Tahiti Project

A secret Hydra base.

"What? Immortal Iron Fist? Ghost Rider? The Hand has been wiped out?"

Having just crawled out of bed, Whitehall was still grumpy from waking up. He roared, "Why did this happen so suddenly? How did I not know about this operation?"

His subordinate panicked. Seeing Whitehall clutching the scalpel he never let leave his side, his face twisted viciously, he feared his boss would toss him onto an operating table for dissection. He hurriedly explained, "Fury deployed secret agents. Our people received no news at all and only noticed once the operation had begun."

Whitehall’s face darkened.

Ghost Rider was connected to the Darkhold. Immortal Iron Fist was connected to a powerful kind of strength. The Hand was connected to "resurrection."

He had been keeping an eye on these people who had only recently surfaced. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been investigating Hydra lately, so he had not made a move. He had never expected this to happen.

Immortal Iron Fist and Ghost Rider seemed to have joined forces with Fury?

Whitehall paced back and forth, silently calculating.

Although Hydra had controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. for a long time, it had never emerged into the open because it was carrying out one of Dr. Zola’s major plans: Project Insight.

This plan had been underway for decades. It required enormous funding as well as the support of the Security Council and the United States government. Hydra had to preserve the outer shell of "S.H.I.E.L.D." to accomplish it.

But this was Dr. Zola’s plan, not Whitehall’s.

By the time Pierce had rescued him from prison, the plan had already begun.

Hydra was not a united front. Though he was an old Hydra member and Red Skull’s former colleague, decades of imprisonment had cost him his authority. Alexander Pierce was the one with the most power.

Dr. Zola was more inclined to use technology to rule and control the world, but like Red Skull, Whitehall cared more about ancient myths and legends, and more about the power within the human body itself.

To him, immortality and great power were more tempting than authority and wealth.

"Contact Pierce or Garrett for me… no, contact my people inside S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

Whitehall said coldly, "We must get the Obelisk, no matter the cost!"

Felsstone Farm.

Before dawn had even broken, vehicle after vehicle arrived. The surviving agents brought in the large amount of seized supplies and entered the underground base to report.

In the training room, a high-definition screen lit up, revealing Egghead’s gleaming bald head.

Under the bright spotlight, it was positively dazzling.

At the sight of that shiny bald head, Black Widow instantly recalled the braised eggs the director and Master Wang had eaten that night, and she could not help smiling.

"Report." Egghead coughed, clasping his hands behind his back with a stern expression.

Black Widow hurriedly suppressed her laughter and recounted everything that had happened in the building the previous night. Then she added, "Before withdrawing, I checked the underground area. It had collapsed badly, and there was no way in, so I don’t know what was down there. Master Wang said he killed four of the Five Fingers, but we didn’t see any bodies. They should have been buried beneath the rubble."

Egghead pondered for two seconds before asking, "You’re saying Master Wang can pass through physical objects? He came out of the collapsed underground area?"

"Yes," Black Widow answered.

"Send people to excavate in secret and find out exactly what is down there." Egghead remained expressionless, then asked, "Did you find those things?"

"I went to The Hand’s secret base and found the Resurrection Coffin."

Black Widow answered, "But I didn’t find the Dragon Bone. It may have been hidden somewhere else, Alexandra or someone else may have carried it on them, or it may already have been used up. The Five Fingers’ immortality was sustained by the Dragon Bone."

But Master Wang might have taken it… Egghead thought darkly.

Without the Dragon Bone, the Resurrection Coffin was completely useless.

He was now basically certain that Master Wang agreeing to give him the Resurrection Coffin had been a trap!

The Resurrection Coffin was merely a stone coffin that had existed for over a thousand years. It might fetch some money as an antique, but to actually use it to resurrect the dead, one needed the Dragon Bone.

If Master Wang had really taken the Dragon Bone…

Wasn’t that forcing me to buy it from him, that crooked merchant!

Egghead was in a foul mood, though he naturally kept a calm face on the surface, wearing an expression that said, "I expected this all along." He continued, "Keep the Resurrection Coffin at the base. Transfer reliable people from the science division to study it, such as Fitz and Simmons… Damn it, I’ll arrange this myself. What about the other locations?"

"I went to Alexandra’s private villa."

Hawkeye wore a strange expression. "All the collectibles inside were gone… but the villa was still there."

Egghead’s mouth twitched slightly, and he felt his heart bleed.

Yes, the villa itself was valuable, but at most it was worth ten million, perhaps only several million.

The truly valuable things had been those collectibles…

As for where those collectibles had gone?

There was no need to think about it!

"I’ll send over a medical team. You won’t be carrying out any more operations for the time being. Continue training. Agent Romanoff, contact Master Wang. We pay them so much; we can’t let it go to waste."

Egghead’s face remained expressionless, but his voice rose an octave. "Remember! You are secret agents. Only I know that you exist. You only need to report to me and answer to me!"

"You take orders only from me!"

"Agent Romanoff, you will be responsible for filing this operation. Level 5 incident, Level 10 clearance. Also, some things need to be included in the report."

S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion Headquarters, Director’s Office.

Egghead shut off the screen and dialed a number.

"Go to Feuerstein Base. Send the Resurrection Coffin to Tahiti Island and study it together with that Kree corpse."

"Report the research directly to me. Name it the ‘Tahiti Project.’"

At the first hint of dawn, Old Wang returned to Azeroth Specialties Shop and found that the lights were actually on.

The door opened.

Skye rushed out. Her beautiful eyes swept over Old Wang again and again, while her hands felt him all over. Only after confirming he was unharmed did she finally sigh in relief. Then, like a swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Old Wang’s arms. "Thank God, you’re okay!"

"All right, all right, get down!"

Old Wang lifted Skye off himself and tossed her aside. As he walked into the shop, he said, "Buy four more freezers. Large ones, the kind that can fit people."

The Heart of Azeroth had plenty of space, but it could not be used to store corpses. Not only would Azeroth Miss find it unpleasant to look at, but even thinking about it made him uncomfortable.

He had heard of portable grandpas, but who had ever heard of portable corpses?

After thinking for a moment, Old Wang added, "Also, find a way to contact buyers and sell these things."

With a wave of his hand, a huge pile of items appeared. Under the control of True Qi, they automatically flew onto the shelves.

Skye gave an "Mm" and hurriedly got to work.

These things could not see the light of day, but as a top hacker and a member of Rising Tide, she had access to many channels. Selling these good items would not be difficult; it would just take time.

"Use the money from the sales to buy Stark Industries stock."

Old Wang hesitated, then added, "Set aside some money for The Laboratory’s project funding, and also… for salaries."

Salaries still had to be paid. Old Wang was not a heartless boss.

After giving his instructions, Old Wang lay down in the wicker chair and closed his eyes.

A thread of consciousness entered the Heart of Azeroth.

Twenty-four Soul Shards floated to one side, emitting a pale violet glow. They looked like scattered stars, beautiful and brilliant.

Four corpses lay neatly beneath the Soul Shards.

The Dragon Bone occupied the most space, and Azeroth Miss floated above it.

"Wang."

Azeroth Miss’s eyes shone like a starry sky, and her voice was as dreamlike as the stars. "The Heart of Azeroth is a Supreme Artifact jointly created by all the Titans except Sargeras. They bestowed it with many abilities, but they require a large amount of Azeroth Blood to activate and sustain."

"If you exchange this Dragon Bone, it should be enough."