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*****
As Zola hoped, Fini spoke flatly: "If you don't want to disappear today, you'd better choose to tell me!"
Fini hadn't come to find Zola alone without preparation. Before entering, he had followed Sitwell's advice and used a specialized device to jam all surrounding signals.
Zola was currently unable to send or receive any messages—a fact he had clearly realized some time ago.
"I excised my entire brain while keeping it viable, then created an information conversion device. Finally, I successfully transferred my consciousness," Zola answered cooperatively, offering no further resistance after the threat.
"Excision of the brain?" Fini frowned, then continued, "What if a person has two consciousnesses in one body? How would you judge and separate them?"
"You're talking about the Hulk, aren't you?" Zola was brilliant; from just a few words, he guessed Fini's intent. He said excitedly, "You want to separate Banner and the Hulk!?"
"Yes. Can it be done using your method?" Fini didn't deny it. In truth, from the moment he decided to come here, he had no intention of leaving Zola alive. This entity was too difficult to control; it was better to simply erase him.
As for Zola's algorithm and Project Insight, they wouldn't succeed anyway. Fini found it hard to believe that the current Nick Fury would be as oblivious to the anomalies as he was in the original timeline.
"Let me think... they share one body but possess two consciousnesses..."
Zola spoke with great enthusiasm. Even without a physical body, he remained a scientist at heart, possessed by an intense interest in research. Since Banner's data was in his storage bank, he immediately began running calculations.
The machines hummed. Several screens displayed footage of Banner's initial mutation in the lab. Fini watched with interest; the Hulk's destructive power was as formidable as ever.
After a long while, Zola reappeared on the screen, looking disappointed. "It likely won't work. Banner's physical structure has mutated, which presumably includes his brain. Therefore, a consciousness transfer device would most likely be useless for him."
Fini sighed inwardly. He had only come here seeking inspiration and hadn't pinned his hopes on this being a definitive solution, so he wasn't too let down.
He pulled out two flash drives, connected them to Zola's hardware, and said, "Transfer all the manufacturing data for that consciousness device onto this drive."
"And the list of Hydra personnel you know!"
Zola obeyed without question, asking neither why Fini wanted the data nor what he intended to do with it.
"By the way, Bucky Barnes... you're the one who modified him, right?" Fini asked suddenly during the data transfer.
"Barnes?" Zola paused, then nodded. "Yes. He fell from a cliff years ago. We recovered him and turned him into the Winter Soldier."
"What is the method for controlling him?" Fini pressed.
Zola was the type of person who, once he chose to surrender, would never resist until he had absolute certainty of success. Faced with Fini's questions, he held nothing back, revealing every command used to control Bucky.
"Is there a way to break the control?"
"There is, but it's complicated and requires specialized equipment."
Fini nodded. He didn't ask for the details of the deprogramming process. If it was a hassle, he certainly wouldn't bother helping; he'd leave that for Captain America to figure out later.
The transfer finished quickly, and Fini prepared to leave. Honestly, he didn't believe for a second that Zola hadn't tried to hide something in the data, but he didn't care. Whatever tricks Zola might have pulled, he wouldn't live to see the results.
"I'm leaving. You'd better not tell anyone I was here," Fini said, looking at the cautious Zola on the screen.
"Of course! I won't tell a soul!" Zola nodded, a tense expression on his face, inwardly praying for Fini to just walk away.
Fini nodded and turned. After a few steps, he suddenly looked back and asked one more thing: "By the way, am I handsome?"
Zola froze, then nodded with fawning intensity. "Handsome! Very handsome!"
Fini gave Zola a long, deep look before leaving the basement. As he walked away, he murmured under his breath, "He knows I'm handsome even through the faceplate... he definitely knows too much!"
Using the Sky Dance technique to hover in the air, Fini looked down at the military training base below. He had checked again; there were no guards in the vicinity. It was clear that Alexander Pierce didn't actually value Zola all that much.
Taking a deep breath, Fini began to chant:
"Blacker than black, darker than dark,"
"Combine with my deep crimson!"
"The time for awakening has arrived."
"Fall into the realm of the infallible,"
"And become an invisible distortion!"
"Explosion!"
Flames engulfed the entire base. Under the bombardment of several 'Explosion Magic' blasts, the small building housing Zola was reduced to ruins. If Zola could survive that, there was nothing more Fini could do.
After a final sweep of the area to ensure no traces were left, Fini opened a portal and returned home.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Triskelion Building, Security Department, Top Floor.
"What happened? Why did that guy go there!?"
Inside his office, Alexander Pierce was fuming. In the dimly lit, locked room, a bald man stood trembling by his side.
Though Zola wasn't highly prioritized, he was still one of Pierce's most vital subordinates. Once Zola was eliminated, Pierce received the news quickly. Based on the scene, they had deduced it was Fini's handiwork.
"I don't know. The Divine Knight's identity is too mysterious, and Nick Fury forbids anyone from investigating him. We have no idea why he went there," Sitwell said nervously. He truly was anxious; he hadn't expected Fini to simply wipe Zola out.
"This can't go on. We can't let him run wild anymore!" Pierce panted, his eyes filled with resentment.
"But Nick Fury has repeatedly ordered that no investigation of any kind be conducted against him," Sitwell said cautiously. He was now a triple agent—Fury's capable subordinate, Pierce's confidant, and Fini's tool. Every word he spoke had to be carefully weighed.
"Then we don't do it the S.H.I.E.L.D. way!" Pierce said in a low voice. "Unfreeze all the Winter Soldiers and send them out. Tell them to kill the Divine Knight at any cost!"
"But... can the Winter Soldiers really kill him?" As Pierce's confidant, Sitwell had to play his part and raise a doubt.
"Do you have anyone else in mind!?" Pierce shouted, throwing a glass at him. If he had another way, he wouldn't be doing this. He had tried to use Loki to get rid of Fini before, but that had failed too.
He was already stressed enough by Fury's investigations; now this had happened. He was practically pulling his hair out.
Sitwell didn't dare say more. He only needed to show loyalty; saying too much would invite suspicion. Meanwhile, he was already thinking of how to contact Fini to give him the heads-up.
(End of Chapter)