Chapter 397 - 396 Fear Descends, Gods Retreat
Turn back the clock to a day ago.
"You want to find Red Skull's secret fortress!?"
Baron Zemo of this Earth-91 looked at the man in front of him with a strange look.
Looking from below, the person was wearing military boots.
Dark leather trousers wrapped around long, toned thighs, creating perfect lines.
A belt around the slender waist made the originally sultry figure even more exaggerated.
Pistols, grenades, daggers … All sorts of strange weapons were hanging from them.
Keep moving your eyes, and you'll see the fullness of the headlights coming out.
There was no doubt that this was a beauty that could make men's hormones boil -- if only Baron Zemo hadn't seen that face!
The skin appeared to have been completely peeled away, leaving only the dark red flesh and bones, which appeared horrific.
Not to mention sexual interest, a normal person would be scared to death and scream at the sight of it.
It was so creepy and scary!
Such a unique and terrifying look was reminiscent of a villainous leader active during World War II.
The Red Skull!
Captain America's nemesis!
One of Hydra's leaders!
"Yes, I can feel the eyes of destiny, a force calling me, guiding me!"
The woman with the crimson skull spoke confidently.
Her name was 'Sinthea Schmidt', daughter of Red Skull.
"Your father has been dead for so long, can he still give you hints in your dream to continue the fight against Captain America by restoring Hydra?"
Baron Zemo snorted with a touch of sarcasm.
Red Skull was one of the leaders of Hydra, but his daughter was not.
It wasn't enough to lead Hydra.
"Of course not. My father never really cared about his daughter."
Sinthea shook her head and sneered.
"He always wanted a son, a blond, tall, and strong Aryan son, to inherit everything."
"Baron, I'm afraid you don't know. When I was born, my father's first thought was to -- kill me!"
"Without hesitation, he wanted to kill an infant baby."
"Later, it was his deputy, a woman called Susan, who stopped the ruthless and great leader."
Sinthea had no emotion in her eyes, neither hatred nor warmth.
"I was brought up by Susan, and I was taught that the weak are not worthy of living. I have to be strong, stronger than anyone!"
"My father died, he was defeated by Captain America, Hydra lost its leader, and in order to gain power, I didn't hesitate to become like my father."
A coldness rose in Baron Zemo's heart, and he withdrew his contempt.
There's nothing a woman can't do when she can give up the beauty she cared about most.
"But you lost, too, when the Avengers wiped out your Sisters of Sin, and you managed to get your life back."
Baron Zemo held his arms around his chest. He was now the biggest villain in the universe, occasionally popping up to give the Avengers something to do.
"My father is right. Strong people are qualified to live. He is too weak, so he lost to Captain America."
Sinthea grinned, a maniacal look in her eyes.
"But he has made me a stronger and perfect person than him -- Red Skull!"
Baron Zemo's throat rolled twice. He saw a familiar shadow on Sinthea.
"What's your plan?"
For a moment, he took the initiative to ask.
Hydra's current situation wasn't good.
During World War II, Captain America defeated Red Skull and dismantled some of the organization's forces.
After a long period of rest and recuperation, Baron Zemo and his party regained their strength.
But little did they know that the Avengers would be formed, and the superheroes would push themselves into the gutter once again.
Hydra urgently needed a new leader, a new force!
If Sinthea showed enough ability, then Baron Zemo wouldn't mind voting for her.
"I learned a story buried in the past, an unknown secret."
Cynthia said meaningfully.
"Baron, I need your help."
"My father is like a rat digging holes everywhere, with strongholds all over the world."
"And what I'm looking for is the Book of the Skull. It has an Atlantean's skin for its cover! It's kept in an Egyptian underground fortress!"
Baron Zemo thought long and hard. He had a copy of Red Skull's map in his hands.
It was marked with many hidden strongholds secretly built during World War II, some of which had long been abandoned and some of which were still in operation.
And what Sinthea said about the underground fortress in Egypt, Baron Zemo happened to know.
