Not just Tony and Rhodey were shocked, but Leo, who was rushing through the sky, was also shocked.
When he found the two missiles that were flying to Washington according to the coordinates and azimuth he knew, two minutes had passed. Right now, his speed was faster than the missiles, so he was sixty miles ahead of them and started slowing down. Only then his body would gradually adapt to the extreme speed.
But out of the blue, he caught a glimpse of two six-foot-long and one-foot-thick missiles rapidly flying to his front. The two small missiles brushed against him and accurately crashed into the two H.Y.D.R.A. missiles behind him.
The next moment, an earsplitting explosion and overwhelming flash as well as an intense shockwave drowned Leo.
However, the shrunken Leo couldnât care less about the massive explosion as he abruptly accelerated and escaped the range of the explosion. When he fled to a certain distance and decelerated, he saw two huge blinding fireworks.
Not just him, but even half of the world witnessed the fireworks.
Those who knew the truth were rejoicing while those who didnât were startled and even started shivering.
A little while after the two missiles exploded, a ringing sound sounded from General Ross who was hiding in S.H.I.E.L.D.âs air raid shelter. The ringing sound interrupted the shelterâs tense and depressing atmosphere, jolting everyone up.
Deliberating slightly, General Ross took out his phone and placed it next to his ear.
âGeneral, the missiles had been detonated at a high altitude! You are safe!â The military correspondentâs excited voice came from the phone. The voice was so loud that General Ross had to uncontrollably pull his phone away.
Because of Dr. Zolaâs speech, the shelter was unusually silent, so everyone next to General Ross heard the news.
When Peggy heard the good news, she secretly sighed in relief. Now that the biggest threat had been resolved, she believed it was time to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.âs internal affairs. Glancing at the muted Pierce and Fury, she marched to a table underneath the TV and picked up the shelterâs custom communicator.
She exclaimed to the communicator, âThis is Peggy Carter, air raid alerts have been lifted. We are safe now. Every agent please gather at the training center immediately. No one is allowed to leave without permission and wait for further instructions.â
She added another sentence at the end, âAnyone who disobeys the orders will be punished for treason.â
Her commanding voice echoed through the long stretch of the shelter. Every agent with mixed thoughts began to evacuate the shelter in an orderly manner.
Then, she quietly approached General Ross and whispered in his ear, âGeneral, please dispatch the army over to surround S.H.I.E.L.D. Donât let any single of them leave.â
General Ross expressionlessly nodded and swiftly dialed out with his phone.
As Leo flew back to SHIELD from the sky, he saw a stream of people exiting the shelter in a well-organized manner. But strangely enough, no one was talking or lamenting about the frightening missile incident. The scene was quite perplexing.
When Dr. Zola was giving his speech on the Internet, Leo was speeding in the air and had no idea what was going on.
Upon seeing this scene, he uncontrollably guessed, Have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents been trained to this extent?!â
However, the oppressive situation caused Leo to feel that matter wasnât as simple as he witnessed. So, he searched for Natasha and quietly dug into her hair next to the ear. Just as he landed on Natashaâs hair, Natasha sensed something and raised her hand to touch her hair.
Leo hurriedly said, âWait, itâs me. Whatâs going on with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Why do I feel the atmosphere is a bit⌠oppressive?â
Natasha frowned before relaxing her brows and lowering her arm. Although she wasnât clear how Leo was communicating with her, she still whispered a quick account of what just occurred based on the trust they built together.
Hearing Natashaâs explanation, Leo instantly figured out everything. He didnât expect Dr. Zola still have such a sinister card up his sleeve to plant evidence to frame Fury as a H.Y.D.R.A.âs spy! On top of that, he also failed to expect Dr. Zola would completely expose Pierce and the others.
Fortunately, due to the time constraint, Dr. Zola didnât read out every name on the list. Otherwise, every H.Y.D.R.A. in the shelter would revolt!
Besides, what made Leo even more puzzled was that Dr. Zola was evidently going to rat him out but why did Dr. Zola stop abruptly?!
