Using Pierce's identity, Darian successfully stabilized the HYDRA forces lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. and ordered a suspension of the Insight Project.
Of course, the Insight Project wasn't something Pierce could decide on his own; it also required approval from the World Council.
However, this problem was not difficult to solve; he simply pointed out to the World Council that the algorithm had serious flaws.
At first, the council members all expressed disagreement. After all, the Insight Project had been in preparation for such a long time and was about to launch; nobody could accept it being called off so suddenly.
As a result, Darian just casually mentioned that they were also among the algorithm's targets, because they often "planted mushrooms" (dropped nukes) at the slightest disagreement, seriously endangering human life, and thus had been listed by the algorithm as high-priority targets for elimination.
Upon hearing this, the council members immediately became obedient.
After a brief discussion, the World Council unanimously passed the resolution to suspend the Insight Project until the algorithm issues were thoroughly resolved.
As for the real Pierce, he was secretly packed off to Sokovia by Darian, where he had Wanda arrange the same package deal as Strucker.
Unlike Strucker, when faced with Wanda's Chaos Magic control, Pierce showed almost no struggle, as if he had accepted his fate, and his mind was successfully rewritten by Wanda in just a few moments.
Pierce's eyes flashed with red light, and he bowed his head respectfully to Darian: "Alexander Pierce is at your service."
Darian leaned back in his leather sofa chair and nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, Little Pierce. From now on, you will continue to shine and generate heat for the great cause of HYDRA."
Of course, it was his HYDRA.
"It is my honor, Officer."
Pierce stood in front of the desk, his posture respectful.
At this moment, their roles were completely reversed; Pierce, the former HYDRA superior, had now been reduced to Darian's subordinate.
Coupled with Baron Strucker, the highest leaders of the two major factions of HYDRA had now become loyal lackeys under Darian, making them the largest force within the entire HYDRA organization.
"Why do I feel more and more like the mastermind behind an evil organization?"
Darian couldn't help but mutter, but immediately dismissed the thought.
He was a nemesis of evil with nearly a thousand points of Justice Value; who would dare to call him an evil villain?
Anyway, since they were all here, Darian simply called his other lackeys to his office, stating that he wanted to hold a small internal meeting and only had three points to make.
After receiving the order, Zemo, who was handling Sokovia's government affairs, Strucker, who spent every day in the research department, and Quicksilver, who was a loafer with nothing to do all day, all arrived at the office one after another.
When they walked into the office, they saw Darian wearing his Lord Doom suit, leaning lazily in the leather sofa chair, with Wanda standing beside him in red, looking like a secretary, staring at Darian's hands with an expression of disgust.
They saw that Darian was playing with a strange, jet-black long snake that was as thick as an adult's forearm.
What made one's scalp tingle was that the snake's neck had sprouted nine heads!
A living HYDRA!
At this moment, this HYDRA was affectionately coiled around Darian's arm and shoulder, its scales shimmering with a metallic luster under the lights.
Sensing unfamiliar scents, the nine snake heads suddenly poked out from behind Darian, dancing in the air like waves. Eighteen cold snake eyes locked onto the intruders simultaneously, their blood-red tongues flicking rapidly, emitting hissing sounds of threat.
The three people stared at by the HYDRA immediately felt a chill run down their spines.
What kind of monster is this!?
Darian didn't pay attention to their reactions and pointed to Pierce beside him.
"Everyone, get to know him. This is Alexander Pierce, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and also the highest leader of the HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D. He is now my lackey. In terms of seniority, he arrived last, so you can just call him Little Pierce."
"Hello everyone."
Pierce nodded to everyone present, maintaining his composure on the surface, but inwardly he was shocked beyond measure.
He never expected that Darian was actually the one in control of Sokovia, and even Baron Strucker, a fellow HYDRA leader, was one of his lackeys.
Just how much had the Officer done behind the scenes?
Pierce's mind had already been modified by Wanda, so he had no dissatisfaction with Darian, only pure surprise.
Strucker regained his senses and nodded at Pierce.
