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After a while, Barnes raised his head, his eyes already filled with red bloodshot.
He shook his head slowly, his voice a little hoarse, "I have killed many people..."
"I remember every person who died at my hands... I don't think I have the right to forget them."
Lai Mu looked at him deeply. "Legally speaking, you are being brainwashed and controlled by Hydra... Maybe the judge will put you in a mental hospital, but he probably won't let you go to jail."
Barnes smiled self-deprecatingly, but the smile on his face looked a little hideous, "I know..."
There was silence for a while.
"I once participated in World War II and was a comrade-in-arms with Steve..."
He seemed to remember the days when he and Captain America fought Hydra on the battlefield. There was some pride in his eyes, but it was soon overwhelmed by pain.
Only a long sigh was left.
"Protecting people was my reason for fighting... but now I..."
He looked down at his hands, one was made of iron, the other of flesh, but both seemed to be covered in blood.
"Every one of them should be someone I protect, they are innocent...but these hands are not."
Looking at the numbness on Barnes' face, Lei Mu sighed.
"All right……"
He shook his head and put aside the depression in his heart. "I hope you can keep one thing secret. It is the record of Howard's mission on December 1991, 12."
"I did it."
The corners of Barnes' mouth twitched and he admitted it woodenly. He looked at Lai Mu, and although he didn't ask, there was obviously some confusion in his eyes.
Lai Mu had a headache... Fortunately, his future self did do something, otherwise he wouldn’t know how to untie this knot.
At that time, Stark and Captain America will have to fight each other.
"If you don't want Steve to become enemies with his other comrade...don't ask any more questions and don't tell anyone."
"Consider this my only request to rescue you from the Hydra base."
"okay, I get it."
Barnes nodded with a heavy face, but there was a hint of distress in his eyes.
As they were talking, the sound of engines and the noise of disturbed air flow were heard in the sky, and an armed helicopter flew over from the distant sky.
It was Natasha, Fury sent her to pick someone up.
At this point, Nick Fury has basically cleared out the Hydra in the Triskelion Building of SHIELD. What remains is to continue to interrogate the arrested Hydra members, get intelligence from them, and then destroy all the Hydra networks that can be pulled out.
Then, all SHIELD branches around the world will be cleaned up, and the existing personnel will be screened repeatedly to ensure that there are no remnants of Hydra who have escaped by chance.
Nick Fury has the Skrulls who can steal other people's memories. As long as he is willing to owe favors to the Skrulls, it will not be difficult for him to identify spies and obtain intelligence.
The reason why he was framed by Pierce for decades was simply because he never doubted his old boss.
The helicopter landed on the rooftop.
Barnes walked up consciously and found a seat to sit down.
Instead, Natasha looked at Barnes with some doubt.
She got off the helicopter somewhat uncomfortably, walked to Lai Mu, lowered her voice, and asked quietly, "Is he the one being escorted?"
Barnes's appearance brought back some not-so-nice memories for Natasha.
"Yes, it's him, the legendary Winter Soldier of Hydra."
"I heard that you faced him in a mission before? And you were shot?"
After hearing what Lai Mu said, Natasha subconsciously touched her abdomen, where there was still a scar left by a gunshot.
"It's really him?!"
And he didn't even want to tie it up? He seemed to be cooperating?
This female agent, who has always been smart and brave, now frowned tightly and pursed her lips.
Lei Mu shrugged. "His name is Barnes. He is a veteran of World War II and Steve's comrade-in-arms. He worked for Hydra before because he was brainwashed. He has some psychological trauma. Remember to find a psychiatrist for him when you go back."
"Also, before he is cured, don't let him hear Russian. It might trigger his implanted killing instinct."
Natasha nodded thoughtfully, feeling relieved.
She turned her head and looked at the man on the plane again, with a strange expression, "His eyes? Did you do that?"
There are two black circles under Barnes' face, neatly arranged and perfectly symmetrical, simply a work of art.
Lai Mu put his hands on his hips indignantly and rolled his eyes, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"It was obviously you, the Black Widow, who beat me!"
"Because you were shot by Barnes, you couldn't hold back your anger while being escorted, so you punched Barnes twice."
Natasha shook her head and laughed, "Okay... I think I remember now. I was the one who did it ten minutes later."
Chapter 47. Captain America's Verbal Agreement
Two days later.
Lemu visits the aerospace carrier in Earth's suborbital space.
Suborbital refers to an altitude of two to ten thousand meters above the ground, between the highest flight altitude of an aircraft and the lowest orbital altitude of a satellite.
