After arriving in Denver, Heisenberg looked around and quickly pinpointed the location of the Asgardian army.
He wasn't Heimdall, after all; he couldn't see Earth directly from Asgard. So he could only position the Bifrost landing in Denver.
But it wasn't far, just a dozen or so kilometers. Heisenberg deployed his vector field and in the blink of an eye arrived at Lake Shurchak.
By the time he touched down, the Asgardian warriors had only just finished striking their breastplates three times.
Seeing Heisenberg, countless Asgardian warriors immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
Fortunately, they were quick. If they hadn't risen to their feet in time, wouldn't that have been disrespectful to His Majesty?
Had it been Odin arriving, the warriors wouldn't have cared so much, because they had followed Odin for over a thousand years and knew his temperament well.
But the throne had changed, so the warriors had to be far more attentive now…
"We welcome Your Majesty!!!"
The Asgardian warriors roared in unison, then raised their weapons and cheered wildly for Heisenberg!
Watching Heisenberg hover before the countless golden-armored warriors, receiving their acclamations, Bullseye licked his lips with envy.
This is how a true man should be!
But then he looked at the Boss's levitating stance and remembered the Boss's terrifying power…
A true man should be like this, but this I definitely cannot usurp…
Bullseye instantly grew gloomy. Fueled by alcohol, he boldly raised his cup against the backdrop of countless Asgardian cheers!
"To the Boss, cheers!!!"
"Whoo, to His Majesty, cheers!"
"To Earth, cheers!"
"Hail Hydra!!!"
…
…
…
The Asgardians didn't understand what Hydra meant. Only a few dozen legion commanders had heard Hill's stories.
So at that moment, fewer than two hundred Earthlings turned to look at the one who had shouted about Hydra.
Heisenberg was also amused by the Hail Hydra cry. He looked toward the source and found it was actually a familiar face.
The little bald man, Sitwell, was gulping down his drink. He didn't seem to care at all what impact his shout would have on the other Earthlings.
After he put down his cup and noticed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, led by Hill, glaring at him with fury…
The little bald man shrugged indifferently.
"What are you looking at? Even if I hadn't said anything, don't you already know who I am?
S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra, right now we're all the Boss's men. What difference is there left between the Shield and the Snake!"
Far from restraining himself, Sitwell's voice grew louder.
"Not only will I say it, I'll say it openly and proudly!
Do you know how many years I've endured this? Do you know what I've been through all these years!"
At this, Sitwell suddenly raised a hand and shouted.
"I'm done pretending, I'm coming clean. Hail Hydra!!!
I've wanted to do this for so long!!!"
As his words fell, many Hydra members on the scene were stirred.
"Fuck, that's right. I've risked my life for S.H.I.E.L.D. all these years. I even contained two 084s!
If I don't have merit, I have suffering. Why must I live a life of hiding!
I'm not pretending anymore either. Hail Hydra!!!"
"Well said. Look at this mechanical arm, severed during a fight with a S.H.I.E.L.D. and Red Room operative.
Even crippled, I kept training cadets at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy.
I've given my whole damn life to S.H.I.E.L.D., and I can't even say one thing?
Hail Hydra!!!"
"Yeah, my stomach is down to a third, two-thirds of my liver was cut out; if the liver didn't grow so fast, I'd have no liver left.
Look at these scars, all from carrying out orders from that bastard Nick Fury.
I'm not doing this for anything else, just so I can openly tell you one thing!
Hail Hydra!!!"
In an instant, among those mere two hundred Earthlings, over one hundred and ten Hydra members revealed themselves!
On the Justice League side, there wasn't much to say; most of the elites had been recruited by Rumlow. They were genuinely far stronger than Kingpin's gangsters.
But as for the Avengers side…
Alright, in this universe the Avengers never formed in the first place. Heisenberg, that butterfly, dismantled them before they could. So no Avengers.
Then what about the S.H.I.E.L.D. side?
Hill stared at her subordinates in utter shock. She had clearly conducted a rigorous screening and purge of her people after the Purple Man's Hydra uprising.
Yet among the eighty-plus people she'd brought to Lake Shurchak, there were still over twenty Hydra members!!!
Seeing one bastard after another stand up shouting Hail Hydra, Hill itched to pull out a gun and drag them all out to be shot!
But Hill glanced at Heisenberg, who was laughing heartily not far away…
"Ah…"
She let out a long sigh. The times had changed.
Sharing her sentiment were Natasha and Barton, standing nearby with faces full of helplessness.
Barton looked glumly at Natasha.
"So, is everything just settled like that?"
"Otherwise? Do we have any other choice?"
Natasha shook her head, then pointed helplessly around them.
"Look around. His power is too overwhelming, and even Asgard has joined him!"
She patted Barton's arm.
"I'm not a prophet. I can never imagine what the future will become.
But if the future is destined to belong to Heisenberg, then at least he needs enough humans by his side to guarantee the importance of our entire species in his mind!"
"Yeah, ah…"
Barton sighed long as well, then nodded at Natasha and said.
"I have to go talk to the Captain. He's too upright, so we never told him that S.H.I.E.L.D. had thrown in with Heisenberg.
Look at his expression now!"
Barton pointed at the Captain not far off. Natasha followed his hand and immediately saw Rogers, questioning his entire existence.
Seeing that, Natasha promptly nudged Barton.
"Damn, we forgot about the Captain. Go stop him, quick!"
"Mm!"
Barton hurried off, weaving through celebrating Hydra members and Asgardian drunks who had no clue what it meant but were cheering Hydra along with them.