Despite Fury and his plan didnât consider all of these, their objective was still achieved and the results were better than expected. And now, the H.Y.D.R.A.âs remnant base was laid bare, and Dr. Zola even deliberately revealed the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. contained many H.Y.D.R.A.âs spies.
If Leo wasnât mistaken, either the Security Council or the Department of Defense had obtained the list Dr. Zola uploaded to the Internet. Then, sooner or later, both agencies would begin investigating S.H.I.E.L.D. and question every member.
As for the matter regarding Fury being framed as a H.Y.D.R.A., he believed the questioning wouldnât be an issue since Fury didnât commit any evil deed.
Thinking of this, he said, âNatasha, stay here and protect Fury. I still have other matters to deal with, so I wonât be involved with this. If thereâs any emergency, remember to call me.â
After that, he flew out from S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and swiftly headed to a certain coordinate. The place he was going right now was the place where the missiles were launched. If he wasnât mistaken, then that was where the H.Y.D.R.A.âs secret base was located.
He wanted to head there as soon as possible, attempting to fish for some benefits. If not, killing some H.Y.D.R.A. agents and increasing the completion rate of âUndying H.Y.D.R.A.â was decent as well.
Previously when he killed Sinthea, the missionâs completion rate rose from 69% to 81%. He had a hunch that the day when the mission reached a 100% completion rate would be dawning soon.
Although there were a lot of HYDRA remnants around the globe besides the United States, God knows how the system determined the missionâs completion rate. If he eliminated all H.Y.D.R.A. as he went on, he reckoned the completion rate would burst to 300%.
Grumbling to himself, Leo was certain this mission had some problems!
âŚâŚ
Leo was flying at high speed. While he wasnât desperately trying to catch a missile, he still arrived at the location after ten minutes.
The location was a continuous range of mountains. If one were to refer to the map, this was simply a no manâs land. But Leo was convinced this was the location of H.Y.D.R.A.âs base, otherwise, how should the three H.Y.D.R.A. missiles be explained?!
Thus, he began rapidly circling at a low altitude and began to search the surroundings with the coordinate as the center point. As expected, he found a dozen caves of various sizes just about a mile south of the center point after a minute. The caveâs entrance had a rock with the H.Y.D.R.A. symbol engraved into it. This was the H.Y.D.R.A. base. Leo finally found it.
Leo wasnât sure about the situation inside the cave, therefore he didnât return to his original size and remained ant size, quietly flying into the cave. But upon a closer inspection, he realized the cave was empty. Hastily checking the other caves, he still failed to find anyone.
Ultimately, he returned to his original size in Dr. Zolaâs laboratory. Sitting on Dr. Zolaâs sleeping device, he frowned.
âThis base probably is abandoned by H.Y.D.R.A. All of them had escaped beforehand!â
He intended to chase after the escaped H.Y.D.R.A., but after some consideration, he felt it wasnât too realistic as it was too time-consuming. However, he wasnât worried about the escaped H.Y.D.R.A. would cause any trouble since the three missiles had shaken the U.S. government.
The Department of Defense, CIA, and even the FBI certainly would hunt every H.Y.D.R.A. memberâs location like a rabid dog soon.
In the United States, the H.Y.D.R.A. was officially abolished!
At this point, Leo took off his helmet and was rather intrigued by Dr. Zolaâs laboratory. Especially the silver sleeping device, it made him sense something.
In just two years, he basically destroyed the H.Y.D.R.A. by himself from scratch. Recalling the time he just crossed over, he still vividly remembered his meticulous days in the H.Y.D.R.A. base.
Nonetheless, he adjusted his emotions right away. As he stared at the sleeping device, his eyes were glistening. It was brimmed with greed. The sleeping device was built with numerous rare materials that were worth a lot of money.
Moreover, the H.Y.D.R.A. evacuated their base in a haste. Most of the pricey equipment and ammunition were left behind by them. In particular, the raw materials for creating the H.Y.D.R.A. missile, surprisingly there were still a lot left and was enough for building three more missiles.
Totaling up everything, it was at least a few billion dollars.
The asset of the company he painstakingly created for a year was barely worth a billion. How wouldnât Leo be moved?!