Chương 89: Chapter 89: A Game of Mafia Without Any Mafia 

Having successfully dumped a massive mountain of bureaucratic problems onto Nick Fury's lap, Luke gleefully slipped back home. 

Humming a happy tune, he jogged down to the first floor to check on the Gaming Department. He ruthlessly shoved a 'grinding' Shadow Ninja out of the way and took over the keyboard. 

Rubbing his hands together greedily, Luke opened the premium gacha pull screen on his favorite game. 

I literally just dropped some massive hints to Nick Fury! Surely that good karma has boosted my luck stat significantly, right? 

Brimming with absolute confidence, Luke hit the 'x10 Pull' button, burning through a massive chunk of his premium currency. 

Flash! 

The screen glowed... and revealed an absolute garbage pile of low-tier, common items. Not a single rare character in sight. 

"THIS GAME IS TRASH!" 

Luke furiously slammed his mouse onto the desk. Damn it, Fury! What the hell are you doing?! I believed in you, and this is how you repay me?! 

Fuming with gamer rage, Luke stomped back upstairs to the penthouse. He aggressively flopped onto the sofa. 

He glared out toward the balcony, where Blackout (in a slightly shrunken robot form) was currently carefully watering Luke's small collection of potted plants. Luke just stared at him, venting his frustration. 

Hiss~ 

Feeling the incredibly intense, murderous glare boring into the back of his head, Blackout shivered violently. His massive robotic hand trembled, accidentally over-watering a small succulent. 

"If that plant drowns, I am going to bury you headfirst in that flowerpot," Luke threatened in a low, dangerous whisper. Simultaneously, thick, corrosive dark energy slithered out from under Luke's feet, rapidly spreading across the floor to completely encircle the terrified Decepticon. 

Blackout instantly froze. He hastily retracted the watering can and stood absolutely perfectly still, his single glowing red optic darting nervously around the swirling dark energy trapping him. 

"Hmph!" 

Satisfied with his petty display of power, Luke withdrew the dark energy. He pulled out his smartphone, fully intending to draft a massive, highly insulting text message to Nick Fury, accusing the Director of intentionally playing dumb regarding the 'Project Insight' algorithm to sabotage his gacha pulls. 

After typing out a furious, three-thousand-word essay of pure, unadulterated trash talk, Luke suddenly found himself out of insults. Just as he was about to hit send, his phone suddenly rang. 

Staring at the 'Unknown Number' flashing on the screen, Luke felt an odd sense of déjà vu. 

JARVIS actively monitored and protected his personal phone. He literally never received spam calls, telemarketers, or random wrong numbers. Therefore, this 'Unknown Number' was definitely someone highly capable attempting to contact him securely. 

Curious, Luke decided to answer the call. 

"Hello. Am I speaking with the Lord of Shadows, Luke?" a synthesized, slightly distorted electronic voice asked politely. 

"You managed to bypass my military-grade AI firewall to call my personal, unlisted number, and you're still asking me to confirm my identity?" Luke rolled his eyes. 

A Shadow Ninja stepped forward and respectfully handed him a perfectly washed, crisp apple. Luke took a massive bite, loudly chewing right next to the microphone. 

Hearing the incredibly loud, crisp crunching sounds, the person on the other end fell completely silent for several seconds. 

"Ah... how I truly miss the simple taste of an apple," the voice finally replied. Despite being entirely synthesized, Luke could hear a profound sense of ancient weariness and longing in the tone. 

Luke glanced at the premium apple in his hand, took two more massive bites, swallowed, and casually sucked the juice off his fingers. 

"Is Hydra really that broke? You guys can't even afford to buy apples for your leadership?" 

The voice on the other end clearly didn't expect that response. "You... you knew it was us calling?" 

"Obviously. I also know that the woman with the incredibly seductive voice who called me previously was one of your operatives. Speaking of which, why didn't you have her call me this time? I much preferred her voice... Dr. Arnim Zola." 

