"Warning, warning! All personnel, put on your gas masks! Toxic fog will be released in three minutes…"
Inside the Hydra Base, urgent alarms blared incessantly.
Inside the Project Rebirth Laboratory, at the control console.
Scott looked at the dense circuit boards before him, took a deep breath, and approached the storage device.
"Form up! Alright, guys, let's move!"
Using the Brainwave Device within his helmet, he directed the ants into position.
With Scott's command, Anthony crawled to his side, turned, and arched its abdomen, firing a Decryptor at the storage device.
Landing on the storage device, the Pym Particles acting on the Decryption Device instantly failed as a faint current flickered.
"Begin decryption."
Tony's flippant voice rang in Scott's ears.
"Decryption successful. Copying data…"
The Decryption Device created by Howard began to operate, and Scott's mission was essentially more than halfway complete.
All that remained was to wait for Tony to copy all the data from the laboratory, then exit the Hydra Base.
Looking up at the progress bar displayed on the device, Scott peered through the perforations of a heat vent, glancing at the situation outside the laboratory.
Because of the alarm, all researchers in the laboratory had already evacuated the room.
At the same time, most of the laboratory's passages remained completely sealed off, including the ventilation shaft Scott had used before.
"Water pipe."
However, amidst such tight seals, Scott still found a loophole.
The sink in the laboratory, seemingly prepared for researchers' daily cleaning, now served as Scott's escape route leading out of the base.
Having confirmed his escape route, all that was left was the remaining data transfer time.
Turning his head to see the progress bar, which had already passed one-third of the copying progress, Scott's heart immediately settled.
"Indeed, you're the best, Scott!"
Beneath his helmet, Scott's triumphant expression hadn't fully formed when the alarm that rang inside the base the very next second instantly changed his expression.
"What? Toxic fog? Is there a need to go this far?!"
"I just came to steal something!"
He had never imagined that a seemingly ordinary infiltration mission would involve releasing toxins.
At the control console, Scott's expression drastically changed.
Listening to the incessant countdown blaring with the alarm, he looked up again at the still slowly moving progress bar on the Decryption Device, and his heart instantly grew incredibly anxious.
…
Standing on the rooftop.
His Super Hearing also picked up on Scott's crisis inside the Base.
Using Super X-Ray Vision, Colin could clearly see the people wearing gas masks inside the Hydra Base.
"How dangerous," Colin couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this.
Fortunately, he had observed the situation before entering the Base; otherwise, if he had charged in recklessly, not only would Scott not have been rescued, but he himself might have fallen into danger.
Faced with this situation inside the Base, Colin's first choice was naturally to find an inconspicuous base member and snatch a gas mask from him to put on.
The Invisibility Powers, though having various flaws, fortunately had a sufficiently wide range.
It wouldn't lead to the awkward situation of him having to strip naked to use it.
However, compared to this first option, Colin himself preferred another method.
"Perfect, tomorrow is The Messenger Newspaper's publication day. Looks like I'll have to go back and work some overtime."
As he spoke, Colin closed his eyes.
In his ears, the urgent alarms from the Hydra Base and Scott's anxious muttering continued to resound, but Colin's consciousness began to sink deeper as his eyes closed.
Finally, enveloped by countless Green Lights, he entered that familiar world.
…
In the Main World, Colin opened his eyes.
The urgent alarms no longer rang in his ears; instead, there was a profound silence on the street outside.
He rolled out of bed, casually picked up a white shirt nearby and put it on. Approaching the cabinet, his gaze swept over the Superman action figures displayed on the table: the muscular blue bodysuit, the red cape, a large "S" symbol on the shield emblem on its chest, and the iconic red trunks over its hips.
This was the final Superman action figures design decided by Colin and Fischer after their discussion.
The one in his room was the original action figures prototype personally crafted by Fisher Toy Workshop.
Going forward, all Superman action figures produced by the factory would use this design as a reference.
After changing into a white shirt and trousers, and taking a formal suit jacket from the cabinet to put on, Colin didn't immediately leave. Instead, he walked into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, there was some beef stew and potato chunks left over from last night.
He poured the potato chunks into the stew, then added some other vegetables. Colin looked at the pot of stew, his eyes glowing faintly red as high-temperature beams shot out. In just a dozen seconds, the previously congealed stew began to emit steam, becoming piping hot.
Retracting his Heat Vision, Colin then aimed it at a slice of bread for about two seconds.
Spreading butter on the slightly charred bread slice, Colin enjoyed a delightful meal with the vegetable-infused beef stew.
Although the Heat Vision in the Main World couldn't match the power of Superman's in the comics.
It was still enough for Colin to heat a pot of stew and fill his stomach.
Once he finished the bread, he was about seventy to eighty percent full. He tidied the utensils on the table and placed the stew pot into the sink.
"Perhaps I should design a Power specifically for cleaning," a thought flashed through Colin's mind as he looked at the full sink of dishes in the kitchen.
He put on his fedora and tidied his appearance.
Turning the doorknob, he pushed open the main door.
A cool breeze swept over Colin's body, a stark contrast to the biting cold wind of a few months ago.
New York's coldest winter had passed, yet for the people living through the Great Depression, their winter was far from over.
In fact, according to February's estimates by Happiness Magazine, New York alone recorded over 20,000 cases of people dying on the streets in 1931, with the vast majority succumbing to starvation and freezing.
Stepping onto the street, the road before him was silent, with only the dim yellow streetlights on either side providing faint illumination.
He pulled a pocket watch from his pocket to confirm the time.
It was only around five in the morning, still some time until dawn, yet his weakened Super Hearing picked up sounds coming from the other end of the street.
Thanks to user 20210126142303372 for a 100 Qidian Coin reward, and Wolf King Yabo for a 100 Qidian Coin reward.
(end of chapter)