Drizzling rain, hazy mist.
The soaked clothes clung tightly to the skin, emitting a chill that seeped into the bones. The fine rain moistened things soundlessly, and the air was filled with a unique earthy fragrance.
Tonight's moon was covered by dark clouds.
Amid the hazy mist and drizzling rain, visibility was compressed to the limit, probably only three to five meters. A sharp murderous aura mixed with the fine rain and mist, quietly spreading through the air.
Splash splash...
An invisible air current spread out, mixed with a heart-palpitating killing intent.
The green grass growing around them had, at some unknown point, silently prostrated itself on the ground, while the grass tips pressed against the soil displayed an extremely strange posture. Like they were worshiping a god, they all pointed neatly toward Hive.
Rustle rustle...
The needle-like drizzle was repelled by another force before it even touched his body. Even the patch of ground beneath his feet had not been moistened by the rain.
At this moment, Hive was like a god.
In the domain he stepped upon, even the weather could not interfere or affect him. Every flower, grass, and tree had to submit to his majesty.
Hive seemed like a lifelike stone statue, without the slightest trace of life belonging to a living being, expressionlessly staring at Peggy Carter.
If not for his still-rising chest and the white airflow exhaled from his mouth, one might truly have thought he was a stone statue.
But the spiritual power lingering around him, as time passed, was increasing wildly at an exponential rate, until it could even be seen with the naked eye.
The eerie and ominous purple spiritual power surged like a tide, continuously striking the air, raising layers upon layers of ripples and emitting a mountain-like pressure.
"What are you still waiting for?"
The corner of Hive's lips curled up as he mocked, "Why don't you let me guess where the others are lying in ambush? After all, if it were just you alone, you probably wouldn't be arrogant enough to challenge me."
Peggy, whose thoughts had been seen through, had her pupils shrink slightly. Cold sweat poured down as she tightened her grip on the black briefcase.
Every pore on her body opened, and all the hair on her body stood upright under the stimulation of that cold killing intent, like antennas sensing danger. The nerves in her brain were stretched taut like beef tendons, in a state of extreme tension, not daring to relax in the slightest.
The viscous air was comparable to flowing water. Every breath required her lungs to exert their strength to the limit, otherwise she might suffocate.
Just enduring that surging Reiatsu alone made her feel as if all the bones in her body were crying out.
Not to mention what terrifying result would occur if they actually fought.
The gap...
Seemed to be many times larger than they had imagined. Sure enough, it would not be that smooth.
"Didn't you want revenge?"
Hive's eyes carried a trace of mockery, his manner calm and composed, as if he were a god standing high above and controlling all things. With a condescending posture, he said, "Call everyone else out. Let me see just how capable all of you are."
"Huff..."
Peggy Carter exhaled deeply, barely suppressing the restlessness and unease in her heart, and once again put on a resolute expression. "We will let you see it... Hive!"
Click!
She opened the metal clasp on the suitcase, and a light-blue train drove out from within.
The next moment, several figures appeared.
"Heh, and here I was wondering who it was."
Hive's gaze swept over the faces of several people in turn, and a look of disdain appeared on his face as he mocked, "So it's all a group of 'dead people.' Howard Stark, Bucky Barnes, and one nameless small fry. This is the plan you prepared?"
Although Howard Stark was already over fifty, he was still vigorous and energetic. His graying hair was combed neatly, and his face was covered with traces left by time. In his slightly cold eyes, anger and hatred brewed. "Thirty-two years ago, you sent people to assassinate Maria and me. I survived by luck. Today... is the day I avenge her!"
"Everyone here has the deepest hatred toward you." Bucky put on the metal knuckle duster, killing intent appearing in his eyes. "And the reason we gathered together is to take revenge on you!"
"Let me introduce myself."
The last person said with a cold face, gnashing his teeth, "My name is Helmut Zemo. Your Hydra people killed my wife and child."
The arc at the corner of Hive's mouth gradually widened, until it nearly reached his ears, and then he burst into loud laughter:
"Ridiculous!"
"Extremely ridiculous!"
"Hahahahaha...!"
The piercing laughter penetrated the rain curtain.
With Hive as the center, the atmosphere within dozens of meters was violently trembling.
"Howard Stark, a piece of trash who should have died thirty years ago, abandoning his wife and child to survive until now."
"Peggy Carter, founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., yet forced by me to wander the world in exile, not daring to show herself for more than sixty years."
"Bucky Barnes, the ghost of Siberia, a piece of trash modified by genetic engineering."
"Helmut Zemo, a piece of trash whose name I've never even heard."
Hive commented on them one by one, his words as insulting as possible, the mockery on his face thick, as if he did not take them seriously at all. "With just you few pieces of trash, remnants of the old era, trash that should have died long ago, you still delusionally want to challenge a god?"
"I'll let you know just how powerful a piece of trash's fist can be!" Zemo burned with anger and was about to rush forward and beat him violently, but Peggy raised her hand to stop him, signaling with her eyes for him to calm down.
"Hive... you are no god."
Peggy Carter sneered and retorted, "If we are trash, then what are you? A monster from Hydra's genetic engineering, a perverted product born from Yvette's genes that only knows how to dominate and control?"
"Heh, I almost forgot."
Hive's gaze darkened, his gloomy eyes passing through the rain curtain and making everyone's bodies turn cold. "Yvette... my mother, should also be helping you, right? Why not call her out? It has been decades since we last met. Shouldn't she take a look at her own child?"
"Come out!"
"I know you're nearby!"
"I can feel that call of bloodline, my mother—Yvette!"
Hive instantly seemed to become a different person. His emotions were abnormally agitated as he raised his head and let out a long howl unlike a human voice. His spiritual power formed a huge shockwave that swept through the surroundings in the blink of an eye.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The shockwave lifted sheets of rain curtain, and the impact wave forcefully swept up the needle-like drizzle and sent it flying in all directions. It was like tens of millions of swords clanging, instantly cutting through the dark night.
However.
Just as the storm wrapped in gale was about to swallow Bucky and the others, an invisible fluctuation swept over, and heaven and earth suddenly fell into silence. All things stopped in place.
Time..... had stopped!
But to be more accurate, only dead objects had been stopped. Living beings were not affected.
"You are not my child."
A person walked over through the rain curtain, her golden hair hanging down, and her azure pupils were as clear as a tranquil lake. "You are a mistake, and I... have the responsibility to correct this mistake I made!"
Although there was the obstruction of the rain curtain and mist, Hive still saw that person's face clearly.
"Yvette!!!"
Hive's aura suddenly surged, and madness and brutality flickered in his purple pupils. "My dear mother, I finally found you!"