Chapter 24: Finally Found the Old Popsicle - Captain America

A dozen crew members were rudely driven off the icebreaker, cursing under their breath. With guns pointed at them, they dared not resist.

Soon, a large drilling rig and a crane were brought in to excavate the ice at the bow of the ship.

Thud, thud, thud! Crack, crack!

Massive chunks of ice were continuously shattered by the sturdy diamond drill bit.

On the sea surface, more and more ice fell from the iceberg, plunging into the deep blue waters with a plop, only to resurface shortly after.

Two hours passed. When Pietro saw the full outline of an old-fashioned twin-propeller plane emerging from beneath the ice, he became ecstatic.

"Found it! I can finally go home!!"

Tears welled up in Pietro’s eyes. The hardships of the past six months were finally coming to an end.

After clearing the ice, two Russians brought over a cutting machine and sliced open a one-meter-wide hole from the top of the old aircraft.

Clang!

The metal panel fell straight down, crashing with a loud metallic bang.

Pietro hesitated before entering and instead ordered two expedition soldiers to go in first.

At the same time, he gave a subtle glance to the expedition captain, Lavin Cook.

Without hesitation, Lavin pulled the trigger. Ratatatata! A burst of gunfire silenced the dozen Russian crew members on the icebreaker.

"Suka..."

The Russians were struck down instantly, their lifeless bodies collapsing onto the snow-covered ground, staining it crimson with blood—a chilling sight.

If they had truly discovered the crash site of that ancient relic, secrecy was paramount. Quicksilver had no choice but to eliminate the outsiders.

"Throw the bodies into the sea," Pietro ordered coldly.

"Understood, sir!"

Several expedition members immediately stepped forward, dragging the still-warm corpses away.

Now that only his people remained, the young yet cautious Pietro finally showed a satisfied expression.

A moment later, a voice called out from the hole.

"Sir, we’ve found something!"

"We found a person! Frozen in ice! The life detector shows he still has a heartbeat!"

Pietro was momentarily stunned. That relic from the last century was still alive? That was absurd!

"Bring the entire ice block up carefully!"

"Yes, sir!"

Recovering from his surprise, Pietro quickly took out a satellite communicator.

Beep beep—

"Hey, Pietro! Great to see you. How’s the Arctic treating you?"

A man Pietro deeply resented appeared on the communicator’s holographic projection—a handsome face belonging to Carl Davis. Wanda’s boyfriend. The boss of Umbrella Corporation. Pietro’s personal ATM.

Pietro scowled and snapped, "Listen, Carl! I found him. Send a transport plane immediately!"

"Who? Found who?"

Carl, still groggy from sleep, had already forgotten why he sent Pietro to the Arctic in the first place.

Just then, a familiar figure appeared—Wanda, clad in pajamas, looking lazy and drowsy, clearly just waking up.

She suddenly leaned into the video feed, greeting Pietro with surprise, "Hey, Pietro! How’s the Arctic treating you?"

The moment he saw Wanda, Pietro’s foul mood improved—though he still complained bitterly:

"Not well! If I hadn’t called, would you have completely forgotten you had a brother, Wanda?!"

Wanda looked a bit embarrassed. Truth be told, she had almost forgotten about Pietro.

Ever since her fight with Stark last month, she had felt refreshed and revitalized, spending every day cozied up with Carl. Life had been blissful.

Influenced by Carl, she had even developed a bit of a mischievous streak. She casually replied, "How could I forget my dearest brother, Pietro? I just didn’t want to disturb you during your important mission."

Hearing Wanda’s blatant perfunctory excuse, Pietro’s mouth twitched. Is she really my sister, or was she picked up from the streets?

Suddenly, Pietro’s eyes narrowed, his expression turning serious as he stared at Wanda in the projection.

"Are you two sleeping together?!"

"Damn it! I’ve been gone for just half a year, and Carl already tricked you into his bed?!"

"I’m going to kill Carl!"

Carl, now slightly more awake, smirked at Pietro’s outburst and deliberately kissed Wanda on the cheek.

"Brother-in-law, I truly love Wanda. You have nothing to worry about."

Seeing Carl brazenly kiss his sister—and worse, Wanda not resisting in the slightest—Pietro felt his temple veins throbbing. He wanted nothing more than to punch this smug bastard to death!

"Love, my ass! Are you ‘truly’ in love with Ada Wong and those other beautiful women too?!"

During his time at the Hive Base, Pietro had used his superspeed to snoop around and had seen Carl entangled with several gorgeous women in private.

He had long believed Carl to be a womanizing scumbag, a playboy who toyed with women’s feelings.

That’s why he had always been on high alert, guarding Wanda from Carl, afraid she would be deceived.

Yet, in the end, he had still failed to prevent it.

"I never should have come to the Arctic! Wanda, you must have been tricked! Carl is a scumbag!"

Carl cut him off impatiently, "I never hid those women from Wanda. Mind your own business."

"Just tell me why you made this emergency satellite call."

Pietro’s eyes widened in disbelief. Wanda knows about Carl’s other women… and she’s still willing to sleep with him?!

Am I the one who’s out of touch?!

With his worldview shattered, Pietro looked at Wanda in the projection, asking seriously, "Are you really okay with this?"

Wanda blushed slightly but understood that her brother was just concerned. She nodded and replied honestly.

"Yes, I know exactly what kind of person Carl is."

Hearing Wanda’s confirmation, Pietro’s right hand twitched involuntarily. He was utterly dumbfounded.

After a long silence, he could only glare at Carl through the projection and warn, "If you ever toy with Wanda’s feelings, I won’t let you off!"

Carl lazily made an exaggerated "OK" gesture. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

Hearing such a half-hearted promise, Pietro nearly exploded with anger. After struggling to find words, he finally blurted out:

"I don’t care anymore! Do whatever you want! Just don’t come crying to me when you regret it, Wanda!"

Embarrassed, Wanda quickly shrank out of the video frame and disappeared with a whoosh.

Carl, unconcerned, casually asked, "So… who did you find again?"

Pietro, exasperated, nearly ended the call. He really didn’t want to waste another second talking to this shameless scumbag.