In the bone-filled cave, Su Ming shook his head as he looked at Peggy Carter. He could see through her thoughts easily. However, what Peggy was thinking was wrong. The person Su Ming actually wanted to borrow from SSR wasn't Little Rose; it was Howard Stark.
He had the SSS serum and Dr. Erskine, but what he lacked was Stark and his coffin-like machine.
Once he had all of these pieces together, he could use them on his loyal follower, Gin. Even if he couldn't turn Gin into a super soldier, he could at least extend his lifespan.
Though Gin had sothing to do with so "V" word-related affair, Su Ming could tell who was truly loyal.
As for the others... well, he'd see if he could get his hands on the X-Compound while in Germany.
"Go back and tell Colonel Phillips that I need to borrow Howard for a while. That's my condition. If you don't agree, I'll co visit him at midnight every night to play gas," Su Ming interrupted Peggy's words with a wave of his hand. "When Captain Arica wakes up, you can all head back to England. Right now, he's not ready to face Red Skull."
"Can't you help us deal with Red Skull? With your abilities, it should be easy, right?" Peggy nodded, but she still didn't give up.
"I can tell you seriously, Red Skull cannot die—at least not right now."
Everyone had finished their bandages, and the Howling Commandos had rigged a makeshift stretcher using their rifles and clothing to carry Steve. The resistance fighters lit up their flashlights, and the group started moving again, slowly advancing through the maze-like underground passages.
"Why not?"
Peggy walked alongside Su Ming, looking at the crimson monocle on his mask, her curiosity piqued. Maybe Su Ming knew sothing more than what was obvious.
This was, in fact, sothing Su Ming had recently discovered. After arriving in Europe and seeing the situation here, he realized that everything had changed far too much.
HYDRA was already very powerful, but the only major technology they seed to have were energy weapons and engines powered by the Tesseract.
Giant cannons on airships, towering war robots, flying saucers in the sky, chanical soldiers, and modified war dogs—all of these machines bore not the skull-octopus symbol of HYDRA but the Iron Cross!
Even the defeated Mister Sinister back in London was working for the Führer, not HYDRA.
The world had shifted in so way. Hitler's forces were far stronger than HYDRA's, their technology was more advanced, and their army was more powerful.
This left Red Skull too afraid to even return to Berlin, and the HYDRA leaders were scattered around the world, hiding in secret bases. For now, Hitler tolerated Red Skull's presence, allowing HYDRA to maintain its high status within Germany.
But if Red Skull were to die, or if Hitler felt the ti was right, the purge of HYDRA would be swift and rciless—Hitler's ability to execute purges was world-renowned.
If Hitler consolidated all of Germany's military and technological power under his control, it would be a disaster for the Allies.
Su Ming shared a bit of his analysis with Peggy and the eavesdropping Nick Fury, leaving them both confused and speechless.
SSR was ford specifically to defeat HYDRA, but now it seed that defeating HYDRA would, ironically, strengthen the Führer's forces, possibly leading to an Allied defeat.
Although the Führer's war machines were equipped with energy weapons, the Tesseract was still in HYDRA's hands, likely the factor holding the balance of power. It kept Hitler in check, preventing him from outright destroying HYDRA.
But if Red Skull were killed by the Allies, Hitler's charisma and influence would allow him to twist the situation to his advantage.
Imagine the chaos if millions of elite German soldiers were suddenly ard with such advanced weapons. It would be a nightmare.
Unless they could guarantee that they could kill Red Skull and seize the Tesseract at the sa ti, it was too risky to act recklessly.
Hitler was just waiting for the right mont, and SSR should have been doing the sa—biding their ti, not rushing in every ti Red Skull made a move.
If Red Skull died at the hands of the Allies, the Tesseract would most likely fall into Hitler's hands.
The group fell into a heavy silence as they walked through the eerie underground corridors. The skulls embedded in the walls seed to mock them with their empty, grinning eyes.
Peggy adjusted her brown hair, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over her. Had the Strategic Scientific Reserve ever considered the consequences of eliminating HYDRA on the larger war? Perhaps.
But the orders from ho had always been to relentlessly pursue Red Skull, no matter what. Why? Could there be Nazi spies within their ranks? And given how perfectly this trap had been set for them, could there be a HYDRA mole within SSR as well?
"What should we do next?" Peggy asked Su Ming instinctively, her mind spinning from all the conflicting thoughts. Espionage warfare could be so confusing.
"Act like nothing happened. Go back quietly. Next ti, keep chasing Red Skull. Just don't kill him. Steve can play with him all he wants, but he really should get a new shield."
Su Ming answered without hesitation. In this situation, with the enemy hiding and them out in the open, there wasn't much they could do.
Trust was hard to co by, and everyone around them was a potential spy.
SSR was filled with all kinds of people, and the United States was crawling with spies from every side. For the sake of Peggy and the others' safety, it was best to pretend they knew nothing.
Nick Fury quickly understood, nodding his head. He knew what needed to be done.
With that settled, Su Ming felt his job was nearly done. For Captain Arica to truly grow, he needed this complex environnt. Slowly but surely, Steve would evolve.
Su Ming had his own mission: preventing the world from being destroyed by the lting of Antarctica. Both the U-n and the perfect clone of Namor posed this threat, and that was the most urgent matter at hand.
Once that was taken care of, he could focus on dealing with Hitler's unusual developnts. After that, it would be ti to deal with the Tesseract.
Everything had its priority. Su Ming didn't have ti to play espionage gas with SSR right now.
Peggy bit her red lips, lost in thought. Suddenly, she rembered sothing important. "Then why did you kidnap Dr. Erskine and steal the serum last ti?"
Su Ming imdiately tossed the bla elsewhere. "Now that the dust has settled, I don't mind telling you. The person who hired to kidnap the doctor and steal the Super Soldier Serum was Dr. Erskine himself."
Peggy and Nick's eyes widened in shock. They never expected such an answer.
"Dr. Erskine had long noticed the problems within your organization. He realized that creating super soldiers for anyone was only accelerating the world's destruction. He didn't want to continue, but you were always watching him. So, he had no choice but to find ."
Su Ming continued weaving his lies as they moved forward. After all, Erskine wouldn't co out to refute his claims—he was busy growing pineapples in Hawaii.
"I see," Nick Fury muttered, his mind filling in the blanks. Erskine had secretly contacted SSR to help him escape from Germany, a mission Nick himself had led. Having already fled once, it made sense that the doctor would use the sa tactic again after realizing the U.S. wasn't any better.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
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