In the corridor, the crisp sound of high heels approached from afar, finally stopping at the door.
The door was pushed open gently.
A tall woman stepped inside.
The dull S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform she wore actually showed a bit of ascetic beauty; her long black trench coat swayed slightly with her steps, and her long red hair, shimmering with an orange-pink luster, was braided into a neat plait that hung lazily in front of her.
She looked up, her light green eyes curving slightly into a spring-like smile that was so perfect no flaw could be found.
"Sorry, I'm late. I just finished processing some documents."
That's right, the third member of the Welcoming Committee was indeed Makima.
Her voice was gentle and magnetic, making one subconsciously want to trust and get close to her.
Tony Stark was stunned for a moment, then sized up this new Agent.
Decent, gentle, and seemingly emotionally stable.
This was simply... too normal.
"Phew..."
"It seems S.H.I.E.L.D. still has normal people."
Tony straightened his tie, which had been knocked askew by the fright, and switched back to his suave billionaire mode with a trademark smile: "Tony Stark, I don't think I need much of an introduction."
"I am Makima, the psychological assessment expert for this operation."
Makima nodded slightly, polite yet distant.
On the other side of the room, Reze was curled up on the sofa, bored.
She didn't even lift an eyelid at Makima's appearance.
After all, Reze had long known that Makima would join this operation.
Even so, a hint of dissatisfaction still flashed across Reze's face.
This was a great opportunity for her to prove herself to Modie-chan, and she finally had Su Modie's attention all to herself... how did this woman manage to sniff her way here?
Forget it... now is not the time for jealousy; helping Su Modie is what matters.
Besides... though she didn't want to admit it, this plan was indeed orchestrated by Makima.
It's a long story—
After Makima's brief three-day vacation ended.
She first went to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy to help Annie handle her enrollment procedures.
Immediately after, through Agent Sitwell, she obtained a key piece of intelligence.
The World Security Council pressured S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically demanding that "Abomination" Emil Blonsky join the Avengers.
In the original plot, this matter was also handled by the Bald Guy and Coulson, which gave Nick Fury a real headache.
But Su Modie came up with a plan; wasn't this the perfect opportunity for Makima to contact or even Control the Abomination?
Although the Abomination wasn't a particularly strong supervillain—the type that starts high and ends low, with high stats early on where his strength and size could even suppress the Hulk—his growth potential was almost zero.
The Hulk gets stronger as he fights, but the Abomination peaked at his debut; he either stayed the same or regressed, becoming more pathetic as time went on.
By the later stages, he was nothing more than a useless super-minion.
However, at this point in time, the Abomination was still a top-tier thug and meat shield.
In terms of stats.
High damage with the left fist, high damage with the right fist.
If she could successfully Control the Abomination, it would definitely be a good thing for Su Modie—might as well take it!
Thus, Makima had a devious idea.
She first had Sitwell recommend her to Fury.
Fury was worried about having no one available, and he also wanted to test the mettle of this newly promoted Level 6 Agent, so he went along with it; to protect Makima, Fury even specifically assigned Reze, an outside consultant he had never used before, as her bodyguard.
Yes, Makima not only found work for herself but also solved the employment problem for her "good sister" along the way.
It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
As expected, Makima is a good woman.
Everything went smoothly up to this point, but plans can't keep up with changes—
Those old fogies at the Council didn't want to do any "interviews" at all.
They felt it was simply like taking off your pants to fart—a completely unnecessary step.
Their orders were direct: no nonsense, accept him immediately, and get him on the team now.
This put Fury in a difficult position and blocked Makima's plan.
But don't forget, Makima's surface identity was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, but her second identity was a HYDRA member from Eastern Europe, and the World Security Council was currently controlled by that old HYDRA, Alexander Pierce.
Late that night, through Sitwell's encrypted line, Makima met Pierce's... virtual projection.
Alexander Pierce.
Former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., current Secretary of the World Security Council, and... one of the current leaders of HYDRA.
He was a serious-looking elderly white man.
It was unclear if this old fox was being overly cautious or if being in HYDRA really kept him so busy that he had no time to meet a lowly Level 6 Agent, but not seeing Pierce's Zhenren (Immortal) still left Su Modie with some regrets.
Not that seeing his Zhenren (Immortal) meant she could definitely Control him—
After all, high-ranking officials like Pierce were always the hardest type of people for Makima to Control; they were arrogant, even in front of superhumans a hundred times stronger than themselves, and Pierce wasn't an opportunist like Sitwell—he was a firm believer.
Trying to Control him without using force was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven.
—But even so, Makima wanted to see Pierce's Zhenren (Immortal) to feel him out first.
One could only say it was a bit of a pity.
Long before the communication was connected, Sitwell had already followed Makima's instructions to reveal her "true identity" to Pierce—a branch member of HYDRA left behind in Eastern Europe.
This made Pierce overjoyed.
He had already greatly appreciated the abilities of this newcomer, Makima, and had even been pondering how to turn this talent to his side.
And then he woke up to hear that she was also HYDRA?
Hey, isn't that a coincidence?
It was practically a match made in heaven.
The key was that this lie was very difficult to verify.
After all, there were many factions within HYDRA.
Even though HYDRA claimed that if you cut off one head, two more would grow, most of the time, these heads were independent strongholds that looked down on each other, let alone shared intelligence; they only exchanged interests and were never as close as a family.
It was perfectly normal for a few "Ma-heads"... ah, no, for a few distant HYDRA relatives to suddenly pop up.
After all, even Captain America could gain their trust just by saying "Hail HYDRA."
This gave Makima room to maneuver.
"Hail HYDRA."
Makima calmly uttered the password and then quickly got down to business.
With her first words, she sold out her direct boss completely.
"Mr. Secretary, Director Fury doesn't seem to want to carry out your orders."
In the holographic projection, Pierce's eyes darkened.
He had already sensed this, which was why he had refused to let Fury conduct any assessment of the Abomination.
Then, not finished with selling out Fury, Makima also gave up Tony: "He plans to send Tony Stark to contact General Ross, using Stark's unbearable personality to provoke him, thereby making the deal fall through completely."
"What?!"
Pierce's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Although he didn't trust Fury, he hadn't expected Fury to dare play such a dirty trick!
Sending Tony to negotiate? What was the difference between that and sending a Husky?!
"Fury is challenging my bottom line!" Pierce gritted his teeth, but he also knew very well that Fury was the Director on the surface; even as a superior, he couldn't directly hold him accountable for such a reasonable assignment of a consultant.
"That's why I have my own plan, Mr. Secretary."
Makima's voice was low and raspy, filled with a convincing, bewitching power:
"Let me join this special operations team. I will ensure that Bronski... ultimately only falls into 'our' hands."
"The specific plan... is this..."
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