Chapter 5033

A black car stopped by a desolate, uninhabited coast. The group first walked to the cliff top, then made their way down to the shore. In the end, they found only a man's corpse on the reef.

They examined it, then searched the surrounding area, but obviously no footprints could remain on the reef. The place was so remote that even seabirds didn't come; naturally there would be no clues.

While they laboriously dragged the body out from among the reefs, Selina hung upside down on the arched cliff, watching their figures. She was utterly silent, like a black shadow. Only after they got in the car and drove off did she climb onto the highway, gazing in the direction they had gone.

Selina was in no hurry, because she had placed a tracking device on that man's body. And this group obviously hadn't conducted a thorough search; when the time came, she could follow the signal to locate the base.

Before long, on a mountain road in the northern mountains of York, a Buick sedan pulled over. Selina shut the car door, popped a piece of gum into her mouth, and set off up the mountain on foot.

She was still wearing that bright vacation outfit, a small bag on her back, looking just like a tourist come hiking. But the path she took was anything but ordinary — she didn't follow the road upward; instead, taking the shortest straight line between two points, she climbed straight up.

Don't be fooled by the wild mountains and total lack of trails; Selina moved with agile grace, constantly weaving and maneuvering between trees and thickets, and soon reached the halfway point.

There was a well-hidden air-raid shelter here, yet Selina spotted it at a glance. Moreover, this was no heavily guarded military base — not even a sentry at the entrance. Selina glanced from a distance and didn't even see a camera.

She sighed again, walked up to the door, and knocked hard.

"Anyone home?! Anyone home???!!"

Faint footsteps sounded from inside, pausing at the doorway for a moment. Selina deliberately picked up her phone and complained, "Wasn't this supposed to be a niche check-in spot? Why can't I get in? Where did that blogger take their photos?"

Suddenly the door cracked open: "Who are you? What are you doing here? No photos allowed!"

"I saw someone post a really pretty photo, and the location tag was right here. I wanted to come take pictures too." Selina feigned innocence. "How do you charge admission here? How much for a ticket?"

"No photos allowed!!!" the other person shouted impatiently. "Get lost!!!"

"No way. I drove two hours to get here. You have to let me in today." Selina said, reaching to pry the door open.

The person immediately tried to slam the door shut, but Selina quickly yelled, "Wait wait wait, will it work if I pay?! Any amount, as long as I get good photos!"

With that, she rummaged in her small bag, pulled out a wad of dollars like loose change, and shoved it at them. The person inside hesitated, but took the money.

The moment he took it, he instinctively glanced down to count it — and in that split second of distraction, Selina drove a high kick into his chin, yanked the door wide open, followed with a straight kick that sent him sprawling, and finished with a clean throat slit.

She then swiftly melted into the shadows, but waited a long time without any sign of the man's companions. She surveyed the interior of the shelter — not a high-tech base at all; wiring in many places was aged, and junk was piled on the floor.

Selina proceeded deeper and soon caught a heavy smell of alcohol. She peered through a door crack and saw several men passed out drunk on the floor. So she dropped the act, simply pushed the door open, and walked in.

These drunks thought they were hallucinating from too much drink; they laughed and lunged at Selina. Naturally, she dispatched each with a single knife stroke.

Further in were the barracks, where two men lay. One was asleep; the other had his back to the door, looking at something. Selina crept up, slit the first one's throat, then the second heard the noise and turned, instinctively drawing his gun. Selina kicked the pistol from his hand, drove a knife into his shoulder, and as he writhed in pain she slit his throat as well.

That was the entire personnel of the base. Selina searched inside and out and found no other enemies. In the archives room she rummaged around, found the staff roster, cross-checked it, and discovered two people hadn't returned. She didn't care.

She threw all the bodies into the mountains behind the base, then dialed a number from the phone directory she'd found.

"Hello? How's the plan to infiltrate Stark Industries going?... What are you playing at? Didn't we say to mix in when Stark Industries was hiring and grab a piece of the pie? Got amnesia?"

"Ah, wait, sorry, wrong number — this is the headquarters line. I'll hang up now."

The operator on the other end was baffled. Headquarters hadn't issued any mission regarding Stark Industries recently; he found it strange, so he reported the call's content upward.

"What's going on? The northern base acted on its own? Isn't that place practically abandoned?... Ah, I see — it must be that Adrian trying to get back to headquarters, up to his little tricks again..."

