I Became a Knockoff Arms Dealer in the Marvel World

It seemed that S.H.I.E.L.D. had uncovered Captain America's secret intelligence.

But how was that possible?

Every single employee at Umbrella Corporation, from top to bottom, had their minds controlled by Carl.

How on earth did S.H.I.E.L.D. get this information?

Could it be that S.H.I.E.L.D. is just that powerful? The world's largest intelligence agency really lived up to its reputation.

Carl hadn't expected that the reason S.H.I.E.L.D. was aware of Captain America's intelligence was simply because Quicksilver had forgotten to handle the disposal of the crash site of the warplane.

Steve Rogers, seeing a little girl in a red dress speaking in the holographic projection, felt very confused.

"Is this little girl in a red dress the security guard at the front gate? Umbrella Corporation is employing child labor illegally. This Carl really isn't a good person!" Steve thought to himself.

Noticing that Steve was staring intently at Red, his expression fluctuating, Carl momentarily abandoned questioning the source of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information. He smiled and introduced:

"This is the AI known as Red. The advancement of technology has made digital life possible. You don't really think she's a real person, do you?"

Steve had just made a huge mistake. Bewildered, he asked, "Digital life? Does that mean she's some kind of life living in the virtual world?"

Carl didn't answer. He waved his hand, signaling for the blast-proof door of the isolation room to be opened. He couldn't be bothered to give this old-timer a lecture on artificial intelligence.

"Come on, I'll take you to meet your loyal fans. If I don't let you go now, Coulson will probably break into my territory with his people."

Steve Rogers paused for a moment. Carl looked weak and frail; he figured he could easily knock this guy out with a punch.

Though Carl's bodyguards appeared solid, they definitely wouldn't be able to stop him with just a few strikes.

He's letting me go just like this?

Steve didn't have time to think too much. He quickly walked out of the isolation room, feeling a bit excited to regain his freedom. But he quickly calmed down and asked:

"Do you really think two elite bodyguards can stop me? Or do you have some other backup, afraid I might take action?"

Carl didn't answer that question. He turned and walked toward the lab, casually saying:

"You know, Steve, you're acting like a curious child right now.

Once you're outside, if you have any questions, go ask your fans. Coulson will certainly be happy to answer any of them."

Steve didn't get angry at the mocking tone. After all, he did have a lot of questions in his mind.

Before he understood what kind of backup Carl had, he calmly and obediently followed behind Carl, not daring to act rashly.

They passed through the neat and clean hallways of the base, with many researchers in white hazmat suits coming and going.

As they rode the elevator up, Steve mentally counted, trying to estimate the elevator's speed.

One second, two seconds... fifteen seconds... thirty-four seconds.

Steve was extremely surprised and couldn't help but ask, "This base... is it underground? We've been rising for nearly two kilometers, and the elevator is still going up. There can't be a building a few thousand meters tall in the 21st century, can there?"

Carl glanced at Steve, loosened his tie, and was too lazy to explain much.

He didn't really care about leaking information about the Hive Base anymore.

After all, for the past month, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been desperately sending elite agents to gather all kinds of intelligence about Umbrella.

The Hive Base couldn't stay hidden much longer; it would inevitably be discovered. In fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. might already know about it.

After all, Carl was always appearing and disappearing mysteriously, often showing up at the headquarters building without any sign of arriving by vehicle.

It wasn't like the boss of Umbrella would sleep in the headquarters building every night.

The best explanation was that there was a secret passage from the Umbrella building to the outside world, or there was an undisclosed underground base beneath the building.

One minute and thirty seconds later.

"Ding!"

The doors of the high-speed elevator slowly opened.

Carl stepped out first, walking briskly.

"Boss, good morning."

On the first floor of the building, many Umbrella employees passed through, and upon seeing their boss Carl, each of them lowered their heads respectfully to greet him.

Steve, on the other hand, appeared like a bumpkin, finding everything surprising.

When he stepped out of the Umbrella building, he couldn't help but glance back at the red-and-white Umbrella logo beside the main entrance.

He still couldn't quite believe it. Carl actually went through with it and really let him go.

He thought his life would be spent locked up in a prison, and his only future would be as a lab rat for some scientist.

Steve took another look at the man beside him and asked, "Mr. Carl, what exactly are you thinking? You just let me go like this? Then why did you go through so much trouble to try to control me earlier?"

Carl exhaled a puff of white mist, wiping his nose to cover up his inner embarrassment.

Could he really say that Umbrella's methods of control were too primitive, causing the effect to be too weak?

He had no choice but to pretend to be magnanimous and explained with a smile:

"Whether you believe it or not, I didn't have my subordinates use any special measures. I just instructed them to conduct a physical check-up for you.

Heaven knows how curious my scientists were about the special constitution of the world's first super soldier. So, they secretly conducted some... 'small experiments' behind my back."

Hearing this seemingly reasonable explanation, Steve didn't speak to question it. He just quietly listened.

Carl continued, "I'll bet that when you get back to America, the first thing that will greet you isn't flowers and applause."

"Those people, for the sake of your health, will surely take you for a 'comprehensive and thorough' full-body check-up."

"And we were the first to discover you. For your health, Umbrella just helped you with a few extra medical tests."

Though Carl's excuse for Umbrella was somewhat flimsy, his main goal was to plant a thorn in Steve's heart.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had been itching to get their hands on the super soldier serum for a long time.

Whether it was Hydra's Red Skull or Pierce, they both wanted to replicate the super soldier serum in Steve's body.

When Steve returns to America, it was easy to foresee that S.H.I.E.L.D. would use the excuse of his health to pull him into a thorough check-up, which would certainly include blood tests and samples.

Having been reminded by Carl, Steve might not have cared at first or given it much thought.

But now, if S.H.I.E.L.D. actually did that, Steve would definitely feel a little uncomfortable.

The thorn had been planted. Carl wanted Steve to understand that both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Umbrella were no different—they were both morally ambiguous entities.

Umbrella was a "cold-blooded arms dealer," and S.H.I.E.L.D., as an intelligence agency, wasn't any better.

Once Steve realized that both Umbrella and S.H.I.E.L.D. were equally bad, he wouldn't just leave Umbrella today and in a few days, come back with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to storm the Umbrella building and capture Carl.

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