After negotiating with Nick Fury, Lemu returned control of the systems at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Triskelion Headquarters to S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Helicarrier remained under the control of Jarvis.
Even for S.H.I.E.L.D., it is difficult to get rid of Jarvis.
They don't have the authority, nor do they have a technology level that exceeds Jarvis's, nor do they have another artificial intelligence that can compete with the current Jarvis.
Unless Nick Fury is ruthless and physically disconnects the network, clears all systems and data, and is determined to rebuild a new network system from scratch, there is no other way.
There are certainly more reasons why the spy chief is willing to compromise. He is also agreeing to accept supervision in exchange for support and trust.
SHIELD has caused the biggest lurking incident in history, with 64% of its personnel being Hydra. Who can guarantee that it won't make any more mistakes?
If you don't have your own eyes in SHIELD, why would Tony Stark and Lemu trust you SHIELD again?
Will you dare to work together in the future? You can't always worry about SHIELD stabbing you in the back?
Moreover, the Board of Directors and Congress are also very dissatisfied with SHIELD because of the Hydra lurking incident.
Will they continue to support SHIELD in the future, and if so, how much support will they give? These are uncertain. They say they are still under negotiation, but in fact, most members of the board of directors and congressmen have a negative attitude.
Nick Fury needs Stark and Lemu's connections in business and politics to help him deal with this thorny issue and fight for the right to speak in the final decision.
In case the Board of Directors and Congress completely abandon SHIELD, he will still need Stark and Lemu, the two big dogs, to provide him with financial support.
After comprehensive consideration, he kept Jarvis on the helicarrier in the name of assisting in management.
……
Lai Mu walked in the corridor of the helical carrier.
The brand new aerospace carrier has a new car smell.
But people were coming and going in the corridor, most of them in silence.
Ever since the battle at the Triskelion Headquarters, the atmosphere in S.H.I.E.L.D. has seemed a little depressing.
On the one hand, it was because of such a big hidden incident that people were panicking. On the other hand, it was because they had lost many comrades in the battle.
When passing by the medical area, I met Captain America.
He was wearing a combat uniform and appeared to have no wounds on his body, but he had just come out of the medical area.
Apparently he had just finished a mission and went to visit Winter Soldier Barnes.
They are really good friends for life... Although this pairing is a bit weird...
Steve and Lai Mu nodded to each other, and he took a few steps forward and walked side by side with Lai Mu.
"Thank you for rescuing Barnes from the Hydra base. He is my best friend."
Lai Mu smiled and shook his head gently, "You're welcome, it's not a big deal... and he is your friend, and you are my comrade-in-arms."
"But...when Barnes recovers from his injury, what are your plans?"
Hearing Lei Mu's question, Steve paused, then quickly caught up.
"He will probably stay in SHIELD... to continue our unfinished business. Barnes also wants to continue fighting Hydra and do the right thing."
After walking quietly for a while, the number of people in the corridor gradually thinned out.
Steve suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Also... closely monitor SHIELD, the world's largest spy organization... After all, something like this just happened. If there are any problems again, they can be discovered and corrected in time."
"I heard that you left an artificial intelligence on the helical carrier... You had the same idea, right?"
Steve tilted his head slightly and looked at Lei Mu out of the corner of his eye, trying to guess his thoughts from his expression.
Lai Mu was a little surprised that Steve would say this to him, but he nodded to confirm his guess.
"Yes, an organization that relies solely on internal regulation is very easy to deteriorate. Once a disease occurs, its own regulatory system will also be corrupted."
"and……"
He suddenly stopped, turned and looked at Steve, his eyes three parts joking and seven parts serious.
"I want to turn the Avengers into a permanent organization when the time is right to deal with this increasingly dangerous world... The Helicarrier is a very suitable headquarters."
"You know, a lot has happened in the past few years, including the invasion of Asgard and the Chitauri, the resurgence of Hydra... As time goes by, the contact between humans and extraterrestrial civilizations will become more and more in-depth. In the future, the Earth will not only face internal threats, but also deal with hostility from outside the sky."
Lai Mu sighed and shook his head, feeling somewhat helpless, "The foreseeable future is not optimistic."
Marvel has always been a world of troubles.
Steve was silent for a while, and his hand subconsciously touched the shield behind him. The cold texture and the memories of countless battles carried on it seemed to give him some kind of unstoppable strength.
He looked at Lai Mu with a certain expectation in his smile.
"If that day comes, don't forget me. I'm one of the original Avengers."
"Of course, you are Captain America! The Avengers can be without anyone else but you."