"Stark Industries?" The man in the office paced back and forth. "Go check what's happening with Stark Industries lately... I know their stock dropped; I'm talking about internal problems."

Before long the subordinate returned and reported, "Stark Industries has had a lot of people poached; they're short-handed now and recruiting publicly..."

"That bastard Adrian! Exiled to the northern base and still trying to steal my credit?!" the man behind the desk said. "Dazhou Headquarters definitely won't pass up this perfect opportunity. We have to move first, so we can slip some of our own people in. Go get the Field Operations people — tell them there's a new mission."

The Buick stopped again at the entrance of Stark Industries. Selina got out, watching several people heading inside. They were today's job applicants; at a glance, at least half bore signs of training.

Selina couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead. Not to be rude, but how can this organization called Hydra be this incompetent?! All staff just warm seats doing no real work; the one time they handle something properly, it's full of holes. They wouldn't last three days in Gotham.

After everyone went in, Selina found a way to slip in too. She'd never met this universe's Catwoman, but she likely hadn't debuted yet — which was an advantage; at least no one recognized her.

The noble-lady demeanor she'd cultivated before still came in handy. She walked right in, grand as you please, and said, "Hello, I'm looking for Ms. Potts. Last time we went riding, she left some personal belongings at my place."

"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked.

Selina shook her head. "I'm just dropping something off; it's fine if I don't see her. Could you pass it along?"

With that, Selina pulled a lipstick from her bag. The moment the receptionist saw it, she hurriedly said, "No no no, we can't help deliver personal items. Hold on, let me call and ask."

The receptionist called immediately, but soon said, "Sorry, Ms. Potts is preparing for interviews. Let me take you to the reception lounge to wait a bit."

Selina nodded. An employee soon led her to the rear lounge, poured tea, and brought snacks. Selina waved a hand casually: "You go get busy, don't mind me."

Seeing Selina take out her phone and start dialing, the employee hurried out. Once the employee left, Selina put the phone down, then patted her own cheeks. Who knows if her cat-burglary infiltration skills have slipped, but her social-engineering infiltration is getting better and better.

Having moved in wealthy wives' circles for a long time, she knew certain rules. For instance, lipstick is highly personal — it touches the lips, and brand and shade vary person to person. If someone swapped it, it could easily become evidence for a frame-up. So it's usually not handed off to staff, and staff wouldn't dare accept it — if something went wrong later, they might take the fall.

Also, private phone calls — staff prefer not to hear them. On one hand the boss may have rules, and staff have the sense to stay clear; on the other, if some leak ever happened, they'd look for a nearby staffer to blame.

Employees at a big conglomerate like this are hyper-vigilant, always avoiding sticky situations. Especially front-desk reception, which requires sharp judgment — Pepper would certainly place her own people there, reliable ones who know these unwritten rules well.

Once the employee left, Selina scanned the room and spotted the ventilation duct. Wherever she went, ventilation ducts were her expressways.

Selina's frame was slight, which was an advantage for her. In the cat-burglary trade, if you're too bulky, infiltration is hard to pull off — they constantly crawl through sewers, ventilation shafts, and the like; a large frame gets stuck easily.

Selina's flexibility was also extraordinarily good — practically bone-shrinking skill. Her speed inside the duct was very fast; before long she reached another empty room.

This area wasn't so busy, no staff at the door. She quickly exited from there, slipped into the stairwell, and climbed up floor by floor. Every level she grabbed someone in a panic and asked which floor the interviews were on, acting like a late applicant.

Everyone gave her sympathetic looks and pointed the way. Soon she reached the 22nd floor, found the interview room, but didn't go in. She went to the restroom, climbed out the window, and used a grappling hook to hang outside the interview room's window.

Selina was genuinely afraid those Hydra people would blow their cover. She wished she could hold up a teleprompter and feed them lines, but it was too late for coaching — one look and you could tell they weren't ordinary employees; the training marks on them couldn't be erased.

When they started filing in, Selina was frantic with worry. Those interviewees sat there — if not Killer Croc, then Bane; anyone who didn't know better would think a Terminator sequel was auditioning actors here.

Just as Selina was wondering how to help these people bluff their way through, she suddenly heard someone call her.

Selina was startled — this was the 22nd floor, high up; how could there be anyone?!

She turned her head and saw a red-and-blue figure clinging to the wall, staring straight at her.