Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each time heavy combat boots smashed into the ground, it was like a battering ram pounding a war drum.
The long, narrow underground corridor groaned under the mad sprint of three humanoid war machines. Dust shook loose from the walls and rained down, concrete flakes peeling away in sheets. The already-dim blast-proof lights overhead flickered violently, sputtering with a few miserable zzzt sounds before plunging entire sections into darkness.
The alternating light and shadow were like a malfunctioning film projector, stretching and twisting the three figures against the cold steel walls—cutting them into frame after frame of savage, blurred phantoms charging straight out of hell.
The air was thick with layered smells.
Metallic tang. Burning ozone. And beneath it all, a faint but unmistakable scent of blood.
Levi felt no fatigue.
None at all.
The explosive power granted by the super-soldier serum roared like a breached dam through every muscle fiber in his body. His heart thundered like a giant beating a war drum, each brutal pulse pumping scalding blood into his limbs, flooding him with intoxicating surges of strength.
Meanwhile, Logan's regenerative factor worked like an inexhaustible nuclear furnace—every micro-tear from extreme exertion was incinerated the instant it formed, converted directly into purer, more feral power.
Destruction and rebirth, simultaneous.
The pain and ecstasy of pushing past the limit made Levi almost want to throw his head back and howl.
He glanced at the blue figure running point and could only think of one word:
Madman.
Steve Rogers—I almost think you crawled straight out of some over-the-top propaganda war drama.
Levi could tell: his bootleg serum was already terrifyingly strong, but compared to the genuine article ahead of him, it still felt like it lacked something.
Soul, maybe.
Probably Marvel's protagonist buff at work.
Running almost shoulder to shoulder with Steve was Logan.
He looked like a saber-toothed tiger that had burst straight out of the prehistoric jungle, murderous intent fully unleashed.
Three pale bone claws were already extended, dragging chilling streaks of light through the gloom. A bloodthirsty growl rumbled deep in his throat, each breath blasting out clouds of hot vapor. His senses—sharper than either Levi's or Steve's—were completely overtaken by the thickening smell of blood, igniting the beast buried in his bones.
In the blink of an eye, they were less than ten meters from the door.
Steve let out a thunderous shout that echoed violently through the enclosed corridor.
No flourish. No wasted motion.
His legs exploded with force, his body dipping slightly as he poured every ounce of power straight into his right shoulder—
And slammed into the door.
BOOOOM—!!!
A terrifying blast rang out.
A visible shockwave rippled outward from the point of impact, sweeping dust and debris clean from the corridor!
The specially reinforced door caved inward at the center, as if struck by a hydraulic press.
In the next instant, pitch-black cracks spread outward like living vines, racing across the metal surface.
The entire locking mechanism—along with the reinforced concrete anchoring it—disintegrated in a storm of rubble and sparks!
The massive iron door flew inward like scrap kicked by a giant, spinning through the air before crashing heavily into the space beyond.
The door was open.
And the sight behind it froze all three figures mid-step.
Levi's scalp exploded with shock.
A chill shot from the soles of his feet, raced up his spine, and stabbed straight into his skull.
What the hell… did we just stab into the Alien queen's nest?!
What lay before them was no prison.
It was a living black ocean—an abyss forged from pure despair and steel.
The mechanical spiders they'd seen outside were everywhere here.
The floor. The walls. The ceiling.
Dense beyond count, like a writhing, nauseating black carpet that covered everything within sight.
Scrrrrk—scrrrrk—scrrrrk…
Crack… crunch…
The sound of metal limbs scraping, of steel being chewed apart, blended with a suffocating stench of ozone and blood, hitting them like a physical blow.
The moment the door burst open, the black sea seemed to pause for a single heartbeat.
Then—
Thousands of crimson compound eyes snapped toward them in perfect unison.
"Help—!"
"Get away! Don't come closer!"
Wails rose from the depths of hell.
Inside row after row of iron cells, captured soldiers beat weakly against the bars with what little strength they had left. Their uniforms were torn, their bodies battered, faces twisted by terror and despair. Empty eyes stared out like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Right before Levi's eyes, one spider used its scalpel-sharp mandibles to bite straight through a cell's iron bars. Its glowing red eyes locked onto a young soldier curled in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.
It pounced.
The scream only made it halfway out—
Then stopped.
A splash of vivid red painted the cold iron bars.
More spiders surged forward, drawn by the scent of blood like vultures to carrion. The young man's body vanished beneath the black tide, leaving only muffled crunches of breaking bone.
Steve's eyes turned red.
Not metaphorically—literally. Capillaries burst under extreme rage, flooding his eyes with blood.
"No!!!"
He charged straight into the black tide of death.
"RAAAH—!"
Logan was only half a beat slower, then overtook him—his body becoming a black whirlwind of slaughter. Every swing of his claws sent metal limbs flying and blue-violet sparks bursting through the air.
This is bad.
Levi's heart sank.
Watching the two of them dive headfirst into the swarm like brainless steel golems, the raging fury in his chest was doused by icy clarity.
He wasn't Steve—no messianic "I'll burn myself for the ideal" mindset.
He wasn't Logan either—no century-old detachment where fighting was just instinct and indulgence.
At his core, Levi was still a transmigrator who just wanted to survive.
And if not for needing to live in the Marvel universe, who the hell would volunteer to die for America?
Damn it!
This wasn't a brawl.
This was hell-mode tower defense.
The tank and DPS had gone full auto-AI—and he was the only player still thinking.
At this rate, it was a wipe.
Someone had to be the commander.
"Captain! Block the door—don't let the outside swarm in!" Levi roared with everything he had, his voice shredded raw but cracking like thunder. "Logan! Clear the left! Right side's mine!"
That shout dragged Steve back from the brink of blind fury.
He spun, slamming the vibranium shield into the ground with a thunderous boom, wedging it against the shattered doorway—hard-blocking the second wave of spiders surging from outside!
Logan didn't reply. He just roared and pivoted left, slaughter becoming immediately more efficient.
The tactics worked.
Levi drew a deep breath—it felt like inhaling fire.
His eyes locked onto the right.
A cell door crawled thick with spiders. Inside, a young soldier hugged his head, frozen in terror.
No time.
Levi's body left a blur behind.
The next instant, he was already at the cell.
Ignoring the spiders entirely, he shot both hands forward and seized the chewed, mangled iron bars.
His boots slammed against the wall beside the door.
Muscles coiled like dragons, swelling violently as his combat suit creaked under the strain.
"OPEN—FOR—ME!!!"
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