Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 355 Becoming the Hydra Supreme

The air in the conference room froze instantly.

The moment Stephen Fang pushed open the door, all the Hydra members froze on their faces—some instinctively reached for the pistols at their waists, some stood up abruptly, and some even knocked over chairs, stumbling back a few steps in a sorry state.

"Stephen Fang?!"

"How did he find this place?!" Another key member's face turned pale, and his voice trembled.

“Hail Hydra,” Stephen Fang repeated softly, a playful smile playing on his lips.

Dead still
The Hydra members looked at each other, completely bewildered by the situation.

“What…what did you say?” Baron Strucker’s voice was hoarse, as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world.

“I said,” Stephen Fang walked slowly toward the conference table, each step seeming to tread on everyone’s nerves, “Hail Hydra.”

"This is impossible!" a Hydra agent finally shouted. "How could you possibly be one of us?!"

“Why not?” Stephen Fang tilted his head, his smile growing even deeper.

"The 'Hydra' you follow is just the tip of the iceberg of the real Hydra."

"And I," he looked around at everyone, the light of his Sharingan particularly eerie in the darkness, "existed long before the birth of Hydra, a thousand years ago?"

"What?!" Baron Strucker stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“This…this is impossible!” Alexander Pierce gritted his teeth. “Hydra has only existed for a hundred years, how could you possibly…”

“A century?” Stephen Fang scoffed. “You really think that Hydra originated from that arrogant puppet, Red Skull?”

"The real Hydra had been lurking in the shadows long before the birth of human civilization, in the secret rituals of ancient Egypt, the dark gatherings of the Middle Ages, the Red Skull during World War II... and even earlier."

"And I am its witness and its executor."

"For thousands of years, I have been waiting for an era that can truly embody the will of Hydra."

“And now—” His gaze swept over everyone, his voice low and authoritative, “the time has come.”

The Hydra members in the conference room were completely shocked.

Baron Strucker's breathing quickened, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism, while Alexander Pierce's fingers trembled slightly, whether from fear or excitement, it was hard to tell.

The other Hydra core members looked at each other, as if digesting this truth that was enough to overturn their understanding.

"It seems you don't quite believe what I'm saying, but use your brains. I could destroy an entire block with a wave of my hand. Why would I waste time lying to you?"

Stephen Fang smirked, "Bucky's death was my stepping stone to Tony Stark. Only by avenging him and killing the Winter Soldier can I become one of Tony Stark's men."

"Now, the whole world is wary of superheroes, Tony Stark has been isolated by most of the heroes, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power has been reduced to a freezing point."

"I am the one who brought all this to light, am I not?"

His words left everyone stunned. After hesitating, Alexander finally spoke up: "I... I still can't believe what you're saying. How can you prove it?"

Stephen Fang twisted his neck. "Then how do you prove you're the legitimate Hydra? Believe me, crushing you bunch of useless idiots who come up with these lousy ideas in the gutter is no different than crushing ants. The only reason I'm talking to you here is because it's a pity about my Hydra business."

"Otherwise, whether it's an anonymous call to Nick Fury to start an investigation, or me just killing you all, it won't take much effort."

Everyone held their breath, knowing that Stephen Fang was absolutely right. After a long silence, a man with a thick head of hair broke the silence.

“So…” Congressman Stern Stein’s voice was hoarse, “your power… is a product of Hydra’s ancient heritage?”

“No.” Stephen Fang shook his head slightly. “My power is Hydra itself.”

Dead still
"It seems you don't quite believe it."

Stephen Fang said, extending his hand to Alexander Pierce, a senior advisor at S.H.I.E.L.D., "Hidden Shadow Snake Hand!"

Suddenly, a jet-black snake emerged from his sleeve. Its body was covered with strange scales that shimmered with a cold light in the dim light. It flicked its bright red tongue and charged straight at Alexander Pierce like a bolt of lightning!

Alexander Pierce turned deathly pale instantly. His previously composed face was now filled with terror. His eyes widened, and he instinctively tried to dodge backward, staggering and nearly falling to the ground.

However, the snake was extremely fast, and in an instant it coiled around his neck, its body constricting him tightly, causing Alexander Pierce to let out a painful groan.

Viper, the combatant behind Alexander Pierce, reacted quickly. Her eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, she drew her dagger and slashed fiercely at the snake's body.

With a "snap," the sharp blade of the dagger severed the head of the Shadow Serpent Hand.

The snake's head fell to the ground, splattering blood everywhere. Everyone thought the crisis was temporarily over, and they gripped their weapons tightly, ready to fight Stephen Fang to the death.

But then, Stephen Fang calmly muttered, "Cut off one head, and two more will grow to replace it."

His voice seemed to possess a mysterious magic, echoing throughout the conference room.

As he finished speaking, the severed snake head suddenly began to split apart on the ground. The original snake head instantly split into two, and the newly formed snake heads also flicked their tongues, looking ferocious.

The two snake heads then split again, becoming four in the blink of an eye!
The snakes' heads kept writhing, and their bodies grew and extended rapidly. Soon, the entire room was filled with a dense swarm of venomous snakes!

Poisonous snakes slithered and hissed across the ground, heading towards the Hydra members.

The crowd stared in terror, some trying to dodge, others frantically waving their weapons, but they were powerless to stop the venomous snake from approaching.

The room was filled with chaos and fear, with screams from the crowd and the hissing of venomous snakes mingling together.

"Da~"

Stephen snapped his fingers, and the crisp sound instantly pierced through the noise.

In an instant, all the venomous snakes froze as if under a spell, then slowly dissipated as if they had never existed.

The Hydra agents in the room seemed to snap out of their daze. They were panting heavily, their foreheads covered in sweat, and their hands trembling as they put down their weapons, all looking at Stephen Fang.

At this moment, the fear in their eyes had been replaced by shock and awe, and they no longer dared to doubt what Stephen Fang had just said.

“Now,” Stephen Fang smiled slightly, “is anyone still having doubts?”

After a few seconds of silence, Baron Strucker slowly knelt on one knee, his voice low and reverent:
"Hail Hydra!"

Immediately afterwards, Alexander Pierce, Hydra scientist Arnim Zola, Viper, and all the other Hydra members present... knelt down, their eyes filled with a mixture of awe, fanaticism, and an indescribable fear, and shouted in unison:
"Hail Hydra!"

Stephen Fang nodded in satisfaction, turned and walked towards the door, leaving behind only a meaningful remark:
"Remember, the real Hydra... has only just awakened."

(End of this chapter)