American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

Chapter 187: Exploration and Borrowing People

The helicopter hatch opened, and a disheveled Russian big man, wearing a leather jacket and covered in tattoos, stepped out.

Ivan Vanko eyed Frank with a critical gaze, a lollipop in his mouth, and walked to the side.

Tang Song got off the helicopter, looked at the deserted construction site before him, tapped his cane, and straightened his suit.

"Boss!"

Frank stepped forward to greet him.

Tang Song nodded and asked, "Have the things arrived?"

Frank replied, "They've all been delivered!"

"Take me to the Mine to see!"

Frank walked ahead, half a step to Tang Song's side, leading him towards the Mine.

The construction site, which had been bustling two days ago, was now completely shut down, except for the armed Big man patrolling back and forth.

The workers had already been cleared out before Tang Song arrived.

Some workers had been sent back to their home countries, and of course, their wages were not withheld.

The closer they got to the Mine, the more patrolling Gunman there were.

This mining area had been contracted by the Tang Group, and these Gunman all had legal gun permits.

Seeing Tang Song, these armed Big man bowed their heads and greeted the Big Boss.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Tang Song nodded at them.

"Boss, in this mining area, including the manpower recently sent by Lane, we have two hundred outlying Gunman, plus twenty Card Soldier!" Frank introduced to Tang Song, "The weapon equipment is complete, enough to fight a small-scale, high-intensity local war!" As he said this, a hint of scarlet flashed in Frank's eyes.

Frank had been digging holes in the Mine for half a month during this period and was almost going crazy from boredom.

He cultivated the Divine Demonic Zhuyan Transformation. The Zhu Yan was originally a beast of war specializing in weapons. With so many Gunman suddenly at his disposal, Frank felt eager to try them out.

Tang Song glanced at him, "We're not here to fight. There's nothing here worth taking action for."

Hearing Tang Song say this, Frank's head immediately drooped.

"After things here are finished, I'll give you a month off. If you really want to go to the battlefield, then take a group of people to East Africa. The situation in East Africa can change at any time, and Kane can't leave right now!"

Tang Song also knew Frank's nature. It was difficult for him to be cooped up in the Mine for a month, so he decided to grant his wish.

With T'Chaka assassinated, the war between the Federation and Wakanda was likely to reignite at any time.

As a qualified arms dealer, it was natural to sell his own weapon equipment on the battlefield, and it was also a good opportunity to train a group of manpower.

Previously, Kane was responsible for this matter, but now Kane was keeping an eye on the Mr. President. Tang Song thought about it and decided to give this task to Frank.

In terms of battlefield command ability, Frank was not inferior to Kane, although he was better at small-team assault operations. However, a person's ability is honed through experience.

"Boss, I won't take a vacation. When are we going to East Africa!" Frank's eyebrows shot up, and he beamed with joy upon hearing Tang Song's words.

Tang Song shot him a sideways glance, "First, take me to see the entrance to the Subterranean World!"

Frank met Tang Song's gaze, chuckled awkwardly, and shrank his head, quickening his pace as he led the way.

Everyone walked quickly, and after only seven or eight minutes, Frank led Tang Song to a cave.

"Boss, go down from here. There's about seven or eight miles of Mine tunnels left by the previous mine owner when they were digging coal. I had someone repair them, and they're still usable. We'll have to take a mine cart!"

The wooden tracks, some of the wood planks already decayed, lay over a bottomless, pitch-black Abyss below. Several iron mine carts traveled along this track at a speed of eighty mph.

Even though Frank had had the workers reinforce these tracks, an Ordinary Person would truly not have the courage to take such a death ride.

However, neither Tang Song nor Frank were Ordinary Person, and even Ivan Vanko was a thick-skinned Super Villain who dared to fight Iron Man head-on with his whip-locks.

The coal mine cart quickly reached the end.

From a distance, they saw over a dozen Card Soldier in Black Demon Battle Armor standing guard on the platform at the end of the Tunnel, holding guns.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Tang Song's knees didn't move. His entire body floated down from the mine cart like a falling leaf, landing on the platform Ground. The Card Soldier saluted him.

