Chapter 42:
"Bang Bang Bang~"
The moment Alex Chen stepped into the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, he saw a very familiar figure falling from the sky and smashing heavily onto the ground.
"Captain!"
Captain America, after landing, staggered to his feet and ran toward the exit of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building.
"Beep Beep Beep~"
The piercing alarm sounded in Alex Chen's ears. Looking at the chaotic scene before him, his brain was in a frenzy.
[Quicksilver Speed!]
In the next instant, Alex Chen's figure trembled and disappeared from the spot.
One moment, Captain America was still fighting the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents chasing him. The next second, when he came back to his senses, he found himself standing in front of a vending machine in the hospital.
Glancing at the vending machine from the corner of his eye and seeing that the USB drive he had left inside was gone, Captain America instantly grabbed both Alex Chen and Black Widow with one hand each and dragged them into a storage room.
"Where is it?"
Captain America stared at the two with a fierce expression and asked.
"Cough Cough Cough~ Captain, loosen up a bit. I can barely breathe."
As he spoke, Alex Chen took out the USB drive from the vending machine from his pocket.
After seeing that the USB drive was still there, Captain America's expression eased a little.
"Which side are you two really on?"
As he spoke, Captain America raised his shield and aimed it at the two of them.
"Of course we're on your side."
Seeing that Captain America was about to act again, Alex Chen quickly raised his hand and said.
"Alright, since that's the case, I'll give you one chance to convince me."
With that, Captain America lowered his hand.
"Captain, if we were traitors inside the Bureau, do you think I would have gone through all this trouble to bring you here?"
Hearing Alex Chen's words, Captain America's mood became a bit complicated.
By now, Captain America could basically imagine that he must already be on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wanted list.
The former great hero of America had now become a wanted criminal.
One could imagine how ironic this was for Captain America.
He had to root out the traitor!
Thinking of this, Captain America subconsciously clenched his fists.
"The top priority right now is for us to figure out what secret this USB drive is hiding."
Hearing this, Alex Chen and Captain America both turned their gaze to Black Widow.
After changing into civilian clothes, no one knew where Black Widow had gotten an old Dodge from.
The three of them quickly drove the Dodge to a bustling downtown area.
Looking at the crowds of people in front of them, Alex Chen subconsciously glanced at Black Widow.
"Only in a crowded place can we take advantage of the chaos to escape. Aren't you Stark's prized student? How could you not even think of this?"
Hearing Black Widow's teasing, Alex Chen could only awkwardly scratch his nose and smile sheepishly.
"Widow, please stop teasing me. Let's hurry up and get to work."
As he spoke, Alex Chen was the first to get out of the car and head toward a fruit specialty store.
"How long do you think it will take to crack this?"
The moment Black Widow plugged the USB drive into the computer, S.H.I.E.L.D. immediately obtained their location and dispatched four special operations teams to come after them.
"About nine minutes."
The three of them watched the lines of code jumping on the computer screen. Alex Chen and Captain America, both computer illiterates, felt dizzy.
At this time, a salesman in the store also noticed the three of them.
He walked over with a smile and said:
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
"We're trying to pick a destination for our vacation trip."
"Oh, okay. Good luck. If you have any questions, you can come find me anytime."
"Sure, we definitely will."
After sending the salesman away, Captain America asked anxiously:
"Didn't you say it would only take nine minutes? Why hasn't it been cracked yet?"
Hearing Captain America's words, Black Widow immediately rolled her eyes and said:
"The person who designed this program is just a tiny bit smarter than me — just a tiny bit. He handed these files over to an artificial intelligence for protection. Right now, this AI is constantly rewriting itself to deny my access."
"But I can plant a remote tracking system inside the program. Even if we can't see the contents, we can still find out where this USB drive's data came from."
"Beep~"
Not long after, Black Widow successfully tracked the source.
Looking at the location displayed on the computer screen, Captain America immediately fell into deep thought.
Because this place was all too familiar to him.
New Jersey!
After learning the location, the three of them decisively pulled out the USB drive and immediately set off for New Jersey.
As they walked out onto the street, Captain America said softly:
"There are four standard special operations response teams around us — two in front and two behind."
"Later, I'll take care of the two in front. You two run toward the west elevator as fast as you can and get out of here."
As he spoke, Captain America made a move to take off his jacket and charge out.
Seeing this, Alex Chen quickly stopped him.
"Wait, wait, Captain. Watch me."
The moment Alex Chen finished speaking, the four special operations teams walking from front and behind acted as if they couldn't see the three of them at all and walked straight past them.
Seeing this scene, Captain America couldn't help but glance at Alex Chen.
"Well done, kid. But don't ever use this trick on me again."
After successfully shaking off the pursuers, the three switched to a new car and drove toward New Jersey.
"Where did Captain America learn how to steal cars?"
Black Widow, who had some free time, couldn't help but tease again.
"Hey, we're just borrowing the car. We'll return it later, so don't put your feet up on someone else's car."
In this way, the three of them drove until nightfall before finally arriving at an abandoned military training camp.
Looking at the dilapidated, rusted iron gate and the warning signs on it, Captain America knew he had come to the right place.
Walking through the camp that felt both familiar and strange, Captain America's thoughts surged.
Black Widow beside him seemed to see through Captain America's current state of mind and said:
"You're very familiar with this place?"
"Yeah, this is where I trained. Every morning someone would drag us out of our warm, comfortable beds and make us stare at the scorching sun while running laps on the training field."
At this point, Captain America paused and walked over to a flag-raising platform, touching the dust accumulated on the flagpole.
"At that time, I hadn't become what I am now. I often couldn't keep up with the main group. My instructor would yell at me every day, shouting:
'Little girl, run faster and keep up! Faster, faster, faster!'"
Hearing such words come directly from Captain America's own mouth, Alex Chen and Black Widow still found it somewhat amusing.
Before long, under Captain America's lead, the three found the entrance to an underground warehouse.
After moving aside the chaotic pile of debris blocking the door, the three walked straight down.
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