Originally, Ben knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was essentially a snake pit, but he didn't have any particular thoughts about Hydra.
After all, it had little to do with him.
But now, Hydra was practically asking for death.
Cut off one head and two more grow back?
Ben declared, "I'll slice you into mincemeat myself!"
Of course, this couldn't be rushed.
At least Nick Fury had said something very true: Hydra were scum from the gutter. Acting rashly would only alert them. Historically, in different stories, anything related to snakes was difficult to eradicate completely.
Take, for example, the one with the missing nose and the one who liked gender-bending.
Even if Ben went straight to S.H.I.E.L.D. now, blew up their main Helicarrier, and annihilated every S.H.I.E.L.D. member, he would only be killing a very small portion of Hydra.
It might even just be one or two heads.
The result, however, could be him having to make an enemy of an entire country.
"Excellent, eliminating Hydra. This will be the first mission after our Galactic Plumbers Earth branch is established," Ben said.
"But we need to devise a meticulous plan."
"We'll go find Harry tomorrow, and the three of us will discuss it together," Ben said.
"Are we going to involve Harry?"
Peter frowned, worried that this would bring trouble and danger to Harry. But Ben slapped the back of his head and said, "We're not involving him. Harry is already a member of the Galactic Plumbers, and he's our friend, remember?"
"On something this important, he'd be unhappy if you excluded him!"
"Peter, remember, sometimes secrets come with a price."
Peter only half-understood.
The next day, Ben, Mary Jane, and Peter went to school together.
Upon arriving at school, Felicia joined their group.
She stood on one side of Ben, with Mary Jane on the other, and happily said, "Today we have to go to another classroom. Two classes together, and we'll probably be able to attend classes together from now on."
Because the wall of yesterday's classroom had been broken through, the students from both classes were assigned to another classroom. As for the original two classrooms, it was rumored that the school intended to knock them down completely and merge the two classes into one.
Ben guessed this was likely Harry's suggestion.
Otherwise, wouldn't repairing the wall offer more profit than demolishing it?
As they passed the original classroom, Ben saw a familiar figure.
Thor, wearing a faded black tank top, held a large hammer in his hands. His sweat-covered face was smudged with dirt, and his once golden hair had been cut off, leaving only a short buzz cut, making him look considerably more resolute.
For an Asgardian, hair was like a second life.
But there was no helping it; the weather was just too damn hot.
If he could, Thor wouldn't have cut his hair, but after collapsing once from the scorching sun, he changed his mind.
To hell with hair!
No one here on Earth recognized him anyway, so it didn't matter if he cut it. No one would know. Most importantly, Loki wouldn't know.
What Thor couldn't stand the most was Loki's mockery.
Ben hadn't expected to see Thor at Midtown High School one day, and moreover, to see him working there as a laborer.
The only thing that hadn't changed was his love for hammers.
Ben didn't miss this opportunity; he immediately decided to give his subordinates a little perk.
So, Ben took out his phone and walked towards Thor, who was still working. Under Thor's confused gaze, he took a selfie with him.
"What are you doing?"
Thor frowned and asked.
He remembered that thing in Ben's hand was called a phone.
"Nothing, I just thought you looked a lot like my friend's older brother, so I took a picture of you."
As Ben spoke, he sent the photo to Loki.
The Galactic Plumbers' communication devices could be used without restriction throughout the cosmos.
Soon, Loki replied.
Loki: !!!
Loki: Where?
Ben: Earth, come quickly!
Loki: Setting off now!
Sakaar.
Loki, who had been engrossed in city planning, suddenly stood up from his seat, startling Caiera, who was not far away.
"Caiera, get a ship ready for me!"
Loki rubbed his hands together excitedly. Although he himself had a buzz cut now, it didn't matter; he could use magic to create illusions. But Thor was different.
Just you wait, my dear brother!
"What's wrong?" Caiera asked.
"Don't worry about it. Just tell the Boss that I'm looking for him!" Loki said, puffing out his chest.
At that moment, he was completely convinced by Ben. Where could he find a superior who thought of his subordinates when he had good things?
Loki swore that from now on, he would be absolutely loyal to the Galactic Plumbers!
Loyalty!
Although Caiera couldn't understand what madness Loki was up to again, she immediately prepared a ship for him upon hearing it was Ben's order.
However, due to the distance to Sakaar, it would likely take some time for Loki to reach Earth.
Meanwhile, after taking a photo with Thor, Ben bought him a cold drink from a vending machine. The simple-minded Thor immediately categorized Ben as a good person.
Even though it was just a cold drink, it was a rare warmth for Thor, who had been suffering quite a bit during this period.
Upon arriving at the new classroom, Ben pondered:
I didn't expect Thor to still be on Earth and not have his divine power back. In that case, the Hammer of Thor has likely been confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D.
He hadn't thought about it before, but now that he considered it carefully, Ben realized that S.H.I.E.L.D. truly had a lot of good stuff.
Putting aside other things, the Cosmic Cube alone was extraordinary. Not to mention that over the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. had also been trying to crack the Super Soldier Serum. Although they hadn't been able to perfectly replicate Captain America's version yet, the data itself was very valuable for reference.
Since he had already decided to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D., Ben started thinking about how to make the old serpent drop gold coins.
When he arrived at the new classroom, Harry was already there.
He waved at them from his seat in the distance.
Ben and the others walked over and casually found seats near him.
Harry asked, "How's Thompson doing?"
Yesterday at the hospital, although Ben stepped forward to say that Primus would cover Flash's treatment, Ben, who didn't want to expose himself at school, attributed all the credit to Harry Osborn.
"His injuries have been treated, but he has memory loss. I left him in the recovery area on the 15th floor of Primus. His parents know and are taking care of him there."