The two were old acquaintances; it was Pierce who had originally lured... sent Darian over, which led to the series of events that followed.
However, Strucker was calm now; after all, looking at Pierce's current predicament, it was clearly on par with his own—neither could laugh at the other.
Zemo's mouth twitched slightly.
Another high-ranking HYDRA member had joined them. At this rate, Sokovia was going to become the veritable headquarters of HYDRA.
As for Quicksilver, he was still staring at the HYDRA.
Quicksilver: (Ya — Ya)
HYDRA: (Ya — Ya) * 9
Darian ignored this big idiot and began: "Everyone, now that Sokovia has developed to this point, it is time to establish a clear and long-term goal."
Hearing this, Zemo asked tentatively: "Lord Doom, do you mean... you are preparing to start ruling the World?"
"Who wants to rule the World?"
Darian rolled his eyes at him: "We are a legitimate country. If this word gets out and other countries misunderstand us, what then?"
Zemo coughed awkwardly.
Actually, one couldn't blame him for thinking that; after all, Darian was a HYDRA man, and besides ruling the World, he couldn't think of anything else.
Darian put his hands together to support his chin and continued: "Besides, what's the point of playing around on this little patch of Earth? Our goal is much bigger than ruling the World."
Wanda, standing on the side, blinked and couldn't help but ask: "Then what is it exactly?"
"To expand our territory into the Universe and become the most powerful force in the galaxy!"
Everyone: "..."
Let's talk about ruling the World again; that feels more practical.
You have to know, human technology is still in the stage of Rockets landing on the moon; just breaking out of Earth is already considered badass.
If the battlefield for the Battle of New York had been in the Universe, the human side probably wouldn't have even been able to move. Existing weapons couldn't reach the enemy at all, and they would just be staring helplessly, let alone mounting an effective counterattack.
As a scientist, Strucker understood this even better and shook his head: "With Earth's current level of technology, it is very difficult for us to compete with those interstellar forces."
He had once deeply studied the technological equipment left behind by the Chitauri legion; their technological level was at least decades ahead of Earth's.
Furthermore, he had heard from Darian that the Chitauri were at best a bottom-tier force in the Universe.
It was easy to imagine how astonishing the technological levels of other, more powerful interstellar civilizations must be.
Darian was unconcerned: "The technological gap can be bridged. This is a long-term goal to begin with; we can develop slowly in stages, one step at a time."
"Besides, even if we don't look for trouble with those interstellar forces, they will sooner or later come looking for us."
He hadn't lied to Sitwell before; Earth really did have many threats from outer space.
According to Peter B., Earth would not be peaceful in the future. Many crises would come from aliens, and in particular, one had to watch out for a purple potato-like being whose chin looked like a washboard!
This purple potato-like being was none other than Thanos, mentioned in the descriptions of the Infinity Stones!
Not to mention how strong Thanos himself was, his subordinates in the Black Order alone were enough to flatten Earth several times over.
To deal with these threats, Darian naturally had to make preparations in advance.
Besides, Thanos could just wave his hand and have thousands of lackeys charging into battle.
Yet he had to go down and hack people himself; it had no style at all.
Because of this, Darian had to start improving his guild's overall strength, striving to reach number one on the server.
Darian waved his hand: "As for the technical problems, I have my own ways to solve them; there's no need to worry about that."
Since their boss had said so, what else could they, the wage slaves, say?
Even if they had to scratch their heads bald, they had to find a way to implement their boss's sudden, magnificent blueprint.
Darian stood up and waved his hand spiritedly: "But before that, we have to set a small goal: invade the moon. I want to see what is hidden on its dark side!"
Everyone: "..."
This is a small goal?
Next, with Pierce's full cooperation, Darian took over the HYDRA forces lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D. without much trouble; absolutely no one suspected that he was a fake Pierce.
And the HYDRA members within S.H.I.E.L.D. also changed their slogan to "Hail S.H.I.E.L.D."
Now they didn't need to shout the slogan sneakily; it was even fine to shout it in front of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.
