Marvel:Cyber punk

Washington D.C.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Triskelion.

Director's office on the top floor.

Alexander Pierce was among the first batch of S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees recruited by several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders, including Howard Stark. He was not an agent absorbed from various departments at the time, but a young trainee cultivated by S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

To others, he was a true S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a pure background, strong professional abilities, and excellent organizational skills. He repeatedly achieved great feats for S.H.I.E.L.D., rising from a rookie to a senior agent, then to a high-level manager, and finally becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

He was a classic example of an inspiring success story.

What others did not know was that before he entered the academy, he had already been recruited by HYDRA. His professional abilities, leadership, and achievements all had the silent support of HYDRA.

He was the biggest beneficiary of Operation Paperclip, bar none.

Because the HYDRA members recruited under Operation Paperclip, due to historical reasons, could certainly not become high-ranking officials. However, their secret support for a S.H.I.E.L.D. insider with a clean background and pure origins was incredibly effective.

Pierce's ascent to Director was filled with dirty dealings behind the scenes, yet smooth sailing on the surface. His growth history was the process of HYDRA parasitizing S.H.I.E.L.D., and his status within HYDRA also continuously climbed accordingly.

As one of HYDRA's leaders, Pierce was naturally not satisfied with the status quo, this symbiotic relationship where S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were intertwined.

He wanted to represent HYDRA and completely devour S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing the glory of HYDRA to shine into every corner of the world!

More than ten years ago, an accidental opportunity allowed him to use HYDRA's resources to obtain a piece of information.

Dr. Zola, Red Skull's top assistant and a super genius, had not actually died. Instead, he had digitized his own soul and stored it in a supercomputer.

Pierce didn't quite understand these things, but he knew that this must be a genius invention of Dr. Zola, and it held immense appeal for him.

Afterward, he spent a lot of effort and resources, finally acquiring Dr. Zola.

In a secret HYDRA stronghold in Siberia, in a room filled with computer tape storage equipment that Pierce himself found outdated, a small display showed a pixelated face of Dr. Zola.

But it wasn't control, because Dr. Zola had become an electronic consciousness and truly still possessed a personality. He believed he was second only to Red Skull.

Dr. Zola was willing to assist Pierce, but not wholeheartedly; he seemed to have his own plans.

And he didn't seem to be very powerful; he appeared to be confined to those old computers and unable to transfer, which meant he was still a super genius but couldn't use more powerful computers to do more things.

However, he still gave Pierce many useful things.

For example, during World War II, after Captain America's birth and HYDRA's failure to obtain the Super Soldier Serum, he also tried to restore the serum's formula. Although he didn't succeed, based on the blood provided by Red Skull, he developed a degraded version of the serum with greater side effects but weaker efficacy.

But it was only an accidental experimental result, an irreplicable product.

And it was after that, Dr. Zola designed an ambush for Captain America and the Howling Commandos on a train, leading to Sergeant Barnes's fall into the abyss.

He himself was captured, then rescued by HYDRA remnants, and also obtained Bucky, using that serum to transform him into the first Winter Soldier.

Thus, Pierce gained control of the Winter Soldier and the HYDRA faction that had always controlled him, continuing to exploit him on behalf of HYDRA.

It also happened when he learned that Howard was bringing a batch of serum he had developed from Captain America's blood, which seemed to have significant side effects, and he didn't want to continue experimenting but intended to seal it away.

Pierce was tempted.

Big side effects didn't matter; he had mind control and exploitation techniques.

So he decisively ordered the Winter Soldier to attack.

However, Pierce, who was waiting for the results and expecting to succeed in his exploitation, never imagined that the news he received was that the Winter Soldier had lost control, not only failing to kill Howard but also fabricating evidence, delaying time, and even saving Howard.

Pierce blew up on the spot!

He simply couldn't understand how the tool he had exploited for over a decade could go wrong!?

But the fact was, the Winter Soldier had defected, and he was about to be exposed!

Pierce wished he could directly unleash all his power to strangle the Winter Soldier and Howard in their cradle!

But he couldn't.

