Project Insight Exposed, Pierce's Bone-Deep Chill

That whisper, seemingly from the Abyss of Hell, echoed clearly in every corner of Triskelion through the hijacked frequency.

"... Tell Pierce that the aircraft carrier for Project Insight is ready to be launched."

In an instant, the entire Strategic Command Center fell into a state of stillness more terrifying than death itself.

The air seemed to have been sucked out.

The blood vessels in Nick Fury's single eye bulged instantly, and his pupil shrank into a dangerous, almost invisible black dot.

Pierce?

Project Insight?!

These two words exploded in his mind like two high-explosive bombs carrying deadly poison!

For the vast majority of agents in the command center, the name "Pierce" represents the highest authority of the World Security Council, and is S.H.I.E.L.D..'s superior. "Project Insight," on the other hand, is S.H.I.E.L.D..'s most ambitious global defense system for the future, accessible only to those with Level 10 clearance.

The combination of these two words, spoken by the devilish man on the screen, exudes a chilling and eerie atmosphere.

They don't understand.

But Nick Fury understood.

Or rather, he sensed the unfathomable malice behind that statement, a malice powerful enough to overturn the entire world order!

A cold, sticky sweat began to seep from the pores of his bald head. For the first time, he realized that the intelligence network he had built with his entire life, the invincible net he was so proud of, might have been a huge joke from the very beginning.

However, the real eye of the storm is not here.

On the top floor of Triskelion, in the Secretary General's office, which boasts the highest level of security and is said to be impenetrable even to a fly.

Alexander Pierce, the Hydra leader who was as elegant as an old-fashioned English gentleman but whose methods were actually more sinister than a viper, was staring intently at the screen of his personal computer in front of him.

When Lynn uttered "old friend" and "ditch," his heart only skipped a beat, his face remaining impassive. Decades of espionage had long since taught him to bury all his emotions beneath layers of disguise.

But when the young man uttered the name "Pierce" in an almost mocking, call-out tone, a very subtle, almost imperceptible tremor appeared in the hand holding the coffee cup.

A drop of scalding coffee spilled from the rim of the cup and landed on his expensive handmade trousers, leaving an inconspicuous dark the Spot.

He didn't pay attention.

The next sentence made his blood freeze instantly.

"The aircraft carrier for Project Insight is ready to be launched."

Boom!!!

These words were not like a high-explosive bomb to Fury, but rather a black lightning bolt that pierced through time and space, striking precisely the most perfectly hidden secret deep within his soul!

Project Insight!

His greatest masterpiece! Hydra, dormant for seventy years, is about to unleash its ultimate weapon to overturn the world and establish a new order!

The core of this plan was known only to him and a select few top Hydra executives. Every one of them had undergone the most rigorous tests; their loyalty even surpassed that of their own lives!

How could it possibly have been leaked?!

Who is it?!

Zola? Winter Soldier? Or...?

Countless names flashed through Pierce's mind in an instant, but he rejected them one by one. Impossible! Absolutely impossible! His secrecy measures were perfect!

An unprecedented, bone-chilling cold began to spread wildly upwards from his tailbone. The office's temperature control system seemed to have malfunctioned; he felt as if he were naked on the Siberia ice field, every inch of his skin, every pore, was contracting and trembling violently!

"No... it's just a coincidence..." Pierce growled inwardly, trying to suppress the maddening fear with reason. "He only knew the name of the plan, that doesn't mean anything! There are too many eyes and ears within S.H.I.E.L.D.."

However, on the screen, Lynn seemed to hear his inner struggle.

The man seated on the Bone Throne slowly, deliberately, uttered the next word.

"Zola Algorithm."

If the "Project Insight" was a heavy blow, then the term "Zola Algorithm" was a poisoned, merciless dagger that precisely pierced Pierce's heart and then spun around violently!

It's over.

Pierce's mind went blank.

Zola Algorithm! That's the soul of the entire Project Insight! It's the core program that Hydra uses to sift through millions of "potential threats" worldwide using S.H.I.E.L.D..'s vast data resources, and then targets and eliminates them! The existence of this algorithm is a top secret, even more so than the Project Insight itself!

Knowing this word means... the other person knows everything!

All his trump cards and all his plans were exposed to this man like a stripped prostitute, laid bare in broad daylight, with no secrets whatsoever!

"Who... who is he...?" Pierce's lips began to turn white. His pride in his composure and shrewdness were shattered in this moment.

Lynn on the screen seemed to find this cat-and-mouse game interesting enough.

As if he felt that speaking through a screen was too distant, he leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes seemingly piercing through countless physical barriers and data Bastion, precisely locking onto the pale-faced old man in the top-floor office.

Then, he revealed a smile that was gentle, yet Pierce found more terrifying than the devil's grin.

Hello, Alexander.

This casual greeting became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Pierce lurched backward, his body slamming heavily against the expensive leather seat with a dull thud.

He was panting heavily, his forehead covered in beads of cold sweat, and his eyes were filled with unprecedented horror and... confusion.

This is not a leak.

Leakage is the flow of information from one point to another.

What the man before them displayed was "omniscience"! He was like a supreme Deity, overlooking all the chess games in the world, knowing the movements of every single piece perfectly!

What he was so proud of—his covert infiltration, his meticulously planned schemes—was, in the eyes of this being, probably nothing more than a farcical and presumptuous one-man show from the very beginning!

This realization is ten thousand times more terrifying than death itself!

It completely destroyed the very foundation upon which a schemer thrives—the sense of control!

Negative Zone, Bone Throne.

Lynn watched with great interest the Hydra leader on the other side of the screen, who had completely lost his composure, and the corner of his mouth curved into an increasingly amused smile.

Using the information gap created by the time traveler to crush these self-righteous characters in the story is indeed much more interesting than simple violence.

He enjoyed seeing their expressions of despair as their worldview crumbled and their faith was destroyed.

Just as Lynn was about to end this one-sided psychological bullying and cut off the communication.

He suddenly sensed that the three energies beside him, which had been perfectly contained, began to show subtle, highly competitive fluctuations.

He turned his head and glanced at it out of the corner of his eye.

Hela, Wanda, and Jean Grey all stared intently at the terrified faces of the mortals on the screen.

There was not a trace of pity in their eyes.

Yes, it was a complex emotion mixed with jealousy, disdain, and eagerness.

In their view, Lynn's verbal threats, while ingenious, were ultimately too "gentle."

Humans are creatures that remember the good times but forget the bad times.

Only when they personally experience what the wrath of the Deity is like, what the terror of having one's soul frozen is like, will they truly and from the bottom of their hearts learn to revere.

Hela's Scarlet lips curled slightly, and wisps of black Death Energy, barely perceptible to the naked eye, began to swirl around her fingertips.

In Wanda's Scarlet eyes, Chaos energy swirled like Nebula, and the very fabric of reality began to groan under the weight of her gaze.

Behind Jean Grey, the Dark Gold Phoenix phantom, its wings slightly spread, began to silently emanate a heat powerful enough to burn the soul.

Their master, through wisdom, executed a perfect "deterrence."

As his most loyal and powerful "weapons," they deserve to add a truly stunning finale to this performance, one that will be unforgettable for all the audience members.

The next second, the three women exchanged a knowing glance.

An impromptu drama, intended to curry favor with its master and prove who the most "capable" tool is, is about to unfold!