Darian felt the time was ripe; it was time for the identity of Pierce to exit the stage.
He summoned Sitwell to Pierce's office.
"Officer, did you need me for something?"
"Nothing major, I just wanted to tell you personally that I am preparing to resign from my current position."
"???"
Sitwell froze instantly, his eyes wide open, shocked to the point of being almost incoherent.
"Officer, you... you must be joking, right?"
Darian said calmly: "I am not joking. I have a more important long-term project that I need to execute personally. In the time to come, I will completely move behind the scenes."
"As for our HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D., I will transfer full authority to Agent Darian."
"Agent Darian?"
Sitwell couldn't believe his ears: "But Officer, isn't such an important matter too rushed? And handing it over to someone with such little experience... I think..."
"I don't care what you think; I only care what I think."
Darian interrupted him directly, his tone unquestionable: "Furthermore, although Agent Darian may have limited experience, he is outstanding in ability, possesses superior intellect, has extraordinary courage, is handsome and dashing, and is deeply calculating..."
"In short, Agent Darian is the most suitable candidate to take over this position. From today on, you must unconditionally obey Agent Darian's orders. Whatever he wants you to do, you do it. Do you understand?"
Sitwell felt something was strange, but under the pressure from Darian, he had to nod: "Understood, Officer. I will do my best to cooperate with Agent Darian's work."
"Good."
Darian expressed satisfaction with his attitude: "In addition, I want to introduce you to one of our members."
"What member?"
A look of confusion appeared on Sitwell's face.
Darian smiled slightly and pressed the button on the desk: "You there, come in."
Click!
The office door opened in response, and a tall figure walked in unhurriedly.
When Sitwell saw the person's face clearly, he froze in place as if struck by lightning, his mouth wide open, his gaze dull, looking like a simpleton.
Darian said happily: "Let me introduce you. This is Nick Fury, and he is a member of our HYDRA."
Sitwell: "???"
What the hell?
Nick Fury, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is actually one of our HYDRA people!?
Could he be hallucinating from staying up too late!?
At this moment, the level of shock in Sitwell's heart was as absurd as hearing Captain America whisper "Hail HYDRA" in his ear!
Sitwell stammered: "Off, Officer, is Nick Fury... really one of our people?"
"That's right."
Darian nodded affirmatively: "In fact, Nick Fury has always been a secret spy we planted in the deepest level; he is the most important dark piece hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D."
"How is this possible?"
Sitwell held his forehead, feeling his worldview collapsing: "Didn't Nick Fury just encounter your assassination plan?"
"That was all just a show for outsiders, to better protect Nick Fury's identity."
Darian explained with a smile: "Otherwise, why do you think I promoted Nick Fury to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place? And don't forget, where does HYDRA's largest source of income come from?"
"All of this is, of course, because Nick Fury is one of our HYDRA people!"
Nick Fury: .....
Listening to your explanation, why do I feel like I really am a HYDRA spy?
Also, what do you mean by HYDRA's largest source of income? How come I don't know about this?
After hearing this, although Sitwell still felt the whole thing was absurd, he inexplicably felt that it seemed logically sound. For a moment, his expression was complex, and he fell into deep thought.
Darian decided to push a little harder and ordered Nick Fury: "Fury, shout our old slogan."
Nick Fury's expression stiffened slightly; he hesitated for half a second, but finally spoke resolutely.
"Hail HYDRA!"
Darian waved his hand, encouraging him: "Louder, don't be shy. Everyone here is our own people, and my office is made of soundproof materials, so no one outside can hear. Go ahead and shout it out."
Nick Fury's eyelid twitched; he raised his voice and repeated: "Hail HYDRA!"
"Louder! Shout it with spirit!"
"Hail HYDRA!!"
"Good! Very spirited!"
Darian nodded with satisfaction and immediately had the game system save the recording.
He turned to Sitwell and asked with a smile: "How about it? Do you believe it now?"
Sitwell nodded.
You've already shouted "Hail HYDRA," so what else is there to say? Believing you is all there is to it!