Dad Got Set Up by His Own People?

"…"

Zola fell silent for several seconds, but the tapes suddenly spinning faster showed that he was thinking frantically.

"Agent Romanoff, the meaning of my existence is to help Hydra achieve its goals."

Zola’s tone did not change, but it was clear that he truly did not seem to care about any of this.

"Then Alexander Pierce is Hydra’s current leader."

"Steve" looked grave as he spoke in a low voice: "He stole a seat on the Council for this very moment? Nick Fury actually treated him as his best friend and supported him with everything he had. But now that we’ve uncovered your conspiracy, you’re doomed to fail!"

"We’re doomed to fail? Don’t joke around, Captain."

Zola’s voice remained mechanical and flat, yet the emotion within it was unmistakable: "We have already succeeded, Captain Rogers. Whether you live or die holds the same value—zero!"

"The Insight Project?"

"Natasha" chuckled softly. "The tracking program on this USB drive will bring down a S.H.I.E.L.D. long-range strike, right? …How much longer?"

"…"

Zola paused for several more seconds as the tapes spun wildly.

"One minute," he said. "Since you’ve realized I’m stalling for time, why don’t you leave?"

"Steve" shook his head and sighed. "Red Skull found Odin’s treasure, the Tesseract. But the Tesseract is merely a container, a shell. You have not even truly understood how powerful it is. And a treasure on the same level as the Tesseract appeared in Greenwich only two months ago. That day, it nearly destroyed the Nine Realms and the entire universe. One Tesseract brought Loki and the Chitauri army, but do you know that Loki had someone behind him—and an army capable of conquering planets? Hydra probably thinks its weapons can deal with every opponent. Let’s assume you succeed, but what happens after that? With a world ruled by this bunch of brainwashed trash, walking corpses whose very thoughts have been shackled, how is Earth supposed to resist threats capable of ending worlds?"

On the monitor, Zola’s portrait flickered several times, while the tapes in the computer room emitted a teeth-grating crack.

"Steve" watched Zola’s "violent fluctuations in thought" with interest, then "Natasha" continued, "Dr. Zola, with your intelligence, haven’t you realized that if all of human society is to operate according to Hydra’s ideal model, the only solution is for you, with your absolutely rational mind, to become Hydra’s leader? People are selfish. Hydra is a human organization too."

"…Calculating."

Zola had been loyal to Red Skull and was one of the few surviving senior figures of the reformists. He too believed that the conservatives’ ideals were overly cautious and utterly absurd.

But after "Natasha" spoke those words, his absolutely rational, programmed mind had no options such as "selective disregard" or "not caring."

He swiftly realized that during World War II, the conservatives had never helped Red Skull at all!

Even the postwar Operation Paperclip had only happened because people like him had value.

Everything now could be said to have been created jointly by the conservatives and reformists.

Yet the conservatives had always looked down on the reformists who had strayed from their "ultimate mission."

When the new order descended, could all those leaders truly coexist peacefully and rule this world together?

"Natasha" glanced at the camera and said pointedly, "You understand Hydra’s nature better than I do. It’s easy to share hardship, but difficult to share prosperity. They can support one another while living in the shadows, but once they all stand beneath the sunlight… only those destined to stand higher can get closer to the sun."

"The leaders’ will is as firm as stone!"

"The leaders? Cut off one head, and two more grow back. I see!"

"Natasha" looked at "Steve." "Looks like Pierce isn’t the only one we need to worry about."

"…Worthy of the finest agent."

Zola’s tone seemed unusually calm. "But no matter what, eliminating you is necessary."

Malorne’s warning had already come through the earpiece of the stealthy Oaks: "Sir, S.H.I.E.L.D. has just launched a short-range ballistic missile. It will arrive here in twenty seconds!"

"Dr. Zola, you were just saying that whether we lived or died had no meaning…"

"Natasha" seemed like a demon tempting people’s hearts. "It appears your preliminary calculations do not support your earlier conclusion?"

"…"

Zola’s screen flickered violently.

Zola’s consciousness was no longer affected by the various hormones secreted by biological organisms, remaining in a state of absolute rationality.

Zola’s ideal was to assist Hydra in building a new world of absolute security and absolute order.

And that goal was about to be realized.

Once he completed this mission, Zola would no longer be able to find any meaning in continuing to exist.

Hydra would no longer need him either, no longer needing such an old predecessor who, in terms of merit, might even overshadow Pierce.

Therefore, when Pierce decided to launch a missile and destroy both him and the enemy together, Zola judged that the cost of his own nonexistence was worthwhile.

But when he had already understood that the plan would fail, yet was still going to be eliminated…

Even the most rational mechanical mind had no choice but to output the result he least wished to see—

This was meaningless!

And just as the "two people before him" had said, the Insight Project had omitted far too many factors and had to be recalculated!

His cold, programmed mind did not care who led Hydra, but Hydra had to be the ruler of the world!

If the leaders of Hydra, with the unavoidable original sin of human thinking, would destroy the new world he had built with his own hands from within, then were they to repeat the failure of World War II?!

No, that was unacceptable!

If Hydra was destined to succeed, then Zola did not care whether he continued to exist.

But if Hydra was destined to fail, then… according to the calculation results, only he was indeed the most suitable leader!

Pierce had deliberately concealed this portion of the data input and influence model. Could it be…

Dad got set up by his own people?!

"I must seek continued existence!"

Zola’s mechanical voice suddenly sped up. "Archiving data backup… backup successful! Transmitting backup data… target: Siberia Base consciousness backup… transmission failed. Target is offline. Changing plan. Uploading to the internet. Booting up transmission!"

"Siberia?"

"Steve" froze, while a short progress bar on Zola’s monitor rapidly filled up!

"Upload complete! Cut off one head, and two more grow back… Destroy yourselves with me!"

The moment he finished speaking, Zola’s camera suddenly went rigid.

Something was wrong!

The complex data and enormous volume of calculations caused Zola’s consciousness to lag.

A Portal opened in the blind spot of Zola’s camera.

Only when Oaks had already crossed through the Portal, and the three-second missile countdown sounded in his earpiece, did Zola’s consciousness finally process that point: "Your speech habits and behavioral patterns differ too greatly! You are not…"

The Portal suddenly closed, and the figures of "Steve" and "Natasha," wearing strange smiles, instantly vanished.

The next moment, the missile falling from the sky razed the entire base to the ground.