"Remember, the fact that Nick Fury is HYDRA must only be known by a very small number of people for now. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Officer!"
Sitwell nodded respectfully, admiring the Pierce disguised by Darian to the extreme.
Even Nick Fury, the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was one of their own. Who in the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. could possibly stop the footsteps of HYDRA?
Even if Captain America Steve came, it wouldn't work!
Wait, could Captain America also be a member of our HYDRA?
Sitwell suddenly had a feeling where he couldn't clearly see the people around him, and everyone looked like one of his own, filling him with a sense of security.
Just like that, Darian successfully took over the HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Since he had announced that Nick Fury was a member of HYDRA, he naturally took the opportunity to cancel the assassination order on him, lest Nick Fury be fed bullets by some uninformed HYDRA member one day.
Besides that, Darian announced on the spot that the management of HYDRA was handed over to Nick Fury.
There were simply too many HYDRA members lurking inside S.H.I.E.L.D., their roots intertwined, so someone had to manage them.
Darian didn't want to take on this troublesome task himself. It just so happened that Nick Fury was experienced in this area; he used to manage S.H.I.E.L.D., so letting him manage the HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D. was perfect.
Besides, having the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. manage HYDRA was a fine tradition that couldn't be discarded!
Nick Fury did not refuse this.
Ever since stepping down as Director, his authority within S.H.I.E.L.D. had diminished day by day. Coupled with the dark history of him once betraying S.H.I.E.L.D., he was now finding it extremely difficult to move within the agency. He was watched no matter what he did, and trying to get anything done was harder than ascending to heaven.
Although everyone knew that Nick Fury had been controlled by Loki back then, the fact that he had attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. was also true. It was like jumping into a cesspit; even if he washed himself clean after getting out, others would still wonder if the blackness on his body was his skin color or excrement.
And for someone with severe paranoid delusions and an extremely strong desire for control, this feeling of being invisibly sidelined was even more painful than killing Nick Fury.
But now, it was different.
Leveraging the network that HYDRA had laid out within S.H.I.E.L.D., his authority in the agency had increased significantly. It was no exaggeration to say that it was even greater than when he was Director.
Nick Fury: "Just how deeply has S.H.I.E.L.D. been infiltrated!"
Originally, Nick Fury had only joined HYDRA to bear the burden of humiliation for the greater good, and he even had to shout "Hail HYDRA" time and time again.
However, after joining HYDRA, he only had one feeling.
It's so good!
This group of HYDRA people was just so convenient to use.
These spies not only had excellent professional capabilities, but more importantly, their work attitude was impeccable. They never slacked off, and their execution was astonishingly strong.
Moreover, they would do their utmost to complete missions, even at the cost of their own lives, worthy of being called modern-day suicide squads!
The most critical thing was that they absolutely obeyed orders and never acted smart, questioned, or modified their superiors' instructions. Even if ordered to carry a nuclear bomb to the White House, they would do it without hesitation, without asking any questions.
Compared to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents who occasionally caused trouble and mixed too much personal emotion into their missions, this group made things much easier for Fury.
Not only that, the secrets that had previously been deliberately hidden by HYDRA could now be easily accessed. And with the intelligence network that HYDRA had infiltrated to the roots, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. became almost transparent in his eyes; no movement could escape his notice.
What made Nick Fury feel even more at ease was that he no longer had to worry all day about internal moles appearing within S.H.I.E.L.D., because he himself was the biggest mole.
Must admit, this feeling was just too great!
This state could be said to have almost realized his imagination of the most ideal state for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Could it be... that HYDRA is the right path for an intelligence organization?
Nick Fury couldn't help but feel self-doubt.
Of course, controlling HYDRA was not without its price.
Once his relationship with HYDRA was exposed, he would be completely finished. At the very least, he would never be able to clear the label of "HYDRA spy" from himself.
By then, even if he said he was an undercover Agent, no one would believe him.
After all, what undercover Agent could become the boss of an organization? Who would believe that if it were said out loud?
Therefore, Nick Fury had to keep this secret and absolutely could not let it leak in the slightest. He even had to protect those HYDRA members lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D., helping them better conceal their identities, and never let other S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents discover them.
