When Ethan Blake looked down at the compass in his hand, the needle was pointing directly at the door in front of him. The result made him frown slightly as he stopped in the hallway.
At the same time, his Observation Haki clearly detected a single presence beyond the door. The aura felt calm but unmistakable. There was no doubt about it—the person inside had to be Alexander Pierce. The compass had never been wrong before, and Ethan trusted the device completely.
Still, something about the situation felt strange.
Pierce had already sent Crossbones and an entire strike team to intercept him earlier. That alone proved Pierce knew Ethan's target was himself. On top of that, Ethan had deliberately left all of the building's surveillance systems intact while advancing through the facility.
Which meant Pierce had certainly watched everything.
So the question became obvious.
If Pierce knew Ethan was coming, why was he still inside the room instead of escaping?
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Interesting.
Either the old man had completely lost his mind… or he was waiting with some kind of hidden trump card.
Thinking that far, Ethan's vigilance rose another level. At the same time, he fully expanded his telekinetic barrier around himself.
The last thing he wanted was to suffer some ridiculous accident here and waste one of his precious revival avatars.
With that precaution in place, Ethan simply lifted his hand.
Telekinesis surged forward and smashed the door apart instantly.
The door burst open with a thunderous crack.
Inside was a spacious office that looked nothing like the sterile corridors outside. The room measured close to a hundred square meters, filled with expensive furniture and wide windows that overlooked the city.
The moment Ethan stepped across the threshold, several thick panels of reinforced glass suddenly dropped from the ceiling.
They slammed down around him from all sides.
In the blink of an eye, Ethan found himself sealed inside a transparent cage.
Ethan frowned slightly and shifted his gaze toward the man sitting calmly behind the desk.
Alexander Pierce.
The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D sat comfortably in his chair with an expression that radiated gentle warmth. Anyone seeing him for the first time would probably assume he was a kindly elder statesman, the type of person who spent his days promoting world peace.
It was almost impossible to imagine that this same man was the hidden leader of HYDRA, responsible for countless silent murders over the past half century.
"Chu… he…"
Pierce attempted to pronounce Ethan's name, the unfamiliar syllables sounding awkward in his mouth. A faint smile appeared on the old man's face as he continued speaking.
"This is our first meeting," Pierce said politely. "What I didn't expect was for the circumstances to become so… unpleasant. For that, I offer my sincere apology."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Apologize?" he said with a mocking snort.
He gestured casually toward the transparent prison surrounding him.
"You trap me in a glass box and then call it an apology? That's a pretty creative definition of the word."
Pierce remained calm, his smile unchanged.
"I believe there has been a misunderstanding between us," he replied. "If we can clear that misunderstanding up, I'll gladly release you."
Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying him.
"You actually think this thing can stop me from killing you?"
As he spoke, Ethan extended his telekinesis and pushed against the glass wall in front of him, testing its strength.
Pierce didn't even flinch.
Instead, he spoke with quiet confidence.
"That is half-meter-thick carbon-tempered glass," Pierce explained. "Its hardness exceeds steel plates several times over. The structure is designed to withstand impacts exceeding fifteen hundred tons."
Ethan looked at him with mild amusement.
Clearly, Pierce believed the trap was foolproof.
Which meant the old man had absolutely no idea Ethan possessed abilities beyond telekinesis. If Pierce knew Ethan could teleport instantly, he probably would have fled the building already.
That misunderstanding existed for a simple reason.
Pierce's intelligence report on Ethan came entirely from the mission report submitted by Phil Coulson and Natasha Romanoff after their visit to Ethan's Long Island villa. That document contained no information about the events that happened after Nick Fury personally arrived at the scene.
As far as Pierce knew, telekinesis was Ethan's only supernatural ability.
Seeing that Ethan had fallen silent, Pierce continued speaking.
"I am the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D and a member of the World Security Council," he said firmly. "Do you understand the crime you are about to commit by attacking me?"
His tone suddenly sharpened.
