"Siberia. There's a HYDRA fortress base there. The Winter Soldiers were all gathered in that place."
At this point, every Winter Soldier besides himself had already been killed, so there was no reason to hide the location anymore.
Better to lure Steve there.
Sam walked over beside Steve and spoke quietly.
"If this had happened a week ago, things would've been simple. But now? Tony and the others won't believe us. And even if they do, who knows whether that damned Accords agreement will even allow them to help?"
Steve remained silent.
Because he knew Sam was right.
He knew Tony still trusted him—otherwise he wouldn't have let him leave in the first place.
But the Accords were a set of shackles.
Even if Tony wanted to help, the agreement would force him to compromise.
"We can only rely on ourselves now."
Steve raised his head, determination returning to his eyes.
"Maybe not. I might be able to find us some help."
Sam raised a brow.
He remembered the guy they'd run into on the rooftop at Avengers Headquarters—the thief.
Scott Lang. Ant-Man.
Steve clearly knew who he meant, and the two immediately decided to go find Scott.
---
Meanwhile, the New Avengers Headquarters received an unwelcome guest.
Secretary of State Ross.
He arrived alongside several hundred special forces soldiers and a heavily armed modern weapons unit.
Clearly, he hadn't come with peaceful intentions.
The moment the helicopter landed, Ross impatiently stepped out.
"Special forces, follow me upstairs. Everyone else standby."
With that, Ross strode toward the building.
Tony had already informed him that Karl was currently inside the base.
Ross had come specifically to hold people accountable.
Before Ross's aircraft had even landed, Tony already knew he was coming, so he had gathered everyone in the command room ahead of time.
Ross made his way through the base without obstruction and immediately spotted Karl lounging casually in a chair.
T'Challa and Erik sat nearby as well.
Clearly, they'd also been summoned.
"Tony Stark, tell me where Steve Rogers and the others are right now! And why is this man sitting here? You should have thrown him into the highest-security prison available!!"
Ross pointed directly at Karl, his tone unbearably arrogant.
Suddenly—
The temperature inside the entire room surged.
Several fist-sized fireballs appeared behind Karl's head.
Despite their small size, they instantly turned the entire command room scorching hot.
Sweat immediately poured down Ross's face.
Whether from heat or fear was hard to tell.
"How dare you!! I am the United States Secretary of State! You are threatening national security!"
Ross's imposing aura instantly weakened, though he still stubbornly barked back.
His confidence came from the modern weapons unit stationed outside.
At the same time, the special forces soldiers who had entered alongside him all raised their guns and aimed at Karl.
Karl didn't even glance at them.
At his current level of strength, bullets couldn't even get within a foot of him.
"Enough nonsense. Keep pushing me and I'll scatter your ashes to the wind. I only agreed to Betty's request to spare you once."
Karl waved a hand, and the floating fireballs vanished instantly.
Though the terrifying heat lingered.
Ross immediately fell silent.
Because he knew Karl wasn't joking.
So he shifted the target of his anger toward Tony instead.
"Tony Stark, I am ordering you to arrest Karl Norman immediately!"
Tony snorted in amusement after hearing that.
He didn't even bother moving.
At this point, Ross looked like nothing more than a clown.
Besides, Tony respected the Sokovia Accords—not Ross himself.
"Mr. Secretary, if you came here just to spew nonsense, then you can leave."
Erik showed Ross absolutely no respect.
As Wakanda's prince, Erik's status completely surpassed that of a mere Secretary of State—even an American one.
Ross naturally knew Erik's background.
Former black-ops operative.
A man who specialized in dirty work.
Who would've guessed he'd turn out to be royalty?
"Ahem…"
Ross pretended to cough to hide his embarrassment before continuing.
"Have you located Steve Rogers yet?"
Tony shook his head.
"No. But we will. Border forces are monitoring every exit point. They can't leave the United States."
"You still don't understand, Stark. This matter is no longer yours to handle. You're incapable of viewing it objectively. I'll have special forces take over."
Nobody in the room looked surprised.
This was the expected outcome.
Tony's relationship with Steve was obvious.
And Ross would never hand such an opportunity over to someone else.
"What happens if there's a firefight? Are you planning to kill Steve Rogers?"
Natasha looked directly at Ross as she spoke.
"If he refuses to surrender peacefully, then even Captain America becomes an enemy of the United States."
Ross answered word by word.
"If he hadn't interfered, our special forces could've eliminated Barnes the moment we located him."
"This situation can't be solved through force alone. We need to handle it ourselves."
Tony immediately cut in.
If special forces got involved, there would absolutely be open conflict.
And innocent people would inevitably get hurt again.
That was the exact reason they'd been pressured into signing the Accords in the first place.
"Give me seventy-two hours."
Tony spoke decisively.
As long as Steve hadn't left the country, Tony believed he could find him within three days.
"This is your final deadline. By then, I expect to see Rogers, Barnes, and Wilson all in custody."
Ross swept his gaze across the room.
He deliberately avoided looking at Karl before pretending to remain calm and walking out of the command center.
He didn't mention Karl again.
Only after leaving Avengers Headquarters did Ross issue another order.
"The mobile response unit will remain on standby. Monitor Karl Norman at all times. If necessary, lethal force is authorized."
The mobile response unit was the heavily armed anti-superhuman force brought specifically to deal with enhanced individuals.
---
Inside the meeting room, after Ross left, Karl stretched lazily.
"Well, that's settled. I'm heading out."
Natasha immediately stood up.
"We're seriously short on manpower. You're not planning to stay and help us?"
At the moment, Tony's side only consisted of herself and Tony.
T'Challa and Erik's stance remained unclear.
Right now was exactly when they needed someone like Karl.
"Help with what? I'm on the anti-Accords side. You should already feel lucky I'm not helping Steve deal with you guys instead."
Karl answered casually.
Then, right in front of everyone, he pulled out a Chocobo Whistle.
The moment he blew it—
His entire body vanished from sight.
Natasha sighed.
She already knew Karl wasn't going to help them.
So she turned toward Tony instead.
"Looks like we need more people."
"Yeah. If Bruce were here, things would be easier. Any idea where he went?"
Tony asked.
A while ago Bruce had said he was going to "deal with Hulk."
Then he completely vanished without a trace.
At this point, Tony honestly didn't know whether Bruce had solved the Hulk problem…
Or if Hulk had solved Bruce instead.
Still, Tony wasn't worried about Karl in the slightest.
Karl had always hated government authority.
And like he said—
The fact he wasn't actively helping Steve fight against them was already a blessing.
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