Chapter 378: Avengers 1: Splitting (Part 2)

Turning the clock back a bit, to when Peter followed Steve to destroy the Hydra base.

After Shiler took over Hydra's work, the Avengers squad's operations began to go poorly. This made Peter feel a bit frustrated, so he called Shiler, wanting to seek some comfort from him.

He understood the logic Steve gave him, but some feelings of disappointment were always hard to resolve. Previously, Peter had lived in Shiler's psychological clinic for a period of time; during that time, he could consult Shiler directly about all the emotional problems he experienced.

He felt that was the most emotionally stable period of his life. That feeling was very good, so even after leaving, Peter still missed that time.

"Uncle Ben often told me that in the adult world, failure is the norm. You might have to experience many failures before you have one success."

"I also understand what the Captain means. Even for studying and exams, you still need to go through a whole semester, let alone dealing with a spy organization as formidable as Hydra."

"But before, our operations were all quite smooth. We even captured many Hydra agents and helped those poor victims get revenge."

"At that time, I was very happy. But recently, I've seen more disgusting and terrifying experiments in Hydra bases, yet I can't capture the culprits immediately..."

"Whenever I think of the pain those victims experienced, I feel like I can't catch my breath. And thinking that those evil people might still go on to threaten others makes me feel even worse."

Peter sighed at the phone. On the other end, Shiler asked him: "Where are you now? At the Avengers base?"

"That's right. They are outside discussing tactics, and I'm calling from the lounge. I'm a bit worried they might hear me and think I'm..."

"Your base should be underground, right? You'd better change locations now. Go to a cafe with floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground level and sit for a while."

"Adults can accept pressure from all sides most of the time, including work setbacks, interpersonal relationship problems, dark living conditions without sunlight, and so on. But this doesn't mean minors can too."

"Especially since the few adults you are facing are not ordinary people. Their psychological endurance is far, far better than yours, so you will feel they are acting as if nothing happened, but this will only bring you greater pressure."

"Perhaps in this contrast, you will feel you appear weak. You will downplay the difficulty of the mission, feeling it's because your own ability is insufficient, but in reality, it's not like that."

"Then should I go out now? But that's fine, I just happen to need to go home to get some clean clothes."

As Peter spoke, he walked out while holding the phone. Steve and Stark saw him and both greeted him. Peter responded with a smile, but after leaving the crowd, his expression appeared somewhat disappointed.

He said: "That's right, Dr. Shiler. Just as you said, I feel like they don't care about these failures at all, which always makes me think, am I overthinking it?"

"It doesn't matter. Although psychological counseling might slightly alleviate some of your emotional pressure, it's not a fundamental solution. I think we can try some fundamental methods."

"Fundamental methods? What are those?"

"That is to eliminate Hydra."

Peter gave a helpless, bitter smile and said: "If that could be done, what would I be worrying about? Every time I listen to them discuss combat plans, I can understand the content, but I dare not expect the results. No one knows what else that group of maniacs can do..."

"I don't know if you can understand, Doctor. I always feel like we are fighting with our hands tied, while the other side can use all kinds of weapons and blades."

"This is not your illusion. Good people always encounter this situation when facing bad people. So I want to tell you the method I take when facing this situation..."

"What is that? Can it really destroy Hydra?" Peter asked with some curiosity. He couldn't think of any other way to deal with them besides playing a battle of wits with Hydra.

Shiler smiled and said: "I have a plan..."

Thus, Peter became another informant for Shiler within the Avengers. That's right, he also coordinated with Grant. Grant was responsible for causing a commotion, attracting the Avengers away, and then leading them near the Hydra base where the Winter Soldier was buried.

After Captain America and Iron Man began to argue, Peter had to seize the opportunity to pretend to be injured, and it had to be an injury caused by the Winter Soldier.

To put it bluntly, it was a bitter-meat scheme, or it could be said to be a method of diverting attention. Even in the worst-case scenario, it could ease the intense argument between the two of them.

