Chapter 363: Long Live Hydra (Part 2) (Patreon)

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"Hello, I've been waiting for you." Schiller got straight to the point with Garrett, "The situation is urgent, and I'll be brief. I'm Director Pierce..."

Before Schiller could finish his sentence, Garrett pulled out his gun and aimed it at him.

In the moment before he could pull the trigger, a muffled gunshot rang out and his head was blown open by a bullet. John Garrett's body slowly fell to the ground.

Nick emerged from the darkness, and Schiller smiled and said, "Nice shooting, Director."

After looking around Garrett's body, Schiller said, "They're pretty bold, trying to kill me here. I thought they would try to lure me out first..."

Why were Nick and Schiller here, why did they kill Garrett, and where did their plan begin? As a time traveler who had read the original comic book, Schiller knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was basically a Hydra nest, and Alexander Pierce, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was one of Hydra's leaders and members.

So why did Pierce completely disappear and become completely silent? We have to go back to Stark and Steve's match to find out.

When gods fight, mortals suffer. Whether it was Stark or Steve, when they went all out to do something, there was nothing they couldn't accomplish. Not only could they accomplish it, but the result would be several hundred times better than that of an ordinary person.

Let's start with the Avengers team led by Steve. This Avengers team was full of talent.

In terms of strong attack, Steve and Peter led the charge. These two superhumans with great strength could break through any front-line defense. No matter how strong Hydra's base defense was, there was no door that Spider-Man and Ant Man couldn't break through.

What about firepower coverage? No problem. Captain America's shield was immune to all bullet attacks. No matter how strong the firepower was or how accurate the sniper was, charging in with the shield was enough.

In terms of tactical planning, the combination of Venom and Matt was also sufficient. After all, when it came to executing tactics, the simpler the better. It was basically about making some noise, attracting people over, and then charging in.

As for the part that couldn't be attacked strongly, Natasha and Barton's cooperation was also there. Black Widow was responsible for infiltration, and Hawkeye Barton was responsible for long-range sniping. After dealing with the part that couldn't be attacked strongly, the rest was strong attack again.

There were few forces on Earth that could withstand the combination of Captain America and Spider-Man. At first, their cooperation was a bit awkward. The two often interfered with each other, such as when Spider-Man rushed forward and directly hit Captain America's shield, causing both of them to fly out. Or when Peter talked too much during a fight, Steve felt annoyed.

But as the number of battles increased, their cooperation became more and more tacit, and their efficiency became higher and higher. Steve had been dealing with Hydra for so many years, and he had taken down several Hydra underground bases in New York in a row, captured many prisoners, and found an important laboratory by following the clues.

Avengers' progress was so smooth that someone couldn't sit still.

Stark's goals were completely different from Steve's. His idea was to start from the top. No matter how many bases and laboratories were taken down, the problem could not be solved at its root. So he planned to start from the top.

If we talk about technical ability, no one on Earth is stronger than Stark. There is no old account that he can't dig up in this world. But many of Hydra's high-level members had made mistakes when they were young, including Alexander Pierce.

Pierce was able to serve as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a member of Hydra for so many years, and he had some skills. But when he was young, he was impatient and eager to protect important members of Hydra. Therefore, he once smuggled two important scientists out during a crackdown, which was caught by Stark.

Of course, because the files were too old and the evidence was insufficient, Stark knew he had to catch more concrete evidence to take down Pierce.

Just as Stark began to use his advanced methods to investigate, Pierce keenly noticed that he was being watched.

As the leader of the opposing force, Pierce was very vigilant. When he found that the surveillance methods used on him were more advanced than the technology that should exist on Earth, he knew that the person watching him might be Stark.

Pierce was aware of Howard and his wife's death, and he had long expected that there would be such a day. So he immediately went completely silent.

He wasn't afraid. If the positions were reversed and Steve and the Avengers were watching him, Pierce wouldn't be afraid at all. He wasn't afraid of any strong attack, even if he was forcibly brought to court, he could still loudly proclaim his innocence.

But Stark was different. In addition to being a scientist, he was also the leader of an industrial giant. Stark didn't need to catch Pierce to exact revenge. There were too many things that a capitalist could manipulate. Even if Pierce was now a member of the World Security Council, he couldn't resist the attack of Stark's group.

So he took the action that snakes are best at, hibernation.

And Pierce dared to go completely silent because he had left a backdoor in S.H.I.E.L.D.

When John Garrett received Grant's call, although he appeared calm and asked Grant to protect him, he was actually a bit confused.

Because he was Pierce's back-up plan in S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pierce had instructed Garrett that as long as he went completely silent, he would automatically become the leader of all Hydra in S.H.I.E.L.D.

But now, suddenly, someone had emerged claiming to be Pierce's silent agent.

As an 8th level agent, Garrett was on par with Coulson. He was the head of the emergency response team and had been working in S.H.I.E.L.D. for many years. Although he didn't have as much experience as Pierce, his qualifications in S.H.I.E.L.D. were also among the best, and the same was true in Hydra.

