Hydra Will Prevail!

After more than a month of hard work, Old Pi was finally released in glory, regaining his freedom as a hero.

It happened to be New Year’s Day, so Li Congxin gathered all the Avengers and held a grand New Year’s Eve party. Besides welcoming the arrival of the new year, the main purpose was to celebrate Old Pi’s release from prison.

Even Tony, who had never been entirely convinced by Li Congxin, couldn’t help praising him during the party. "I really didn’t expect you to uncover the secret behind all this. To be honest, before this, we all thought Ultron was simply the result of an accident during Dr. Pym’s experiment."

"Now that I think about it, there were actually quite a few suspicious points." Tony shook his head and analyzed, "First, after Qingfeng was upgraded, it suddenly turned evil without the slightest warning. That alone was unreasonable. Afterward, it underwent an incredibly rapid evolution beyond everyone’s imagination, and even hypnotized both of its creators, Dr. Pym and Daisy, without them realizing it."

"It would be hard to explain all this if there hadn’t been someone pulling the strings." After a brief pause, he added, "Besides, as far as I know, hypnosis has always been one of Hydra’s specialties. Too bad… why didn’t I think of that earlier?"

Heh…

Li Congxin merely smiled modestly at that, while inwardly grumbling: If I told the truth now, given Tony’s arrogance, he probably still wouldn’t easily abandon his preconceived notions, would he?

Looking at it from another angle, had this case actually fooled even Sherlock Holmes? Did that mean he possessed an extraordinarily high talent for crime?

In truth, Li Congxin was the only person who knew the entire process behind the fabricated truth. Everyone else, including Old Pi himself and Matthew of Daredevil, who had helped him create the false evidence, knew only fragments of the full truth.

Naturally, Li Congxin had no intention of correcting Tony’s misunderstanding. Since everyone believed that Ultron had truly been created by Hydra, he might as well let this beautiful misunderstanding continue.

Just then, a tall, beautiful waitress approached with a glass of juice. She placed it in front of Li Congxin and said with a smile, "Sir, this is for you."

Li Congxin couldn’t help being stunned. "I didn’t order anything."

The waitress smiled. "You don’t have to pay. The lady over there bought this glass for you."

He turned his head and saw Sharon, dressed in a sexy evening gown, smiling and waving at him.

Tony, standing nearby, couldn’t help curling his lips. "I’m seriously jealous of that pretty face of yours now. Keep it up. I’m going to chat with the Captain and the others." With that, he patted Li Congxin on the shoulder, picked up his wineglass, and turned toward Captain America and the others.

When Li Congxin turned back toward Sharon, he saw the blonde beauty wink at him before pointing at the juice in front of him.

Looking down, he discovered that a note had been tucked beneath the glass. It was face down, so he couldn’t see what was written on it.

Li Congxin first picked up the juice and took a sip. Then he picked up the note and saw that it read:

I’m waiting for you on the rooftop. Don’t keep me waiting.

There was no name in the signature. Instead, it said, "Time Paradox."

Could it be him!?

Li Congxin was startled, but he nodded at Sharon. Then, without revealing anything, he activated the Space Stone and teleported directly to the building’s rooftop.

On the rooftop, an old man with an extremely familiar back stood at the edge, overlooking the thousands of lights below.

His strength was not particularly great. With age, he had long since passed his physical prime. At present, he was at most slightly stronger than an ordinary old man, and perhaps even weaker than a regular strong man.

Yet despite being such an ordinary old man, his figure standing in the wind gave off a weightiness as imposing as a mountain, as if he were still the superhero who had shouldered the fate of humanity more than once.

Among the people Li Congxin knew, there were only a few elders with such bearing. Odin was one, and The Ancient One could also be counted as one.

But one was an All-Father and the other was the Sorcerer Supreme of the Sanctum. It was hardly surprising that they could achieve such a presence.

The person standing before Li Congxin now, however, was merely a mortal.

A mortal’s body, standing shoulder to shoulder with the gods.

Iron Tony, Captain America!

Tony was naturally impossible. He wasn’t old at present. The man before him was none other than the elderly Captain America, who had returned from the future to the past and allowed the hero’s life to return to the ordinary.

"Steve." Although the man standing before him was a genuine centenarian, Li Congxin still couldn’t bring himself to address him as an elder. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to call the younger version of Captain America when he met him again.

The elderly Captain America turned around with a kindly smile. "I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly. Actually, I had only just finished striking my pose."

