Don't Own anything.
'thought'
"Speech"
"Tvs, Radios, and Text via book or newspaper... when those are around..."

I sit atop the hood of a simple jeep a small smile on my face.

"You handle yourself well." Steve states as he takes apart the gun he was wielding and begins looking through it.

"Thanks." I nod once. "That was my first time getting into a life or death fight, but I like to think I did pretty well. At least I didn't bleed. That probably saved some lives."

"Wait... were you being serious about the blood thing? I thought you just didn't want to go into combat." He mutters in surprise.

"Oh, I was being completely serious." I answer. "Deathly serious. I tend to tell people how it is. If you lie a lot, people tend to not trust your word even when you're telling the truth."

There's a small blinding flash in front of us as I glance to its origin. I can see a man in a green helmet, a large box in his hands.

A camera.

One that must be held with two hands, and one that can more than likely only produce black and white photos.

Huh... I wonder if I'm going to be in a history book now.

My gaze focuses back onto Steve as I shoot him a small grin. "Anyways, I'm going to go see if I can whip up anything useful out of the supplies here. See ya around, cap."

I hop off the hood of the truck and turn, wandering off deeper into the camp.

Thinking on it... going to war has... put a bit of a hamper on my overall path to power.

If I was still back in America... given free rein to do what I want... winning underground boxing tournaments and other challenges left and right to earn money... I would likely be finished with unlocking my Nose acupoint by now... yet here I am, at sixty percent...

I started at fifty-nine percent about four months ago, and that was merely because I had eaten that big ass black truffle.

A shudder passes through my body as I remember the flavor of it, a small cringe appearing on my face.

'Ugh. Too rich and decadent.'

Regardless. This war has taken a toll on my time to better myself.

That is mildly annoying.

I take a potion off a Bunsen burner and briefly dip my finger into it.

I taste he potion and put a cork in it.

Acceptable.

The potion rolls around my tongue as I narrow my eyes slightly. 'ooh... it's got a- no... It's got two witch master potion effects... and both seem to synergize quite well with each other.'

The potion itself is a simple stamina potion. It should temporarily remove the physical and mental fatigue of the person who takes it... with it of course becoming far less effective over time.

The secondary aspects of this potion, however, is that it grants whoever drinks it a temporary healing factor and an enhancement to strength that is... quite substantial. It should be about a... one hundred percent increase. So a flat double. Then there's the healing factor to consider, which should close a gunshot wound in about ten seconds.

This would be genuinely world shattering if I give it to an already enhanced person. In fact, an enhanced is the only person I should ever consider giving this to. Merely due to the rarity of these effects.

"Arthur." A voice behind me begins.

I turn, seeing the woman who dragged me into this mess, Peggy Carter herself.

"Yes?" I hum as I take the test tube and use a pen to carve a '+S' and '+H' on it.

"A package has come for you... you are required to be there to open it."

"Huh?" I hum. "That's unusual. I thought I cut ties with my family."

"It was not your family who sent it. It is something that was sent over by the United States military itself." She informs.

I place the vial down on the table and slowly turn, cupping my chin. "Alright... that is... even more unusual. Let's go see what it is."

I follow her through the camp, eventually coming to a fairly large wooden crate.

There are a few stickers on the front of the box, the first being 'Priority Shipping'.

Another reading 'Living Creature'.

A third is just a large skull and crossbones.

"Oh boy. A present?" I snort with a small eye roll. "Bit late for Christmas, but I'll take it."

A small crowd of people have gathered around the crate, idly wondering aloud what it could be.

Even Cap himself is here.

"Anyone got a crowbar?" I question.

I see a man with a glorious mustache and bowler hat heft the item in question. "I was gonna open it myself if you didn't get here soon."

I let out a snort as he gives the metal an underhanded toss, catching the prybar with one hand.

"Let's see here..." I mutter under my breath before casting a glance around the group. "I'd suggest maybe taking a step back. It says venomous. Which probably means some sort of snake... I hope it's a cottonmouth. I've never had one of those before."

I jam the crowbar in between the wood and with a leveraging push the wood cracks off.

There's a second box inside, this one with a wooden handle driven into it, allowing it to be slid out of the larger box.

I do so, revealing a few files placed atop the box.

I take them off and hold them behind me for someone to take.

I can hear Peggy let out a quiet sigh and take them and begin flicking through them.

"I'll read those later... right now I feel like I shouldn't take my eyes off this." I mutter as I gently run my finger along the roof of the box.

"From skimming it... this appears to be the result of that 'Goo' thing you told me about." Peggy mutters.

My head snaps to look at her before slowly trailing back to the box. "Gu? oh... this will probably be impressive, then."

