Chương 165: Chapter 165: Winter Soldiers 

Since the charade had completely deteriorated, there was no longer any need to pretend. 

Rumlow's expression darkened as he raised his weapon. The rest of the Strike Team immediately followed suit, aiming their rifles squarely at the Captain. 

"Captain, surrender quietly. Your shield can only protect you from one direction, and you're completely surrounded. You have no chance." 

The Captain calmly tightened the straps of his shield on his forearm. "How will we know unless we try? Now, is there anyone else who wants to back out?" 

The room fell silent for a brief moment. Suddenly, the Captain charged directly at Rumlow. Startled, Rumlow shouted urgently, "Tranquilizer rounds!" 

However, the operatives positioned behind the Captain ignored Rumlow's command entirely. Instead, they opened fire directly on Rumlow's position. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rumlow yelled, executing a frantic combat roll to take cover behind a heavy metal desk. 

Shielded by the suppressive fire from the unknown turncoats behind him, the Captain raised his vibranium shield to deflect incoming rounds and advanced relentlessly toward Rumlow's position. 

With a powerful swing of his shield, the Captain cleaved the heavy metal desk cleanly in half, violently pushing the severed section—and Rumlow—backward. 

"I offered you a chance," the Captain said coldly, preparing to apprehend the scrambling commander. 

Currently, the Captain's understanding of the situation was highly fragmented. However, he was confident that capturing Rumlow would yield crucial intelligence. 

Witnessing this, the loyal Hydra operatives immediately concentrated their fire on the Captain, forcing him to retreat defensively. In the chaotic crossfire, Rumlow unluckily caught a stray bullet. 

"Damn it! Where is the backup? Why haven't they reinforced us yet?!" Gritting his teeth through the intense pain, Rumlow snatched a rifle and provided suppressive fire against the traitors. 

Just then, the Hydra reinforcements—who had been pre-positioned within the base disguised as standard SHIELD personnel—swarmed into the room. Their overwhelming firepower instantly pinned down the Captain and his unexpected allies. 

"What's our next move?" the Captain shouted over the deafening gunfire to the operative who had signaled him earlier. "Do you have a contingency plan?" 

"Negative," the operative yelled back, shaking his head. "Our orders were strictly to prevent your immediate capture. As for what happens next, command said you'd have to figure it out yourself." 

"Well, that's reassuring," the Captain sighed in exasperation. He carefully peeked around his cover, observing the Hydra reinforcements. They had just funneled through a narrow corridor and were clustered tightly together. 

"Do you have any grenades?" 

"Affirmative." The operative tossed him two fragmentation grenades. The Captain quickly calculated the trajectory and lobbed them perfectly into the center of the clustered Hydra troops. 

"Grenades! Take cover!" a soldier yelled, spotting the incoming explosives. 

These soldiers were elite operatives, handpicked specifically to ambush Captain America. Their reaction times were exceptional. They instantly dove for cover, minimizing the lethal impact of the blasts. However, the explosions successfully disrupted their suppressive fire. The Captain seized the momentary lull and sprinted from cover. 

Seeing the Hydra soldiers scrambling to their feet to resume firing, the Captain hurled his shield with devastating force and precision. The vibranium disc ricocheted off the walls and heavy desks, violently striking several soldiers before they could even level their weapons. 

Catching the returning shield, the Captain seamlessly deflected a burst of incoming fire. He then violently flipped a massive conference table, creating an improvised barricade that completely obscured the enemy's line of sight, vanishing from their view. 

"Where did he go?!" a Hydra soldier shouted nervously. 

A figure silently materialized directly behind him. The Captain brutally struck the soldier in the back of the head with the edge of his shield. Utilizing the shield as a battering ram, the Captain charged forward. 

His superhuman physique hit the remaining enemies like a freight train, violently scattering anyone in his path. A quick, precise shield strike neutralized a soldier attempting to flee. 

Within moments, the Captain had single-handedly incapacitated every visible enemy combatant in the immediate vicinity. 

