Could it be that he really was getting old? Had he remembered incorrectly?
Impossible.
A woman with such a unique temperament and appearance as Miss Makima was someone he could never forget after a single meeting.
But one must always account for the unlikely.
Just as Su Modie had expected, Baron Strucker really did have a similar secret human modification project in his hands.
Otherwise, he would have simply ordered Miss Makima to be seized. Instead, he feared another scenario—that this was a setup orchestrated between Pierce and this woman, a plausible bait dangled to trick him into revealing his core secrets.
If that were the case...
Hiss...
Suspicion is a common ailment among the clever.
The higher the rank within HYDRA, the more convoluted one's thoughts become.
This is both a blessing and a curse.
What kind of game was this?
It was a game he was playing against himself...
Currently, Baron Strucker was sinking into a mental quagmire of his own making.
Suppose he tried to prove Miss Makima was making things up.
If he slammed that failed file, sealed for years, onto the table for a confrontation, and even if it proved Miss Makima was lying, Pierce could just laugh it off and say, 'Oh, I must have remembered wrong,' and then naturally take her away...
Wouldn't he then have leaked the file for nothing, making himself look like a total Joker?
One could only say this situation was far too coincidental.
Pierce didn't trust Baron Strucker, and Baron Strucker was wary of Pierce.
These two old foxes could weave eight hundred schemes into a single conversation, effectively turning Makima into'Schrödinger's Makima.' Neither could fathom whose side she was actually on, and both might secretly believe she belonged to the other.
Belonging to neither side was equivalent to belonging to both.
This was the Makima Equation.
Schrödinger's Makima
Now, neither dared to move against her lightly.
After weighing his options, Baron Strucker eventually laughed it off and let the matter pass.
"Perhaps I really am getting on in years; my memory isn't what it used to be. I've made a fool of myself before Miss Makima."
This bloodless exchange came to a temporary halt.
Next, just as Pierce had communicated beforehand, Baron Strucker began taking Makima on a tour of the Sokovia branch—from elite squads equipped with Chitauri energy rifles to heavy tanks with barrels modified into energy launchers.
When they reached a massive underground hangar, Strucker even proudly displayed a complete skeleton of a Leviathan Beast.
However, Makima didn't show much amazement.
After all, similar alien junk had long since piled up like mountains in Fisk's Inventory.
Even if they weren't as complete as this skeleton, it was hardly anything rare.
The final stop of the tour was the laboratory where the Mind Stone Scepter was kept.
As soon as List placed the Scepter on the experimental table, a group of researchers in white coats swarmed forward like sharks smelling blood, busying themselves with various instruments.
But since the item had just arrived, they naturally couldn't discover anything significant in such a short time. After the tour, Makima had only one evaluation: though this castle looked shabby on the outside, it was a whole different world inside.
Her golden ringed eyes beneath her colored contacts surveyed the surroundings, as if she already viewed this heavily guarded fortress as her own property.
"Master Mo Die..." Makima asked softly in her consciousness, "Do you want to own a castle of your own?"
Far away in her New York apartment, Su Modie thought seriously for a long time before eventually shaking her head.
She didn't really have any special fairy-tale attachment to castles.
She didn't want to be some Sophia...
Ah, no, Little Princess Su Modie...
That would be way too weird!
Leaving aside the fact that these stone fortresses were drafty, cold, and damp, just the remote location alone—
The internet speed would definitely be abysmal, making even gaming a struggle. Whoever wants to live there can have it!
Makima, however, wasn't picky about the fortress. She wasn't a severe internet addict like Su Modie, and besides, that old bastard Strucker did have some taste when it came to enjoying life.
Deep within this fortress in the ice and snow, there was actually a fairly large climate-controlled wine cellar.
To show his hospitality, the Baron generously gifted Makima a vintage 1938 bottle of Tokaji Aszú.
At dusk, he arranged guest rooms for Makima and her party—the stone rooms were a bit rugged, but the charcoal fire in the fireplace burned brightly, completely dispelling the indoor chill, making it quite comfortable.
According to Baron Strucker, they would likely have to stay here for a few days; at the very least, they couldn't leave tonight.
For one, the blizzard outside was intensifying, and the snow had blocked the mountains. Forget private planes, even tracked vehicles might not be able to drive out of this snowy forest.
Secondly, the Mind Stone Scepter had just been handed over. It would be better to wait until the lab found some clues before returning to New York to report back to Pierce.
Facing this reasonable request to stay, Makima went along with it and did not refuse.
She hadn't planned on leaving so early anyway, nor did she plan on leaving Sokovia empty-handed.
She understood the principle of using someone else's resources for one's own gain. With the great opportunity before her, using HYDRA's Sokovia branch as a 'fat hen,' she could hatch her own eggs.
Currently, the Mind Stone Scepter had not been decoded, and as for the twins Wanda and Quicksilver, calculating the time, they were probably still wandering the streets of Sokovia, holding signs to protest against Tony Stark.
Staying here for a few days would be entirely beneficial for her next plan.
On the other side.
On a high hill several kilometers away from the fortress.
Esdeath stood with her hands behind her back, looking down from a height at Baron Strucker's dimly lit fortress and the surrounding continuous snowy forest.
The biting cold wind swirled with snowflakes, whistling past and making the hem of her white military uniform flutter loudly. But for an Imperial General who controlled the Ice Teigu, this level of wind and snow couldn't cause her body to waver in the slightest.
She was standing quietly now because she was browsing the [Shop] together with Su Modie on the other end of their consciousness.
After accumulating for some time, Su Modie's originally depleted small treasury had finally warmed up a bit.
[Current simulation value: 5738]
[Current villainess points: 316]
Earlier, when Makima sought cooperation from Hammer and 'Beetle' Abner, she conveniently contributed a small amount of villainess points—
If that could even be called seeking cooperation...
Setting aside the villainess points for now.
Previously, after directly pulling three new incarnations, her stock was nearly emptied. But fortunately, the simulation value balance had now broken the five-thousand mark again, thanks to the villainesses like Annie, Jinx, Lux, and Esdeath.
They had each brought quite considerable simulation value gains to Su Modie.
With money in her pocket, Su Modie's thoughts became active again.
It was time to plan ahead and look for some new items in the Shop, or... find a few new companions to summon.
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