Pinning the Blame on Hydra

"Clark, calm down first." Seeing Li Congxin blow up the moment he learned that Old Pi had turned himself in, Tony hurriedly tried to persuade him. "The Ultron incident had far-reaching consequences. Someone has to step forward and take responsibility. Dr. Pym bravely stood up because he didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone else. We should respect his choice."

Li Congxin was somewhat unconvinced by Tony’s morally upright answer.

There was nothing wrong with saying that people should bravely accept the consequences after making a mistake. But if there were other ways to solve the trouble, why should he insist on making himself suffer?

At that moment, Tony continued, "Clark, I know you and Dr. Pym have a very close relationship. Everyone else won’t stand by and do nothing, either. I already discussed this with Mr. Matthew. According to America’s relevant laws, we can seek a reduced sentence for Mr. Pym through other means. The president even has the power to grant a pardon. If we handle things properly, we might even be able to get him released early within a year or two."

"A year or two?"

Considering the trouble Old Pi had caused, this outcome was practically nothing. It could even be said to be an unequal legal policy available exclusively to the rich.

But Li Congxin was not satisfied!

"Don’t even talk about one or two years. Even one or two months… No! Not even one day!"

"I’ll take responsibility for resolving this matter. You don’t need to interfere." After decisively taking the problem upon himself, Li Congxin left Stark Tower. "Don’t worry. I’ll handle this properly through legal channels. I won’t do anything extreme. I’m going to see Pym Uncle first and hear what he has to say."

New York City Police Department, visitation room.

Li Congxin looked at the calm Hank Pym in confusion. "Pym Uncle, do you really want to take responsibility by going to prison?"

Old Pi smiled calmly at that. "I simply don’t want my own affairs to implicate anyone else. After all, there are quite a few people watching the Avengers, this super-powered force. If I step forward now and take responsibility for something that was originally mine, I can make many people who want to cause trouble take their objections back."

"As for serving time to atone for my sins…" Old Pi’s smile suddenly became somewhat strange. "I never planned to waste my precious time in prison. After some time, once public opinion has died down a little, remember to send me the Ant-Man Suit."

Damn!

The old man actually wanted to stage a prison break!

But thinking about it carefully, that did seem to fit Hank Pym’s style.

He would never obediently serve his sentence. At worst, he could escape and adopt another identity, or even change his appearance, so that no one could catch him in the act.

That might be difficult for other people, but for Old Pi, it was child’s play.

Hank Pym lacked many things, but he certainly didn’t lack advanced technology!

Li Congxin finally breathed a sigh of relief at the old man’s attitude. "I was really afraid you’d get it into your head that you had to go to prison to atone for your sins or something. If that happened, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything."

"If you don’t want to go to prison, then there’s no need to play any prison-break games, either." Li Congxin said with absolute certainty, "Hank Pym is one of the mentors who guided me through life. I won’t allow the name Hank Pym to be stained. Whether it’s escaping from prison or being branded a criminal, neither is acceptable."

As he spoke, Li Congxin stood up. "Leave this matter to me. What I’m going to do is… plead not guilty!"

Once he had determined his approach, Li Congxin immediately took action.

This time, he directly used his own connections and authority to retrieve a large amount of classified information from S.H.I.E.L.D. He also asked Egghead and Hill for help, mobilizing a large number of agents to assist him in investigating all the classified information he needed.

A week later, Li Congxin, acting in his private capacity, paid visits in succession to the presiding judge, the prosecuting attorney, and several politicians and congressmen who had intended to stir up trouble using this incident…

Throughout the process, Li Congxin did not use any bribery. He merely brought out some of the blackmail material concerning those people that he had retrieved from S.H.I.E.L.D., giving them a little reminder to watch their conduct.

For anything already recorded in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files, Li Congxin had no qualms about taking it out and using it. As for anything that had not originally been recorded, after half a month of tireless effort by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, it had been recorded as well.

Hill very rationally raised an objection with Egghead regarding Li Congxin’s use of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for personal matters.

Egghead’s answer was, "Why don’t you raise that opinion directly with Clark?"

"Given my personal relationship with Clark, of course I hope I can help him." Hill stated the facts plainly. "However, this isn’t something I can decide. You have no personal relationship with him, and more importantly, I believe that given your position, you should stand up and argue with him on this matter."

That was Hill’s principle when handling affairs: public was public, private was private. She would never mix the two together.

Privately, she naturally hoped to help Li Congxin solve his problem.

Publicly, as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s deputy director, she had a duty to raise her sincere objection with Egghead.

Faced with her question, Egghead merely shook his head and smiled indifferently before saying, "Even if we don’t help him, do you really think he can’t resolve this himself? Don’t forget, he already has Level Nine authority in S.H.I.E.L.D., second only to mine. Accessing those files would be incredibly easy."

