Red Skull's days were becoming increasingly difficult, as Hitler was now heavily reliant on the Gestapo, the only force capable of maintaining order within the City of Berlin and preventing the spread of surrender sentint.
If the people's hearts could not be steadied, chaos would ensue in a matter of minutes, especially with the Soviet Army pressing in from outside the city. If everyone started thinking about surrender, it would be a complete disaster.
Therefore, the secret police forces absolutely must not fail. If their deterrence faltered at this ti, and they could not intimidate those wishing to surrender, it would spell total ruin.
Hitler, teetering on the brink of madness, was still not entirely insane. Or one might say this was the last lucid mont of his life. He knew who his most useful weapon was at this ti.
In the past, he needed Hydra to spread the deterrence of the German Army around the world, but now they were cornered, and as good as Hydra's intelligence was, you can't make bricks without straw. In terms of importance, naturally, they could not compare to the Gestapo, which had been operating locally for many years.
Adolf made his choice again, and the power in Red Skull's hands began to be chipped away, bit by bit.
Of course, Red Skull could not accept this situation. He had to start considering the use of his ultimate weapon. Since he could not rely on Germany, it was ti to turn to the Aricans. At least under nuclear threat, there would be people in Arica willing to talk to him.
Red Skull began insisting on frequent simulations of missile launches at the base, but the information was quickly leaked, and eventually landed on the supre leader's desk.
Of course, it wasn't very specific, but the vaguer it was, the more it begot suspicion. The first asure of self-help so people took was to question why, of all places, Red Skull chose their base as his preference.
An investigation into Red Skull began, and he was put under house arrest in his own ho. The Gestapo went crazy, suppressing his subordinates. Countless Hydra mbers were arrested under the charge of spreading surrender propaganda, and under the cover of such actions, a secret army unit neared the base.
Red Skull had not been running things for so many years for nothing; he had substantial reserves. People kept sending him ssages, and when he learned that Hitler truly made a move on the base, he could no longer sit still.
He knew now was not the ti to press the button. He hadn't even established contact with a reliable Arican yet. A nuclear bomb was most threatening before it was launched. He needed to bide his ti, not hasten his demise.
To ensure the safety of the nuclear bomb until he was ready to start negotiations, Red Skull was left with only one option, and that was to move the bomb.
This operation had to be carried out in secret, but Red Skull's n were few. After much thought, he could find only one person who might enter into a mutual benefit arrangent with him, and that was Baron Zemo.
But Baron Zemo had long since disappeared without a trace. The new person who replaced him was called Doctor. Red Skull knew nothing about him, but since he was Hydra, there was naturally room for negotiation.
Red Skull chose the right mont to have a secret talk with Shiller. Unknown to him, during the ti he was being monitored, Nick's team had mostly recovered their strength, and Captain Arica was ready for action.
Finally, one night, a secret squad from the base was dispatched to move the nuclear warhead. Red Skull had sent a mutant skilled in transportation, which ant no large equipnt was needed to transport the warhead to the intended location, but what he did not know was that the warhead had already been swapped out.
The mutant he found wasn't even Alpha level. He needed a long charge ti to lift heavy objects, and his charging period was just enough to move the original warhead. The current one, being more than 200 tis larger, was sothing he could not lift at all.
Therefore, Nick's team had almost no trouble intercepting the group. Captain Arica, with his superior combat skills, eliminated nearly all the escorts, including many technicians.
Red Skull was very protective of this warhead. Apart from his close confidants, no one could touch it. The only few technicians who had handled the original bomb had not had ti to report its odd change to Red Skull before they were killed. He had no way of knowing what had happened.
As for Nick's side, they assud that the huge object before them was the nuclear warhead Hydra had been working on, but they couldn't understand why Hydra, known as the serpent, had a giant bat imprinted on the center of it.
Regardless, it was still a hugely successful operation. Nick imdiately reported this good news back to the headquarters in Arica, and naturally, they instructed him to transport the bomb back to the country. Most importantly, it must not fall into the hands of the Soviets.
But it definitely couldn't be moved back now, because the Soviet Army was all over the outskirts of Berlin. However, leaving it where it was would invite long nights filled with dreams. Congress required Nick to find a way no matter what, to create conditions if none existed, and within ten days, they needed to see this warhead on Arican soil.
But Nick was already out of options.
They were just a small team sent over to scout the situation and probe Hydra's actions, not so Regular Army. Even a Regular Army would have no way to transport such a large object while completely bypassing the KGB's watchful eye.
In fact, the ability to hide it was still reliant on Red Skull's ticulousness. At least the second location Red Skull had found for hiding the bomb was reasonably discreet, or else Nick wouldn't have been able to keep it hidden for two days without the Soviet Army launching an assault.
With only ten days, Nick was almost frantic with worry. In the end, he had to turn to soone he really did not want to ask for help: Doctor.