"How could I be late for an appointment?" Li Congxin sighed. "In 1999, there was also a New Year’s Eve party. Tony once arranged to meet someone on a rooftop, but at the time, he was still a playboy and was too busy chasing women. He stood that person up. More than a decade later, when that person came looking for him again, he had already become a vengeful ghost who nearly took Tony’s life."

After a brief pause, Li Congxin added, "That man’s name was Killian. I imagine you’ve heard of him."

The elderly Captain America was stunned. "That happened? Why have I never heard Tony mention it?" Then he immediately understood. "Right… Given Tony’s personality, he obviously wouldn’t publicize something so embarrassing."

After saying that, Captain America once again looked down at the brightly illuminated city. Li Congxin didn’t disturb him, merely standing quietly beside him and appreciating New York’s night scenery together with him.

After a while, Captain America spoke again. "I didn’t expect you to handle the matter of Ultron so perfectly. Not only did you eliminate every hidden danger, you even suppressed the impact to the lowest possible level. You should know that on our timeline, the battle against Ultron caused quite a number of civilian casualties."

"Later, that incident even led to the civil war between Tony and me. We failed to cooperate sincerely for a long time, allowing Thanos to defeat us one by one. In the end, we had no choice but to embark on the dangerous path of traveling through time."

Li Congxin smiled modestly and said, "Actually, I have you to thank for the valuable advice you gave us. It helped us avoid many unnecessary detours. After all, on a certain level, the battle against Ultron was a race against time."

The elderly Captain America waved his hand, then abruptly changed the subject. "Clark, is Baron Strucker of Hydra truly the mastermind behind Ultron’s appearance?"

Li Congxin naturally couldn’t admit that he had fabricated the evidence, so he turned his head toward the bright moon on the horizon. "The sunlight sure is wonderful today."

The elderly Captain America smiled knowingly. Then he changed the subject again. "Clark, the last time we met, you asked me whether I had encountered any conflict with the guardian when I returned the Soul Stone. Actually, I only said one sentence, and he abandoned his hostility toward me."

As he spoke, the elderly Captain America looked at Li Congxin. Li Congxin’s gaze also fell upon the old man’s face. Then, the old and the young spoke the same sentence they had always scorned in unison.

"Hail Hydra!"

At the same time, countless fireworks suddenly exploded in the distant sky.

They were fireworks lit by people to celebrate the new year.

Time officially entered 2014. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was a different kind of year.

At that moment, the elderly Captain America suddenly picked up a briefcase beside him and placed it before Li Congxin. "Actually, I came to find you today mainly to personally give you this. It is no longer useful to me, but humanity will face all kinds of crises in the future. Perhaps one day, you may need it."

Originally, Li Congxin had thought that the best thing Captain America could produce was his original shield. But when he opened the case, he discovered that it wasn’t a shield at all. It was a special black-and-white uniform with red trim.

On the left side of the chest and the outer sides of both arms was a black logo made from the letter "A" and a circle.

Looking at the uniform’s design and flashy style, Li Congxin was immediately hit by a strong wave of Tony’s aesthetic. Judging from its materials, however, it was much more similar to the Ant-Man Suit.

Just one glance was enough to spark Li Congxin’s intense interest in the outfit.

"This is the Quantum Battle Suit Tony designed for us. We used it to travel through the timelines and collect the Infinity Stones." While Li Congxin examined the suit, the elderly Captain America explained its origin and purpose.

Actually, Li Congxin had already guessed its identity when he saw it. Even so, hearing Captain America personally confirm it still left him genuinely shaken.

What kind of chemical reaction could occur when the genius intellect of Hank Pym and Tony Stark was brought together?

The object before him perfectly answered that question.

A suit capable of traveling through time and space!

"Of course, I hope you will never have a reason to use it. Unless absolutely necessary, please try not to meddle with the domain of time." After a brief pause, Captain America smiled with relief. "But this thing is simply too important and precious. Destroying it would be a waste, yet keeping it in my possession isn’t entirely safe either."

"Compared to me, you, the little monster who appeared out of nowhere, are the one with the strength to protect it."

After saying that, Captain America looked down at the countless lights below once more. His originally imposing figure seemed to flatten out at that moment, as if he had become no different from an ordinary old man.

Ordinary, and at ease.

Li Congxin silently stored the Quantum Battle Suit in his personal space. Then his expression suddenly shifted, and he said to the elderly Captain America, "The wind is strong at night. Too much exposure isn’t good for your health. Let me use the Any Door to send you home to rest."

The elderly Captain America smiled faintly and asked, "Are you in a hurry?"

Li Congxin nodded slightly. "An old brother of mine just contacted me through mental abilities. It seems he urgently needs my help, so I have to hurry over and see what happened."