Chapter 773

Pierce was now thoroughly paranoid, but fortunately, he was still a seasoned operator. He hadn’t reached the point of losing his head.

He had settled on two priorities.

First, push the Insight Project forward as steadily as possible and bring it online ahead of schedule. Once it was operational, it would eliminate every threat to Hydra’s plans.

Second, launch a thorough internal investigation. Everyone would scrutinize everyone else, rooting out compromised personnel and ensuring the organization remained pure. Hydra’s people would be encouraged to resist corruption, remain loyal to the cause, and draw a clear line between themselves and Umbrella’s imperialist ambitions.

Of course, these new priorities were merely side effects of the whole affair.

The operation’s primary purpose had been to dispel Nick Fury’s suspicions, and so far, it appeared to have worked.

That didn’t mean Evenson could afford to relax.

Back in the conference room that had served as their makeshift film set, the director had called cut and the cameraman had packed away his equipment. Yet the cast hadn’t dispersed. Instead, everyone stayed behind to discuss what came next.

"How could this happen? How did things get so bad?!"

Stephanie Malick still looked as though she’d narrowly escaped a firing squad.

She’d received an elite education from childhood, but she’d also been Gideon Malick’s cherished daughter, protected from most of the world’s uglier realities. She had never experienced anything quite this dangerous before.

When Evenson informed her that S.H.I.E.L.D. had caught a spy at their facility and Nick Fury had begun paying attention to their activities, she’d nearly panicked.

Fortunately, Evenson had confidently assured her that everything was under control. He already had a plan to resolve the situation. All he needed was a little cooperation from her and her father.

His confidence had calmed her somewhat, but it hadn’t erased her fears.

Nick Fury was notorious for a reason. Stephanie knew enough about his capabilities to understand what might happen if he devoted his full attention to this investigation.

She didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

Worse, the partnership with Umbrella was regarded by Hydra’s old families as a potential turning point in their organization’s fortunes.

This wasn’t merely another business arrangement. It could become the foundation for Hydra’s resurgence.

Her father had specifically chosen her to represent Hydra in the negotiations, and he had undoubtedly worked hard to secure that opportunity for her. The assignment was supposed to build her reputation, establish her credentials, and pave the way for a future leadership position.

Now, a serious mistake threatened to undermine all of that.

Even if the incident didn’t lead to disaster, it could leave a permanent blemish on her record. Her path to power would become much more difficult.

How could she possibly remain calm?

At least the recording hadn’t required much from her. She’d been given a brief close-up and one short line of dialogue, then spent most of the shoot sitting with her back to the camera.

Otherwise, her face would have betrayed her.

She’d been so nervous that her expression had practically resembled that of a corpse.

"Relax, Miss Malick."

Unlike Stephanie, Evenson was positively cheerful.

After filming their little production, they’d even held a small awards ceremony to lighten the mood. The Eredar Twins had naturally claimed Best Actress and Best Director, while Peggy Carter had walked away with Best Supporting Actress.

As for Evenson, he had been the only man in the entire production.

With no competition whatsoever, he’d won Best Actor.

There was no golden statuette, unfortunately, but he’d received fifty dollars and a premium boxed lunch.

All in all, it had been a productive afternoon.

"With our arrangements and your father’s generous cooperation, Nick Fury’s suspicions should be thoroughly dispelled."

Evenson gestured toward Peggy.

"And even if he still has doubts, surely he’ll trust a name like Agent Carter’s."

Stephanie glanced at Peggy, studying her more carefully.

She was nervous, not stupid. It didn’t take much thought to understand what had happened.

Her Uncle Pierce, Hydra’s senior official inside S.H.I.E.L.D., would have to cooperate with this arrangement, whatever he personally thought of it. Whether he did so to protect the organization or to protect himself hardly mattered.

The recording they’d just produced gave him a perfectly legitimate reason to shut down Fury’s investigation.

And Peggy Carter’s presence made the recording far more convincing.

As a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of its most respected veterans, she was practically a living guarantee of credibility.

Still, there was something Stephanie couldn’t quite get over.

The mysterious instructor she’d known as High Lord Katerina—the masked woman who had always concealed her true appearance—was actually Peggy Carter.

Stephanie had assumed Umbrella had recruited and trained Katerina as one of its own elite Demonheart warriors.

She’d never imagined that the woman beneath the mask was Peggy herself.

What kind of organization could recruit someone with Peggy Carter’s reputation and accomplishments?

At what point did a corporation stop being merely powerful and become downright terrifying?

No wonder Umbrella had concealed Peggy’s identity. Revealing that connection too soon would have exposed more of the company’s strength than it wanted Hydra to know.

Peggy, meanwhile, was experiencing a rather different sort of discomfort.

