Chapter 170: Whispers
May 2, 2023 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
"Monster, he's a monster... They'll all die, everyone will die..."
"No, no, he's not a monster, he's a god, he's God. How can a person defeat God..."
Inside the containment room, a man in a straitjacket sat motionless by the hospital bed, muttering to himself with an expression that shifted from terror to despair.
"Is there still hope?"
Outside the containment room, Taskmaster, observing Boomerang through the small window in the door, asked with an expressionless face.
"It's not entirely clear yet."
Shaking his head, the medical personnel at the Thunderbolts' base responded hesitantly.
"What can be confirmed for now is that Fred's symptoms are likely caused by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder..."
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder primarily refers to a mental disorder characterized by a delayed and sustained reaction to an event or to the aftermath of an event that is experienced, witnessed, or confronted by the individual and that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others.
The scope can range from direct experiences like natural disasters, accidents, to violent acts, abuse, wars, or being injured, or it can be indirect experiences or witnessing the death or injury of others.
As for the cause of Fred's, or rather Boomerang's, symptoms, everyone present was aware – Colin Roper.
Or rather, Boomerang had a breakdown during his fight with Colin Roper.
Leaving Boomerang's containment room, Taskmaster passed by a pit with a "Keep Out" warning sign.
Looking up at the large hole that pierced through the entire base, and at the repair personnel surrounding it, Taskmaster's grim expression deepened.
Passing through the hole left by Colin, Taskmaster arrived at the Thunderbolts' medical area.
"You're here, Anthony."
Outside the ward, Luke Cage sat in a chair. Hearing the approaching footsteps, he looked up at the arriving Taskmaster and spoke in a hoarse voice.
Ignoring Luke Cage's greeting, Taskmaster's gaze fell on Crossbones, who was covered in tubes in the ward.
"Doctor, what's the situation?"
"I'm sorry, sir..."
Taking off his mask, the doctor in charge of the treatment replied to Taskmaster's inquiry as tactfully as possible: "We've done our best, but Brock's injuries are too severe. Extensive burns and shattered bones, with massive bleeding in over two-thirds of his internal organs. Even with the Thunderbolts' powerful medical capabilities, we can only maintain his basic life signs."
"This result is only possible because of Brock's powerful will to survive; otherwise..."
Although the doctor didn't finish his sentence, Taskmaster already understood the implication: even with the Thunderbolts' advanced medical system, they could only keep Crossbones alive for a little longer.
Given Crossbones' condition, living a few more days or a few less made little difference, and would only prolong his suffering.
Hearing the doctor's reply, Luke Cage fell silent.
In fact, it wasn't just Crossbones; all the Thunderbolts members who participated in the fight, except for him, had suffered severe injuries.
Excluding Boomerang, who had gone mad, and Crossbones, who was still in intensive care with tubes inserted.
Of the remaining two, Mister Hyde had over half of his bones fractured. If it weren't for his developed Transformation Serum, which incredibly enhanced his physical body and granted him formidable healing capabilities, he might have died on the spot from the counterattack. Even so, such severe injuries, especially to his arm, necessitated over ten hours of surgery with the help of medical personnel to realign his twisted bones.
Furthermore, due to his unique nature, Mister Hyde had refused the insertion of any steel pins to stabilize his injuries.
He could only rely on small doses of medication to stimulate his body's healing abilities to recover.
Moonstone's injuries, while not as severe as Crossbones' or Mister Hyde's, meant she had lost the source of her power. Her emotional state had become extremely unstable.
This was just the loss on the Thunderbolts' side. Adding to that were the heavy casualties of numerous guards in the secret prison.
The entire Thunderbolts team had suffered immensely in this prison break.
After reporting Crossbones' current condition, the doctor discreetly made space for them to talk.
Pulling his gaze away from the tubed Crossbones, Taskmaster turned to Luke Cage beside him and asked in a level tone, "Tell me, Luke, why are you the only one unharmed?"
"I don't know."
Shaking his head, Luke Cage's expression was a mixture of confusion and self-reproach.
Under Taskmaster's gaze, he remained silent for a long while before speaking in a low voice, "Perhaps it's because I saved Colin Roper once, so he held back against me."
If he could, Luke Cage wished Colin hadn't held back.
"Held back."
Upon hearing Luke Cage's answer, Taskmaster's eyes narrowed slightly, his grim face betraying no change in expression.
"Moonstone Gem, my gem!"
In the disheveled ward of the base, Moonstone, Karla Sofen, let out a piercing scream.
"My power, that's the power I finally obtained, give it back to me, give it back to me..."
Ever since she woke up, her emotions had been in a state of instability.
Due to prolonged fusion with the Moonstone Gem, the gem had become a part of her body. With the gem removed, Karla Sofen exhibited severe discomfort, and this condition only intensified with time.
"...The power I gave you, find it..."
In the chaotic ward, Karla's expression suddenly froze.
The surrounding air became agitated, and a dense whispering echoed in her ears. The murmuring voice seemed incredibly distant, and despite Karla's best efforts, she could only faintly discern whispers. As she stifled her sharp cries, the whispering grew louder.
Karla found that everything around her seemed to become illusory. All things in the ward began to sway and distort, as if enveloped by an unknown power, and within these layers of enveloping fog, the original whispering seemed to become clearer.
In her daze, Karla felt a tearing and crushing sensation within the wound on her chest, the area where the Moonstone Gem had once been integrated.