People in a rage often speak without thinking when arguing, and then they will argue more and more fiercely until they completely fall out. But once, courage is exhausted, and the spirit is depleted. Once they are removed from this atmosphere, there is more calm time to think about the cause of everything.

Iron Man and Captain America are both smart people. Even if they are momentarily blinded by various emotional impacts, as long as they calm down and think, neither of them would want things to develop into the worst-case scenario.

In the office of the Arkham Asylum, Peter touched his left shoulder and said: "Fortunately, there is the symbiote. It can block my pain nerves and then quickly help me repair my body."

He pressed hard on the spot where the wound should have been, then said, "This is just like a dream; was I really stabbed?"

"Don't doubt it. If you hadn't been injured, Iron Man and Captain America might have already started fighting."

"But they are currently besieging Mr. Strange, as if they are treating him as a punching bag." Peter shrugged and said: "I see the spells he uses are quite powerful, he should be fine, right?"

"However..." Peter changed the subject, revealing a worried expression. He said: "I see the Captain's performance is a bit strange. Every time Bucky is mentioned, he can't control his emotions."

"He might have post-traumatic stress disorder from the war. Many veterans have it; it's just a matter of whether it's obvious or not."

"But I saw him acting very normal before? He could be considered the one with the best mindset among us."

"This kind of stress disorder means one cannot be subjected to special stimuli. Bucky might just be the switch that triggers his stress response."

"Then what should we do? When Bucky wakes up, the two of them will definitely meet, and then Mr. Stark will again..." Peter covered his forehead and sighed helplessly. He could already imagine the chaos that would follow.

"Therefore, the fundamental problem still needs to be solved: Hydra." Shiler reached out and took a file from the bookshelf next to him. He said: "I have already gotten some clues about T'Challa's injury and poisoning."

Shiler handed this file to Peter and said: "I called you over precisely because I want you to take this file to the Avengers."

"What is this?" Peter asked as he took the file.

"The origin of Hydra."

"The origin of Hydra?" Stark said while holding the file: "Isn't Hydra just a spy organization developed by the NAZI? What is their origin..."

As he spoke, he opened the first page of the file, on which two large characters were written: "Hive."

One of the most widely known origin stories of Hydra is the one related to the NAZI. This origin story is actually true. The current, massive Hydra organization was developed precisely on the basis of the intelligence agency established by the NAZI.

But if one traces back to the era when NAZI Hydra was created, Red Skull actually drew inspiration from another organization. That organization was also called Hydra, but it was completely different from the current Hydra.

A long time ago, a powerful Inhuman, Hive, was sent to Earth. A group of believers on Earth revered this Hive as a god and established an organization for this purpose, the goal of which was to welcome Hive back.

Throughout the long river of history, this most primitive version of Hydra developed countless historical branches, and the primitive version of Hydra was also silently funding these branches.

Compared to the later spy organization, this primitive version of Hydra was more like a secret sect. Among them were many capable people and ancient families. Their only goal was to welcome back that powerful Hive, let the Inhuman Hive occupy Earth, and they would become the only people of the new Earth.

How Shiler got this file has to start from a certain snakehead who was sold to Mephisto. High-level figures like them know a lot about this history. It's just that in this snakehead's memory, he had never seen the members of this mysterious primitive Hydra. According to him, only the high-level officials of NAZI Hydra could see them.

Shiler had long known about Hydra's history, so he didn't feel surprised. It's just that he had to let Stark and Steve know about this matter.

Do you feel that the current Hydra is already hard to deal with? It doesn't matter, there is something even harder to deal with waiting for you.

Shiler had no interest in this organization because he had already dealt with a similar organization in the DC world, which was the Court of Owls. The origins and nature of these two organizations were similar. Shiler had no interest in collecting the illustrated handbook again.

However, what he didn't expect was that he didn't go looking for the primitive Hydra, but this organization suddenly came looking for him.

It was a dark night in deep winter. Shiler had just finished counting the wool he had recently plucked from Hydra and was preparing to sleep when the gate of his asylum was knocked.

Shiler heard the knocking, and then... he turned around and went to sleep.

