In the dim corridor, the cold light reflected off the metallic walls. The overly mechanical architectural style failed to evoke any warmth. However, everyone who lived here was already accustomed to it.
A man dressed as a military officer quickly traversed the corridor. As he passed under a flickering ceiling light, his brow was shrouded in shadows, making him appear grim and indifferent.
He held a telephone in his hand, speaking angrily to the person on the other end: "Yes, someone attacked the safe house, many generals fell, but until I receive orders to stop, I will stay here. Hand over the data? In your dreams!"
"The location of the base is top-secret, except for the general who initiated the plan, no one can find it, and even if they could, no one could breach our defense!"
The officer let out a contemptuous smile and said, "Do you think General Manly is like you, a coward who can't even defend his own base? Should I repeat it one more time? Back then, a small hacker hacked your system…"
"The system here never goes online, even the local network used for transmitting data doesn't allow any access permissions, nobody can breakthrough the system without the authorization of General Manly, even the defense weapon protocol requires the general's authorization…"
"Give it up! For all these years, the Tartu faction's painstaking efforts will not be relinquished due to a temporary setback, if you have the skills, come and get it yourself!"
After hanging up the phone, the officer adjusted his uniform and pushed the door into a laboratory, coldly announcing to the researchers inside, "The experiment continues as normal, I better not catch anyone slacking off."
A researcher wearing spectacles shrunk back slightly, asking, "General, when can we leave? We have families too, you can't keep us locked up here..."
"Doctor Andrew, I advise you to stop thinking about these things, working for us is your honor, nobody can leave before the research is completed, including me."
With a cold laugh, the officer said, "If you have the capability to leave, go ahead and try. Without the General's authorization, no one can open the main door."
After he left, Andrew, who earlier looked somewhat timid, became serious. He lowered his eyes, glanced at the work badge on his chest and silently returned to his workstation.
At this point, a younger researcher approached and said, "Professor, we have been locked here for several months now, my family must be really worried about me, when will we be able to..."
"Didn't you hear him?" Andrew retorted, adjusting his glasses. "As soon as we complete the research, we can leave."
The younger researcher clenched his teeth and said, "They have no respect for science, do they think an earth-orbit strike weapon can be developed within months? And what's up with this 'stellar explosion device' project the supposed 'ghost order', what are they actually up to?"
A fellow female researcher involved in the conversation also worriedly agreed, "They might be intending to rule the world with these weapons, this kind of research is wicked, I really can't…"
"Have you forgotten what I taught you earlier?" Andrew's voice deepened. "Regardless of what you do, you must always remain calm. Maybe soon, things will take a turn for the better..."
The anxiety on the faces of the two students didn't dissipate, but the atmosphere in the laboratory fell silent.
A few minutes later, Andrew gathered some materials and left. On his way to the elevator, he turned a corner, arriving at a side alley where a tool room was situated, behind which lay a blind spot to surveillance.
Feigning the need for tools, he walked into the room, took off his work badge from around his neck, revealing two buttons on his shirt, one of which had a faint glow on its backside.
He lightly pinched the button and spoke into it, "It's me, have your men arrived yet? I have to remind you that the defense mechanism of this base is different from the past they just updated their defense system."
"There are no blind spots in the defense facilities near the entrance, and it's the same with the automatic cannons in the corridors. More importantly, the entire base has a self-destruct protocol. If an irreversible invasion is detected, the whole base will be buried by the detonated explosives underground..."
Andrew sighed, "I've been here for several months now but haven't found any loopholes that would allow us to obtain the authorization codes. I think we might have to abandon this place."
Andrew gritted his teeth, "That General Manly spent a lot of money to construct this base, resorting to all sorts of illegal methods, kidnapped researchers to develop technology related to earth-orbit weapons and stars."
"So far, the research has achieved substantial progress, many precious materials used for research are stored in the warehouse, it's a treasure trove, if we could use it…"
"Sadly, the only smart ones amongst those fools are him. The base is almost flawless and the man in charge here is very cautious. I've confronted him several times, but found no weakness."
As he was talking, Andrew suddenly heard a commotion outside, that sounded like a gunfight. He immediately put the button back onto his shirt, stepped out of the tool room and headed towards the source of the noise.
Andrew took a pistol and kept himself pressed against one side of the corridor moving towards the gunfire. When he arrived at the intersection, the shooting suddenly ceased.
He peeked out and saw a man in military uniform lying on the floor, covered in blood but still alive.
