Marvel: Sign-In System – Starting with the Glint-Glint Fruit Chapter 19 19: Hydra’s Treasure, Old Fox Pierce

Matthew hadn't expected that the three people standing before him could still barely suppress that instinctive terror and keep themselves from completely breaking down.

If he increased the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki even a little more, the tightly stretched nerves of these n would snap completely.

Through his Observation Haki, he could clearly sense it—their emotions were already teetering on the edge of collapse, drowning in fear, yet mixed within that fear was a trace of sothing abnormal.

Madness.

And it was precisely that abnormal state that gave Matthew his answer.

He already had a rough idea why these n could still behave in such an irrational way.

Brainwashing.

Combining their target—himself—with Reacher's previous conversation with him in the Black Hills, the months of covert investigation that followed, the elite special operations equipnt, and this modified ocean cargo ship…

one na surfaced in his mind.

Hydra!!

"Alexander Pierce?"

Matthew suddenly spoke, clearly saying the na aloud.

The instant those words left his mouth, the twisted expressions on the three n's fear-stricken faces visibly twitched.

All three looked at him in utter disbelief, their eyes filled with shock and panic, as if the deepest secret hidden in their hearts had been exposed in broad daylight.

Under normal circumstances, even if Matthew had spoken that na, they would never have reacted.

They would have remained silent.

But now, under overwhelming fear, every emotion had been amplified to its limit. Secrets buried deep in the subconscious were dragged to the surface by instinct alone.

And their reaction had already given him the answer.

"So it really is him."

Their expressions confird Matthew's guess.

He slowly raised a hand.

At his fingertips, golden cross-shaped starlight blood.

Three beams of golden light shot forward instantly, piercing straight through the foreheads of the three brainwashed soldiers.

Their faces still frozen in a mixture of terror and madness, they lost all signs of life and collapsed heavily onto the deck.

Alexander Pierce.

He had once been Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and at the sa ti, he was the head of Hydra hidden deep within it—using S.H.I.E.L.D. itself as the perfect host to grow and strengthen Hydra's hidden empire.

Currently, he served as Secretary of the World Security Council, not yet having risen to the ministerial position he would hold in the future.

The power he controlled reached into every corner.

Elite private military forces.

A vast secret organization rooted inside the giant that was S.H.I.E.L.D.

Deep influence and connections across both politics and business.

After the Margrave incident, Matthew should have already co to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D.

And Pierce, who had planted himself at the highest level inside that organization, would naturally have received that information.

Reacher had once said that both he and Roscoe had been followed by a massive and extrely hidden force.

Given Reacher's past experience and his network of connections, that alone was enough to rule out organizations like the FBI or CIA.

After all, Reacher understood the operational thods of those agencies far too well.

If it had really been them, he wouldn't have spent months tracking them without finding even the slightest clue.

With that, the only possibilities left were S.H.I.E.L.D.—or Hydra hidden inside S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury had a strong need for control, but his usual thods were observation first, contact second.

Using force this directly, resorting to kidnapping just to find Matthew…

that was far more in line with Hydra's style.

Being targeted didn't make Matthew angry.

At his current level, an organization like Hydra—terrifying and untouchable in the eyes of ordinary people—wasn't all that frightening anymore.

In fact, in Matthew's original plans, the resources and power Hydra controlled were destined to beco his sooner or later.

And Pierce himself…

he was practically a walking treasure chest.

Originally, Matthew hadn't planned to deal with Pierce this early.

But since Pierce had taken the initiative to step out into the open, then Matthew could only reluctantly go and receive what he considered his own assets.

"Figured out who the target is?"

By then, Reacher's shackles had already been cut off. As he walked over, he rubbed his right wrist with his left hand.

Neagley made a quick hand gesture and called sothing to the soldiers behind her. They imdiately jogged into the ship's interior.

"Just like you said," Matthew replied, "a very important person."

Reacher raised an eyebrow.

"You heard that?"

"By coincidence," Matthew said with a faint smile, "I happened to hear the mont you displayed your astonishing intelligence."

That wasn't really a joke.

This big guy's intelligence truly was exceptional. It was simply different from the kind possessed by genius scientists—less academic, but no less sharp.

Reacher looked at him seriously.

"Even with astonishing intelligence, I still can't see through you."

"So even the big guy has monts where he gets shut down."

Neagley walked over at that mont and casually threw in the teasing remark, though she didn't stop moving and continued toward the ship's interior.

"You're planning to take over this ship?" Reacher asked, watching Neagley pass by as he surveyed the vessel.

"It's an ocean-qualified cargo ship," ca a familiar voice from behind him. "It has an excellent shipping route that can bypass thirteen countries. So of the equipnt I've purchased will need to use this ship."

Reacher turned at once.

When he saw the mature and beautiful woman in the winter jacket, a smile finally appeared on his face.

"Karla."

"Long ti no see, Reacher. I didn't expect our first eting after the task force disbanded would happen like this."

Karla was a strikingly beautiful and capable woman.

She wore a white hooded down jacket, with deep brown shoulder-length hair and a balanced, elegant figure. Her temperant was sharp and professional.

She had also once been part of the 110th Military Police Special Investigations Unit and was Reacher's forr colleague.

Seeing an old friend again, she naturally couldn't resist teasing him a little.

Reacher gave a helpless look and smoothly changed the subject.

"You're working for Matthew too?"

"Mm-hmm. I was worrying about finding a job before, and then Neagley happened to offer one—with excellent pay, and far more excitent than I expected."

Karla smiled as she tucked back the loose strands of hair the sea wind had blown across her face.

She was genuinely satisfied with this job.

She was Matthew's personal secretary, while also handling legal affairs and accounting.

And not long after starting work, her boss had already shown her things far beyond normal understanding.

Just one day ago, she had taken over the work of laundering Matthew's one billion dollars and his other assets when she received Neagley's ssage—

Reacher had been taken.

So she, Neagley, and the recruited soldiers followed the traces Reacher had left behind, searching all the way by ard helicopter.

The search itself had been far from ideal.

Finding Reacher in the vast open sea was absurdly difficult.

Even Karla had felt the chances were slim.

And then…

she and the recruited soldiers witnessed sothing unbelievable.

Matthew had directly transford into a beam of golden light and flown across the ocean at an unimaginable speed, so fast he disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

In less than half a day, Matthew contacted them through the communicator and calmly inford them—

he had found Reacher.

And this ti, they had witnessed not only Matthew's extraordinary power, but also how carefully he thought things through.

After finding the ship, he hadn't rushed in recklessly.

Instead, he had waited there for them to arrive.

During that ti, Matthew stood at the highest point of the ship, spreading his Observation Haki across the entire vessel, trying to gather useful information by listening to the conversations of the people onboard.

That level of patience and calculation…

it wasn't sothing a boy his age should have possessed.

...

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