The Ten Rings' livestream had not ended. It was still going.
Hamid returned to the center of the frame, his expression calm, and slowly began, "The Ten Rings has existed for a thousand years, witnessed countless secrets of the world, and learned many truths about it. Today, we will reveal another shocking conspiracy to the entire world-one called 'Hydra Operation Paperclip.'"
His words dropped another bombshell!
Hydra-who in the world had not heard of it? It was a Nazi terrorist organization from World War II.
But hadn't Captain America destroyed it? Why was the Ten Rings bringing it up now?
What followed, however, left everyone utterly stunned.
On the livestream, Hamid publicly revealed the full story of how the United States had launched Operation Paperclip after World War II, taking in all the remaining Nazi Hydra scientists, agents, and military personnel.
From Zola's defection and infiltration, to the remnants of Hydra rising from the ashes under American protection, to decades of lying low and laying their plans.
The entire world was shaken!
They were completely dumbfounded. Was any of this true?
If it was, it was horrifying. Hydra had been living right alongside them!
Pierce and the members of Hydra were all stunned.
They had been exposed?
But how did the Ten Rings know so much?
Hamid's next revelations, however, made them even more restless.
Hamid looked straight into the camera and delivered another bombshell in a steady voice. "Perhaps most people in the world don't know that there is an organization in the United States whose full name is the 'Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.'"
In the director's office at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
Nick Fury shot to his feet when he heard Hamid say that name, his expression darkening terribly.
He had a vague sense of unease.
Sure enough, Hamid continued on the livestream, "It grew out of the Strategic Scientific Reserve after World War II. In name, it is a multinational security agency specializing in supernatural threats. It is overseen by the World Security Council, and its intelligence networks and secret bases span the globe."
"However, Operation Paperclip after World War II allowed large numbers of Hydra remnants to slip into its ranks. After decades of infiltration, S.H.I.E.L.D. has long since been hollowed out. The vast majority of its senior officials and agents actually serve Hydra."
Hamid paused before continuing, "Alexander Pierce, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and current secretary of the Council, is Hydra's leader. They have spent years undercover, plotting Project Insight.
"The so-called Project Insight involves building flying Helicarriers and linking them into a network, using an algorithm to slaughter potential threats around the globe. They intend to eliminate everyone who might oppose them in one stroke and rule the world."
He went straight to the heart of the matter without holding back. "The slander, smear campaign, and military invasion directed against the Ten Rings this time have been Hydra's conspiracy from beginning to end!
"Simply because the Ten Rings refused Hydra's offer to join them, they fabricated charges and instigated war, attempting to use the American military to wipe us out!"
The successive revelations sent the entire world into an uproar!
The internet exploded, and public opinion across the world surged once more.
Everyone was dumbstruck, unable to believe that an agency dedicated to safeguarding the world had long since been thoroughly infiltrated and controlled by an evil organization like Hydra!
And what was this Project Insight? Why did it sound so terrifying? Eliminating potential threats? How exactly were they going to eliminate them?
The thought sent a shiver through them all!
Pierce, who was watching the livestream intently, went deathly pale. Utter panic and fury swept through him.
He had never imagined that Hydra's almost flawless undercover operation, buried for seventy years, would be exposed in its entirety by the Ten Rings-even his true identity had been revealed to the whole world!
Just how much intelligence did the Ten Rings possess? How had they dug up these absolute secrets?
Countless questions and fears flooded his mind.
Although the Ten Rings had no evidence for its claims, this alone was enough.
As long as the Council grew suspicious, it would inevitably investigate everything. When that happened, trouble would come without end, and he might even be completely exposed!
But Pierce soon forced himself to calm down.
He knew full well that there was currently no concrete evidence that could nail him to the pillar of shame. He still had a chance to turn things around.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. He immediately began arranging a global press conference, intending to publicly deny everything and denounce all the accusations as malicious rumors and false smears spread by terrorists.
However, once cracks appeared in trust, they could never be repaired.
The member nations of the World Security Council had already been dissatisfied with and wary of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s years of overstepping its authority, enormous expenditure, and excessive power.
Today's shocking revelations left the nations deeply suspicious, stripping away their trust.
They prepared to use this storm of public opinion to withdraw from the S.H.I.E.L.D. cooperation framework, pull out all their personnel and resources, and terminate all cooperation.
When Pierce contacted the Council, the response he received was that S.H.I.E.L.D. was to halt all work and await investigation!
Pierce was so enraged that he nearly coughed up blood on the spot.
Meanwhile, Nick Fury sat in his office, his face full of disbelief.
The Ten Rings' revelations were far too detailed, with specifics that sounded convincing. They did not seem fabricated out of thin air at all.
When he also considered the large amounts of scientific research left over from the previous era and the suspicious personnel S.H.I.E.L.D. had secretly taken in over the years, all the clues linked together, leaving him no choice but to grow suspicious.
"Director, this can't be true, can it?"
Coulson's blood ran cold. If seventy or eighty percent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Hydra, then the colleagues and friends he greeted and worked alongside every day could all be Hydra?
"Maybe the Ten Rings just made it all up. Don't scare yourself."
Although Fury had also been startled, every hair on his body standing on end, he still forced himself to calm down.
But what happened next completely shattered his composure.
The United States government immediately issued orders to suspend all work and thoroughly investigate Hydra's infiltration.
With the ban issued, S.H.I.E.L.D. halted all fieldwork, reconnaissance, and combat operations across the board. All personnel were to remain in place and await screening.
While the world reeled from the shocking secret of Hydra's infiltration and nations launched internal investigations one after another, the American military showed no sign of backing down because of the public uproar.
The plan to annihilate the Ten Rings continued as usual.
With preparations complete, the American military base unleashed its firepower.
Dozens of precision-guided missiles soared into the air, trailing blazing exhaust as they hurtled at full speed toward the Ten Rings' Amba City.
"The United States actually chose this moment to attack! Damn, that's a lot of missiles. They're going to wipe out the Ten Rings completely!"
"The Ten Rings should have some strength, right? They should be able to fight back, shouldn't they?"
"Didn't they say the Ten Rings was a thousand-year-old organization? Maybe they really can stand up to the United States!"
Online discussion erupted again, with countless people speculating about whether the Ten Rings could withstand the American military's firepower.
Most people, however, thought the Ten Rings was doomed. The United States was thoroughly enraged this time and had sworn to destroy it.