After nodding, Tang Song eagerly walked towards the rock wall that had been broken through with a large hole.

On the rock wall, there was a collapsed cave. Tang Song's Divine Sense probed into it. Below the cave, it was bottomless.

His Divine Sense could cover a straight line distance of over ten miles, yet even so, his Divine Sense could not reach the bottom of the cave.

But thinking about it, the distance from the Earth's surface to the core is at least six thousand kilometers, so the Subterranean World would certainly not be too shallow from the surface.

Tang Song waved his hand casually, and five invisible Qi Energy burst from his five fingers, grabbing a ruby the size of a dragon's eye from the rock face below and wrapping it around his hand.

The crystal-clear ruby sparkled with fire under the illumination of the lights.

This single ruby alone could be exchanged for a luxury car in the Federation.

On the rock face below, various rubies and diamonds were densely embedded.

It could be said that these Native Gemstones alone were enough to compensate for Tang Song's expenses in Iceland this time.

However, Tang Song's purpose was not for money.

Tang Song casually threw the ruby in his hand to Frank, who was nearby, and instructed, "Have someone transport the equipment in!"

Frank caught the ruby Tang Song threw over. Just as he was about to take out his communicator to call the Gunman Outside, Ivan Vanko stepped forward, lollipop in his mouth, and said to Frank, "I'll do it!"

Frank looked at Ivan Vanko, not quite understanding what he meant.

Ivan Vanko directly opened his handbag, took out a laptop from inside, opened it, sat directly on the Ground, turned it on, opened a webpage, and entered a string of program code.

"Your computer actually has a signal seven or eight kilometers deep in the Mine Tunnel!?" Frank looked at Ivan Vanko's computer and said in surprise.

"It's just a matter of a Signal Booster and a Local Area Network. My Iron Robots all come with signal amplification and can resist Signal Jamming!"

Ivan Vanko said, tapping the keyboard rapidly with his fingers. Soon, a display screen appeared on his computer screen. In the screen, there were green humanoid data images representing the Iron Soldiers.

"Have your people hand over the required equipment to these Iron Robots, they will transport it in!"

Ivan Vanko said to Frank. Hearing this, Frank looked at his Boss, and after he nodded, he used his communicator to call the Base on the Hillside.

In less than ten minutes, twelve Iron Robots, each over two meters tall, hovered in front of Tang Song, blue flames spraying from their feet.

Tang Song examined these pre-customized Iron Robots and asked Ivan Vanko, who was beside him, "According to Professor Trevor's calculation, the distance to the Subterranean World is over six thousand kilometers. Can the signal of your Iron Robots cover such a distance?!"

Ivan Vanko, with a lollipop in his mouth, while entering code and checking the programs of these Iron Robots, turned his head and replied to Tang Song:

"Boss, these Iron Robots were specially modified according to your instructions. You don't need to worry about signal reception. Their signal reception strength is designed based on military satellite standards, and their performance is absolutely reliable. As long as there isn't a Strong Interference Source in the Subterranean World, there shouldn't be a big problem."

Tang Song nodded upon hearing this, "Then let's begin!"

Following Tang Song's command, Ivan Vanko entered the code instructions. These Iron Robots strode into the cave one by one, shut down their engines, and dropped straight down.

A Card Soldier stepped forward and turned on the Projection Equipment.

The cameras installed on these descending Iron Robots projected the picture in real-time onto the rock face in front of Tang Song.

The rapidly descending picture was somewhat shaky. After about thirty seconds, countless condensed water droplets appeared in the picture.

Four or five seconds later, the bodies of these Iron Robots were submerged in water.

This must be the Water channel that Professor Trevor mentioned! Tang Song leaned on his cane, watching the picture projected onto the wall.

The Water channel slowed down the descent speed of these Iron Robots...

After about twenty seconds, with a series of splashing sounds, these Iron Robots sank into the water one by one.

Ivan Vanko tapped the computer several times with his fingers. On the projection screen, one by one, the Iron Robots sprayed blue flames from their feet and rose into the air.

