"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Fury," a tall man approached and shook hands with Nick. In the dim light, his chiseled features looked as if sculpted by knife and axe, his deep blue eyes as if they contained the righteousness of the whole world.
"Long time no see, Captain America, was the Tennessee speech a success? Did you bring our people the good news that dawn is approaching?"
"The speech went well enough, but I didn't bring them any good news," Captain America shook his head and said, "As you know, the unified message right now is that we still need help."
"Yes, I understand," Nick said, "If we can't send troops, then providing some funding is also good, even if only 1% of it can be used for the real war, your efforts will not have been in vain."
Looking somewhat embarrassed, Captain America replied, always carrying a hint of unresolved sadness in his brows, "I heard you needed my help, so I canceled all my engagements and came right away."
"Thank you very much," Nick turned and walked inside the house and said, "About two days ago, we intercepted anomalous signals from a base suspected to be Hydra's Atomic Bomb storage. The signals were very regular, possibly simulating missile launches."
At this, Captain America immediately tensed up, but Nick quickly brought another piece of bad news, "Just last night, we intercepted another unusual signal, different from before, later in the time, breaking the previous pattern. We believe it could indicate they are planning something."
Turning pale, Captain America quickly walked to the couch saying, "Then what are we waiting for here? Let's attack the base immediately and stop their launch plan. We must not let the Atomic Bomb fall on the innocent…"
"Do you know the owner of that base?" Nick asked.
Staring at him, Captain America watched as Nick turned back and said, "Red Skull Schmidt."
Nick averted his gaze, placed his hands on the armrests, and crossed his legs and said, "Everyone says he is your nemesis; you've never let him get the upper hand in your battles, which is why I asked you to come. What's your plan to deal with him?"
Sitting across from Nick, Captain America leaned forward and with those blue eyes said, "I have to be honest with you, Sergeant Fury, the so-called sweeping victories I've had over Hydra were mostly staged performances with the support of military intelligence. I never really defeated Schmidt."
Nick appeared not at all surprised and said, "I can't keep this from you either, I actually guessed as much. Because with the methods reported in the news, it's impossible to defeat those Hydra."
"Now, what I really want to know," Nick also leaned closer, looking into Captain America's eyes, "is whether you truly have the ability to do what has been exaggerated in the news."
"Actually, I can." Captain America pursed his lips and said, "My abilities reported in the news are not false; I am the product of the Super Soldier Serum and possess strength far beyond that of a normal person."
"It's just that I can't actually go to battle, you understand? They need a great propagandist in a safe position, so I must always be in an advantageous spot, never failing."
"But you're not content with that." Nick said, "That's why you came here. You don't want to be just a mascot; you want to truly defeat those evil-doers."
Agony showed on Captain America's face as he replied, "Yes, even if it might cost me everything, I'm tired of being someone else's puppet, I want to be a real hero."
Nick straightened up and let out a sigh, "Well then, I guess we can talk now. First, tell me what you can do, and with the intelligence I have, I'll arrange a combat plan for you."
Jane came down the stairs, looked at Nick and said, "Felix has fallen asleep, he is much better now, I think we can…"
Suddenly, there was the sound of noisy footsteps from outside the door. Nick immediately stopped Jane from speaking. With his extraordinary hearing, Captain America stood up abruptly and looked at Nick, "The secret police, they have stopped on this floor, they might be coming for you…"
"Quick… get ready to evacuate!!!"
Like ants before a flood, the group inside the house began to pack up in an orderly yet slightly panicked manner. Jane helped Felix onto the wheelchair, with Jonathan assisting her, while Dino led a few others to move the important equipment.
Thud, thud, thud, it was more like slamming than knocking on the door. Nick turned back to look and said to everyone else, "Take the equipment and go first; Steve and I will stay behind."
They exchanged looks, and with a stroke of luck, Nick said, "Let's see your real capability, Captain America, I hope you're not all talk."
With a snort, Captain America picked up his Shield and narrowed his eyes.
The others evacuated to their second base, a basement of a bar in the same district. Acting as people of various professions, they dispersed and then reconvened at the same place by different routes.