Because the other party was Howard Stark, a Howard Stark who had become alert.

Although Pierce was Director, the other party was also an elder statesman and a super rich, super genius. Moreover, the other party had prepared earlier than him. He felt he had no chance of winning a full-scale war!

And even if he wanted to go to full-scale war, he couldn't mobilize most of his forces at once. After all, he was Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his subordinates were "S.H.I.E.L.D." agents, all of whom had missions to carry out.

Pierce, who had a smooth sailing life, lacked the courage to risk everything.

Instead, he had an impulse to abandon everything and just run away.

But he couldn't bear to part with everything he possessed.

At this moment, he hesitated for a moment, but also urgently dispatched his most elite HYDRA soldiers to try and capture the Winter Soldier, and continued to gather forces.

Predictably, it failed.

However, just as Pierce was anxious and somewhat ruthless, constantly oscillating between the options of "just running away" and "fighting it out."

He received a call from Howard.

Then he heard Howard tell him that he suspected a mysterious organization had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.

He didn't even mention the word HYDRA, nor did he show any suspicion towards him.

As an old agent who had been in the game his whole life, Pierce immediately probed for information without batting an eye.

Then, to his slight amusement and frustration, Howard actually told him that Bucky Barnes had completely lost his memory and remembered nothing, which was why he hadn't killed him.

Is that possible? Who do you think you're fooling? A three-year-old or Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

However, what made Pierce feel incredulous was that not only Howard, but also Nick Fury, whom he had personally promoted and who trusted him immensely, and several of his truly loyal subordinates who were with them, all told him that Bucky Barnes at least appeared to have amnesia.

People are always willing to lean towards their true subconscious thoughts, and when others' statements align with those thoughts, people are always more willing to believe.

Pierce was even more willing to believe that they were all telling the truth.

And when Nick Fury reported to him and faxed him a copy of Bucky Barnes's head CT scan results.

After he consulted with a professional.

He felt there could only be two possibilities: Howard and Bucky had fooled Nick Fury.

Or Nick Fury was in cahoots with the two of them to fool him.

The scales in Pierce's heart increasingly tilted towards the idea that Bucky's amnesia was real, that he truly couldn't remember anything related to HYDRA.

But a conclusion couldn't be drawn just yet.

However, all of this was enough to make Pierce, who couldn't bring himself to directly turn hostile, completely abandon the idea of flipping the table.

Of course, it was temporary.

Having a dual identity for too long, Pierce's greatest assets were patience and caution.

He would continue to gather his forces, keeping them close to him, always on guard against potential actions by Howard.

He would also continue to test Bucky Barnes to confirm if he truly had amnesia.

And once he confirmed it... Howard could stay, but Bucky!

Compared to the more formidable Howard, Pierce subconsciously hated Bucky more for bringing him all this trouble.

He had exploited him for over a decade, so there should be some feelings, right? Yet he suddenly betrayed him! Just turning hostile like that! It was simply cold, ruthless, and unreasonable! Completely lawless!—Well, this wasn't Pierce's true feeling, but it was roughly similar, a feeling of being greatly wronged.

For Pierce, it was a sleepless night. He was still conflicted about how to deal with Howard and Bucky; he couldn't make up his mind for a while.

Fortunately, Bucky and Howard weren't going to act immediately, so he still had plenty of time to hesitate.

Everyone had plenty of time to play slowly.

...

New York, Manhattan.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

A restricted, exclusive research area.

In the hallway, a vibrant, blonde young woman stood imposingly in front of a snack vending machine, her slender hands continuously pressing the machine's buttons, her pretty, round face puffed up with anger.

The huffing young woman didn't notice a tall figure approach her, asking with a magnetic voice, slightly amused:

"Snack stuck?"

"Yeah, this stupid machine... Oh, it's you!"

The blonde young woman spoke American English with a slight, almost imperceptible London accent.

And only then did she react, startling like a deer, and blushed slightly as she looked at the handsome man with shoulder-length hair and stubble beside her.

"I wanted this too, actually."

The newcomer was Bucky. He didn't use his Steel Kirin Arm to hit the vending machine, nor did he use his bionic eye to hack into it. He simply inserted another bill and bought the same snack, causing the previously stuck snack to fall down with it.

