A tactical squad of elite agents rapidly approached the Malibu cliffside mansion. The man leading them was someone Su Mu was quite familiar with from his memories of the Marvel cinematic universe: the elite operative Brock Rumlow, better known as Crossbones.
There was absolutely no doubt that these agents belonged to HYDRA. The only question was what they wanted with him.
As Crossbones led his team closer to the luxurious mansion, his heart hammered furiously against his ribs. Even his world-class psychological training couldn't entirely suppress the sheer, primal terror gripping him.
After all, the entity residing in that mansion was the White Demon—the god-like anomaly who had openly provoked the world, humiliated the United States military, slaughtered tens of thousands, and casually walked out of a nuclear epicenter without a single scratch!
His superiors had made it explicitly clear: if the White Demon wished it, he could effortlessly destroy the world. Conversely, he could easily conquer it, instantly realizing the absolute utopia HYDRA had dreamed of for decades!
Therefore, even though this mission had an astronomically high mortality rate, Crossbones had to execute it.
If they could successfully recruit the White Demon, absolutely nothing on Earth could stop HYDRA's domination!
The squad moved in light gear. Aside from basic tactical equipment, they hadn't brought a single firearm. They were fully aware that weapons lethal to ordinary men were nothing more than children's toys to the White Demon. Bringing guns would only be seen as an insult.
The mansion's front doors were wide open. The squad cautiously stepped inside, immediately spotting the white-haired demon.
He was straddling a dining chair backward, his arms draped lazily over the backrest, staring at them with an aura of absolute, unbothered arrogance.
Crossbones watched as the White Demon lazily stifled a yawn, looked at them with profound amusement, and spoke in a leisurely drawl.
"HYDRA? Oh, excuse me... I mean, SHIELD. What can I do for you boys?"
Hearing those words, an atomic bomb went off in Crossbones' mind. He was paralyzed with shock! How the hell did the White Demon know his true allegiance?! How did he know HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD?!
HYDRA hadn't exposed itself yet!
Relying on his elite training, Crossbones forcefully shoved down his panic and forced a calm, highly respectful demeanor.
"Honorable White Demon," Crossbones bowed his head slightly. "I am here representing HYDRA. We would like to formally invite you to join our ranks."
Looking at the squad of agents in front of him—who were desperately trying to look composed while their heart rates skyrocketed—Su Mu smiled.
"I want the Tesseract, and I want the Obelisk," Su Mu stated simply. "Deliver them to me, and I might consider joining your little club."
Faced with Su Mu's demands, Crossbones looked highly conflicted. Both of those artifacts were classified at the absolute highest level; surrendering them was far beyond his pay grade.
"I will need to request authorization from my superior," Crossbones said carefully.
He immediately tapped his earpiece, establishing a secure uplink to Alexander Pierce.
"Sir. Mr. Su Mu is willing to ally with us, but his terms require the immediate transfer of the Tesseract and the Obelisk."
"The Tesseract and the Obelisk?!"
Sitting in his office at the Triskelion, Alexander Pierce's expression instantly darkened.
Ever since the Second World War, the Tesseract had been HYDRA's holy grail. Its infinite, boundless cosmic energy had been weaponized to create devastating armaments. Even though it was currently under SHIELD's jurisdiction, SHIELD was HYDRA. It made no difference.
There was absolutely no way HYDRA would ever hand over the Tesseract to the White Demon. It was their absolute core asset!
Just as Pierce was about to categorically refuse, he paused, thinking about the second item: the Obelisk.
The Obelisk, also known as the Diviner, was an incredibly lethal alien artifact. Aside from a very specific, genetically unique subset of people, anyone who touched it would instantly undergo agonizing petrification and turn to stone.
Because of its incredibly restrictive lethality, its practical value to HYDRA was significantly lower than the Tesseract's.
Why not give him the Obelisk? Pierce thought, a cold calculation running through his mind.
If the White Demon touched the Obelisk and survived, it would serve as an incredible gesture of goodwill, potentially securing HYDRA a god-like ally.
But if the White Demon reacted like an ordinary human and was petrified into solid stone? Then the world would be rid of an uncontrollable, apocalyptic variable, and HYDRA's path to global domination would be infinitely smoother!
