Chapter 1686 The embers of ambition

Ruby knew that her mother had been involved in a dispute that was beyond her control. It was like dancing on a tightrope, and sooner or later the soles of her feet would be cut with blood. This is not a problem that can be solved by the rank of general or the higher-ups of Hydra. Even if the purpose of the alien alliance and the emperor is to protect mankind, a war will break out between the two for the sovereignty of the human race.

Her mother followed the logic of Hydra and chose the most likely winner, rather than siding with the sovereignty of the human race. After all, even on Earth today, there are only a handful of countries that truly have complete sovereignty. General Er doesn't think there's anything wrong with selling sovereignty in exchange for survival. The professors at the Blue Crow Ridge training camp are top talents from various disciplines, a reward for Hydra's long investment in the academic field, and some of them are international relations experts who work in large think tanks. Perhaps in the logic of these think tanks, General Hale's actions are indeed feasible, but Ruby doesn't think so - compared to the alien alliance who don't know where they are or the details, Hydra is closer to them - she quietly Putting his hand on the handle of the hunting knife at his waist, General Hale and the alien who were talking did not notice this because they both thought they had the initiative now. The former believes that aliens need themselves to protect the earth, while the latter believes that General Hale must rely on his own talents to control mankind.

Ruby moved, slowly and unobtrusively approaching the alien.

She had already learned from the conversation with the aliens that the Kree in front of her claimed to be from the Cassius family and was the representative of the noble banker of Hala in the alien alliance. It seems that in this identity background, there is no need for the alien alliance to deceive humans. However, Ruby does not completely believe this statement, and she knows that her mother does not either. This is just a way to play with power, but playing with power that she cannot control will inevitably pay a price. If she can help her mother make a decision here and stop this reckless transaction, then even the Malik family and the List family They must also be paid for their loyalty.

"I'm afraid we must put this pleasant conversation on hold."

The Kree noticed that General Hale and Ruby's figures flickered, like snowflake noise on a picture tube screen crawling onto their bodies, but the two humans were completely unaware of this. Ruby's whole body stiffened. She thought the aliens had discovered her thoughts. After all, aliens in many movies and TV shows have the ability to read minds. In fact, the Kree didn't notice her at all, because Ruby's panic was completely normal. General Hale was also very stiff when he first came here, which made other alliance members secretly laugh at the earthlings who had no foresight for being too primitive. Now the behavior of showing her superiority to the successor of her genetic information is even more embarrassing for Ling Ke. People here find it funny.

"We have a little situation here."

The Kree calmed General Hale's mood with an extremely relaxed expression, as if this was just a small difficulty worth mentioning. It has absolutely no intention of telling General Hale that the object discovered by the observatory has a flight speed far exceeding that of ordinary asteroids and is still accelerating steadily. It must be a man-made object. To be on the safe side, the Kree were not going to reveal anything. "The observatory discovered that some unstable asteroids are affected by chaotic gravity and may collide with the base space station. We temporarily need some energy to intercept the asteroids or change their orbit. This kind of thing is very common at the edge of the halo, even here It's just a scientific research space station, and it has the ability to solve such a small problem. And there seems to be a problem with your energy supply. We might as well agree on a time for the next meeting... How about five Earth standard days?"

"I agree that we also need to finalize the time and plan for assistance as soon as possible."

General Hale glanced at his shocked daughter, who was quite satisfied with the look of surprise on Ruby's face.

She was certain that as long as the Alliance could fulfill its promise, the Earth would have a new owner. She is also very sure that the only person on Earth who can contact the alien alliance is herself. Even if she is on the weak side, she can still benefit from this information monopoly by virtue of her understanding of the Earth. She can't help but think of the United States' support before the Vietnam War. The South Vietnamese government, this is information that only historical scholars can understand - General Hale firmly believes that he will not be as corrupt as the South Vietnamese government. Under his rule, mankind will develop with the help of the technology of the alien alliance. She also firmly believed that mankind would rather change its rulers than become extinct, and the five permanent members of the United Nations had to surrender under tremendous external pressure.

