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"Responsibility, my ass…"
Raymond poked her forehead, then sat up, leaning against the bedframe.
Stephanie leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Looking at her graceful figure beside him, Raymond felt a headache coming on.
Last night's atmosphere, the wine, and the tense pace of life he had been carrying for so long had stretched his nerves to the limit.
With Stephanie's deliberate teasing, he finally couldn't hold back and gave her a "lesson."
In truth, whether in his past life or in the memories from this one, he wasn't inexperienced.
But ever since arriving in this world, he had always lived with a sense of unease, never having the mood to think about such things.
Only recently had he finally settled down.
On one hand, he now had gold sub-personality as a safeguard, so unless very unlucky, nothing fatal would happen. On the other, everything was moving in a good cycle.
As his power grew, the ways to earn Universal Points grew too.
Just Stephanie's unification of Hydra, which made him its secret master in the shadows, had given him another 500 Development Points.
That alone converted into 2,500 Universal Points.
Add to that the 600 gained from Deadshot's wish, plus his earlier savings, and he had over 3,000 points again.
All these changes let Raymond finally relax a little.
He had to admit, living with constant pressure was exhausting.
In this situation, Stephanie's initiative became the final push.
Still, Stephanie was a smart woman. She didn't assume this meant she could change the balance between them.
She never once brought up "business," keeping things very clear.
"I heard… your father disappeared?" Raymond asked suddenly, gently stroking her back.
At those words, Stephanie's body trembled slightly.
He said he "heard," but in truth he had learned it from the memories of the Itachi and Orochimaru sub-personalities.
But since that involved shadow clones and sub-personality matters, he didn't want her knowing too much.
"Sorry… I thought he had given up. I didn't expect him to suddenly run." Stephanie said softly.
"You really didn't expect it?" Raymond chuckled.
Stephanie opened her mouth, then swallowed her words, falling silent.
"Don't worry. I never planned to do anything to your father. I said before—if you complete the tasks I give you, his fate is yours to decide…"
Raymond patted her back and continued, "But once he's out of your sight, what he'll do next—you should already know, right?"
"You mean… Hive?" Stephanie's face changed.
She knew Raymond understood Hydra well, so of course he must know about Hive.
And with his question, she instantly guessed what he meant.
Thinking it over, it really was possible.
With Gideon Malick's personality and his near religious belief in Hive, there was no way he would give up searching for it.
To him, his daughter must have been brainwashed or controlled.
In his mind, if he could bring Hive back, then Hive could destroy the mastermind behind her.
Even though he hadn't met Raymond, and didn't know it was him, it didn't matter.
Because to him, Hive was invincible.
If Hive returned, he believed he could rule the world.
"But… finding Hive requires huge manpower and resources. With what my father has now, I doubt it's enough." Stephanie frowned.
"You forget—someone disappeared with him. Another Hydra leader." Raymond said.
Stephanie's face grew heavy.
The truth had been in front of her, but because it was her father, her emotions had clouded her thinking.
Now that Raymond laid it out, she quickly understood why Gideon Malick had suddenly vanished.
With Daniel Whitehall, the former Science Faction head, plus certain secret faction members who had slipped away during the unification… maybe her father really did have a chance of finding Hive.
Originally, both the Science Faction and the Secret Faction didn't really support Gideon Malick's plan.
They wouldn't have truly helped him wholeheartedly.
But for them now, the biggest problem was Raymond—the hidden mastermind. The source of thɪs content is 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱
If Gideon Malick's plan really offered even a small chance to strike back, then this time the others wouldn't oppose him. They might even help.
After all, things couldn't get any worse than now.
Hydra had already changed hands; they had nothing left to lose.
So why not take the gamble?
Realizing this, Stephanie didn't feel pleased. Instead, she was deeply worried…
She didn't know if her father could really bring Hive back. She didn't know if Hive was truly as powerful as the legend said—powerful enough to get rid of Raymond, who had once crushed all of Malick's hopes.
But one thing was certain: if Raymond had already guessed Gideon Malick's intentions, would he really let him continue?
If Raymond got angry and broke their deal, it wasn't impossible.
"I'm sorry… I didn't think it would become this serious…" Stephanie's face turned pale.
She had thought of letting Gideon go, of not watching him too closely. After all, he was her father.
Even agreeing to work with Raymond at first was only to protect Gideon Malick.
Her one condition with Raymond had always been that her father's life would be spared.
From her dealings with him, she could feel Raymond wasn't the kind of man to break his word.
So she never doubted him.
But what if Gideon plotted against him?
Could she still ask Raymond not to fight back?
Not even she could be that merciful if she knew someone was targeting her.
Thinking of it this way, it wasn't impossible that Raymond might change his mind.
She now blamed herself for not realizing earlier. If she had, she would never have let her father escape.
Because that moment of softness might end up harming him instead.
"I swear—I'll find him as soon as possible and make him give up the plan. Please, give me another chance!" she begged.
"No need." Raymond smiled, shaking his head.
Stephanie froze, then her face twisted in pain. "You… you promised me…"
Raymond quickly realized she misunderstood.
When he said "no need," he didn't mean Gideon Malick had to die. He meant Hive itself wasn't worth worrying about.
After all, Hive was just a Kree-made creature. Stronger than most superpowered beings, yes, but at best it was equal to a fourth-tier mutant—not even the strongest kind.
For Raymond now, was something like that worth concern?
Even if Malick did succeed in bringing Hive back, it would just be a prize falling into Raymond's lap—wool waiting to be sheared.
But Stephanie didn't know that. To her, it sounded like Raymond intended to kill Gideon outright.
It wasn't strange she thought so. Even now, she had no idea of Raymond's true power.
She only knew his subordinates were strong enough to help her unify Hydra. She had never seen the full strength of Itachi or Orochimaru.
In Hydra, no one was even worth them going all out against.
Looking at her distressed expression, Raymond's mischievous side rose. He smirked. "If you can satisfy me, maybe I'll reconsider…"
Stephanie dove under the blanket without a word.
But a moment later, she popped her head out again, glaring at his barely hidden grin.
"No—you're tricking me again!"
"Alright, enough teasing." Raymond's tone softened. "I never worried about Hive. Even if your father brings it back, the only one who'll suffer is Hive itself—not me."
"So don't worry about this. When your father returns, I'll make sure to end his useless fantasy."
"Really?" Stephanie still looked doubtful.
"Would I need to lie to you?" Raymond chuckled.
"You should've said so earlier!"
Stephanie punched his chest with her small fist, blushing at the thought of how she had gone from grief to joy to anger so quickly.
"You're dead!" she snapped, glaring at him before burying herself back under the blanket.
While Stephanie was "punishing" Raymond, elsewhere—Director Nick Fury arrived at a secret base.
This base also belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was nowhere in their files.
It was an emergency site, activated only in times of crisis.
For such a base, only the director himself and the agents assigned to guard it knew about it. Even high-ranking agents had no clue.
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