Chapter 240: Captain America 2

"Alright! If we don’t change the future, this God of War will amass a ton of divine power, and the future will seem even more uncontrollable."

Changing the future with his own hands would violate Kamar-Taj's principles.

This is what was driving both Doctor Strange and Wong crazy.

“What do you want, Kratos?”

Atreus smiled—a grin in Kratos' suit always gave off a wild, vicious vibe: “What do I want? I really like Earth and humanity. If anyone tries to wipe out half of Earth’s population or something, I’ll take them down on behalf of Earthlings. That’s it.”

Doctor Strange’s eyes widened as big as they could go—he was truly shocked.

The intense shock left him speechless for a few seconds.

Finally regaining his composure, Doctor Strange knew Kamar-Taj was out of options.

Kamar-Taj certainly didn’t want aliens or gods ruling or enslaving humanity. But even more important than that was maintaining the temporal safety of Earth.

Kratos was dancing on the edge of Kamar-Taj's principles. Despite his flashy tricks and dazzling moves, he didn’t cross the line.

Among the Sorcerer Supremes, not even the open-minded Stephen or the previous Ancient One would choose to confront him.

After becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, if Stephen had one guilty pleasure, it would be using the Eye of Agamotto to travel through time and observe various events.

“I’ll just take a peek at the past and future, no harm in that, right?”

Stephen, of course, knew that sooner or later, Thanos—the villain who would wipe out half of humanity—would appear.

There was already no reason for Kamar-Taj to fight Kratos, especially since Kratos was willing to take on Thanos directly.

The fastest way to turn two people with different views into close friends is to give them a common, deadly enemy.

Anyone who’s down to fight Thanos is my buddy, thought Stephen Strange.

Doctor Strange’s face suddenly lit up with a bright smile. He stood up and cryptically said, “The stage is too empty, isn’t it?”

Atreus grinned. “Relax, none of the main actors will be missing.”

The main actors won’t die, but the extras? No guarantees.

Doctor Strange, with Wong in tow, turned and left.

Wong, completely confused, didn’t dare to ask on the spot. After they left, Doctor Strange explained, “Kratos is willing to help Earth face a being at least as powerful as a Skyfather-level alien, so for now, I’ll consider him Kamar-Taj’s closest ally.”

Wong shivered.

He didn’t dare ask too much about the future, but he knew very well that it took a great deal of effort for the current Sorcerer Supreme to drive off Dormammu, another Skyfather-level being.

Since they’d formed a kind of alliance, Stephen wouldn’t stand in Atreus’ way.

And so, amidst the thrilling symphony at the Metropolitan Opera House, a battle that shook all of America unfolded at SHIELD headquarters.

The opera house audience appeared to consist solely of Atreus and the women around him. They listened to music while watching events in another dimension.

As the God of War, Atreus could easily see every war unfolding on Earth.

Atreus shared this divine vision with them, allowing them to clearly witness Captain America personally infiltrating SHIELD headquarters, taking over the communications room, and broadcasting a public message to all SHIELD personnel:

“I am Captain America!”

“I know you’ve heard a lot about me over the past few days, and some of you have even been ordered to hunt me down.”

“But I think it’s time I told you the truth.”

“SHIELD has been infiltrated by Hydra.”

“Their leader is Secretary Alexander Pierce.”

“The Insight Project and the strike teams are also part of Hydra.”

“I don’t know how many of them there are, but they’re here, likely right beside you.”

“They almost succeeded in gaining absolute control.”

“Director Nick Fury’s death was just the beginning.”

“If you launch the Helicarriers today, they will have the power to kill most of the people standing in their way.”

“Unless we stop them.”

“I know this is hard to do, but freedom has always come at a high price…”

“Even if I’m the only one left, I’ll fight to the end.”

“But I don’t think I’m fighting alone.”

Whether this speech was rehearsed or from the heart, Captain America’s public broadcast elevated the entire situation.

At that moment, Hydra’s conspiracy was exposed, and Pierce decisively put his plan into motion.

However, the biggest difference from history was that he lacked a key player.

He could still have his agents quickly seize the SHIELD council and take control of the powerful members, but he was short one key enforcer: Crossbones.

As he ordered the Winter Soldier, Bucky, to attack the SHIELD airstrip and prevent pilots from launching Quinjet support for Cap, Black Widow easily stormed the surveillance room.

Hundreds of surveillance screens appeared before her, and to her surprise, she could see red glowing auras surrounding those who were Hydra agents. She quickly announced over the intercom: “Attention! Yelena Barton is Hydra. XXX is, and XXXX too…”

Soon, Black Widow even took control of the holographic projectors scattered throughout SHIELD and loudly declared, “Attention, all SHIELD personnel! Those marked with red light are enemies. Take them down immediately.”

This move caught Hydra by surprise.

SHIELD wasn’t just a bureaucratic organization. Even the personnel working basic desk jobs were equipped with a handgun, at least.

When Hydra agents were marked, some tried to bluff their way through, but when they saw others heeding Cap’s call and pulling weapons on them, the Hydra agents predictably fought back, opening fire indiscriminately.

Though SHIELD had been heavily infiltrated, its own agents still outnumbered the Hydra spies.

When everyone can fight and both sides are skilled in combat, naturally, the side with more people wins.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Gunshots rang out like popcorn popping, echoing in nearly every corner of SHIELD.

Fortunately, Black Widow’s control over the holograms was limited. She couldn’t manage hundreds or thousands of different locations at once. Even so, after just one confrontation, Hydra lost at least a hundred agents.

This forced Hydra to take desperate measures and rush the Helicarriers.

On the other side, as the Winter Soldier began slaughtering the pilots attempting to launch their planes, Iron Man arrived.

“Hey! Kid, taking out unarmed people isn’t exactly heroic!”

(End of Chapter)