The Savior of American Comics? I'm the Subspace Evil God!

Chapters 569, 1054, and 1055: Capture and Escape (Part 1)
"I must remind you that once I use my Level 7 agent privileges to log into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal network, regardless of whether I find any clues related to the attack on Director Fury, it will be like stepping on a landmine, triggering the internal automatic tracking and location program immediately, thus exposing our current real location in advance."

Black Widow lowered her voice to a whisper, her slender fingers hovering above the laptop keyboard, as if to make a final confirmation before the actual operation.

Upon hearing this, Captain America couldn't help but let out a helpless, bitter smile.

There was no other way; for the past few days, he and Black Widow had been moving like ghosts through the streets and alleys of Washington, D.C., through abandoned factories, cheap motels, subway tunnels…

Using Black Widow's tracking skills and his own battlefield instincts, he tries to find any clues that might be related to Nick Fury being attacked by that "fake Captain America".

However, what's bizarre is that the attacker seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving not a single clue, and Nick Fury's fate remains unknown to this day.

But what puzzled and angered him the most was that S.H.I.E.L.D. not only did not make a concerted effort to search for Nick Fury, but instead, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, launched a full-scale manhunt for him, the 'prime suspect'.

This unusual phenomenon suggests that there may indeed be some problem within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Desperate to ascertain Nick Fury's fate, Captain America ultimately had no choice but to take this risky approach.

In his view, since S.H.I.E.L.D. issued a warrant for his arrest without asking any questions, it proved that they must have some clues.

Since that's the case, it's better to take a small risk and obtain some ready-made clues from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal database than for him and Black Widow to continue wandering around like headless flies, which would save time and effort.

"call……"

Captain America took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His sharp blue eyes swept around quickly like a hawk's: a couple with their child picking out iPads not far away, a few teenagers wandering aimlessly, a salesperson patiently explaining product specifications to a customer...

No abnormalities have been found so far.

But his nerves remained tense; his years on the battlefield had given him an instinctive sense of danger.

"From the start of the tracking and location program to when the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents came knocking on our door, how much time did it take us?" Captain America asked in a low voice.

Without a doubt, this was a high-stakes gamble, risking the exposure of one's location in exchange for potential clues.

"Uh……"

Black Widow gave Captain America a deep look, knowing that he had made his choice, and then shrugged casually. "Optimistically, it should take about nine minutes. If everything goes smoothly, that should be enough time for us to leave before the pursuers arrive."

"Nine minutes..."

Captain America silently counted the number in his mind, and suddenly felt as if every second was passing by heavily, like sand in an hourglass.

He glanced subconsciously at the digital watch on his wrist, the time ticking away at a leisurely pace. "Alright, let's begin."

"OK!"

Black Widow no longer hesitated; the feigned ease on her body vanished instantly, replaced by the focus and efficiency unique to top agents.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, so fast they almost left afterimages. On the screen, lines of command code that were incomprehensible to the average person scrolled rapidly through the command interface.

Captain America then immediately took on the role of 'lookout'.

He turned slightly to the side, using his broad back to provide some cover for Black Widow's actions, his eyes sharp as he scanned every corner, every entrance, and every blind spot on the fourth floor that might conceal a threat.

Meanwhile, his peripheral vision never left the constantly changing numbers on his watch.

Time goes by every second...

During this time, several men in suits with cold expressions came up the escalator on the third floor. Captain America's muscles tensed instantly, ready to fight at any moment, but in the end, those men just walked towards the luxury store on the other side.

"what?"

Black Widow seemed to notice something amiss; her brow furrowed slightly beneath her hood, and she murmured softly with a hint of doubt in her voice:

"Before the attack, Director Fury appeared to be investigating matters related to the Star of Lemuria. I found that he had repeatedly used his directorial privileges to access the Star of Lemuria's logbook, but was refused each time..."

"What is the 'Star of Lemuria'?" Captain America asked, somewhat puzzled. He was quite unfamiliar with the name, but most of his attention remained on alert.

Without looking up, Black Widow explained, "The Star of Lemuria is a highly classified mobile launch platform ship under S.H.I.E.L.D., equipped with the latest satellite launch equipment and stealth technology. It is typically used to carry out top-secret space satellite deployments or deep-sea exploration missions."