He rushed as fast as he could and finally, just before the Captain fully erupted, grabbed hold of Rogers's itching fist.
Since both were wearing Iron Man armor, Barton actually managed to restrain Captain America. As they struggled, Barton pressed close to Rogers's ear.
"No matter what, don't settle things with them today, Captain!"
"Barton, I only want to know one thing. Is what Sitwell said true?!"
Rogers asked icily. Barton nodded frankly.
"It's true. S.H.I.E.L.D. joining the Justice League was a joint decision by Hill and a core group. They just hadn't had time to notify everyone before the Chitauri attacked Earth!"
"Notify. Decision!!!"
Rogers was furious beyond control.
"Something like this actually got your support?!
Maybe I can guess what you were thinking, but you must remember, nothing justifies choosing to wallow in the mire with them!"
"But just like history can't be changed, Captain.
Lord Heisenberg's power is growing stronger by the day. Earth has already lost any chance of stopping him.
Let me be blunt with you, Captain.
Compared to stubbornly opposing Heisenberg, gambling both our fate and humanity's fate on a war with almost no chance of victory,
we all lean toward joining his side!
By now, the Boss has long since lost any reason to be defeated. His own power, plus Asgard's power, is enough to make Earth bow its head.
If, in the future, he has none of us under his command, no S.H.I.E.L.D.,
then the future of humanity will be left entirely in the hands of those Hydra members under him!
I understand you, Captain. I hate Hydra too.
But our war with Hydra has to change its form!
Please try to see us as a Hydra faction and a S.H.I.E.L.D. faction. At least under Lord Heisenberg, we can only be rivals within a faction; we can't be mortal enemies!"
"You…!!!"
Barton's words enraged Rogers, but at that moment, Rogers had to admit with helplessness that Barton actually made a lot of sense.
The Chitauri invasion had made Earthlings painfully aware of Earth's real strength.
Over three thousand nuclear warheads, and they didn't even make a ripple!
And the army's combat power? The Chitauri completely crushed the US military!
Not to mention the sheer scale of troops!
The United States, active duty, militia, and reserves combined, had just over two million soldiers.
Yet a single Chitauri mothership delivered over eight million combat troops!
And those troops practically all had personal flyers and energy lances.
How the hell do you fight that?
Even so, those very Chitauri…
Heisenberg merely glared and millions of them dropped dead!
And the Asgardians, just two hundred thousand of them, had been crushing eight million Chitauri the entire time!
So Heisenberg plus the Asgardians…
How much would Earth have to sacrifice to reclaim its freedom from them?
And the most terrifying part: even if countless people were sacrificed, could they really win?
Thinking about all of this, Rogers sighed powerlessly.
He slumped onto the grass, picked up his glass in dejection and loneliness.
"I will leave S.H.I.E.L.D., because this era no longer needs an old man like me…"
He spoke slowly, then raised his glass and clinked it against Barton's.
"Captain…"
Barton looked at Rogers with concern. Seeing Captain America down an entire glass of neat whiskey, he could only follow suit and drink his own.
Setting down the glass, Barton sat beside Captain America and put an arm around Rogers's shoulders.
"Captain, you don't need to do this. We've all seen what the nuclear bomb crew does. They've only strengthened the punitive measures in the law, and that actually makes ordinary citizens safer!
So what we'll be doing after joining them is basically the same as what we've always done. That shouldn't be so hard for you to accept.
Right now S.H.I.E.L.D. is in ruins, facing external pressure from the UN and internal corrosion from Hydra.
Without you, S.H.I.E.L.D. would lose its very reason to exist. We need your cohesion. We need you to lift our spirits. We need you, Captain!"
"No, Barton!"
Listening to Barton, Rogers replied gravely.
"I've always thought you needed me. But as we spent more time together, I gradually came to understand something.
That is, you never needed me at all!"
He poured himself another glass and downed it in one gulp.
Then he continued.
"What you needed wasn't me. It was the title of Captain America, the name Steve Rogers!
What you needed wasn't an outdated, stubborn soldier, but a clear conscience and a banner of righteousness!
I have indeed always fought against the Nazis, but I'm not a fool. I know that both we and the Nazis had reasons we felt we had to fight for.
I knew seventy years ago that even if Germany had won, what awaited us as the defeated would only have been a different way of life.
A victorious Germany would not have allowed chaos and slaughter to continue indefinitely. Everything that happened in World War II was merely the means we and they each chose!
Just as you said, if Heisenberg rules the world, he won't carry out a massacre!
Germany back then wouldn't have either!
But the reason I fought them was simply that I couldn't support the bloody slaughter they carried out in their pursuit of victory!
Look at these past few months. How many people have died in the dark nights of New York?
Yes, they were criminals. Yes, they deserved their punishment. But killing them didn't solve the problem itself. And we mustn't get used to solving problems through killing!
What frightens me most is, after hearing what you just told me, I actually started feeling like maybe I could join them, to supervise them from within.
But I know, it's only by leaving you, by getting farther and farther away from you, that I can see clearly what you're doing!"
At that, Rogers patted Barton on the shoulder.
"Buddy, let go of me. I won't do anything today.
And tomorrow, I will inevitably leave S.H.I.E.L.D. and return to the Brooklyn neighborhood that raised me.
I will watch you, watch all of you, watch Heisenberg.
I will see clearly every single person who dies by your hands, until the day I can no longer endure it!
Don't give me a reason to step forward again. I hope I never have a day where I have to step forward again.
Because on that day, all I would be able to do is face death!"
/-\
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