I crack open the next crate, then pull my hand back as a reptilian head nearly sinks its massive fangs into my hand. A fairly large head rises from the crate, a rattling hiss echoing from its mouth as it looms above my crouched form, there are worried mutters from the surrounding soldiers as Peggy takes a few careful steps backwards.

"Oh? What are you?" I question, a small smirk on my face.

I waggle my fingers at one side, causing its eyes to dart to the appendage.

It strikes, but I pull my hand back, avoiding the bite as I grab it by the neck with my other hand.

I pull it from the box, glaring into its eyes.

It grows limp and passive as I shift my grip, the snake coiling around my arm as I pull it out of the box.

"Well now... aren't you pretty." I whistle as I take in the serpents full appearance.

It is a briliant blood red in color, with black markings peeking through in between its scales... and its scales. Ohoho brilliant. They are jagged and angular, looking like the thorns on a vine. Its eyes are like pools of midnight, with barely visible pupils of a slightly different shade of black.

I look over to Peggy as the snake slithers up my arm and loosely wraps around my shoulder. "This is a bush viper, right?"

She audibly swallows then nods once now that I seem to have the snake under control.

"Yes. According to this, it is a bush viper. Scientific name Atheris hispida."

"Ah. African hairy bush viper. Interesting." I hum. "A special trait of bush vipers being that there's no sole antivenom for them as the toxicity of the snake in question can change between different specimens of the same species, the location of the bite, the weather and even humidity. I've heard its quite a bothersome venom to deal with... plus, generally hard to obtain in general due to their habitats and nocturnal nature.

I glance to the head of the snake resting on my shoulder. "He's a bit larger than a bush viper should be... most top out at around two and a half feet... yet this guy is well over six. How interesting."

I gaze in the box and see an empty sack that the snake seems to have gotten out of, carefully lifting it and checking throughout the rest of the box.

"Was he all they sent?" I question.

"Yes. There were three successful experiments using your instructions, and taking into account your ability to manipulate snakes, they sent the only snake to us, while keeping a spider and scorpion for further testing."

"How many experiments did they attempt?"

"One hundred." She answers.

"So... a three percent success rate, hn? Those are some bad odds, buuuut." I stroke the side of the snake's head with a small grin. "Can you deny the results?"

"The files seem to be listing the changes of this... transformation." She gestures to the snake.

"Alright, I'll go take a look at those now."

She gives the snake a cautious gaze as I reach out my hand, but she eventually places the files in my waiting hand.

"Thank you for coming to get me, Peggy. This guy would have likely killed a couple of you if you had just opened the box without me here."

I begin flipping through the papers as I walk back towards my tent.

'Oh? Interesting... this little dude used to be green... and frankly he was a bit undersized. A juvenile. But over the three month period inside the darkness of the Gu pot, it appears to have hunted and consumed numerous other venomous and poisonous creatures.'

It had apparently liquified a rat they put in its cage. The rat in question dying after merely a short two seconds after being bitten.

Normally it would take anywhere from thirty to sixty seconds to be rendered complexly immobile... and from the way the papers described this bite, it sounds like this was a glancing blow, more than anything.

I offer my hand to the snake as I enter my tent.

"Bite me." I order.

Its fangs sink into my flesh, causing me to let out a low hum.

The world seems to spin for a moment as I stagger forwards, placing a hand on the table to stabilize myself.

"H-Holy shit." I whisper.

This snake...

It managed to nearly bring me to my knees seconds after being bit.

My hand twitches and shakes as a warm haze of pain slowly creeps up my limb.

The rattlesnake venom within my left atrium slides down into my right ventricle, which is storing the cyanide I had previously consumed. the two poisons beginning to mix and combine as I take a seat on the ground, crossing my legs and taking deep meditative breaths as I close my eyes.

Let's see if this venom can do anything for me.

I pinch my nose closed with a small sigh.

Fucking nose acupoint.

I had known it would fucking suck for a while after opening it, but really? Even three whole months after unlocking it I still cant control my sense of smell?

So fucking annoying.

It looks like I WILL be forced to wait until the third stage of cultivation before I can control this.

That's looking to be a fairly long way away. Getting Diablo here- yes, I've named the snake as she is my pet now- might have sped up my cultivation speed immensely, but even still when I am not given much time to actually cultivate... I don't see myself progressing much.

It has been Hydra Base after Hydra Base for us.

After hitting that one in France, we took a trip to Belgium. Then to Czechoslovakia.

Three bases down in four months.

"Are you alright, Dragon?" Steve questions, a look of concern on his face as he looks over his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Cap. Just not used to being in a city again. Opening my nose acupoint has really fucked my sense of smell. The exhaust fumes are giving me a damned headache." I sigh as I rub my temple.

