My family runs an adventurer's guild.

The remaining upper-class tycoons hide in bonsai-like eco-cities, barely surviving; while the ordinary lower class are left to fend for themselves in the polluted world.

And this is what will happen a hundred years from now (from the perspective of humans in the Marvel universe).

For human society, a hundred years is neither a long nor a short time.

It exceeds the length of most people's lives, and in the eyes of hedonists, it seems unnecessary to care about something so far in the future. But on the other hand, it is not so short as to be despairing.

Therefore, many people believe that as long as we seize this time, the Earth and human civilization may still be saved—the Soviet Union, one of the two superpowers in the world, did not have such a long lifespan from its establishment to its demise!

As a result, various "national salvation ideologies" began to spread in countries around the world, revolving around how to reduce internal friction, protect the environment, break free from the cradle of Earth, and conquer the stars and the sea.

From the far left to the far right, from rationality to superstition, from pragmatism to absurdity, from science to politics, it has it all.

Some have suggested raising lower-energy-consuming insects to replace cattle and sheep as the main meat diet, and promoting the use of mealworm protein products that have already appeared; some have called for strengthened cooperation among space agencies of various countries to colonize other planets before Earth's resources are exhausted; some hope to suppress traditional oil energy giants at all costs and accelerate the promotion of clean energy (Stark Industries has paid a large sum of money to sponsor this); some have called for abandoning outdated humanitarian ideas and forcibly sterilizing the rapidly growing "low-skilled population" in Africa and West Asia, or even re-adopting the ancient policy of mass killing to reduce the population, in order to alleviate the burden on the earth... Among these are those who are full of boundless love and those who are extremely anti-humanitarian, but without exception, they are all full of hostility towards the current mainstream systems of various countries.

Faced with such a widespread anti-establishment sentiment, even the power of traditional conglomerates and the hegemony of major media outlets cannot suppress the unrest in people's hearts—just as influential figures derive their voice from their followers, and are meaningless without them, the hegemony of major media outlets also comes from their supporters. If no one watches a program, and what is said only evokes disgust, then it will be like the state media in the late Soviet Union, where no matter how loud the voice, it will only have the opposite effect.

Subsequently, the concept of "political correctness" and the international order that emerged after World War II also suffered a great blow.

— Prior to this, the pursuit of freedom and opposition to authoritarianism had become the greatest political correctness for all humankind.

No matter what kind of behavior it is, as long as it is given the name of democracy and freedom, it has unquestionable legitimacy.

Conversely, any ideology or organization that advocates authoritarianism will be branded as the villain and condemned by all.

Indeed, at first glance, democracy and freedom seem much sweeter than order and autocracy.

Even the United States, with its supreme status, if it wanted to support a dictator for diplomatic and strategic reasons, could only do so under the guise of supporting a dictator, and could not deny the sanctity of freedom and democracy.

The problem is that, on the one hand, the result of the United States' forced promotion of liberal democracy after the Cold War has only brought countless despair and disappointment to the people of Third World countries, which has long since faded this halo; on the other hand, since "future facts" have already proven that this set of ideas and theories, as well as the political and economic system that comes with them, will only lead humanity to a dead end, why can't we try other options?

Especially when Captain America, the "righteous one of God," the beacon of freedom and democracy, and the symbol of the American spirit, stated in an interview that if the situation truly deteriorates to a certain degree, then "human survival is definitely more important than freedom; only by living is there hope"...

In Captain America's view, he was just stating a simple truth—he could sacrifice himself for justice and freedom, but he couldn't let all of humanity perish together, could he? If countries were destroyed and people were all dead, what meaning would freedom and human rights have?

He is Captain America, not Captain Freedom!

However, under certain malicious propaganda, it has become "Captain America supports giving up freedom for survival"...

Against this backdrop of societal change, the Hydra organization, which was originally universally condemned, found itself seemingly to have a legitimate hope of taking power.

