5: Chapter 5 Baron Strucker in Despair

Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, flicked the high-frequency vibration daggers in his hands. Deep blue electric arcs danced along the blades, emitting a deathly trill like a buzzing bee.

Behind him, inside the four corridors of the central elevator hall, twenty fully armed HYDRA special operations soldiers silently rappelled into position.

No roars, no panic.

This was the prototype of the strongest killing machine that HYDRA had spent countless resources to cultivate—the "S.H.I.E.L.D. Rapid Response Special Forces." They were equipped with the most advanced tactical helmets, exoskeleton armor, and special armor-piercing incendiary rounds capable of penetrating light armor.

Twenty infrared laser aiming dots converged densely upon Lynn's massive, dark red body.

"Tactical Plan B. Restrict his vision, sever his tendons."

Rumlow pressed his helmet communicator, his voice cold and devoid of any inflection.

"Swish!"

Six specialized tactical flashbangs and high-frequency sonic concussion grenades were simultaneously fired from the soldiers' under-barrel grenade launchers, landing precisely at Lynn's feet.

"Boom—hum!!!"

A flash of light, strong enough to blind an ordinary person dozens of times over, erupted instantly, accompanied by high-frequency sound waves capable of shattering human eardrums and disrupting cerebellar balance, completely enveloping Lynn.

At the same time, twelve high-strength carbon fiber alloy cables with barbs shot out from all directions, tightly binding Lynn's four arms and two legs. The remaining special operations soldiers raised their heavy firepower and fired wildly at Lynn's joints.

A perfect coordination.

In Rumlow's view, even a real Tyrannosaurus Rex would instantly lose its ability to resist under this tactic, ending up skinned and deboned.

However, the bright light dissipated.

The eyes behind the special operations soldiers' tactical visors suddenly widened.

No screams, no loss of balance.

Lynn's massive body, standing four and a half meters tall, stood rooted to the spot like an iron tower.

The intense light, capable of blinding anyone, struck his four eyes, which burned with tyrannical red light, without even earning a blink. And the so-called high-frequency sound waves were merely an insignificant breeze to his inner ear structure, which had been restructured by alien genes.

"Is that all you've got?"

A low, mocking sound, as if grinding bones, emanated from Lynn's throat.

He glanced at the carbon fiber alloy cables wrapped around him, and his thick upper right arm yanked backward violently.

"Creak—"

The alloy cables were instantly pulled taut, emitting a shrill, mournful sound.

"Hold the winches! Don't let him pull you over!" Two special operations soldiers hiding behind cover frantically stomped on the stabilizers.

But it was completely futile.

Lynn's strength had completely surpassed the limits of carbon-based life.

He exerted force suddenly, and the terrifying, monstrous power was transmitted along the alloy cables. The two special operations soldiers, weighing two hundred pounds each and wearing exoskeleton armor, along with the steel cover behind them, were ripped from the ground and flew toward Lynn like two cannonballs.

Lynn's two left hands reached out simultaneously.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two muffled sounds that made one's scalp tingle.

Lynn's massive hands accurately grabbed the heads of the two soldiers flying in mid-air. As if crushing two fragile eggs, he didn't even look as he smashed both hands together violently.

"Splat!"

Red and white liquid, mixed with fragments of helmets, splattered in all directions. Two headless corpses slid limply to the ground.

"Break formation! Fire at will!"

The well-trained special operations soldiers finally realized the futility of their tactics, raised their guns, and began firing wildly.

But Lynn had already lost his patience.

His massive body suddenly crouched, and the steel floor beneath his feet shattered like a spiderweb. Accompanying a low roar, he transformed into a dark red afterimage, crashing directly into the special operations team's formation.

This was a one-sided massacre of ants by a superior predator.

Just as one soldier was about to pull out a high-explosive grenade, Lynn's massive foot swept over, kicking his upper body into pieces as if it were a ball, while his lower body remained in place.

Another soldier, in despair, pressed his gun muzzle against Lynn's abdomen and emptied his magazine. Lynn lowered his head, and his lower right arm grabbed the assault rifle, crushing it along with the soldier's hands into a twisted mess of scrap metal and flesh.

During this process, Lynn didn't even bother to defend himself.

He let the armor-piercing incendiary rounds strike his pitch-black bone spurs and dark red muscles. Those bullets could at most leave a white mark before being deflected.

Ripping. Crushing. Trampling.

This was not a battle; it was a pure physical purge.

In less than a minute, the originally well-organized special operations squad, representing the pinnacle of HYDRA's armed strength, had been reduced to scattered limbs and wreckage.

Blood flowed gurglingly down the floor drains of the central hall.

...

At the same time. Inside the secret escape passage at the lowest level of the Base.

Baron Strucker, surrounded by a few personal guards, scrambled in a disheveled state into a private shuttle.

He gasped for air, his once impeccable black military uniform now covered in dust. He didn't bother to tidy his appearance, snatching the tactical tablet from his adjutant's hand.

On the screen, the green dots representing the vital signs of the twenty special operations soldiers were turning into the color of death—red—at a speed that made him feel suffocated.

Twenty. Fifteen. Eight. Three. Zero.

In less than a minute, the entire unit was wiped out.

"Clatter."

The tablet slipped from Baron Strucker's trembling hands, hitting the iron floor of the cabin.

The calmness and coldness he prided himself on were completely shattered at this moment.

"Monster... that is no super soldier, that is divine punishment! It is a demon we unleashed with our own hands!"

Baron Strucker grabbed the pilot by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, and roared hysterically: "Take off! Take off immediately! Activate the Base's nuclear reactor self-destruct sequence! Bury him and this Base together deep under Siberia!!!"

The shuttle's engines emitted a deafening roar, spewing blue exhaust flames as it ascended rapidly along the inclined escape tunnel.

...

Central elevator hall.

Lynn casually discarded the broken corpse of the last special operations soldier.

He shook the blood from his four hands, turned his head, and his four eyes, burning with red light, locked onto the only living person still standing—Brock Rumlow.

Rumlow glanced at the minced meat covering the floor, and his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty beneath his tactical mask.

He was a cold-blooded mercenary who had seen the Hulk's rage and the strangeness of mutants. But he swore that he had never seen violence so pure and so despair-inducing.

All human tactics and firepower coverage were, in front of this monster, simply like an infant waving plastic toys.

But Rumlow did not retreat.

Because he knew that at this distance, leaving his back to such a monster would only result in a faster death.

"The strength is indeed great."

Rumlow took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear in his heart. He lowered his center of gravity and held the two high-frequency vibration daggers horizontally in front of his chest.

As a top-tier combat master, he had his own pride and understanding.

In his view, the greatest weakness of such a massive monster that relied entirely on instinct to squander its strength was agility and neural reaction speed. As long as he wasn't hit head-on, with the sharpness of the high-frequency vibration daggers that could cut through molecular bonds, there was still a chance to dismember this big guy!

"But your movements are too easy to see through!"

Rumlow sneered, and the exoskeleton armor on his thighs instantly erupted with powerful thrust.

He transformed into a black lightning bolt; not only did he not flee, but he instead took the initiative to charge head-on toward Lynn's highly oppressive body!

The deep blue daggers drew two deadly arcs in the air, aiming directly for Lynn's eyes and throat!