At midnight, the hacker team assembled by Hammer Industries launched an attack on Umbrella Corporation's servers.
For a time, streams of data poured in from every channel, and the server housing Red Queen let out a deafening voice.
"Guardian, they've made their move."
"Don't crush them all at once. Let them taste a little success first. Leak part of the structural blueprints for the Spider-Bots to them."
"Understood."
At that moment, Wang Khan drove into Brooklyn, New York, and parked beside an outdoor basketball court.
Two hundred meters from the basketball court where he was parked, a dark blue van sat beside an inconspicuous old street. Light flickered inside it, clearly indicating that someone was there.
"Guardian, two men are monitoring the girl named Skye from an apartment building fifty meters away from the van."
A street-side camera turned on its own toward the apartment building and focused on a fifth-floor window. The surveillance feed immediately appeared on Wang Khan's tablet.
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. These sewer rats really are everywhere. Proceed according to plan and block all surveillance signals nearby."
"Understood."
In an instant, the surveillance feeds across five nearby streets were all blacked out, leaving the cameras blind.
Wang Khan got out of the car and walked toward the blue van.
At the same time, several Mechanical Spiders darted out ahead of him, crossed the two-hundred-meter distance, and climbed up the apartment building where the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were stationed.
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned to monitor Skye had yet to notice anything unusual. Since they had long grown accustomed to such surveillance assignments, their vigilance had dropped considerably. By the time the Mechanical Spiders climbed onto their shoulders, they finally reacted.
"Enemy attack!"
Pfft! Pfft!
Poison needles carrying lethal toxins shot from the Mechanical Spiders, striking the two agents' major arteries with precision.
The toxin swiftly entered their hearts through their bloodstreams, claiming their lives within seconds.
"Vital signs have disappeared. The targets are dead."
Through the Mechanical Spiders' sensors, Red Queen confirmed their deaths.
"Guardian, should we leave Hydra's mark behind?"
"Red Queen, don't underestimate S.H.I.E.L.D. Though I call them rats in a filthy gutter, the organization itself is still very powerful, and there is no shortage of wise people within it. First, check whether those two agents have any identification on them."
Red Queen controlled the Mechanical Spiders to search them, and sure enough, they found S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials.
"Good. Their IDs are enough. S.H.I.E.L.D. has many enemies in this world, but not many who would dare kill them so openly. With Nick Fury's intelligence, I believe he'll figure something out. There's no need to do anything superfluous."
Red Queen seemed to understand, though not entirely. When it came to understanding human nature, she was still somewhat behind Ultron.
Ignoring Red Queen's cleanup work, Wang Khan had already reached the blue van. Hearing the rapid clatter of keyboards inside, he extended a hand, and a Mechanical Spider shattered the window and leaped in.
Inside the van, a girl with obvious mixed-race features looked over in terror.
She immediately reached for a baseball bat beside her to defend herself, but no matter how fast she moved, she was not faster than the Mechanical Spider.
Dazzling electric arcs flashed at the back of her neck. Skye only had time to cry out in pain before she was shocked unconscious.
"The World Destroyer is in hand. Now let me see just how advanced the Inhumans' genetic modification technology is."
Wang Khan pulled open the van door, lifted Skye into his arms, and turned toward his own car.
Two minutes after he left, Skye's blue van suddenly caught fire. It quickly became a blazing fireball, destroying everything inside.
While Wang Khan openly built the plank road but secretly crossed the warehouse, S.H.I.E.L.D. was still focused on the cyber battle between Hammer Industries and Umbrella Corporation.
"Director, Umbrella Corporation seems unable to hold on much longer. Some of its core technologies have already been stolen. Should we intervene?"
"Wait a little longer. I have a feeling something is wrong. Umbrella Corporation's resistance seems far too weak."
Nick Fury truly was an old schemer. He instinctively sensed that something was off.
Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, Umbrella Corporation's counterattack began.
First, it spent three minutes crushing every incoming data stream. Then it seized the momentum and counterattacked, directly overwhelming the invading hackers.
Coulson stared in astonishment. Just then, his phone rang, and after answering it, the shock on his face deepened further.
"Were the hackers' identities exposed?"
Nick Fury turned and asked. Coulson nodded slightly.
"We just received word from an NYPD informant. Umbrella Corporation reported the personal information of twelve domestic hackers in one go. Three of them are from Rising Tide, including Skye. director, it seems that Wang Khan is not only a genius in biology and machine manufacturing, but also highly capable with computers."
Fury sat in his chair and leaned his upper body back slightly.
"No matter how capable a genius is, there are limits. Wang Khan was clearly prepared for today's cyber intrusion. Could he really be from S.P.E.A.R.?"
"Coulson, have Agent 13 enter Deep Shadow status. From now on, she is to maintain a single line of contact with you only. Do not contact her unless there is a major incident."
"Understood."
Coulson went to make the arrangements. Fury clasped his hands together on the desk and carefully considered the possibility that Wang Khan came from S.P.E.A.R.
Less than a minute after leaving, Coulson rushed back in.
"Director, something happened! The two agents I sent to monitor Skye have lost contact. I'm afraid something has happened to them."
"Send people there immediately. No—you go personally. Bring Barton too!"
The moment Coulson heard that the Director had deployed Hawkeye, he realized the situation was serious and hurried to the scene.
"Tonight really is one disaster after another."
Fury rubbed his aching temples and lamented how unsettled the night had been, but he had no idea that this was only the beginning.
Wang Khan drove to a high-end biological laboratory. He had rented it after receiving the remaining payment from the New York police department, and it cost $500,000 a month.
Originally, Wang Khan had wanted to build one himself, but constructing a similar high-end laboratory alone would cost tens of millions, not including the price of land. At this stage, he could only rent.
He placed the still-unconscious Skye in a specially designed isolation chamber inside the laboratory. At that moment, Red Queen's voice came through.
"Hammer Industries' servers have been breached, including Justin Hammer's private server. Guardian, please give the order."
Wang Khan locked the isolation chamber door and gave the command directly.
"Do it! I want Justin Hammer to learn the consequences of crossing me!"
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