Chapter 783

What a mess.

Malick rubbed his stomach, regretting the amount of wine he’d consumed during dinner. His stomach was still churning.

One of his fellow Hydra members had spent years working toward the organization’s revival.

And his grand plan amounted to:

Oh, forget it. This is giving me a headache. Let’s just kill everyone who opposes us.

Only a few billion people. Nothing dramatic.

And now his own ally’s ultimate response was:

Oh, forget it. This is giving me a headache. Let’s just kill every human being on Earth.

Humanity’s glory shall endure!

How had things gotten this insane?

Was Malick genuinely the only sane person left in this world?

He’d only wanted to be a respectable villain.

Instead, reality had somehow dumped the responsibility of saving the world—and the human race—directly onto his shoulders.

It was an unreasonable amount of responsibility for one man.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t exactly refuse it.

Whether Pierce killed billions of people or Evenson wiped out humanity, Malick was going to be affected either way.

So he had to solve the problem.

Somehow.

"This time, we need to completely destroy Pierce’s faction."

Malick walked over to the side of the room, poured himself a glass of soda, and took several long drinks. The carbonation seemed to settle his stomach somewhat.

"No."

He set the glass down.

"Destroy isn’t strong enough. We need to eliminate them completely. Every last one of them. We can’t leave them any opportunity to rebuild."

"If we can accomplish that, then yes, that’s obviously the ideal outcome."

Evenson folded his arms and leaned back.

"But how?"

Malick fell silent.

He thought for a long moment before finally speaking.

"Then perhaps... we should let events take their natural course."

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

"Meaning?"

"Pierce’s faction is tightly organized, and its personnel network is extremely complicated. We’re technically part of the same organization, but the truth is, I barely know how his people are arranged."

Malick frowned.

He should have investigated Pierce’s network more thoroughly years ago.

"If we move against them now, any assassination attempt will be almost impossible to coordinate. We won’t eliminate everyone. We’ll only alert them."

"And if we expose them and ask the Council or the United Nations to investigate?"

He shook his head.

"That’s even less reliable."

"We don’t have evidence. Why would they believe us?"

"And even if they do believe us, what then? Insight is still just a proposal. Pierce could burn the documents and claim the entire thing never existed."

"Without hard evidence, who’s going to arrest the director of SHIELD and throw him in prison?"

Evenson nodded.

"That’s the difficult part."

"We can look for evidence. If we can’t find any, we can manufacture it. Ultimately, all we need is enough to convince the Council or the United Nations that the threat is real."

"But even then..."

He paused.

"I don’t agree with Pierce’s ideology, but I’ll admit he’s an exceptional operator."

"If the truth comes out, he’ll sacrifice whatever he has to sacrifice to protect the larger organization."

"He might throw several people under the bus."

"He might even take all the blame himself."

"If that happens, his faction could suffer enormous losses. Their leadership might be wiped out."

"But their underlying structure could survive."

"And that would leave them a seed from which to rebuild."

Evenson’s expression hardened.

"They’d eventually try something like this again."

"And next time, we might not notice until it’s too late."

"Exactly."

Malick glanced toward Stephanie, who was sitting quietly nearby.

This had to end with their generation.

He couldn’t allow some remnant of Pierce’s faction to survive only to threaten Stephanie years later.

Just imagining his daughter being caught in something like this made his blood run cold.

"We don’t know how many people Pierce has."

"Worse, we don’t know who they actually are."

Malick sighed.

"That’s the biggest problem."

"If we start investigating now, it could take years."

"The best option is to make them expose themselves."

"Let them become arrogant."

"Let them believe victory is within reach."

"Then they’ll step out of the shadows themselves."

"Once their identities are exposed, governments around the world can arrest or eliminate them."

"And anyone they can’t reach..."

Malick’s eyes hardened.

"We’ll handle ourselves."

"We’ll make sure they don’t slip away."

Evenson smiled.

"I like the sound of that."

Then his expression became more serious.

"But there’s a problem."

"They’ll only reveal themselves when Insight is nearly complete."