Stimulated by the pain, her consciousness became even more blurred.
Layers upon layers of dense fog completely obscured everything in the ward. As the fog enveloped Karla herself, she opened her eyes.
Guided by her sight, Karla saw a colossal figure seated on a throne, speaking in a deep voice, under the guidance of the shattered green light in its hand, piercing through countless dimensions to tell her, "Find the Time Gem fragments!"
...
"The power I gave you, find it..."
[Contact with a Twisted Time Node, collected a small amount of Time Shards x0.5]
"Only 0.5?"
With countless whispers echoing in his ears, Colin looked at the displayed 0.5 [Time Shard] on the text, a look of regret on his face.
Ever since he obtained this Moonstone Gem, he had been trying to extract [Time Shards] from it.
The Moonstone Gem's primary function, granting its wielder extraordinary abilities, held little attraction for Colin.
After all, his battle with Moonstone had proven that.
No matter how powerful the abilities granted by the gem were, they were no match for him.
Given that, why would Colin accept them? The gem's power had little effect on him anyway.
"Might as well..."
Lost in thought, Colin's gaze fell upon the Moonstone Gem in his hand.
From the [Time Shards (Karla Sofen)], it was clear that accepting the Moonstone Gem's power was not without its cost.
The initial wielder of the gem's power, a prisoner, believed there was some will within the gem trying to alter his thoughts and make him do something terrifying.
However, Karla Sofen was unconcerned. Driven by her greed for the gem's power, she readily accepted the abilities it bestowed.
Concluding his recollection of Karla Sofen acquiring the Moonstone Gem's power, Colin lowered his head to look at the faintly glowing gem in his hand.
Judging solely by its appearance, this gem was indeed quite special and alluring.
Even disregarding its inherent powerful abilities, it was a rare treasure.
Crack, crack—
Unfortunately, Colin's resolve was not swayed by the Moonstone Gem's appearance.
As the fingers holding the gem tightened slightly, fine cracks began to spread across the surface of the Moonstone Gem.
The gem was incredibly hard; even enduring the force of an explosion head-on wouldn't have harmed it.
But clearly, Colin was outside the range of damage the Moonstone Gem could withstand. As the force in his hands increased, the hardened gem could no longer bear the immense pressure and shattered instantly.
And at the moment the gem shattered, the previously faint whispering voices became clearer.
Simultaneously, amidst a burst of bright light, the gem's fragments and whispering voices intertwined, as if being pulled by an invisible force, forming a blurry figure that appeared before Colin.
This blurry figure, condensed from the fragments of the Moonstone Gem, stood motionless. Red mist continuously poured from its left arm, maintaining its form. It rotated its armor-clad body, then lowered its head to gaze at Colin. Countless voices seemed to emanate from all directions.
"I found you, Time Gem fragment!"
[Contact with a Twisted Time Node, collected a large amount of Time Shards x60]
...
"...Dr. Hank Pym's contact has been consistently lost..."
"His residence?"
"Personnel have been dispatched. Nothing inside has been moved. It appears Dr. Hank Pym never returned."
"It seems that was the primary target of the explosion."
"Notify the Federal Government. Deploy the Thunderbolts to apprehend Dr. Hank Pym. The charges will be theft of Hydra's important research..."
Inside the Hydra base.
Amidst a conversation, Banner opened his eyes.
In a blur, he saw Helmut talking with his secretary, Pepper. Sensing Banner's awakening, Helmut paused his conversation, nodded to his secretary, and then stepped towards Banner.
As Helmut approached, Banner finally noticed his own situation. He was securely restrained on the laboratory bed.
With his frail body, he couldn't break free from the restraints.
"You're awake, Dr. Banner."
Looking down at Banner lying motionless on the laboratory bed, Helmut spoke with an evident tone of regret, "I'm sorry to meet you like this again. Everything that's happened these past few days has been too terrible."
"..."
Taking a deep breath, Banner observed Helmut's reaction and, struggling to control his panic, questioned, "What do you intend to do to me?"
"Nothing, just make you forget some things."
He didn't conceal his purpose. Or rather, Helmut was confident that when Banner regained consciousness later, he wouldn't remember their conversation.
"So, everything Dr. Hank Pym said is true. Hydra really has a problem."
Helmut was clearly unaware of Banner's prior contact with Hank. Hearing his words, his expression paused slightly before he said, "It seems, Dr. Banner, that you've also been hiding some things from me."
"Am I hiding as much as you are, Mr. Helmut? Those human experiments in the labs, the serum experiments have just completed reverse-engineering. There's no clear data for anything about the serum yet, yet you're already impatiently using it in human trials. This is completely reckless and disregard for life..."
Banner recalled the human experiments he had seen in the laboratory where people were injected with serum, and his emotions became agitated.
"All of this is for a better future, Dr. Banner."
"I believe you will understand."
"Understand?"
"Do you think I'll help you research after all this has happened?"
"I believe you will."
Regarding this, Helmut said no more. He merely tilted his head and nodded to the Hydra researchers behind him.
Immediately, a researcher in a white coat placed a special metal headpiece onto Banner's head.
"Because, you'll soon forget all of this."
As Helmut's words fell, a blinding white light emitted from Banner's headpiece, accompanied by the sound of electrical stimulation and a scream.
"Ah!"
Thanks to book friend 20190524195133970 for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.
(end of chapter)