"Comrades, today we step onto a new battlefield, today is the moment to sacrifice for the motherland!"
Zemo stood on a small hill, where the grass was green and flowers were everywhere. He stood under a tree, and the shadow of the canopy made his mask appear even more sinister.
Troops continuously and endlessly emerged from the teleportation array, forming orderly phalanxes on the vast plain. These were the one hundred thousand troops he had brought.
They were dressed in gray military uniforms, holding submachine guns, silently gazing at the small figure on the hill, as they had often looked at another little person before.
The prepared loudspeaker spread Zemo's voice across the plain, allowing everyone to hear the passion in his words and his love for the motherland.
The gigantic projector allowed the soldiers to clearly see Zemo standing straight with fearlessness, ready to embark on a new journey. This slightly changed the defeated soldiers' views of Hydra.
They did not know where this place called Alfheim was, nor why the sky had both a sun and several moons appearing simultaneously, but they knew the motherland needed them again.
The Third Empire still existed, and the goals they fought for remained.
The Super Axis members stood below the hill, facing the crowd. Zemo disliked having anyone standing behind him, which would distract him, and the speech was paramount, so he denied anyone from approaching him.
Zemo chose phrases that Xiaohuzi used to like, mimicking his speeches, but just for his own purposes—he needed these people to exert themselves for his cause, and deception was a very effective means.
The Frost Giants, Zemo's blue-skinned allies, were currently in a state of excitement. He promised them the joy of killing Asgardians, though yet unfulfilled, the slaughter in Warnerheim was already realized.
In the Frost Giants' eyes, the two divine races were no different, both equally disgusting.
The raid on Warnerheim was successful, at least from the Frost Giants' perspective, and before their warriors perished, they killed enemies many times their own number.
The same tactic should work in Asgard too, and the giants eagerly anticipated the next battle.
The Vanir Race retreated using the Rainbow Bridge, Odin was lured away by Zemo, and the losses for the Frost Giants before retreating were far less than anticipated.
At this time, they did not understand Zemo's speech due to the language barrier in German; instead, they relished the smooth feel of Vanir Race's tender flesh slipping past their blades.
Whenever a giant showed a nearby companion the remnant of the Vanir Race caught between their teeth, it always garnered envious looks; everyone envied the ability to savor this flesh and blood for long.
Zemo glanced at the chaotic giant squad, but only briefly and quickly averted his gaze, a barely perceptible disdain flickering in the eyes hidden beneath his helmet.
"Comrades, now the motherland needs you, please look up, look at me, at the image beside me."
The Hydra leader urged the army to look at the Braille-projected images on one side of the hill, ensuring everyone could see Zemo's face.
After that, Zemo merely uttered some vacuous inciting words, and amidst the landslide-like cheers of 'Heil! Hitler!' Zemo exchanged glances with Lady Lotus.
Next, the image of Zemo on the gigantic screen was replaced by the enchanting Japanese woman, who smiled gently, as if thanking Zemo for granting her the opportunity to speak; yet when the army saw her smile, they immediately fell silent, the entire plain grew quietly silent.
"Offer your heart for the motherland," she said, as if whispering in one's ear, unconcerned whether or not anyone could hear clearly, yet she knew it was effective.
"Offer your heart for the motherland!"
The army responded thunderously, clearly hearing each syllable and deeply believing in them, with her silhouette occupying everyone's eye, her words were orders.
Thus, under the watchful eyes of the Super Axis and the Frost Giants, the soldiers who had been fixedly staring at the big projection, uniformly pulled out daggers or bayonets and wrenched out their own hearts.
Like the tide receding, the one hundred thousand troops who stood moments ago now left behind only a scant few survivors, faces full of terror.
"This!!! Help!!!"
No one saved them, the Axis Agents instead immediately opened fire, from nearly a thousand meters away, using assault rifles to precisely aim and kill all surviving soldiers.
The German Army was strictly disciplined, soldiers obeyed orders to a very high degree, but inevitably among ten thousand, there were those reluctant to heed commands, unable even to keep focus on the big screen, a point of irritation to the agents.
"If not voluntary, it's useless, the heart must be voluntarily offered, Baron."
Braille reported to Zemo using mechanical German, though the Baron's designation attracted the Vampire's attention.
As a vampire, Blood Baron lacked the advanced ability to act in sunlight, but thanks to scientific progress, Hydra's scientists invented a type of gelply isolating ultraviolet rays.
Unlike future sunscreens, the current version resembled wall paint, thick and sticky, rendering Blood Baron extremely pale.
Yet with this applied, and clad in a hooded robe, Blood Baron could roam freely in the sun, albeit slightly uncomfortable.
