The base commander's prediction was accurate; within a few short minutes, all the combatants he had dispatched were essentially incapacitated, their forces completely routed.
"Seal the base! Seal the base!"
The commander decisively gave this order.
Rumble!
Captain America immediately saw the incredibly heavy gate in front of him begin to close with thunderous force.
Captain America's heart pounded, and he rushed towards the gate.
Thump thump thump!
Thump thump thump!
However, several volleys of bullets immediately rained down, effectively blocking Captain America.
But Captain America was not to be underestimated; at the critical moment, he forcefully threw his shield.
The shield arced gracefully through the air, and with a clang, it wedged firmly between the two gates.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, Captain America reached out again, summoning his hammer, which he had thrown somewhere, and tossed it.
Bang!
A combatant was instantly knocked to the ground by Captain America, who then used Batman's cape for cover to quickly advance, rushing to another combatant's side.
He kicked the opponent flying.
He truly sent them flying, crashing hard against the wall, where they completely passed out.
Bang bang bang!
Next, with a few more swings of the hammer, all the combatants blocking Captain America outside were dealt with.
After doing all this, Captain America pulled out his shield and strode into the base through the gap in the gate.
The base's armed forces were essentially crippled by Captain America at this point; he advanced unopposed within the base, with no one able to stop him.
Bang!
"Ah!"
But at this moment, a scream and faint sounds of objects colliding rang out.
Captain America's spirits lifted, and he immediately rushed in the direction of the sound.
He saw a long-haired man gripping another combatant's neck, lifting the person up and pressing them firmly against the wall.
Undoubtedly, it was Captain America's target for this mission, the Winter Soldier, Bucky.
And that man was the base commander.
"No, don't—"
The commander struggled to utter these indistinct sounds from his mouth.
"Bucky, stop!"
Captain America immediately shouted at Bucky.
Hearing the sound, Bucky sharply turned his head, his eyes as keen as an eagle's, fixed on Captain America's face.
"Who is Bucky?"
Bucky casually threw the person he was choking, then walked towards Captain America step by step.
"Bucky, don't you recognize me? It's me, Rogers!" Captain America shouted at Bucky, trying to awaken Bucky's memories.
"What does that have to do with me?" Bucky said coldly.
Then he charged directly at Captain America, swinging his metal arm, striking fiercely at Captain America.
Captain America held up his shield, and Bucky's fist struck the shield, emitting a prolonged metallic vibration.
"Bucky, I don't want to fight you, but now I must take you back. I'm sorry," Captain America said to Bucky.
Then he delivered a side kick, landing a blow to Bucky's chest.
He kicked Bucky backward.
But Bucky was no ordinary person; he immediately charged at Captain America again. Captain America shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to engage Bucky in a fight.
The two exchanged blows.
At this moment, Black Widow also landed the Quinjet and, with all the tactical squad members, began to advance into the base.
Along the way, they saw enemy combatants lying scattered on the ground, some dead, some wounded, some unconscious, all incapacitated.
There wasn't even a single unexpected event.
"Captain did all this alone? In such a short time?"
The tactical squad members were all stunned, hardly believing their eyes.
How much time had passed since Captain America "jumped out" of the plane until now?
This was too exaggerated!
"Captain, we've arrived. How are things on your end?"
Black Widow, however, remained calm, striding confidently into the base while inquiring with Captain America over the comms channel.
"I've found Bucky, but I still need a little more time." Captain America's voice immediately came through the comms channel.
"Hurry up! Drone reconnaissance has detected an armed force heading your way, expected to arrive in about ten minutes!"
"Before that, you'd best resolve everything!"
At this point, Nick Fury's voice also sounded through the comms channel.
"Understood, sir!"
Black Widow responded and quickly led her subordinates to take control of the base immediately.
Copying data, collecting evidence, and other comprehensive services were all a given.
However, it was regrettable that Hydra was also formidable; by the time Black Widow and her team occupied the base, all the researchers and related personnel inside had already been killed.
That was the purge protocol Pierce had mentioned.
Relevant data was also in the process of being destroyed; how much could be salvaged depended on fate.
"Bucky, I'm sorry!"
Hearing the urgency of the situation, Captain America finally stopped holding back against Bucky. He reached out, and Mjolnir flew back into his hand with a whoosh.
Thump thump thump!
Just then, Bucky was charging at Captain America, who, with a flick of his wrist, threw Mjolnir at Bucky.
Mjolnir flew directly out, like a meteorite from outer space, smashing hard into Bucky's chest.
Bang!
A dull collision sound rang out, and Bucky's massive body was instantly sent flying backward by Captain America.
He crashed heavily against a wall behind him, creating a large dent in it.
Bucky's face immediately showed shock; this guy in front of him was actually so powerful!
However, Bucky was not one to admit defeat. After laboriously getting up from the ground, he charged at Captain America again.
"Bucky, you must forgive me for doing this later," Captain America whispered, then swung the hammer again.
Bang!
Poor Bucky was once again sent flying by Captain America, and this time he was completely knocked unconscious, unable to get up again.
Captain America hung his shield on his back and his hammer on his waist, then picked up the unconscious Bucky and walked out of the base.
"Romanoff, mission accomplished!"
Captain America called out to Black Widow.
