Unexpected

In a battle on the scale of millions, the Howling Commandos’ strength counted for nothing and could change nothing. Just as Alex had said, they had come merely to put on a show. In the end, they only made themselves miserable. It was pure self-inflicted suffering, especially when they saw the river of scarlet blood pooling along the tidal flats. The stench of blood rising into the sky was enough to make anyone vomit themselves to death.

Quicksilver was still just a young man, and he was the first to crack. There was not a trace of color in his face, and even his eyes had begun to roll slightly white.

"Can you hold on?" Alex supported Quicksilver with one hand while keeping his body tucked inside the landing craft. "If not, should I take you back?"

Quicksilver opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before any words came out, a mouthful of filth spewed forth instead.

Without another word, Alex hoisted Quicksilver onto his shoulder and vanished. Moments later, he returned. Watching the soldiers charge ahead, his gaze passed over rows of trenches and settled on the bunker at the end of the tidal flats—the chief culprit behind the enormous losses during the landing.

Unable to change the entire course of the battle, Alex wanted to change the outcome on this stretch of beach.

With a flicker, Alex vanished from the landing craft again. In the span of a breath, the heavy machine guns that had been relentlessly taking Allied soldiers’ lives fell silent. The exhilarated Allied soldiers ran for their lives with every ounce of strength they had.

The war continued, and the Howling Commandos did their part as well.

When everything finally fell silent, countless corpses lay along Normandy’s long coastline, both Allied and German. Scarlet blood stained the entire shore red, like crimson algae crawling onto land.

The beach landing was over. The Allies’ overall results were not particularly impressive; the only real success had come from the sector where the Howling Commandos were stationed. With the Howling Commandos’ support, the Allies successfully established a solid foothold along the German coastline. This show had been a resounding success.

The next day, using that foothold as their center, the Allies launched attacks in every direction, gradually tearing apart the German coastal defenses. After half a month, Germany was finally powerless to turn the tide. The Allies landed across Normandy in full force, and the Germans fled in panic.

Another half month passed. The Allies drove straight ahead, fighting all the way to Paris, France. Paris was liberated, and the Normandy landings came to an end!

With the Normandy landings over, the Howling Commandos’ mission should have been finished. However, in light of the tremendous strength they had displayed during the landings and the huge boost they had given morale, headquarters assigned them new missions. Every member of the Howling Commandos was scattered among different assault units.

No one in the Howling Commandos objected to headquarters’ arrangement. They were putting on a show anyway; it made no difference where they did it. What Alex had not expected was that this parting would become their last.

When Alex learned from Carter that Steve was in danger, he was completely stunned. His mind went blank. It took him a long while to come back to himself. Then he turned to glare at Carter, his face twisted as he roared, "Tell me, what exactly happened? Tell me!!!"

Carter’s eyes reddened slightly as she fought back the tears threatening to spill over. Slowly, she said word by word, "It was supposed to be an ordinary military operation, an attack on a small town. But no one expected that although the army captured the town in the end, Steve would be missing."

Alex froze slightly as he watched Carter’s tears stream down uncontrollably. He instantly returned to normal, his face dark as he asked, "What do you mean, missing?"

"We didn’t find Steve’s…" Carter’s tears fell faster and faster, as though a dam had completely burst.

Alex gently wrapped an arm around Carter and comforted her softly. "Don’t worry, Carter. I’ll find Steve."

While comforting Carter, the rage in Alex’s heart burned ever hotter, nearly enough to reduce the entire world to ashes. He had thought that after bringing Hydra under his control, Steve would no longer be in danger. Yet Steve had still met with trouble in the end, and it made Alex think of Bucky once again.

The brothers he had tried so desperately to save—one had long since vanished into the sea, while the other was now missing. Was the wheel of history truly impossible to change?

After a while, Carter seemed to regain her composure. She stepped away from Alex’s embrace, gently wiped the tears from her face, and said slowly, "I already questioned that unit. Steve seemed to have suddenly vanished. They don’t know where he went or what happened to him!" As she spoke, Carter took several photographs from her clothes. "These are pictures of that small town. You can take a look."

Alex frowned tightly as he picked up the photographs and glanced over them. "Wait for me. I’m going to take a look."

Alex did not immediately head for the small town. He went to find Strucker first.

"Strucker, what have you done?" The moment he arrived, Alex exploded. He seized Strucker by the throat with both hands and demanded viciously, "I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!"

Strucker was stunned by the attack. It took him a long while before he coughed and shouted urgently, "What happened?"

"You know perfectly well!" Alex stared straight into Strucker’s eyes. If there was the slightest change in his gaze, Alex would kill him without hesitation.

But to Alex’s disappointment, Strucker’s eyes held nothing but surprise and fear.

"Master, I truly don’t know!" Strucker’s face gradually turned bright red from his labored breathing, and his voice began to tremble.

Alex stared at Strucker for a long time before reluctantly throwing him aside. "Something happened to Steve. Does it really have nothing to do with Hydra?"

Strucker was slightly stunned by the question, then gave a bitter smile and explained, "Following your orders, Hydra has completely withdrawn from Europe. In Europe, we only retained our intelligence network."

Alex’s heart stirred. He hurriedly rose to his feet, grabbed Strucker, and asked expectantly, "Then have you heard anything?"

"There’s no need to think about it. It must be the Hellfire Club." Strucker answered without hesitation, his tone decisive. "Other than them, no one in Europe would oppose you."

"The Hellfire Club!" Strucker’s words cleared Alex’s mind. Upon suddenly hearing that Steve was in trouble, Alex had completely lost his composure and even lost the ability to think rationally. Strucker’s reminder woke him up at once. Hydra had already been brought under his control, so the only ones who bore a grudge against the Howling Commandos were the Hellfire Club.

The Hellfire Club had merely reached an agreement with those politicians; they had never made peace with the Howling Commandos. Their retaliation against Steve made perfect sense.

The more Alex thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Without another word, he left Strucker and instantly appeared in the small town where Steve had disappeared.

The town was truly tiny. Alex walked through the entire place in only two or three hours, and he really did discover some clues. His expression grew increasingly grim.

When Strucker discovered that Alex had left, his expression immediately turned strange. A peculiar smile appeared on his respectful face.