"I hope you won't let me down, Ms. Red Skull."
Baron Zemo lowered his hands and said so.
…
…
A few hours later, a fighter jet landed in the Egyptian desert.
Baron Zemo found the specific location and opened the underground fortress. The unpleasant smell of decay and obsolescence overwhelmed him.
"Mechanisms, valves, air circulation systems, all of which are in good working order."
Sinthea walked behind and watched Baron Zemo open a stone door.
"It's a miracle that any tomb raiders hadn't unearthed it!"
Egypt had a large number of pyramid tombs, which were always a favorite haunt for tomb raiders.
"Not without, but they're all dead."
Baron Zemo kicked a bone under his feet and entered the interior of the underground fortress.
There were tattered flags hanging on the walls in four places, the symbols of the Third Reich.
At the very center, on the steps of the platform, was a sarcophagus.
On top of it was a dusty book with a blue cover.
This was what Sinthea was looking for!
"This is human skin?"
This was also the first time Baron Zemo came to this underground fortress. Red Skull had built so many secret strongholds during his lifetime, Zimo couldn't verify them all.
"Bingo! Made from the skin of an Atlantean. It's part of the ritual so that the spell inside can take effect."
Sinthea blew away the dust, picked up the book, and turned to the middle page.
"What's in it?"
Baron Zemo asked curiously.
"The power to rule the world!"
Sinthea laughed loudly.
On the page she opened, there was dense, obscure, and strange writing.
…
…
Turn the clock back to February 1942, when Germany was in its infancy.
"Why haven't you finished yet? Don't we have enough sacrifices?"
With his hands behind his back, Red Skull, with a grim face, asked.
A few thunderbolts flashed across the sky as dark clouds covered the sky.
Then there was a dull thud and a downpour of rain.
On the lawn of this manor, complex lines were drawn with blood on the ground with blood from the Atlanteans tied to the cross.
Several priests-like figures in robes, with their faces covered under hoods, kept chanting spells and holding their hands up as if they were praying to heaven.
"Soon, soon, Mr. Schmidt."
The priest replied.
"I spent several months killing an entire gypsy tribe for this extinct and unknown language and taking the risk of angering the Sea King, taking away a group of Atlanteans."
Red Skull's voice revealed a serious sense of impatience.
"And I'm only doing this because the Thule Society said I could get the power to rule the world from it!"
"Now, tell me, where is the power that is so unimaginably strong that it is worthy of the gods?"
The hooded priests clearly felt the cold killing intent, and they were scared to death.
They were all members of the Thule Society, which was regarded as the predecessor of the Nazis.
Founded back in 1918 by Rudolf von Sebottendorf.
Hanns Hörbiger's 'World Ice Theory' was popular at the time -- the idea that the universe began when many 'ice stars' collided with each other, exploded and then recombined.
Correspondingly, the first races of creatures to be born on earth were the 'Atlanteans' and the 'ugly humanoids'.
This new and avant-garde perspective had gained popularity among young people in Europe, especially among the highly educated aristocracy.
Later, Rudolf von Sebottendorf, who founded the Thule Society, combined this theory with the theory of racial superiority and came to the surprising conclusion that 'Aryans are descendants of Atlantis, born with extraordinary blood, while the Germans were of Aryan descent.'
The Thule Society was the predecessor of the Nazis because many of the high officials of the Third Reich participated in it, even the swastika, which came from the flag of the Society, representing the Aryan victory and the belief in Surya, the Sun God.
The Fuhrer himself was a staunch supporter of Rudolf von Sebottendorf's views, so he didn't even equip his soldiers with enough cold-proof equipment in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1941.
Because he believed that as an Aryan, descendant from a very cold place…
German soldiers must have inherited the ability to resist the cold, just like 'Frost Giants'.
As a result, in the Moscow War alone, 170,000 Germans froze to death.
Of course, this was a rumor that had been circulated and couldn't be verified. There's no way to tell whether it was true or false.
