Ch. 270 Winner Takes All

After enjoying an authentic German afternoon tea at Gideon's estate, Russell received a message from No. 3.

Stephanie's brainwashing had been completed!

Without hesitation, Russell opened a portal to the brainwashing room at the Justice League headquarters.

As the sparkling portal took shape, he didn't immediately head to the brainwashing room. Instead, he beckoned toward Stephanie on the other side of the portal.

If Stephanie, who had grown up in luxury from a young age, had not been brainwashed, she would never have responded to him like a summoned pet.

However, now, upon seeing his gesture, Stephanie did not hesitate. She walked gracefully toward Russell, her slender figure swaying with every step.

After coming through the portal, Stephanie approached Russell directly and greeted him with respect, "Sir, good afternoon!"

It had to be said that witnessing the elegant Stephanie displaying such a subservient attitude, like that of a maid, was quite pleasing.

"Please have a seat."

Russell examined Stephanie briefly from head to toe and spoke calmly.

After Stephanie had seated herself on the sofa opposite him, Russell continued, "You must have had contact with the high-ranking members within the organization before, using your name to invite them to the castle in England. Tell them it's an invitation to witness the return of the master of HYDRA."

Although Russell had promised to provide sanctuary for Gideon and the others earlier, it didn't mean he would extend that protection to all members of the legitimate HYDRA. He only needed a portion of them, leaving the rest to fend for themselves.

"Of course, sir!"

While Stephanie didn't fully grasp Russell's intentions, she had become a dedicated follower of Russell's orders.

"Very well, you may go now."

After instructing Stephanie, Russell let her leave the meeting room.

As Stephanie left, Skye, who was sitting on the other side, spoke up, "You're becoming more and more like an evil villain!"

"Is that so? Well, that's good!"

Russell had never aspired to be a righteous person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have started his career as an assassin. Besides, in the end, it was the winners who determined what was righteous and what was evil.

After hearing Russell's response, Skye didn't say anything further and turned her gaze towards the window.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, night fell.

As dinner was about to begin, Russell received another message from No. 3.

Gideon's brainwashing had also been completed!

After opening a portal to bring Gideon back from the Justice League headquarters, they enjoyed the cuisine of a German chef in the mansion's dining room.

In the southwestern part of England, at the HYDRA castle, a sparkling portal gradually took shape within the old castle.

Once the portal was fully formed, Russell was the first to step through.

After a long journey from the secret base in Germany, the Kree Monolith was finally brought to the castle that symbolized HYDRA's long history.

Just after stepping out of the portal, Russell saw Gideon's subordinates who were busy around him.

Upon seeing Russell's figure, the nearby HYDRA soldiers almost instinctively raised their weapons to open fire.

However, before they could aim, they saw Gideon and Stephanie stepping out of the portal behind Russell, as if they were his subordinates.

"If the high-ranking members arrive before I return from Maveth, keep them here and don't let them leave," Russell instructed Gideon, who appeared to be unchanged.

"Understood, sir!"

Gideon quickly responded.

"Alright, don't waste any more time. Activate the monolith!"

After hearing Russell's instructions, Gideon and Stephanie immediately ordered their subordinates to activate the devices within the castle to activate the Kree Monolith.

"You stay here and wait for me," Russell said, turning to Skye.

"Alright," Skye silently nodded.

One minute later, Russell stood in the hall with a collapsed ceiling, looking at the Kree Monolith in front of him.

The Kree Monolith, over two meters tall, was placed in a circular pit in front of him, awaiting the final activation.

As the surrounding devices slowly powered up, the seemingly sturdy Kree Monolith transformed with a splash into a black, oil-like liquid, instantly filling the circular pit.

After glancing at the pit now filled with the black liquid, Russell didn't hesitate. He exerted a little force with his feet and jumped directly into the pit.

With a soft thud, his figure disappeared in front of Skye, Gideon, and Stephanie.

Having grown accustomed to flying, Russell felt a strange sense of weightlessness as he jumped into the pit. Just as he was about to use his Kryptonian abilities to resist this relatively mild discomfort, the scenery before his eyes suddenly changed.

A gloomy sky filled with lifeless grayness stretched as far as he could see.

After exiting the space tunnel formed by the Kree Monolith, Russell immediately activated his flight ability to prevent himself from falling to the ground awkwardly.

Maveth!

Russell, floating in mid-air, first surveyed the surroundings and used his magical senses to detect any signs of life in the vicinity. Just as he had expected, there were no living creatures within dozens of miles.

