Chapter 210: Helmut Zemo [BONUS CHAPTER]
Early morning.
The wind and snow over Novi Grad had not stopped. The residents of Sokovia had spent almost the entire night awake, trembling with fear.
After all, the commotion last night had not been small.
A large force of elite troops they had never seen before had entered the city and acted with extreme decisiveness, clearing out hidden HYDRA members, wiping out certain gangs, arresting corrupt government officials, and more.
There was no way the people in the city could miss such movements.
No one knew what had happened. Many thought the rebel army had fought its way into the capital.
Some were happy and excited. Others were deeply worried.
The lessons of history had taught them that history was nothing more than a cycle. The rebel army, which people had once believed would overthrow the rotten system and bring peace to the country, had in truth turned out to be no different.
As the saying went, the dragon slayer became the dragon.
The reason Sokovians hated war so much was because they had long since lost trust in the rebels.
They opposed war in any form.
No matter the purpose.
Fortunately, the gunfire and noise did not last long. In less than two hours, everything had completely fallen quiet, and those elite troops did not disturb the residents.
Only then did people feel slightly more at ease.
By the next morning, people finally dared to sneak glances outside. Seeing that everything was still safe, they gathered their courage and stepped out. Those who had work went to work.
On a street in one of the districts, a figure in a thick coat held a document bag and braved the heavy snow all the way to a detached apartment building. He hurriedly opened the door and walked inside.
At that moment, inside the house, his father Heinrich, his mother Hilda, his wife Heike, and his young son Carl were all sitting on the sofa.
When they saw him arrive, everyone stood up, their faces filled with worry.
"Helmut, what happened outside?" his father Heinrich asked.
Although Heinrich was old, his build was lean and strong, and his bearing was extraordinary.
Facing the questioning gazes of his father and family, the slightly young man called Helmut patted the snow from his clothes. He glanced at the heavy snowfall outside the nearby window and said in a low voice, "The government is gone. Last night, someone led an army and wiped out the government forces across all of Sokovia."
"All officials have been detained and are undergoing background investigations. I was the same, but there was nothing wrong with me, so I was released."
Hearing his words, his father, mother, and wife exchanged glances, each wearing a different expression.
Only little Carl, who was just three years old, understood nothing. He looked drowsy as his mother held him in her arms.
"Who did it?" Heinrich asked in a deep voice, his brows furrowing.
At this moment, Heinrich's wife, Hilda, interrupted with a guess. "Was it the rebelarmy?"
"It wouldn't be them," Heinrich said, shaking his head in denial. Born into nobility and having once served as an official, he could see the difference. "This isn't the rebel army's style. Besides, even with someone backing them, they couldn't possibly have this kind of operational efficiency—occupying all of Sokovia in a single night."
It was too fast.
This level of efficiency was terrifying.
From the start of the fighting to the end, only one to two hours had passed before the gunfire in the city completely disappeared.
They had not even imposed an internal lockdown.
What did that mean?
It meant those people had already swept away every obstacle and held absolute control over the city.
"Correct. The rebel army is gone too. Those people have been detained as well and are undergoing background investigations. Not only that, but all the gangs in the city were cleared out last night."
Helmut nodded, shock still lingering in his eyes.
But what shocked him was not this.
It was something else.
He looked at his father and said in a low voice, "Father, do you still remember the incident in Manhattan, America?"
Heinrich, who had already been startled by what his son had just said, suddenly looked at him.
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
His expression was one of disbelief.
"You…"
"Yes, it was them," Helmut said, confirming his father's guess. "I saw the armor they were wearing, and those female soldiers too. I personally saw people in my unit try to resist, but those people displayed the same unbelievable strength and speed as they did back then."
"How could it be them? Why would they choose Sokovia?" Heinrich was truly stunned.
He could not understand how those people could have any connection to Sokovia.
It was not that Heinrich looked down on his own country, but he knew very well what kind of place Sokovia was. To put it bluntly, it was a land no one cared about.
No matter how one looked at it, this place had no value at all.
So why had those people suddenly mobilized their forces and occupied Sokovia?
Heinrich did not delude himself into thinking they had acted out of kindness to save the Sokovian people and drive away war. In his understanding, that group should have been hiding somewhere, silently protecting Earth just as people online said, without interfering in human affairs.
Heinrich could not figure it out.
Helmut, on the other hand, vaguely had a guess.
But he was not certain.
Just as he and his family were discussing the matter, a knock suddenly came from outside the door.
The conversation stopped at once.
Helmut abruptly turned toward the entrance. Alert, he raised a hand and gestured to his father. Heinrich nodded silently, then led his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandson into the corner while taking out a gun.
Helmut gripped his briefcase, opened the zipper inside, and walked to the door.
"Who is it?"
"Helmut Zemo? The Commander requests your presence."
Commander?
Helmut narrowed his eyes and opened the door. Outside stood a fully armed soldier, and behind him, parked along the street, was a Humvee.
"Relax, Mr. Helmut. We mean you no harm. If we did, we wouldn't have let you come home and report your safety to your family."
Helmut glanced over the soldier and could tell he was European.
He silently built a profile in his mind, and he also knew he had no way to refuse.
"May I speak with my family first?"
"You may."
Helmut did not close the door. He simply returned to the living room.
"I have to go. It shouldn't be a bad thing," he briefly explained to his father, mother, and wife.
He knew what his father was capable of. Under normal circumstances, as long as there was no overwhelming force involved, his father was enough to protect the family.
"Go," Heinrich said, patting Helmut on the shoulder.
Under his family's worried gazes, Helmut followed the soldier out of the house, got into the Humvee, and drove all the way toward Novi Grad City Hall.
The government building stood at the end of the square, facing south from the north. It had a broad view, with a grand staircase and flagpoles in front—a typical Eastern European seat of power.
It was a place he knew well, but the familiar people were gone.
Novi Grad City Hall had already been placed under control. Soldiers could be seen moving back and forth everywhere.
Helmut only observed them silently for a short while before realizing that this army possessed extremely strict discipline and efficiency.
Then Helmut met the Commander the soldier had mentioned.
His first impression was that the man was extraordinarily tall and incredibly powerful.
...
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