Chapter 295: Three People Mission III
The room fell into a tense, suffocating silence.
Tony’s face hardened. "So Hydra never really died. It just evolved. New tricks, same rot."
Bucky’s fists clenched. "They always had a plan. I just never thought... it ran this deep."
Steve stood quietly near the terminal, his jaw tight, eyes locked on the flickering screen. The message had ended, but its weight lingered.
Tony stepped forward and began typing, rerouting the system’s access. "That broadcast wasn’t live—it was automated. Proximity-triggered, probably. But I’m seeing a residual ping... yeah, it bounced through one of our old satellites. One of mine. Hijacked."
Steve glanced at him. "Can you trace it?"
Tony nodded without looking up. "I already am. Give me a few minutes."
Bucky paced behind them, silent. The hum of the lab’s backup systems filled the space between their breaths.
"They’re not just building more soldiers," Tony muttered. "They’re evolving. Now they want to attach themselves to the Ten Rings. That’s not about control anymore. That’s about legacy. Immortality."
Steve’s voice was low, steel-hard. "Then we stop them. All of it."
Tony’s hands paused, then resumed. "Got something. One location bounced back—Eastern Siberia. Deep underground. Old tech, but still online. Shielded. Looks like the birthplace of the original Winter Program."
Bucky’s expression turned to stone. He walked over to a bench, reached beneath it, and retrieved a compact rifle. He checked the chamber without a word.