"Even before you arrived here, you killed fifteen agents who dedicated their lives to protecting the peace of this world. As the director of the FBI's New York field office, do you feel no shame for your actions?"
Pierce's voice carried righteous indignation, as if he truly believed every word.
Ethan stared at him for a moment.
Then he felt an overwhelming urge to laugh.
Honestly, this old man would have made an incredible politician. If he ran for office, he might have won by a landslide.
Pierce noticed Ethan's silence and assumed his words had struck a nerve.
After all, the psychological profile he had read suggested Ethan possessed a strong sense of justice. In Pierce's experience, people with strong moral compasses were the easiest to manipulate.
"Now," Pierce continued solemnly, "you must take responsibility for your reckless actions and atone for what you've done."
Before he could continue the speech, Ethan raised a hand.
"Hold it."
Pierce frowned slightly.
"Hm?"
Ethan looked at him with an expression that was half amused, half pitying.
"If killing HYDRA agents should make someone feel ashamed," Ethan said slowly, "then wouldn't Captain America have to sit in the bathroom crying every day?"
The effect was immediate.
Pierce's expression stiffened.
For a brief moment his face changed several times before he regained control.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Pierce said coldly. "HYDRA was destroyed by Captain America during World War II."
Ethan shrugged.
"You don't know? As HYDRA's leader, you don't know?" he replied casually. "Honestly, what I'm curious about is something else. You've already climbed to the top of S.H.I.E.L.D, and you're practically at the end of your life. Why are you still dreaming about HYDRA ruling the world?"
He leaned slightly against the glass wall, studying the old man.
"Wouldn't it be more realistic to run for office or something?"
In his previous life, Ethan had always wondered about this.
Someone like Crossbones might genuinely believe in HYDRA's ideology. But Alexander Pierce was different. A man who spent half his life navigating politics simply didn't operate on blind faith.
The more Ethan spoke, the darker Pierce's face became.
The warmth disappeared completely.
When Pierce looked at Ethan again, his eyes were filled with cold killing intent. Although he desperately wanted to obtain Ethan's supernatural abilities, his own survival mattered far more.
If the truth about his connection to HYDRA ever became public, the consequences would be catastrophic.
HYDRA's future might survive the scandal.
He would not.
And besides, even if Ethan died, there was still a chance that the secret behind his powers could be extracted from his corpse.
With that thought in mind, Pierce slowly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small remote control device.
Holding it toward Ethan, he pressed the button.
The effect was immediate.
A wave of intense pain exploded throughout Ethan's entire body.
Every muscle, bone, and internal organ began vibrating violently, as if his body were being torn apart from the inside. The sensation was so unpleasant that even Ethan's expression tightened slightly.
Under the enhancement of the perfected T-Virus serum, every aspect of Ethan's physical abilities had already surpassed ordinary humans by more than five times.
Even so, the attack was still painful.
If a normal person experienced this kind of assault, they would collapse instantly and lose consciousness within seconds.
Ethan, however, heard something others could not.
A faint, low-frequency hum.
"Infrasound weapons…" Ethan muttered quietly.
The principle behind the device was simple but terrifying. The emitted sound waves matched the natural resonance frequencies of human organs. Once resonance occurred, internal tissues began vibrating uncontrollably, leading to distortion, displacement, and eventually rupture.
It was the same type of weapon Obadiah Stane had used against Tony Stark in the past.
Ignoring the pain coursing through his body, Ethan lifted his head and stared directly at Pierce.
In the next instant, Pierce's eyes widened in horror.
Ethan vanished.
Then he reappeared directly in front of him.
"Y-you… how did you—"
Pierce didn't finish the sentence.
Ethan didn't give him the chance.
With a single motion, Ethan fired.
The bullet struck Pierce instantly.
Just like that, the man who had secretly manipulated events for more than half a century died without ceremony.
The irony was almost laughable.
As a lifelong member of HYDRA, nearly everything Pierce had done throughout his career had been carried out under the banner of serving S.H.I.E.L.D.
....
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