Hydra Decides to Give Up

While Peter and the others eagerly prepared a "Bloodstone Trap" for Belasco, Hydra received a message from Dario Agger. More precisely, the increasingly rogue Dario had handed the devil from Hell's Border over to Hydra.

To hell with any devil's deal. If Hydra wanted to take on the Avengers, they could do it themselves. He was going to carry out his own plan!

Thus, on Hydra Island, Viper, acting as the temporary Supreme Hydra, struggled to keep a straight face as she looked at the people under her command. Doctor Faustus had died on the Savage Continent, Gorgon had been shot dead by The Punisher, Dario was clearly preparing to jump ship and join Malekith, Strucker was still locked up in Mansion Prison, Zemo had gone undercover again, and Alexander Pierce certainly could not come to Hydra Island for a meeting.

Now, whenever the Hydra council met, only she, Hydra, and Arnim Zola remained.

How the hell had Hydra ended up like this?!

The more Madame Viper thought about it, the angrier she became. This proposal had not even been handed to them by Dario—it had been sold to them. Hydra had paid with both technology and money! Since when had Hydra ever been this pathetic?!

Madame Viper sighed, then asked the others, "Let's discuss it. What do you think of this plan? Those who participated in the Kang Dynasty should all remember Ultron clearly enough. Let's see just what this... devil's proposal is about."

"I think it's completely unreliable."

As an old veteran, Hydra immediately voiced his opposition. "Setting everything else aside, based on what we know, Ultron never betrayed the Avengers until the very moment it was deleted. What does that tell us? It tells us that he had not developed to that stage yet. I believe that