"Possibly right before activation."

"Maybe even at the moment it goes online."

"That means the entire situation will come down to a single moment."

"Either we succeed, or we die."

"That shouldn’t be a problem."

A cold smile appeared on Malick’s face.

The pressure had sharpened his mind rather than clouding it.

"You said those Helicarriers are kept hidden right now."

"They don’t advertise what they’re carrying, and we don’t know where they’ll strike."

"That makes them difficult to attack."

"But once they launch?"

Malick’s smile widened.

"Once their targets become obvious, the situation changes."

"We can prepare in advance."

"I can approach the President of the United States."

"Or the Council."

"Or the United Nations."

"Whoever will listen."

"I can warn them that those Helicarriers represent an enormous threat."

"Then, before they reach their designated positions, we shoot them down with overwhelming air-defense firepower."

"And if nobody believes us?"

Malick’s expression turned cold.

"We can launch our own assault."

"Pierce will be approaching the moment of his greatest triumph. He’ll inevitably let his guard down."

"We’ll be prepared."

"They won’t."

"If every faction commits its best operatives at the right moment, our chances of success will be extremely high."

"That’s a very good plan."

Evenson nodded.

"Not only would Pierce’s faction be wiped out, but SHIELD itself would have a difficult time escaping the fallout."

"Afterward, it would probably be dissolved."

"Not necessarily."

Malick shook his head.

He looked almost cheerful now.

"SHIELD personnel will probably all be arrested."

"After all, they’re Hydra."

He gave a small, sinister laugh.

For a moment, the heavy atmosphere in the room vanished.

Apparently, even conversations between major criminal masterminds needed the occasional joke.

Evenson rubbed his chin.

"If we execute the details properly, it should work."

"But there’s one problem, Mr. Malick."

"You’re going to have a difficult time afterward."

Malick’s smile disappeared.

"Once this is over, Hydra’s existence will become public knowledge."

"Everyone will know what the organization intended to do."

"And the world will hate Hydra."

Evenson looked directly at him.

"You’re Hydra too."

"So what happens to you?"

Malick’s newly recovered mood collapsed instantly.

He’d been so focused on surviving Pierce that he hadn’t considered what would happen afterward.

His faction and Pierce’s were clearly divided, but they weren’t completely isolated from each other.

There were plenty of people in Pierce’s faction who knew Malick’s organization existed.

Some even knew his identity.

Once they were captured, would they keep their mouths shut?

Would they try to drag him down with them?

Would some of them become cooperating witnesses in exchange for lighter sentences?

There were too many of them.

He couldn’t possibly silence everyone.

And even if every captured Hydra operative remained loyal until the end, the governments of the world would launch an unprecedented investigation into Hydra after Insight was exposed.

With that level of scrutiny, could Malick really guarantee that he wouldn’t be discovered?

Damn Pierce.

Dead or alive, the man had managed to dump an enormous problem into Malick’s lap.

Malick pinched the bridge of his nose.

He wasn’t young anymore. After the intense mental strain of the past hour, exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him.

"Let’s survive this crisis first."

"We’ll deal with everything else when it comes."

"Whatever happens, we’ll adapt."

"I’ve heard that anyone who refuses to think about tomorrow may not even make it through today."

Evenson leaned back comfortably.

"You need to focus entirely on the problem in front of you."

"So it’s better not to leave yourself unnecessary worries for later."

Malick’s eyes suddenly opened.

"Wait."

He stared at Evenson.

"Are you saying you have a way to solve my problem?"

"I have an idea."

Evenson smiled.

"It’s not particularly clever, though."

"You understand the principle of going with the flow."

"So why not take advantage of the situation and change direction?"

Malick frowned.

"Change direction?"

"Separate yourself from Hydra before this disaster catches up with you."

Malick gave a dry laugh.

He’d expected something more substantial.

"That’s your brilliant solution?"

"How exactly am I supposed to separate myself from Hydra?"

"I was born into Hydra."

"My family has been Hydra for generations."

"Everything I’ve accomplished was built on this organization."