Author's message

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P.S.: Beware if you're traveling to Canada or bringing back gifts from there. With the recent legalization of drugs in Canada, unscrupulous merchants are producing large quantities of laced cookies, gummy bears, cannabis cosmetics, cannabis honey, cannabis maple syrup, cannabis cola, cannabis ice cream, cannabis chocolate, cannabis wafers, etc., and are marketing them to Chinese tourists in an attempt to expand the addictive population. Although these laced food products have special labels, they are very well hidden and almost impossible to find without careful inspection. Furthermore, some are printed in French (Quebec speaks French), making them even more difficult to identify.

Some of them have a green leaf printed on them, which might make someone who doesn't know the context think they represent matcha flavor.

There have been cases of four-year-old children becoming addicted after eating drug-laced ice cream in the area. Local vendors don't care whether customers speak English or are old; they'll sell to anyone who pays—please check the foreign food products around you!

Chapter 284, Hydra Seeks Legitimate Power? (Part 2)

What kind of organization is Hydra?

Initially, it was actually a rather comical group of lackeys addicted to being slaves, but it has a rather long history.

—In the ancient times of the Marvel universe (imagine the geographical coordinates as the banks of the Nile River), the Kree once visited Earth.

At that time, their Cree Empire was embroiled in a protracted war and was short of troops, urgently needing to replenish its cannon fodder. So they sent recruiters to ancient Egypt on Earth to "recruit soldiers," just like the British Empire during World War I conscripted Indian soldiers to fill trenches in Europe.

However, as a cosmic civilization that rules over many planets, the Kree Empire, even if it were to conscript cannon fodder, would not be able to handle the task of primitive humans.

Therefore, the Kree recruiters genetically modified the recruited humans, endowing them with various special abilities and turning them into powerful warriors. Those humans on Earth who underwent genetic modification by the Kree were later called Inhumans.

The first Inhuman created on Earth by the Kree recruiter was named "The Hive".

To facilitate command, the Kree recruiter appointed "The Hive" as the commander of the Earth Inhumans' servant army, granting "The Hive" the authority to command all Inhumans, and any Inhuman would bow down to "The Hive".

Originally, according to the Kree recruiter's plan, once the Earth's Inhuman servant army reached a certain size, "The Hive" would control them to send them to the alien battlefield. However, fate intervened, and before the Hive and his Inhuman cannon fodder could set out, the Kree war ended, and the recruitment plan was immediately halted. The Kree recruiter who came to Earth vanished overnight, leaving only the Hive and the other Inhumans behind.

Thus, as the saying goes, "When the tiger is away, the monkey is king," the Hive, which can command all the superhumans, became the king of all superhumans, and even went further to usurp the title of god—the Hive could command the superhumans unconditionally, and the superhumans, in turn, conquered other ordinary people with their powerful strength.

Soon after, the increasingly self-inflated Hive began to indulge in extravagance and extravagant construction, building magnificent obelisks and palaces, emphasizing grand displays. His words were treated as absolute truth and recorded in books made of gold. All his commands had to be carried out without fail, or else corpses would litter the fields and rivers of blood would flow... Both superhumans and mortals were finding it increasingly difficult to endure the oppression of this tyrant.

Ultimately, the rebels managed to obtain a massive black rock that could connect to other worlds, and it was a one-way teleportation device. They presented the rock to the Hive as a gift, and as the Hive accepted it, he was teleported to an alien planet by the rock and could never return.

Thus, the tyrant's rule was overthrown, the era of the superhumans ended, and the era and civilization belonging to humanity truly began.

However, even though Hive was a cruel tyrant, he still had a group of confidants and loyal subjects who gained enormous benefits under his rule, but lost their former status with the collapse of the tyrant's rule.

Therefore, these tyrants' lackeys refused to accept defeat, formed a secret society, seized the Black Stone from the rebels, and then disappeared into the annals of history, constantly yearning to welcome back their master and once again rule the "world" (ancient Egypt)...