(Author's Note: For context, in this universe, Dr. Zola is essentially a significantly less powerful, less insane precursor to Ultron. He exists entirely as a digitized consciousness within a complex mechanical/computer framework.) 

This time, Dr. Zola completely lost his composure. 

"How... how do you know my true identity?!" Zola demanded, his electronic voice spiking in pitch, betraying his sudden, intense panic. 

Knowing that Hydra had survived WWII and secretly infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't an absolute impossibility; powerful organizations across the globe likely harbored suspicions. But knowing that Dr. Arnim Zola was currently alive as a digitized entity was a completely different matter! That was Hydra's absolute, most highly classified secret! 

Luke smirked, an incredibly wicked idea suddenly forming in his mind. He intentionally lowered his voice to a dark, conspiratorial whisper. 

"How do you think I know, Dr. Zola? When an organization like Hydra constantly recruits massive numbers of personnel across the globe to fuel its expansion... it's practically begging for moles to slip in." 

"You are lying to me," Zola replied after a brief pause, his voice regaining its cold, calculated confidence. 

In those few seconds of silence, Zola had utilized dozens of supercomputers to rapidly run advanced psychological, vocal-stress, and linguistic analysis algorithms on every single word Luke had spoken since the call began. The algorithm had decisively concluded that Luke was attempting a bluff. Zola was absolutely confident in his algorithms. 

Luke raised an eyebrow. Oh? This guy is actually pretty sharp. 

Luke thought for a moment, and a brilliantly devious plan clicked into place. 

He channeled a surge of dark energy directly into his smartphone's internal processor. The dark energy bypassed the standard microphone entirely, directly converting his thoughts into digital data packets that were transmitted straight through the secure phone connection. 

"Alright, fine. I was lying just now. Our moles didn't infiltrate Hydra during your recent mass-recruitment drives. Our agents were successfully planted within your ranks during the very inception of your organization." 

Because Luke was utilizing dark energy to transmit raw data directly into the connection—completely bypassing vocal cords, acoustic vibrations, and standard audio encoding—Zola's highly advanced vocal-stress analysis algorithms completely crashed! 

Zola's processors began overheating as he frantically tried to analyze the incoming data. 

He had absolutely no idea that Luke had utilized a proprietary, magical 'double-encryption' method (converting dark energy directly into binary code). It was an encryption protocol that fundamentally defied the laws of physics and computer science. There was absolutely zero chance Zola would be able to decipher the 'emotion' or 'truthfulness' behind the message in the short term. 

"When Hydra was first founded, we subjected every single initiate to rigorous psychological screening and absolute indoctrination. We did not accept anyone whose loyalty was even slightly questionable," Zola stated defensively, trying to maintain his confidence despite his algorithms failing. 

"But we possess countless methods to perfectly replicate and replace your 'loyal' initiates after they pass your screening," Luke continued transmitting via dark energy. 

"Advanced nanotechnology, complete soul-transference, perfect genetic cloning... hell, we can even utilize localized temporal displacement to travel back in time and preemptively brainwash your founders before they even conceptualize Hydra. The sheer scope of our operational capabilities is completely beyond your primitive comprehension." 

Dr. Zola suddenly fell dead silent. 

His digital consciousness rapidly accessed classified Hydra archives. He suddenly remembered a highly peculiar incident that occurred in 1970 at the Camp Lehigh military base in New Jersey. Security footage had shown a completely unknown individual infiltrating the base and stealing the Tesseract, before 'Captain America' mysteriously appeared to return it shortly after. 

At the time, Zola had been completely bewildered as to why there were no official reports of Captain America being successfully thawed from the ice. He had ultimately assumed it was simply a highly advanced S.H.I.E.L.D. operative wearing a convincing disguise. 

