Hydra's Grand Priest Pi Lama in S.H.I.E.L.D.

The moment the Level 4 Qing Xin Zhou was unleashed, Bucky froze in place. He slowly raised his hands, clutching his head, a look of extreme pain on his face.

Seeing that Bucky was already affected by the music, Li Congxin crept forward, intending to quietly pick up the Ruyi Bang. He planned to strike hard while Bucky was disoriented.

"Ah!"

As Li Congxin's hand brushed the edge of the Ruyi Bang, Bucky suddenly let out a beast-like roar. Startled, Li Congxin flinched and rolled to the side. When he looked up again, Bucky had already turned and sprinted off in another direction.

That direction was precisely where the handgun Li Congxin had kicked away earlier had landed!

Seeing this, Li Congxin didn't dare to delay.

He quickly sprinted after Bucky, only to watch in dismay as Bucky stepped right over the handgun on the ground, showing no intention of picking it up at all.

Li Congxin successfully retrieved the gun, but Bucky had already leaped down the stairs he had used to get up there, disappearing completely from his sight.

Only then did Li Congxin finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He figured the effect of the Qing Xin Zhou must have awakened Bucky's sealed memories, causing him to fall into a state of mental confusion and flee in panic.

Indeed, in my BGM, no one can defeat me!

If there is, it's because the BGM is playing incorrectly!

To prevent Bucky from returning for a surprise attack, Li Congxin decided to keep the Qing Xin Zhou playing as background music. He then put away the handgun and the Ruyi Bang separately before turning his attention to his biggest haul of the day.

One Winter Soldier, who had miraculously survived Bucky's wild gunfire!

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be an Asian, with yellow skin, closed eyes, and hair... uh, no hair!

However, this was enough to indicate that this Winter Soldier was definitely not weak.

Bald, and having spent years in a cryo-chamber without air conditioning – this was definitely the outward sign of a peerless expert!

He casually took out a small rectangular box from his pocket, placed it on the ground, took two steps back, and pressed a button on his wristband.

"Whoosh!"

The small box instantly transformed into a massive freezer, three meters long and two meters wide.

Li Congxin then found the switch for the glass cover and opened it.

As Li Congxin watched the glass cover slowly rise, and the lucky fellow still in a frozen state before him, a playful smile curved his lips. "You're quite lucky, aren't you! You know, this luxurious single bed was originally prepared for Captain America."

In a luxurious villa with its own courtyard in Manhattan, New York, USA.

Li Congxin looked at the bedroom, which was twice the size of the previous one, and said with some helplessness, "Why do we have to move here? Wasn't the old apartment fine?"

Old Pi, standing nearby, snorted in response. "You feel bad about living in my house? But when you killed someone and asked me to clean up your mess, you didn't seem to have any psychological burden."

Li Congxin chuckled and quickly retorted, "I didn't kill anyone! You said yourself that the killer escaped on their own, and there wasn't even any bloodstains or murder weapon left at the scene. I'm a good citizen and a victim!"

Old Pi clearly didn't want to argue about this matter and changed the subject. "Regarding the killer you mentioned, I've asked my old friend in the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Alexander Pierce, to help investigate. They have significant resources. While the investigation might not yield any results, I don't think similar incidents will happen in the future."

You're asking Pierce to investigate Crossbones?

Li Congxin blinked. Was there anything more unreliable in this world?

At this moment, Old Pi added, "Although Pierce is a cunning old fox, he's even more reluctant to disregard my stance. Speaking of which, his personality is a bit like Dr. Zola back in the day. He's as timid as a mouse, of course, a good mouse, unlike Zola, that remnant of Hydra."

Not at all different!

He's clearly Hydra!

However, hearing Old Pi say this, Li Congxin felt somewhat relieved for the time being.

Although Pierce was Hydra, Hydra had many heads. Not every Hydra member was as iron-fisted as Red Skull.

As Master Lu once said, the style of an organization is often determined by the conduct of its leader.

The Hydra faction within S.H.I.E.L.D. was developed by Dr. Zola, a POW from back then. Therefore, this faction of Hydra largely inherited his style.

So, the question is, what was Dr. Zola's style?

Setting aside his genius scientist halo, Dr. Zola had only one characteristic: cowardice!

After being captured by Captain America, he was so scared by a few drops of blood and a steak from Phillip that he wet himself. How cowardly was that?

The style of a team built by such a person could naturally be imagined!

The current S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Pierce, was a prime example. During his tenure, he didn't seem to accomplish anything memorable. Outsiders, let alone Hydra, didn't even know about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence.

It wasn't until Director Fury took office that things like the Avengers started happening.

Looking back at Pierce's entire career, he basically only did two things.

First, he quietly developed Hydra, infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. as silently as a sieve.

Second, he prepared Project Insight, putting Dr. Zola's dying wish into action.

Third... that's it!

Simply put, Pierce's leadership style could be summarized in two sentences.

"Develop stealthily, don't overextend!"

"Hold steady, we can win!"

His greatest strengths were his ability to endure, disguise, and deceive.

So, we can affectionately call him—Hydra's Grand Priest Pi Lama in S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Pi Lama acted with caution and never took risks lightly. His previous decision to send Crossbones to attack Li Congxin was entirely an attempt to catch him off guard.

Now that Crossbones had been exposed, and Old Pi had emphasized Li Congxin's importance to him, Li Congxin figured this Pi Lama, who lived by the principle of "playing it safe and developing slowly," wouldn't dare cause any more trouble in the short term.

With a great weight lifted from his mind, Li Congxin felt even this new bedroom looked much more pleasing to the eye than before.

"The intel is ready. You guys should take a look at this."

His voice arrived before he did.

Then, Hope came rushing in from outside, handing two files to Old Pi and Li Congxin respectively.

Taking the files from Hope with a hint of confusion, Li Congxin couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

Old Pi, who had also received a file, casually replied while flipping through it, "Didn't you bring back a Winter Soldier earlier? As soon as he returned, I had someone investigate his background. The answer is in the files you and I are holding."

Looking down, Li Congxin saw a photo of the bald Winter Soldier on the first page of the file. He looked younger than he did now.

As he read the brief description that followed, Li Congxin couldn't help but gasp.

Thank you to [Eternal Life Never Fails You] for the 100 Qidian coins!