The officer saw Andrew approach and coughed violently, spitting out a large amount of fresh blood. He said, "Doctor... go quickly... to the office, activate the defense protocol, cough, cough, there are invaders..."
The officer twitched a couple times, furiously saying: "How did they open the door? Cough... cough... It's impossible without the authorization code... Doctor! What are you doing?! No!... If you kill me, and the invaders break into the research area, the entire base will self-destruct, and you will die..."
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, and a bullet penetrated the officer's head. Andrew's gun didn't flash, but he held it tightly and looked in the direction of the gunshot.
Ward's face gradually emerged from the darkness. He looked down at the dead officer and indifferently said, "Let's go. Take me to the core area and take control of this base."
After saying this, he walked forward. Andrew followed him and asked, "Ward??? How did you get in here? That new door is made of molten steel. Don't tell me you broke it..."
"Moreover, the defense system here is set up that if anyone violently breaks in, it will immediately fire. If it cannot stop them, the entire base will explode and self-destruct..."
"How did I get in?" Ward snorted coldly, "I walked in with the key."
Having said that, he walked into the elevator. Just as Andrew was about to swipe his employee card, Ward directly entered a series of passwords on the elevator's control panel. The elevator smoothly descended to the research area. Andrew, with wide eyes, asked, "Where did you get the password?"
"According to the person in charge earlier, there's only one highest authority code for the entire base, and only one general knew this password..."
Looking at Ward's demeanor, Andrew was shocked: "You didn't kill that general, did you...? Is this the doctor's idea? Isn't this a bit too radical?"
But soon, he felt somewhat embarrassed and said: "I got it, don't ask what you shouldn't ask. That doctor has always been very strict..."
Ward walked straight down the corridor to the core control room. He entered another series of passwords and then told Andrew, "All important warehouse materials have been unlocked."
"With your students, upload all the easily transportable research materials to the specified data bank. We'll handle the valuable raw research materials and dangerous goods later."
"The question is, where to move it to?" Andrew looked around and said, "It would be easy to take down another base, but they would definitely seek revenge afterward. No matter where we move the stuff, it's likely they would seize it back. If we mobilize a large number of people to guard it, it's not cost-effective..."
Ward glanced at him and said, "Of course we move it to S.H.I.E.L.D. Do they dare to steal from there?"
"But..." Andrew frowned and said, "Nick Fury died, S.H.I.E.L.D. is in chaos, and it's just a shell now. Does the doctor still not want to give up that position?"
"Just a shell doesn't mean it is." Ward looked down at the control panel in the core control room, saying, "That legendary agent may return soon. We should get ready to give him a surprise..."
With that, he glanced at his watch and said, "Enough chatter. According to the location I sent you, move everything there, and I mean everything, not even a pen should be left here."
"Empty the entire place and move everything to the specified warehouse!" A female agent stood in the center of another laboratory, directing everyone to work. She said, "What's that? Why isn't anyone moving this machine? What? It's broken? But it looks fine on the outside, doesn't it? No matter, move it too, stack everything in the warehouse."
Another researcher came forward and said, "Boss, the warehouse location you sent me, isn't that where Nick Fury used to park the space carrier? Where would we find space in that warehouse to dump all this junk?"
The female agent glanced at him and said, "You think the higher-ups wouldn't have thought of that? Just move it, why so many questions?"
The researcher shook his head and went back to work. The female agent took out her phone and said, "Ward, are you done on your end? Yeah, we've moved everything here..."
"The several bases near New York State should all be taken care of by now. There are a few more near Boston; they should have gone there already." The female agent watched as the agents transported stuff out and whispered.
"Honestly, I'm a bit confused about the doctor's intentions. I'm not surprised he got hold of the authorization codes for these top-secret bases. But when moving, even broken machines and garbage need to be moved, isn't this a bit..."
"Ah, of course, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it, I'm just a bit worried that the warehouse might not be able to fit everything. Even if the sky carrier was moved out, is there enough room for all this junk?"
The female agent stood by the door, crossed her arms, nodded while talking on the phone, and said, "You're right, we'll just move everything back for now, and decide later whether it's needed. I quite agree with this, even if there's no space left, it's better to pile it up outside than leave it to these people..."
After that, she looked at the equipment in the room with contempt and said, "For so many years, these generals have built so many bases, but they haven't managed to research anything. I might as well give everything to us. Only we can lead the human race to a bright future."
"Long live Hydra, long live the doctor."