Chapter 29 29: The Monster

"Monster…"

When those two words slipped from Steve Rogers' mouth—soft, trembling, almost like a nightmare muttered aloud—Levi felt as if an icy current from the Siberian tundra had been poured straight down his spine. It surged from his tailbone to the top of his skull, making every hair on his body stand on end.

Something was very wrong.

Not because the word monster itself was terrifying. For soldiers who crawled through piles of corpses and shattered bodies, the battlefield was already more horrific than any creature from a nightmare.

What was wrong… was who had said it.

Steve Rogers.

Captain America.

The man who would charge machine-gun nests head-on, who could stare down an army without flinching, whose will was as unbreakable as the vibranium shield in his hand.

Levi had seen him walk through suppressive fire. Had seen him leap from impossible heights. Had seen him casually toss grenades back like baseballs. Fear simply did not exist in this man's dictionary.

And yet now—after looking through a viewing window no bigger than a palm—Steve looked like his entire worldview had shattered.

His face was deathly pale. The ever-burning confidence in his blue eyes had been extinguished, leaving only violently contracted pupils and hollow shock.

What… was behind that door?

Levi's mind buzzed as memories from horror movies and games flooded in—acid-dripping xenomorphs, grotesque undead titans, sanity-shattering Lovecraftian gods that eroded the soul just by being seen.

Every cell in his body screamed the same instinctive warning:

Run.

Get away from that door.

Curiosity didn't just kill cats—it killed time travelers who wanted nothing more than to survive World War II.

And yet…

His feet wouldn't move.

Fear warred violently with another emotion—one even stronger. A reckless, self-destructive curiosity whispered in his ear like a devil's temptation.

That's Captain America.

What kind of thing could scare him like that?

If you don't look, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.

This isn't even in the movie. This is hidden content.

Just one glance.

One look.

You've got healing and super-soldier enhancements. You won't die from looking.

Look, then run.

Trembling, Levi inched forward like a thief sneaking a peek at forbidden secrets.

Steve remained frozen, soul seemingly ripped from his body, completely unaware of Levi passing him.

Levi stopped at the door.

He took a deep breath—

—and nearly vomited.

The overwhelming stench of blood, formalin, and rust slammed into his lungs, almost forcing the compressed rations back up his throat.

Screw it.

He clenched his teeth, shut his eyes—

Then opened them and leaned toward the circular viewing window.

And in that instant—

His breathing stopped.

His heartbeat stopped.

His thoughts stopped.

Behind the door was a massive circular laboratory, far larger than he could have imagined.

It looked like a gigantic white metal can hollowed out from the earth—over a hundred meters across. Walls, ceiling, floor—all coated in cold, gleaming alloy. Countless machines blinked with colored indicator lights, and pipes as thick as pythons converged from all directions toward the center.

Dozens of researchers in sealed white hazmat suits moved silently like ants, adjusting consoles, recording data.

But none of that mattered.

Because at the center—

Was it.

A towering cylindrical glass container, over ten meters tall, filled with viscous liquid glowing an eerie green. Bubbles rose slowly, bursting with sickly light.

Suspended inside was… something.

Levi's mind struggled to even name it.

The main body resembled a human torso grotesquely overgrown and forcefully matured to monstrous proportions. Its skin was corpse-pale, almost translucent. Beneath it, Levi could clearly see blood vessels thicker than fire hoses—dark, swollen, coiling like dormant serpents.

Its chest cavity was completely open.

No ribs.

No muscle.

No protection.

Exposed within the green fluid was a heart, larger than an off-road vehicle's tire—raw, massive, connected by countless electrodes and tubes.

Thump… thump… thump…

Each beat sent shockwaves through the liquid, vibrating the entire container.

So that was the sound.

The lower body was gone—replaced by tangled mechanical braces and hydraulic supports anchored into the base like roots. Its arms were reduced to stumps, pierced with countless glowing probes.

But the worst part—

The head.

Misshapen. Bloated. Tumorous. No hair. No eyes. No nose. No ears.

Only a massive, cleaved mouth, eternally open in a silent scream.

Levi's stomach churned violently. His throat burned. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from vomiting on the spot.

What the hell is this thing?!

This was Hydra's secret?

This stitched abomination of flesh and machinery?

If this thing was unleashed, a division wouldn't stop it—maybe not even an entire army.

And the movie never mentioned this.

Had Levi's presence warped the timeline this badly?

Then—

He noticed something else.

At the far end of the lab, a ring of red warning lights flashed frantically around the main console. A massive display screen showed a countdown in blood-red numbers.

00:03:17

00:03:16

Levi's heart sank.

"They're counting down…"

Three minutes.

Activation? Termination? Either way, it was catastrophic.

"Captain!" Levi spun around, grabbing Steve's arm and shaking him hard. "Snap out of it! Something's wrong—very wrong!"

Steve inhaled sharply, focus returning, though the horror still lingered in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"There's a countdown!" Levi said rapidly. "Less than three minutes! They're about to do something to that thing—we have to stop them!"

Steve glanced again through the window, his face darkening instantly.

"Damn it…" he hissed. "We have to get inside—now!"

But the door was a fortress. Even with their strength, they wouldn't open it in time.

Then—

WOOOO—WOOOO—WOOOO—

A piercing alarm screamed from inside the lab.

Levi and Steve stared at each other.

This wasn't them.

Something had gone wrong inside.

They rushed back to the window.

The lab had descended into chaos. Scientists ran screaming, sparks flew from consoles, black smoke billowed.

And the monster—

It was moving.

Violently.

Its massive body slammed against the glass again and again. Cracks spread like spiderwebs across the reinforced container.

THUMP—THUMP—THUMP—THUMP!

The heart doubled its rhythm, pounding like a war drum.

Then—

Click.

The circular door behind Levi and Steve released its locks.

One by one, massive hydraulic bolts retracted with hissing sounds.

The door… was opening.

Levi's mind went blank.

"They're opening it from the inside," he realized. "They're trying to escape."

"RUN!" Steve shouted.

He grabbed Levi and sprinted down the corridor at full speed.

Stopping the monster no longer mattered.

Survival did.

Behind them—

SCREEEEECH—

The enormous metal door ground open.

Blinding white light and a wave of putrid stench burst forth.

"Get back to the power room!" Steve yelled. "Tell Logan—execute Plan B! Now!"

Levi ran without daring to look back, relying only on his enhanced hearing.

He heard scientists screaming, fighting, trampling each other.

Then—

CRASH.

SHATTER.

Glass exploding.

Liquid flooding the floor.

And then—

Silence.

Except for one sound.

Thump… thump… thump…

No longer muffled.

No longer distant.

Raw. Real. Alive.

Levi's pupils shrank to pinpoints.

Running at full speed, he screamed with everything he had:

"It's out! It's right behind us!"

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