Chapter 367: New and Improved (Part 2) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Starting from the top to take down Hydra has proven to be highly effective, but it also means that they have to be prepared for a highly vigilant enemy when choosing this difficult mode.

The heads of this group of snakes are not to be underestimated. Their vigilance is extremely high, and at the slightest sign of trouble, they immediately go silent on all channels and disappear with all evidence.

To make matters worse, before disappearing, they also made sure to trip up Stark. In the past few days, the stock prices of Stark Industries have dropped significantly, putting a lot of pressure on Pepper. Stark's public image has also worsened, and he has to rely on Obadiah to clean up his mess.

Although their technology is advanced, the enemy is of a higher level. If they were to confront them head-on, Stark would have a way to deal with them. However, these people never confront Stark directly and disappear at the slightest sound.

As a result, Stark finds himself in a predicament of trying to catch a mouse. He has to personally go into the mouse hole to catch them, but that would mean falling into Steve's trap again.

In any case, whether it's destroying their bases from the bottom or targeting their leaders from the top, both methods have their flaws. Stark realizes this, and as Banner said before, it seems that only by working together can they fundamentally solve these problems.

Therefore, although Stark reluctantly puts on a sour face, he and Steve sit down at a table and, with the help of Peter and Matt, are finally able to calmly talk things out.

In fact, in the original comic book, Iron Man and Captain America had a honeymoon period, which shows that they get along well in certain aspects. Therefore, during this conversation, both of them feel a bit awkward.

They instinctively don't want to agree with each other, but their thoughts uncontrollably follow each other. As they talk more, their ideas become more unified, and then at some point, they suddenly realize it and freeze.

Peter doesn't understand what they're doing, but Matt sighs and shakes his head.

In the end, Stark pinches his nose and says, "Okay, if it's to deal with Hydra, I can temporarily cooperate with you, but in terms of strategic issues, you must listen to me..."

Steve also nods and says, "I won't interfere with your judgment, but I also have my own ideas. If we don't agree, we can vote..."

In the end, both of them accept this, but Steve is a bit surprised. He asks, "You didn't insist that we join your Radiance Alliance, but instead plan to join the Avengers? That doesn't sound like you, Stark."

Stark shows an expression of speechlessness and says, "Join the Radiance Alliance? You really don't have a correct understanding of your own moral level..."

"On the contrary, I have the most confidence in my own moral level. Don't you know where Captain America comes from? Bad people become worse, and good people become better."

"That's exactly what I mean. I am a moral model in the Radiance Alliance, raising the overall average level. Without me and Charles, their moral bottom line would be raised."

"Speaking of which, I was just wondering, what do you think of the mysterious person with the code name 'Doctor'?"

"What do I think? Just a Hydra agent who hides his identity... Wait, why are you asking this? Are you suspecting someone among us?"

Seeing that Stark is about to argue, Steve speaks first, "But there is a basis for this. All of our actions are confidential, and the locations we raid cannot be known to others. But every time we enter a base, everyone there has already evacuated, and not long ago. Don't you think that's strange?"

"That's because there's a mole among you. What does that have to do with the Radiance Alliance? We don't know your plans either."

"But you have Professor Charles Xavier among you."

Stark says helplessly, "If Charles is with Hydra, do you think anyone can still be alive now?"

"But it's not impossible that Professor X is being used by someone else. After all, he adheres to his own principles and won't easily read minds, so there is a possibility of being deceived."

Stark was about to argue with him, but then Jarvis said, "Warning! There is abnormal activity detected on a spaceship parked on the edge of the Solar System!"

"A spaceship? What's going on?"

"The monitoring equipment detected abnormal life fluctuations near the 19th spaceship, and the energy readings were too high! Beep beep! The monitoring equipment has been affected by a mysterious force and has stopped working."

"Someone has their eyes on the spaceship?" Steve asks. "Who is it? They also destroyed your monitoring equipment. Are they trying to steal the spaceship?"

Stark raises a hand and makes a calming gesture. He asks Jarvis, "Can you detect what energy destroyed the monitoring equipment?"

"I'm not sure, I can't analyze it, but I suspect it's magic energy."

"Magic..." murmured Stark to himself. He said, "Strange???"

After speaking, he instinctively looked at Steve, and the two of them said in unison, "Doctor!"

A few minutes later, in Arkham Sanitarium, Schiller looked at Strange seriously and said, "You're in trouble."

