Chapter 680
The Nine-Headed Hydra is Destroyed Again
Chapter 680 Hydra is destroyed again
After the firing ended, only Hydra agents remained on the battlefield, engaging the Avengers in close combat to avoid friendly fire. The Avengers then began a rapid retreat, using explosions and Norn Stones to escape.
Strangely, despite having such a great opportunity to pursue, the captain ordered everyone not to act on their own, thus stopping the pursuit and leaving many people confused.
"What are you worried about, Captain?"
Tony landed next to the captain and asked him questions. In Tony's view, this was an opportunity to infiltrate Hydra's headquarters and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Although the enemy must have other preparations, Tony believed that the Avengers would definitely be able to defeat the enemy.
However, the captain's thoughts were not on defeating Hydra's army.
"There's no point in continuing the pursuit. I'm certain that none of their escape routes are from Hydra headquarters, but rather from the various branches that we've discovered but haven't completely wiped out yet. They'll definitely use delaying tactics to stall our operations layer by layer, and then try to retreat back to Hydra headquarters."
Tony wasn't entirely satisfied with the captain's explanation: "Even if they try to escape, their small fry are no match for us. We can easily chase them all the way to Hydra's headquarters."
"Is Hydra's headquarters really that important to them?"
Tony paused for a moment, then looked at the captain.
"The Budapest underground city, such a large facility, was destroyed in less than a day. The Antarctic base on the Savage Continent is also so massive, yet it was abandoned just like that. Could it be that Hydra will really change its strategy this time and defend its headquarters to the death?"
At this point, the captain added an extra sentence.
"Don't forget, Zemo's whereabouts are still unknown."
The Supreme Leader of Hydra is missing, and Hydra has a history of abandoning its current bases—moreover, Hydra is not incapable of dying without its headquarters. Given Hydra's current level of infiltration, once they lose even a large base, it will be easier for them to break up into smaller units and infiltrate various parts of the world.
However, Tony was still very dissatisfied. Of course, he knew that Hydra was everywhere in S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government, but that was no reason to back down: whether or not Hydra headquarters was wiped out, that would not change.
"And they're deliberately letting us win."
Tony was surprised by the captain's words: "What do you mean?"
"In terms of scale, this battle was undoubtedly a large-scale war, but apart from battles fought to seize positions or rescue friendly troops, I have never seen a messy battle that turned into an oil-filling tactic—the enemy was assessing our combat capabilities, and when they found that the front line could not be maintained, they would deploy more troops and continue to do so, which they were happy to see."
"That's why you asked Strange to open the door and let S.W.O.R.D. in, so that Kang's future weapons, not the Avengers, would be the ones to destroy the Hydra army."
Tony suddenly understood many things: "This way we can prove to the world that the Avengers have been fighting for so long, but their damage is not as great as a single main cannon shot from S.O.W.A."
The captain added, "And this warship was captured by a coalition of all the superpowered individuals in the world, at least that's their impression." Tony immediately smiled. The captain wasn't abandoning Hydra; rather, he was prioritizing the Hydra within the US government. In this battle, S.W.O.R.D. undoubtedly stole the show, and the Ultimate Team even joined the fray to help the Avengers maintain their lines. Under these circumstances, the Avengers' importance in the battle had significantly diminished.
At times like this, if you promote the threat in Congress as the Avengers rather than S.W.O.R.D., and demand registration measures for superpowered individuals, you can't guarantee a perfect arrest every time, but if you arrest nine out of ten, there will definitely be some who slip through the cracks—all of them are Hydra.
Compared to the Hydra headquarters that can be captured and has a physical location, the Hydras lurking in the shadows are more worthy of vigilance and more worthy of being dealt with.
Just two days later.
Amidst a deluge of news reports, "Hydra's downfall" has once again become a hot topic. Or rather, "Hydra's second downfall" has become a hot topic.
More than half a million people have been arrested around the world. Ten large bases similar to Wilderness Continent and Budapest Underground City have been discovered, scattered all over the world, including the South Pacific, Indian Ocean and Siberia. They have enough weapons and facilities to start a regional war, as well as a large number of human experiments and illegal transactions.
"My God, this is exactly the American ideal of itself, with military bases all over the world capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people, and it's everywhere."
Tony couldn't help but complain while watching the news report, asking the captain while munching on snacks, "What do you think they'll say next? Hydra has been wiped out again?"
"My only worry is that Hydra will never be completely destroyed. As soon as there is the slightest hint of trouble, people will think it is Hydra. Everyone will suspect that Red Skull is not dead, and then they will weave a web that they can understand."
The captain, observing all this, was clearly dissatisfied with the media's excessive coverage. At the same time, he looked at Tony and asked, "Is there any way we can legally conduct an investigation?"
"Legitimate investigation? No. Illegitimate investigation? Yes, there is. Just conduct the investigation using FBI or CIA methods, then pretend to be an insider and pass the information to the media. If you want to sue them, you need to consider whether the evidence is illegally obtained. But if they reveal it in the news? Then you don't need to."
The captain didn't like this method, but in extraordinary times, extraordinary measures were the only option.
Tony is still thinking about the Avengers' teleportation mechanism. He has obtained a large amount of Norn Stones from Asgard and Hydra. As long as there is a magic master, he can set everything up. Then the Avengers will be able to respond and attack globally.
Strange has participated in so many team fights, can you please send him a friend request?
Recalling the whole incident, the captain seemed to remember why the battle had taken place: "By the way, how's Spider-Man doing? Most of Hydra's strongholds have been destroyed, but the Hand still hasn't captured them?"
Tony Stark gave the captain a meaningful look: "I don't think that kid has time to deal with this right now."
"What? Has something happened again?"
“No, that’s not it.” Tony smiled and leaned back on the sofa. “It’s just that homecoming is coming up again, and he’s probably thinking about who to invite to the homecoming dance this year.”
(End of this chapter)