Chapitre 229: Chapter 229
Hydra Underground Base
At this moment, Ronnie, the director of the Hydra base, looked at the satellite observation screen in front of him with an expressionless face.
All the monitoring equipment outside the base had been destroyed, leaving the enemy observable only through satellite feeds.
He watched as the missiles were obliterated, and all the weapons outside the base were reduced to scrap.
Ronnie's heart remained eerily calm, as if frozen, devoid of fear, with only one thought dominating his mind:
Kill him. Kill him.
Use any means necessary to kill the Wizard Professor.
"No. 58, release the gas. Wait for the Wizard Professor to enter, and be ready to self-destruct the base at any moment."
"Understood. Gas is being released, and the system is ready for self-destruction," No. 58, the simple artificial intelligence of the base system, replied in a mechanical, cold voice.
Meanwhile, Lockhart was keenly sensing the aura of fear emanating from the life forms below.
Without hesitation, he descended into the base.
He was fully aware that it was probably a trap, but he wasn't foolish.
In an instant, with Lockhart at the center, the surrounding fierce fire expanded rapidly, and the temperature soared, melting all the sand on the ground into glass, which then turned into liquid and gas.
Hundreds of meters of flat land nearby were forcibly scorched, causing the terrain to sink visibly.
It was like a meteorite impact, except the surface was smooth, like glass.
As the fire continued to melt the surrounding soil and sand, the earth and rocks vanished, revealing the steel structure of the underground base.
But in an instant, the steel turned into molten iron, exposing a large number of Hydra agents below.
Lockhart, floating in mid-air, looked down at these agents, sensing their emotions shift from fear to fanaticism.
He gained a deeper understanding of Hydra's methods.
With a mere thought, Protego Diabolica quickly penetrated the base, enveloping the Hydra agents below in a flash. They didn't feel any pain.
Because as the fire swept through them, they were vaporized before they had time to react, leaving not even a bone behind.
Lockhart, still floating in mid-air, closed his eyes slightly, extending his hands to direct the fire deeper into the base.
He destroyed every life he encountered, turning them into gas.
Simultaneously, he commanded Protego Diabolica to avoid burning certain machinery around him—these might be useful later.
Suddenly, Lockhart's heart raced, his instincts frantically warning him.
Reacting swiftly, Lockhart waved his wand, channeling magic power into it.
A pure white ray shot from the tip of the wand toward the ground, creating a pure white frozen landscape that spread rapidly.
Magic—The Frozen World!
Click! Click! Click!
Almost instantly, the fierce fire on the nearby ground vanished, replaced by a thick layer of ice and a cold atmosphere.
The cold air continued to spread into the cave below, enveloping all the surrounding walls, machinery, and objects at a visible speed.
In less than 10 seconds, under the infusion of Lockhart's vast magical power, the entire underground base was frozen.
A large number of people and objects were encased in ice.
Feeling the end of his instinctive warning, Lockhart sighed in relief.
The direct warning just now reminded him of the possibility of the base's self-destruction. After all, such things are not uncommon.
In every movie, there seems to be at least one such scene.
Therefore, he immediately froze everything, and through the guidance of magic, disabled all the machines and technology below.
If the base really did explode, he would have no choice but to escape.
But if he escaped, the effectiveness of this demonstration would obviously decrease.
This time, his actions were primarily intended as a warning to others.
He doesn't want to flee; he never backs down in a head-on fight. He strikes decisively when it's time and never hesitates.
While contemplating, Lockhart glanced at the frozen ground below and the remaining fire, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth.
Then, looking toward Coulson in the distance, Lockhart waved his wand, sending a pale white ball of information light swiftly toward Coulson.
The information contained in the light ball was some of the data Lockhart had just extracted from the Hydra agents.
Since Hydra had prepared measures in advance to mislead him, he would let things unfold naturally.
With that in mind, Lockhart flicked his wand, opening a portal directly back to his home.
It's time to conclude this matter and attend to his own business. The people at Kamar-Taj had been making quite a few moves recently.
"Sir, we've detected a massive amount of heat, and the underground base is about to explode!"
Coulson heard the shouts of his agents through his earpiece, his expression tensing as he glanced at Professor Lockhart not far away.
The base's self-destruction might not have much impact on them, but for Lockhart in the middle of it all, that was another matter.
However, the next moment, the agent shouted loudly, "Sir, the self-destruction has stopped, and there's a lot of cold air above the base."
Even without the agent's reminder, Coulson could already feel the cold air approaching, subconsciously tightening his body.
Yet his eyes were filled with astonishment. It was autumn—how could there be such intense cold?
He didn't need to think hard to realize it was the wizard professor's countermeasure to stop the base's self-destruction.
Upon further reflection, Coulson thought about the implications: if the Wizard Professor were their enemy in the future, missiles would be ineffective, and even a bomb explosion wouldn't help.
This was deeply worrying, although currently, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the professor had a friendly trade relationship.
But Coulson hadn't forgotten that his director had always viewed the professor as a potential adversary, constantly devising various strategies to limit his capabilities.
This left Coulson feeling somewhat helpless.
There was no choice—as a special agent organization, they had to prepare for any scenario.
Even if a nuclear bomb went off, aliens invaded, or zombies from movies started roaming the streets, or robots waged war, the director had asked them to draft corresponding plans.
It could be said that his director, Nick Fury, had a crisis sense ingrained in his bones.
It seemed that without a plan to address every possible crisis, he couldn't feel secure.
After a while, Coulson suddenly noticed a ball of light flying toward him.
Before he could react, the light ball sank into his forehead.
Immediately, a flood of information filled his mind. After processing it, a bitter smile crept across Coulson's face.
What kind of organization is Black Snake?
Why had he never heard of it, and how was it connected to the military?
After a moment's thought, Coulson nodded helplessly and prepared to return and report to the director.
Then, he called his agents to continue collecting data.
This was the first time that the Wizard Professor had taken action in front of him, leaving so many traces. If he didn't gather them properly, the director would definitely reprimand him.
However, as the data continued to be collected and he saw the analysis of the blue flames and cold air, Coulson's expression grew increasingly serious.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone