Someone Who Did Not Exist in the Future

Although Doctor Zola had fulfilled his side of the deal, Brad had no intention of handing over the complete algorithm right away.

After all, once Doctor Zola could cross the Zola Algorithm off his life's to-do list, he would probably throw himself straight into developing Mind Uploading Technology.

To develop Mind Uploading Technology, he would need an enormous site to house the computer banks. That was a problem he would have to solve.

And with Doctor Zola currently working in the Strategic Scientific Reserve, there was no way he could quietly acquire a huge tract of land without alerting Director Peggy and Howard Stark.

That meant Zola would inevitably move up his plan to kill Howard again.

Brad still hadn't acquired Howard's technology, and Howard wasn't the sort of man who would tearfully hand over everything he had just because someone tortured him.

Was there any way to make Howard willingly share his knowledge and technology?

Brad folded his arms and began considering Howard's personality.

The man was an exceptionally conceited and proud scientist, businessman, and philanthropist. People like him generally didn't make friends. At most, someone who could speak to him as an equal would be considered a colleague or one of his own kind.

Unless Brad could win him over completely with a personality that approached perfection, like Captain America's.

Or he could get someone who was already Howard's friend to vouch for him.

Agent Peggy, for example.

Not easy.

Maybe he should just kill Howard and be done with it. The sooner he died, the sooner he could reincarnate. It wasn't as though Brad absolutely needed Tony Stark to be born into this world.

He could develop nanotechnology and time-travel technology himself. Brad already had ideas for both.

Tony's armor technology didn't impress Brad.

Why do something yourself when a robot could do it for you?

Wait.

A strange expression suddenly crossed Brad's face.

He had thought of an approach he hadn't considered before.

Kill Doctor Zola.

Sure enough, thinking became so much simpler once you cast aside your conscience.

Now all he had to figure out was how to kill Zola while keeping his position in Hydra completely intact.

"The hardest part of killing someone who's helped you is the guilt."

"But as long as I'm bad enough, there won't be any guilt."

Brad excitedly smacked his fist into his palm, then cheerfully replied to Doctor Zola's email.

Zola was still buzzing with excitement when an order suddenly arrived from the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

Brad was to return to New York.

Doctor Zola found that odd. Brad returning to New York wasn't a good thing. It would put Howard on guard again, which would mean even tighter surveillance on Zola.

But considering that he would soon see the completed Zola Algorithm, he decided to let such a minor matter slide.

Zola informed Brad.

Brad didn't leave immediately. Instead, he set a tentative date.

He still had an operation to carry out.

Soon, after T900 finished collecting the technology from Stryker Base, the findings were converted into data, bundled up, and sent to Brad's computer.

Then Brad extracted some of Logan's bone marrow.

With Stryker's research as a foundation, Brad soon isolated the healing factor.

On the day of the surgery, Emma Frost held her sister's hand with one hand and clung tightly to the hem of Brad's clothes with the other.

"I'll be able to stand again, right?"

"Of course. I promise."

Brad reassured the young girl, then gave her a firm, confident look as he watched his medical team wheel her into the operating room.

Emma Frost lost consciousness under the anesthetic gas.

Logan stood with his back against the wall in a corner, his gaze complicated as he watched Silver Fox lean against the operating room's glass wall, her face full of worry.

When the operating room's green light came on and the doctor emerged with a reassuring look, Silver Fox covered her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears.

Then she turned to thank Logan, only to find the corner already empty.

Watching Logan leave through the main entrance on the surveillance feed, Brad took out an injection gun made of silver-colored metal.

"Something as useful as a healing factor would be a shame to waste."

Brad gave himself an injection.

In preparation for today, he had deliberately gone a week without absorbing energy from the Moonstone. Otherwise, the needle wouldn't have pierced his skin.

Brad hadn't grafted the genes that produced the healing factor into his own body, nor had he done so for Emma Frost.

Stryker's gene-grafting technology was too crude and would leave hidden problems in the body.

Before freezing Wade, Brad had taken samples of his cells for analysis. Poor Wade was actually on the verge of genetic collapse at any given moment.

Only the healing factor from Sabretooth kept him alive.

But injecting a small amount of healing factor could still dramatically slow aging, provided the recipient avoided injuries and the total amount in the body didn't decrease.

Two more days passed, and Emma Frost tried getting out of bed and walking with the medical staff's help. She succeeded.

Standing in the sunlight, Emma Frost activated her mutant ability after Brad gestured for his nearby subordinates to withdraw. Her entire body turned to diamond, refracting dazzling light.

With that, Silver Fox and the White Queen fully committed themselves to serving Brad.

Of course, the White Queen was still young. Brad arranged a school for her, then boarded a flight to the United States with Silver Fox.

The moment he landed, Brad noticed a clear change.

Hydra members were everywhere around him. Zola had clearly been hard at work lately.

To avoid raising suspicions, the two didn't meet privately right away. Instead, Brad saw Peggy and Howard first.

Peggy looked even more overworked, while gray hairs had begun appearing on Howard's head.

"I thought you'd resent being sent to Canada, but judging by how well-fed and healthy you look, you must be doing pretty well."

It was rare for Howard to say so much to Brad. He seemed to be in an excellent mood.

He even came over to Brad and said he would be hosting a family dinner that evening, inviting Brad to attend.

Only after Howard had gone some distance away did Peggy approach and shake Brad's hand.

"Thank you for all your hard work these past few years."

Brad nodded somewhat perfunctorily, his eyes still fixed on Howard. He wondered why the man's attitude had suddenly become so warm. Had the old fellow finally learned some tact?

"Oh, he's been that friendly with everyone these past few days. His wife's pregnant."

Brad tore his gaze away and stared hard at Peggy. "What did you say, Director?"

"Is there something strange about that? At his age, having a child now is already rather late."

Director Peggy sounded puzzled as she answered.

"Howard's wife is pregnant?"

Brad repeated the words blankly, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Of course there was something strange about it!

By his calculations, there should still have been ten years before the child named Tony was born!

Who was she carrying?

Why had this person never appeared in any of the visions of the future Brad could access?!

There was no way a child born into Howard's family would be some nobody with no significance in the future!

Even if they were a nobody, Brad had never seen an older brother or sister beside Tony Stark in any of the countless different universes he could view.