"Now it seems that Director Fury's suspicions were mostly correct; there's definitely something wrong with that ship, and someone is trying desperately to cover something up..."

Her fingers paused, and her tone became serious. "The logbook of the [Star of Lemuria] was actually protected in real time by a very troublesome file protection program?"

"It's revoking my access permission by constantly rewriting itself. I just opened a gap, and it immediately fixed it. This is obviously not normal... There might really be crucial information here related to the attack on Director Fury."

Although Captain America's understanding of computer technology was still at the level of the 1940s, he still keenly grasped the key information in Black Widow's words and quickly asked:

"Can you bypass it? Or... forcibly rewrite or crack it?"

“Forcing it won’t work; it will trigger a higher-level alarm… I can only try it out first.”

Black Widow pursed her lips, a habitual gesture when she was thinking. "The person who developed this protection program is probably a little smarter than me, believe me, just a little..."

"Next, I'm going to try running a more advanced tracking program. This program was commissioned by Director Fury not long ago and was developed independently by Dr. Reed Richards. It's specifically designed to track the source of malware from hostile forces."

"So... even if we can't read the specific contents of the logs for the time being, we can at least use reverse tracing technology to pinpoint which server this protection program originated from... and maybe we can find clues about the mastermind behind it."

Captain America nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Because he had only a superficial understanding of terms like "tracking program" and "malware," which were far beyond his knowledge from the old era, but he trusted Black Widow's professional abilities and Nick Fury's judgment of character.

He glanced at the time on his watch again, and his heart sank. Six and a half minutes had already passed, and there were less than three minutes left until the nine-minute deadline.

Captain America couldn't help but show a hint of anxiety on his face, but he didn't dare to disturb Black Widow, who was focused on running the tracking program.

Time passes minute by minute.

Captain America could almost hear the ticking of the countdown.

“Natasha…”

Captain America glanced at the dwindling countdown on his watch and couldn't help but anxiously remind the others, "Time's running out, about a minute left!!"

"Shh... don't rush us, Captain. The more you rush, the more likely you are to make a mistake."

Black Widow's voice remained steady, but her back was already taut, clearly feeling the invisible pressure. "Almost there, locking onto the final area..." Captain America followed her gaze to the screen, where a complex network topology was flashing rapidly, with lines representing data flows spreading like a spider web, eventually converging on a specific geographical coordinate.

The search progress bar continues to move forward slowly but steadily.

Captain America looked away and glanced at the time on his watch again, feeling his heart pounding so hard it was about to drown out the music in the mall.

The last fifty seconds... forty seconds...

Captain America broke out in a cold sweat, his gaze constantly shifting between the mall's main entrances and elevators.

He could even picture S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in tactical vests, armed and ready, rapidly advancing up escalators and elevators to their fourth floor.

“You just said we only have nine minutes at most, and now there are less than 30 seconds left. I suppose the people from S.H.I.E.L.D. have already entered the mall, so you'd better hurry…”

Captain America practically spat out those words through gritted teeth, not only as a reminder to Black Widow, but also as a reminder to himself.

Just as the countdown was about to reach zero, Black Widow snapped her fingers excitedly.

"It's done!"

Black Widow let out a sigh of relief, then turned slightly to show Captain America the map area that had finally been locked onto on the computer screen. "The signal source ultimately points to this area."

Captain America originally planned to just take a quick look, memorize the location, and then immediately pull Black Widow away.

However, when his gaze fell upon the clearly marked place name, he froze as if struck by a spell.

Wilton County, New Jersey!

This place was extremely familiar to him.

The floodgates of memory opened with a bang. It was 1943, and he was a skinny Brooklyn boy who had joined the army with a burning passion for serving his country. This was the place where he underwent basic training as a recruit.

The rudimentary barracks, the muddy training grounds, and the stern instructor who always shook his head and sighed at him…

Countless long-forgotten fragments of memories, belonging solely to Steve Rogers and not to Captain America, surged into his mind.

But problems arose as a result.