Don't expect him to be like the protagonist of a horror movie, hearing some eerie movement in the middle of the night and going down in his pajamas to check. Shiler just assumed it was the wind blowing the gate, and had no intention of going down to open it at all.

After that person knocked for a while, he also realized he looked a bit silly.

This kind of horror movie trope only appears thrilling when the protagonist cooperates. The gate at night looks like the big mouth of a beast, the protagonist's footsteps echo in the empty corridor, and with a "creak" of friction, a mysterious person in a black robe appears outside the door...

But if the protagonist doesn't cooperate at all, this looks like a clumsy insurance salesman helplessly knocking on a client's door...

The person outside finally figured it out. He walked directly into the asylum's gate, walked up the stairs, and then knocked on every door upstairs, but received no response.

The pitch-black corridor only had faint light and shadows flickering. At this moment, the identities were reversed. This mysterious person knocking in the middle of the night seemed to have become the protagonist of a horror movie, and the owner of the asylum was the monster that didn't know when it would appear.

Shiler had no intention of chatting alone with this uninvited guest. He took out his phone directly and called Stark and Steve.

Any trouble that can be found now, just throw it all on them. As long as they handle enough trouble, they definitely won't have time to argue.

Based on this principle, Shiler called them both first, and then appeared at the end of the corridor, face-to-face with the person wearing the black cloak.

The person wearing the black cloak looked at Shiler. Shiler was wearing a set of pajamas, but strangely, he was also holding a black umbrella in his hand. The mysterious person in the black robe spoke slowly, and a hoarse female voice echoed in the dark corridor.

"You are the 'Doctor'?"

"I am indeed a psychologist."

"You don't need to beat around the bush with us. I am also a member of Hydra, but I come from Hive."

Shiler was silent and didn't speak. He seemed not to want to ask questions, so the atmosphere became eerily quiet. After a while, the mysterious person in the black robe who called herself Hive had to ask and answer herself:

"The Hydra you joined is precisely our derivative organization. Hive Hydra possesses a powerful greatness you cannot imagine, and now, we are in need of fresh blood..."

"Originally, we favored your superior, Alexander Pierce, but he is too old. Although we also have ways to make him return to his youth, he is not worth it."

"We have been observing the entire Hydra organization, selecting talented people from it to join us, and based on your performance during that period, you have earned a ticket..."

"What if I refuse?" Shiler asked.

"It doesn't matter. Soon, you will understand the greatness of Hive."

As she spoke, the mysterious person in the black robe suddenly took off her hood. Shiler saw that it was a white woman, except that her entire forehead was tattooed with a huge Hydra symbol. She opened her mouth, and an unknown object flew out from her mouth and then hovered in front of her.

With a "bang," the window glass behind Shiler was shattered. Iron Man's armor flew in, looked at the person in the black robe, and said: "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Steve also walked up the stairs. Shiler turned his head to look at Stark and asked: "Did you come together?"

"Of course not!" "That's right!" they both said in unison.

Shiler just wanted to mock their relationship when he suddenly had a thought. He opened his umbrella with a "bang," and a tiny syringe, looking like a bee, hit the surface of the umbrella at an extremely fast speed. If it weren't for this umbrella, it would probably have already hit Shiler's body.

Shiler's expression didn't change much. From the moment that woman opened her mouth, he knew she would definitely use a hidden weapon.

But the scene that followed exceeded his expectations.

That syringe suddenly turned into a spinning blade, emitting an extremely intense buzzing sound, and then with a "hiss"... it sliced through the umbrella surface.

The black umbrella surface was sliced open diagonally, and a small half of the entire umbrella surface fell off, leaving only the umbrella ribs exposed, looking lonely.

Shiler didn't care at all about the needle that hit his shoulder. He just looked somewhat dazed at his new umbrella, which he had only gotten a few days ago and was already torn.

Steve and Stark both had an extremely bad premonition. Soon, they discovered that their premonition was completely correct.

Because suddenly, Shiler froze there, as if there was no consciousness controlling this body. ===== CHAPTER 379 =====