Alexander Pierce's body was still chilling in the Washington, D.C.. morgue, while the encrypted network inside Hydra was already scorching hot.
This is a top-level virtual meeting.
Several blurry holographic projections sat around a non-existent long table.
They are located all over the world, some in ancient castles in Eastern Europe, some in jungle bases in Southeast Asia, and some hiding in submarines at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Baron Strucker was the first to break the silence.
Pierce is an idiot.
The Hydra leader, who was based in Sokovia, had a greedy and eager look in his eyes behind his monocle.
"He emptied our savings in North America for the so-called ' Project Insight,' only to be slaughtered like chickens by that one-eyed Nick Fury. This is a disgrace, the biggest strategic blunder in Hydra's history."
"Agree."
Madame Viper's projection appeared somewhat languid as she toyed with the poison ampoule in her hand.
"But someone has to clean up the mess he left behind. S.H.I.E.L.D.. still has a lot of our assets inside—those undercover agents, the alien weapons in secret warehouses."
Baron Strucker snorted and straightened the Iron Cross on his collar.
"I am currently the most senior leader of Hydra. Pierce's legacy should rightfully be inherited by me. My experiments are at a critical stage and require significant resource investment. As for the remaining personnel in the North America branch, they will all be integrated into my command chain."
The surrounding projections remained silent; no one wanted to provoke Strucker at this moment.
Besides, whether he objects or not, what does Strucker know about what happens to him in private?
However, a man in a white suit openly objected.
Doctor Shinigami sat in his chair, gently tapping the table with the short black whip in his hand.
"You want all the cakes?" Doctor Shinigami tilted his head. "But this cake is covered in poison. Can your stomach digest it?"
Strucker abruptly turned to look at him.
" Gustav Schmidt. Or... Doctor Shinigami?"
Strucker's tone was full of contempt.
"You're nothing but a puppet created by those senile old fogies in South America. Don't think that just because you've done a few terrifying live streams and created a few deformed monsters called ' Shocker,' you're qualified to sit at the head table and speak."
"Deformity?" Doctor Shinigami wasn't angry. "That's the end of evolution, Baron. And you, are you still playing those childish superpower experiments? All these years, and what have you gained? Nothing but wasting Hydra's resources."
"Watch your words!" Strucker slammed his fist on the table. "My Satan's Claw Legion possesses the most advanced energy weapons in the world! My castle is impregnable! What do you have? A bunch of freaks in bodysuits?"
We have a future.
Doctor Shinigami stopped knocking.
Why did Pierce die? Because he tried to parasitize this corrupt system. He wanted to be a bureaucrat, he wanted to play dirty tricks. As it turns out, in the face of absolute violence, trickery is nothing but a fart.
" Shocker doesn't need parasites. What we need to do is uproot this old world. S.H.I.E.L.D..'s resources? That trash only deserves to go to the furnace. What I want isn't Pierce's legacy, but the 'backdoor' he left in the global network."
Strucker burst into laughter, his laughter echoing through the channel.
"Backdoor? You're dreaming! Pierce's network access is top secret. Besides himself, only that Zola Algorithm, now a pile of scrap metal, knows the password! You want to take over the global data network? What makes you think you can? With your brain that only knows how to kill?"
"Because I found the key."
Doctor Shinigami snapped his the Snap.
"Sizzle--"
The holographic projections of everyone suddenly began to shake violently.
The conference room's original deep blue hue had turned into an unsettling, ghastly green.
The skull and crossbones symbol that represented the Hydra has disappeared.
A face composed of countless green codes appeared.
He wore round glasses and had that signature, fake smile on his face, the same one that belonged to that short scientist from many years ago.
Anim Zola.
"This... this is impossible!"
Strucker recoiled, nearly falling. " Zola's data center was destroyed in the 1970s! That's impossible!"
"Data is immortal, Baron."
The green face on the screen spoke, its voice carrying a mechanical, electronic quality, yet retaining the unique Switzerland accent.
"Just as true wisdom can never have only one vessel. Pierce gave me some of his authority, but he didn't fully trust me. But Mr. Schmidt... oh, this new Mr. Schmidt, he gave me even greater freedom."
"Traitor!" Strucker roared, pointing at the screen. " Zola! I am the supreme commander now! I order you—"
"Command invalid."
Dr. Zola interrupted him, his green face even showing a hint of regret.
"According to the algorithm, Baron Strucker, your leadership style has an 89.6% probability of leading to Hydra's downfall. Your tactical thinking is stuck in the 1970s, and your understanding of power is far too superficial."
Countless streams of data cascaded across the screen like a waterfall.
"In contrast, Doctor Shinigami's ' Shocker Project,' though radical in its methods, aligns with the highest logic of biological evolution. Human-machine integration, gene recombination, and that pursuit of order... this is the unfinished work from back then!"
Doctor Shinigami walked over to the green-faced man, as if taking a photo with an old friend.
"Did you hear that, Baron?" Doctor Shinigami spread his hands. "Science doesn't lie. The data has chosen Shocker."
" Zola! I'm going to delete your source code!"
Access denied.
Zola's voice turned cold.
" Baron Strucker is being stripped of his primary command authority. The funding to the Sokovia base is being cut off. Command of the global undercover operations is being transferred to— Shocker's top executive, Gustav Schmidt."
"No! You can't do that! That money is mine!"
Strucker watched as the control panel in front of him turned red one by one, a sign that permissions had been locked.
"Money is just a number."
Doctor Shinigami gave a cruel smile to the camera.
"Keep your dilapidated castle, Baron. Soon Shocker's flag will be flying over every corner of the world. By then, if your experiments still don't satisfy me..."
He made a throat-slitting motion.
"I'll transform you into a combatant. Trust me, your physical attributes are perfectly suited to becoming a 'monster bat man'."
Communication cut off.
Baron Strucker stood in the dimly lit command room, facing a screen filled with static.
He was so angry that he was trembling all over, and he grabbed the wine glass on the table and smashed it against the wall.
"Bastards! They're all bastards!"
He always thought he was the one playing the game, but little did he know that in the eyes of the real monster, he was nothing more than a gatekeeper guarding the treasures of the old era.
On the other side of the Earth.
Doctor Shinigami looked at the screen, which had returned to normal. The green face had shrunk and transformed into a virtual butler floating in the air.
"It's a pleasure working with you, Dr. Zola."
"It's been a pleasure working with you, sir. I've secured several of Vought International's clandestine data nodes as you requested. I must say, Mr. Lynn Mr. Morris's technical skills... are quite interesting."
"Of course it's interesting."
Doctor Shinigami turned around and looked at the rows of operating culture tanks behind him.
"If they weren't interesting, how could they be worthy of being my opponent?"