"What the f-?"
Just as Crossbones and Sitwell were both shocked that the 'person' Pierce was waiting for was such a monster,
another HYDRA Agent beside them clearly couldn't hold back, letting out a direct gasp of surprise.
Although his gasp might have simply been due to how much the monster in front of them resembled the HYDRA emblem,
in such a situation, it was easily mistaken for disrespect.
Sure enough, the next moment, the octopus-headed monster who had just stepped out of the elevator merely glanced at the person who spoke, then slightly raised his hand.
Large swathes of yellowish-brown mist spewed forth from the octopus-headed monster's hand.
Instantly enveloping the Agent who had spoken.
Immediately after, to the horror of everyone present, the person didn't even have time to scream before being corroded and swallowed by the yellowish-brown mist, leaving only a broken skeleton on the ground, as if the flesh and blood had melted away.
This scene sent shivers down everyone's spines, and even elite Agents like Crossbones, who had extensive combat experience and had fought many super-powered individuals, instinctively took two steps back.
Only Alexander Pierce, standing at the forefront of the group, seemed to have anticipated this, his expression remaining respectful and humble.
"My Lord Hive, the plan has reached its final stage; we just await you to personally usher in this new era!"
That's right, the octopus-faced monster before them was HYDRA's original belief, Hive.
He was also the Inhumans' progenitor, banished to outer space by the Kree, the creators of the Inhumans.
In fact, the organization HYDRA originally evolved from a society composed of nobles who worshipped the legend of Hive.
However, while it's true to say that he was HYDRA's original belief, it's not entirely accurate.
As mentioned before, HYDRA's internal composition is highly complex.
For example, the European faction led by Baron Strucker essentially inherited and continued the will of Red Skull, the leader of HYDRA during the Nazi era.
However, the so-called HYDRA led by Red Skull was actually a 'brand new organization' Red Skull himself established by consulting ancient texts, finding the name of this mysterious organization, and then using it as a shell.
Furthermore, the S.H.I.E.L.D. faction led by Alexander Pierce has an even more complex composition.
Initially, it was due to the U.S.'s Operation Paperclip, which brought a large number of HYDRA remnants into S.H.I.E.L.D., essentially Red Skull's legacy.
However, after Dr. Zola, a HYDRA scientist, died, he uploaded his consciousness into a computer, becoming an alternate intelligent life form.
This further enhanced the infiltration capabilities of these HYDRA members within S.H.I.E.L.D., and then other external residual HYDRA factions merged, slowly expanding, which led to the current S.H.I.E.L.D. faction, or the Subversion Faction, that intends to overthrow the government and control the World.
Of course, besides these more famous factions, there are many more secretive branches within HYDRA, so much so that even the heads of these HYDRA factions themselves find it difficult to ascertain how many HYDRA members truly exist in the World.
However, the purpose of saying all this is to make one point clear.
Although HYDRA's internal connections are close, there was originally no clear affiliation between the various factions; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as a loose collection.
However, when the Return Faction, by cooperating with Loki, obtained some spatial teleportation technology,
and successfully brought Hive, the HYDRA progenitor, back from the alien Planet.
Relying on his symbolic significance and the powerful combat ability brought by his Inhumans' powers, the Return Faction, which was once inconspicuous among HYDRA branches, seemed to subtly gain a trend of regaining control over all of HYDRA.
At least, Alexander Pierce seemed to be utterly convinced at this moment.
Alexander Pierce humbly guided Hive to the deck of an Helicarrier in the center of the underground hangar, while meticulously explaining.
"My Lord Hive, this is the core of Project Insight, the Helicarrier..."
As he spoke, the ceiling directly above the Helicarrier slowly parted to both sides.
If one were to look down from the sky at this moment, they would see three massive cracks appearing on the artificial lake surface outside the Triskelion, as if the entire lake was an oversized dry dock prepared for the Helicarrier.
And as the Helicarrier's engines started, the immense roar instantly completely drowned out Pierce's words.
But even so, Pierce continued his introduction respectfully, and Hive remained standing calmly at the front of the Helicarrier's deck, as if he could truly hear Pierce's narration.
It wasn't until the initial roar of the engines subsided that the deafening rumble gradually diminished.
Hive didn't bother with where Pierce had stopped speaking, and said calmly,
"Ascend. I think, from up there, this fireworks display will be even more beautiful."
Hearing Hive's words, Pierce, being very sensible, stopped his introduction and respectfully led him towards the command center on the bridge.
As the ion jet engines of the three Helicarriers fully activated, the immense thrust immediately carried the carriers vertically into the sky.
Only this time, Captain America was not there to stop these three war machines, poised to cause massive destruction, from taking to the skies.
Once the Helicarriers ascended to their predetermined altitude of 3,000 feet, the Insight Project satellites, already prepared, rapidly integrated into the Helicarriers' Fire control systems.
In an instant, all ground-attack weapons on the three carriers deployed.
Without any surprises, all these weapons, under the threat algorithm, precisely locked onto every potential enemy to HYDRA.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
The dense machine guns of the carriers instantly opened Fire.
Countless bullets, like raindrops, poured down from the Helicarriers high in the sky onto the ground.
In just an instant, countless threats identified by the algorithm in Washington, the capital of the United States, were precisely hit by bullets raining down from the sky, instantly falling dead in the streets.
And as the core of U.S. power, the White House, located in Washington, was directly deemed a threat building by the algorithm; it didn't even need the politicians within to be exposed to satellite surveillance, and it was instantly riddled like a beehive by the terrifying bombardment from the sky.
However, the devastation caused in that instant was indeed horrifying.
But this terrifying bombardment seemed to last for only that brief moment.
In fact, before the first wave of bullets even hit the ground, all ground-attack machine guns on the three carriers completely fell silent, beginning to swing aimlessly in place.
Seeing this, Alexander Pierce, who had been full of confidence moments ago, his face suddenly changed. He rushed two steps to the HYDRA operators on the bridge, grabbed one of them by the collar, and roared with fury,
"Why the cease-fire? Why the cease-fire!!"
However, the operator he had grabbed by the collar was drenched in sweat and had no idea how to answer.
Instead, another operator, still checking the system, quietly reminded him,
"Secretary, it seems... it seems our system has been hacked!"