With just a slight squeeze of his right hand, Russell could crush Jack, whom he held aloft, like an ant.
“Do you actually dare, you useless piece of trash?”
Even completely at a disadvantage, Jack maintained his initial arrogance, showing no intention of bowing his head or backing down.
“What do you think?”
As he spoke, Russell silently increased the pressure in his grip.
He watched Jack’s face turn from a normal complexion to a bruised, purplish red, his whole body thrashing and squirming like a fish out of water.
“You…”
Jack wanted to say more, but the tightening grip of Russell’s right hand cut off any chance of further speech.
When Russell had first grabbed Jack, the nearby Hydra soldiers noticed, but none dared to open fire.
They were well aware of Russell’s monstrous strength and feared that an attack would trigger him to finish Jack off on the spot.
Through the telescopic scopes of their sniper rifles, the soldiers could clearly see Jack’s face darkening from lack of oxygen.
Several aimed their muzzles directly at the back of Russell’s head.
Sensing their intentions, Russell sprang into the air, leaping through the training ground’s exit while dragging Jack with him.
He smashed a fist into the door’s control panel.
With the controller ruined, the heavy metal door slid down, completely sealing off the training area moments later.
By now, Jack was on the brink of death.
His struggles grew fainter, his face darkening to a deep maroon.
Just as Russell was about to snap Jack’s neck once and for all, Dr.
Wilson came sprinting over in a desperate rush, shouting at the top of his lungs, “You can’t kill him!
He’s the head of security here!
If he dies, the personnel in the main control room will instantly detonate the collar around your neck!”
Seeing the sheer panic on Wilson’s face, Russell pondered for a few seconds before finally setting Jack down.
The moment Russell loosened his grip, Jack collapsed to the ground, gasping violently for air.
His ragged gulps were loud enough to be heard clearly from several yards away.
“You, come with me to the lab! Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The rest of you, take Chief Jack to the infirmary to treat his injuries!”
Wilson directed the first sentence at Russell and the second at the Hydra soldiers who had finally caught up.
Jack shoved away the soldiers trying to assist him, struggling to his feet on his own.
He shot Russell an icy, murderous glance before stalking off without a word.
Only after Jack was gone did Wilson step up to Russell and inspect him intently.
“Are you badly hurt?”
Though Wilson didn’t know the exact details of what Russell had just endured, the blood smeared across his body made it obvious he had sustained severe injuries.
“It’s fine.
It’s already healed.”
Aside from Russell himself, no one knew about the Dionysus Factor inside his body.
Even Wilson, who regularly performed medical examinations on him, assumed his rapid recovery was merely a side effect of the Abomination Serum.
“Go clean yourself up then.
Now isn’t the time for a total fallout.
Give me a little more time, and I’ll definitely figure out a way to get that collar off your neck!”
With that, Dr.
Wilson turned and departed in silence.
***
After returning to his room and washing up, Russell lay on his bed, strategizing his next move.
Suddenly, the tablet beside his hand chimed with an incoming encrypted email.
One look at the message, and Russell knew it came from Dr.
Wilson.
Decryption using their prearranged code revealed the true message Wilson wanted to convey.
Attached to the email were Chief of Security Jack’s background file and psychological evaluation report.
Hydra might not be a legitimate organization, but they possessed a highly scientific personnel assessment system to evaluate members’ capabilities, mental states, and overall stability.
Wilson had utilized his authority as head of the Abomination Project to pull Jack’s internal files.
Summarized, Jack’s evaluation came down to a single sentence: *A seasoned combat veteran and a extreme racist who harbors deep hostility toward metahumans.* Visit g.com for the full chapter.
An enhanced superhuman—and an Asian with black hair and black eyes at that.
It was no wonder Jack had found Russell so intolerable from the start.
To Jack, Russell embodied the two traits he hated most, flaunting them right under his nose.
Shortly after Russell finished reviewing the file, Wilson sent a second document.
This one detailed the explosive shock collars secured around their necks.
The base itself didn’t hold the technical specifications for the collars; they were standard equipment issued by Hydra Headquarters to various research facilities.
Wilson had been forced to ask a contact at headquarters for help retrieving the information.
Designed primarily to restrain high-value prisoners and test subjects, the collars featured three redundant control mechanisms:
The first was the silver-white remote control Russell had seen earlier, designed for handheld portability.
The second was control via the base’s main command center—a safeguard against the handheld remote being destroyed or malfunctioning.
The third was ultra-long-range command via computers at Hydra HQ, serving as a final insurance policy in case a sub-base was overrun or destroyed.
Any of these three methods could directly detonate the collar around Russell’s neck.
To safely remove it, all three systems had to be bypassed or fooled simultaneously.
As for how to physically unlock the collar, the document offered little detail.
It simply noted that removal required a specialized unlocking device, which was kept exclusively at Hydra Headquarters.
At the bottom of the email, Wilson outlined the solution he had devised.
He planned to submit a false report stating that the test subjects were being placed into cryogenic stasis and no longer required collar restraints.
This would prompt Hydra HQ to send over the specialized unlocking device, allowing Wilson to free Russell, Alan, and Hathaway.
The plan sounded almost too simple, but Wilson had included his reasoning.
Since Hydra HQ had already decided to terminate the Abomination Project, putting the Abomination soldiers into frozen sleep was a logical next step.
Wilson would frame the request around inventory cataloging and transferring assets to the Extremis Soldier Program, so HQ shouldn’t suspect a thing.
Wilson added a final caveat: if they were going to do this, they had to move fast, ensuring the plan unfolded while Jack was unable to interfere.
He had just learned that the medical staff treating Jack’s fractured right hand had administered a sedative strong enough to keep him unconscious for eight to ten hours.