Especially Hill, the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Although he and Hill belonged to the same camp, Hill's personality was not as flexible as his. Once she noticed, she would never consider old feelings and would directly choose righteousness over friendship.
The HYDRA that Nick Fury now controlled was like the roots of the towering tree that was S.H.I.E.L.D., destined to hide in the dark soil.
And he, too, had to hide behind the scenes, becoming the shadow of S.H.I.E.L.D., clearing away all unstable factors for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the dark.
However, what Nick Fury did not know was that while the HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D. were ostensibly handed over to him, the true controller was actually Darian.
As long as Darian gave the order, all the HYDRA he currently controlled would immediately turn around and deal with him. Of course, Darian would not do that; at most, he would manipulate HYDRA from the shadows.
Anyway, if any problems arose with HYDRA, he could easily shift the blame to Nick Fury, the ostensible controller of HYDRA.
Just as Darian successfully completed the handover of power in HYDRA, the system's voice rang out in his mind at the right time.
[Mission "Cut off one head, and another shall take its place" settlement complete]
[Rewards obtained: 2000 EXP, 200 S.H.I.E.L.D. Reputation, Equipment "Kunai", Item "Scapegoat", Item "Cursed Seal of Sealing"]
[Equipment: Kunai (If you feel like you are very stupid, please don't forget that a certain ninja once stabbed a Susanoo with a kunai)]
[Item: Scapegoat (It is very heavy to carry on your back, but you can throw it onto others)]
[Item: Cursed Seal of Sealing (The target on whom this cursed seal is placed, once they attempt to speak the preset taboo words or related information, will immediately become paralyzed throughout their body, unable to speak or move. This seal will only be automatically lifted after the caster dies)]
From these mission rewards, Darian seemed to faintly see the shadow of a certain "pot-shadow", and he didn't know what it was implying.
Darian took one look at the kunai and the scapegoat, then decisively threw them into the recycling system.
The remaining Cursed Seal of Sealing was a scroll that detailed the instructions for using this cursed seal.
"Good stuff!"
Darian's eyes lit up; this cursed seal was practically an insurance measure tailor-made for managers.
As long as he got everyone under him to have such a cursed seal, he wouldn't have to worry about his secrets leaking out; even truth serum would be useless.
Combined with the brainwashing device he had just obtained, the effect would be even better.
Darian did not waste the HYDRA forces within S.H.I.E.L.D. either. He ordered people to extract all the technological data within S.H.I.E.L.D., package it all together, and send it to Strucker to continue strengthening Sokovia's technological power, so they could rush out of Earth and reach the Moon as soon as possible.
Strucker: "..."
Just how big of an obsession do you have with the Moon?
In a secret HYDRA Base hidden deep underground.
Escorted by a dozen HYDRA Agents, Darian passed through layers of security doors and finally arrived at the core area in the deepest part of the Base.
"Officer, he is inside."
The lead HYDRA Agent stopped in front of a security door and turned to Darian, whispering a reminder: "However, his current state is a bit unstable, and his emotions are prone to spiraling out of control. For the sake of your safety, I suggest you do not go in personally."
Darian waved his hand dismissively: "It's fine, open the door."
Seeing that persuasion was ineffective, the HYDRA Agent had no choice but to nod and comply, opening the security door in front of him.
Behind the door was a fairly wide security room, with reinforced metal walls on all four sides, and some monitoring instruments and medical equipment scattered in the corners.
And the most eye-catching thing was the figure standing in the center of the room, none other than Bucky, whom he had met before.
Based on the information provided by Pierce, Darian easily found this secret Base and saw this Winter Soldier.
This was a Super Soldier comparable to Steve, and one he could use at a moment's notice; Darian naturally would not let him go.
At this moment, Bucky was shirtless, his left arm empty, his eyes unfocused, and his eyebrows occasionally furrowed tightly, as if he were struggling to recall something.
"What is going on with him?" Darian asked curiously.
A researcher in a white lab coat hurriedly trotted forward and lowered his voice to explain: "His brainwashing program has encountered a problem. After returning from the last mission, his consciousness began to produce rejection reactions, and his memories became chaotic, leading to his extremely unstable mental state."