"As for information that wasn’t originally in the files, anything S.H.I.E.L.D. agents can do, private investigators can probably do too, as long as he’s willing to pay. It would simply waste more of his time, and private investigators don’t have logistical support, so problems could arise more easily."

"But even then, it would only be troublesome."

"More importantly…" Egghead shook his head helplessly. "Clark is currently the only powerful individual to have left Earth and be willing to make plans for Earth’s development. If I really refuse to show him any consideration over this matter, then judging from what I know of that kid, the next time he obtains any alien technology, S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely won’t even get a hair."

"When that happens, all we’ll be able to do is watch the Divine Spear Bureau in the East eat its fill while drooling with envy."

Hearing Egghead say this, Hill couldn’t help feeling a burst of frustration.

Based on what she knew of Li Congxin, that wasn’t something that might happen. It was something he would definitely do!

That finally allowed Hill to relax. According to Egghead, everything was still being handled through official channels, so she no longer had to struggle with the issue.

But immediately afterward, another unpleasant feeling welled up inside her.

Speaking of which, why did Director Fury seem to understand Clark better than she did?

That was rather depressing. Was she his lover, or was Fury?

Li Congxin naturally had no idea what bizarre turn Hill’s thoughts had taken. At present, he had even less time to care about such chaotic matters.

After all, the impact of the Ultron incident was simply too severe. Even if every person involved in the trial had to act according to his wishes, the matter still needed a reasonable explanation that everyone could accept.

Thus, the next step involved fabricating some evidence. The specific process was omitted, but all the fabricated evidence had been built around one genuine piece of evidence.

To avoid any accidents, Li Congxin required Matthew to personally vet everything. The evidence did not need to be absolutely conclusive, but it absolutely could not leave behind any clues that people could uncover.

In other words, quality mattered more than quantity!

He did not need to make this case airtight. As long as the other evidence was far stronger than the evidence accusing Old Pi, he had achieved his goal.

And so, after a month of hard work, on the day of the public trial, Li Congxin used a series of pieces of evidence to pin the enormous blame for creating Ultron and endangering humanity on the head of the deceased Hydra leader, Baron Strucker.

All the evidence revolved around one unquestionably genuine document: the artificial-intelligence development plan he had found while searching Ultron’s base in Sokovia.

Then, under the step-by-step analysis of Li Congxin’s legal team, the truth of the matter became this: After the Battle of New York, the great scientist Hank Pym had intended to develop an artificial intelligence called "Qingfeng II" to help humanity resist alien invaders. However, at the crucial moment, he was infiltrated by Ultron, the artificial intelligence secretly created by Hydra.

The combination of the two had given birth to the evil artificial intelligence "Ultron," which posed a grave threat to all humanity.

Afterward, to prevent the evil artificial intelligence from causing excessive damage to humanity’s established order, Comrade Old Pi had poured his heart and soul into the fight. He had joined forces with several other outstanding scientists, including Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Helen Cho, and worked with the Avengers to hunt down Ultron, ultimately achieving victory.

In the struggle between humanity and the machines, Comrade Old Pi had made an unparalleled contribution. Although he had made mistakes, he had merely been exploited. After the court handed down its sentence, it ultimately decided to punish him with a fine…

As for the mastermind behind everything, Baron Strucker, he had already died and was therefore exempt from punishment.

With the case ending in this fashion, one could say that everyone was happy.

The public received an explanation they were satisfied with, and Hydra’s crimes were clearly much easier for them to accept than crimes committed by superheroes.

As for the government, it received special consideration from Li Congxin.

To put it simply, cooperate with me and there will be benefits. In the future, whenever I obtain some cutting-edge alien technology, if I have meat to eat, you’ll naturally get some soup. If you refuse to cooperate, then I’m sorry, but I wasn’t keeping the dirt I had on you under very tight guard. It might fall out at any time and be picked up by the media or someone else to make an issue of. That wouldn’t be my concern.

Under the combined power of the carrot and the stick, the politicians all declared that the evidence Li Congxin had presented was sufficiently convincing. This was definitely the work of Hydra. Other than Hydra, no one could have done something so utterly deranged. Hydra deserved to die, and Dr. Pym was innocent!

After all, wasn’t politics simply a game of mutual compromise?

With neither the government nor the public objecting, the media naturally had no objections either. The few people who wanted to distinguish themselves by taking an unusual stance were invited by the relevant departments to have coffee.

If you insist on speaking up for Hydra, then we have no choice but to suspect that you have some unknown connection to Hydra.

Throughout this process, most of the people who wanted to stir up trouble wisely chose to submit. As for those who were especially stubborn, while they were chatting with the relevant departments, Li Congxin had the other side experience the power of the media first-hand, as well as what it meant to be condemned by everyone.

Please don’t forget: Li Congxin had the final say in how one-third of America’s media evaluated any given matter!