As expected, Makima is a good woman.
Everything went smoothly up to this point, but plans can't keep up with changes—
Those old fogies at the Security Council didn't want to do any "interviews" at all.
They felt it was simply like taking off your pants to fart—a completely unnecessary step.
Their orders were direct: no nonsense, accept him immediately, and get him on the team now.
This put Fury in a difficult position and blocked Makima's plan.
But don't forget, Makima's surface identity was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, but her second identity was a HYDRA member from Eastern Europe, and the World Security Council was currently controlled by that old HYDRA, Alexander Pierce.
Late that night, through Sitwell's encrypted line, Makima met Pierce's... virtual projection.
Alexander Pierce.
Former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., current Secretary of the World Security Council, and... one of the current leaders of HYDRA.
He was a serious-looking elderly white man.
It was unclear if this old fox was being overly cautious or if being in HYDRA really kept him so busy that he had no time to meet a lowly Level 6 Agent, but not seeing Pierce's Zhenren (Immortal) still left Sumire with some regrets.
Not that seeing his Zhenren (Immortal) meant she could definitely Control him—
After all, high-ranking officials like Pierce were always the hardest type of people for Makima to Control; they were arrogant, even in front of superhumans a hundred times stronger than themselves, and Pierce wasn't an opportunist like Sitwell—he was a firm believer.
Trying to Control him without using force was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven.
—But even so, Makima wanted to see Pierce's Zhenren (Immortal) to feel him out first.
One could only say it was a bit of a pity.
Long before the communication was connected, Sitwell had already followed Makima's instructions to reveal her "true identity" to Pierce—a branch member of HYDRA left behind in Eastern Europe.
This made Pierce overjoyed.
He had already greatly appreciated the abilities of this newcomer, Makima, and had even been pondering how to turn this talent to his side.
And then he woke up to hear that she was also HYDRA?
Hey, isn't that a coincidence?
It was practically a match made in heaven.
The key was that this lie was very difficult to verify.
After all, there were many factions within HYDRA.
Even though HYDRA claimed that if you cut off one head, two more would grow, most of the time, these heads were independent strongholds that looked down on each other, let alone shared intelligence; they only exchanged interests and were never as close as a family.
It was perfectly normal for a few "Ma-heads"... ah, no, for a few distant HYDRA relatives to suddenly pop up.
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 the password and then quickly got down to business.
With her first words, she sold out her direct boss completely.
"Mr. Secretary, Director Fury doesn't seem to want to carry out your orders."
In the holographic projection, Pierce's eyes darkened.
He had already sensed this, which was why he had refused to let Fury conduct any assessment of the Abomination.
Then, not finished with selling out Fury, Makima also gave up Tony: "He plans to send Tony Stark to contact General Ross, using Stark's unbearable personality to provoke him, thereby making the deal fall through completely."
"What?!"
Pierce's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Although he didn't trust Fury, he hadn't expected Fury to dare play such a dirty trick!
Sending Tony to negotiate? What was the difference between that and 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; even as a superior, he couldn't directly hold him accountable for such a reasonable assignment of a consultant.
"That's why I have my own plan, Mr. Secretary."
Makima's voice was low and raspy, filled with a convincing, bewitching power:
"Let me join this special operations team. I will ensure that Bronski... ultimately only falls into 'our' hands."
"The specific plan... is this..."
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