The original plan had been to work together to deceive Hydra.

Now she was cooperating with a room full of Hydra operatives to deceive Nick Fury.

The twists and turns of covert warfare were sometimes absurd.

"Ultimately, this is probably my fault."

Evenson lowered his head slightly toward Stephanie in an apologetic gesture.

"I’ve been meeting with your people far more frequently than before to ensure our partnership runs smoothly. That increased exposure is probably what caught Nick Fury’s attention."

Evenson knew he wasn’t going to escape blame.

Nick Fury had sent Ghost to investigate someone at this facility. Stephanie and her father might not yet know exactly who had been targeted, but once they compared notes with Pierce, the answer would become obvious.

And since Evenson couldn’t avoid taking responsibility, he might as well make sure everyone shared it.

Stephanie understood the implication.

He was effectively arguing that the incident had happened because he’d been working so hard to help them.

She could hardly complain about that now. Revisiting old arguments wouldn’t accomplish anything.

"Whose fault it was doesn’t matter anymore," she said. "The important question is what we do next."

"Hmm."

Evenson rubbed his forehead, affecting the air of a man who had carefully considered every possibility.

"Actually, this incident might not be entirely bad. Now that our connection has come to light, we won’t have to be quite so secretive about our meetings. We can afford to be a little more open."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Still, the longer we drag this out, the more opportunities there are for something else to go wrong. We should accelerate the schedule and settle the remaining business as soon as possible."

Stephanie nodded.

"There are still fifty people who haven’t undergone the modification process. At the current rate, we’ll need—"

"No need to wait."

Evenson waved away the rest of her sentence.

"We’ll process all fifty tomorrow. One batch, start to finish. I’ll also arrange to bring their graduation examinations forward so they can qualify as combat-ready soldiers as soon as possible."

Stephanie stared at him.

She’d been involved in this program long enough to know how painfully slow it had been. Until now, Umbrella had released the modified soldiers in tiny batches, as though it were rationing every last improvement.

And suddenly, Evenson wanted to finish the remaining fifty in a single day?

Had he been stringing her along the entire time?

"Speeding things up is good," she said cautiously, "but can you guarantee the quality?"

"Absolutely."

Evenson answered without hesitation.

"Our company’s motto is customer first, quality always. We would never sacrifice quality just to increase production."

Stephanie still looked unconvinced, so he elaborated.

"If you’d asked me this before, I couldn’t have made that promise. But things are different now, and we have your organization to thank for it."

"Our organization?"

That only confused her further.

"As I’ve told you before, Demonheart modification is cutting-edge technology, even for Umbrella."

Evenson smiled.

"Thanks to our friendly partnership, we’ve had extensive opportunities to practice the procedure and collect data. Our success rate hasn’t improved significantly, but we’ve made major breakthroughs in the speed of the process and the quality of the raw materials required."

Stephanie opened her mouth, then closed it.

"I... see. Well, congratulations."

She wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or offended.

So Umbrella had been using Hydra’s people to level up its experimental procedures?

Most organizations had to spend money and resources to develop a new technology. Somehow, Umbrella had managed to get its business partners to deliver both the money and the test subjects straight to its door.

They’d practically paid to be experimental material.

"By the way," Evenson added, as though he’d just remembered something, "please tell your father that I sincerely appreciate his assistance with this matter. I’ll be sure to repay his kindness. I’ll visit him personally in a few days."

"All right," Stephanie replied.

She nodded, already thinking about how to prepare her father for the visit.

It would be best to give him advance warning.

After all, it wasn’t every day that someone received a visit that might leave him financially ruined.

Once Stephanie had departed, Peggy stopped Evenson as he prepared to leave as well.

"You’re moving up the timetable for that plan?"

"That’s right."

Evenson nodded casually.

"By the way, how’s the man you selected doing? I don’t want him falling apart when the time comes."

Peggy hesitated.

"He’s nearly at his breaking point, but he still needs one last push before he’ll take a desperate gamble. He needs a little more pressure."

She gave Evenson a pointed look.

"You’re moving the plan forward quite a bit."

"Plans change."

Evenson shrugged.

"Who could have predicted this whole business with the spy?"

He didn’t seem particularly troubled by the development.

"And if he just needs one final push, I’ll give him one."

The following day, Stephanie gathered the fifty Hydra personnel who had yet to undergo modification.

As promised, Umbrella was going to process them all at once.

The fifty men stood in neat formation while Stephanie addressed them from the platform, delivering her usual speech about loyalty, sacrifice, and devotion to the organization.

Beside her stood Galia and several Demonheart warriors who had already completed the procedure.

They offered testimony about their transformations, describing the extraordinary power they’d gained and the limitless future now open to them.