Strange widened his eyes and said, "It's impossible. I used invisibility magic throughout and even used a stance to shield the ship... "

"But Peter just called me and said that Jarvis sounded the alarm. It should be your magic energy that affected the monitoring equipment around Stark's ship."

"Damn it, I specifically bypassed those monitors. It might be the one on the right side of the deck that triggered the alarm. I didn't pay attention when I passed by..."

Helplessly, Strange said, "What should I do? Stark will definitely give me trouble. He might even use this as an excuse to take back the previous ship. That stingy guy..."

"Didn't you already become the Sorcerer Supreme? Then go into seclusion at Kamar-Taj for a while. Can he even find you if you go to Kamar-Taj? As long as he can't find you, he can't legitimately take back the ship."

"That's right. I'll leave the pile of work at the Sanctum Sanctorum to Loki. I can take a few days off. I've been wanting to go on vacation for a long time..."

After speaking, Strange left like he was being chased by a dog. Obviously, he was still afraid of Stark causing trouble for him, after all, he was in the wrong.

So, in the next meeting of the Avengers, looking at the empty seat left by Strange, Stark squinted suspiciously and asked, "Where did Stephen go?"

"He went into seclusion at Kamar-Taj, probably practicing magic recently and making some gains," Schiller repeated Strange's words to Stark. Stark sneered and said, "An apprentice of magic, and he still has the nerve to say he's making some gains?"

After the meeting, the Avengers gathered again, and now Stark had joined them. He sat opposite Steve and said, "But I still don't believe that Strange is Hydra. After all, he is the Sorcerer Supreme. Do you think there is any reason for these two identities to be linked?"

"Hydra is like that. Maybe you don't know them well enough," Steve sighed and said, "They can disguise themselves as all kinds of people, from politicians and congressmen to drivers and vendors. You never know which one of them is a Hydra agent in disguise."

"Moreover, from my experience, highly educated talents are the hardest hit by Hydra. Do you think all those Hydra researchers come from?"

"The Sorcerer Supreme is Hydra?" Peter said incredulously, "That's too absurd. It's like saying you, Captain, are Hydra..."

But Steve was not joking. He said seriously, "It's not impossible. I mean, it's not impossible that I'm Hydra. If one day you find that there are signs that this is really happening, then you must investigate and never let your guard down."

Peter's facial features all wrinkled together. The idea that Captain America was Hydra made him feel like his tongue was tied.

Steve continued, "This is their plan, to make humans distrust each other and ultimately cause war."

"Of course, we can't just pin baseless accusations on someone. We need to investigate everything," Steve shifted the conversation and said, "At least now I can accept the investigation with a clear conscience. Since I proposed it, I'm willing to undergo the investigation together with Dr. Strange. If there are no issues, great. But if there are, at least we can ensure that sorcerers aren't influenced by evil."

"Um... Did you guys forget something?" Peter scratched his head and said, "There's more than just Dr. Stephen as a doctor around here. Dr. Schiller is also a psychologist, right?"

Stark and Steve exchanged a glance, and Steve patted Peter's shoulder, saying, "I don't remember if I told you the biggest characteristic of Hydra members..."

"What is it?" Peter asked, confused.

"Diligence."

Stark turned to Peter and said, "You can't expect someone who sleeps at 9 pm to join Hydra. They would be screened out during the initial round of interviews."

Steve's voice drew Peter's attention back, and he said, "Think about the agents you met at S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you think this job can be done by someone who has a regular sleep schedule and wakes up early?"

Peter opened his mouth and said, "It does seem like that..."

"Peter, agents and spies, even high-level leaders, need to work day and night, exhaust themselves, and spend great effort to build their intelligence networks and bases. Anyone who doesn't work diligently can't become an infiltrator. This job is much busier than you imagine..."

"More importantly, they must maintain contact with multiple forces at all times. Once their channels go silent, they become leaderless like now."

Peter thought back to the days when he lived in Schiller's former psychological clinic and said, "If that's the case, Dr. Schiller is probably the least likely one here. His life is too regular."

"And he hates answering the phone. If he answers more than three calls a day, he gets angry, including take-out calls."

"He also hates staying up late and being startled. If he finds out I'm not in bed sleeping before 10 pm, I'm in trouble."

"And he really hates people who only say half of what they mean," Peter thought for a moment and added, "...and mice."

DCSchiller: Sleeps at 3 am because he stayed up too late, slacks off at work.

MarvelSchiller: Wakes up at 5 am because he wakes up too early, slacks off at work.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Next Chapter>>Chapter 368: Hydra's Guide (Part 1)