"Thunderbolts, Natasha."
Within the Thunderbolts' Base on Governors Island, Upper New York Bay, in the Anti-World.
"Identity confirmed."
"Welcome, Natasha."
After passing through a series of rigorous security verification systems, Natasha arrived at a training facility.
Bang, bang, bang-bang-bang-bang!
Inside the training ground, the continuous sound of gunfire echoed.
Standing directly in the line of fire, Luke Cage clenched his fists, letting the bullets hit his body. In front of him, a line of heavily armed troops were unleashing a fierce assault, while nearby, researchers from Hydra were collecting Luke Cage's combat data.
"...Blood oxygen concentration increased by 2.6%, muscle and bone density increased by 0.3% year-on-year, and bare-handed resistance to explosions slightly increased..."
Clang, clang, clang—
Pulling his gaze away from Luke Cage, on the other side of the training facility, from a special detention room guarded by two security guards, occasional whooshing sounds of objects cutting through the air emanated. As the sounds rang out, sharp poker cards flew out through the cracks in the detention room window, accurately landing in the center of a target a hundred meters away from the detention room.
"Hey, Natasha."
Noticing Black Widow entering the training facility, the figure inside the detention room stopped his movements.
He approached the crack in the window, revealing a sickly pale face, and waved at Natasha in the distance. As he waved his arm, the clanking of chains could be heard.
Bullseye, Lester.
One of the most dangerous members of the Thunderbolts.
Due to his criminal history and impulsive murderous tendencies, Bullseye must, as required, remain confined in the detention room, locked to the floor or tied to a chair, and guarded by two security personnel when not on a mission.
Only when executing a mission would he be escorted by two guards to undertake secret tasks.
In fact, Bullseye's involvement with the Thunderbolts has always been kept secret from the public.
And the missions he performed were mostly focused on killing, such as targeting unregistered superheroes and members of the Dark Avengers.
In the previous battle with The Resistants, Swordsman was killed by him.
Natasha forced herself to ignore Bullseye's provocative actions within the detention room.
Natasha walked past the detention room and eventually reached a scene of intense combat.
Bang, bang!
Throwing away his empty handgun, a muscular man wearing a crossbones-patterned shirt roared and charged at the figure before him, swinging a dagger in his hand, causing a sharp whooshing sound in the air. At the same time, he grabbed the crossbow from his waist and aimed it at the target, pulling the trigger.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, the arrow fired from the crossbow sliced through the air.
It looked as if it was about to hit the figure before him.
At the last moment, the figure calmly twisted his body, evading the arrow's shot with unimaginable agility. At the same time, with a slight push from his legs, he leaped high like a jumper, pulling back the longbow in mid-air. The bowstring vibrated continuously in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, three arrows grazed both the muscular man's ears and cheeks.
If Colin were currently inside the Thunderbolts' training facility, he would discover that the figure's archery movements were almost identical to Hawkeye's.
It was as if the two were cast from the same mold.
"Ah!"
Just as the figure shot out the arrows, a piercing shriek came from mid-air.
The Shrieking Bird circling in the air above the facility opened its mouth wide, emitting piercing sound waves aimed at the figure who had just shot the arrows.
On the other side, affected by the Shrieking Bird's piercing call, the muscular man involuntarily covered his ears, a pained expression on his face.
Clearly, even with deliberate restraint, the Shrieking Bird's attack still couldn't completely avoid its own teammates.
In fact, this was also one of the reasons why most Thunderbolts members were unwilling to operate with her.
After all, no one would want to be subjected to such an attack without cause, especially when the attacker was their own teammate.
Affected by the Shrieking Bird's sound waves, the figure's movements paused involuntarily.
But soon, he regained his composure, shook his head, steadying himself, and looked up at the Shrieking Bird circling in mid-air. The figure turned his head, took down a circular shield, painted with a star and red, white, and blue stripes, from his back, and hurled it forcefully at the Shrieking Bird in the sky.
The next second, the shield formed a graceful arc in the air, hit the Shrieking Bird's body, and then spun back into the figure's hand.
Captain America's Shield-Throwing Technique.
Standing aside, Natasha observed the figure's combat stance, especially witnessing his act of throwing the shield.
A flicker of emotion crossed Natasha's eyes.
She looked at the circular shield, painted with a star and red, white, and blue stripes, in the figure's hand.
This was the shield used by Captain America during World War II.
However, after Captain America's demise and sacrifice, it became a war trophy for the German military at the time. It was only in modern times that it was retrieved from Germany with the assistance of the American government and Hydra, and became a weapon for the Thunderbolts.
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Hooking Captain America's shield back onto his back, the figure's gaze swept over the Shrieking Bird and Crossbones, who had been hit by the shield and fallen to the ground not far away, and then spoke.
Hearing the figure's words, Crossbones and Shrieking Bird both visibly relaxed.
Reaching out to touch his cheek, which had just barely been grazed by an arrow, Crossbones spoke with a lingering fear: "Captain, next time we fight, could you go a little easy on me? Just now, I almost thought I was going to lose my head."
"If my aim had been off, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me like this."
Facing Crossbones' complaint, the figure, or rather, Taskmaster Anthony Masters, said with a calm expression.
Taskmaster Anthony Masters, the Captain of the Thunderbolts.
Through the injection of Hydra's Super-Soldier Serum, he gained Photographic Reflexes, possessing powerful mimetic abilities. He can perfectly and precisely replicate the physical movements of a target. No matter how complex the physical movements displayed by a target, Anthony can precisely reproduce them.
Relying on the Photographic Reflexes granted by the serum and his own powerful physical attributes, Taskmaster has perfectly mimicked the combat techniques of multiple opponents, including Dark Avengers member Hawkeye's archery skills and Captain America's Shield-Throwing technique.
It's worth noting that Captain America had already perished during World War II.
Therefore, the Shield-Throwing technique mastered by Taskmaster was, in fact, learned by imitating Captain America's propaganda videos from the World War II era.
(end of chapter)