In a small two-story building somewhere in Paris City, Baron Zemo was pacing anxiously, the beautiful wooden floorboards constantly creaking under his feet.
Previously, he had received intelligence that while he was in a meeting, Captain America appeared near the Eiffel Tower, causing considerable losses to the German Army.
But just as the meeting ended, Captain America had already slipped down into the sewers with a bunch of freaks and fled.
"Damn it! Just a little bit more and I would have caught that damn Joker!"
Zemo clenched his fists and pounded the table in front of him, only to feel the pain in his hand.
He had already planned that once he caught Captain America, he would bathe him in adhesive, sticking hundreds of kilograms of chicken feathers onto him, and confining him in a secret prison for his own amusement.
But Captain America only wanted to chase after the Red Skull. Now that the Red Skull's proposal was rejected in the previous meeting, he was probably planning to hide away.
He thought for a moment and then called the Red Skull.
"I need your help... Yes, it's a deal, in exchange for my support of your proposal."
After hanging up the phone, a wheezing laugh emanated from under his purple hood.
The Red Skull had agreed to show himself to lure out Captain America and even help ambush him. Then Zemo could do whatever he wanted with him.
Zemo began preparing, first by mobilizing his men and setting up traps, then by filling his weapons with adhesive, readying for battle.
With the Red Skull as bait, there was no worry Captain America wouldn't show up.
His mood gradually improved, and he started humming the tune of Blue Danube.
"Dad?"
"Oh? Helmut, why aren't you asleep yet? It's already late." Baron Zemo slipped his weapon back into its holster and turned to pat his son's head.
"It's too noisy outside, I can't sleep." Little Zemo, only seven years old, looked like a cute child.
"No worries, just lie down in bed, Dad will go take care of it right now." Zemo donned his black leather jacket and adjusted the Hydra insignia on his chest.
Little Zemo nodded somewhat understandingly, "Is it to go kill someone outside? Can you kill all those French people? Paris is beautiful; it'd be great if we owned it directly."
Zemo shook his head with a laugh, "No, no, we shouldn't kill so many people, just the wrongdoers. The Zemo family will rule everything. If you kill everyone, who will you rule?"
"Right! Oversight and discipline, you told me about it, we only kill the bad people who don't obey."
"You're right, my son, now I'm off to eliminate the worst of the bad ones who desires chaotic freedom, which will only bring the world to chaos. For the future of our family, for Germany and Hydra, I must kill him."
Zemo made his preparations, hanging the family sword on his weapon belt, and headed toward the door.
"Then I'll wait for you to come back and tell me a story, it should be quick, right?"
"Yes, I'll be back soon."
Zemo pushed open the door, and the Hydra Guard saluted him as he got into a black car, followed by hundreds of elite troops jogging alongside the vehicle.
As the sound of the footsteps faded into the streets, little Zemo obediently returned to bed, his bright eyes staring at the ceiling, waiting for his father to return.
......................
Elsewhere in Paris, the Red Skull emotionlessly hung up the phone, Dr. Zola cautiously observing his expression from beside him.
But what kind of expression can one see on a skeletal face? The only discernible emotion on this face was anger.
"Zemo thinks I'm an idiot, or a brainless fool... Anim, what do you think I should do?"
"Uh... Didn't Zemo just express support for us, haha... haha... cough cough."
The Red Skull's round eyes stared at Zola, his eyeless sockets looking extremely terrifying.
The professor, who initially chuckled dryly, quickly turned to a series of dry coughs as he couldn't laugh anymore, sweat dripping from his forehead, knowing Schmidt's eyes were filled with madness, and he was going to kill.
As expected, Schmidt drew his gun and turned to kill two guards, firing madly until the gun clicked empty.
"Phew!" He took a breath, twisting his neck and loosening his collar, flexing his jawbone, "What did you just say, Professor?"
New guards entered from outside, silently dragging away the bodies of their comrades and taking their places, continuing their watch.
This was the duty and fate of Hydra Soldiers. Among the leaders of the Hydra Council, except for Blue Glove Heine, who treated his men decently, all other leaders were madmen.
Especially Viper, who often needed 'volunteers' for her poison experiments, and Whitehall's immortality experiments, which were equally dangerous.
However, Hydra Soldiers do not fear it. In their eyes, sacrificing for Hydra was a great honor. Those chosen by the leaders to sacrifice would go to the side of Hydra's True God, forever living in paradise.
Since no one has returned from there, everyone believes it's true.
"You're right! Schmidt, Zemo was the first to oppose you at the meeting just now!"
Zola continued nodding, smiling apologetically as he retrieved a handkerchief from the pocket of his small suit to wipe his sweat, taking off his glasses and no longer daring to look at the Red Skull's face.
"Yes, he's mocking me, that damn guy, he's just a hereditary noble, a scientist weak to the extreme. He's unfit to be a leader of Hydra..."
"I..." Zola wanted to turn and run. He heard some bad intent.
"Oh, not including you, my dear Professor, you're the smartest person in Germany, and my ally, right?" The Red Skull placed a massive hand on Zola's shoulder, so forceful he couldn't move.
"Ha... haha... you're right, I'm very smart, very useful." Zola sniffed, nodding continuously.
"Very good, Professor, my good professor, now is your time to shine. Last time, did the clones I got from Horror survive?"
Dr. Zola immediately confirmed, "Yes, they're still alive, I've preserved several of your clones at low temperature. Horror's products are very unstable. If they're thawed and put into action, they can't last more than four hours."
"Ah, four hours, as powerful as I am, the clones' lifespan is so short, Horror is really disappointing, isn't it?" The Red Skull's tone was a bit dissatisfied, as he looked down, wiping off the blood splattered on his body.
"No, actually, Horror is one of the best biologists of the era, his cloning and genetic technology are..." Zola tried to explain the difficulty of genetic engineering to the Red Skull, even though he's a physicist, he actually admired Horror quite a bit.
"Hmm?" The Red Skull's hand suddenly tightened.
"Right, you're right, Horror is very disappointing, just four hours, what can they accomplish?" Zola immediately changed his tune.
"Hmm, doesn't matter, remember the things I got from Stryker?" The Red Skull released Dr. Zola's shoulder and led him to the adjacent room.
This was a secret compartment, with walls entirely metallic, emitting a grayish glow. The Red Skull input a string of codes on the wall control panel, and the door slowly opened with a buzzing sound.
The Red Skull held one hand behind his back, and made a 'please see' gesture with the other hand to Dr. Zola.
On the high platform in the middle of the small room, a row of test tubes stood, the black liquid seeming to churn and flow within, a beam of red light shining on it, reflecting a suffocating hue.
Dr. Zola wiped his sweat faster.