The allied operatives cautiously peered out from behind their cover. Seeing the situation temporarily stabilized, they carefully advanced to assess the aftermath. 

The Captain watched as the operatives systematically moved among the incapacitated Hydra soldiers... and methodically executed them. 

"Shouldn't we consider taking prisoners for interrogation?" the Captain asked, frowning. 

An operative glanced up at him. "These guys aren't exactly an endangered species, Captain. There are plenty more where they came from." 

Another operative finished checking the bodies and approached them. "Rumlow managed to slip away." 

"That is highly problematic. He will undoubtedly return with a significantly larger force to encircle us. We need to call for immediate backup." 

"Backup?" The Captain furrowed his brow. "From SHIELD?" 

"No, Captain," the operative replied, his tone laden with implication. "SHIELD is your enemy." 

The operative pulled out a specialized communication device and rapidly transmitted several encrypted messages. 

"Extraction won't arrive for a while. We need to establish a defensive perimeter immediately." 

They quickly dragged heavy desks and filing cabinets to barricade the main entrances. The Captain joined the operatives, utilizing a captured rifle to repel the encroaching Hydra forces attempting to breach the room. 

"I honestly didn't think you knew how to use one of these," an operative remarked. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, he maintained a surprisingly optimistic demeanor. 

"Before the serum, when I was asthmatic and ninety pounds, my marksmanship was the only thing that kept the drill instructors from kicking me out of boot camp," Steve replied with a wry smile. He leaned out of cover and unleashed a precise burst, instantly dropping two Hydra soldiers attempting to rush the barricade. 

"This corridor creates a natural chokepoint. As long as we have sufficient ammunition, we can hold them indefinitely. What's our ammo situation?" the Captain asked, analyzing their defensive posture. 

"I'm down to two magazines. We won't last long," an operative reported, slamming a fresh magazine into his rifle. "Make that one." 

Steve nodded grimly. "It appears we'll be transitioning to close-quarters combat shortly. I sincerely hope your requested backup arrives sooner rather than later." 

Just then, several tear gas canisters were lobbed into the corridor, quickly obscuring the area in thick, acrid smoke. Steve's brow furrowed. 

Moments later, several highly agile figures violently burst through the smoke screen, charging directly toward their barricade. 

"Repel them!" an operative shouted. Everyone instantly concentrated their remaining fire on the incoming targets. 

To the Captain's immense surprise, these new assailants displayed extraordinary combat prowess. Their movements were blindingly fast and incredibly precise, allowing them to effortlessly evade the majority of the incoming fire and vault seamlessly over the barricade. 

Having breached the perimeter, the allied operatives ceased firing to avoid hitting each other and drew various close-quarters weapons, engaging the intruders in brutal hand-to-hand combat. 

However, the intruders' martial arts proficiency was overwhelmingly superior. Within seconds, they had systematically incapacitated every single allied operative. 

The Captain moved to assist his fallen allies, but a massive, heavily muscled figure landed heavily beside him, blocking his path. 

Observing the sheer, terrifying density of the man's musculature, the Captain sighed inwardly. Enhanced soldiers? 

The towering brute offered no response, immediately launching a devastating physical assault. 

Seeing the assailant's arm, corded with muscles as dense as granite, the Captain opted not to attempt a direct parry. Instead, he raised his vibranium shield to absorb the blow. 

A deafening, bell-like CLANG resonated through the room. The sheer kinetic force behind the punch sent a shockwave through the Captain's arm, immediately informing him of the terrifying raw power he was facing. 

Fortunately, the brute lacked agility. The Captain utilized his superior speed and tactical maneuvering to engage in a tense, evasive duel. However, regardless of how many times the Captain struck him with the shield—even brutal blows to the head—the monster simply shrugged it off, fighting as if entirely devoid of pain receptors. 

Meanwhile, the other enhanced assailants, having effortlessly neutralized the allied operatives, turned their cold, dead eyes toward the Captain. 

Feeling the predatory, collective gaze of the enhanced squad, the Captain felt the tactical pressure increase exponentially. 

