Let me tell you a secret.

After Jos underwent enhancement, he was placed under a kind of semi-confinement in the hidden underground facility beneath the base. Like other modified warriors, Jos and his peers were allowed to move only between their own rooms, the training grounds, and the dining hall. There were no explicit restrictions, but ordinarily, they were unable to leave. During this time, Jos discovered a distinct division among the modified warriors—not one of combat strength, but of allegiance. Some, like Jos, maintained a relationship with Duncan and the others that was purely hierarchical, driven by money and similar incentives. The others, fewer in number, were little more than Duncan’s loyal dogs, utterly brainwashed and transformed into Hydra’s instruments. From their vacant expressions, Jos could easily guess why Duncan preferred not to employ such methods indiscriminately.

Beyond this, Jos uncovered another widely known secret: during the modification surgery, every subject had a bomb implanted in their brain. “Tch... You’re running a suicide squad here…” Jos muttered when he learned this, feeling a keen discomfort. With a bomb in his head, even his enhanced self would die instantly if it exploded, so he would never accept such a thing. Yet, in the circumstances at the time, refusal would have meant fighting his way out with full force. That would certainly spell mission failure, and Hydra might even turn the tables, blaming the U.S. military or S.H.I.E.L.D., leading to even more trouble. And whatever Hydra’s greatest secret operation was, Jos and the others would remain completely in the dark.

Yet that day, it took less than six minutes from when Jos drank the serum to when Dr. Connors began to experience a seismic reconstruction of his worldview. In that brief window, Jos was like a clever courtier slipping unnoticed through the cracks—no one realized he had missed a step. In the days spent inside the base, Jos did not idle; he kept in constant contact with Steve and the outside world, carefully orchestrating a plan to wipe out this nest of snakes in one decisive blow. All that remained was to wait for the right moment.

Nick Fury had also agreed with Jos’s suspicions: the recent actions of Hydra were clearly not isolated incidents. They were planning something far more terrifying. Now, Jos was closer to the heart of this secret than anyone, so until he made a discovery, the Avengers could only hold their positions and let Hydra continue their machinations.

During this period, Jos increasingly appreciated the system’s infuriating but undeniable power, so he invested ten thousand points to upgrade it. The upgrade brought little overall change, save for a new feature: [Synthesis]. Its effect could be summed up in a single sentence: [Use ten abilities or items of the same level to synthesize once; there is a 50% chance of failure and a 50% chance of receiving a higher-level item.] Though it sounded like a money pit, considering the regular draws yielded over eighty useless things, Jos found the feature surprisingly practical.

As for the upgrade pack, it was as expected—though its contents took Jos by surprise.

[Name: When Someone Is Killed, They Die]
[Rarity: UR]
[Effect: A profound assertion from the great philosopher Emiya, revealing the truth of life and death—when someone is killed, they die!]

Despite the description’s apparent absurdity, Jos had a vague sense that its effects might be frightening. Why? Perhaps one day he’d find a chance to test it on someone like Deadpool.

Aside from managing the system, Jos spent the rest of his days in mechanical training and relaying information, until one day, Duncan—the highest leader of the unnamed base—came to find him.

“Recently, Dr. Connors has been muttering about ‘the principle of serum injection is to overload—ordinary serum three times, super serum seven times, anything we can find goes in, like stuffing the whole research institute inside, then drink it all in one gulp, and you’ll be invincible.’ Do you have any clue what he means?” Duncan asked.

“No… so what are you talking about, and what’s happened to Dr. Connors?” Jos looked at the grim-faced men before him in bafflement.

“This morning, Dr. Connors mixed all his serums into one vial and drank it. We couldn’t even save him—he died instantly. As the last person enhanced by him, did you notice anything odd at the time?”

“Uh… I think… I overheard him say something about trying a mixed serum?” Jos wiped a furtive bead of sweat from his brow. He genuinely knew nothing about this!

“Damn fool, messing around on his own—what if this disrupts our plans?” grumbled a gaunt man in a researcher’s uniform standing behind Duncan, his brows furrowed in annoyance.

“Shut up, don’t talk about this here,” growled the burly bald man beside him, slapping his shoulder and silencing his complaints.

Duncan’s expression flickered, deep in thought. After a moment, he said with venom, “No, there’s no need to worry. It’s a bit hurried, but since the doctor is dead, we needn’t waste any more time here.”

The bald man paused, then seemed to catch on and confirmed, “You mean… we start the plan now?”

“Yes. Everything’s ready. We waited for Dr. Connors only as a precaution. Now that things have changed, let’s move directly. Go—summon all the modified warriors.”

At Duncan’s order, the subordinate leaders departed for different parts of the facility, mobilizing at maximum speed to implement their plan.

“What are you waiting for? Get to the training grounds,” Duncan barked at Jos, his tone now reminiscent of a gym salesperson after you’ve signed up—deferential before, indifferent after.

As the saying goes: when they ask you to buy a card, they’re as humble as a dog; once you’ve bought it, they turn away.

“Hey, Commander Duncan, I just remembered—there’s something about the doctor I forgot to tell you.”

“Hm? What?” Duncan’s voice was impatient; now that the plan was underway, the doctor’s affairs hardly mattered.

“He never implanted a bomb in me,” Jos replied with a cheerful smile.