Hunting the Winter Soldier

"Winter Soldier, you can’t escape!"

Three military SUVs stopped in three different directions. Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, led over a dozen elite members of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Rapid Response Special Forces, along with several dozen soldiers stationed at the secret base, and surrounded a house.

The Winter Soldier was inside.

Every soldier was fully armed. Three heavy machine guns were mounted on the SUVs, waiting in place.

Some carried grenade launchers and shoulder-fired rocket launchers, some held submachine guns, and others had already taken the best sniper positions.

The Winter Soldier clearly had nowhere left to run.

"Captain, the target is locked. Requesting permission to fire!" a soldier said.

In his view,

No matter how powerful an individual was, even someone as powerful as Captain America, there was no way they could directly withstand attacks from so many modern weapons.

Your defense is insane?

Can you withstand rockets, high-explosive grenades, or heavy machine-gun fire?

You’re fast?

Faster than machine-gun bullets, or sniper rounds?

You’re strong?

Come on, try flipping this military SUV over.

This was the best opportunity. They had sacrificed forty-seven lives to corner the Winter Soldier. As long as they opened fire now, they would earn unprecedented military merit. Their ranks would rise by at least one grade, their monthly pay would increase, getting rid of singlehood would no longer be a dream, and they would leave behind their worthless lives to reach the pinnacle of life.

"No! The distance is too great, there’s cover, and the Winter Soldier’s reaction speed is too fast. We could easily miss and damage that box. My orders are to recover the box and kill the Winter Soldier. Recovering the box is the primary objective!"

Crossbones said gravely, "Everyone, listen to my command: advance steadily and keep your firepower locked on him!"

Though unwilling, the soldiers could only obey. Their captain had spoken, and his reasoning was sound.

They began closing in orderly, keeping their weapons trained at all times. Every one of them was nervous and excited.

Their enemy was the terrifying Winter Soldier. This battle was dangerous and thrilling, far more exhilarating than anything before. Adrenaline surged through them. Their guns were raised, magazines full, ready to attack at any moment.

As for the Winter Soldier?

Just like his name, he was a warrior like winter itself. His covered face gave off an icy feeling, as though he had just been thawed from an endless winter. Though surrounded by so many people, he paid them no attention whatsoever.

Nor did he run.

Did his brain freeze over? What an idiot, someone thought.

Everyone finally took their positions.

Crossbones was clearly highly professional. Seizing the perfect moment, he growled, "Fire!"

Before his words had even faded, he personally operated a heavy machine gun and aimed it at his teammates.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Hundreds of bullets poured out in only a few breaths. These ace special forces soldiers had no time to react before they were swept by heavy machine-gun fire, blood spraying from their bodies as they fell.

It wasn’t just Crossbones.

At the same time, more than half of the special forces abruptly turned their guns on their teammates.

At one of the sniper positions, an ace sniper aimed at the sniper in another position and fired.

In less than ten seconds, one-third of the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers gathered here were dead or wounded…

No!

More accurately, the entire force had been wiped out.

The remaining two-thirds were not S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel at all!

Once everything was over, the Winter Soldier walked out of the house, completely unharmed.

"Trai… tor…" One man was still alive. His bloodied left hand rose and pointed at Crossbones.

Crack!

"Hail Hydra!"

Crossbones crushed the man’s neck beneath a heavy stomp, then looked at the Winter Soldier from afar and silently shouted the slogan.

Their eyes met, sparks of love flying. Though neither said a word, they both understood what the other meant:

Winter Soldier: Heh heh, Little Bones, excellent coordination.

Crossbones: Haha, thanks for the compliment, Brother Soldier!

The next second, the Winter Soldier grabbed the box, turned, and ran.

"Winter Soldier, you can’t escape!"

Crossbones gave a muffled grunt and roared, "Kill him!"

Everyone broke into a sprint, firing in every direction except at the Winter Soldier.

Only after another half minute did Crossbones stop, panting heavily as he gritted his teeth into his earpiece.

"This is Brock Rumlow."

"We were ambushed. We suffered heavy casualties. The Winter Soldier escaped with serious injuries."

"Requesting support!"

"This is Phil Coulson. Agent Rumlow, stay on the Winter Soldier’s tail. We’ll be there soon."