"You must think of a way," Nick said. "You know the consequences of this thing falling into the hands of the Soviets."
"There won't be any consequences," Shiller said. "They have plenty of bigger bombs than this."
"But this is a secret bomb, you understand?" Nick raised his voice. "It ans it's unregistered, the kind of bomb where no one can trace the culprit when it hits!"
"So if Arica takes it, there won't be serious consequences?"
Nick was at a loss for words, but he still tried to persuade him: "Since you're the chief officer of New York State, it's naturally better to keep it within your jurisdiction than in such a remote place. I believe the operations you've established there are much stronger than here."
"Thanks for the complint, but this might require cooperation from both of us."
"What do you an?"
"I've heard Congress is organizing a body to manage superpower users. What role do you suppose you will play in it?"
Nick's expression grew somber as he said, "Very well, Doctor, nothing gets past you. I won't lie to you, my ntor Alexander Pierce has so ideas about this."
"Just your ntor?"
Nick fell silent, while Shiller said, "You know their way leads to a dead end, yet you insist on following them into it?"
"What do you an?"
"You are aware of the great benefits our cooperation would bring. There is no place for you to shine in tis of peace, no disturbances, no glory..."
"I don't understand what you're saying."
"Then let's not beat around the bush. Leave a gap when selecting people; let my n in. We can create endless trouble for this future organization, naturally providing a stage for your performance."
"I'm afraid I cannot agree."
"But certainly not for justice." Shiller smiled and said, "What first cos to your mind isn't any notions of benevolence and morality, but how to deceive everyone subconsciously."
Nick was taken aback and said, "You can read minds?"
"Far from it," Shiller said. "I can tell you a thod that is guaranteed to be more efficient than any answer you could co up with."
"What is it?"
"Either none at all or all of them," Shiller said, his words earth-shattering. "If they are all enemies, then there are no enemies. I have spoken my piece, think it over."
Nick hung up the phone, how could he not understand? The mont the words left Shiller's lips, he grasped the aning—if the organization was entirely composed of Hydra, then no one would be able to expose them.
But wasn't this madness? The still youthful Nick pondered this but couldn't help thinking that it was entirely feasible. After all, regular special agents would work for their wages, and Hydra would work to infiltrate and gain trust.
In fact, they would do even better, because no one was better at dealing with Hydra than Hydra itself.
Yet Nick still didn't understand what Shiller's ultimate goal was. He definitely had one, it's just that it was currently obscured in a thick fog, invisible to Nick, Erik, or even Red Skull.
In the end, Nick acceded to Shiller's request.
Nine days later, the nuclear warhead was transported on a plane headed to Arica and arrived safely on the night of the tenth day.
With the interference of these special individuals removed, history returned to its intended course. A few months later, Germany announced its unconditional surrender, and from then on, Berlin saw no more battles.
Several more months passed, and as the northern hemisphere approached sumr, Nick had long returned, but he now faced another problem.
As the Hitler governnt fell, Red Skull fought desperately. Captain Arica perished alongside him, plumting into the depths of the sea. Congress urgently needed another leader to stand forth because they were about to undertake a significant action.
Nick received the news, so he had to contact the person he did not wish to contact once more. He picked up the phone and said to the other party, "Their Emperor refuses to accept the Potsdam Declaration, and their so-called 'one hundred million shard-of-jade' plan is becoming even more fanatical."
"The casualties of the Allied forces have far exceeded acceptable limits, and the enemy's resistance seems to have just begun. They can't afford any more losses. At the latest, within three days, they will sign the bombing consent form."
"What do you plan to do?"
"The bombing plan is imperative, and I will recomnd they use the atomic bomb I brought back," Nick said. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you control it."
The other party seed to chuckle lightly, but Nick said, "I have no intention of destroying our cooperation, but this way is more conducive to balance. You know such a weapon of mass destruction is unfair in anyone's hands, especially in the hands of terrorists who care nothing for their holand and citizens. We dare not use it, but you certainly are different. So it's best to use it up as soon as possible, better for everyone."
"If this is your decision, I have no objections."
Nick took a deep breath and hung up the phone. He knew that getting involved in such matters ant he would have to bear the lives of countless people, but as that damned Hydra said, benevolence and morality were never the first thoughts to co to his mind.
What Nick did not anticipate was that the burden he would have to bear was far greater than he imagined.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, at 8 A.M., the intercontinental ballistic missile launch base in a western state of the United States received the usual launch order. The operators completed all safety confirmation processes and pressed the launch button.
Thousands of intercontinental missiles thundered out of their silos; amongst them, one was exceptionally large, marked with a bat symbol.
Around 8 A.M. on August 6, 1945, the target nation announced a failed interception and urged its citizens to evacuate imdiately into air-raid shelters for ergency refuge.
At 9 A.M. on August 6, 1945, the largest mass extinction event in human history was etched into the annals—
The target island had sunk.
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