Raymond nodded, "Hydra definitely still exists, and after so many years of hiding and developing, they might be harder to deal with now than when your father faced them."
Tony asked, "So what you mean is..."
"Take advantage of handling the 'A.I.M. Group' situation to draw out the Hydra members behind the scenes and try to take them all down at once," Raymond said, closing his fingers together.
Tony thought for a moment, "If what you're saying is true, and Hydra is still around, secretly in contact with the 'A.I.M. Group,' then it's very likely they will show up this time..."
"However, if I were them, I definitely wouldn't directly interfere with others taking over the 'A.I.M. Group.' That's too risky and would easily draw attention."
"The best way would be to join others in taking a share, swallowing most of the 'A.I.M. Group's' assets, and then rebranding and coming back stronger."
Tony quickly analyzed the most likely scenario, putting himself in the potential position of Hydra, which was something Raymond hadn't even considered before.
Raymond wasn't very familiar with business matters and didn't have Tony's sharp instincts. Hearing that Hydra might be lurking in the shadows, Tony immediately thought of these possibilities.
"I understand what you mean."
Tony sat up straight. "Once I get back, I'll keep an eye out to see which company is particularly eager to get involved in this. Once I confirm it, I'll contact you."
"Thanks... huh!"
Raymond was about to thank Tony when he suddenly gasped!
Because just then, the John Constantine sub-personality returned...
It wouldn't have been such a big deal if it was just the return, but the issue was that in just under two hours, John Constantine had indulged in every vice imaginable!
From the feelings and memories attached to the shadow clone, Raymond learned that John Constantine had gone to a bar, stolen some money from a few gang members, then bought cigarettes and alcohol.
That wasn't even the worst part.
During this time, he also had a seafood feast and tried to charm a young girl who didn't seem to be a good person, dragging her into the restroom for a noisy encounter.
Of course, her boyfriend found them, and in a fit of rage, charged in to attack John Constantine.
But John Constantine, probably seeing that time was running out, couldn't even be bothered to hide and just took a swing from the guy.
At the very last moment, as he was about to be hit, John Constantine had finished having his fun, and he was feeling good about it.
In that moment, Raymond fully absorbed the experiences of those two hours. How could he not take a deep breath?
"Hey, sorry, I came back a bit messy..." John Constantine chuckled in Raymond's mind.
"Next time you do something as trashy as stealing, at least wear some disguise. If you're not embarrassed, I sure am," Raymond said mercilessly in his mind.
"I'll pay more attention next time," John Constantine lazily responded, still in a great mood after his little spree.
Raymond shook his head, too tired to argue with John Constantine.
The guy was like a rolling stone, never taking anything seriously, no matter how much Raymond scolded him. It was pointless.
This did remind him, though—if a sub-personality ever went out using a shadow clone again, he would have to make sure to give clear instructions. No more random, ridiculous behavior under his guise.
This time, John Constantine wasn't too bad. At worst, he had fought a pair of small-time gangsters. But next time, if a sub-personality got involved in any illegal activities and it was caught on camera, wouldn't that be Raymond's problem to deal with?
"Hope they don't get scared to death by this guy's sudden disappearance..." Raymond thought with a strange expression.
"Raymond, detective, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Tony noticed something was off and assumed Raymond wasn't feeling well.
"No, no big deal, probably just ate something bad. Feeling a bit uncomfortable," Raymond casually replied.
"Then rest up. I'll head out for now, and I'll contact you when I have new information," Tony said, standing up.
"Alright, I won't see you out."
"No need."
After watching Tony leave, Raymond walked over to the window and continued thinking about Hydra.
His keen interest in luring Hydra wasn't driven by any sense of righteous indignation.
People who had been through the ups and downs of society for a long time no longer had the luxury of seeing things in black and white like when they were younger.
Besides, from his outsider perspective, Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. were just locked in a power struggle.
"Winner takes all, no need to get too involved."
If anything, from the standpoint of justice and evil, S.H.I.E.L.D. had done its fair share of morally questionable things.
Like the "Tahiti Project" that the original body participated in—if seen from an ordinary perspective, it wasn't very humanitarian either.
Therefore, Raymond had no intention of helping S.H.I.E.L.D. eliminate its enemies, which was why he had never told Nick Fury everything he knew about Hydra.
This time, he had two reasons for using the 'A.I.M. Group' situation to lure out Hydra's people.
The first was that he wasn't sure if the information he had about Hydra was accurate or complete. Only by drawing out Hydra's operatives could he trace the trail to their true leaders.
The second reason was that he wanted to see how many rewards he would get if he managed to take over Hydra entirely.
Since becoming a core member of the Hellfire Club brought rewards, there was no reason becoming the leader of Hydra wouldn't.
Of course, if it turned out to be impossible to take them over, he'd just wipe them out and see how many rewards he could still get.
Either way, he was sure it would be a profitable situation for him.
A few days later.
A large sum of money suddenly appeared in the agency's account, and the sender was none other than Tony.
A full $10,000,000!
While this amount was nothing to Tony, for a newly established detective agency, it felt like a gold mine had fallen from the sky.
After receiving the transfer, Raymond called Tony:
"What's this money for?"
"Consider it the service fee for Pepper asking you guys for help. Don't think it's too little. If I gave you more, I'd be worried the IRS might get suspicious and think you're helping me launder money," Tony chuckled on the phone.
"Didn't we say the Extremis Virus would cover it? What, you changed your mind?"
"Don't underestimate me, you bastard... The Extremis Virus is the Extremis Virus, and the service fee is the service fee. Two different things," Tony laughed. "Alright, no more rambling. I'm busy here. Once I've got the finished product, I'll bring it to you myself."
"Thanks."
"You saved Happy, so this is the least I could do." Tony's voice dropped a little. "By the way, I've made some progress on that thing you mentioned. It should have results in the next few days…"
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