On that note.

I reach into my belt and slowly remove several thin needles pricking in key spots of my left hand.

Instantly I can feel the nausea and headache lessen as I let out a small calmed breath.

The nose acupoint has been a bit of an issue, yes, but overall I'd say the benefit of it has outweighed the negatives.

I didn't unlock a special trait, sure, but something that all cultivators get at this level is that through merely breathing... we collect and store ambient energy from the world around us. Taking it deep within us and strengthening our bodies.

Each and every breath I take brings me closer and closer to unlocking my next acupoint, though by no means is it much.

I'm... reasonably close to my next step. The Ear Acupoint. Roughly ninety percent of the way there. To put the speed of 'breathing cultivation' into perspective, it would take two years of breathing while doing absolutely nothing to finish off that five percent... at least here in the city. I could likely shave off a lot of time by sitting around in an area full of natural ki... or like, even a forest, really.

We both glance upwards as incredibly loud sirens fill the air.

"It looks like the information was correct." Steve frowns, glaring off into the distance as small dots seem to appear.

"It's times like this I wish I was a higher-level cultivator... if I was at stage three- or, hell, even two I could likely take down some of those planes from here."

"What's the deal with that anyways... can anyone really get this strong?" The man asks.

"Truthfully? No. Not everyone can, because the items required to get started either don't exist or are so rare you'd never find them. You need basically the equivalent of a super soldier serum, and for a normal person, one without my ability to break down and use poisons to better myself, after they achieve their first 'level up' into something more than just a person, you'd need to worry about continuing to find these plants and other items... and let me just say... I have only found one plant in my entire life that was useful in Chinese cultivation... and it was a black truffle, probably fifty years old or so, nearly the size of my torso."

I slowly turn to the buff man. "Anyways? I could possibly get you to the first stage fairly easily... I wonder if the Super Soldier serum would have any effect on cultivation... I wonder if you would get even stronger."

"We will worry about that later. First, we need to get in position. The intel said that the Hydra spies will be infiltrating the Strategic Scientific Reserve to retrieve documents and blueprints. We should be prepared to stop them."

I nod once. "If I had to make a bet, I'd say that they have a submarine or something docked at, well, the docks. Should I start heading down there, placing myself in their path when they try to escape?"

The man cups his chin, a frown on his lips.

"Go to... the air raid shelter in the train station at seventh's street. It is roughly halfway to the docks, and I could see the spies going in to hold everyone hostage once they realize I'm on their tail."

"Got it." I nod once as I turn and begin running, faster than before, but still not at the level of Steve himself.

The Super Soldier Serum is a genuine marvel in what it has accomplished. I'd say that it has given him the body of a stage two cultivator... which, bare minimum, is roughly twice as strong as even the strongest stage ones.

He doesn't have the ability to manipulate ki, which stage twos get, though.

Explosions rock the city as planes buzz overhead, I'm forced to slow my pace somewhat to avoid the bombs as they fall. After around ten minutes of running I slide to a halt just in front of a large underground train station.

I take a step just inside and cross my arms.

I quietly wait there for about ten minutes... then I can hear it... faint gunfire that is drawing closer and closer.

My eyes slowly crack open as I push off the wall, my finger tapping on my bicep as I wait a little more. Seconds ticking by mutely.

*CRASH*

The gunfire which had reached just outside abruptly stops as there's a loud crashing noise. "DAMN IT!"

"Quick! Into the-"

A man comes around the corner as I grin.

I punch forwards one knuckle extended. My sneak attack is successful as my blow to the solar plexus knocks the man to the floor, the three others barely have time to react as I step forwards, jabbing a second in the ribs with my index finger, stabbing upwards with my other hand, catching a third man just below the corner of his jaw and nearly lifting him off the ground with my enhanced strength, and the final man gets a two-fingered jab to the collar bone.

All four men collapse to the floor as a motorcycle screeches to a halt right beside their crashed vehicle.

They writhe in pain from their triggered pressure points, the third guy having his jaw dislocated entirely. I act fast, quickly looming over each, prying open their mouth, and ripping a tooth free from their heads.

The first three let out pained gurgles as their mouths begin to fill with a little blood, but... it's better than the poison these teeth contain.

The last guy, however?

*Crack*

He bit down on the tooth, releasing the trapped poison within.

"…"

"I really wish you didn't do that." I frown at him as he gives me a smug look, spitting out a pained growl as I approach him.

"Heil... Hydra!"

I flip him over, grabbing his white button up shirt and with a flick of my wrist I rip off the chest portion.

I reach down to my belt and retrieve a steel lockbox and a set of five needles.

Steve walks up, looking over the three men which I have subdued, then the briefcase they were carrying.