However, nearly two decades later, when Zola first analyzed the facial recognition data of a young Tony Stark, he had made a horrifying discovery: the unknown individual who stole the Tesseract in 1970 looked absolutely identical to a slightly older Tony Stark! 

Furthermore, upon deep forensic analysis of the 1970 security footage, the thief had utilized incredibly advanced technology—technology that perfectly matched the theoretical concepts of 'nanotechnology' that were only just beginning to be explored in the modern era! 

Therefore, the only logical conclusion was that the thief in 1970 was a future version of Tony Stark, who had successfully utilized time-travel technology to return to the past, employing advanced nanotechnology to steal the Tesseract! 

Zola was absolutely horrified by his own deduction. He immediately allocated several massive mainframes to desperately search for any logical flaws or inconsistencies in this terrifying theory. But no matter how hard the supercomputers calculated, they couldn't find a single flaw in the logic! 

This boy isn't lying! 

As Zola's processors whirred frantically, he realized that if Luke's claims were true—and based on the 1970 incident, they were highly plausible—Hydra had absolutely zero defense against these methods. A profound, digitized sense of absolute terror began to rapidly spread through his code. 

If what this boy said was true, the organization backing him was terrifying beyond human comprehension! 

Zola then remembered his earlier attempt to run psychological analysis on Luke, and a cold dread washed over him. 

If there is a high-level mole within Hydra... what if they secretly leaked my proprietary algorithms to this organization?! If this organization prepared a counter-profile beforehand, they could perfectly manipulate my algorithms! 

If they can manipulate my algorithms, they could theoretically edit the profiles of anyone within S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra to make them appear completely harmless... or worse, manipulate the algorithms to frame innocent Hydra leaders as traitors, effectively forcing us to assassinate our own command structure! 

What a terrifyingly insidious organization! 1

Over the past few decades, Hydra had expanded rapidly. The various founding members had fractured into separate, highly compartmentalized branches. Despite this, every branch leader still believed they maintained absolute control and oversight over their own personnel. 

But now, realizing there were deep-cover, potentially cloned or time-traveling moles constantly feeding their most classified secrets directly to a god-tier organization... Zola felt a chilling paranoia settle deep within his core logic processors. He suddenly felt as if dozens of invisible eyes were watching him from every angle. 

Zola's optical sensors frantically scanned his secure, subterranean office. He didn't detect any unauthorized personnel, but the sheer emptiness of the room only amplified his mounting panic. 

If the enemy possesses the technology he claimed... then possessing flawlessly advanced optical camouflage or invisibility cloaks is highly probable! 

He genuinely began to suspect that two invisible, highly trained assassins were currently standing directly behind him, aiming advanced plasma weapons at his processing core! 

As Zola frantically scanned the room with thermal and infrared sensors, Luke's amused voice echoed through the phone. 

"Stop looking around frantically. You can't see them with your primitive sensors." 

Luke was currently utilizing the dark energy he had funneled into the connection to act as an ethereal 'camera,' allowing him to 'see' Zola's surroundings. It was a neat little trick he had just discovered. 

"Why are you suddenly so terrified?" Luke chuckled. Seeing the highly advanced robotic entity spinning in paranoid circles, Luke decided to turn up the heat. He carefully manipulated a microscopic strand of dark energy—thinning it out so it was completely invisible—and extended it into Zola's office. 

Looking at the layout of Zola's desk, Luke smiled wickedly. He used the invisible dark energy to slowly, silently push a small glass cup filled with premium machine oil toward the edge of the desk. 

Crash! 

The glass shattered loudly against the metal floor. 

Zola literally jumped in terror, his robotic chassis clanking loudly as he spun toward the noise, his weapons systems instantly spinning up. 

Simultaneously, the overhead lights in the secure office began violently flickering on and off. Zola stared in absolute horror at the physical light switch on the wall, watching it rapidly flick up and down as if an invisible, highly agitated hand were aggressively playing with it! 

