Chapter 355 - 329: The Frozen Super Soldier

"Frank!"

Kurt watched the gradually disintegrating, sinking ship covered in flames and shouted the name of his comrade loudly.

There was silence in the communication channel.

It wasn’t just that they had fallen silent, the nearby pirates had fallen silent too—

They were pirates, not navy, they had never seen warships sinking each other!

But they could still identify the turrets on the warship, so when this scene unfolded, any thoughts of treasure ships became irrelevant.

But before they could react further, dozens of missiles burst out from the capsizing frigate!

The missiles accurately targeted another ship’s main cannon and the people on the cargo ship!

Boom!

The flames spread across the deck like a carpet, not only swallowing the targeted cargo box but also completely ruining the frigate’s cannon!

It wasn’t over yet!

This scene plunged the Atlas soldiers on the small boat into despair, but the next moment, communications were fully restored!

[ctOS Combat Computing Network online, long-range communication restored]

[Frank: Get on board!]

Phew!

From the capsizing frigate, a robot nearly resembling a human form rocketed out from the flames...

Frank was holding onto its legs!

The damaged exoskeleton burst out sparks like crazy, he even thought he could hear the sounds of the internal circuits combusting due to overload!

But he couldn’t dare let go!

This was his only chance for survival: if he followed the frigate into the sea, he would sink within a minute!

Clenching his teeth, Frank could no longer feel anything else around him, only the nerve pain caused by excessive electrical current!

With his other hand, he swung the data knife, fiercely stabbing it into the gaps in the robot’s leg!

[Data Knife hacking in, matching hacking tools...]

The robot looked down at Frank.

[Hacking failed, utilizing high-frequency electrical surge impact.]

Zap!

The thrusters flashed with electric light, and the flames they spewed turned into black smoke instantly, the robot’s flight also got disrupted, the indicator lights hidden under its armored helmet blinking red and yellow—

Information hacking and physical hacking are significantly different, the software on the knife could no longer breach its control firewall.

However, as long as the blade contacted the circuits and output electrical currents with greatly varying frequencies, it would damage the machine’s body.

The electrical surge destroyed the transmission logic in the cables, tearing through its processor and electrical control devices—

The brain’s central processor immediately completed defensive calculations, and the internal current, with the guidance of internal controllers, cut off flow to the damaged left leg, transient voltage suppressor diodes cut off the abnormal current caused by electromagnetic induction!

But the flashing electricity still ignited the fuel in the thrusters!

Boom!

After another small-scale explosion, Frank only felt the world spinning around him, and he completely let go!

On the sea surface, the Atlas soldiers on the small boat only saw the robot explode again in mid-air, one man and one machine plummeting directly towards the deck!

"Board the ship! Hurry!"

...

Bang!

Frank completely lost control, and upon landing, he rolled across the ground until he smashed against a container and stopped.

The robot fared much better, the only mechanical leg it had withstood the pressure, leaving a dramatic scratch on the deck surface.

It quickly adjusted its internal power, and slowly stood back up.

[Intriguing electronic attack techniques, brilliant design.]

[But too rigid, pre-set programs cannot pose a significant threat to self-iterating programs, can only revert to the most primitive attacks.]

[Warning: Fuel consumption rate significantly increased.]

[Current fuel: 33%]

The scanner looked toward the mission target; at this stage of the fight, it needed to obtain more information on how to proceed with the next phase of the mission.

The cargo container on the Celt Voyager’s deck had been torn open by missiles—

The flames on the metal container’s surface slowly extinguished, but the huge red container had been blasted open with a huge hole.

Inside, the scanner revealed a temperature stable at around minus 10 degrees Celsius, with cables connecting directly to the ship’s power system.

It was some kind of temperature control device, the temperature system was disrupted, and the scanner could clearly see it was a block of ice.

Around the cargo hold, the ice shattered by the explosion slowly melted.

[What is worth these people fighting for? A block of ice?]

The same question also arose in the robot’s mind.

The robot moved directly toward the cargo hold; Frank struggled to his feet right at the giant hole in the container, and just in time, he could see the contents inside:

It was a woman, clad in some outdated material-made combat suit, obviously, the base color was that of the Mei Country flag.

Her red hair appeared even more vibrant under the reflection of the flames, that face...

Frank blurted out, "Captain Carter!"

The robot tilted its head, looking at the melting ice, not understanding the human name spoken.

But it quickly recognized another object inside the ice: a shield.

The thick ice near the shield melted by the heat, slowly revealing itself.

In its database, there was clear information about this shield:

[Database: Captain Carter’s Shield]

[Description: Made with Vibranium as the core component of the composite material.]

