"My lord, I have obtained the enhanced serum. Everything went according to plan without attracting attention."
"Very good. First, go to Sokovia to meet the spies and engineers there. After some time, I will deploy the base vehicle. In the meantime, focus on gathering the resources needed to expand the base. Report to me if anything arises."
"I will do my best to complete the task!"
After cutting off the communication, Rhine finally relaxed. She had been worried that something might happen to the unit she summoned, but the capabilities of the Red Alert unit did not disappoint her.
Indeed, the man in black who had killed the Hydra spy earlier was the system unit 'Ninja' summoned by Rhine. Ninjas are infantry units of the Rising Sun Empire, highly trained killers and infiltration specialists capable of easily eliminating light infantry units behind enemy lines. However, summoning ninjas comes at a steep price.
While Rhine could barely accept the tenfold cost of explosion drones, the summoning prices of other units were almost unbearable for her. Compared to small mechanical units, the cost of conventional biological units and medium mechanical units had increased by a hundred times, large mechanical units by a thousand times, and ultimate combat units by ten thousand times!
The original cost of summoning a Ninja was 1,000 funds. At a hundred times increase, this amounted to 100,000 funds, equivalent to 4,000 grams (or 4 kilograms) of gold. Converted into RMB, this was a staggering 1.2 million yuan.
The dolphins and engineers together cost 2 million RMB, spies were 8 million RMB, and the 120 funds for the Explosive Drone corresponded to 3.6 million RMB. The summoning costs were simply astronomical.
Of the 500 million yuan Rhine had saved, she spent 12 million on one Ninja, 6 million on three spies, 3 million on a dolphin and five engineers. The Nighthawk helicopter responsible for transporting the engineers cost 10 million funds, while the Century Bomber that transported the Ninja from Germany to the United States over 800 kilometers cost 20 million funds.
These expenses added up to 40 million, and with a few negligible explosion robots, this accounted for more than a quarter of her total funds.
Given these costs, Rhine decided that unless absolutely necessary, she would avoid summoning large mechanical units. Their prices were just too high for her current budget.
Playing with the explosive drone in her hand, Rhine contemplated her future plans. She intended to extract some energy material from the Tesseract as emergency storage and then leave it alone, allowing events to unfold as they did in the original timeline, with Schmidt ultimately being defeated by Rogers.
When that time came, the remaining Hydra forces would retreat to Sokovia with a wealth of supplies. By then, Rhine would have already deployed her combat forces there and could quickly invade the remaining Hydra strongholds, effectively taking over.
This strategy would not only save her time in gathering materials but also provide her with a group of unwitting employees who would work hard for her cause without knowing the truth.
As for her safety, Rhine was not overly concerned. After summoning the explosive drone, she had used it to survey the terrain within a radius of several miles. She was also very familiar with the base's layout. If the base were to be compromised, Rhine could quickly summon several combat-capable Red Alert units and escape to Sokovia via an aerial vehicle.
With technological power far beyond the current era, Rhine could easily maintain control from the shadows, creating a reliable defense for human civilization. The plan was perfect, and now all she needed to do was wait for Captain America to arrive.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the U.S. Congress was in turmoil. After much effort, they had finally developed the super soldier serum, only to have it stolen just as they were on the verge of mass production. The loss of Dr. Erskine meant that the serum could not be reproduced from the remaining research data, and although Rogers' blood might offer some clues, the serum had already been locked into his gene sequence and could not be replicated through his blood.
To make matters worse, the small submarine they salvaged from the river was so advanced that even Stark, the nation's top engineer, couldn't understand its technology. This suggested that the Third Reich's technological level had reached an extremely frightening level, causing widespread panic.
Although the U.S. had not engaged in large-scale battles with the Third Reich, there had been small skirmishes where both sides were evenly matched. However, the ultra-high technology displayed at this time, while not immediately affecting the war, posed a significant threat to the Soviet Union, which was bearing the brunt of Germany's attacks.
If the Soviet Union were to fall, the Third Reich could consolidate all military facilities and resources within its territory, unleashing industrial capabilities rivaling those of the U.S. after industrial mobilization. Coupled with the ambitions of Japan, the U.S. could find itself facing a two-front war.
On the bright side, the British Navy was still formidable, and even though its main force was tied down in the Atlantic by wolf-pack tactics, German submarines were also restrained. Even if the main British forces were occupied, their reserve fleet could still assist the U.S. in combating Japan, while also dealing with the French and Italian navies.
Moreover, even if Germany occupied the Soviet Union, it would not be able to complete industrial mobilization immediately. Congress was keenly aware of this. The crucial issue was that the spy agencies had also discovered the source of this black technology—a scientific research department from Hydra, led by Johann Schmidt, which had now separated from Germany.
Congress found it hard to believe that Germany would allow such an important scientific research department to operate independently. To prevent this advanced technology from being used on the battlefield, the U.S. immediately initiated a plan to destroy Hydra's facilities.
This task was assigned to the Strategic Scientific Reserve. This wasn't a mission where soldiers would fight soldiers, as ordinary troops were evenly matched. Instead, the department had access to expensive but highly effective new equipment and could mobilize significant resources, making it the ideal choice.
This decision satisfied most people, but there was one point of contention—Rogers.
"Sir, why won't you let me deal with Schmidt?" Rogers asked.
The general's face grew even grimmer. "Rogers, you need to go to Alamogordo. There are things you must do there."
"But I've been trained in the military, and I've been enhanced with the serum."
"That's true, but in reality, you're just a test subject. What I need is a whole army, and all I have is you. One man alone isn't enough."
With a deep look at Rogers, the general turned and walked away, leaving Rogers standing there, stunned and alone.