"How is it?"
Hill asked May, who was examining the bodies on the ground, as she carefully scanned the area with her gun.
"No identification on them. All their weapons are standard issue... Also, they all have poison capsules in their teeth. Without exception, they were all suicide soldiers. I intentionally left two alive earlier, but they both chose to kill themselves," May analyzed calmly after examining the bodies.
"Did you take pictures?"
"I did, but I don't think they'll help. They covered every possible trace that could expose them. There's no way they didn't think about facial recognition..."
"Hmm, that makes sense," Hill nodded, then waved his hand. "But this isn't the time to worry about it. Dr. Raymond is still in danger. Let's go!"
As they spoke, the two had already reached the south courtyard of the hospital.
May immediately noticed five bodies from Team B lying on the ground, and her pupils contracted sharply.
"They look like they were with the group outside... What's going on?" Hill was also confused, unable to make sense of the situation.
They had already fought the group outside, and though they had won easily, their experience told them that these men were trained soldiers who had seen battle.
If Hill and May weren't elite agents with superior weapons, they wouldn't have been able to eliminate them so quickly.
Judging by their equipment, these five were clearly part of the same group.
So why were they suddenly dead here?
Could another force have infiltrated the hospital and clashed with them?
One thing was certain—they never even considered that the hospital's security guards could have taken these men down. Even if the guards had weapons, they would be no match for this kind of enemy.
Before Hill could give an order, May had already sprinted to the bodies to investigate.
The saying goes: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
If they didn't figure out how these men died and whether a third party was involved, they could be making a critical mistake.
Saving Raymond was important, but they had to be smart about it.
May quickly reached the bodies.
To prevent an ambush, she kept her gun pointed at them, confident that if any of them faked death, she would shoot first.
But these men had all been shot directly in the forehead—there was no doubt they were dead.
After a brief examination, May identified the cause of death.
However, instead of feeling relieved, her expression became even more serious.
"What did you find?" Hill noted May's unusual expression.
"They all look like suicides... They were killed with their own weapons, and each and every one of them was shot in the forehead and died instantly," May said in a serious tone.
"Suicides?" Hill understood immediately why May looked so troubled.
It made no sense. These people were clearly after Raymond—why would they suddenly kill themselves?
But she also knew May's personality. She wouldn't jump to such a conclusion unless she was absolutely sure.
That meant these men really did take their own lives, as unbelievable as it sounded. But in her line of work, dealing with strange and impossible situations was just part of the job.
"A superhuman perhaps?" Hill suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Pretty likely," May had the same thought.
Hill quickly ran through several possible explanations in her mind, but none of them were things they could investigate further in the short time they had.
Since they couldn't figure it out right now, they had no choice but to put it aside for the moment.
"Let's hope this has nothing to do with our mission... Let's go!"
The two set off again, heading for Raymond's living quarters.
Soon they reached the courtyard in front of his residence.
As soon as they got there, they saw another row of bodies on the ground. It was clear they were from the same group as the ones they had previously fought and eliminated—along with those who had mysteriously committed suicide.
May, already experienced in such situations, immediately began another examination.
This time, however, there were no signs of suicide. But what she discovered didn't put her at ease either.
"They were all hacked to death with bladed weapons?" Hill asked in disbelief.
Eight fully armed professional soldiers had been slaughtered like helpless victims, cut down with melee weapons. It sounded like something out of a Bollywood action movie.
"Six were hacked to death, but two had their throats slit in a single strike. Also, only one of them managed to fire a shot—none of the others even had time to react," May corrected.
Her clarification didn't make Hill feel any better.
Whether six were killed by blades or all eight, it made no real difference.
It only confirmed one thing—there was likely a terrifying superhuman inside this hospital!
When she first saw the five men inexplicably commit suicide, she had only suspicions.
Now, she was almost certain—there was a superhuman here!
As Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hill knew far more about the supernatural world than the Centipede ever could.
She was well aware that there were many superhumans in this world.
Mutants were the most common. In fact, there was always a chance that someone you knew could be a mutant without you even realizing it.
Most mutants showed no outward signs unless they used their powers. Only a small number—like Beast, whose appearance changed significantly—couldn't hide their abilities.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had encountered mutants in many of the " freak incidents" they had handled in the past.
Given the situation in front of her, Hill couldn't help but connect the dots.
"Let's get upstairs and rescue Raymond first. We can deal with the rest after we get him back to headquarters," she decided after a brief moment of thought.
Whoever this unknown superhuman was, at least they had eliminated the attackers.
That meant they weren't working for the people who had hired the mercenaries.
Under these circumstances, there was no need to treat them as enemies - at least not yet.
With their plan set, the two quickly reached Raymond's door on the second floor.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hill knocked cautiously.
"Who is it?" A male voice came from inside.
Hearing the voice, both Hill and May breathed a small sigh of relief.
They recognized it immediately—it was the man they had come to rescue.
Dr. Raymond was alive.
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