But the Fuhrer was really obsessed with all kinds of occult things and even believed in the existence of werewolves and vampires.
"It's coming! The power will come from the sky!"
The hooded priest, who was on the verge of falling to his knees, said in ecstasy as he saw the dazzling light that sped through the hazy clouds.
As soon as the man's words stopped, a thunderbolt as thick as an anaconda tore straight through the night sky and came down.
"Instead of landing in front of me, it flew elsewhere."
Red Skull said in a cold tone.
"Priest, tell me the location."
As the lightning bolt swept along the low altitude, the Hydra leader did feel an unspeakable power.
Otherwise, he would surely have hanged all the hooded priests before him as if they were charlatans.
"The South Pole! It landed on the glacier!"
The priest, holding the magic book made of bloody Atlantean skin, shouted.
…
…
A month later, after a long trek, Red Skull finally found the place where the thunderbolt had fallen.
On the snow-covered hard ice, a large crater was opened, and the heat of the friction melted the outer shell and condensed it into frost.
Red Skull stood on high ground and looked down.
"I thought the so-called 'power to rule the world' would be an army, or a … god, but instead it's--"
"A hammer! A broken hammer that can't be pulled out and can't be used!"
Red Skull snapped a hooded priest's neck and snarled, "Tell me, what's Hydra supposed to do with this? Smash Captain America's head in?"
"Mr. Schmidt, it's extraordinary! My soul can feel it, and it contains enough power to sweep the world away!"
The priest struggled to defend himself, quickly saying, "We just need time to understand it and harness it."
"That's good."
Taking a few deep breaths, Red Skull quickly regained his composure.
He took one more look at the hammer, which he couldn't even pull up himself, and then took off.
"Before the problem is solved, no one of the Thule Society people is allowed to leave this glacier. Until someone can pick it up!"
…
…
Back to the present.
The South Pole.
"This is Adolf Hitler's Thule Society, the last resting place of the gods and goddesses."
Sinthea, the daughter of Red Skull, walked into the glacier 70 years later.
She brought Baron Zemo with her and opened the gates of the fortress in a forceful manner.
Inside, there was no one but decaying white bones.
The long period of time had destroyed everything, along with the ambitions of the Third Reich, the great plans of the Hydra, and buried them altogether, not to mention those of the Thule Society.
Boom!
The bomb blew open the metal door of the security room.
"My father ordered the Thule Society to reside here to study the hammer that fell from the sky."
"No one has ever been able to pick it up. Red Skull tried it, but it didn't succeed."
"It's said that even the Fuhrer himself came here once. The mustached guy tried to pry open the ice and dig it out but failed."
Sinthea slowly walked into the security room. Frosty white air spread out.
In the intense cold, she saw the frozen hammer.
'It's so perfect!'
'So powerful!'
"Then what makes you believe you can own this hammer?"
Baron Zemo, wearing a winter coat, asked doubtfully.
'Red Skull failed. How could his daughter do it?'
"Because I saw it in a dream. A great serpent surrounded this hammer, and it said I would be the queen of this world and would kill Captain America with this hammer, and then--"
Sinthea spoke in an almost dreamlike manner, her eyes only looking at the frozen hammer and nothing else.
"The Serpent also said, 'Fear descends, gods retreat'!"
Sinthea, daughter of Red Skull, held the war hammer in both hands and read the ancient words on it --
"Only the worthy can wield the Hammer of Skadi!"
A dazzling burst of light washed over the area as if it were a tidal wave.
Baron Zemo subconsciously closed his eyes as a horrific force reverberated through the security room.
The ground trembled beneath their feet, the hard ice cracked, and the whole fortress was shaking.
"Fear descends, gods retreat!"
A hoarse voice came out of Sinthea's mouth.
She was holding the Hammer of Skadi in both hands, wearing green metal armor as if she had descended into the world as a Valkyrie!
Meanwhile, in Asgard's Palace.
Odin, the God-King sitting on the throne, let out a long sigh.
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