The factory on the outskirts of Sokovia nestled among towering mountains...
The country itself was surrounded by continuous mountain ranges with pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, untouched by cold currents. With sufficient economic developnt and infrastructure, it could have been an excellent vacation destination.
Sean watched as Pietro excitedly walked through the dical room doors.
Rumor had it every worker who passed the physical examination and tests would receive a generous paynt of no less than three thousand dollars, which was nearly half a year's expenses for an ordinary family. No wonder those selected were exceptionally excited. Even working overti all year in the factory might not earn them this much.
Sean remained indifferent to this. He was more interested in the factory's true owner.
Eastern Europe served as one of HYDRA's strongholds, where a high-ranking figure nad Baron Strucker had entrenched himself, infiltrating various power structures and weaving a complex network.
In the original tiline, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch had been his proudest creations.
The Baron's real na was Wolfgang von Strucker, born in Bavaria, Germany. His father had been a core mber of the Nazi party last century, and he himself later joined HYDRA, gradually rising to beco one of its leaders.
Reading the long string of information surfacing in his mind, Sean's lips curved slightly. He seed to have quite a connection with HYDRA.
Last ti in Tokyo, he encountered Mada Hydra (Viper) and obtained the progenitor virus and ghouls. Now he t Strucker. He wondered what treasures the Baron would contribute this ti.
After a while, Pietro erged happily, clutching a pale yellow slip about three feet wide and five inches long that he could take to accounting to receive his generous paynt.
He gestured to Sean, urging him to hurry up...
This guy that his sister had picked up looked tall and well-built with sharp features, so passing the physical shouldn't be difficult.
The young man shrugged and sauntered into the dical room. The spacious area contained various large instrunts. After the normal physical examination procedures, volunteers would be taken to a separate room to lie in an MRI-like machine where blue light would scan back and forth, followed by blood sample collection.
The entire complex process took about twenty minutes, which Sean naturally had no patience for. A glint flashed in his eyes as invisible psychic waves radiated out. Everyone present suddenly froze like puppets with their strings cut.
"Using ntal stimulation to activate human potential... this seems remarkably similar to Ajax's thod of creating Deadpool," Sean mused while perusing the lead doctor's mories.
This crude modification thod had an abysmally low success rate, requiring test subjects with exceptional ntal abilities. Even after years of research, Baron Strucker had made little significant progress.
To Sean, this was arguably inferior to Mada Hydra's progenitor virus. The only valuable item seed to be a 'perfect machine' the Baron had created to bestow abilities upon others, for which he'd established a special unit called Satan's Claw...
The Baron's proudest creation was a forr boxer nad Carl Creel. The machine had granted him the powerful ability to transform matter. Anything he touched could be altered through his body. This was likely one of Strucker's few notable achievents.
"Sokovia, Latveria, Bucharest... perhaps soon my footprints will cover all of Eastern Europe," Sean chuckled softly.
Thinking about SHIELD's impending disintegration and HYDRA's lurking presence, a plan began taking shape in his mind.
With Thanos suffering heavy losses and needing considerable ti to recover, the main obstacles in Sean's path were now Nick Fury's SHIELD and the hidden HYDRA organization.
"Solving both at once might be ideal," Sean decided.
He would let these century-old adversaries fight each other, then crush them both at the opportune mont.
....
At SHIELD headquarters by the Potomac River, the one-eyed director sneezed...
Rubbing his nose, a flicker of confusion passed through his single eye. With his physical conditioning, catching a cold should be impossible.
Nick Fury had been plagued by headaches recently. Asgard's sudden appearance had caused a global sensation, making it impossible for SHIELD to continue suppressing supernatural information.
Under relentless pressure from the World Security Council, he'd been forced to agree to information sharing and opening part of their core database.
The director had long suspected dark undercurrents within SHIELD, hence implenting strict hierarchical divisions and complex access protocols. But under the Council's firm orders, he had no choice but to comply, essentially inviting the wolf into the house and tying himself up.
Fury couldn't explain that Nazi remnants had infiltrated SHIELD. And Asgard's exposure had pros and cons.
While he lost so authority, he had also gained more funding and broader functions, a blessing in disguise.
What concerned Fury most was the Sentinel who had appeared in Asgard. Judging by the power displayed, even Bruce Banner's Hulk might not be a match. That level of destructive capability exceeded SHIELD's capacity to handle.
The director contemplated whether he could recruit the Sentinel, using every ans possible to bring him into the Avengers as SHIELD's top-tier operative.
This potentially most dangerous individual on Earth had only appeared briefly a few tis; resolving the Venom and Sandman attacks against Spider-Man, briefly battling Asgard's Destroyer armor in New xico, and the Hulk incident in Brooklyn.
The sensational Asgard battle had made the Sentinel's na known worldwide, surpassing Iron Man and the Fantastic Four as the ultimate superhero. Many were curious about his true identity.
"Just who are you?" Fury's single eye glead with intensity.
He prioritized uncovering the Sentinel's identity, though that would have to wait... After all, who knew if the man was even still on Earth?
Next was establishing cooperation with Umbrella Corporation. He was highly interested in Sean Cyphers' mutant team and human enhancent serums.
Although there had been past unpleasantness with the New York genius, Fury believed Sean wouldn't reject SHIELD's overtures. As a veteran agent, swallowing pride was elentary.
Nick Fury had made multiple calls. Such enthusiastic olive branch extending had only been seen with Tony Stark before, demonstrating his sincerity.
Surprisingly, Sean Cyphers had left New York long ago for an Arctic expedition. Investigations confird he had indeed led a research team following Franklin's expedition route into the Arctic Circle.
Both matters would have to wait. Fury exhaled deeply as he stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rushing Potomac, a shadow of worry clouding his mind.
The world was changing too fast. What were once conflicts between nations now showed trends of escalating into interplanetary civilization wars. When he had taken over as SHIELD director from Alexander Pierce, Fury had been ambitious about developing the organization into a global entity.
They had even officially renad it from the Strategic Holand Intervention, Enforcent and Logistics Division to SHIELD, intended as humanity's sturdy shield protecting world peace!
"This world..." Fury rarely indulged in sentintality.
As a top agent who never easily gave trust, he could only bury his loneliness deep. Not even close subordinates like Coulson or Natasha would hear such thoughts.
Past mistakes and resulting crises constantly reminded Fury that not even secrets locked in one's mind were absolutely safe.
The one-eyed director touched his eyepatch, his blinded eye throbbing faintly. A slight smile crossed his face as he anticipated the return of a certain hero, even if the world had forgotten her...
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