Noticing the gunfire had ceased, the Hydra conventional forces tentatively advanced into the room. 

The Hydra commander observed the Captain locked in a brutal stalemate with one Winter Soldier, while the others stood by, effectively trapping him. He nodded in profound satisfaction. 

Truly, they are Hydra's absolute most devastating asset. Even Captain America couldn't overcome them. However, they possessed one critical flaw: they were notoriously difficult to control. That was precisely why they were kept in cryogenic stasis following the Cold War. 

"Apprehend him!" the commander ordered the Winter Soldiers. 

However—perhaps due to the prolonged cryogenic freeze or lingering neurological fog from their recent thawing—the Winter Soldiers did not immediately coordinate an attack on the Captain. Instead, they slowly turned their heads and stared blankly at the Hydra commander. 

The commander frowned deeply. They were functioning perfectly a moment ago. Are they glitching again? 

He sighed in frustration and signaled for his conventional troops to assist in subduing the Captain. But perhaps the sudden movement of the Hydra soldiers triggered a latent combat reflex in the Winter Soldiers. To everyone's absolute shock, they violently and unpredictably attacked the Hydra troops! 

"Damn it! They've gone rogue! Where is the operational manual?! Retrieve the manual immediately!" the commander roared at a subordinate. 

His shouting immediately drew the attention of several Winter Soldiers, who rapidly pivoted and charged directly toward him! 

"Intercept them!" the commander shrieked. 

But how could standard infantry possibly contend with super-soldiers? Furthermore, prioritizing the preservation of highly valuable Hydra assets, the commander hadn't authorized the use of lethal force against them. Consequently, the Hydra soldiers who attempted to intervene were instantly and brutally neutralized. Terrified, the commander began frantically retreating toward the exit. 

"Damn it, they are completely out of control! We cannot allow them to slaughter each other; they are irreplaceable Hydra property! We need reinforcements immediately!" the commander yelled to his personal guard as he sprinted for the main blast doors. 

Just as he reached the exit, a shadowy figure materialized silently beside him. A cold, razor-sharp blade was instantly pressed firmly against his throat. Simultaneously, his personal guards were violently, silently impaled by unseen assailants emerging from the darkness. 

The commander, paralyzed by shock and confusion, froze completely, desperately trying not to provoke the entity holding the blade. As he stood perfectly still, countless pitch-black silhouettes began seeping through the gaps around the blast doors. Glowing red eyes illuminated the dim corridor, staring at him with terrifying, silent intensity. 

"Did you locate them?" a voice echoed from beyond the doors. 

A split second later, the commander felt a devastating blow to the back of his head, and his world faded to black. 

Back in the main hall, the Captain was still engaged in a grueling, brutal brawl with the most massive Winter Soldier. Around them, the remaining four Winter Soldiers were locked in chaotic, violent melee combat with the conventional Hydra forces. 

As the brute launched a devastating haymaker, the Captain absorbed the impact with his shield. Seizing the opening, he delivered a brutal elbow strike directly to the soldier's elbow joint, followed by a vicious shield bash to the jaw, finally sending the massive man crashing to the floor. 

To the Captain's immense surprise, the brute simply grabbed the Captain's throat with his uninjured hand, effortlessly lifting him off the ground, and violently slammed him onto a nearby metal desk! 

The Captain gritted his teeth and scrambled back to his feet. He watched in disbelief as the Winter Soldier casually grabbed his own dislocated arm and violently snapped it back into place with a sickening CRACK. The soldier then turned his dead, focused gaze back onto the Captain. 

"You really want to keep going? Because I can do this all day," the Captain growled, his own fighting spirit igniting. 

Just as the two super-soldiers prepared to clash again, a colossal, terrifyingly massive silhouette silently materialized directly behind the Winter Soldier. A massive hand effortlessly enveloped the soldier's entire head. 

With a sickening, wet CRUNCH, the massive hand violently squeezed. Blood and gore instantly cascaded down the colossal fingers. 

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