Why is it there?
Could a seemingly ordinary, even somewhat backward, county town be connected to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top secrets and Nick Fury's attack?
Black Widow keenly caught the complex emotions flashing across Captain America's face. She raised an eyebrow beneath her hood and asked with some curiosity:
"What? Don't tell me you happen to know this godforsaken place?"

Captain America quickly snapped out of his reverie, his eyes regaining their clarity, though a trace of reminiscence still lingered.

He nodded with a complicated expression. "I spent some time there a long time ago."

He didn't elaborate, because now is clearly not a good time for nostalgia.

"Alright, we've got the clue. We can't stay here any longer; we need to leave immediately!"

Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Black Widow's wrist with just the right amount of force, but not enough to stop her, and pulled her quickly toward the exit of the digital zone.

They walked hurriedly, but did not run, so as not to attract unnecessary attention.

However, just as the two stepped out of the Apple Store and into the open central area on the fourth floor, Captain America keenly spotted a group of burly men in black combat uniforms with cold, stern faces emerging from the observation elevator in the distance.

They moved swiftly, their eyes sharp as knives, and quickly dispersed after stepping out of the elevator, their gazes warily scanning the surrounding crowd.

Needless to say, these people are all standard rapid response teams dispatched by S.H.I.E.L.D.!
"Attention, the standard response team has arrived."

Captain America immediately lowered his voice and, at the same time, pulled Black Widow very naturally toward a clothing store next door, using the mannequins and shelves as cover to slow down his pace.

"There are two people coming towards us from the front, and two more behind us controlling the elevator entrance. There might also be people in the direction of the fire escape."

Captain America subtly surveyed his surroundings, instantly understanding the situation: they were clearly trapped on the fourth floor.

Should we then bite the bullet and push our way out?
Doing that in a crowded shopping mall would be far too risky.

“We’ll go via the escalator. If we get spotted coming downstairs…” Captain America spoke rapidly, lowering his voice to calmly remind Black Widow beside him:

“I’ll handle them and draw their fire. You don’t need to worry about me. Just find an opportunity to go down to the underground parking garage via the staff elevator on the south side, or blend into the crowd to the subway station… We’ll meet at the usual spot.”

The "old place" he mentioned was an emergency backup contact point that the two had agreed upon before this operation.

Upon hearing this, Black Widow couldn't help but roll her eyes, and immediately retorted irritably, "Shut up, Captain. When it comes to counter-surveillance and urban stealth, I, as an agent, am more than qualified to be your teacher..."

"Now, listen to me, put your arm around my waist, and make sure your expression is natural, like an ordinary couple... Keep walking forward, and when you're about to pass those two agents, lean down, get close to me, pretend to whisper something, and give a couple of silly laughs... Yes, just like that."

Captain America was taken aback at first, but then immediately did as he was told.

He awkwardly reached out and put his arm around Black Widow's soft waist, pulling her slightly closer.

Black Widow leaned against him, tilting her head slightly as if listening.

As he was about to pass the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents approaching, Captain America lowered his head as instructed, bringing his face close to Black Widow's hood. He moved his lips, uttering a few low, meaningless syllables, while forcing a smile on his face as if he were immersed in 'sweet talk'.

Black Widow responded with a soft, coquettish laugh, her shoulders even trembling slightly.

The two agents' gazes lingered on their backs for a moment, but they saw that it was a seemingly intimate 'couple' and, finding nothing unusual, they turned their attention away and continued their search.

Successfully fooled them!

Captain America and his companion felt a slight sense of relief, but their steps did not falter as they quickly headed towards the escalator leading to the third floor.

However, for them, the more severe test has only just begun.

As Captain America and Black Widow rode the escalator downwards, reaching a height between the first and second floors, Captain America's gaze inadvertently swept towards the ascending escalator opposite, where a familiar figure immediately came into view.

The man was dressed in casual clothes, but he was physically strong. One hand was always tucked into his waistband, which was hidden by his clothes, and his eyes, sharp as a hawk, scanned the passersby around him.

It was Brock Rumlow, who had previously accompanied Captain America on numerous missions and belonged to the STRIKE special forces within S.H.I.E.L.D.!

(End of this chapter)