"Boss, Data Feedback: Subterranean World temperature is 105 degrees Celsius, and the Oxygen Concentration is twice that of the surface! It's not suitable for humans to stay for long periods!"

The Iron Robots were all equipped with devices to measure temperature and oxygen levels, and the data was quickly fed back to Ivan Vanko's computer.

Listening to Ivan Vanko's report, Tang Song looked at the picture projected back by the Iron Robots.

"Have them disperse in all directions, see the size of this Subterranean World, and look for anything unusual!"

"Yes, BOSS!" Ivan Vanko bit his lollipop and rapidly entered the program instructions with his fingers.

Soon, twelve Iron Robots flew away from high altitude in all directions.

The Projection Screen in front of Tang Song also split into several sections.

The pictures projected on these screens were all different: there were oceans, land, erupting volcanoes, and islands covered with green plants.

These plants, whatever species they were, could actually grow at temperatures over a hundred degrees.

Through the camera perspective of the Iron Robots, Tang Song could see that many flora and fauna in the Subterranean World emitted light, especially some Glowing Moss, which looked like they were painted with fluorescent powder in the dark.

Tang Song watched the pictures projected onto the wall with full concentration.

The two Iron Robots flying towards The East projected a picture of an ocean onto the rock face...

In the seawater, some massive creatures could vaguely be seen...

"Have the perspective of these Iron Robots look upwards!"

Tang Song looked at the shimmering ripples on the somewhat dim Sea Surface and suddenly had an idea.

Although Ivan Vanko didn't understand Tang Song's intention, his hands were quickly tapping on the keyboard.

Over a dozen Iron Robots simultaneously tilted their heads upwards, their cameras in their eye sockets aimed at the sky.

High above, a glowing gas mass several hundred meters in size emitted warm Radiance.

"Found it!"

Excitement flashed in Tang Song's eyes, "Have these Iron Robots fly up there, I want to see this gas mass clearly!"

"Yes! BOSS!" Ivan Vanko controlled the twelve Iron Robots to fly towards the sky. With the flight speed of these Iron Robots, which was several Mach, it should have taken only an instant to cover a distance of a thousand meters according to common sense.

However, as these Iron Robots got closer to this huge luminous body, the projected picture became more and more blurry, and eventually, it even turned into static.

"What's going on?" Tang Song looked at Ivan Vanko! Ivan Vanko looked at the Iron Robots that were going offline one after another on the computer, his brows also furrowed, "Boss, it should be some kind of Strong Interference Source!"

Tang Song glared at the bearer of bad news and rubbed the Black Jade Thumb Ring in his hand.

......

"Boss, you want to go down yourself? Or should I take a team of Card Soldier down first to probe the bottom?"

Upon hearing that Tang Song wanted to personally descend into the Subterranean World, even though he had anticipated it, Frank was still startled.

This was over six thousand kilometers from the surface. If something unexpected really happened to the Boss, rescue would be impossible to carry out.

"No need, you guys stay here and guard!"

The Killing Intent in the Subterranean World was related to Tang Song's hope of Sha Condensation, so Tang Song naturally wouldn't waver.

He walked to the edge of the cave leading to the Subterranean World. To be safe, he stuck over a dozen Talismans on himself, and then stepped in.

Just as Boss Tang was preparing to delve into the Subterranean World, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters welcomed a mysterious visitor.

Speaking of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, one has to mention the X-Men.

The X-Men are an Organization with a rather sensitive status.

It is the Armed Forces specifically protecting Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and the moderate Mutants who follow Professor Charles. It is composed of several powerful Mutants. Their numbers are not large, but their Strength is absolutely formidable.

In the past few years, the X-Men have not been very active, but they have participated in any large-scale activities related to Mutants.

If Professor Charles Francis Xavier, with his moderate stance, had a considerably strong base of popular support within the chaotic Mutant society, then the X-Men Organization he personally established was the sharpest knife in the Professor's hand.

It is precisely because of the existence of the X-Men that neither the hostile Brotherhood of Mutants nor certain extremist Human organizations that hate Mutants dare to go all out, fearing repercussions.

Well, it's like nuclear deterrence between civilizations.

