"Stark's Legacy: Betrayal and Power"

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Howard and Maria Stark were his adoptive parents.

He had never met them. Everything he knew about them came from hearsay. There was no real emotional connection.

But deep down, he was grateful. They had saved his life, and Tony had even raised him despite his condition.

With that kind of debt, forget Hydra—he'd take on the whole world if he had to. If being a supervillain was what it took, so be it.

Pierce's expression shifted. Ron had made himself clear.

Still, after a brief hesitation, Pierce made his decision.

"Ron Stark, this matter—"

"Enough. If you don't want to talk, don't talk. I already know what to do."

In an instant, Ron's expression turned ice-cold. He reached out and grabbed Pierce by the throat.

Crack!

Pierce's body went limp, his head tilting lifelessly to one side.

With a thought, Pierce's corpse vanished.

"So troublesome. If you didn't want to talk, just say so. I could've found out myself."

The moment Pierce called him "Ron Stark" instead of attempting to negotiate, Ron knew he wasn't going to talk.

Seriously, what was the point of putting on a tough act when you're just an ordinary man facing him?

Tough talk, weak body. Pathetic.

With his spatial abilities, he could absorb the body directly—along with all its secrets.

After extracting Pierce's memories, Ron quickly skimmed through them.

Emerging from his pocket dimension, he immediately created a long-lasting wood clone, shaping it into an exact replica of Pierce.

The clone possessed all of Pierce's memories. Even if Rumlow stood face-to-face with him, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Ron shook his head at "Pierce."

"What a waste. Howard's death had nothing to do with him."

"I was thinking we could work together, but now…"

"Pierce" rolled his eyes. "Come on, you're acting all disappointed, but you basically just hit the jackpot."

"We've just taken full control of Hydra within S.H.I.E.L.D. Why would we need allies now?"

"Damn it!" Ron grimaced. "Can you not use Pierce's face to make expressions like that? It's disgusting."

After a brief chuckle, Ron's expression turned serious.

"Alright, back to business."

"Use Hydra's network to investigate Howard's death. Find out who ordered the Winter Soldier to do it and identify everyone involved. Get me the full list."

"Second task—bring Hydra under control. I don't need to spell this out for you; you know what to do."

"Pierce" nodded. "Understood. Don't worry."

He had not only Pierce's memories but also a portion of Ron's abilities—including the knowledge to produce the super soldier serum.

With Pierce's identity and the serum in his hands, uniting Hydra was a no-brainer. If he couldn't handle this, he might as well dig himself a hole and bury himself.

"Pierce" watched as Ron left, then picked up the phone.

"Sitwell, bring Rumlow to my office. Now."

A short while later, both men arrived.

Rumlow entered first, fully geared up, ready for battle. His eyes scanned the office warily. "Pierce, what's going on?"

He had been prepared for an all-out confrontation with Ron. After all, Ron knew about Hydra.

And not just anyone—he was the adopted son of Howard Stark, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders.

There was no way he had a favorable opinion of Hydra.

Sitwell, on the other hand, was much calmer. The moment he saw the relaxed smile on "Pierce's" face, he knew things hadn't gone south.

If they had, "Pierce" wouldn't be looking this confident.

"Pierce" gestured for them to sit. "Relax, everything went smoothly. Take a seat."

Hearing this, Rumlow's tense posture eased slightly. He exchanged glances with Sitwell before sitting down.

"Pierce" took a sip of coffee, his smile fading.

"The operation went well, and Ron Stark has agreed to work with us. But… he has one condition."

Sitwell and Rumlow exchanged another glance but said nothing.

They weren't idiots. If their superior had called them in like this, it wasn't to ask for their opinions.

Clearly, there was a job to do—and that job had everything to do with Ron's condition.

So, they sat in silence, waiting for "Pierce" to continue.

"Somehow, he found out the real cause of Howard and Maria Stark's deaths. He wants us to track down the mastermind behind it and eliminate them."

"If we get it done, he'll work with us sincerely."

