the air.
Lin Zhen dodged left and right on the hoverboard, holding the frying pan to block a few stray bullets, cursing all the while.
"This broken ship even has automatic turrets installed. The developer must have a hole in their brain; the defense is fiercer than the offense."
He made a sharp turn to the side of the ship and discovered a ventilation duct entrance.
"Hey, another ventilation duct. Does this game designer only know how to design this one type of level?"
Lin Zhen poked his head in to take a look.
Deep in the duct, a pair of eyes with a metallic sheen stared at him.
It was a Hydra elite soldier wearing black exoskeleton armor, nearly two meters tall, holding a rotary machine gun.
"Whoa, a security guard crouching in the duct. Hydra's security awareness is much stronger than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."
Lin Zhen pulled the frying pan out from his crotch, a smile appearing behind his mask.
"Brother, did they pay your overtime? If not, I'll help you ask Pierce for it."
The elite soldier didn't speak, directly pulling the trigger.
The rotating barrels spat tongues of fire, and bullets ricocheted back and forth in the narrow duct, forcing Lin Zhen to retreat repeatedly.
"Motherf*cker, why doesn't this guy play by the rules?!"
Lin Zhen fished a high-explosive pumpkin bomb out of his crotch, pulled the fuse, and accurately swatted it in with the frying pan.
"Home run!"
The pumpkin bomb rolled along the duct and exploded at the elite soldier's feet.
"Boom!"
Black smoke billowed from the duct entrance. Lin Zhenrushed in on the hoverboard, and as he passed the soldier who had been blasted into a daze, he casually stripped off his exoskeleton helmet and three full magazines.
"Thanks, boss. Hope you enjoy your next overtime."
Lin Zhen passed through the duct and kicked open the blast door of the core server room.
In the center of the room, a giant mainframe was running, and on the screen, dense red lock-on points were spreading across the globe.
Lin Zhen walked up, pulled the Pikachu USB drive from his crotch, and plugged it into the mainframe port.
The system began to crack.
The progress bar slowly climbed: 12%... 25%... 38%...
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, I've still got two more ships to farm." Lin Zhen tapped the mainframe shell impatiently.
Footsteps came from behind.
Lin Zhen turned his head, and a middle-aged man in a tailored suit with his hair combed meticulously walked in.
Alexander Pierce.
The de facto controller of Hydra, the former highest-ranking secretary of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I have to say, Nick Fury's judgment is just poor.
The assistants and secretaries he hires are all men; someone who didn't know better would think he's gay.
Lin Zhen remembered the condoms and delay spray that Nick Fury had bought before.
Don't know if he used them with some male secretary...
Pierce looked at Lin Zhen and smiled.
"You're that lunatic making trouble everywhere? The one wearing a chicken head mask."
"Call me Brother Kun, thanks." Lin Zhen corrected him.
Pierce wasn't angry, observing Lin Zhen with interest.
"I've seen your file: a lunatic of unknown origin, with astonishing combat power but absolutely no discipline, recognizing only money and no people."
Pierce pulled a gold card from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Lin Zhen.
"Two million U.S. dollars. Join Hydra, and you can take whatever you want on this ship."
Lin Zhen looked down at the gold card, then looked at Pierce.
Progress bar: 67%...
"Two million?" Lin Zhen's voice carried a hint of fluctuation.
Pierce smiled. He had seen too many people like this; as long as you gave enough money, there was no soul that couldn't be bought.
"Yes, two million U.S. dollars, tax-free, deposited directly into a Swiss bank account. You can now..."
"Are you f*cking kidding me?" Lin Zhen grabbed the gold card and flipped it over to look at it twice. "It's just a crappy card, doesn't even come with a balance SMS. What if it's an empty card, who would I go to for justice?"
Pierce's smile froze.
"Besides, you want to buy me off with two million? That stingy Nick Fury is at least my beloved friend and brother; you want me to betray him for two million?!"
Pierce's face changed.
"Are you negotiating terms with me?"
"No, no, no, I mean..."
Progress bar: 89%...
Pierce's expression turned completely cold. He took a step back and drew a strangely shaped pistol from behind his waist.
"It seems we can't reach an agreement."
"Hey, bro, are you listening to me?!" Lin Zhen was stunned.
Why does this scene feel so familiar?
"What I mean is, two million isn't enough. You need to add more money!"