"My relatives, my friends, my connections—everything is tied to Hydra."

"Where exactly am I supposed to go?"

"I understand."

Evenson frowned thoughtfully.

"Humans are social creatures. Nobody can simply sever every relationship they’ve ever built and live independently."

"Actually, there’s something I’ve never understood."

"The old families within Hydra were its original foundation."

"You established its ideology."

"Your families are bound together through faith, almost like a secret religious order."

"But Pierce’s faction is different."

"They’re essentially a militarized organization."

"In other words, they’re nonbelievers."

"So how did two groups with such fundamentally different foundations end up becoming the same organization?"

"That’s why I call them heretics."

Malick shrugged.

"Although their ideology overlaps with ours in certain areas."

"So we managed to coexist."

"That’s the problem."

Evenson’s expression suddenly became serious.

"You’re part of the same organization."

"You’re fighting for similar ideals."

"So after you stop Pierce, what do you think the neutral factions within Hydra will think of you?"

Malick fell silent.

There would always be neutral factions.

Hydra was no exception.

People who weren’t loyal to Pierce but hadn’t sided with Malick either.

Officially, they were neutral.

In practice, they were opportunists waiting to see which way the wind blew.

Evenson continued.

"Imagine how they’ll describe what happened."

"Pierce was a hero of Hydra."

"He devoted his entire life to restoring the organization."

"Hydra’s thousand-year destiny was finally within reach."

"We were moments away from ruling the world."

"And then those greedy old families killed our hero because they wanted more power."

"They destroyed everything."

"That will be their story."

Malick’s expression darkened.

"People who don’t know the truth—or people who refuse to believe Pierce would have eliminated them along with everyone else—will naturally think that way."

"They’ll believe you destroyed their dream."

"They won’t care why you did it."

"And even if they eventually learn the truth?"

Evenson’s smile became sarcastic.

"They’ll still say something like this."

"’So what if one man had to sacrifice himself for Hydra’s future?’"

"’You didn’t want to get shot, so you destroyed our glorious destiny.’"

"’If I’d been in your position, I would have sacrificed myself for the organization.’"

"Sacrificing someone else is always remarkably easy."

"It’s especially easy when all you have to do is talk about it."

Evenson shook his head.

"You’ll become the most hated people in Hydra."

Malick shrugged.

"That’s human nature."

"People don’t change."

"They’ll always think like that."

Evenson nodded.

"True."

"That is human nature."

"But are you really the same as them?"

Malick looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"They’re nonbelievers."

"People without conviction."

"You only joined forces because your goals happen to overlap."

"Happen to overlap."

Evenson emphasized the distinction.

"And there are plenty of things you disagree about."

"So how could an alliance like that ever work?"

Malick didn’t answer immediately.

A low sound rumbled in his throat as he thought.

Pierce’s Insight Initiative had forced him to reconsider the internal structure of Hydra.

The strongest faction wanted to make an enormous move.

The opportunists simply waited.

They preferred the safety of the status quo and the small profits that came with it.

They would happily climb aboard once someone else had done all the work and victory was practically guaranteed.

They wouldn’t contribute anything until the finish line was already in sight.

Every faction wanted to fulfill its own vision while ignoring everyone else’s.

And because their philosophies differed, whenever one faction came close to achieving its goal, another faction would inevitably interfere.

Then the balance would reverse.

And the cycle would begin again.

A perpetual struggle that ensured Hydra never truly moved forward.

"So that’s why I said you should separate yourself from Hydra."

Evenson smiled.

"I’m not telling you to betray Hydra."

"I’m not telling you to abandon your family or friends."

"I’m telling you to draw a line between yourselves and people like Pierce."

"You and the old families who actually share your ideals can change your identity."

"Let Pierce’s faction carry the blame for Hydra’s crimes."

"Let them become the face of the organization the world hates."

"And you?"

"You simply change the name."

"Then you can continue pursuing the same ideals you’ve always pursued."

Malick stared at him.

For the first time, the possibility began to sound less like betrayal and more like survival.