Hearing this, Harry felt it was a very good outcome.
Compared to life, memory seemed somewhat insignificant. Even if Flash couldn't recover his past memories, he could still form new ones.
"Harry, after school tonight, let's go to Primus."
Some things were inconvenient to discuss at school, and hearing Ben's serious tone, Harry guessed something.
Felicia and Mary Jane exchanged glances, seeing curiosity in each other's eyes.
However, they didn't think much of it.
After all, what could three men gathered at Primus possibly do?
"Are you planning to do research?"
Ben nodded. "Something like that."
Who could say that researching how to kill snakes wasn't research?
In the afternoon, after school.
The three of them arrived at Primus. The vast Primus building had no security guards. Ben had placed two Iron Robots at the entrance, standing motionless like stone lions.
They looked completely broken, but no one dared to test it.
"This place is too empty," Harry said, putting one hand in his pocket. "Before, when Primus was as small as a laboratory, it was understandable that there were no people. Now, they should hire some employees."
Harry was actually right.
The Primus Building had over a hundred floors, but the maximum number of people inside, even at its busiest, was only six or seven, and that included Flash's family who were in recovery.
Currently, Primus could operate normally largely thanks to the people from Osborn doing the work for both companies in terms of business operations...
And some data work was being handled entirely by Eunice alone.
But this situation couldn't continue.
Ben nodded, agreeing that Primus indeed needed to hire some employees.
"You didn't call me here today to help you choose employees, did you?" Harry asked.
Ben rolled his eyes. "Why would I trouble the esteemed Mr. Harry with such a trivial matter? This is Peter's business."
Then, Peter began to explain the situation to Harry.
The three of them talked as they entered the underground conference room. Ben pressed a button, and a white table slowly rose from the floor. Then, he changed into his Spider-Man suit and sat in the main seat, clasping his chained hands together.
"Alright, let's begin the Galactic Plumbers meeting."
"Is it really necessary to be this serious?"
Harry thought Ben was being a bit over the top, seeing as he'd even changed into his suit.
"Of course, it's a matter of procedure. You should change too. Oh, I forgot your new battle suit isn't ready yet. Never mind, you can just stand."
Harry: ???
Of course, Harry wasn't going to stand for the meeting.
After the three were seated, Ben said, "Plumber Harry Osborn, I assume Spider-Man has already explained everything that happened on the way here."
Harry scratched his head. "Benny, weren't you right there when Peter was talking? Also, why are you suddenly being so formal?"
"Disorderly!" Ben's white eyes on his Spider-Man mask narrowed slightly as he looked at Harry with displeasure.
"When working, you must address me by my title!"
After a brief moment of jest, Ben opened a virtual screen under Peter and Harry's speechless gazes.
Then, he stood up, leaning his hands on the table, and said:
"This time, our enemy is Hydra. However, unlike the intelligence Nick Fury provided, we're not facing a half-dead, dying snake, but a cunning and insidious viper lurking within the lifeblood of this nation!"
"What do you mean?"
Peter didn't understand.
"In the stories we know, after Captain America Steve Rogers defeated Red Skull, the Hydra organization began to collapse. Nowadays, in the eyes of ordinary people, it has completely become history."
Hearing this, Harry and Peter nodded simultaneously.
"But, Captain and Nick Fury told me that Hydra wasn't completely wiped out," Peter said.
"He's right, but there are some differences in the details." Ben emphasized the word "details."
"In reality, Hydra was never eliminated. As they say, cut off one head, and two more grow. Not only did they not collapse, but they actually developed quite well."
Ben waved his hand, and a white-headed eagle emblem immediately appeared on the virtual projection.
Peter had seen this symbol before. The outer cover of the file Nick Fury had given him was printed with an eagle's head, and beneath the head were spread wings.
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
"It's a special unit of the International Security Council specifically for handling various strange incidents. It was established during World War II and was the core force for confronting the Nazi Hydra organization at that time.
"The current director is Nick Fury. As a department directly under the Security Council, it has very high authority and possesses several Helicarriers..."
As Ben spoke, Peter and Harry became increasingly amazed by the power of S.H.I.E.L.D., marveling at the organization.
"No wonder they had the ability to defeat Hydra. I didn't expect their influence to be so immense!"
Peter said.
However, Ben glared at him.
"I said, Hydra has never been defeated, not from beginning to end."
Ben waved his hand, and the white-headed eagle emblem instantly transformed into a bright red skull, and the wings spread beneath the skull twisted in an instant, becoming tentacle-like.
"This is!"
They exclaimed in shock!
"That's right, S.H.I.E.L.D. is Hydra!"
Ben's statement almost made Peter fall out of his chair in surprise.
"How is that possible?"
He shouted!
After all, even Captain America, who fought Hydra his entire life and laid to rest its leader, was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. How could S.H.I.E.L.D. be Hydra?
"Nothing is impossible."
Ben said.
"When Hydra realized that their defeat in the war was inevitable, they were already thinking about preserving their strength. Clearly, they understood that the most dangerous place is the safest place."
"I had Eunice investigate a lot of data. Although their actions were swift, under those circumstances, hiding such a vast organization completely would inevitably leave many clues."
Ben wasn't exactly lying.
When he decided to deal with Hydra, he had already asked Eunice to search for these clues.
Peter and Harry might believe him without any evidence, but some people might not.
Hydra's current influence was immense, not just within S.H.I.E.L.D., but they had even infiltrated Congress and the Security Council. If they weren't careful, the three of them would essentially be declaring war on all of America.
Under such circumstances, Ben naturally needed to rally behind a banner.
A banner that could symbolize America!
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