When Garrett heard Schiller claim to be the silent agent, his first reaction was not to question the truth of the matter, but rather, "This old fox Pierce really doesn't trust me!"

As Pierce's subordinate, Garrett knew him better than anyone. Cunning as a fox and full of tricks, that was how Pierce operated.

Garrett thought that Pierce must be afraid that after he went silent, he would take over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s work and it would be difficult to control him when he returned.

Garrett believed that Pierce must have heard the wind and hastily brought in a parachuting psychologist as another silent agent to balance him out and prevent him from consolidating S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power and sidelining him.

For an evil organization like Hydra, it was hard to expect them to be united. Internal strife was the eternal theme of Hydra, and the power they consumed in internal strife was greater than that used for legitimate purposes.

Garrett was very familiar with this, so he couldn't possibly give up this great opportunity to rise to power. If he could control all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hydra agents, he could also become one of the heads of the snake and completely replace Pierce.

So Garrett's first reaction was to kill Schiller.

He wasn't afraid to kill in S.H.I.E.L.D. because this was their stronghold. Not only were the agents theirs, but the janitors, transport workers, and drivers were also theirs. There was no better place to act.

But unexpectedly, mantis stalks cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It was precisely because Schiller knew Hydra's habits that he planned to use this move to test whether there were any back-up plans left by Pierce among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and he was very satisfied with the result.

This kind of back-and-forth prediction may sound a bit complicated, but it is actually a very common move. It's like in the game Werewolf, the werewolf in the first position stands up and shouts, "I'm the seer!"

A less intelligent real seer might jump out and say, "No! I'm the seer!"

And then the next night, the werewolves would kill the real seer.

Schiller shouted out in S.H.I.E.L.D., "I'm the silent agent left behind by Director Pierce!"

So if Pierce really left a back-up plan in S.H.I.E.L.D., in the dog-eat-dog world of Hydra, the real deal would definitely want to kill Schiller.

Nick held his gun and looked at Garrett's body. He said, "I had anticipated Pierce's actions, but I didn't expect Garrett to be in cahoots with him. I thought they were competitors."

"They were in cahoots, but they were also competitors. Garrett definitely wanted to replace Pierce. After all, Pierce had been away from S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long time, but he was still controlling everything here. As the oldest Hydra member here, Garrett must have wanted to rise to power a long time ago."

After speaking, Schiller walked towards the door and said, "I hope to see a tidy office tomorrow morning. Thank you."

The next day, in the tidy counseling room, Schiller looked serious and said to Grant, "Now, I think you understand the seriousness of the situation."

"Pierce is missing, and Garrett is being investigated in secret overnight. The chances of either of them surviving are slim. We will face a severe test next. Are you ready?"

Grant still had a serious expression on his face and asked, "Did you kill Garrett?"

Schiller twirled his pen in his hand and smiled, "You're very smart, but unfortunately, Garrett wasn't as smart as you."

"He thought he could act recklessly here after running things for so long, but did Pierce not anticipate this when he brought me in by air?"

After Schiller said this, Grant relaxed a bit because it was so in line with Hydra's style of dog-eat-dog. At least it ruled out the possibility that Schiller was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and those agents would definitely deny it to clear themselves.

"Listen, I'm not joking with you. Next, I will take over all the work of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you have any objections, take it up with the Avengers."

At this point, Grant finally spoke up, "What are your plans?"

"I will launch a comprehensive security plan. All important personnel will appear on the security list, and if anything goes wrong, I will immediately move them."

"What about the base?" Grant asked.

"Do you know Arkham Sanatorium? That's my property and a secret Hydra base in New York. Only Pierce and I know about it. Even the high-level officials in other areas don't know about it. It can only be used in emergency situations."

"Is the situation really that urgent?" Grant narrowed his eyes and asked, "Haven't there been many purges before?"

"Are you really a level 7 agent?" Schiller looked into Grant's eyes and asked, "Which purge before could implicate someone like Director Pierce?"

Grant remained silent, and Schiller held the pen in his hand and said, "Clearly, a new era is about to come. Humans think they are about to enter space, so they plan to stabilize internally first. This purge will be unprecedentedly harsh, but it doesn't matter. I have always been a member of the corrective faction."

"Since the great war, Hydra has lost its glory. The most important reason for this is that a group of useless people joined us."

"In this turmoil, I will decide the security list based on your performance. If anyone is just here for the salary, then they can wait for the so-called justice to land on their heads..."

Grant left the counseling room and squinted his eyes. He felt a lot of pressure. Obviously, this new leader who had come to S.H.I.E.L.D. was the most difficult fanatic to deal with.

Grant's mood was complicated now, but he still pretended nothing had happened and returned to the area where his team was active. As soon as he returned, Coulson came up to him and said, "Did you go for counseling? My goodness! I've been so busy lately that I've overlooked you. I need to apologize to you..."

"No, I'm fine." Grant still shook his head stiffly, and Coulson didn't take it to heart. He knew that Grant was like this.

Back in his room, Grant leaned against the door and looked up. He muttered to himself in a low voice, "Security plan..."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 364: Hail Hydra (Part 3)