Unfortunately, they have been trying to turn the one-way portal on the Black Stone into a two-way portal since before the birth of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt, and naturally they have no way to bring back the Inhuman King "The Hive", let alone rule the world.

This group of lackeys who wanted to welcome back the Inhuman King "The Hive" was the earliest Hydra.

However, even Jesus, who was born more than three thousand years after the exile of the Hive, the king of the Outcasts, has seen his Christianity fragment into the numerous large and small factions that exist today. Hydra, having existed for five or six thousand years, has naturally also long since become a scattered and disorganized entity.

Their loyalty to the Inhuman King "The Hive" has also been gradually eroded by the passage of time.

—To give a similar example, if Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang were to be resurrected now and announce their intention to be reinstated…would most Chinese people be overjoyed and place them on the throne? Or would they feel that these two ancestors should be buried in a new coffin to avoid further embarrassment?

Similarly, most of the later Hydra members no longer worshipped the ancient Inhuman King "Hive," nor did they feel the need to find a master for themselves. They only remembered the goal of "ruling the world" and ambitiously took action to achieve it themselves. Red Skull, whom Captain America fought in World War II, was such a "modern Hydra" who had long forgotten the Inhuman King "Hive."

After the end of World War II and the Cold War, the trend of democracy and freedom prevailed and became an absolutely unquestionable political correctness.

However, where there is light, there is shadow. A segment of intellectuals, politicians, and high society figures who opposed both, and championed totalitarianism and order, began to secretly unite, using the ancient Hydra organization as a platform to become a new generation of Hydra. Meanwhile, those fundamentalist Hydra families who insisted on welcoming back the Inhuman King, "The Hive," were relegated to the sidelines, becoming a forgotten, non-mainstream force within Hydra.

In conclusion, the 21st-century Hydra in the Marvel universe is primarily a hodgepodge of right-wing activists advocating totalitarianism and order. They lack a single, universally recognized leader, instead being divided into numerous factions based on ideology, background, ethnicity, and religion. These factions are loosely connected and even somewhat antagonistic—their organizational structure is less robust than that of the European Union or the Holy Roman Empire, somewhat resembling a second international order.

As for the relationship between Hydra's mainstream members and the superheroes, it is similar to that between the Templar Order and the Assassin Brotherhood in Assassin's Creed—the former advocates order, but their methods are often evil and repulsive; the latter advocates freedom, but often leads to chaos that is difficult to control.

Hydra doesn't actually like supervillains who only know how to do evil, just as fascists hate gangsters.

It is evident that the vast majority of modern Hydra members are not a masochistic group formed out of a willingness to serve a certain Inhuman King called "The Hive," but rather a grand alliance of far-right extremists who advocate order and totalitarianism and are not tolerated by the world's mainstream ideology.

For them, the ideals of order and totalitarianism, and world domination, were what mattered; Hydra was merely a facade, easily altered and replaced. Just as for Hitler, the name of the Nazi Party didn't matter.

In the past, they resorted to all sorts of underhanded methods because their political ideals were too extreme to be realized through legal means. Now that global sentiments have changed dramatically, they naturally want to change their image and step forward as leaders or supporters of far-right parties to seize power through legal channels!

Hydra is just a label, much like the Ivy League alumni association. If he could legally become president, why would he need to carry out terrorist attacks?

As a result, Phil recently saw reports in the newspapers of many Hydra faction leaders openly advocating totalitarianism and order...

Chapter 285, Hydra Seeks Legitimate Power? (Part 2)

"...Order is the cornerstone of civilization; without order, there is no civilization..."

"...Why was Athens, the land of freedom, defeated by Sparta, the land of despotism? Was it a historical accident or a matter of fate...?"

"...Earth's resources are limited, and humanity's time is running out. We cannot support too many unnecessary low-quality people..."

"...Human rights are important, but not everyone is entitled to enjoy them..."

"...Only those who can create sufficient value are entitled to enjoy the rights of citizens..."