"Hey, relax! Don't panic! I'll tell the 'Atmosphere Team' to stop messing with you. Sit back down, let's keep talking," Luke snickered, barely able to contain his laughter. He released his grip on the light switch and casually used the dark energy to forcefully slide Zola's heavy office chair directly behind the terrified robot. 

Zola didn't dare make a single sudden movement. He was absolutely horrified to realize that this terrifying organization actually had elite, invisible operatives currently standing in his most secure, highly classified bunker! 

"Actually, I called because I need you to run a little errand for me," Luke continued his masterful bluff. 

"What... what do you require?" Zola asked, internally breathing a sigh of relief. If the enemy wanted him to do something, it meant they weren't planning on executing him immediately. 

"I need you to actively hunt down and completely eradicate the moles we planted inside Hydra!" Luke declared. 

"What? Why?" Zola asked, completely unable to process the logic behind the request. 

"Because, just like Hydra, our organization is fractured into several fiercely competitive internal factions. Alexander Pierce controls one Hydra faction, Madame Hydra controls another, and so on. The moles planted within Hydra belong directly to my primary political rival within the organization. If you manage to assassinate them and severely disrupt his operations, it would bring me immense personal joy." 

"Who is the mole?! Give me a name, and I swear I will eliminate them immediately!" Zola promised fiercely, desperate to prove his usefulness and survive. 

Luke smiled brightly. Oh, this is going to be incredibly entertaining. 

"Unfortunately, I don't know their true identities. My rival is incredibly paranoid and guards his operational roster flawlessly. Therefore, you are going to have to launch a massive, internal witch hunt to find them yourself. Oh, and feel free to loudly inform the rest of the Hydra leadership about our organization during your purge. The resulting chaos and paranoia will definitely cause my rival a massive headache." 

Luke was thrilled. Watching the fanatical cult that constantly screamed 'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place!' tear itself apart in a massive, paranoid civil war was going to be absolutely hilarious. 

"Remember, Dr. Zola. I am always watching you." 

Luke condensed the dark energy in the room, briefly forming the terrifying, shadowy silhouette of a ninja holding a massive scythe directly in front of Zola, before letting the shadow instantly dissipate into nothingness. 

"I... I swear I will find them!" Zola stammered, genuinely terrified for his existence. 

"I eagerly await your good news," Luke said cheerfully, before abruptly hanging up the phone. 

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!!" 

Luke collapsed onto the sofa, clutching his stomach and rolling around in absolute, hysterical laughter. 

He honestly hadn't expected Hydra's leadership to be so incredibly gullible! This was going to be fantastic! He couldn't wait to watch the various 'Snake Heads' aggressively cannibalize each other out of sheer paranoia! 

Luke carefully maintained a microscopic, completely undetectable dark energy runic array attached directly to Zola's core processor. Through this array, he could perfectly monitor everything Zola saw and heard. He grabbed some popcorn and settled in to watch the show. 

Back in the secure bunker, Zola stared at the disconnected phone line, his internal cooling fans whirring aggressively. He felt absolutely zero sense of relief. 

He cautiously stepped out of his office. The moment he crossed the threshold, he immediately slammed the heavy blast doors shut and engaged the highest-level biometric locks, desperately hoping to trap the invisible assassins inside. 

But Luke wasn't going to let him relax that easily. 

As Zola hurried down the sterile corridor, Luke mischievously used his dark energy link to violently swing the heavy overhead light fixtures directly above Zola's head. 

Despite lacking biological sweat glands, Zola's robotic chassis clearly shuddered in terror. He accelerated into a frantic sprint, trying to escape the 'invisible ghosts.' 

"Doctor Zola? Is everything alright?" a heavily armed Hydra guard asked, looking bewildered as the usually calm, calculating AI frantically sprinted past him. 

