DC Apostle in the Marvel Universe

Russell had been in this secret Hydra base for a month now.

Over the past month, he had tried every means possible to gather intelligence about the outside world, but he hadn't obtained much valuable information.

From the existence of the Abomination serum and the fact that Hydra was still active, Russell could deduce that the timeline he was in was likely after the New York battle between the Abomination and the Hulk but before the birth of Ultron...

However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact timeframe, as there was a span of about seven to eight years between those events.

However, the whispers of those two Hydra soldiers provided him with a highly accurate piece of information.

The news that Iron Man, Tony Stark, had been killed by the Mandarin likely referred to the attack on Tony's mansion by the Mandarin's forces, which led to Tony's disappearance that was mistakenly reported as his death.

This also meant that the New York battle between the Avengers and Loki, which had shocked the world, had already concluded.

After confirming this specific timeline, Russell's mind immediately flashed through several major future events.

The Helicarrier incident involving S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, the Sokovia incident, the Avengers' Civil War, and more…

Just as Russell was pondering these potential future events, Jack, the base's security chief, appeared behind him without warning, scrutinizing him with a stern expression.

Lost in his thoughts, Russell didn't notice Jack's approach until Jack pressed the barrel of his pistol against the back of Russell's head, snapping him out of his reverie.

"You know, I really want to blow your modified freak head off! I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm warning you, don't get any ideas...

You're just a weapon in HYDRA's hands, a dog on their leash. You'll never defy HYDRA!"

With that, Jack pulled the trigger.

*Bang!* *Bang!*

Two gunshots rang out, and the two soldiers who had been whispering earlier collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from their foreheads.

After firing, Jack did not even glance at Russell and simply walked away, as if he had just squashed a couple of ants.

Once Jack was gone, Russell slowly unclenched his fists.

This wasn't the first time Jack had deliberately provoked Russell. Over the past month, it had happened several times.

Whether it was because Russell had easily dealt with those two Hydra squads earlier or because Jack simply disliked him, Jack always seemed to go out of his way to pick fights, as if he was itching for Russell to retaliate...

After taking several deep breaths, Russell silently suppressed his killing intent and walked wordlessly back to his room.

If there was one person in the entire base that Russell wanted to kill the most, Jack would undoubtedly take the top spot.

Ever since Russell had arrived in this world, Jack had been pushing his buttons, over and over again.

Although Allen and Heather didn't know what had happened between Russell and Jack, they could sense the murderous aura radiating from Russell... a chilling,Grim Reaper-like intensity.

It was only then that Allen and Heather realized just how much Russell had been holding back during their combat training.

Russell ignored the duo. Once back in his room, he appeared calm on the surface, but his mind was racing.

Originally, his plan had been to wait until both Jack and Dr. Wilson let their guard down before executing his escape.

But Jack's recent act revealed a critical flaw in Russell's plan...

No matter how cooperative he was with Jack and Wilson's arrangements, no matter how harmless he appeared, Jack would never lower his guard around him.

When Jack assigned Russell to be Allen and Heather's combat instructor, Russell had thought it was a sign that Jack was starting to trust him. But now, it was clear that he had been overly optimistic.

The reason Jack had made him an instructor was likely just to keep him busy.

'Even a useless tool still has some value', perhaps that was Jack's true mindset.

Now that Russell knew Jack would never let his guard down, he had no choice but to revise his escape plan.

From what he had observed, this Hydra base was not an operational facility, but a secret research base.

As a result, there weren't many Hydra soldiers stationed here.

The soldiers were organized into six-person squads, and over the past month, Russell had seen twelve such squads, meaning there were at least seventy soldiers here.

Whether there were additional hidden soldiers in the base was something Russell couldn't know.

However, these ordinary soldiers posed little threat to him.

The only things that could truly harm him were high-caliber armor-piercing sniper rounds, electric pulse(shock) cannons, and a few other specialized weapons.

Previously, to test Russell's defensive capabilities, Wilson had arranged a series of tests.

During those tests, Wilson had even used the mounted grenade launcher on a Humvee.

Although the grenade launcher was powerful, Russell had managed to withstand it and hadn't been killed on the spot.

Aside from armor-piercing rounds and electric pulse weapons, the most troublesome thing was the Electroshock Explosive Collar around his neck.

Without removing it, Russell couldn't truly fight back.

"Do I really have to gamble?"

So far, Russell had no idea how to remove the collar or who controlled its detonator.

The only method he could think of was to let the collar be triggered intentionally and then place his hopes for survival on the 'Dionesium Factor'.

"The risk is too high. It can only be a last resort..."

…

Time passed, and before he knew it, over a week had gone by.

When Russell went to Wilson's lab for his routine checkup, Wilson suddenly said something unexpected.

"This might be the last time I examine you. The Abomination Project is about to be shut down."

Hearing this, Russell was momentarily stunned.

If he remembered correctly, Wilson should have been developing the third generation of Abomination soldiers. Why was the project being canceled now?

"What's going on?"

Under normal circumstances, Wilson might not have answered Russell's question.

But at this moment, Wilson seemed distracted and quietly explained, "Headquarters has discovered a new enhancement serum... something called the Extremis Virus...

They believe the Extremis soldiers created from the virus have more potential than the Abomination soldiers..."

"Moreover, there are already clear success cases with Extremis soldiers. They just need to figure out how to replicate those successes, unlike the Abomination Project which requires starting from scratch and building up research step by step."