The last mission, wasn't that the one where he assassinated Nick Fury?
It doesn't seem like anything special happened, right?
Didn't he just call out the name Bucky, beat him up, and incidentally snatch away his metal arm and motorcycle...
Alright, counting it like that, quite a lot of things did happen.
But Darian indicated that he would not take the blame for this; it must be the problem with the brainwashing device. The description said that the stronger a person's will, the worse the brainwashing effect.
For a warrior like Bucky, having resistance to brainwashing effects was a very normal thing.
The researcher added with worry: "Following this trend, if we don't intervene, the Winter Soldier will very likely slowly recover some of his memories, greatly weakening the brainwashing effect. My suggestion is to refreeze the Winter Soldier and only unfreeze him when executing the next mission."
Pierce had once revealed that Bucky had always been HYDRA's secret weapon. To extend his shelf life, just like processing various frozen meats and seafood, he was usually stored in a special freezing chamber and would only be thawed when executing a mission.
In essence, this approach was no different from that of the old popsicle Steve.
Precisely because he was in this state of deep preservation all year round, Bucky was able to maintain his youthful appearance, beating up peers other than Steve.
It was just a pity that this freezing technology had a hard requirement: it must be used in conjunction with Super Soldier Serum to be effective. If an ordinary person dared to play like this, they would be a living person when going in, but a stiff ice sculpture when coming out.
Otherwise, if this technology were sold on the market, who knows how many wealthy and powerful people would be lining up with cash.
"Freezing and thawing both require a lot of time, which is inconvenient for executing urgent missions."
Darian directly rejected this proposal; such a troublesome process was not as convenient as using Max.
While he was speaking, he had already stepped forward and walked toward Bucky.
Almost the instant Darian approached, Bucky suddenly raised his head, his unfocused gaze suddenly focusing, and his whole body erupted like a triggered animal trap!
He raised his normal right arm, striking straight at Darian's face with a whistling sound of wind!
"Officer, watch out!"
The HYDRA Agents behind him exclaimed and raised their guns, but they couldn't react in time at all.
However, Darian's movements were much faster than theirs.
Facing the fist that Bucky unleashed, he just casually raised his arm and grabbed his wrist.
Bucky only felt his wrist tighten, and an irresistible force suddenly came, causing his whole body to fly out uncontrollably. His back slammed heavily against the metal wall, making a dull thud, and then he slid weakly to the ground.
HYDRA Agents: "..."
"..."
Their protection seemed a bit redundant.
Darian walked to Bucky and squatted down.
Seeing that although the other party was conscious, he had no intention of resisting, he asked: "How much do you still remember?"
Bucky leaned against the wall, the manic look in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by deep confusion.
He said in a hoarse voice: "Bucky, this name sounds so familiar, as if it's someone I know. He said he was my twin brother..."
It turned out that the name Bucky had accidentally activated his memories.
Darian did not deny it; instead, he followed the lead and continued: "He didn't say wrong. Bucky is indeed your twin brother, and you are his younger brother, named Kiba."
"Is... that so?"
Bucky frowned tightly, always feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Darian nodded: "That's exactly right. You also owe your twin brother quite a lot of money, probably several hundred million U.S. dollars."
Bucky: "..."
"..."
Wasn't it only tens of millions of U.S. dollars? How did it increase so quickly?
Bucky instinctively skipped this topic and frowned: "And, I seem to remember a blonde figure, who seems to be someone very important to me. Do you know who that is?"
I know. Who else could it be? It must be Steve.
Darian felt a bit speechless.
He didn't understand how Bucky associated this with Steve.
Just as he didn't understand why Steve could inexplicably feel a sense of familiarity with the other party just by seeing Bucky's two tufts of hair.
Darian naturally would not reveal Steve's identity.
If Bucky heard it, who knew if he would instantly break free from the brainwashing state and yell, "Don't underestimate our bond."
"Of course I know."
Darian nodded and said: "The one you mentioned, I know her. That is your... first love girlfriend!"
Bucky: "???????"