In Hydra—or rather, within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s upper ranks—the truth about the Starks' deaths was no secret.

Sitwell wasn't surprised. He adjusted his glasses and asked, "Pierce, are you sure he's telling the truth?"

Pierce nodded confidently. "I'm sure."

Even with that assurance, Sitwell still wasn't convinced. "What if he gets the answer he wants and then turns around to work with Nick Fury? What do we do then?"

Pierce let out a sigh. "Sitwell, we don't have a choice."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sitwell was caught off guard.

Pierce's expression remained firm. "Somehow, he found out about Project Insight. If we don't agree to his terms, the entire operation—right at its final stage—will be completely ruined."

"What?!" Sitwell's face turned pale.

Brock Rumlow, standing nearby, immediately tensed up. Project Insight was Hydra's key to global domination. If it got exposed, they wouldn't just be rogue agents anymore—they'd become the most wanted fugitives overnight.

More importantly, their grand plan, the one they had spent years preparing, would be utterly destroyed.

Sitwell opened his mouth, ready to argue, but then he caught a glimpse of Pierce's calm expression and froze.

Wait a minute—Pierce knew about this already, and he was still this composed. That could only mean one thing: he had a plan.

Sitwell took a deep breath, slowly regaining his composure. He even tugged at Rumlow's sleeve, signaling him to sit back down. Then, he turned to Pierce. "You already have a solution, don't you? What do you need us to do?"

Pierce smiled. "Nothing at all."

"Since Project Insight has been compromised, we'll scrap it."

"What?!" Sitwell was stunned all over again.

He felt like his brain was short-circuiting. What the hell was going on? Pierce had one conversation with Ron, and now he was willing to throw away years of work?

Who the hell was Ron? What kind of person could make Pierce abandon Project Insight so easily?

That was their years of effort down the drain!

Pierce glanced at Sitwell and Rumlow, his expression unwavering. "Because I got something even better from Ron."

"And what's that?" Rumlow asked instinctively.

Pierce's lips curled into a faint smile. He spoke a single word, and it sent shockwaves through both men.

"Super Serum."

"WHAT?!" This time, Sitwell couldn't stay seated. He jumped to his feet in sheer disbelief.

"You both saw it—John Wick, the Lizard-Man, and Happy, the Bear-Man."

Still in shock, the two men nodded dumbly.

Pierce was satisfied with their reaction. "And before that, there was Connors. This proves that the transformation can be replicated."

"So my deal with Ron is centered around the serum."

Rumlow's eyes lit up with excitement. "And this serum—no side effects?"

Pierce grinned and nodded. "No side effects."

"No brainwashing like the Winter Soldier, no personality amplification like Red Skull."

"It simply enhances the body, giving the user abilities corresponding to the serum. And, in some cases, even allowing transformation."

"According to Ron, even without transformation, the enhancements are significant. But if transformation occurs, power levels double—at minimum. In the best cases, they increase fivefold."

Sitwell and Rumlow finally understood. No wonder Pierce was willing to abandon Project Insight.

If they could get an unlimited supply of Super Serum, what use was Project Insight?

Hydra would have an army of super soldiers—endless waves of them.

With that kind of power, even the Avengers wouldn't stand a chance. Not the green monster, not the guy with the hammer—no one. They could overwhelm any opponent and eliminate them completely.

With this, Hydra wouldn't just take over the world—they would dominate it effortlessly.

So, Project Insight? Yeah, forget about it. Don't even bring it up. They didn't want the Super Serum to get jealous.

Amid all the excitement, Sitwell still managed to keep his rationality intact.

Unlike Rumlow, he wasn't just a fighter—he was the strategist.

That was why, in the original events, Rumlow fought to the bitter end, while Sitwell spilled everything the moment he was scared enough.

He wasn't a combatant, and his willpower wasn't as unshakable.

The curse of being too smart was that he always thought too much.

"Pierce… are you absolutely sure he's not tricking us?"

Pierce merely smiled. He didn't answer. Instead, he reached down and opened a drawer.