Their message was simple.

The future was bright. The power was real. All that remained was to face the procedure bravely and climb the Ascension Chain.

The men below responded with enthusiasm.

"Hail Hydra!"

"We’re ready to give everything for the organization!"

Their shouts echoed through the facility.

Yet among the cheering soldiers stood one man whose face had gone deathly pale.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and rolled down his temples. His hands trembled, and he looked as though he might collapse at any moment.

From a distance, Evenson watched the formation. His gaze passed over dozens of faces before settling on the trembling man.

He leaned slightly toward Peggy.

"That’s him?"

"Yes. Boris."

Peggy nodded almost imperceptibly.

"He’s the one you asked me to find."

When the project had begun, Evenson had given Peggy a very specific instruction.

He wasn’t looking for the most talented recruit or the most promising candidate.

He wanted a coward.

Someone who appeared brave on the surface but was terrified underneath. Someone who talked loudly about courage, sacrifice, and loyalty precisely because he was desperate to convince everyone—including himself—that he possessed those qualities.

Peggy had found the task surprisingly easy.

After years as an intelligence operative, she knew how to recognize people who were trying too hard to prove themselves.

The man who shouted the loudest in the crowd. The one who made grand speeches about honor and courage. The one who proclaimed in front of everyone that he’d gladly sacrifice his life for Hydra whenever the subject of S.H.I.E.L.D. or an important mission arose.

The one who viciously attacked anyone who suggested a more cautious or rational approach.

In Peggy’s experience, such exaggerated displays often came from people who were deeply insecure.

A genuinely fearless person rarely needed to advertise his courage at every opportunity.

Unfortunately for Boris, he’d been an almost perfect match.

Even the most careful recruitment process could miss a few mistakes. Malick had personally selected these personnel, but choosing so many people made an occasional misjudgment inevitable.

Boris had slipped through because of his enthusiasm, his loud declarations of loyalty, and his willingness to volunteer for anything that might advance his career.

At first, he’d been genuinely thrilled to be selected.

He’d considered the assignment a rare opportunity to serve Hydra, acquire extraordinary power, and rise through the ranks.

He’d intended to make the most of it.

Then he’d seen what the procedure actually involved.

Only about half of those subjected to the modification survived.

The others died.

Boris wasn’t clever enough to understand the science behind the process, but he didn’t need to be. He understood perfectly well what a fifty-percent mortality rate meant.

With each new batch, he’d watched living men enter the modification chambers.

Only half came back out.

And with each batch, his confidence had eroded.

Had he been among the first group selected, perhaps he could have forced himself to endure the procedure before he’d fully understood the risks.

He might have swallowed his fear and gone through with it.

But for reasons beyond his control, his turn had been delayed again and again.

The repeated delays had given him far too much time to think.

He’d watched other men enter the chambers and wondered which ones would survive. He’d watched the survivors emerge transformed, while their unlucky comrades never returned.

Eventually, Boris had been forced to confront a truth he’d spent years avoiding.

He wasn’t the fearless patriot he’d pretended to be.

He wasn’t prepared to die for Hydra.

He wanted to live.

And really, a fifty-percent success rate sounded impressive until someone pointed out that it meant a fifty-percent chance of dying.

That was a coin toss with your life on the line.

Was he really willing to take that gamble?

What if he died?

To hell with power and glory. He didn’t want to end up dead in some experimental chamber!

But what could he do?

He couldn’t simply refuse. Not after spending so long boasting about his courage and loyalty.

If he backed out now, everyone would know what he really was.

Boris stood there, trapped between terror and humiliation, unable to make a decision.

Stephanie had already moved down the line.

She stopped beside another soldier and patted him on the shoulder.

"May fortune favor you!"

The man raised the training blade in his hand and shouted, "Hail Hydra!"

Boris looked down at the blade he was holding.

It trembled in his grip.

Should he do it?

What would happen if he tried?

Would he survive?

There was no guarantee.

His breathing grew shallow. The noise of the crowd seemed to fade around him, leaving only the pounding of his heart.

Then a faint red light flickered in his eyes.

For a brief moment, his mind seemed to empty of everything except a single, overwhelming thought.

I don’t care anymore.

I just have to survive today.

Boris suddenly lunged forward.

He grabbed Stephanie and dragged her in front of him, stumbling backward as he pressed the training blade horizontally against her lower back.

"Don’t come any closer!"

His voice cracked with panic.

"Nobody move! Let me leave!"

He tightened his grip on Stephanie and retreated another step.

"Or I’ll kill her!"

The crowd fell silent.

From a distance, Evenson slowly curled the fingers he’d been keeping concealed inside his sleeve.

A fleeting, inexplicable smile crossed his face.

The performance had begun.