The electric current that flashed across her eyes before starting the equipment dissipated from the solidified air. When the bright light from the laboratory and the dazzling light from the electric sparks hit her retinas again, Ruby couldn't help but close her eyes. The focus was imprinted on her eyes. The traces were still emitting a sickening pink-blue light. The equipment slowly stopped running, but the smell of burnt cable insulation still lingered in the air, and the tinnitus that penetrated my brain was still buzzing. Ruby didn't know whether she and her mother were transferred from the earth to the edge of the solar system by this device, or whether this was just a journey of consciousness and spirit. Everything just happened in their brains. The so-called alien alliance had no basis at all. does not exist.

"Behave better next time, Ruby. You will have power in the future, and you must adapt to the feeling of using this machine as soon as possible." General Hale frowned, "What is that sound?"

Ruby, who was still ringing in the ears, didn't notice the rapid change in General Hale's expression, nor did she notice that her mother was calling the external airborne team through the radio with an anxious look on her face. There was no response either from the radio or from outside the laboratory door, only the sound of gunfire, and several bad guesses ran through General Hale's mind, but none of them left any trace. General Hale glanced at the laboratory door, then grabbed Ruby and hurried towards the depths of the laboratory. Ruby felt her mother's hand clamping tightly on her wrist like an iron pincer, and tears of pain immediately burst out of her eyes.

"Go in." General Hale entered the password and roughly pushed her into a room that looked like a storage room. A large number of black munitions boxes with numbers on them were placed on towering iron shelves, and the air was filled with the smell of dust. "Don't ask, don't waste your time. You're not allowed to open the door to anyone but me."

"I don't know what's going on outside. It could be the Pentagon discovering my identity, it could be some exiled Hydra trying to seize something, or it could be SHIELD... Go in and don't make a sound."

"Purge order!"

Stephanie Malik cheerfully kicks open a door and throws a flashbang bomb inside. The 5.56mm round came out of the corner and ricocheted off her armor. Without looking, she pulled the trigger in that direction, and the bright and dazzling plasma rushed into the shelf, melting steel and flesh. The Malik family's private army filed in and quickly killed those airborne troops who refused to surrender. The two teams took control of the lab room one after another, with the lab director - who was wearing a funny tinfoil hat - shakily hiding behind the team. He really wanted to leave here, but Stephanie Malik needed his fingerprints, irises, and password. If he insisted on leaving, he had to leave these things behind.

All the other soldiers in the base had surrendered, and not many officers actually resisted arrest. With legal procedures in place, these soldiers will not fail to understand who their master is. After all, it is the Pentagon that pays wages, not a certain officer. It is not worth risking one's life for a few thousand dollars a month.

What happened here was not completely unknown to the Pentagon, but it was ignored to a certain extent. Some senior people who have connections with the intelligence network also speculated that the purpose of this operation was to target Brigadier General Talbot and other people who were closely connected to the Pentagon. Excluding the private security agency that is about to be established and is responsible for carrying out the work of S.H.I.E.L.D. - even there are many factions within the Pentagon, and every officer is not willing to let go of the opportunity to convert public assets into private assets. In the eyes of these people, Brigadier General Talbot is already a loser, and smart people will only stand on the side of the winner - with the acquiescence and even support of multiple factions, this operation can proceed so smoothly, Malik The family can also get orders so quickly.

"I promise, that thing is inside!" the laboratory leader pointed at the door and shouted, "That's alien technology!"

Stephanie Malik ordered the lab director to step forward and open the door. General Hale stared indifferently at the woman in power armor in front of him. Facing the muzzles of dozens of guns, she had no choice but to raise her hands and surrender. "You got what you wanted, Stephanie." General Hale said angrily, "The Malik family is greedy beyond my imagination."

Stephanie took off her helmet, completely ignoring the handcuffed General Hale.

She raised her head and looked at the metallic device, took out her phone and took a photo.

