Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the other side of the wall.
Bucky, having already picked up a pistol from the ground, stumbled in.
"Three against one?" Bucky grinned. "Looks like this guy's luck just ran out."
The mutated soldier whipped its head around, its single blood-red eye scanning the three of them, quickly judging who would be the easiest to take down.
The next second, it let out a deafening roar and charged like a wild beast toward the nearest person, Bucky.
Bucky reacted quickly, instantly raising the gun in his hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three bullets accurately hit the mutated soldier's knee joint. The monster's charge faltered, its knee bending slightly.
"It's working!" A flicker of joy appeared in Bucky's eyes.
Before he could finish his thought, the mutated soldier's hair suddenly elongated like living things, like greyish-white snakes, and wrapped around Bucky's feet.
"Watch out, Bucky!" Steve shouted.
"Damn it!"
Before Bucky could react, he was pulled off his feet and dragged towards the monster.
The mutated soldier spread its fingers. As Bucky was pulled in front of it, it swung its arm in a wide arc, the wind from its palm whistling.
Thump!
The immense force landed on Bucky's chest. He flew like a broken kite, his back crashing through the glass partition beside them.
He smashed through the glass partition and fell heavily into the adjacent laboratory.
Crash!
Bucky landed on his back, groaning in pain.
He forced himself to look up through the pain and saw a row of peculiar devices on a lab bench, their blue lights flashing continuously.
Bucky's eyes lit up. He had seen HYDRA's human experiments in the prison before!
"This thing..." Bucky gritted his teeth and stood up, stumbling towards the lab bench. "Should come in handy."
Meanwhile, in the other lab, Steve and Rosen were already locked in battle with the mutated soldier.
Steve's eyes narrowed. He noticed several thick pipes on the ceiling above.
He threw his shield with all his might, accurately hitting one of them.
Hiss—
The pipe ruptured, and a white gas spewed out, instantly enveloping the mutated soldier.
The monster lost its vision and flailed its arms.
Rosen seized the opportunity, leaped up, and with the dagger in his hand, aimed for the mutated soldier's other eye.
Squish!
The dagger pierced accurately. Rosen then twisted his wrist, churning the dagger wildly inside the eye socket. Blackish-red blood gushed out.
"Roar!"
The mutated soldier let out a deafening, agonizing scream, raised its hand, grabbed Rosen's body, and threw him like a piece of trash.
Bang!
Rosen adjusted his body in mid-air and rolled several times upon landing to dissipate the force, narrowly avoiding serious injury.
Steve took the chance to pounce, clamping his legs around the creature's neck in a standard grappling hold.
With a series of cracks, the mutated soldier tried to break free, its hair once again extending to wrap around Steve's neck.
"Ugh!"
Steve gritted his teeth and held on, his arm muscles straining to their limit. The two of them rolled on the ground.
Bang!
Bucky charged back in from the broken partition. The blue-glowing weapon in his hand was fully charged. He aimed it at the two entangled figures.
The mutated soldier was still choking Steve, whose face was already turning purple, his eyes bloodshot, looking as if he would suffocate at any moment.
"Steve! Get clear!" he shouted, preparing to fire.
At that moment, Rosen got up from the wall, his gaze instantly locking onto Bucky.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, his pupils contracting suddenly as he used Dio's hypnotic ability!
Bucky's movements suddenly froze. He stood stock-still as if under a binding spell.
"Bucky? Bucky!"
Seeing his friend's strange behavior, Steve shouted, "Shoot!"
The shout was like a clap of thunder. The confusion in Bucky's eyes vanished instantly, and his hands tightened on the weapon.
"Get off him!" he roared and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
A blinding blue beam of light shot out, hitting the mutated soldier squarely in the chest.
For a moment, the mutated soldier's movements ceased. Countless cracks appeared on its skin, and a blue light shone from within, like a shattered piece of porcelain.
"Aaargh—!"
The mutated soldier let out one last, agonizing howl. Its body rapidly disintegrated, turning into a pile of ash that scattered in the wind.
The laboratory suddenly fell silent, leaving only the sound of the three men's ragged breathing.
Steve collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving.
He opened his mouth to speak but could only manage a few hoarse coughs.
Rosen leaned against the wall, also pretending to gasp for air.
Bucky dropped the weapon and stumbled over to Steve, helping him up. "My God, Steve, are you okay?"
"Still... alive," Steve managed a weak smile.
Bucky's expression suddenly turned guilty. "Just now... I don't know what happened. It was like I suddenly lost consciousness. If you hadn't shouted at me..."
"Don't worry," Steve patted Bucky's shoulder. "You've been locked up for so long, there are bound to be some after-effects. We'll have a doctor check you out when we get back."
Rosen straightened up from the wall and looked at the two of them. "Is the touching reunion over? We'd better get out of this hellhole."
"Dio, thank you for coming back to help," Steve said sincerely to Rosen.
Rosen pouted. "Don't read too much into it. I just didn't want to run from a monster."
After a moment of relief, a shrill alarm suddenly blared from above the lab, and red warning lights began to flash frantically.
"Damn it!" Bucky staggered to his feet. "We've been here too long!"
"Go! Let's get out of here!" Steve picked up his shield and quickly motioned for the others to follow.
The three of them rushed out of the lab and sprinted down the dim corridor. They didn't encounter a single enemy along the way.
They rounded a corner, and the view ahead suddenly opened up. A massive central control room appeared before them.
"Stop!" Steve suddenly put out a hand to stop the other two.
The three hid at the entrance, and through the half-open door, they saw a tall figure standing at the control console above. It was the Red Skull.
He was looking down at a row of monitors, flanked by several heavily armed elite soldiers.
The Red Skull seemed to sense something. He spun around and looked down.
"Captain America!" His voice had a strange German accent. "I didn't expect you to make it here alive!"
Steve took a deep breath, gripped his shield, and stepped out from cover. Bucky and Rosen followed close behind.
"It's over, Schmidt."
"Over?" The Red Skull leaned on the console and let out a harsh laugh. "This is just the beginning!"
"I have mastered power far beyond that of ordinary men, Rogers. What did that old fool Erskine give you? A nice set of muscles?"
He looked down at the three of them, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.
"Soon, you will all be crushed by my army. It's only a matter of time. Enjoy the time you have left!"
The Red Skull pressed a red button on the console.
Instantly, a mechanical voice sounded: "Warning, self-destruct sequence initiated."
"Farewell, Captain. The next time we meet, it will be at your funeral." The Red Skull sneered, turned, and walked towards the elevator behind him.
"Don't think you can run!" Steve was about to step forward.
BOOM!
The wall on one side of the control room instantly exploded. Flames shot up, and a wave of heat washed over them.
"Damn it!" Bucky rolled to avoid a flying steel plate. "Steve, this whole place is coming down!"
"Run for the exit!" Steve raised his shield, blocking the flying debris.
The three of them sprinted through the constantly exploding base. The moment they burst out...
BOOM!
The blast wave sent the three of them flying, and they crashed heavily to the ground.
Behind them, the entire HYDRA base collapsed in a blaze of fire, the reinforced concrete crumbling like paper.
"Huff... huff..." Bucky lay on the ground, gasping for air. "Almost... turned into a meat pie."
At the edge of the woods, the rescued soldiers immediately ran over.
"Captain!" a tall soldier shouted excitedly. "My God! You're okay!"