Pierce immediately gave Crossbones his orders.
"Tell the White Demon that we can deliver the Obelisk to him immediately. However, the Tesseract is highly secured. We will transfer it to him after HYDRA has officially seized control of the world."
Naturally, Pierce had zero intention of ever giving up the Tesseract. It was simply a stalling tactic.
Crossbones relayed Pierce's exact words. Hearing the counter-offer, the smile on Su Mu's face grew even more radiant.
"That works perfectly for me," Su Mu agreed cheerfully.
After all, Su Mu had absolutely no intention of ever actually cooperating with HYDRA. Securing the Obelisk—a brand-new, exotic energy source—was just a fantastic, unexpected bonus! Why would he refuse free loot?
As for the Tesseract? It didn't matter. Loki was going to deliver that directly to his doorstep very soon anyway.
Hearing Su Mu's acceptance, Crossbones was ecstatic. We actually did it! We recruited the White Demon! With his power, HYDRA's victory is absolute!
But in the very next microsecond, the triumphant smile froze completely on his face!
The White Demon had vanished from the chair and instantaneously materialized directly in front of him! Worse yet, Crossbones realized with absolute horror that his entire body was completely paralyzed by an invisible, crushing spatial pressure. The only thing he could move was his mouth!
"Mr. Su Mu!" Crossbones demanded, panic bleeding into his voice. "What is the meaning of this?! We are allies now, aren't we?!"
The cheerful smile on the White Demon's face melted into something chillingly diabolical.
"We are allies, yes," Su Mu whispered. "But allies must respect one another. You and your men barged into my home without my permission. There has to be a penalty for bad manners."
"Your home?!" Crossbones asked, bewildered. "Isn't this Tony Stark's mansion?!"
"If I say it's mine, it's mine," the White Demon stated with absolute, unquestionable authority.
Crossbones opened his mouth to argue, but he never got the chance.
A blinding, searing light flared in the White Demon's hand. A hyper-condensed sphere of pure, incandescent thermal energy the size of a ping-pong ball rapidly materialized. With a casual flick, Su Mu sent the searing orb floating gently forward.
Under Crossbones' absolute, paralyzed terror, the orb slipped directly into his open mouth!
Infinite, searing heat detonated inside his chest! The terrifying thermal energy instantly began incinerating him from the inside out. Glowing, molten cracks spread violently across his skin, illuminating his veins like lava. As the blinding light reached its absolute peak, Crossbones' entire body simply crumbled into a pile of fine, gray ash!
The horrific execution happened in a matter of seconds. The remaining HYDRA agents only realized what had happened after Crossbones was already a pile of dust on the floor.
The moment they snapped out of their shock and turned to flee, an inescapable, infinitely dense net of invisible spatial slashes completely enveloped the five-meter radius around Su Mu!
The absolute spatial dominance of the Level 4 Limitless activated.
The agents were instantly, violently diced into subatomic mist by the overlapping spatial rifts. Within a fraction of a second, not even a drop of blood remained!
Using a localized gravitational pull, Su Mu effortlessly drew Crossbones' intact earpiece from the pile of ash into his hand.
"Director Pierce," Su Mu spoke into the comms, his voice dripping with elegant disrespect. "Make sure you send another squad to deliver the Obelisk. And be punctual. You really wouldn't want to see me angry, would you?"
On the other end of the line, Alexander Pierce's face was an ugly shade of purple. He gripped the receiver so hard his knuckles turned white, trembling with sheer, unadulterated fury at the White Demon's actions, yet entirely too terrified to utter a single threat!
Just before cutting the connection, the White Demon's lazy, nonchalant voice drifted through the speaker one last time.
"Oh, and Director Pierce? Tell your next squad to remember to knock."
Click.
Ending the transmission and completely ignoring Pierce's silent rage, Su Mu turned his gaze toward the mansion's massive panoramic windows.
Hovering high in the air outside the glass was a man clad in a bizarre, high-tech, mythological-looking armor. The man was staring down at Su Mu with cold, absolute judgment, the searing, golden cosmic rays already gathering violently in his eyes!
The smile on Su Mu's face grew even brighter.
Oh... things are getting incredibly interesting!
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