Chapter 025: Enhancement
An antique shop in Brooklyn.
From the outside, it appeared to be just an ordinary antique shop with modest decor and nothing particularly noteworthy. The elderly woman minding the store didn't seem special either.
But in reality, it was a covert laboratory of the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Gilmore Hodge, accompanied by an agent, walked inside, curiously examining the surroundings.
He gave a cocky whistle as he passed a female agent, though his blackened eye socket made him look ridiculous.
"Where have you been? Why are you so late?" Colonel Phillips asked Agent Carter, who had arrived late, with a hint of reproach.
"Something came up
," Carter explained casually. "Colonel, what's going on? Isn't the experiment supposed to start in two days?" Carter asked, puzzled, seeing Gilmore Hodge near the enhancement chamber.
"The experiment has been delayed long enough. People upstairs are getting impatient. The Allies have a major operation in a few days, and to coordinate with it, we have to move the experiment up!" Colonel Phillips explained.
"Truth is, all the preparations were completed half a month ago. If we hadn't had delays with the candidate selection, the first super soldier in human history would probably already be fighting in Europe."
Agent Carter wasn't entirely in favor of choosing Gilmore Hodge as the super soldier. But given the circumstances, she could only silently accept the decision.
Besides her and Colonel Phillips, several senators were waiting in the observation room, and these politicians seemed to be the main characters today, chatting amongst themselves like it was a damn cocktail party.
Indeed, nothing except death could stop politicians from schmoozing.
Hodge stripped off his shirt and lay down in the enhancement chamber. According to the experimental protocol, the enhancement process quickly began.
Vials of enhancement serum were injected into Hodge's blood vessels and muscles. The enhancement chamber closed, and under Howard Stark's special vita-rays, Hodge officially entered the enhancement phase.
At this moment, no one spoke—everyone stared wide-eyed at the scene before them. History was about to be made.
"Thirty percent, subject's vital signs are stable and gradually improving!"
"Continue!"
"Sixty percent, heart rate increasing, blood pressure rising. Professor, the subject's vital signs have reached critical levels! Recommend terminating the experiment!"
Professor Erskine hesitated. Though he was dissatisfied with Hodge becoming a super soldier, he had absolutely no intention of killing him. Under the urgent prompting of several technicians, he prepared to give the order to stop.
But at this moment, Hodge, enduring excruciating pain in the chamber, heard the voices from outside. He suddenly remembered the helplessness he felt when Mason pinned him down, and boundless rage exploded from his chest.
"Continue! I can take it!"
Anger and murderous intent flooded his entire brain. What Hodge didn't notice was that with the surge of his emotions, layers of blackish-gray patterns appeared across his skin. These patterns vanished in the blink of an eye, as if absorbed into Hodge's body.
Seeing Hodge's insistence, Professor Erskine nodded reluctantly. With permission, Howard pushed the energy output to maximum. A series of ear-piercing electrical crackling followed, and puffs of smoke rose from the equipment.
"Did it fail?" The group exchanged anxious glances, awaiting the results.
"Why is there no response? Did it fail?"
A researcher cautiously approached the enhancement chamber, but just then, a loud explosion came from inside. The metal on the chamber's surface had been dented by a blow from within.
Immediately afterward, a muscular, savage-looking man emerged before them.
"Get out of my way!"
Hodge casually swatted the researcher in front of him aside. He glared at everyone, his gaze sweeping across them before finally stopping on Professor Erskine.
Compared to before, Hodge had grown a full head taller, now nearly six and a half feet tall, his muscles bulging, exuding a violent, intimidating presence. A layer of dark gray patterns covered his body, resembling serpent scales at first glance, inspiring dread!
"Success! Finally, success!"
a senator exclaimed from the observation room. Seeing Hodge's condition, everyone realized the super-soldier enhancement project had been a tremendous success, and a new era was about to begin!
Professor Erskine, however, wore a grim expression. Hodge's condition reminded him of Schmidt. "What have I done? I've created two monsters."
He clenched his fist. "No, this time is different. I still have Mason!"
Hodge looked at the cheering crowd, a cruel smile flashing in his eyes. Thinking of the agony he'd endured during the experiment, his hatred for a certain someone intensified. Even the patterns on his body became more pronounced.
Good men become better, bad men become worse. The transformation that occurred in Red Skull might not have been caused by the serum at all, but simply by the evil lurking deep in his heart. This was equally evident in Hodge.
Because Greg had been accidentally killed by Mason, losing this crucial senior operative, Hydra hadn't managed to plant any other spies in the laboratory. After a brief rest, staff came to help Hodge test his physical capabilities.
Three times the human limit!
When this data was presented to the assembled council members, everyone gasped in amazement.
"It's time to teach Hitler a lesson! With just a hundred-man squad, I can sweep across all of Europe!"
"Professor Erskine, you'll have the full support of the Allied powers to mass-produce super soldiers, deploy them to the battlefield, and end this damn war!"
The atmosphere in the conference room was electric—everyone was eager to launch offensives on the European front and deliver a crushing blow to Hitler.
When the experiment concluded and all the data was recorded, it was already past midnight. Accompanied by Agent Carter, Professor Erskine left the laboratory.
The last-minute change in the experiment's timing completely disrupted his plans. Lost in thought, he didn't notice the cold gleam in the eyes of two drunks on the opposite street corner.
"Bang!"
A gunshot shattered the silence of the night.
A bullet grazed Professor Erskine's head and struck a streetlamp behind him, sending a chill down his spine. Agent Carter, who was walking nearby, lunged forward and tackled Professor Erskine to the ground.
"Protect the professor!"
Several agents from the Strategic Scientific Reserve rushed out of the antique shop, but they were immediately cut down by gunfire from Hydra operatives across the street.
Carter, lying on the ground, shot out the attackers' car tires, causing the vehicle to sag, and shielded Professor Erskine behind it. She attempted to return fire several times, but the enemy's firepower was overwhelming, and the attack came so suddenly that she was momentarily pinned down.
Just then, the doors and windows of the antique shop shattered, and a frenzied figure burst through!
It was the enhanced Gilmore Hodge!
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