"...In order to perpetuate civilization, a powerful government capable of mobilizing any resources and eliminating any interference is a necessary evil..."

"...Let's restart the space race! Time is running out for humanity; we cannot afford to sit idly by and wait for our demise while we deceive ourselves!"

"...In order to break free from the cradle of Earth and head towards the stars, it is necessary to concentrate human and material resources and give full play to the advantages of the national system!"

"...Don't always ask what the country has done for you, ask yourself what you have contributed to the country..."

……

Looking at these statements in newspapers and magazines that seriously violated "political correctness," and the "emerging social groups" that published them, Phil couldn't help but curl his lip. "...Who are the masters behind these political performers? Whitehall? Dr. Lister? Or Baron Strucker from Eastern Europe? Gideon Malik and Alexander Pierce from the United States have come forward themselves...and some other far-right politicians from other groups?"

—As a detached outsider, Phil didn't have absolute hatred for Hydra, but he certainly didn't like it either.

It is important to note that although they share some similarities in political views, Hydra is absolutely different from the Nazis—as a loose global alliance that originated in Egypt, Hydra does not have the kind of racist ideology of "Aryan supremacy".

After all, the vast majority of Hydra members are not "pure-blooded Aryans" at all, and may not even be white.

Once the racist elements of bloodline are removed, Nazi theory is actually quite similar to far-right conservative ideology in the United States.

So, setting aside the racist and religious biases, and the now largely ignored "Inhuman King" Hive, the conflict between Hydra and its opponents, aside from the struggle for power and wealth, primarily revolves around a core issue:

Should human society pursue freedom or order?

This is a long-term game, not a black-and-white issue.

The debate surrounding this issue has continued since the dawn of human civilization on Earth.

In fact, this issue can be seen as a fierce clash between two major concepts: the sanctity of individual rights and the necessity for individuals to submit to the collective.

Absolute freedom leads to chaos, and absolute order leads to enslavement.

Of course, in most cases, neither those who support freedom nor those who support order ever intend to achieve absolute freedom or abide by absolute order; they only seek to make freedom or order the dominant force.

As the ruled class, we always desire more freedom, while as the ruling class, we always desire more order.

Thus, the issue has become a conflict between the rulers and the ruled.

The rulers who want to establish rules and the rebels who want freedom are always in a constant dynamic game.

—The unruly people and the tyrant are opposed to each other, in conflict, and irreconcilable enemies, yet they are forever entangled with each other.

From ancient times to the present, the elite classes of human societies have always possessed a mysterious self-confidence, believing that the order and rules they create can guarantee the normal operation, stable progress, and even world peace of a nation. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the masses are left to their own devices, requiring no thought and simply to be manipulated.

The common people, on the other hand, always have a worry that the elite class in power will put them in dire straits for their own selfish desires.

Ultimately, the elites' confidence was not wrong; otherwise, there would have been no successive emergence of large modern nations and various global organizations.

However, the common people's concerns are not unfounded. Throughout history, they have suffered greatly from the exploitation, oppression, and manipulation of the ruling class.

Perhaps it is because of the excessive emphasis on order in the modern history of the earth, which led to authoritarianism or even dictatorship, that humanity has many painful memories, such as Nazi Germany and the Khmer Rouge, causing many people to no longer trust order and to pursue freedom wholeheartedly.

However, excessive freedom leads to anarchy, rampant crime, and constant insecurity. Many who have just celebrated their freedom by overthrowing a dictator will soon regret it amidst hunger and turmoil, lamenting that "even the worst order is better than no order at all"...

Therefore, neither suppressing freedom with absolute order nor ignoring order with absolute freedom is the right approach.

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Returning to the Marvel universe, Hydra, which emphasizes order and totalitarianism, is indeed going to extremes, but the superheroes are not as righteous as they seem. Their vigilante actions are themselves undermining the authority of the law, which is why they are regarded as troublemakers by official agencies.

