"Heh. Is there really a difference?"
"If I say it's a terrorist hideout, then it is."
"They have guns, armed personnel, organization, and they threaten the country. Why wouldn't that count?"
After hearing Killian's question, General Ross simply lit a cigarette, took a drag, and answered.
"As expected of an iron-blooded general. Impressive."
"The country is fortunate to have you."
After hearing Ross's explanation, Killian only said that much.
"Heh. If you can complete this operation properly and let us witness the power of a real super soldier, then that will be the real blessing for the country."
Ross only chuckled at Killian's flattery.
For him, his greatest wish was to see Captain America born in a lab once again.
After all, one Captain America had helped lead America to victory in World War II. If they had a whole division of Captain Americas, forget winning wars, the entire world would have to kneel at their feet.
Of course, Killian had no idea Ross was thinking any of this.
Otherwise, he definitely would have told him he was completely out of touch with reality. Captain America became Captain America because he had an unshakable belief in America. Anyone else, even if injected with the exact same serum Steve received, would only become a puppet controlled by magnified desires.
At this moment, though, Killian had already taken the intel and moved to the back, where he began coordinating information with the researchers at the control station.
Before long,
at the foot of the Velaqa Mountains in Florida,
the soldiers of a modern mechanized battalion, under Ross's orders, had already secretly surrounded the area without the drug traffickers on the mountain knowing anything about it.
And inside the temporary command vehicle at the foot of the mountain,
Killian, Kennedy, and Ross stood behind the researchers, watching them operate the computers with full concentration.
One restriction after another was slowly being lifted from the test subject.
"Neural suppression center disconnected."
"High-potency sedative disconnected."
"Limb restraints released."
...
As one command after another appeared on the screen,
high above the mountain range, a transport helicopter carrying a massive metal cylinder flew toward the summit.
At the same time, hearing the sudden sound of the helicopter, the traffickers who had been playing cards and fooling around inside the building all grabbed their guns and went on alert.
And as they watched the helicopter getting closer and closer, unease instantly rose in everyone's heart.
This place rarely saw visitors, let alone helicopters.
Their boss did have a helicopter, but he treasured it like crazy. There was no way he would fly it to a place like this.
It was too conspicuous and too easy to expose the location.
"Boss, should we shoot it down?"
At that moment, one of the underlings in the room looked through the window at the approaching helicopter and gestured toward an oversized weapons crate nearby as he asked his boss.
"Not yet. Let's see what it's trying to do first."
The boss thought for a moment and temporarily shut the idea down.
After all, they had spent a great price building this fully functioning production base. If they fired a shot and brought the helicopter down, then the place would definitely be exposed.
The risk was too great.
And so, because of that decision, they were about to walk straight into the greatest regret of their lives.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
When the helicopter reached a point about a hundred meters above the buildings on the mountaintop, several crisp metallic snapping sounds rang out.
The people below then watched as the cylindrical container hanging beneath the helicopter dropped straight down.
In an instant, nobody dared stay where they were. Every last one of them ran toward the housing area in panic, afraid that if they were even a little too slow, they would be crushed into meat paste.
Boom!
Then, with a thunderous crash, the object hit the ground, and the mountain summit fell quiet once again.
In everyone's eyes, the helicopter that had just been there simply dropped the metal cylinder and immediately flew off into the distance.
"Boss, this..."
Looking at the absurd scene in front of him, one of the men could not help turning to his boss in confusion, asking what they should do next.
"Send a few men to check it out."
After thinking for a moment, the boss gave the order.
Hearing that, the subordinate immediately pointed at a few people he normally did not get along with and sent them over, ignoring their miserable expressions.
The problem was that everyone knew something was wrong, but nobody knew exactly what was going to happen.
Under the boss's direct order, the unlucky bastards who had been chosen had no choice but to drag themselves toward the crater where the cylinder had landed, even though every single one of them looked like they wanted to cry.
The short distance that should have taken only moments somehow felt endlessly long as they approached it.
Finally, just as the boss in the distance was about to lose patience and start yelling, the three men reached the edge of the crater.
And just as one of them, a blond-haired thug, was about to step closer to get a better look, an indescribable sense of terror instantly wrapped around him.
He immediately backed up and reflexively drew the gun at his waist.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing that, the other two men beside him asked at once.
"Something's off. That... that symbol. I remember seeing it back when I was in school..."
The blond thug chose to trust his instincts. As he spoke, he kept taking small steps backward.
"That symbol? What are you talking about?"
"Forget him. Let's just open it. When we get back, the boss will deal with him himself."
While one of the men was still trying to ask for an explanation, the other Black thug tugged on his sleeve and said that instead.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
...
Just as the two of them were about to jump down and take a closer look, a series of massive pounding sounds suddenly began coming from inside the metal cylinder.
Even the traffickers inside the building, dozens of meters away, could hear it loud and clear.
The moment they heard that pounding, every face turned pale.
That thing had just fallen from hundreds of meters in the air.
And now there was something inside it that could still produce sounds that huge.
In an instant, all kinds of terrible thoughts flooded everyone's mind.
Even so, under the pressure of the boss's authority, not a single one of them dared say anything extra.
Unlike the traffickers hiding in the building, though, the two men standing beside the crater were facing the full force of the terror head-on.
Both of them had already unconsciously raised their guns and aimed them at the metal cylinder in the center.
(End of Chapter)
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