At this moment, the giant equipment seemed to be dead and quiet. The person in charge of the laboratory stepped forward to check the computers in the laboratory and gave the answer. "This device has been shut down and no longer sends out signals. I don't know what, we haven't figured out how this device works at all..." He still had a happy expression on his face. The equipment was finally stopped, and the mistakes of SHIELD's "Phase 2" plan would not be repeated. He no longer had to worry about being responsible for alien invasions of the Earth, nor would he be imprisoned in a mental institution like Professor Shavig. In the courtyard. Overly excited, he wanted to say something when he saw a huge figure walking out of the bright passage.

It was a giant in gray-black armor, with a scarlet flash of light inlaid on his expressionless faceplate. This giant was carrying a thick black shield without any paint, and in his other hand was holding a giant black metal war hammer that was very similar to a medieval page hammer. The long hammer leaves were stained with blood. Now he finally knew who killed the soldiers whose chests and heads he saw smashed to pieces.

Fear interrupted what he wanted to say, and Stephanie happened to not want to continue listening.

"Okay, I just need to confirm that this device is down, I don't want to know anything else."

Stephanie Malik scanned the lab with interest. She was not satisfied with the bloodshed of the battle. Those soldiers surrendered too quickly, and there is too little actual combat data on the super soldiers' combat effectiveness and supporting equipment. It is very likely that they will not be able to convince the Pentagon to fund this project. This is a high-value industrial chain. Gideon Malik intends to let the military-industrial complex provide super soldier armor, weapons, etc. Only in this way will the military-industrial complex not regard this project as a competitor.

"Is that all, Hale?" Stephanie sneered at General Hale. "The emperor doesn't mind your ambitions, and he is glad that you can bear in mind his warning. He is just not very satisfied with the partner you are looking for. The Emperor The intelligence network has learned about your cooperation with the Kree - the intelligence did not come from the earth, but from the Kree's planet Hala - I doubt that you know what kind of organization the so-called 'Alliance' is. ? What reward did they give you to let you contact them again and again? Is it to become the ruler of mankind? Can you believe such a ridiculous promise? "

General Hale refused to make any answer.

Winner takes all, losers have no excuses.

"Anyway, the signal sent by this device helped the monarch's ship locate the space station where the 'Alliance' is located, and it should be preparing to launch an attack now. The so-called 'Alliance' is just a business federation. Everything you heard They are all lies. The 'Alliance' does not want to protect humans at all, they only intend to plunder before Thanos arrives. Because of your stupidity and the lies of the 'Alliance', the monarch is about to punish these aliens who dare to spy on the human race."

Stephanie Malick signaled the person in charge of the laboratory to organize people to move the equipment, while arranging super soldiers and Malik family security forces to maintain order. The casualty rate of this operation was so low that she didn't even need to compile a report, she could just use a training incident to cover it up. Security forces escorted General Hale to his office and carefully checked for listening devices.

"Where's Ruby?"

"Ruby had nothing to do with this."

"Hale, you have a good daughter. She stopped you from continuing to do wrong things. You are still alive today entirely because of her loyalty." Stephanie Malik closed the office door. "We are not loyal to the Stars and Stripes, only to humanity. Race, your crime is tantamount to treason, and if I were to make the decision, I would give you a shot here to end your sin."

There was a knock on the office door, and a pale girl was pushed in.

Ruby looked horrified, her eyes constantly drifting towards her mother. General Hale's face was ashen. She understood everything at this moment. Her daughter was a spy planted by the Malik family. But she couldn't figure out why Ruby jumped into the shackles of Hydra without looking back as soon as Qianzu told her daughter about breaking away from Hydra and taking control of her own destiny.

"Ruby, my good girl." Stephanie Malik smiled brightly, "Tell me, what kind of reward do you want?"

"I..." Ruby's hands and feet were cold. General Hale lowered his head, the smoldering embers of ambition now crushed.

"You can stay with me in the future, girl. You can learn more by my side." Stephanie glanced at General Hale, "Don't worry about your mother, her punishment will not be too severe. This is entirely because of you. , you avoided making things worse, and she should thank you."