[Database: Vibranium]

[Description: Incredible physical properties, kinetic energy will be intercepted, and under certain specific circumstances, this material can release a tremendous amount of energy.]

[Conjecture: A physics black hole, it has many unsolved mysteries, unfortunately, with Captain Carter disappearing in the Arctic, it completely sank into the ocean.]

[If my conjecture is correct, I could use it to create a super energy source.]

Almost at this time, the satellite signal for remote linkage was received by it, and in that instant, it began calculating the surrounding environment again.

To escape from the sinking warship, it discarded a large amount of weapons and fuel, and now half of its body had been blown up by Frank.

Clearly, there were still a number of soldiers wearing exoskeletons, and with a small amount of calculations, it could get the result: its chances of winning were very low.

Even if it were to win, the remaining fuel would almost certainly not be enough to support it in delivering the mission target back.

Therefore, more means were needed to ensure its survival, and the computational power of the comms chip should be focused on this most crucial matter.

Every bit of resource was precious.

The robot’s AI did not notice that, in this moment, it had added a core logic to its combat logic:

Ensure survival.

[Communication request rejected, shut down additional communication components.]

[Mission continues, front-end logic: Enhance combat capabilities, improve completion rate.]

[Tactical retreat, re-deploy combat units.]

[Seize energy resources.]

Phew!

The robot suddenly activated, kicked Frank before he could react, then grabbed the exterior of the cargo crate, and started using its engines to melt the ice!

The solid ice melted rapidly, Frank, whose exoskeleton power was reduced to almost nothing, was struck again and struggled even to stand up —

Slap!

The robot, seeing the ice melted enough, yanked out a shield and without any hesitation flew towards the sky!

The soldiers of Atlas had just boarded the ship!

Whoosh!

An arrow hit the fleeing robot and immediately exploded!

Bang!

The already-damaged robot was blasted apart in mid-air, its head floating in the air flashing a red light.

The debris and the shield, under the force of inertia, flew towards the distant sea area and then crashed into the ocean, disappearing from sight.

Clint stood on the deck, looking down at Frank lying on the ground and the Atlas soldiers who had just drawn their weapons.

The good news was, the cargo was saved.

The bad news was... not all of it.

"A bunch of Americans sank a Mei Country warship in the Somali Sea and then saved a nearly hundred-year-old British woman..."

Frank lay back and looked up at the sky.

Communications were restored, and massive data began transmitting, Lille also learned about the situation here.

[Frank: Boss, the robot is dealt with.]

...

Combat records began transmission, the network in Africa was too slow, but Lille still mostly figured out the situation.

Iron Soldier, a trial unmanned combat unit, it was clear that Tony was planning to make automation a part of war.

And the cargo on the ship...

Captain Carter, not Captain America.

Clearly, in this universe, Steve did not successfully receive the Super Soldier Serum, instead, his beloved Peggy Carter did.

This was a Briton, meaning, at the scene of the Super Soldier Serum injection, this British officer accidentally entered the enhancement chamber, taking over the resources of the Mei Country people.

This also explains one thing: in this world, whether it’s Captain Carter or Captain America, the promotional efforts are nowhere near what Lille had imagined.

Compared to that, the Roaring Assault Team is more famous, led by Carter, including Steve Rogers, James Buchanan Barnes, and several other American soldiers.

And Steve Rogers, in this universe, pilots a massive War Mecha—Hydra Crusher.

Captain America could call to arms, and most of the Mei Country people would elect him as President.

But Captain Carter... things weren’t so simple.

But definitely also a very nice flag—centuries after the decline of the British Empire, a Briton appears on African soil helping them with major construction.

Just don’t know what the captain’s reaction will be upon waking up.

[Lille: Well done, considering there aren’t many people who just snatched something from the Mei Country navy, that’s overachieving.]

[Lille: I’m putting up 4 million for your bonus this time.]

[Frank: Haha, I guess they’ll be delighted.]

[Lille: But don’t relax, it’s not over yet, the mission isn’t complete until the stuff reaches the base.]

[Lille: T’Challa reports that there are lots of terrorists in the area you guys are in, take a break, and the road back to town might not be simple.]

[Frank: Received.]

Lille got up from the cooling tank, disconnecting from the deep link with the internet.

Large-scale operations on the internet were more troublesome than he’d imagined, but also much more effective.

This was a technique that the network supervision couldn’t, and wouldn’t teach Lille; he had to explore on his own.

Now was the time to summarize this operation and then reap the benefits.

[Lille: Got the stuff, bad news is the shield is lost, good news is the person inside is safe.]

[Natasha: You already know what’s inside?]

[Lille: A centenarian.]

[Natasha: Well, that’s somewhat acceptable, ran into any trouble?]

[Lille: Trouble... you’ll know soon enough.]