It had been a month since Russell transmigrated into this secret Hydra base.
Over the past month, he had tried every possible way to gather intelligence about the outside world, but he had never managed to get much useful information.
From the existence of the Abomination Serum and the fact that Hydra was still active, Russell deduced that his current timeline was somewhere between the clash between Abomination and Hulk in New York and the birth of Ultron.
However, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact year, given the seven-to-eight-year span between the two events.
However, the whispering between those two Hydra soldiers gave him an extremely precise piece of temporal intelligence.
“Iron Man Tony Stark died at the hands of the Mandarin” likely referred to the Mandarin’s henchmen attacking Tony’s mansion, which caused Tony to go missing and led to erroneous news reports claiming he was dead.
This meant the Battle of New York between the Avengers and Loki, which had shocked the entire world, was already over.
Having established this clear timestamp, several major future events flashed through Russell’s mind:
SHIELD and Hydra’s Helicarrier crisis, the Sokovia incident, the Avengers’ civil war…
Just as Russell was pondering these upcoming events, Jack, the base’s head of security, appeared behind him unannounced, scrutinizing him with a grim expression.
Engrossed in his thoughts, Russell hadn’t noticed Jack’s approach until a pistol barrel was pressed against the back of his head, snapping him back to reality.
“You know, I’d really love to put a bullet through you, you modified freak!”
“I don’t know what’s going through that head of yours, but I am giving you a solemn warning: don’t get any funny ideas!”
“You’re just a blade in Hydra’s hand, a dog on Hydra’s leash.
Don’t ever dream of rebelling against Hydra!”
With that, Jack pulled the trigger.
“Bang!
Bang!”
Two consecutive gunshots rang out.
The two Hydra soldiers who had been whispering moments ago collapsed heavily to the floor, bright red blood gushing from their foreheads.
After firing, Jack didn’t even glance at Russell.
He turned and walked away, as casually as if he had just stepped on two ants.
Only after Jack had left did Russell slowly unclench his tightly balled fists.
This wasn’t the first time Jack had intentionally provoked Russell.
Over the past month, it had happened several times.
Whether it was because Russell had effortlessly wiped out those two Hydra squads back then or simply because Jack disliked him, Jack was always looking for trouble, almost daring Russell to resist. Read the latest chapters at NovelPing.
Taking several deep breaths, Russell quietly suppressed the murderous intent surging inside him and walked toward his room without a word.
If there was anyone in this Hydra base Russell wanted to kill most, Jack was indisputably at the top of the list.
Ever since Russell transmigrated into this world, Jack had been testing his limits time and time again.
Although Allen and Hathaway didn’t know the full history between Russell and Jack, they keenly picked up on the killer aura radiating from Russell—a chilling intent like that of the Grim Reaper.
Only now did Allen and Hathaway realize just how much Russell had been holding back during their combat training sessions.
Russell paid Allen and Hathaway no mind.
Back in his room, he appeared calm on the surface, but his mind was working at full speed.
According to his original plan, he was going to wait until both Jack and Wilson lowered their guard around him before executing an escape.
However, Jack’s visit today made him realize a massive flaw in his plan.
No matter how cooperatively he complied with Jack and Wilson’s arrangements, no matter how harmless he acted, Jack would never lower his guard.
Russell had thought Jack assigning him as Allen and Hathaway’s combat instructor was a sign of slipping alertness, but now it was clear he had been overthinking it.
Making him an instructor was likely just to keep him busy.
*Even trash has its uses*—that was probably Jack’s true mindset.
Now that he knew Jack would never drop his guard, Russell had no choice but to revise his escape plan.
From what he had observed so far, this Hydra base wasn’t an operational base, but merely a secret research facility.
Consequently, there weren’t too many Hydra soldiers stationed here.
The soldiers operated in six-man squads.
Over the past month, Russell had seen twelve distinct squads, which meant there were at least seventy Hydra soldiers present.
As for whether there were additional hidden forces, Russell had no way of knowing.
Still, ordinary Hydra soldiers posed a limited threat to him.
The only things capable of truly harming him were heavy-caliber armor-piercing sniper rounds, shock cannons, and a few other select weapons.
Earlier, to gauge Russell’s defensive capabilities, Wilson had arranged a specific test.
During that test, Wilson had even brought out a vehicle-mounted grenade launcher attached to a Humvee.
Aside from armor-piercing sniper rounds and shock cannons, the biggest headache was the explosive shock collar around his neck.
Until he got rid of it, he couldn’t fight back with everything he had.
*Do I really have to gamble?*
Up to this point, Russell still had no idea how to remove the collar, nor did he know who held the remote controller.
The only solution he could think of right now was to intentionally detonate the collar and pin his hopes of survival on the Dionysium in his system.
*The risk is too high.
That can only be a last resort!*
…
Time trickled by, and before he knew it, more than a week had passed.
When Russell returned to Wilson’s lab for another routine checkup, Wilson suddenly made an unexpected remark.
“This might be the last time I run a checkup on you.
The Abomination Project is about to be canceled.”
Russell paused, taken aback.
If he remembered correctly, Wilson was supposed to be developing Generation III Abomination Soldiers right now.
Why the sudden cancellation?
“What happened?”
Under normal circumstances, Wilson wouldn’t necessarily have answered Russell’s question.
However, Wilson was clearly distracted today, so he answered absently, “Headquarters discovered a new enhancement factor.
Something called the Extremis Virus.”
“Headquarters believes the Extremis Soldiers produced by the Extremis Virus have greater potential than Abomination Soldiers.”
“Besides, Extremis Soldiers already have successful documented cases.
They only need to figure out how to replicate those cases rather than starting from scratch and accumulating research bit by bit like with the Abomination Project.”