Chapter 469

Malik’s expression remained composed, but his breathing had grown noticeably heavier.

He desperately wanted to know the answer.

His family had existed for thousands of years, nearly as long as recorded human civilization itself. A family with that kind of history placed enormous importance on educating its members.

As the head of the family, Malik was no scholar of genius, but his knowledge was far beyond that of an ordinary man.

His position and ambitions had also driven him to study the biographies of history’s greatest rulers. He had spent years examining the rise and fall of civilizations across the world.

Without that foundation, he could never have answered Evenson’s earlier questions so quickly.

And after reading so much history, Malik had reached one conclusion:

Anyone who accomplished something truly extraordinary first had to survive extraordinary trials.

Myths were full of such stories.

Siddhartha Gautama endured years of hardship before attaining enlightenment. Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations in the wilderness.

And history offered plenty of secular examples.

The man who would become China’s First Emperor was born while his father was being held hostage in another kingdom. After his father returned home, the hostage’s son effectively became the political heir.

Even King Arthur, Europe’s legendary ruler, was separated from his royal birthright and raised among commoners.

Individuals weren’t the only ones to follow this pattern.

Civilizations did too.

European civilization endured the Black Death, a plague so devastating that it seemed to herald the end of the world, before the Renaissance eventually emerged from the ashes and Europe began its ascent.

The great revival of Eastern civilization had likewise followed nearly a century of warfare and upheaval.

Malik believed the same principle applied to him.

If he was truly about to become the ruler of the world, then his own great trial should be approaching.

And the most dangerous trial of all probably wouldn’t come from outside.

After all, consider what had happened during World War II.

The old Hydra families had quietly undermined the Red Skull, yet when the Red Skull decided to use the Tesseract as a weapon to destroy New York, he hadn’t bothered to ask the old families living there for permission.

That revealed a problem no one could escape.

If Hydra ruled the world...

Who would rule Hydra?

Malik’s answer came instantly.

The enemy is already inside the Triskelion.

He had identified the threat.

After World War II, the Red Skull’s faction had suffered catastrophic losses. Of his surviving disciples, only two remained.

One was his direct disciple, Werner Reinhardt, better known as Daniel Whitehall.

Malik disliked Whitehall intensely.

Their ideologies were different, certainly, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Whitehall had survived long enough to become insufferably proud of his age and seniority.

Unfortunately, he had earned the right to act that way.

Within modern Hydra, Whitehall was the oldest surviving figure.

Worse, Malik had never understood how the man knew so much about the ancient families’ secrets.

Whitehall even knew about the tricks Malik’s father had pulled during one of their family’s rituals.

That alone made him someone Malik could never afford to underestimate.

Still, Whitehall’s influence had limits.

He had seniority. He had connections. Plenty of people were fascinated by his ability to restore his youth.

But ultimately, he was only a vine clinging to a much larger tree.

The real danger was Alexander Pierce.

Pierce was a disciple of the Red Skull’s ideology several generations removed, and unlike Whitehall, he’d entered Hydra from outside the traditional bloodlines.

Yet he had become one of the organization’s most powerful figures.

S.H.I.E.L.D., once supposedly everywhere and impossible to escape, was now effectively hollowed out.

Pierce controlled it.

Malik’s faction had privately enjoyed the irony for years. They often joked about how satisfying it was to watch their old enemies unknowingly become tools of Hydra.

But Malik understood the truth.

Pierce was not someone who would blindly follow him.

If Pierce chose to strike at the critical moment, the consequences could be catastrophic.

He possessed the enormous network of power accumulated through S.H.I.E.L.D.

He controlled Hydra’s finest assassin, the Winter Soldier, along with others like him.

And Malik had absolutely no doubt that Pierce could even arrange for the Avengers to become the spearhead of an attack against him.

That was what made Pierce so dangerous.

And lately, Pierce had been acting strangely.

With Whitehall still around, Pierce should have guessed what Malik intended the moment Malik began taking an interest in Evenson.

Yet Pierce had carried out every request without the slightest resistance.

When Malik wanted someone from Pierce’s organization to probe Evenson for information, Pierce sent Brock Rumlow.

When Malik wanted a meeting with Evenson, Pierce didn’t interfere.

Instead, he actively helped arrange it.

What did that mean?

Was Pierce simply showing respect to his elders, preparing to bow his head once Malik’s family achieved its goal?

Or was he completely confident because he had something that would allow him to ignore the old families even after their ambitions were fulfilled?

Malik preferred to assume the worst.

That was why Alexander Pierce had suddenly become his most urgent problem.

Everything else could wait.

Even the exact implementation of the Umbrella Corporation’s Human Completion Project could be discussed later.

First, Malik needed to survive his own trial.

He needed to make sure he made it through the moment when everything was finally decided.

"Of course she’s a weapon."

Under Malik’s intense gaze, Evenson gave him the answer he’d been hoping for.

"Peggy Carter is probably the most advanced weapon our company has ever produced. You could call her a milestone achievement in our technology."

Malik finally relaxed.

"As for whether she can be replicated..."

Evenson paused.

Malik’s heart immediately jumped back into his throat.

"A one-off creation isn’t technology. Technology means understanding the process well enough to reproduce the result."

Evenson gave him a faint smile.

"We’re a company that manufactures products, not artists who spend their lives creating unique masterpieces."

"At least, that’s true most of the time."

Malik exhaled in relief.

Then he smiled.

"Let’s make a deal."

His previously gloomy expression brightened considerably.

"I’d like to purchase a batch of those..."

He paused.

"What exactly does your company call them?"

"Warriors of the Demon Heart."

"Right. Warriors of the Demon Heart."

Malik nodded.

"I’d like to place an order for a batch."

"Oh."

Evenson’s expression suddenly brightened with realization.

"That makes sense."

He gestured toward Malik.

"As the future ruler of the world, you’ll need to strengthen your personal security. You’ll need to protect yourself and your family."

"And once you take the throne, you’ll need a personal guard powerful enough to make everyone else think twice before approaching you."

He continued as though adding items to a shopping list.

"Then there’s the Hive. It’s still stranded on a savage and dangerous planet, and you’ll need to send enough powerful people to search for him."

"So..."

Evenson tilted his head.

"How many do you want?"

Malik’s brow immediately furrowed.

At first, he’d planned to order perhaps ten.

Maybe a dozen.

A force slightly larger than the Avengers would have been plenty for personal protection.

But Evenson had given him something to think about.

Protecting himself wasn’t enough.

His daughter needed protection too.

After all, if something happened to him, who would inherit his empire?

Then there were his most trusted subordinates.

Once Malik became the ruler of the world, those men would become the pillars holding up his new regime.

They needed protection as well.

And his important bases scattered across the globe would require their own security forces.

Then came the search for Hive.

Evenson had agreed to help, but that didn’t mean he would personally search an entire planet.

Opening a portal and allowing Malik’s people to enter was already generous.

If Malik wanted Hive found, he would need to send a large number of powerful operatives himself.

Which meant...

Malik’s frown deepened.

He started calculating again.

Then his expression became increasingly troubled.

Why did the number keep going up?