Outside the hotel, white sheets covered the corpses, blood seeping from the body parts staining the sheets a mixture of red and white.
Bloodstains covered the ground, and chunks of flesh that couldn't be completely cleaned attracted a swarm of green flies.
The pungent stench of blood could be smelled even across the street; the appalling scene caused nausea even for the most experienced detectives.
"My God! What happened?" Steve Rogers asked, his pupils shrinking at the gruesome sight of the corpses.
Such a scene was rare even during World War II: over thirty bodies, none intact, either cut in half or reduced to a pile of minced meat.
"The hotel is old and dilapidated; the surveillance equipment hasn't been used for a long time, so we don't know what happened," an agent said helplessly.
Initially, the police had received calls from local residents, who had repeatedly called reporting a fierce fight. By the time they arrived, only scattered corpses remained on the ground.
Local police understood this was no ordinary gang fight; initial investigations confirmed the involvement of supernatural forces.
The matter was quickly reported up the chain of command, alarming S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are investigating every detail.
"All the dead are mercenaries, but one of them is quite unusual," Natasha said, walking over and checking her tablet, which displayed information on the bodies. She selected a file: "Donald Pierce, head of a security company, currently working for the Project X laboratory."
"The Project X laboratory?" Steve asked, confused.
"A biological laboratory."
Natasha paused, looked at Steve, swallowed her words, and changed her tone: "I don't know exactly what they do; Fury might have to investigate."
"Initial investigations suggest it might have been the work of mutants; many of the body parts are cooked."
Natasha observed the scattered remains, the lingering smell of burnt flesh.
"Mutants?"
This unfamiliar term slightly surprised Steve.
Frozen for seventy years, he missed the most glorious era of mutants, and in his time, the concept of mutants hadn't even begun to be popularized.
"A type of human with superpowers resulting from a genetic mutation," Natasha said, shrugging. "But they are almost extinct; it's rare to see them now."
"Before I was frozen, I met some humans with superpowers."
Steve nodded knowingly, bending down to carefully examine the corpses. After a while, he said: "It seems the killer was quite powerful; dozens of elite mercenaries appeared completely helpless."
Steve had combat experience; he could clearly deduce the opponent's strength just by observing the state of the corpses at the time of death.
"Captain Rogers, Chris Lawrence has confessed!"
Suddenly, an agent rushed in.
"He finally confessed?"
Steve stood up with a look of surprise.
In reality, the hotel massacre was just an interlude in their trip to Santa Fe; their real mission was still the Chitauri weapons.
Several days ago, following a warning from Stark's surveillance devices, they located the Lawrence family's logistics warehouse and found the weapons there. They immediately arrested the warehouse manager, Chris Lawrence.
While the arrest went smoothly, the interrogation was fraught with difficulties.
Steve had never seen anyone resist a S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation for so many days.
After several days, they had failed to extract any information from him.
They still didn't know the origin of the weapons or if they possessed any other equipment besides this shipment.
However, this was understandable; after all, he was the local tyrant of Santa Fe, accustomed to wielding absolute power there. He believed his father, the local 'emperor,' could get him out of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that belief strengthened him.
What he didn't know was that the Lawrence family was also facing its own crises.
His former partners, seeing them involved with a special organization, had turned against them, withdrawing their investments and shares, and entangled in financial disputes, keeping Mr. Lawrence extremely busy and with no time to rescue anyone.
Of course, even if he had time, he couldn't take anyone away from S.H.I.E.L.D. Chris's willpower had clearly collapsed under the continuous torture.
"Leave this to S.H.I.E.L.D. for now," Steve told an agent, and then quickly returned to headquarters with Natasha.
In the dimly lit interrogation room, Chris was a shadow of his former self, slumped in a chair, covered in wounds. Days of torture had left him looking completely exhausted, his gaze dull and lifeless, as if he had lost all hope.
Steve entered the interrogation room, looked at the injured Chris, and muttered: "Testimony obtained under torture cannot be used in court."
Natasha shrugged. "We weren't planning on going through legal procedures anyway."
Steve was speechless, motioning to an agent to bandage Chris.
He was a key figure in this incident; he couldn't die.
After bandaging, Natasha slammed her hand on the table and demanded: "Tell me, where did the weapons come from? Are there more?"
Chris weakly looked up, looking completely drained. "They were from the Juarez family. After getting the information, I sent people to intercept them. Just those two boxes. As for whether the Juarez family has more, you'll have to ask them."
Natasha rolled her eyes, speechless. "Wouldn't it have been fine if you had just said that earlier?"
Something that could have been resolved with a single sentence had dragged on for so many days.
Chris didn't answer.
In reality, he didn't want to expose the Juarez family, not because he had a very good relationship with them, but because the Juarez family had channels for smuggling those weapons.
He knew those weapons were incredibly powerful, and as long as the Juarez family wasn't exposed, he could still intercept more in the future.
But these agents were too ruthless. If he remained silent, he might die on the interrogation table...
After sighing helplessly, Chris struggled to ask: "Can you let me go now?"
"I'm afraid not."
Steve shook his head with a somber expression. "Your crimes go far beyond these."
He had read Chris's file. As the local prince of Santa Fe City, this guy's behavior was notorious. Every page he flipped contained serious crimes punishable by death.
For example, to open a factory, they murdered entire families of residents on the chosen site; they drove countless families to ruin and suicide through usury; they ran illegal casinos; engaged in organ trafficking; trafficked women; the crimes were too numerous to list.
"You're in trouble," Natasha said, shrugging as she looked at Chris.
S.H.I.E.L.D. might overlook these so-called mafia bosses, but Steve wouldn't; he did not tolerate evil.
"Let me go, please! You must know that the Lawrence family has a very powerful base. Just let me go, you can have any amount of money you want, all the Lawrence family's assets!"
Hearing this, Chris panicked and desperately pleaded. He didn't want to stay in this hell for another day; the torture from those S.H.I.E.L.D. maniacs made even death a luxury!
Steve ignored these words, but a question persisted in his mind, so he asked again: "I have one more question. About ten days ago, among those intercepting goods at the New York docks, there was a guy with metal claws. Who was he?"
"Metal claws?"
Chris was startled, but he reacted as if grabbing a lifeline, quickly saying: "It was Wolverine, Logan Howlett, alias James!"
"Impossible!" Natasha immediately retorted upon hearing the name Wolverine. "He's dead!"
Since the founding of S.H.I.E.L.D., they had been very interested in the infamous Wolverine of the last century, but they hadn't been able to find him.
In this world, only the dead can escape S.H.I.E.L.D.!
"It really is him!" Chris said with absolute certainty. "There's no way I could mistake him. He might be a little old, but he's definitely Wolverine!"
"Logan?"
Steve remembered, as the familiar face gradually became clear to him. "Seventy years have passed, and he's still alive."
"Alive, truly alive!"
Chris nodded repeatedly and quickly added: "By the way, I know where he lives. I'll take you there!"