Zemo sniffed, turned his gaze to the other side of the hill at Hydra's guards, among them some unfortunates had extracted their own hearts, now being carried off by comrades.
He was inwardly very calm, having brought the one hundred thousand troops for this exact purpose, while Himmler believed he aimed to instigate a world war?
Zemo was well aware of his strengths, which lay in covert operations as a spy mastermind, not in commanding an army to storm cities. He hadn't received training in that area, nor had he had the opportunity to learn on the battlefield in the past.
"So the next part is up to you, okay?"
He raised his arm and patted Braille on the shoulder. The alien resembled a tall sculpture shrouded in cloth, his fear was hitting it might produce a dull metallic sound.
The alien had crash-landed on Earth a few years ago. He understood that a shoulder pat was a gesture of friendship, though it reminded him again that he had lost his flesh. Yet he still nodded in response to Zemo, moving his tank-like head up and down.
"Power of Odin, crucial, elusive, mimic using Destiny Threads deployment."
The alien's machine tank's vocal device and language logic had some issues, but Zemo understood Braille's meaning. Essentially, it was about utilizing his alien technology combined with Asgard's mysticism to exploit the hearts of these deceased.
"I've said it before, it's all up to you now. Don't disappoint me."
Zemo walked to the side, feeling the recent speech had caused his facial wound to bleed again. Having lost the skin, the underlying muscles had melded together with his hood.
Braille responded with action, immediately extracting a segment of golden thread and heading towards the Heart of the Sun, that furnace storing Fixed Star Power.
The Blood Baron was responsible for collecting these hearts. The vampire's ability to control blood, paired with Braille's advanced technological equipment, allowed them to fill the furnace as if processing potatoes.
"The corpses are useless, can we have them?"
The Giant looked at Zemo, seated by the tree, head down in thought, and chose to approach Du Zun for inquiry.
After all, Du Zun was Zemo's second in command here, the captain of the Super Axis, currently responsible for leading the remaining Hydra forces in battle.
"You plan to eat them?"
Du Zun's transformation serum enhanced his brain as well, making him even smarter than Captain America in intelligence.
If anyone were deceived by his nearly two-meter tall, muscular body thinking he was just a simple warrior, they'd surely suffer a loss.
He was also Captain America's nemesis; his lower body was crushed to fragments by the Invasion Team using a train, forcing him to accept mechanical modifications.
However, Braille's mechanics were advanced. Du Zun not only moved freely, but could even scale walls with his legs using anti-gravity, attacking with upper and lower body separation.
The Giant felt no embarrassment, stood with arms crossed confidently, his frost-covered beard twitching, the stench on his body weaving its way into the noses of Du Zun and Warrior Woman.
"Armies on the march need food."
Du Zun smirked, also crossed his arms and watched the battlefield's marks: "Feel free, but no touching hearts, lose even one and it's yours instead."
The Giant bared his teeth, revealing a half-smile, turned and left, his Frost Giant subordinates receiving permission, promptly surged into the corpse pile, feasting heartily.
The entire prairie seemed to transform into a slaughterhouse, red blood turning the ground into a mire.
Watching the boisterous giants, Du Zun lowered his gaze once more to the black cross on his chest, sneered, and stopped paying attention.
"Beggars, they're like beggars."
Warrior Woman stood by his side, playing with the whip in her hand, speaking with a buzzing voice.
Du Zun raised his head, corrected her mistake: "They're not even human, just scavenging hyenas."
Warrior Woman took a deep breath, the pungent stench making her feel excited: "Whatever, but using one hundred thousand people as casting materials, the results had better meet expectations."
"Leader Zemo has plans, the last thing you should worry about is that."
"I don't know, I wasn't familiar with him before. I mean, he's too young." Warrior Woman lowered her voice, leaned closer to Du Zun.
Du Zun was aware of this issue too; the current Zemo was Old Zemo's successor, only thirteen or fourteen years old? But that's not a problem, as long as victory is achieved, age, power, superpower, none of it matters.
"Just watch, there will be no NAZI party in the future, only Hydra."
".... "
Warrior Woman said no more, she was used to obeying Du Zun's orders. After numerous draws with Captain America, Du Zun had proven his wisdom and strength.
Everyone who went to the battlefield knew how important a strong leader was. Since Du Zun was willing to trust and follow the orders of a young soldier, so could she.
The two walked side by side up the hill, watching blood-covered hearts fly toward the containers under the tree, watching the Frost Giants' large hands pick through the corpses, falling silent.
Meanwhile, Zemo was contemplating how to use the newly forged Stone of Destiny and how to deal with the aftermath, to retreat whole...