The blonde young woman quickly calmed down, took the snacks, and asked with a smile, "Are you done talking? Mr. Barnes?"

"Just call me Bucky. Your aunt and I are old acquaintances, you can actually call me Uncle."

"I'll still call you Bucky. You can call me Sharon... I never thought I'd see you alive; you're a legendary figure."

Sharon was actually a bit happy; this was one of the people she greatly admired. When she first saw him, she shrieked!

But 'Uncle' or anything like that, she always felt that the smile in the eyes of this living legend in front of her was somehow strange...

Of course, it was strange.

Bucky wasn't there to flirt, not in the least. This was still a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl.

Bucky was there to see his future sister-in-law, and he was trying to entice his sister-in-law... to call him Uncle, so that when he met his good buddy in the future, he would have the upper hand in terms of ethical jokes.

Of course, there was also his future sister-in-law, since the sister-in-law was the aunt of the second sister-in-law, which meant he was a generation higher than her. But if he was the second sister-in-law's uncle, wouldn't he also be the sister-in-law's uncle?

It sounds a bit confusing, but in short, Bucky's unspoken thoughts clearly indicated the identities of the sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law.

This blonde young woman in front of him was Sharon Carter, Bucky's good buddy's future first official girlfriend, Captain America.

But later, due to a series of coincidences and fate's whims, Captain America found someone new and forgot his old love, or rather, found his old love and forgot his new love, traveling back in time to live happily ever after with his first love, Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter's aunt.

As for why Sharon Carter, who stole her aunt's boyfriend and was then taken back by her aunt, was here and met Bucky.

That's all thanks to Nick Fury... he was too efficient.

Black Egg: Well, I'm really sorry about that, ma惹法克.

After Nick Fury left Howard's lab, he delivered Bucky's new identity the next day at noon.

Then he followed Howard and Bucky to this hospital in New York, funded by Stark Industries, where S.H.I.E.L.D. had a separate research area.

It was said to give Bucky a comprehensive, well-equipped medical examination.

Of course, it was still for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s benefit.

However, they met an unexpected person here.

Peggy Carter, who was in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations in London, and her niece, Sharon Carter, a rookie trainee who had just enrolled in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy not long ago.

Both groups arrived discreetly without notifying anyone, and by such a coincidence, they ran into each other, staring blankly for a moment.

Then, Peggy Carter, the strong-willed heroine Bucky remembered, who almost developed a romance with his good buddy but was thwarted by fate and eternally separated from his almost sister-in-law, was naturally greatly shocked and completely stunned upon seeing Bucky.

Then Bucky, Howard, and Peggy Carter, avoiding others, gathered together, just these three former comrades.

After a thorough explanation, Peggy finally understood the whole story. However, having left the United States several years ago and returned to her hometown of London, she didn't know much more about the situation in the United States than Bucky, who was an outsider. She couldn't help much either.

Putting Bucky's matter aside for now, both of them were also curious as to why Peggy Carter was here.

However, when they asked about it, Bucky was surprised to find that the heroic woman who had faced the Third Reich and HYDRA, enduring countless difficulties and obstacles without a single frown, now wore a look of melancholy.

Because for the past three months, she would occasionally suddenly forget what she was supposed to do, completely forgetting everything. If others didn't remind her, she couldn't remember it herself.

And it wasn't just once or twice, but once every few days.

Half a month ago, the results of her examination at a London hospital came back: she had early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Also commonly known as senile dementia.

It's not surprising when you think about it. Peggy Carter is a year or two older than Bucky and his good buddy, only slightly younger than Howard, and she's now reached her seventies.

Moreover, she not only fought on the front lines during World War II, but also joined S.H.I.E.L.D. after the war, continuing to fight on the front lines. She has suffered no fewer injuries than Bucky and Captain America, and she hasn't undergone any enhancements.

Now, her body is starting to give back to her, little by little, the hidden dangers that were suppressed by her previous overexertion.

This situation made Bucky sigh again, lamenting that time spares no one.