Become a Homelander and a Marvel superstar

Steve frowned as he looked at the masked assassin in front of him.

"I don't like your way of doing things," Steve said in a deep voice. "Stay away from my students!"

The Winter Soldier did not speak.

He looked at Captain America and tilted his head.

Beneath the mask, something seemed to be flickering in his eyes.

But he quickly suppressed it.

Task: Eliminate the target.

Secondary objective: If outmatched, retreat.

The Winter Soldier assessed the situation.

That man with the shield is very strong. And the heavy machine gun on the fighter jet is aimed.

withdraw.

Without hesitation, the Winter Soldier turned and ran, like a cheetah in the dark, rushing towards the outer perimeter in two strides.

"stop!"

Steve didn't expect the other party to run away so decisively.

He hurled his shield.

"call--!"

The vibranium shield sliced ​​through the night, heading straight for the Winter Soldier's back.

The Winter Soldier heard the wind, turned around abruptly, and raised his metal left arm.

"Snapped!"

A deafening clang of metal clashing.

What happened next shocked Steve.

That assassin... actually managed to firmly grasp the vibranium shield that was spinning at high speed!

The shield hummed slightly on his metal palm, remaining perfectly still.

The Winter Soldier gripped his shield and, through the darkness, gave Steve a deep look.

Those eyes...

Cold, empty, yet with a damnably familiar feeling.

Steve was stunned.

"Who are you……"

Before he could even ask the question...

The Winter Soldier used his waist to generate power and swung his arm violently!

"Buzz!!!"

The shield flew back with even greater force than it had come!

Steve instinctively raised his hands to catch it.

"Bang!"

The enormous impact propelled him backward nearly a meter across the slippery ground, leaving his arms slightly numb.

"What incredible strength..."

When Steve lowered his shield and looked up again,

The place was deserted.

……

"Captain... Instructor..."

Iron Arm Joe behind him let out a painful groan. The effects of the drug had completely worn off, and the strong side effects made him feel weak all over and his limbs twitched.

Steve looked away, suppressing the inexplicable unease in his heart.

"Hang in there, kid, you'll be alright."

……

"So you're telling me that three superheroes with superpowers were wiped out by a single assassin wielding a carbine and a knife?"

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The sun was shining brightly, and the beach was bustling with activity.

Not far behind Azu, a meticulously planned "counter-terrorism operation" was coming to an end.

He herded hundreds of local militants to the center of the square like sheep, where they surrendered to the cameras.

Walter's photography team is shooting Azu's "imposing back" from multiple angles.

“Yes, sir.” Ashley looked tense on the other end of the screen, the background showing a busy command center. “That attacker was very professional, not an ordinary criminal. And… this is the third one this week. Detroit, Seattle, Chicago. Someone is hunting down our city's heroes. Although no one has died yet, it's because they used T-VEX… otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

"Hunting?" Azu scoffed, taking off his sunglasses. "Don't use such fancy words. This is called training."

"Those rascals, all they know how to do after they start working is sign autographs and take photos. They've completely forgotten about training. It's only a matter of time before they're exposed when they run into a real tough opponent."

Azu took a sip of the fresh milk Jessica handed him, completely unconcerned.

"Steve Rogers is taking this very seriously now," Ashley said cautiously. "It's his student, and he says he'll investigate it personally. He suspects... that the person has been modified with a super serum."

"Let him be."

Azu waved his hand, stood up, and gave a sunny smile to the tourists in the distance, which caused a group of girls to scream.

"As for that Iron-Armed Assassin..."

A hint of disdain flashed in Azu's eyes.

Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier.

A tool used by Hydra to do dirty work, and Captain America's eternal white moonlight.

After being whitewashed, he became a weakling, and of course, he still is.

"Don't bother me with such a small thing."

Many Brazilians who saw the news broadcast spontaneously came and gathered around, waving and cheering at Azu. Azu gave a thumbs-up to the tourists below and continued to respond.

"I'm very busy right now, busy saving the world, busy building a reputation for Vought to be worth hundreds of billions."

"Let Steve play this cat-and-mouse game by himself."

"Tell him that since he's his student, he has to take full responsibility for him. Just do your best to accommodate his needs."

"Understood, sir."

This will be a touching reunion, won't it? Ah Zu chuckled to himself.

Communication was cut off.

Azu put his phone into his magical space and turned to walk towards the crowd.

"Alright! Rio! Let me hear your voices!!"

Tell me... who is the real hero?!

"Homelanders! Homelanders!!"

"no……"

Amidst a tsunami of cheers, Azu opened his arms wide, enjoying the endless stream of popularity points flowing in.

……

VGD Command Center, upstate New York.

Steve Rogers sat at the front of the conference room, looking at the photos on the screen.

That's a close-up of the on-site investigation.

The red star on that metal arm was particularly dazzling under the light.

"team leader."

Ashley walked over carrying her tablet.

"I compared intelligence databases around the world based on your description."

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up an encrypted file.

"This is no ordinary criminal. The technology behind this metal arm... is very old, like something from the Soviet era."

"Furthermore, our technical department used a special facial recognition algorithm. Although he was wearing a mask, we could still tell from his skeletal structure..."

Ashley paused, looking at Steve with some hesitation.

"How are the comparison results?" Steve's voice was somewhat low.

"There are no matches, but the pattern he appears in is very similar to that of a legendary ghost assassin."

An old black-and-white file popped up on the screen.

That was decrypted from S.H.I.E.L.D. when Skye was still alive.

File code: Winter Soldier.

"Over the past fifty years, although there is no conclusive evidence, witnesses have claimed to have seen a man with a metal arm at the sites of Kennedy's assassination, the Iranian hostage crisis, and several key political assassinations."

"He's like a ghost," Ashley whispered. "But S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official statement is: it's just an urban legend."

Steve looked at the file, his fingers gently tracing the blurry black-and-white figure on the screen.

That sense of familiarity welled up in my heart again.

That look in his eyes.

But he wasn't sure.

"I need more information," Steve said in a deep voice, "all the information about this Winter Soldier."

"These are all the declassified files in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archives," Ashley shrugged. "Perhaps you should go directly to Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; with his authority, he can definitely give you the answer."

"Then go find him."

Steve picked up his shield and strode toward the door.