"Everyone, begin evacuation! Begin evacuation!"
Black Widow immediately gave orders to everyone over the comms channel, and the team quickly began to wrap things up, leaving the base in an orderly fashion.
Then, Black Widow pressed a button.
Boom boom boom!
Violent explosions erupted, and this secret Hydra base was reduced to ruins amidst the sky-shattering flames and tremors.
And then.
Black Widow and the others retreated in an orderly manner into the Quinjet, also taking several unconscious combatants from outside the base, and then flew away from the scene.
It wasn't until their jet was airborne that a convoy of black tactical vehicles, trailing clouds of dust, pulled up in front of the smoking ruins of the base.
Car doors opened, and armed personnel stepped out one after another.
However, all they could do was watch the Quinjet grow smaller in the sky, fuming with anger.
"Sir, we're too late!"
A man who looked like a leader reported to Pierce.
"Shit!"
Pierce, in his office, couldn't help but curse.
The losses this time were simply too great.
But that wasn't the most frustrating part.
The most frustrating thing was that Pierce still couldn't understand where the slip-up had occurred that allowed the enemy to catch them so off guard.
"Rumlow, Mars, come meet me immediately, at rendezvous point 5!"
Pierce then gave separate orders to Crossbones and another special forces operative.
About an hour later, the three met in a very ordinary, inconspicuous civilian house.
"Mission report!"
Upon seeing Crossbones and the other man, Pierce impatiently gave them orders.
"Sir, after receiving your order, I immediately completed the handover with Rumlow, but by the time we reached the base, everything was already too late."
"The base was destroyed, and they left in a Quinjet."
A burly man with slicked-back hair and a full beard reported to Pierce.
"Sir, from the moment Captain America assaulted the base until they destroyed it and left, it only took a mere thirty-four minutes!"
Crossbones spoke in a deep voice from the side, still with disbelief in his tone, "Thirty-four minutes! Not even enough time for our reinforcements to arrive! And it was just Captain America alone!"
The atmosphere was somewhat somber; no one had ever imagined that Captain America's solo combat capabilities could be so terrifying.
Captain America's battle had, in a way, completely reshaped Pierce and Crossbones' understanding of the world.
"Have you tallied the numbers?" After a moment of silence, Pierce asked again, seriously.
"We have, five people are missing, all combatants," Mars replied in a deep voice, "They must have been taken captive."
Pierce's expression immediately became extremely grim; he had shown his true face quite a few times at that base.
Although the combatants were highly trained and wouldn't easily divulge information, this was still a huge risk.
"Was the purge protocol initiated?" Pierce asked again.
"It was initiated; non-combat personnel were killed immediately, and relevant data was destroyed, but their speed was simply too fast. We're not sure if the purge protocol was fully completed."
Pierce's expression darkened slightly; this was not good news.
"Sir, the Quinjet that raided our base belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D. Things might be bad," Crossbones said gravely to Pierce, "Once those people fall into Nick Fury's hands—"
"Then we'd best ensure that doesn't happen," Pierce interrupted Crossbones.
"Activate all our networks. Eliminate those five people immediately. I want them to have no chance to speak!"
"Rumlow, you handle this personally. If you need any authorization, contact me immediately. We cannot give Nick Fury too much time."
"Nick Fury is the most—" Here, Pierce shook his head, retracting his statement, "No, our secret has already been dug up by Nick Fury, we just don't know how much he's uncovered!"
"Also, spare no effort to find out exactly how the base was exposed!"
"Understood, sir!"
Mars and Crossbones immediately replied in unison.
"Sir, if the worst happens, and Nick Fury truly gets hold of information he shouldn't have, what should we do?"
Crossbones then asked Pierce, staring at him intently.
"Of course, we do what Hydra should do, Rumlow," Pierce said meaningfully to Crossbones.
While Pierce and his team were meeting in private, Captain America and his group had already rendezvoused with Nick Fury, bringing Bucky and the five Hydra combatants.
However, the meeting place was not S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, but another secret base specially prepared by Nick Fury.
Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra, Nick Fury no longer dared to easily use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, especially when dealing with Hydra.
The five combatants received immediate medical attention and were then imprisoned.
Bucky, a super-powered individual, was also confined in a separate, specially designed cell, his limbs securely bound by custom restraints to ensure he couldn't break out.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
"Romanoff, you will personally be in charge of this base!"
Nick Fury said to Black Widow, valuing these Hydra operatives highly, "Notify me immediately once those guys wake up."
"Understood, sir!" Black Widow said firmly.
Nick Fury nodded, then left the secret base.
Several hours later, news came from Black Widow that the Hydra captives had all woken up and were ready for interrogation.
Nick Fury arranged his current tasks and rushed over immediately to interrogate the Hydra personnel.
The results were not unexpected; the combatants were tight-lipped and revealed no information.
Nick Fury could only return empty-handed.
This matter couldn't be rushed and had to be left to Black Widow to interrogate slowly.
Nick Fury had great faith in Black Widow; she was an excellent agent with comprehensive abilities in all aspects. He believed that with enough time, she would surely yield results.
Nick Fury himself, meanwhile, temporarily returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
He handed over the relevant data Black Widow had brought from the Hydra secret base to his trusted technical department for analysis. The American Marvel Universe, starting with a question to Iron Man.