New Teammates

Alex’s plan to meet with Hellfire ultimately fell through, because a group of superpowered individuals would be joining the Howling Commandos in two days. To wait for these newcomers, Alex could only postpone his plans.

Taking advantage of this break, Alex decided to get acquainted with Quicksilver, Human Torch, and Namor, who had recently joined the team. He had come and gone in such a hurry the previous times that he had never had the chance to properly get to know them.

Early the next morning, before the sky had even brightened, Alex was jolted awake by the roar of engines. He sprang from his bed, then stood dazed for a while before coming to his senses. "It’s planes!" Back in China, the Nationalist army had no planes, while the Japanese completely controlled the skies and rarely used aircraft. He had not heard the roar of planes in months, so Alex had not recognized it at first.

Alex quickly tidied himself up and stepped out of his room. In the camp clearing, Steve and Nick Fury were training. Logan leaned lazily against a wall with a cigar in his mouth, basking in the sun. Black Widow Natasha lay on a lounge chair with her eyes closed. The three newcomers stood in a corner of the clearing, apparently bored.

When they saw Alex come out, the four of them turned to greet him, their attitudes extremely warm. Quicksilver and Human Torch also smiled and nodded, while Namor merely snorted and turned away.

Alex returned their greetings with a smile, then carefully examined the three new members.

Quicksilver was a young man, his boyish face brimming with vitality and his bright eyes sparkling with a passion for adventure. Human Torch was somewhat older, resembling the uncle-type characters often seen in future Korean dramas. His weathered face, scruffy beard, and deep, calm eyes seemed to conceal countless stories. Namor wore nothing but a pair of scale-like briefs, leaving Alex with the sight of his bare back.

After observing them for a moment, Alex was about to go over and introduce himself when another roar came from the sky, making everyone’s ears ache.

"Again!" Natasha frowned, looking up at the planes passing overhead. She said impatiently, "They fly ten or twenty times a day. Do they have that much fuel to burn?"

The others remained calm. Their expressions shifted slightly before quickly returning to normal.

"I’ll deal with them." Alex chuckled and instantly vanished.

Seeing Alex disappear, Nick stopped what he was doing. He grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth, and said excitedly, "Alex has got some real fire! He should’ve taken down those damned planes long ago!"

Hearing Nick’s words, Quicksilver and the other two looked stunned. They looked up at the sky just as one plane suddenly lost control, swaying drunkenly before plunging nose-first toward the ground. Then came the second, the third, the fourth. In the end, not a single plane remained in the sky.

Quicksilver looked at Nick excitedly, his voice full of envy. "That was…" He suddenly stopped, because he did not know what to call Alex. Using his name felt too familiar, but calling him Captain would be awkward with Steve standing right there.

The flesh on Nick’s face trembled happily as he laughed. "Yep, Alex did that. Isn’t it awesome?!"

Quicksilver could only nod repeatedly, his face flushing slightly with excitement.

As they spoke, Alex returned with a faint smile on his face. Looking at Quicksilver, he introduced himself. "Let’s properly introduce ourselves. I’m Alex Zhang. Just call me Alex, though you can also call me Phantom." Come to think of it, ever since he had received the nickname Phantom, it had barely been used. Most of the time, everyone preferred calling him by name.

Quicksilver suddenly cried out and began sprinting around the camp at incredible speed. All that could be seen was a series of afterimages. After running three laps, he quickly returned and stopped three steps in front of Alex. In a solemn tone, he said, "I’m Quicksilver. My name is Balzak."

"Nice to meet you, Bal."

After getting acquainted with Quicksilver, Alex walked over to Human Torch.

Human Torch gave Alex an indifferent glance, then turned back to look into the distance, as if Alex did not exist. His icy voice followed. "Human Torch."

Alex looked at the uncle before him in surprise, unable to stop a thought from surfacing. Is he Human Torch or Iceman? Why is he so cold?

Since the uncle had such a cold personality, Alex wisely turned and walked away. He did not approach Namor either, instead heading straight for Natasha. He sat down in another lounge chair, discreetly pointed at the three of them, and asked quietly, "What do you think of those three?"

The corner of Natasha’s mouth curled up slightly as she said in a low voice, "Quicksilver is a brat who worships heroes. He enlisted because of Steve, though now he’ll probably have one more idol: you. His ability is pretty good too. You saw it just now, his speed is impressive."

Thinking of Quicksilver’s earlier reaction, Alex could not help chuckling. Then he pointed at Human Torch. "What about that uncle?"

"Uncle?" Natasha froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "That’s a good name. It suits him perfectly."

Alex glared at Natasha and reprimanded her with a stern face. "I’m being serious!"

Unfortunately, Alex’s reprimand clearly had no effect. They had been together for so long that everyone knew each other’s personalities well. Natasha was not afraid of Alex at all.

After laughing for a while longer, Natasha finally calmed down and slowly said, "Human Torch is an artificial human. As soon as he comes into contact with oxygen, he ignites, and everything he touches catches fire too."

Alex looked utterly astonished, as though he could not believe Natasha’s words. Wasn’t the uncle perfectly fine?

"Howard made him a set of equipment that isolates him from oxygen." Natasha rolled her eyes and continued, "He used to be sealed in concrete. They only released him recently because they were short on people, so his personality is a little cold."

"What about him?" Alex nodded, then glanced at Namor, who still had his back turned.

Natasha’s expression immediately turned disdainful. She snorted and said slowly, "That one invited himself here. I heard he even destroyed several submarines. His abilities are average, but his temper is huge. You’ve already experienced that yourself."

"All right, I really have experienced it." Remembering their previous meetings, Alex smiled strangely and continued, "Do you know about the incoming group?"

"You should ask Carter about that. She knows." Natasha shook her head and pointed at Carter, who was jogging into the camp from outside. "She took charge of this group, so she knows them best."

The moment Carter entered, she called out, "Steve, something happened!"

"What is it?" Steve secured his returning shield against his arm, turned to Carter, and looked at her in confusion.

"The incoming group has been kidnapped." Carter took a deep breath and said urgently, "The Hellfire Club did it."

"When did it happen?" Alex instantly appeared beside Carter and demanded in rapid succession, "Where?"

Seeing Alex, Carter relaxed slightly and quickly answered, "Just now. We don’t know the exact location. They were taken from a ship bound for the United Kingdom."

"Guys, get ready to move!"

P.S. I really couldn’t find Quicksilver’s name, so Scorpion had to make one up. If anyone knows it, please tell Scorpion.