Although Dr.
Wilson’s voice wasn’t particularly animated, Russell caught the frustration and helplessness underlying his words.
As a prominent biologist within Hydra, Dr.
Wilson had been tasked with developing Abomination Soldiers and had made solid progress.
Although still quite far from recreating the true Abomination, he had successfully engineered two generations of Abomination Soldiers.
Just as Generation III was on the verge of completion, Hydra Headquarters suddenly issued an order to terminate the project—a devastating bolt from the blue for Dr.
Wilson, who had poured his entire soul into the project.
More importantly, canceling the Abomination Project not only meant that all his past efforts were wasted, but it also signaled that Hydra was losing faith in him and doubting his professional competence.
For a high-IQ specialist, you could challenge or doubt him in other areas, but questioning his professional competence was the ultimate insult and blow.
Even SHIELD had once extended an olive branch to Wilson, which went to show he truly possessed extraordinary brilliance.
Yet now, that very genius was being called into question by Hydra.
Looking at Dr.
Wilson’s despondent expression, Russell suddenly had an idea.
Perhaps Dr.
Wilson was the key to removing the explosive shock collar around his neck and escaping the base.
“Are these the Extremis Soldiers developed by Dr.
Gillian?”
Russell asked with a calm demeanor, but he was certain that as long as Dr.
Wilson hadn’t completely lost his senses, he would understand the underlying implication.
“How…
how do you know that?
Even I only just learned that Extremis was Dr.
Gillian’s work!
No one else in this entire base knows that!”
Just as Russell expected, Wilson was stunned by the information and stared at him in utter shock.
“I know more than that,” Russell continued evenly.
“I also know Hydra Headquarters hasn’t obtained the complete data on the Extremis Virus, nor do they even have blood or DNA samples from an Extremis Soldier.”
“On top of that, Headquarters picked someone else to head the Extremis project.
They didn’t just cancel the Abomination Project—they shut down your R&D entirely!”
Russell remained calm.
What he needed to do now was drag Dr.
Wilson onto his ship and make him an ally.
“How could you possibly have such detailed intelligence? Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
You can’t possibly contact the outside world!
And even if you had a channel out, you couldn’t have gotten intelligence this specific!”
“Who are you really?
How do you know all this?”
Dr.
Wilson was struggling to contain his shock.
He even began to suspect if Russell could read minds to know so much.
However, he quickly dismissed the thought himself, because even he hadn’t known that Hydra Headquarters lacked the complete Extremis data or biological samples.
“If there’s ever a chance in the future, I’ll tell you why.
But not right now.”
“Right now, I only want to know: do you want to keep researching the Abomination Project, or even lead the R&D for Extremis Soldiers in the future?”
“If you’re willing, we can cooperate.
You help me get rid of this collar, and I’ll provide you with the funding, equipment, and data you’ll need for future research.”
Russell dangled his bait.
Whether Dr.
Wilson bit was up to him.
If Wilson agreed, it would be a win-win.
If not, Russell would have to rely on Dionysium, taking a gamble on whether he could make it out of the base alive.
“Do you have any idea how immense the resources required for this kind of R&D are?”
“Even Hydra Headquarters couldn’t ignore the astronomical costs, which is precisely why they halted the Abomination Project to reallocate resources to Extremis!”
After carefully considering all possibilities and weighing the risks against the rewards, Dr.
Wilson finally made up his mind and began explaining.
The moment Dr.
Wilson asked that first question, Russell knew he was hooked.
Only someone who was hooked would consider practical details like that, which meant Dr.
Wilson was genuinely tempted.
For high-IQ specialists, presenting them with a highly challenging research topic alongside full backing was the ultimate temptation.
“I’ll handle all of that.
You just need to help me resolve the thing around my neck.”
As long as he could leave this base and regain his freedom, Russell was confident he could secure whatever resources Dr.
Wilson needed, so he wasn’t worried.
“I may be the head of the Abomination Project, but the collar isn’t under my jurisdiction.
That falls under Security Chief Jack. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
I can try to find out how to remove it for you.”
“Do you need anything else?
I can do my best to provide it.”
It was easy for Wilson to guess why Russell wanted the explosive shock collar removed, so he didn’t mind offering extra help in other areas.
“If possible, I need to know the exact armed force inside the base and whether there are any other hidden weapons capable of hurting me.”
“I’ll do my best to look into it.
Once I have the results, I’ll send them to your tablet via encrypted email.”
Having established their method of communication, Dr.
Wilson finished the remainder of Russell’s checkup.
Then, as before, the two quietly left the lab.
…
Russell had never expected that an ordinary checkup would bring him hope of escaping the Hydra base.
This sudden stroke of good fortune almost made him wonder if Lady Luck had taken a shine to him.
After leaving Dr.
Wilson’s lab, Russell made his way to the base’s training grounds, intending to conduct combat training with Allen and Hathaway as usual.
However, the moment he stepped into the area, he noticed something was off.
The usually sparse training grounds were now filled with six fully assembled Hydra squads.
In their hands were the very weapons Russell feared most: heavy-caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles and futuristic shock cannons.
Upon seeing Russell arrive, Security Chief Jack stepped forward with a stern expression and announced, “Today’s training routine has changed.
The targets are no longer the Generation II Abomination Soldiers, but you—the Generation I.”
“Today, we’re testing your reaction time and evasive skills.
You need to dodge their gunfire inside the arena.
And you are only allowed to dodge!”
“Just a friendly reminder: today’s session uses live ammunition!”
Hearing this, Russell’s first thought was that Jack was looking for an excuse to eliminate him.
But he quickly rejected the idea.
Jack definitely hadn’t received a kill order from Hydra Headquarters.
If Headquarters wanted him dead, Dr.
Wilson would have had no reason to perform a routine checkup on him earlier, let alone enter into a secret cooperation with him.
Since it wasn’t an order from Headquarters, only one possibility remained: Jack was abusing his position to settle a personal grudge, using training as a pretext to torture him.