Sitwell and Rumlow's gazes followed his movements, and then they saw it.

A small glass vial, filled with a shimmering, flowing serum.

The two of them followed his movements with their eyes, and then they saw him take out a transparent glass vial filled with a flowing liquid...

A wild thought popped into their minds.

"...Could this be...?"

Pierce nodded with certainty. "That's right. This is Super Soldier Serum—a lower-grade version."

"Super Soldier Serum... a lower-grade version?" They both looked confused.

Pierce explained, "The lower-grade version doesn't grant transformation abilities, but it still enhances the body."

"According to Ron, it also has some degree of accelerated healing."

"I'm not entirely sure about all the effects, but we can test it."

Sitwell immediately stood up. "I'll get Ward to bring some people over!"

There was no way they'd test the serum on themselves. HYDRA had no shortage of people—why waste this opportunity?

Besides, this wasn't a death trap—it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Those guys were stuck at the bottom. Without this chance, they might never get anywhere in life.

They should be thanking us!

After Ron finished dealing with Pierce, he finally remembered—the assassination attempt on the President by mutants.

Then came the Mutant Registration Act. Suddenly, everyone was turning against mutants. Wasn't this straight out of X-Men?

So, in order to execute his plan, Stryker originally failed to assassinate the President but instead managed to kill the Vice President?

That way, the support he gained would be much stronger.

However, Ron didn't head straight to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

Right now, he wasn't ready to face Charles Xavier directly.

That old man could read minds at will—if he managed to scan Ron's memories, the whole world would be thrown into chaos.

Xavier was powerful enough to wipe out everyone in an instant.

Sure, Ron had the Mangekyō Sharingan and a vast mental capacity...

But even he couldn't hypnotize the entire city of New York in one go.

At most, he could use illusionary powers within a limited range—maybe a single neighborhood.

Beyond that? No chance.

So, he needed to get stronger. He had to travel to the Shinobi world and get his hands on Uchiha Madara's body.

With Madara's...

A corpse—then he could synthesize the Rinnegan.

At that point, he wouldn't just have the Mangekyō Sharingan without the corresponding abilities anymore.

With the Rinnegan, he could push beyond Kage level.

The Rinnegan was powerful enough to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, plunging the entire world into an illusion. That alone showed how terrifying its spiritual power was.

Even if he wasn't on Charles' level, at least he wouldn't be some weakling whose memories could be easily pried into.

And once his power surpassed 2000, then—Susanoo overlaid onto the Great Buddha.

At that point, aside from the Ancient One, no one else would be a match for him!

Then, he wouldn't have to be cautious when meeting others—it would be others who had to tread carefully around him.

With a teleport, Ron appeared in New York.

The moment Gwen saw him, her eyes turned slightly red.

"Is it all over? You're not hurt, are you?"

She had wanted to go with him, but Ron had refused.

She had been worried for a long time. If he hadn't called her later, she wouldn't have been able to sit still.

Ron smirked, hands on his hips. "How could I get hurt? There's no one alive who can hurt me!"

Gwen chuckled at that, but then she frowned and said in exasperation, "Be serious! I'm trying to talk to you properly here."

"This world is full of powerful superhumans with all sorts of abilities. If you run into one and don't know what they're capable of, you have to be careful—never underestimate them."

Ron suddenly pulled her into his arms. "I am being serious!"

"Don't believe me? If you don't believe me, come closer. You can't just look—use your hands, check if anything's missing."

Ron took her hand and pressed it against himself. Gwen's cheeks flushed red, but she didn't pull away.

"Hmm? What's this? Why are you carrying a gun?"

"A gun?"

"Yeah, this thing... ah—ah...!"

Under the night sky, a flock of startled birds took flight.

They glanced downward, looking for the source of the disturbance, only to find nothing.

What they didn't know was that, a thousand kilometers away, in a Malibu mansion—

A certain bedroom echoed with the lingering, embarrassed sound of, "Ah...!"

"....."