Chapter 76: Obtaining HYDRA's trust

After that sentence came out of Bruce’s mouth, everyone in the room froze in place. Even Pierce was shocked silly and couldn’t help but take another look at Bruce.

While all of them were indeed HYDRA agents, their identity was top secret. Only the men in their group knew that they existed, so how could a mere agent of SHIELD know information that even the Director of SHIELD didn’t know?

The men beside Pierce had all been arranged by himself, so he could be absolutely sure that no one knew of their existence.

Even HYDRA’s forces that were still active in the outside world didn’t know that they had people undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D. and yet this Bruce had been able to decipher it. 

He had even figured out their code, which was ‘Hail HYDRA’.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was HYDRA’s greatest nemesis, and they had irreconcilable contradictions. But despite that, Bruce’s previous performance had demonstrated his abilities and they desperately wanted him, so they took the risk this time around and made their move.

But him saying ‘Hail HYDRA’ had really surprised them. One of the agents instantly activated the elevator’s emergency system, and after a short pause, all of them stared at Bruce.

All of their previous actions had been very cautious, that was one of the reasons they were able to operate in S.H.I.E.L.D. in secret for so long without being detected.

“Who are you?!” Pierce’s eyes revealed his murderous intentions.

He had been operating in S.H.I.E.L.D. for a very long time, and he had never been doubted. This was due to his cautiousness, as his identity was of great importance to HYDRA.

“Mr. Pierce, you know the answer to that question, so I can only say so much. As for your previous actions, I believe you should understand my position now right? The organization has its own plans, and all you have to do is obey.”

Bruce’s expression was very relaxed while saying this, as if he was not afraid of being attacked at all.

Since these people had been able to hide in S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long, that was proof that none of them were idiots. HYDRA was a very close-knit secretive organization, and even their own members didn’t know who was who, as long as they weren’t on the same mission.

But while this was a risk in itself, it was also because of this that HYDRA had been able to exist for such a long time.

“Can I really trust you?” Pierce asked. In fact, he had already subconsciously begun to believe Bruce.

After all, they had not revealed their identity but Bruce had still said the secret code, meaning that Bruce knew exactly who they were. 

With that, Bruce had not really revealed them, but had instead ‘revealed’ his own identity, thereby showing that he was a member of their organization.

While he was inclined to believe Bruce, he still couldn’t get careless, so he could only ask Bruce this way.

“Whether you trust me or not, that is for you to decide. As for whether you can get my help or not, that also depends solely on your decision. But regardless of that, if we stay here for much longer, there will be problems.” Afterwards, Bruce pointed to the monitor on the elevator.

At this time, the agent who had pressed the emergency button before had closed it. The elevator’s monitor only had a video function, which meant that their previous conversation wasn’t recorded.

The video function of the elevator could also be turned off after pressing the emergency button again. And as this was Pierce’s exclusive elevator, he had the highest authority.

“I will arrange a good identity for you in S.H.I.E.L.D. so that you are not restricted by Fury.” Pierce said calmly, obviously choosing to believe Bruce.

“Alright, we will have a chance to see each other again soon enough,” Bruce said, and the elevator door opened.

Pierce and his agents got out of the way and didn’t prevent Bruce from leaving, as they now believed that Bruce was one of their own to some level. After all, the secret code was not something just anyone could know about.

“Sir, I didn’t expect him to be one of our own people,” said one agent followed by the other agents nodding in succession.

“I didn’t expect that either, but now since we have one more person on the inside, the next course of action will proceed even more smoothly. Right, did Rumlow get that thing?” Pierce asked, in fact the Rumlow he spoke of was also called Crossbones.

“He got it, and it will be sent away soon,” an agent replied.

After hearing his answer, Pierce was relieved. At first, he wanted to get the Tesseract, but the Avengers were too powerful and Fury’s people were also there at the time, so they didn’t get a chance, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t let that opportunity pass.

After that, Pierce and his agents dispersed. Very soon, it would be time for HYDRA to make its move.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Bruce who had left S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘s HQ was preparing to return to the Avengers Base.

Pierce approaching him this time wasn’t too unexpected, as he just wanted him to convert to HYDRA. But Bruce had seen through him, and was in control of everything now.

Whether it be S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA, they were all chess pieces in his hands. The reason he shouted out their secret code this time around was precisely for one of his future plans.

The most important reason that he dared to deceive Pierce this time around, was that HYDRA had been destroyed beforehand, and many of their members’ whereabouts had been lost, so Pierce couldn’t know if what Bruce had said was true or false.

Bruce had found this opportunity and chose to take full advantage of it. As for what he could do with his current position, he already had his own plans.

He would be able to utilize Pierce to get information on the whereabouts of HYDRA’s secret European base. 

And the reason he wanted to know its location, was because Loki’s scepter, alongside the Mind Gem should be there for the time being.

Of course, Bruce currently had no intentions towards the Mind Gem, but he did have his crosshairs placed on Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.

Scarlet Witch was a bigger priority for him, as her power came from the Mind Gem. However the Scarlet Witch had not yet exerted her full power.

If he could find the location of that secret base in time, he could download both of their abilities, which he wanted to get his hands on.

Especially because now, he wouldn’t have to wait until the plot reached the Avengers: Age of Ultron, and could instead arrange this in advance.

He could only do this because this was the Marvel Movie Universe, as in the original books, Quicksilver and the Crimson Witch were both Magneto’s children, and he wouldn’t have had this opportunity at all.

But this all had nothing to do with Bruce, all he needed to do was keep getting stronger!

Not long afterwards, Bruce returned to the Avengers Base.

The plot of Marvel’s The Avengers was over, and the next thing he needed to do was to continue developing the plot.

As for what the superheroes would do, Bruce didn’t care. Now that he didn’t have enough energy value left to download anything of real value, he couldn’t be bothered with them.

The system has given me the task of killing Mandarin and Dr. Aldrich Killian within one month, but they have not yet appeared, this means that it’s not a very urgent mission.

Right now he was thinking of the overall situation, and what course of action would be the most beneficial to himself.

For example, killing Mandarin and Aldrich within one month, meant that the plot of Iron Man 3 would end in one month. 

As he already knew the sequence of events, he needed to prepare in advance for what came after.

Let’s integrate my abilities before I do anything.

Finishing the Marvel’s The Avengers plot had brought him two major system functions, which were system tasks and the ability to integrate his abilities.

Between the two of them, the ability integration function was a lot better for him, as he had a lot of abilities, but not all of them had kept up with his fast progress.

The integration function would help him discard the abilities that had fallen behind to create a new and more powerful ability. Thinking along those lines, Bruce delved in his thoughts.

This time, he would make a massive change!