Chapter 183 Sokovia
But Bucky was the most important; he was Captain America's best friend, the murderer of Tony's parents, someone who could turn the two against each other.
Actually, if Finney had just secretly dealt with him, it wouldn't have been such a bad thing.
Even if it was discovered later, he could explain to Captain America that he didn't know about their relationship. As for Tony, he would probably only be angry that he hadn't taken revenge himself.
Finney hesitated about Bucky, but with the other five, there was no need to worry so much; based on the records alone, they could have died a hundred times over.
"Give me their recent whereabouts!"
Hearing Finney's words, Sitwell showed a hint of worry, but still replied, "They should be in Eastern Europe right now, but I'm not sure of their exact location."
"Then investigate. I'll come back in three days."
Finney stood up, looked at Sitwell who was nodding hurriedly, and after thinking carefully, decided not to give him his contact information. Their relationship wasn't very strong right now.
Since Sitwell could betray Alexander Pierce, there was no guarantee he wouldn't easily betray him after being discovered.
Besides, he didn't intend to stay in this position forever. Once Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, Sitwell's value would be gone.
He could just erase his memory then and make him a good person; it wouldn't be a waste of his time infiltrating.
After offering Sitwell a few words of encouragement, Finney returned home. Not feeling particularly sleepy, he sat on his bed and began studying the 'Mirror Space'.
Holding the Tesseract, he pointed forward with one hand.
A faint ripple appeared in the air in front of him, like a heatwave on a summer street. Though very subtle, it was noticeable upon close observation.
Finney tried to maintain it, but after two or three seconds, nothing happened; the ripple disappeared, and the surrounding space returned to calm.
Finney was panting heavily, looking exhausted.
'Mirror Space' was one of the most profound spells in Kamar-Taj, its difficulty roughly equal to, or even slightly less than, the secret art of the Eye of Agamotto; even Mordo hadn't truly mastered it.
Given Finney talent, learning it would have been a long and arduous process.
Fortunately, the Tesseract greatly enhanced his spatial abilities, giving him hope of mastering the spell.
However, even with this hope, mastering and controlling it remained incredibly difficult for Finney.
For example, he still couldn't truly open 'Mirror Space'.
"Energy is a problem!"
Finney calmed his breathing, mentally analyzing the reasons for his failure.
'Mirror Space' was an extremely powerful spell; its essence was actually opening a dimensional space, created based on the real world, but unable to affect reality.
However, creating a dimension wasn't as simple as opening a portal, even if it was only temporary and didn't require permanent maintenance.
Besides the difficulty of learning it, the most crucial aspect was the energy required to create the dimension.
Finney is currently stuck at this point; his current energy is simply insufficient to open the 'Mirror Dimension.' Even if he were to suffocate, the area he could open would be extremely small.
Don't be fooled by how effortlessly the Ancient One opens the 'Mirror Dimension'—it's the result of her accumulating mana over an unknown period of time. Even so, she still occasionally needs Dormammu, her 'fountain,' to replenish her mana before she can continue using it.
But Finney doesn't have Dormammu to replenish his mana. Although his newly acquired skill, 'Breathing Technique,' can gather energy, his mastery of it isn't high enough to be of any use to the 'Mirror Dimension' at the moment.
"Perhaps I should ask the Ancient One how to steal Dormammu's power?"
After several failed attempts, Finney couldn't help but think to himself.
However, he only thought it; he knew the Ancient One actually disliked this kind of behavior, and if he actually asked, she would never agree.
Besides, Dormammu's energy wasn't something anyone could steal. The Ancient One could take it because she was the Ancient One; if he tried to borrow it, he might not get it back.
Then, Finney looked at the Tesseract in his hand, feeling a pang of regret. He wasn't without energy-filled items; he even had two Infinity Stones.
Unfortunately, using this was even more dangerous than borrowing energy from Dormammu.
The Infinity Stones placed extremely high demands on the user's physical constitution. Even now, when they weren't in their gem form, Finney could only use them simply. To unleash the true power of the stones, one wrong move could result in his body exploding.
Thinking of this, Finney sighed and began preparing to practice his 'breathing technique.' He lacked talent in Kamar-Taj training; rather than accumulating magical power, he'd rather master his 'breathing technique.'
As long as he could keep the 'breathing technique' active 24/7, his physical abilities would continue to improve, and sooner or later he would be able to use the Infinity Stones without restraint.
Moreover, the use of the 'Golden Grand Evolution Technique' also required energy, and he dreamed of one day using it to make it so that no one in the entire universe, except him, could snap their fingers!
Three days passed quickly, and Finney returned to Sitwell's house.
"The investigation is complete. They're in Sokovia. There were some problems with the control earlier, and they're currently adjusting things at Strucker's experimental base."
Sitwell's abilities were indeed impressive; he not only investigated the whereabouts of the group but also prepared information about the Sokovia base.
"Well done!"
Finney looked at the information in his hand, somewhat surprised. He inexplicably thought of the original plot; without his involvement, the Mind Stone would likely be being researched at this base.
He had also previously considered going there to rescue the brother and sister, but he had been too busy and had completely forgotten about it.
"I'll go see them in the next couple of days. Hopefully, this won't affect you,"
Finney asked Sitwell. He found Sitwell quite useful and didn't want him to be exposed because of this.
"No!"
Sitwell quickly shook his head, saying, "I'm very careful when gathering information; they won't suspect me. But are you really going?" Sitwell
's face showed worry, seemingly reluctant for Finney to go.
"Don't worry, those few can't do anything to me!"
Finney said casually, then suddenly noticed a slight unease flash across Sitwell's expression. He narrowed his eyes and said again, "Do you think that since we're all Hydra, why are we killing each other?"
"No, no!"
Hearing Finney's words, Sitwell was startled, cold sweat breaking out on his back. He quickly shook his head. Although he had indeed thought about this question, he clearly didn't dare admit it directly to Finney.
"Hydra can only have one leader!"
Finney said casually, trying to reassure Sitwell. "Now is not the time to expose yourself. When S.H.I.E.L.D. ceases to exist, you will have a completely different rebirth!" Looking at the excited Sitwell,
Finney silently added in his mind, "Regardless of whether you made a choice before, at that time, I will help you choose to be a good person!"
Read 10+ Chapters Advanced chapters ahead at Patreon.
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of Chapter)