Of course, these people are more wary of this seemingly harmless old Bald Head.

"Director Fury, hello, welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Please forgive me for not coming out to meet you!"

Nick Fury personally piloted a Quinjet and landed on the training ground of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Gretchen pushed Dr. Charles forward to greet him.

Since it was a secret visit, Nick Fury didn't alert anyone this time, not even piloting the Quinjet himself. For a veteran Agent, piloting a Quinjet was as easy as eating and drinking.

"Hello, Dr. Charles, we meet again!"

Nick Fury extended his hand and shook hands with Dr. Charles.

As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury was not meeting Professor Charles for the first time.

"Yes, several years have passed in a flash. Erik and I are both old, but I didn't expect Director Fury to still be so young!"

Professor Charles smiled, "If Director Fury doesn't mind, accompany me for a walk on the training ground!"

"The guest follows the host's lead!" Nick Fury also smiled! "Jean, go to the drawer in my Office, there's a can of good coffee there!"

Jean Grey glanced at Dr. Charles, then sized up Nick Fury, before turning and leaving.

Nick Fury pushed Professor Charles, and the two slowly strolled through the Xavier Institute.

The Manor was very large; it had been passed down from Professor Charles's ancestors and he had turned it into a school to house Mutant children.

Born into a Tycoon family, Charles could be said to have poured his heart and soul into this school! "With your Ability, you should know my purpose?"

Nick Fury pushed Professor Charles and spoke.

Professor Charles did not directly answer Nick Fury's words, but instead slowly opened his mouth and asked Nick Fury:

"Director Fury, what do you think is the difference between Mutants and Ordinary Person? They are no different, just a little extra Mutant Gene. They are both Humanity, so why should they be divided into Mutants and Ordinary Person!?"

Nick Fury lowered his head and looked at Professor Charles's Bald Head, which shone brightly under the Sunlight. Although he knew Professor Charles was speaking cryptically, he could only listen.

"I have what others don't. Before WWII, the number of Mutants was so small you could count them on your fingers. After WWII, Mutants emerged like mushrooms after rain. This is a kind of evolution for Humanity to adapt to the environment. There is no difference between Ordinary Person and Mutants, but when Mutants possess Strength that Ordinary Person don't, what they get in return is definitely not just envy, but more jealousy, exclusion, alienation, and even slaughter!"

Nick Fury slowly pushed the Wheelchair, answering Professor Charles's question:

"Unless the number of Mutants exceeds that of Ordinary Person, your pacifism is completely empty talk!"

Nick Fury was not being alarmist. As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had handled many cases involving Mutants.

Peace. Only by holding Strength in your hands can you have the Power to talk about peace.

Professor Charles has high prestige among Mutants and even has significant influence in the World Security Council. What he says, even those in power have to consider. Why? Public Opinion?

It's because of Strength! "I know something about your Matters with Hydra,"

Professor Charles hesitated, "But you should know that if I intervene, the situation for Mutants will only worsen!"

"This will give the Federal Government a Pretext. I cannot take the risk!"

Professor Charles knew how much various governments feared his Ability. The reason they tolerated him was that he never misused this Ability except for handling Mutant disputes.

If he were to truly intervene in the conflict between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Federal Government wouldn't care if he was doing it for World Peace. They would definitely impose restrictions on him, potentially affecting the entire Mutant race.

"I just want to ask the Professor to help me find the Hydra agents hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D. You experienced WWII, you should understand their Harmfulness!" Nick Fury was somewhat unwilling.

Professor Charles turned his head and looked at Nick Fury with a strange Complexion, "Director Fury, I really can't help you. Even if you knew the list of Hydra agents hidden in S.H.I.E.L.D., it would be useless!"

Nick Fury looked at Professor Charles in doubt.

"There's an Eastern proverb that says, if you find one Cockroach in your house, it means the house is already infested with Cockroaches!"

"You know there are many Hydra agents hidden in S.H.I.E.L.D..."

Nick Fury pushed Professor Charles to the edge of the pond.

Professor Charles shook his head, "I don't know, but since you would actively come to me, your Trouble must be significant, I can imagine that!"