The fourth spy's eyes lose some focus as I open the lock box, revealing numerous little sealed bottles. I stab a needle through the thin film protecting the first bottle, then as the man closes his eyes, resigning himself to his fate, I, with incredible precision, I stab the acupuncture needle in the center of his torso, just barely avoiding his sternum and causing the tip of the needle to just barely pierce into his heart.

His eyes snap open as he writhes, letting out a shout of agony as I take a second needle, poke it into a different vial, and stab this one into roughly the area of his collar bone, causing his body to stiffen and become ridged, making it as if he is standing at attention. His pupils shake in contained agony as white foam froths around his lips.

"So, only one of them managed to poison themselves?" Cap questions as he looks down on the man I am crouched over as I stab seven more needles into the guy at various locations around his chest.

"Yeah. Luckily, I got to them quick enough. I doubt I could babysit all four of them... but one is manageable. This guy might have gained Arrythmia from that needle I stabbed his heart with to administer the first shot of my counter venom, but that's not a guaranteed chance... besides, a little Arrythmia never hurt anyone... until it does... regardless, it's better than being dead.

I watch Steve withdraw some handcuffs and quickly imprison the other people I have captured.

I walk over to the discarded teeth and carefully place them in a wooden box. It's unlikely that I'll use this poison later, as it's in a tooth, but it still shouldn't be here in the middle of the street. It might hurt someone if we leave it.

A building down the street explodes as the whistle of a falling bomb reaches our ears.

"We need to get these guys inside." I frown.

Steve, without a second of thought, reaches down and picks up one of the men, placing him on his shoulder, then takes the other two uninjured men, one under each arm.

I grab the shoulders of the man below me and gently begin dragging him inside.

Steve returns before I can even make it twenty feet with the guy.

"How do we do this?" He asks.

"We need to keep him level and without jostling him too much. The needles are at specific depths and locations."

"I see."

With his help, we manage to transport the man down the stairs.

Muted droning wails of sirens echo in the distance as I sit down, back against the wall of this improvised bomb shelter, Steve towers nearby, looking down at three men who aren't laid out in agony, just daring them to try anything.

He turns, walking over to the wall I am sat against, then leans against the wall as well.

"So. Your Counter Venom. It's my first time seeing it work. Does it really work the way it sounds?" He asks, making conversation. It has been a fairly boring time, waiting for the bombing to subside.

"It... does." Nod after a brief moment to think over it. "In a sense."

I gesture to the prone spy. "You see this man? His shaking eyes. The light shivering in his hands?"

He glances over to the man, a frown on his face.

"He is in ceaseless agony." I explain. "That is the downside of my counter venom... as... it is still a poison."

"Is there anything you can do to stop his pain?"

I look up at him, then sigh and shake my head. "No. There isn't. I haven't perfected a numbing agent yet... and, while I could render him unconscious with pressure points, that increases his chance of death from around two percent up to ten."

"You are far too kind for your own good, Cap." I note. "Caring for people like them even after all they've done."

"Nobody should be tortured like that. If they have to die... it should be quick and painless." The man declares.

Seeing that the conversation got a little dark, he moves back to the venom itself. "Does your counter venom work on all poisons?"

"Technically yes, but it's a balancing act. I need to know what they are poisoned with and how bad it is in order to administer the correct amount of counter venom. Too little, they are killed by the original poison. Too much, the counter venom overpowers the other poison and takes their life... and there is no method to counter this poison as it is right now... well, besides injecting more venom or poison into them, of course."

I find my eyes straying over to the prone German. "There is a crucial downside, however... the more potent the original toxin, the more I have to administer... the more I use, the more painful it becomes for the patient in question... and considering that Hydra Cyanide is quite a bit more potent than normal Cyanide..."

I shake my head and look away. "So, did you check what they were trying to steal?"

"Blueprints for weapons, mostly. Then a few chemical compounds made by Howard."

"If it was made by Howard, I'm glad that they didn't get their hands on it. He makes some crazy shit. Some of the stuff makes even my creations look tame in comparison."

"They're not that bad." Steve snorts.

"Oh yeah?" I joke back. "Just wait till he shows up with 'robo-cap' or something. He walks it out here, it takes a rock to its head and activates its 'kill all humans' protocol."

"I wonder if a robot could match my strength." He mutters to himself as he clenches a fist.

"I doubt it." I snort with an eye roll.

I tilt my head and I can hear it... for the first time in about eight hours... the sirens have stopped.

I rise to my feet, giving the snake wrapped around my neck a brief scratch under the chin, I look to the man in blue and red.

"Shall we?" I question.

He shoves off the wall, offering me a single nod.

Here. Have another chapter of this. I hope you enjoyed it.