Hydra Stirring Up Trouble

Emperor Building, top-floor office.

Coming to an abrupt stop, Kyle landed on the balcony. His dark wings retracted, and Venom’s body once again disguised itself as a leather jacket.

"Boss, you’re back."

Yutong, who had been waiting in the office for quite some time, approached with light, graceful steps.

"What exactly is the situation now? Tell me everything, one thing at a time."

Kyle’s expression was calm as he walked over to the sofa and sat down, leaning comfortably against the backrest and casually crossing one leg over the other.

His demeanor showed that he was not worried in the slightest.

Indeed. There were very few things left in this world that could make him anxious. Unless Earth faced the end of the world tomorrow, everything else was merely petty human infighting.

"Alright." Yutong understood as well. With a light wave of her hand, she used her thoughts to retrieve a treasured bottle of wine and glasses from the cabinet.

She sat close beside Kyle, opened the bottle for him, and slowly poured him half a glass herself. Then she softly explained, "Bucky Barnett was apparently found by Hydra members at the manor on our family’s former estate ten years ago. Hydra may have obtained the brainwashing experiments once conducted by the Soviet Red Room. They gained control over Bucky Barnett, who is now codenamed the Winter Soldier."

Yutong paused before continuing, "For the past ten years, the Winter Soldier has been operating under a hidden identity, carrying out certain secret missions for Hydra, such as assassinating government officials, scientists, and military leaders from various countries."

"Hydra…" Kyle muttered, his face darkening as he raised his glass and took a small sip.

It had to be said that Hydra was not particularly powerful, yet it was like a malignant tumor on Earth, always stirring up trouble.

Cut off one head, and another would grow back.

Their extraordinary ability to constantly replenish their ranks with fresh blood was not only horrifying upon reflection, but also deeply irritating and helplessly frustrating.

Humanity was countless times stronger than cockroaches, yet people still could not completely exterminate them from their own kitchens.

"When I froze Bucky back then, it was because I wanted him to stay away from conflict and safely await the coming of a peaceful era." Kyle tilted his head back, his expression turning cold. "Hydra dared to take him from the family’s former estate. They truly have no regard for me."

"Yutong." Kyle smacked his lips.

"Yes!" Yutong answered immediately.

Kyle said coldly, "Pass down my orders later. From this moment onward, Hydra members are the family’s primary targets. Double the rewards in family contribution points. Mobilize every Card Disciple outside to secretly hunt them down and assassinate them. After killing a target or wiping out a base, leave behind a Demon Card bearing the family emblem."

"If you find any medium- or large-scale Hydra underground bases, you can specifically have Hellfire pay them a visit," Kyle added.

"I understand." Yutong’s heart stirred slightly. She knew that her boss was about to make Hydra pay.

If they were to face the future war against foreign invaders, Earth had to be kept stable as their rear base!

Kyle felt that, just as during World War II, Hydra needed another proper lesson.

Who exactly this Earth belonged to, and whose territory it was.

"Also, regarding the people who attacked Nick Fury…"

Yutong had barely brought it up when Kyle waved his hand and said coldly, "I already know about that. They were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—or rather, Hydra members. Ghosts with dual identities."

At the ambush site just now, after Visi intercepted the assault team’s satellite communications through radio wave, it had basically determined the general situation from the contents.

Sure enough, S.H.I.E.L.D. had Hydra moles within it. It had even been corrupted by Hydra into Hydra’s largest base in plain sight.

Nick Fury had known nothing about it. It was only when problems surfaced with Project Insight that he became suspicious. After he tried to terminate the project today, Hydra finally could no longer tolerate him and sent people to attack him.

And among those sent, Bucky, the Winter Soldier, might very well have been there.

"If Bucky made a move, and Natasha happened to be away, Fury really could be in mortal danger," Kyle murmured, draining the wine in his glass.

Yutong frowned slightly, silver light flickering in her eyes. Her thoughts reached down through the building and connected with the Card Disciple responsible for telepathy and intelligence analysis.

A second later, she reported, "Boss, Fury was attacked at almost the same time as you. Right now… he’s about to die."

Kyle’s expression remained calm, but the glass in his hand silently bloomed with fine cracks under his uncontrolled strength.

Brooklyn District, a secret underground facility.

Inside the emergency room, Fury lay on the operating table after being shot several times. He had lost enough blood to fall unconscious and wore an oxygen mask, while the display on the cardiac monitor beside him was exceedingly faint.

Two or three doctors clustered around him, giving Fury his final treatment, but the electrocardiogram continued to flatten beyond recovery.

Outside the emergency room door, beyond a large transparent glass window.

Steve, Natasha, and two female agents stared at the rescue scene within, their faces grim and heavy.

"Please, hang on, Nick!" Natasha muttered anxiously, her heart clenched.

But things went against their wishes. The line on the cardiac monitor abruptly fell silent, becoming the flat line that declared death.

The doctors gently shook their heads and removed their hands from the operating table. They pulled a white sheet over Fury’s body up to his neck, then left the emergency room under the female agents’ arrangements.

Natasha sighed helplessly, glanced at Steve beside her, and asked coolly, "What did Fury tell you privately at the end? Did he give you the thing in your hand?"

Steve did not answer. He looked at Fury’s body, then at the USB drive clenched in his palm, before making a decision. "Natasha. You’re S.H.I.E.L.D.’s deputy director. I need you to come with me to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters right now!"

Natasha stared straight into his eyes.

Steve met her gaze and said firmly, "If we want to find the murderer and the force behind Nick’s death, you and I need to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and confirm something."

"Alright. I’ll go with you." Natasha finally agreed.

After the two quickly left the underground facility, the secret base fell silent once more.

Then, footsteps echoed through the dark corridor as two figures slowly approached the emergency room.

"Who’s there?!" A female agent vigilantly raised her gun and blocked the doorway.

"Me." Kyle spoke as he emerged from the darkness, Yutong following closely behind him.

"Mr. Kyle." The female agent relaxed, her face revealing excited delight.

Kyle nodded and walked past her, entering the emergency room with brisk efficiency.

Looking at the corpse on the operating table, Kyle raised an eyebrow and said coldly in annoyance, "Everyone’s gone. Stop pretending."

One second, three seconds, five seconds…

On the operating table, the corpse beneath the white sheet twitched one finger slightly. Then its one remaining right eye snapped open as if rising from the dead.

Enduring the pain of his wounds, Fury forced out a faint smile. "As expected, I couldn’t fool you, Kyle."

"Obviously." Kyle smiled faintly.

If Fury had truly died, the Item Cards on him would have already dropped. Why would he still be surrounded by a pile of Ability Cards like this?