Chapter 27: Infiltrating the Factory

Outside the main gate of the German fortress, shaped like a factory.

Beneath the curtain of rain, a convoy of six massive German supply trucks slowly traversed the muddy ground, their clear destination the fortress garrison.

Two shadows flitted swiftly through the flanking underbrush, using the cover of night to stealthily approach the rear compartment of the last supply truck.

Kyle was the first to vault into the back, shielded only by a flimsy tarp, and upon seeing two fully armed German soldiers inside, he murmured under his breath, "One each."

He lunged at one of the soldiers, his right hand clamping over the man's mouth while his left drove half the blade of a Nepalese kukri directly into the soldier’s heart.

The other soldier, stunned by the sight of his comrade's demise, finally registered the attack and reached for his weapon—just as a young man behind Kyle leapt forward.

The steel shield, emblazoned with the Captain America insignia, crashed into the soldier’s forehead before Steve followed up with a fierce karate chop, shattering the unconscious man’s neck.

"Not a bad move, but still too slow," Kyle commented, nodding as he offered a candid appraisal.

"It’s just that you’re too fast," Steve replied with a wry smile as he dragged the soldier’s body aside.

"If you want to fight side by side with me, you’ll have to learn to match my pace." Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, tossing his dispatched victim out of the truck, Steve following suit.

A simple, brutal method of infiltration—kill and dispose.

Because this German factory was deep behind the front lines, and with countless supply trucks coming and going daily, the gate guards did not bother to inspect every rear compartment.

The convoy had no idea it was smuggling two enemy super-soldiers straight into the fortress.

Once the trucks had come to a full stop and their engines died down, Kyle and Steve slipped from the back, hiding among the piled defensive barriers. The infiltration was almost laughably easy—far simpler than their previous assault on a major base.

By then, the rain had ceased completely. Under the dim night lights, a large factory loomed within the fortress, soldiers constantly hauling crates inside.

Many patrolling guards wielded guns with blue-glowing effects, and the fortress bristled with tanks and other advanced weaponry, all focused on securing the factory.

"This doesn’t look like a military encampment at all—it really seems like a manufacturing plant," Kyle muttered, peering around. The factory rose some twenty meters, and the faint sound of machinery echoed within.

"They’re working around the clock, building something here. What could they possibly be making?" Steve wondered aloud.

What, indeed?

A flash of insight struck Kyle. He glanced at Steve, his mind already working out a plan. "Steve, we need to split up."

Steve looked at him in surprise. "Split up? Wouldn’t it be safer to stay together in here?"

"Safety isn’t the point. The priority is to quickly find where the hostages are held. If we’re discovered, the two of us can escape easily enough, but the hostages might not be so lucky." Kyle explained, "The factory is massive. If we split up, we can find them faster and rescue them immediately."

"That makes sense. You be careful, then." Steve nodded in agreement, then swiftly slipped past the patrols, making his way toward the factory building.

Watching Steve’s retreating figure, a sly grin flickered across Kyle’s face.

Sorry, brother, but you’ll be the decoy to draw the enemy’s attention for now. Consider it some on-the-job training—after all, nothing teaches better than real combat.

"A manufacturing plant… At this point in the war, what could be a more valuable energy resource for the Germans than the residual energy from the gem?" Kyle licked his lips, his outline slowly fading into the darkness until he vanished entirely.

Stealth mode—Nightstalker engaged.

Up close, Kyle was like a wraith, a shadow of mist unseen by the world, silently following in Steve’s wake.

Inside the fortress factory, the machinery was even more advanced than outside, with German workers bustling among the equipment.

Steve crept forward with great caution, more confident now without Kyle’s oversight.

With a sharp slam of a door, he crushed the head of a patrolling soldier and slipped deeper into the factory, a wisp of mist trailing him at ten paces.

"Decent skills, but that shield is such an eyesore," Kyle couldn’t help but mutter. Steve insisted on carrying a steel shield emblazoned with American stripes and stars, as if daring anyone to doubt his identity as a US soldier.

"Captain America, always the vanguard. Born to bear a shield," Kyle shook his head, continuing his silent pursuit.

Steve ascended to the third floor, where iron walkways hung above metal pipelines, and shelves stacked with blue-glowing supplies lined the corridor.

"Energy magazines?"

He picked up one of the luminous clips in surprise but, pressed for time, continued his search for the hostages.

As soon as Steve moved on, the stealthy Kyle paused by the supply racks, his excitement rising at the sight of the shelves packed with blue-glowing magazines.

Residual gem energy—how much of it was here? How many draws could he make?

Kyle’s delight was short-lived as his expression quickly sobered.

[New Energy Magazine]: A new magazine infused with residual gem energy, capable of firing devastating laser blasts. Rare green item card.

Extract?

Extract, my foot!

Kyle was speechless. He had expected these energy magazines to be of blue quality, but they were only rare green.

A rare green item card was just another green card for sacrifice when drawing. That was why Kyle was so unenthusiastic; at best, these energy magazines were useful in action, but as sacrificial material for drawing cards, he’d be better off with common green supplies from the battlefield.

"Forget it. I’d better catch up with Steve and rescue the hostages," Kyle muttered in resignation. But just as he took a step forward, he suddenly halted as a new thought struck him.

Wait.

In such a massive energy manufacturing plant, what is the main material they’re using?

"Of course! I was fixated on this junk, but this place holds one of the rarest items on earth—no, in the universe," Kyle’s heart pounded as he clenched his fists in excitement.

The Tesseract! The cosmic cube that houses the Space Stone is here!

In a flash, Kyle entered full stealth, giving no thought to exposure, and raced at top speed toward the factory’s central control hub.