"INITIATE A CODE BLACK! SUMMON EVERY SINGLE HYDRA LEADER FOR AN EMERGENCY SECURE CONFERENCE IMMEDIATELY!" Zola roared through his external speakers. 1

"Y-yes sir!" The guard was startled by Zola's sheer panic. He immediately saluted sharply. "Hail Hydra!" He then sprinted off to initiate the protocols. 

Zola originally intended to immediately evacuate the base, but he realized that with deep-cover, invisible operatives tracking his every move, nowhere on Earth was truly safe. 

Instead, he altered his route and headed toward the base's absolute most secure, heavily shielded panic room. 

He approached a seemingly blank concrete wall. The wall seamlessly slid open, revealing a heavily fortified airlock. Zola practically dove inside. 

As he traversed the airlock corridor, Zola manually engaged every single internal countermeasure. He flooded the corridor with high-intensity infrared lasers, sonic disruptors, and motion sensors, but detected absolutely nothing. 

Entering the central panic room, Zola didn't lower his guard. 

He activated the room's primary defense system, completely venting all the oxygen from the chamber to create a perfect vacuum, intending to suffocate any invisible biological assassins. 

He stood alone in the perfect vacuum for thirty agonizing minutes, but nothing happened. 

Zola didn't dare make a single unnecessary movement. His invisible enemy was infinitely more terrifying and capable than he had originally calculated! 

"Doctor, the secure holographic conference with the High Council is prepared," an automated prompt finally chimed over the internal comms. 

Zola abandoned his futile defensive measures, exited the panic room, and quickly arrived at the secure conference center. 

"Gentlemen, I sincerely apologize for the abrupt interruption, but I have just received highly classified, indisputable intelligence! We must immediately initiate a comprehensive, organization-wide internal purge! There are deep-cover moles within the highest echelons of Hydra!" Zola declared to the massive, glowing holographic projections of the various Hydra leaders stationed globally. 

The announcement instantly threw the secure conference into absolute chaos. 

"Can you absolutely verify the authenticity of this intelligence?" Alexander Pierce demanded, his brow furrowed in deep concern. 

"I can absolutely guarantee its authenticity!" 

Zola immediately projected the highly classified security footage of the 1970 Camp Lehigh Tesseract theft. He seamlessly wove the footage together with the horrifying 'revelations' he had just learned from Luke, presenting a massive, terrifyingly cohesive mountain of 'evidence' proving that they had been deeply infiltrated for decades. 

Dr. Arnim Zola was one of the founding pillars of Hydra; his internal authority and prestige were second only to the Red Skull himself. Therefore, his desperate, highly detailed presentation quickly managed to convince the vast majority of the leaders present. 

Pierce wanted to argue and urge caution, but seeing the overwhelming tide of paranoia sweeping across the council, he knew that if he vehemently opposed the purge, the first blade of suspicion would inevitably fall on his own neck! 

Watching the conference room rapidly fracture into several highly suspicious, defensive factions, Pierce covertly began exchanging encrypted messages with his own loyal subordinates, while simultaneously scanning the other holograms with intense scrutiny. 

Currently, the Hydra High Council had devolved into a massive, high-stakes game of Mafia. The only problem was... they had absolutely no idea how many 'Mafia' were among them, and the 'Moderator' organizing the witch hunt was Dr. Zola... 

The 'Game Master,' Luke, was currently lounging comfortably on his plush sofa, sipping a cold Coke and happily watching the intense, paranoid political maneuvering through Zola's visual feed. He even summoned Barricade and ordered the Decepticon to analyze the facial expressions of the various Hydra leaders to determine who was the most terrified. 

Luke leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and interlacing his fingers, resting his chin on his hands. He felt like the ultimate, omniscient mastermind, casually orchestrating the fate of an entire global terrorist network from the comfort of his living room. 

Suddenly, his phone buzzed, instantly shattering his 'cool mastermind' aura. 

He picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. 

"Thor? Why are you calling me from Earth? Did you guys actually manage to repair the Bifrost already?"