Chapter 95 : Machima sold the braised eggs directly.
In the corridor, the crisp sound of high heels approached from afar, eventually stopping at the door.
The door was gently pushed open.
A tall woman stepped inside.
The dull S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform worn on her actually revealed a touch of ascetic beauty. The long black trench coat draped over it swayed slightly with her steps, and her long, orange-pink tinted red hair was braided into a capable plait, hanging lazily in front of her.
She raised her head, her light green eyes curving slightly, and her smile, as gentle as a spring breeze, was perfect without a single flaw.
"Sorry, I'm late. I just finished handling some documents."
That's right, the third member of the Welcoming Committee was none other than Makima.
Her voice was gentle and magnetic, making people subconsciously want to trust and get close to her.
Tony Stark paused for a moment, then looked this new Agent up and down.
Proper, gentle, and appearing emotionally stable.
This was simply... too normal.
"Whew..."
"It seems S.H.I.E.L.D. still has normal people."
Tony straightened his tie, which had been knocked askew, switched back to his dashing billionaire mode, and wore his signature smile: "Tony Stark, I don't think I need much of an introduction."
"I am Makima, the psychological evaluation expert for this operation."
Makima nodded slightly, polite and distant.
On the other side of the room, Reze was curled up on the sofa, feeling bored.
She didn't even lift an eyelid at Makima's appearance.
After all, Reze had long known that Makima would join this operation.
But even so, a flash of dissatisfaction crossed Reze's mind.
This was a good opportunity for her to prove herself to Modie-chan, and it was so hard to finally have Su Modie's attention all to herself...
How did this woman come sniffing around?
Forget it, forget it... Now is not the time to be jealous. Being able to help Su Modie is a good thing.
Besides... although she didn't want to admit it, this plan was indeed orchestrated by Makima.
This is a long story—
After Makima's short three-day vacation ended.
She first went to S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy to help Annie settle her admission procedures.
Immediately after, she obtained key intelligence through Agent Sitwell.
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 handled by the bald guy and Coulson, which gave Nick Fury a massive headache.
But when Su Modie heard this, a plan formed in her mind. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity for Makima to contact, or even Control, Abomination?
Although Abomination couldn't be considered a particularly strong supervillain, belonging to the type that starts high and ends low—his stats were very high in the early stages, and his strength and size could even suppress Hulk—his growth potential was almost zero.
Hulk gets stronger the more he fights, while Abomination peaked at his debut; he didn't improve, only regressed, becoming more useless the more he fought.
By the later stages, he was essentially a useless super-minion.
However, at this point in time, Abomination was still a top-tier brawler and tank.
In terms of stats.
High damage on the left fist, high damage on the right fist.
If she could successfully Control Abomination, it would definitely be a good thing for Su Modie. Might as well take it!
Thus, Makima had some devious thoughts.
She first had Sitwell recommend her to Fury.
Fury was worried about having no one to use, and since he also wanted to test the true caliber of this newly promoted Level 6 Agent, he went with the flow and agreed. To protect Makima, Fury even specifically assigned Reze, an external consultant he had never used before, as her bodyguard.
Yes, Makima not only found a job for herself, but also solved the employment problem for her "good sister."
It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
As expected, Makima is a good woman.
Things had gone smoothly up to this point, but plans couldn't keep up with changes—
The old fogies on the Security Council didn't want to conduct any "interviews" at all.
They thought it was completely unnecessary, like taking off one's pants to fart.
Their order was very direct—no nonsense, accept him immediately, and join the team at once.
This put Fury in a difficult position and also hindered Makima's plan.
But don't forget, Makima's surface identity was an S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, but her second identity was a member of HYDRA from Eastern Europe, and the World Security Council was currently controlled by that old HYDRA member, Alexander Pierce.
Late that night, Makima saw Pierce's... virtual projection through Sitwell's encrypted line.
Alexander Pierce.
Former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., current Minister of the World Security Council, and... one of the current leaders of HYDRA.
This was a stern-looking white elderly man.
It was unclear whether this old fox was overly vigilant, or if HYDRA was truly too busy to see a mere Level 6 Agent. Not meeting Pierce in person still left Su Modie somewhat regretful.
It wasn't that seeing him in person would guarantee she could Control him—
After all, high-ranking officials like Pierce were always the hardest type of person for Makima to Control. They were arrogant, even in the face of super-powered beings a hundred times stronger than them. Especially since Pierce wasn't an opportunist like Sitwell, but had firm convictions.
Trying to Control him without using force was almost impossible.
—However, even so, Makima wanted to see Pierce in person to test the waters first.
It could only be said to be a bit of a pity.
Long before the communication was connected, Sitwell had already, according to Makima's instructions, revealed her "true identity" to Pierce—that she was a member of a HYDRA branch left behind in Eastern Europe.
This overjoyed Pierce.
He had originally appreciated Makima's ability as a newcomer, and was even mulling over how to recruit this talent.
As a result, he woke up to hear that the other party was actually also HYDRA?
Hey, what a coincidence?
It was practically a mutual attraction.
The key was that this lie was very difficult to verify.
After all, there were many factions within HYDRA.
Don't look at HYDRA claiming that if you cut off one head, two more grow back; most of the time, these heads were all separate factions, looking down on each other, let alone sharing intelligence. It was all just exchanges of interests; it was never like a family.
Suddenly a few Makima-heads popped up...
Ah, no, suddenly having a few distant relatives of HYDRA pop up was a perfectly normal thing.
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 this password, then quickly got to the point.
She immediately sold out her direct superior completely.
"Minister, Director Fury doesn't seem to want to execute your orders."
In the holographic projection, Pierce's eyes darkened.
He had a premonition about this, which was also the reason he refused to let Fury conduct any evaluation on Abomination.
Immediately after, not content with just selling out Fury, Makima also ratted out Tony: "He intends to send Tony Stark to contact General Ross, using Stark's unbearable personality to provoke the other party, thereby causing the deal to fall through completely."
"What?!"
Pierce's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Although he didn't trust Fury, he didn't expect Fury to dare to play such a dirty trick!
Sending Tony to negotiate? How is that any different from 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, and he couldn't directly hold him accountable for such a reasonable assignment of a consultant, even as his superior.
"So I also have my own plan, Minister."
Makima's voice was low and hoarse, filled with convincing allure:
"Let me join this special operations team, and I will ensure that Blonsky... will ultimately fall into 'our' hands."
"The specific plan... is like this..."
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100 POWER STONE = BONUS CHAPTER
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