Looking at the charred lump on the ground whose original form was completely unrecognizable, Russell couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh.
Ever since transmigrating into this world, he had maintained a state of hyper-vigilance.
Only now could he finally relax his tightly strung nerves a bit.
This feeling of no longer having the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head was truly wonderful.
Calming his slightly excited mood, Russell turned around and walked toward Allen, Hathaway, and the others.
Although Allen, Dr.
Wilson, and the rest had witnessed Russell kill Mutated Jack with their own eyes, they still couldn’t understand how Russell had pulled it off.
To be precise, they couldn’t fathom how Russell’s eyes could suddenly fire heat rays of such terrifying power.
“Doctor, take an inventory of how many living people and supplies are left in the base.
We still have a lot of work to do.”
Although Dr.
Wilson was the highest-ranking person in charge of this base, at this moment, no one felt there was anything inappropriate about Russell assigning tasks to Dr.
Wilson.
“Alright, I’ll give you a detailed report shortly!”
With that, Dr.
Wilson left with the surviving research staff and Hydra soldiers.
Though Russell hadn’t explicitly stated it, Dr.
Wilson had roughly guessed his objective.
With Jack’s death, Russell and Wilson’s secret agreement was about to enter its second phase.
After Dr.
Wilson and the others left, Russell turned to Allen and Hathaway.
“From now on, you’re free.”
Although Allen and Hathaway were Second-Generation Abomination Soldiers with impressive combat power, their strength was not indispensable to Russell.
If they had rich combat experience, Russell might have tried to win them over, but right now, they hadn’t demonstrated that kind of value yet.
“Are you kicking us out?”
The first to answer Russell wasn’t Allen, who had already become Russell’s little fanboy, but Hathaway, who usually didn’t talk much.
At this moment, Hathaway looked like a little kitten that had just learned it was about to be abandoned by its master, gazing aggrievedly at Russell with pitiful eyes.
“I’m not kicking you out.
I’m giving you your freedom.”
“You can do whatever you want.
You won’t ever have to do that again,” Russell explained patiently.
According to his and Dr.
Wilson’s plan, they would break away from Hydra completely.
Of course, when breaking away from Hydra, they would also take a few things that belonged to Hydra with them.
And this meant that from the moment they left the base, they would officially become enemies of Hydra.
A hunt by Hydra wasn’t like being hunted by ordinary gangsters.
Hydra possessed all kinds of professionals, along with countless elite agents and soldiers.
More importantly, at this time, Hydra could even mobilize the power of SHIELD to hunt them down.
So for Allen and Hathaway’s safety, Russell didn’t intend to let them wade into these muddy waters.
“If that’s the case, then I choose to keep following you!”
“I’m just a girl.
I don’t really know how to fight, and I don’t have much ability to protect myself.
So for safety’s sake, I plan to stay with you!”
After hearing Russell’s explanation, Hathaway said with utmost seriousness, her eyes fixed on Russell with unwavering determination.
None of the three men present believed a single word of her logic.
*Come on, you’re a Second-Generation Abomination Soldier who can toss military Hummers around like toys when transformed.*
*You might not “know how to fight,” but even without combat skill, you can still insta-kill professional soldiers.
You should be happy if you don’t go looking for trouble with others—how do you have the cheek to say you can’t protect yourself?*
“I also plan to keep following you.
I still have a lot of things to learn, so until I’ve learned them all, I’m not leaving!”
If Hathaway could use such an utterly flimsy excuse to stay, Allen, as Russell’s fanboy, naturally wouldn’t lag behind and voiced his choice immediately.
“You guys…
as long as you don’t regret it in the future.”
With that, Russell gestured to the bald Jasper, then led him into a reception room inside the base.
“Have a seat.
No need to be so tense.”
At this point, the bald Jasper showed none of his initial confidence.
He quietly followed behind Russell like a henchman.
After pouring a cup of coffee for himself and Jasper, Russell sat on the sofa opposite Jasper and looked at this senior Hydra officer with keen interest. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“Um…
if you have something to say, just say it straight out.
I’ll agree to whatever it is!”
For Jasper to become a SHIELD agent and also be recruited by Hydra, he naturally had his strengths.
Otherwise, why would SHIELD and Hydra, both overflowing with talent, take a liking to a bald guy with zero combat ability?
When Jasper saw Russell bring him into the reception room alone and even pour him coffee, he knew Russell definitely had new arrangements for him.
“I like dealing with smart people—it saves time and effort.
That’s right, I have a new assignment for you.
I want you to act as if nothing happened, return to Hydra headquarters, and keep doing what you’ve always been doing.”
Since Jasper was so quick on the uptake, Russell laid out his demands directly.
“You want me to go back and be a double agent?”
Jasper understood immediately.
Russell sending him back to Hydra certainly wasn’t so he could sit around doing nothing.
“To be precise, not a double agent.
Just my spy inside Hydra.”
“You’re Hydra’s spy inside SHIELD, and you’ll be my spy inside Hydra, so that doesn’t count as being a double agent.”
“Of course, if you need it, I can pay you a salary just like Hydra.”
“That way, you can collect three salaries at once: from SHIELD, Hydra, and me!”
After hearing Russell’s explanation, Jasper took off his fine gold-rimmed glasses and let out a helpless smile.
“If I’d known, I shouldn’t have come here.
I assume I don’t have the right to say no, right?”
Perhaps having stayed with Hydra for too long, Jasper instinctively lumped Russell in with the higher-ups of Hydra.
“You’re wrong about that.
You do have the right to say no.
If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it.
I don’t like forcing people.”
“You can quit Hydra just like you mentioned before.
As for how to arrange that, I’m sure you have your own ways.”
Having Jasper go back to Hydra as his spy would indeed allow Russell to obtain plenty of insider information.
However, that insider information wasn’t strictly essential for him, because if he remembered correctly, Hydra wouldn’t be jumping around for many more years anyway.
“Now I’m starting to wonder if the age of nineteen listed in your file is actually accurate!”