Hydra’s Final Days

With Visi around, Steve and the others could easily enter the Helicarrier. No matter how strong the Winter Soldier was, he only had two hands. Even smashing his head against them would not stop them from destroying Project Insight.

It could be said that the Visi Kyle had sent had disrupted the original balance of power and completely turned the tide of the battle in New York.

"General! Victory was assured!"

Kyle crossed one leg over the other and calmly looked at Pierce, whose face was pale and bloodless. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"At this point, what else is there to say? You won again, that’s all."

Pierce gave a miserable smile. After a moment of silence, he adjusted his tie and clothes, then said with calm certainty, "But this battle isn’t over. Cut off one head of Hydra, and a second will grow back! Even if you kill me today and stop Project Insight, this isn’t the end. It’s only the beginning."

His words were exactly like those of Schmidt, the Red Skull, when he had been driven to the end in 1944.

That was precisely what made Hydra so formidable: its pervasive infiltration, its capacity for endurance and covert growth, and its organizational creed that rivaled brainwashing.

"Who said I was going to kill you? The show isn’t over yet." Kyle chuckled, tapping his fingers on the table as he said meaningfully, "Don’t rush. Wait a little longer. Another call might come in soon."

Pierce’s pupils contracted, and a bad feeling rose within him.

At that moment, in obscure hidden corners all around the world, local wars began to unfold.

Southern Iraq, beneath a remote mountain range.

A large fortress-like base was concealed within the dense forest, equipped with all kinds of high-tech cloaking devices. No outsider had ever discovered or set foot here for decades, until today, when the technological barrier and the forest’s silence were finally shattered.

Boom!

A black-and-gold eagle-shaped Starfighter burst into the mountain forest and opened fire on the sealed gates of the large base. Under the barrage of powerful alien-made laser cannons, the protective shield lasted less than half a second before nearing collapse.

Countless armed Hydra personnel fled in terror, attempting to mount a defensive counterattack with guns and artillery.

The Starfighter hovered at low altitude. Its advanced metal hull ignored attacks from ordinary modern firearms as it blocked the air above the fortress gates and relentlessly poured energy fire into them, until the large base had been blasted flat into a sea of burning ruins.

"This was thrilling."

Firelight reflected in her beautiful eyes as Luna sat in the pilot’s seat of the Starfighter, lightly licking her sexy lips while gripping the manual controls that fired the craft’s cannons.

Yutong, seated in the co-pilot’s seat, said softly, "That’s enough. Let’s move on to the next target base."

"Got it." Luna flicked back her hair and operated the controls. The Starfighter accelerated away into the distance, leaving behind scorched earth devastated by destruction.

Austria, beneath a valley in the outskirts.

Another hidden large base stood there. Accompanied by the faint hum of engines and a flash of light, an iron-clad man in high-tech armor entered the airspace above the area.

"Try this." Tony hovered in midair. The armor plates on his shoulders opened, and dozens of small missiles shot out in trails of smoke, bombarding the domed roof of the base in a dense barrage.

Explosions rumbled as flames blanketed the sky above the fortress. Yet when the blast waves and smoke cleared, the structure still stood without a scratch, revealing a semi-transparent energy shield.

Tony’s temper flared at the sight. "What a pain. Jarvis, find me a weak point."

"Yes, sir!" Jarvis replied.

But before it could begin its analysis, a flying creature swept past the iron man’s side and charged fearlessly toward the fortress.

"That is…" Tony’s eyes widened. Through his scanners, he saw that it was a combination of two bizarre monsters.

A tall black horse ran through the air with flames beneath its hooves, while a three-meter-tall Green Flame Giant sat on its back, gripping a broken battle axe in one hand.

The Flame-Treading Horse carried Hellfire as it raced through the sky at high speed, leaving a trail of fiery marks behind it.

Upon reaching the airspace above Hydra’s base, Hellfire flipped off the horse’s back and plunged from the sky, smashing into the energy shield capable of resisting small missiles.

The moment the energy shield came into contact with the green flames, a tear immediately opened in it. When the steel plating on the building’s top floor touched the flames, it sizzled and melted away.

Hellfire landed squarely on its backside inside the heavily defended base.

Jarvis leisurely remarked, "Sir, it seems there is no need to find a weak point."

Tony was briefly dumbfounded. Shaking his head helplessly, he said, "What kind of monsters are in my godfather’s family? Leave this place to it, Jarvis. Switch to the next nearest target base."

Jarvis set the navigation and quickly announced, "Sir, the nearest target base… probably does not need our help."

"Why? That should be a large base too." Tony froze for a moment, then suddenly thought of something. "Who’s there right now?"

"Bruce Banner," Jarvis answered.

"Then forget it." Tony shrank back slightly, the image of the Hulk roaring in a frenzy surfacing in his mind. Still shaken, he said, "Switch to the base after next."

"Near the German border, approximately thirty kilometers from the border city…" Jarvis immediately adjusted the navigation and provided the optimal flight path.

"Okay, let’s fight to our hearts’ content today!"

Tony brought his arms together. Engines on his palms, soles, and other parts of his armor erupted, and he instantly broke the sound barrier as he flew away.

Hydra’s large bases were handled by high-end combat personnel.

Meanwhile.

Katu, dressed in black leather and wearing a demon mask, acted as the leader. He led teams from family-affiliated forces and underground organizations in surprise raids against even more of Hydra’s small and medium-sized bases.

The Thunderbolt General and Colonel Ross did not mobilize the military. To avoid loose lips among the troops, they merely issued unilateral death orders, temporarily suppressing certain intelligence reports bound for the upper ranks and making this war hidden beneath the world even more covert and perfect.

Yes, perfect. This was a textbook annihilation strike.

Hydra bases, which had secretly grown in the shadows like tumors upon the Earth, suffered devastating blows at the same time, silently falling and being destroyed one after another.

S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Director’s office.

In the brief ten minutes since then, more than a dozen calls had come in.

Pierce picked up the receiver, listened, hung up, and answered another call, repeating the same motions again and again.

And the intelligence reports delivered to him were all essentially the same.

Finally, when the phone rang again—

Pierce no longer answered. He slumped back in his chair, his eyes bloodshot and his lips pressed tightly together.

"It’s fine. Once Hydra’s heads are cut off, they’ll grow back, won’t they?" Kyle shrugged and offered rare words of comfort.

Pierce’s eyes widened roundly. He was so furious that he nearly spat blood.