Nick Fury subconsciously pressed his Head.

"Don't worry, I won't casually pry into your Brain without your permission!"

Professor Charles saw Nick Fury's wariness and said with a smile.

"Since you are unwilling to use your Ability, then I'll borrow a few people from you!"

Nick Fury pushed Professor Charles, with the stance that he would push him into the pond if he didn't agree.

"How many people do you plan to borrow?" Professor Charles sighed.

Nick Fury said, "Two are enough!"

......

In that uninhabited Ancient Castle in England, a Hydra meeting was held once again.

Hydra Organization meetings in the past few months have been more frequent than in the past few years combined.

The purpose of this meeting was the same as the last time: to assassinate Nick Fury.

However, this time it was to formulate the assassination Plan.

"Mr. Secretary-General, you will definitely be satisfied. You know, we've invested heavily this time."

Baron Strucker said to Alexander Pierce, his arms crossed over his chest, his head held high, explaining his Plan.

"I plan to invite three of the top three Assassin Groups in the Underworld: the Continental Hotel, the Brotherhood of Assassins, and hire twenty of the most elite Sniper,"

He deliberately coughed, pointing around as he spoke, "Besides these Sniper, we have also prepared three standard Combat Squads, equipped with ten High-Rate-of-Fire Small-Caliber Machine Guns, with a Rate of Fire reaching one thousand rounds per second. They can cover the entire target area with a barrage of bullets within ten seconds. No one can avoid such a dense Attack!"

He paused, then continued, "Furthermore, to prevent accidents, two Artillery Positions have been set up two kilometers away.

Using the three Communication Satellites owned by our Organization as positioning benchmarks,

The shooting error of a total of thirty Small-Caliber Rocket Launchers is less than five centimeters! All Artillery Shells use Pre-fragmented Warheads!"

"Pierce, what do you think of our arrangement? According to Arnim Zola's Simulated Calculation, even a Super Soldier of the Winter Soldier level would find it difficult to Escape if we Aimed at them!"

Alexander Pierce said in a low voice, extremely dissatisfied with Baron Strucker:

"Strucker, using artillery on the Federal Mainland? The Blair House incident hasn't passed yet, are you crazy!"

Baron Strucker shot Alexander Pierce a glance, saying disdainfully:

"Pierce, you've been Secretary-General for too long, your guts are getting smaller and smaller. For such a small matter, our Allies in the political sphere will handle it for us."

Alexander Pierce had a bit of a Headache. According to his Plan, he originally intended to use a team of elite Agent to quietly deal with Nick Fury.

However, this proposal was rejected by several Hydra Heads, while Baron Strucker's Plan, which he considered crude, was approved by several Hydra Heads.

Baron Zemo shook his head, forcing himself to mediate between the two sides. He asked Strucker:

"Mr. Strucker, is the Plan thorough?"

Baron Strucker grunted and nodded, saying:

"The location is chosen as New York. The New York City Government will use an Exercise as a Pretext to deploy a batch of Police Officer to blockade the nearby Street Block.

However, afterwards, our Mayor will probably have to disappear for a while."

After thinking for a moment, Baron Strucker said confidently, "The defensive Strength Nick Fury can mobilize is not strong. At most, there are only dozens of Agent, it's easy to take action against them. We've also prepared the Media."

Alexander Pierce snorted coldly, "The Media is prepared, that's good. I hope your Plan is foolproof!"

Baron Strucker frowned, saying somewhat unhappily, "Pierce, as long as your Intelligence is accurate at that time, Nick Fury will not escape death!"

Alexander Pierce's face was gloomy, and he didn't speak.

Because of the oversight at Blair House, Baron Strucker implicitly had a tendency to replace him as a Hydra Head.

This made old Pierce extremely unhappy.

Several Hydra Heads' eyebrows twitched, and they quickly glanced at Pierce and Baron Strucker, seemingly realizing something.

Baron Strucker blinked, gave a cold laugh, raised his wrist, looked at the Time, and said in a low voice:

"So, the Time is tentatively set for two months from now, how about it?"

(end of chapter)