In fact, neither of them is entirely correct; they are just wrong to varying degrees depending on the circumstances.

Superheroes follow their inner belief in "justice" to fight for justice, but they also cause many great disasters.

For example, in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the artificial intelligence life form "Ultron," which caused chaos on the global internet and led to the "collective ascension" of hundreds of thousands of people in Sokovia, originated from an immature idea in Tony Stark's mind. He created "Ultron" without any approval, which resulted in harming both himself and others, forcing the Avengers to fight a global war.

The end result was chaos in global financial markets, with tens of thousands of people killed or injured from South Africa to Europe, and hundreds of thousands displaced. The losses were no less than those of the Battle of New York during the last Chitauri invasion—which was not an invasion by any foreign enemy, but merely a game-playing mistake by some playboy.

More importantly, even after this incident, Tony Stark did not receive any severe punishment...

At most, Stark Industries probably just paid the victims some money.

It's easy to imagine how unbearable this is in the eyes of the public: Iron Man has carelessly destroyed a country, wiping out the savings of millions. Who knows if he'll get itchy again in a few days and send New York to the heavens? London to the heavens? Tokyo to the heavens?

If it were a politician who caused such a terrible disaster, even if they were to escape punishment, they would at least have to step down and apologize. In more serious cases, they might even have to commit suicide to atone for their sins. However, when it comes to a superhero like Tony Stark who does whatever he wants, it seems that no one can do anything to him.

In the Marvel universe, it's impossible to use ordinary people's moral values ​​and legal awareness to restrain those superheroes who have get-out-of-jail-free cards.

This is a harsh reality that people have to face.

In fact, the vast majority of superheroes have various criminal records—from petty theft, robbery, and murder to instigating rebellions and overthrowing governments. Naïve heroes like Spider-Man, who believe in "with great power comes great responsibility," are extremely rare. Most people, after gaining superpowers, adopt the mindset of "with great power comes great desire"... Stealing a few wallets and seducing a few women are considered basic operations.

Ideally, they would be allowed to "kill and burn, then wait for amnesty" after committing crimes, much like the notorious bandits of ancient times.

What good are laws? China has always severely punished usury, yet the result is that from top to bottom, people "don't follow the law," and the stories of "Yang Bailao and Xi'er" never cease. What's the use of strict legislation when it violates social reality and cannot be enforced?

The reason some news media are so critical of superheroes is that, in a situation where the law is ineffective, they hope to use public pressure to force superheroes to restrain their actions. It's like the virtuous scholars of feudal times using all sorts of dramatic and impassioned methods—crying, dying, even bloodshed—to remonstrate with tyrannical rulers. But if the other party insists on ignoring their advice, then there seems to be nothing they can do but silently endure…

Aside from public criticism and moral pressure, it is difficult for ordinary people to use legal channels to restrict the actions of superhumans.

—This applies to both superheroes and supervillains.

Faced with such a large group of troublemakers, it's no wonder that S.H.I.E.L.D. came up with "Project Insight," aiming to use big data technology and supercomputers to identify those "harmful individuals," then use satellites to lock onto them, and finally use the weapon systems on the airship to eliminate them.

But in reality, setting aside the damaging effects of this reckless approach on law and morality, a serious investigation would reveal that the factors influencing each individual are far too numerous to understand or control, making it impossible to "prevent crime" in advance or to make accurate judgments and exclusions...

Therefore, Hydra could certainly use "Project Insight" to carry out targeted eliminations and purges according to a pre-determined list. However, to actually rule all of humanity with these three airships would be a complete joke, much like Japan's "final weapon" in World War II.

Putting everything else aside, once the three airships start killing, can they still keep it a secret? What if there are accidental casualties? With so many superpowered troublemakers all over the world, wouldn't they join forces to fight back and risk their lives? Or would they disguise themselves and sneak away?

If satellite tracking were truly that effective, there wouldn't be so many terrorists and serious criminals on the run!