An invisible aircraft streaked through the sky.

A Quinjet—the main fighter aircraft of S.H.I.E.L.D.—possessed supersonic cruising capabilities, vertical takeoff, landing, and hovering technology, as well as surface and underwater navigation technology. Equipped with the most advanced Optical Wave Omnidirectional Stealth Technology, it could not only vanish from radar detection, but also become visually invisible.

Even if it kissed your ass, you wouldn’t see its lips.

An F-22 Raptor stealth fighter cost 150 million dollars. A Quinjet cost three times as much.

Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had fewer than fifty of them, and they came in various types, including transports and fighters.

This one was a transport. Under the leadership of Coulson and Melinda, twenty of the most elite agents had flown from hundreds of kilometers away for the sake of one small box.

No one knew what was inside the box, including Coulson.

He only knew that the director attached great importance to it and had issued a direct order that it had to be recovered.

"The Quinjet travels at 3.5 times the speed of sound and can precisely strike any target anywhere in the world within a day. We’ll catch the Winter Soldier in ten minutes at most."

Melinda, who was piloting the aircraft, reported the situation before asking coldly, "Why didn’t Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton come?"

"Classified… Well, I don’t know either. They should be on other missions, or maybe they were too far away. They’ll be here soon."

Coulson shrugged. You know S.H.I.E.L.D.’s regulations. Everyone’s whereabouts and missions were classified. Although his clearance was higher than those two agents’, and he earned more than them, he had no authority over them!

"I suggest we request Immortal Iron Fist’s assistance."

Though Melinda did not know that Egghead had long since gotten involved with Immortal Iron Fist, she still said, "We can contact him through Master Wang. The Winter Soldier is difficult to deal with. We need powerful support."

"We’re thousands of kilometers from New York. There’s no time," Coulson said.

Melinda fell silent.

That was true. Iron Fist couldn’t fly.

Even if they sent a Quinjet to pick him up, it would be too late.

She had originally wanted to witness Immortal Iron Fist beating the Winter Soldier senseless.

It seemed she would be disappointed.

Three minutes later.

"That’s the situation."

Skye’s somewhat languid voice came through, as if she had just climbed out of bed. "Black Widow and Hawkeye are on their way. They’re expected to arrive in thirty minutes."

Old Wang truly did not know where to begin mocking this.

Crossbones was one of Hydra’s men, working with the Winter Soldier, and Egghead had actually sent him to hunt down the Winter Soldier?

And why was every job handed to Coulson and Melinda? Wasn’t he afraid of working them to death? They had only just returned from Afghanistan. Did Egghead really have no one else he could use, or did he simply dare not use anyone else?

"Send me the location." Old Wang decided to exchange for Teleportation. Jaina’s version would be good enough; everyone who had used it said so.

He would teleport over directly and settle this before S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived.

After all, with Coulson’s abilities, he truly could not handle the Winter Soldier.

Not being able to handle him was no big deal.

But if the Winter Soldier handled Coulson instead, Hydra’s remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. moles would lose another one. How was Egghead supposed to carry on then?

"There’s no way to track the Winter Soldier, but I can track Crossbones. I’ll send you his location immediately."

Resting her chin on her hand, Skye asked curiously, "Wang, what exactly is in that box? Hydra actually sent the Winter Soldier after it? Out of several thousand 084s, it’s the only one classified Level 10. Is it really that important? There isn’t even an electronic record, or I definitely would have found it."

"A Kree-made Obelisk. Your future."

Now was not the time for stories. The Winter Soldier was very capable and would soon shake off Crossbones before vanishing completely. He might even take the chance to kill Coulson. Time was of the essence.

Old Wang hung up, and a wisp of his consciousness entered the Heart of Azeroth.

The next moment, a Time-Space Channel opened.

A flash of magical light passed, and Old Wang vanished.

Thanks to Ares27 for the 1,000 reward.

Something happened at home, and my rage meter is full. I instantly switched classes from Monk to Warrior. I really can’t calm down enough to write, and I don’t have time either, so there’s only one update today. Sorry. It’ll be going premium soon, and then I’ll definitely mass-release chapters, so don’t worry.