Nick and Captain America soon rejoined them, both looking unharmed but tired, indicating the pursuers were no pushovers. Nick, with a grim expression, slammed his gun on the table and said, "They are not just ordinary Gestapo, I fear they might be Hydra."
"Are you certain the personnel you deployed at the base haven't been discovered by the Red Skull?" Captain America asked, looking at him.
"Red Skull is gradually losing Hitler's trust, he's too preoccupied to pay attention to us. If he wasn't feeling threatened, why would he practice missile launches ahead of schedule? This proves that things are on the brink of reaching the final stage."
"Then how did they find you?"
Nick Fury certainly had his suspicions, the only one to visit that base in recent days was Shiller, but his doubts were soon dismissed when another group targeted Base 2.
This base had also been strategically set up half a year in advance, with virtually no danger in its vicinity and all evacuation routes thoroughly rehearsed hundreds of times; it shouldn't have been possible to be followed, yet Hydra found it quickly. This time, it wasn't so easy for Nick and Captain America to escape after being tracked down.
A bullet had struck Nick's shoulder, and by the time Captain America helped him to the suburban base, blood had already stained half his body red.
Nick cursed under his breath, utterly baffled as to how they had been found.
"We can't go on like this." With a pale complexion, Nick stood up, ignoring Jones who was dressing his wound, and said, "Someone has discovered us, but they didn't want to kill us. This means there's still room to maneuver, I have to find a way to negotiate with them."
"No, you can't risk it." Jones said, "You chose the locations of these bases. If the enemy has found them, it proves they understand you very well, at least enough to know the pattern behind your planning of secret bases. If you put yourself in danger, you are probably walking straight into their trap."
"But I have to do this." Nick bellowed, obviously driven mad by the immense pressure.
Their subsequent four transfers left everyone injured. If this continued, the plan to raid the Red Skull Missile Base wouldn't be possible. Captain America, regardless of his strength, couldn't possibly charge into the base alone and defeat everyone. He needed at least a logistics squad, but right now, this room full of the weak and the wounded clearly couldn't accomplish anything.
Nick's informant embedded within the German Army's upper echelons consistently sent back reports, and the situation was clearly getting tenser. According to the informant, Hitler had summoned his intelligence officers more than once. He was beginning to trust no one, seeing spies from the Soviet Union in everyone.
Clatter, once again, a strange noise came from outside the door, and this time less than half a day had passed since the last relocation. Despair was apparent on the faces of the others.
After all, it seemed as though the enemy had a "God's eye" view. No matter how secretly they moved to an obscure base, it would take the enemy no more than a day to catch up, which seemed impossible.
Of course, Nick had suspected there was a mole among them, but choosing which base to move to was always a random selection by Nick himself; a mole couldn't possibly know, and sometimes halfway to their destination, Nick would even change the decision on a whim. Once settled, everyone would be gathered in a big hall, all under Nick's watchful eye. No one had the chance to communicate with outsiders. So, how did the enemy find out?
"They have moved again." Holding a small signal receiver in his hand, Erik said, "This time they're heading south."
"Could they be going far enough to escape the range of your signal monitoring?"
"My signal monitoring range is the entire Earth."
Shiller laughed and said, "Thank them for their kindness. They won't abandon little Felix. Though they have signal jammers, they obviously can't jam you. Consider this my payment for the surgery I performed on Felix."
"I don't see the point in relentlessly pursuing them," Erik put down the device in his hand and looked around the office. It was clearly the former Baron Zemo's office, lavishly decorated and located in the mansion on the best street in Berlin.
Shiller shook his head without speaking, estimated the time was about right, and then walked into the adjacent phone booth.
No sooner had Nick and his team set foot in the new base than a series of urgent phone rings startled them. Nick was shocked, only to realize the call was coming from a public phone booth just a street away from the base.
"Damn it, who would call a public phone?"
But Nick had a premonition. He asked the others to go ahead while he headed to the phone booth alone. Captain America, worried, took a position in a nearby alley to keep an eye on him, ready to jump out at the first sign of a sniper and block the bullets.
Nick picked up the phone and heard a hoarse voice, "Good afternoon, Sergeant Nick Fury."
"Who is this? Baron Zemo?"
"Sorry, he has been dethroned," the sinister, hoarse voice carried a veiled evil chuckle, "Call me 'Doctor'."