Nick took a deep breath and said, "What have you done with Baron Zemo, is he still alive?"
"He's certainly still alive, and living well." Nick heard mockery in the other person's tone and knew that Baron Zemo was in serious trouble. This freak must have seized the opportunity amidst the chaos to overthrow Baron Zemo and take his place.
But now was clearly not a good time for a coup; the situation was already tense. With so much commotion, the Hydra German Headquarters would definitely hold them accountable. Regardless of the means the other party had used to chase after them, there was still room for negotiation.
"You've contacted me because you want to talk." Nick said, "Let's hear your terms."
"We have common pursuits." The person's enunciation was slow, as if German wasn't fluent for him. From his pronunciation, Nick judged that he was more likely a native English speaker. He silently noted this detail.
"Before we continue, allow me to introduce myself. I come from Hydra's American headquarters, the chief of the New York State area, code-named 'Doctor.' I am here because we have foresighted Red Skull Schmidt's conspiracy—no one wants a nuclear bomb falling on their head, right?"
Nick's heart tightened as he said, "Do you mean to say Red Skull might launch a nuclear bomb at America?"
"He intends to use it as a means to threaten you." The voice on the phone said, "If you don't help the German army drive away those Soviets, they will drop the atomic bomb on your heads."
"Go to hell!" Nick cursed, unable to hold back. With one hand on his hip, he swayed his body, his lips pressed tight, his eyes glaring like an enraged Beast, he said, "Since you've come over, you must have a solution. Let's hear it."
"Schmidt is too stupid, too many petty moves, he's been watched without realizing and is gradually losing Hitler's trust."
Nick seemed to understand something and said, "Inside job and external cooperation?"
"That's right. I know you've been watching that base, but you alone will struggle to forcefully break in. They have quite a robust defense system. If Red Skull decides to hole up inside, it's like a knife held to your throat."
Nick didn't respond, but he knew in his heart that the other party was right. If Red Skull planned to use the atomic bomb to threaten the U.S. Congress, no one could be 100% sure that Congress wouldn't give in to the threat. Pressing the button only took a second, and even if it were just to stabilize the situation, the politicians would certainly take some conciliatory actions, and the imminent surrender would start to seem distant again.
"What's your plan?" Nick asked.
"And you?" the other side countered.
"Alright, it seems you've been keeping an eye on us. I won't lie, I've brought in Captain America."
"That publicity-hungry Joker?"
Although Nick knew Hydra would have nothing good to say about Captain America, he was taken aback, as the other party would know best whether Captain America had really struck a blow to them.
"Alright, there might have been some showmanship before, but I assure you, he's a genuine Super Soldier, reliable in terms of combat power."
"I've witnessed it." The person still spoke in that light tone, making Nick feel like a cricket being toyed with, as if he could hide nothing, which only added to his rage.
"Is that why you're after me?" Nick asked, knowing he couldn't restrain the fury in his voice, which made him appear a fool and brute, but he didn't care.
"Not entirely, Sergeant." The person continued, "I just needed to make sure you were someone cautious enough. If you couldn't find a place to run after a few chases, I wouldn't trust you with the finer work."
"Can you share your plan now?"
"Alright, let's bring some sincerity into this." The voice persisted from the other end of the phone, saying, "I have a way to completely drive a wedge between Hitler and Schmidt. Red Skull will soon be held accountable, and then he'll have two choices: either tear his face off completely with his old boss, or get trapped willingly."
"I am confident that Red Skull wouldn't dare to completely turn his back on Hitler at this time. He doesn't have the guts to confront the Soviet forces outside the City of Berlin on his own, so his only choice is to endure in silence."
"I'll make him feel that Hitler has become aware of his final trump card, and at that time, Schmidt, as a trapped beast, will have no choice. He will do everything in his power to protect his trump card, even if it means moving the missiles out of the base."
"What you need to do is strike a fatal blow when he exposes his weakness."
"I'm not questioning you." Nick said, "Can you really drive a wedge between Hitler and Schmidt? They've been partners for so long, during the time Schmidt was most favored, all military officials had to back off one shot's distance..."
"You needn't worry about that." Accompanying the speech was a chuckle, and soon there was only a busy signal left.
Nick stood still for a long time, but in the end, he decided to take the gamble.
Shiller and Erik were preparing to leave. Their destination was far, so they got in a car and didn't bring any other people or weapons. Erik cast a worried glance at Shiller.
"Are you sure about just going over there? I might not be able to handle that many soldiers."
"We're not going over there to fight," Shiller said. "You just create some chaos for me; I have my ways of infiltrating the base."