After observing the surrounding environment, he slowly descended to the ground. Subsequently, he performed a magical trick. Golden light enveloped him, and after several layers of defense spells with different colors—golden, blue, red, green, and more—shone on him, he appeared like a lighthouse emitting dazzling beams.

Although it looked impressive, in reality, these layers of defense spells served no real purpose. It was all for show, a pure façade. Essentially, this golden light column was no different from an illusion spell, just slightly larger and longer-lasting than a standard illusion.

Russell used this magical trick to inform the Hive of his presence. He didn't want to waste energy searching for the Hive; it was better to let the perpetually hungry Hive come to him.

The Hive did not disappoint Russell. After about ten minutes, he saw a sandstorm appearing in the distant gray sky. This seemingly not very strong sandstorm was carrying sand and debris towards him rapidly.

To the naked eye, this sandstorm didn't look much different from those on Earth, except that the color seemed slightly dimmer. However, when Russell used his super vision's telescopic and microscopic capabilities, he furrowed his brow involuntarily.

Within the sandstorm, he saw a frail figure stumbling forward. However, that wasn't what disgusted him the most. It was the billions of parasites within the sandstorm.

These parasites were interspersed with the flying sand and stones in the sandstorm, or rather, this sandstorm was caused by these parasites.

Russell didn't deny that the Hive was a powerful Inhuman, but he couldn't bring himself to like the Hive's life form.

Parasites and the like were truly disgusting!

Upon seeing the parasites within the sandstorm, Russell didn't even think about observing the frail figure any longer. He immediately cast a series of protective spells on himself.

Various types of protective spells, represented by golden, blue, red, green, and other magical auras, continuously shimmered around him. While Russell didn't believe that the Hive's parasites could harm him, he didn't want these disgusting parasites to sneak into his body unnoticed.

For safety reasons, and mainly to prevent these repulsive parasites from coming into contact with him, he layered multiple layers of magic defenses without any blind spots.

Once he confirmed that even the tiniest parasites couldn't sneak through these layers of magical defenses unnoticed, he turned his attention back to the frail figure within the sandstorm.

It was a human!

Judging by age, he couldn't be more than forty. However, his current condition made him look like a starving refugee who hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.

While observing this man using his super vision's X-ray and microscopic capabilities, Russell saw the billions of parasites within him.

"Aren't you food?" Apparently, the Hive hadn't spoken for a long time, as his voice sounded hoarse.

"Of course, I'm not food!" Russell replied.

Realizing that the Hive hadn't immediately dispelled the sandstorm, Russell's hands moved quickly and naturally. He used a wind magic spell.

Wooosh!

A violent hurricane suddenly manifested, centered around Russell, forcefully dissipating the sandstorm created by the Hive.

Under the force of the hurricane, the weakened Hive was blown back over ten meters just before he could fall to the ground in a pitiful manner. As he was about to fall, a visible swarm of parasites emerged from his body, surrounding his frail form and allowing him to hover in the air.

Quite interesting! Although Russell knew that the Hive's true form was a collective of parasites, he hadn't expected the Hive to come up with such a use for them. Using the swarm of parasites to float in the air gave the impression that he was flying with his own power.

Although it sounded a bit awkward, that was the reality.

The Hive, floating in the air, didn't immediately attack Russell but instead regarded him with a look of confusion.

"You're not one of Hydra, and you're not an Inhuman!" The Hive asked Russell.

"Who I am doesn't matter; what matters is that you're about to die!" Russell replied. As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his right hand and casually pressed it downward.

Mirror Space!

Russell was now approximately thirty meters away from the Hive. In the past, he wouldn't have been able to forcibly pull the Hive into the Mirror Space from such a distance. However, even if the Hive had been three kilometers away, he would still have had a good chance of pulling him into the Mirror Space before the Hive could react. This had nothing to do with the Hive's own strength but was purely the result of magic's dimension-reducing effect on reality.

Unless the Hive also knew magic, Russell wouldn't have had any chance otherwise.

As Russell's right hand descended, a light, indescribable and almost like a glass reflection, instantly spread out.

In the blink of an eye, this light had expanded over several kilometers.

The outcome was clear!

After the Mirror Space had been cast without any doubt, Russell smiled as he looked at the Hive still floating in the air.

Although the Hive couldn't use magic, he quickly realized that something was amiss.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing much, just arranged a suitable resting place for you!" Russell's mood was quite good at the moment, and he explained to the Hive.

"Don't get too arrogant, kid!"

The Hive said with a displeased expression.

"Arrogant? No, this isn't arrogance, just stating facts."

Under the Hive's gaze, Russell raised both hands and made a peculiar magical gesture.

Material Folding!

Space distortion!