It had been more than two years since Chen Mo first arrived in this world — long enough for him to change its very course.
His power had grown immensely through constant battle; Hydra was now completely under his control and hidden in the shadows, while S.H.I.E.L.D. thrived, expanding in both strength and scope.
Beyond the five core members — himself, Colonel Phillips, Dr. Erskine, Peggy Carter, and Howard Stark — the organization now had inner-circle operatives like Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, and hundreds of loyal members devoted to the same cause.
Through months of selection, testing, and observation, most of the elite from the Special Forces had secretly joined S.H.I.E.L.D. — the Howling Commandos, led by Steve, had all sworn allegiance.
Shared battlefields forged unbreakable bonds, and those bonds, tempered in fire, had turned into shared conviction — a collective dream of peace that transcended nations.
Two months had passed since Hydra's last appearance. In that time, Chen Mo had finalized S.H.I.E.L.D.'s long-term development plan with the colonel and the others. With his foresight guiding them, the organization's future was bound to be stronger than ever.
At that moment, Chen Mo was in the training hall, sparring against Huang Quan, Han Qing, and Luo Zhen — three of his earliest subordinates, now freshly enhanced with the improved super-soldier serum.
Their strength had skyrocketed. Working together, they could actually keep Chen Mo occupied for a short while — something no one else could boast.
These three were his contingency plan. Their loyalty was absolute, their strength formidable, and their minds steady. Chen Mo trusted them implicitly.
It wasn't that he doubted Colonel Phillips or the others — it was simple pragmatism. The future was uncertain, and having more than one failsafe could only help. When the unexpected came, S.H.I.E.L.D. would need pillars to keep it standing.
He was about to end the match when Colonel Phillips burst into the room, face flushed with urgency.
"Hydra's headquarters — we found it!"
Poland, Deep in the Tatra Mountains
Phillips stared at the concealed base entrance nestled against the rocky mountainside. Even now, a part of him couldn't believe they'd found it.
He glanced at Chen Mo beside him, brow furrowed.
"So… we're just going to rush in like this?"
Chen Mo smirked. "Of course not. We'll knock first."
He pulled a small, compact device from his belt — one of his custom-designed microbombs — and tossed it lightly toward the entrance two hundred meters away.
Then, before it even reached halfway, he launched forward like a shadow — chasing the bomb midair, the wind screaming in his wake.
The Hydra guards stationed at the entrance barely registered a blur before a dark figure landed among them — and then the world exploded.
A thunderous blast tore through the gate, flames and shockwaves sweeping the entire entry corridor.
Phillips, standing at a distance, blinked in disbelief.
Human… artillery.
By the time he and Steve led the others forward, the entrance was littered with corpses — some torn apart by the explosion, others cut cleanly in half by a blade that glinted faintly in the firelight.
They pushed deeper into the base unopposed, splitting off into separate teams to sweep through the interior.
Chen Mo didn't slow down. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the control room.
Inside, Baron Strucker stared at the monitors, pale with dread. The black-clad figure cutting through his defenses was all too familiar.
He didn't even bother reaching for the self-destruct. Panic seized him. He turned and bolted for the hangar.
The memory of that last encounter with Chen Mo still haunted him — he'd barely escaped with his life then, and he doubted he'd get another miracle.
"Damn it! Just a little more… and the world would've been mine!"
His voice trembled with fury and despair. The Valkyrie, his ultimate weapon, was finally complete — a flying fortress capable of carrying dozens of super-bombs.
With it, he had planned to crush the Allied powers and rule the ashes.
But before he could even initiate the "World Annihilation Project," Chen Mo and his Special Forces had come for him.
What Strucker didn't know was that the schematics he'd used were never the true design. Chen Mo had given him only the earliest draft — the version that lacked Tesseract energy cores and infinite-range fusion payloads.
Without those, the Valkyrie could barely manage one large-scale strike. Enough to devastate a city like New York, perhaps — but far from the world-ending superweapon he'd dreamed of.
And now even that dream was slipping away.
Driven by hatred and desperation, Strucker snarled,
"If I can't rule the world… then I'll burn New York to the ground!"
When Chen Mo reached the control room, it was empty — just as he expected.
Without missing a beat, he went straight to the console, typing a rapid series of commands. Data vanished from the screens — every Hydra record, deleted beyond recovery. Then, with a few more inputs, he armed the archive's self-destruct system.
Only then did he turn and head for the hangar.
The deeper tunnels had been excavated directly into the mountain, the rock walls reinforced with thick steel. Ahead, a vast underground chamber opened up — large enough to house a monster.
And there it was.
The Valkyrie Goddess.
Even Chen Mo, who'd seen it before in the plans, couldn't help but feel awe at the sight of the completed machine.
The massive bomber stretched across the cavern like a mechanical leviathan — wings spanning over a hundred meters, its body merging seamlessly into the wings in a sleek, tailless flying-wing design.
It resembled the B-2 stealth bomber that wouldn't appear for another half century — except twice as large.
Even in modern terms, the engineering feat was staggering. To build something this vast in the 1940s, capable of flight, required a level of technological mastery that defied belief.
But Chen Mo didn't have the luxury to marvel.
The engines roared to life, the colossal aircraft rolling forward down the underground runway.
He broke into a sprint.
At full speed, his movements blurred. He closed the distance in seconds and leapt, catching hold of the landing gear as the Valkyrie began to lift.
Pulling himself up into the aircraft, he found the interior as cold and mechanical as expected — exposed steel beams, thick cables, and hydraulic pipes lining the walls.
Rows upon rows of super-bombs filled the central bay — identical to those he'd seen back at the Klausburg base. By the count of them, a single run could erase a city.
He dispatched a handful of Hydra soldiers who came charging at him, then continued forward through the long corridor until he reached the cockpit.
Empty.
His eyes narrowed, a faint, cold smile curving his lips.
He stepped forward — and the floor beneath his feet shifted.
Dozens of thick steel rods suddenly shot upward around him, locking into place with sharp metallic clangs.
From above, a circular iron plate descended, sealing the space completely.
In seconds, Chen Mo found himself enclosed — trapped within a rising steel cage.
A low hum echoed through the cabin as heavy locks slid into place.
The hunter had just stepped into his prey's final trap.
In the following chapters, I'll be experimenting with formatting — dialogue lines will include vertical separators, and character names will appear in bold.
Let me know what you think of this style!