"Why are you so determined to get inside?" Erik asked.
"Of course, it's to sabotage." Shiller seemed somewhat detached, always speaking as though reciting something. He said, "It comes back to that one question, how do you feel when you realize that God cannot punish you?"
Erik never wanted to directly answer this question, so he kept silent. Shiller looked down at his fingers and said, "The living cannot know if Hell exists, but if it does, what standards does it use to judge a person's sins?"
Erik knew Shiller didn't need a response, so he remained silent. He heard Shiller murmuring to himself, "God doesn't stop the sins that are being committed, thereby gratuitously increasing the number of sinners like you and me in the world. Then, who holds the standards of descending into Hell, and do the souls of those who kill one person and those who kill ten end up in the same place?"
Erik didn't know the answer to this question, but he still shared his view, "Perhaps the severity of sins is different, and so is the judgement received in Hell."
"Isn't it all suffering, anyway?"
Erik suddenly sensed a hint of danger emanating from the topic. He heard Shiller say, "Suffering has its limits, no matter what, the retribution in Hell must have an end."
"So, what then?" Erik's foreboding feeling intensified.
When he turned to look at Shiller, his breath caught for a moment, for the smile on the face of the man before him was the most evil and terrifying he had ever seen in his life.
"But there are no limits to wrongdoing," Shiller said with a smile. "Retribution has limits, evil does not. Since the punishment will be the same, why not commit a greater act?"
The car slowly made its way into the valley, and in the cool night fog, the light from the headlights gradually dissipated.
The headlights rounded a bend and illuminated a dark forest. The German countryside was particularly damp and cold this season, and deep in the dense woods, there was almost nothing except for the isolated black shadows that evoked demons.
Both men got out of the car. Erik took a different path; he was to create a commotion at the main entrance. He was quite good at that; after all, his abilities were never truly under control, and everyone inside the base deserved to die anyway.
Soon, firelight, flashlight beams, and shouts erupted simultaneously. The coarse German swearing startled the birds in the woods. At the back of the base, another figure agilely flipped over the wall. Surveillance noticed, but no one could catch him.
Shiller quickly found the missile storage room. Red Skull hadn't disappointed him; the nuclear bomb was not a fake meant to threaten others but a real atomic bomb. Its yield was rather average, not enough to destroy Berlin but enough, Shiller estimated, to obliterate a place like Smallville.
This was not surprising; Germany was stubbornly obstinate when it came to the atomic bomb, completely off track with its research – thus, failing to produce anything impressive was expected.
Shiller transformed into mist and slowly engulfed the atomic bomb, and soon, in the original spot, appeared another nuclear warhead—from another world and, more importantly, the brainchild of a group of crazed teenagers.
Yes, this was the super nuclear warhead that the teams of Robins had combined their efforts to create. Aside from coming from the Soviet Union, it also underwent the tender mercies of Bat Industry and Robin's wild fantasies, deserving to be called a Cosmic Black Box. Before it explodes, no one knows how destructive it can be.
In short – even the Joker would run for his life if he came.
Although the Bat tag had been erased, the appearance of the warhead still had a massive difference from the original, especially in size. This one seemed to be more than 200 times bigger than the original. It was fortunate that Schmidt's storage room was big enough; otherwise, it wouldn't have fit.
This anomaly would definitely be discovered, but it didn't matter because soon, there wouldn't be many scientists left in the base.
The next morning, the base reported the raid to Red Skull Schmidt. The currently number one figure in Hydra's heart sank – Adolf had finally made his move.
Lately, all was not well with Red Skull. For some reason, his former colleagues, originally part of Adolf's party, began to oppose him on every turn, especially the head of the Gestapo, who looked at him as if he were his father's murderer.
One day, just after leaving a meeting, the head brushed against Schmidt's shoulder and said, "You're tough, but don't get too smug. I'll be bringing you down soon."
After saying this, he left briskly, leaving Schmidt puzzled. But soon, he learned the reason—the Gestapo believed that the Church killer that had been causing them to lose face was Red Skull's man.
It's well known that a secret police force like the Gestapo relies on intimidation. If they can't make people tremble with fear, the organization loses its purpose.
Power is an addictive poison, especially the enormous authority that comes with the right to preemptively arrest; no leader of the Gestapo would ever allow this power to decrease or be divided.
In their view, Red Skull's sending out the Church killer to murder people and using his intelligence advantage to evade the Gestapo's pursuit was an attempt to usurp their power, and the struggle for power is always to the bitter end.