Chapter 19: New Arrangements

Looking at the charred lump on the ground that was no longer recognizable, Russell couldn't help but sigh softly.

Ever since his transmigration, he had been maintaining a highly vigilant state of mind.

Only now could he finally relax his tense nerves a little.

The feeling of no longer having the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head was truly refreshing.

After calming his somewhat excited emotions, Russell turned and walked towards Allen and the others.

Although Allen and Wilson had witnessed Russell killing the mutated Jack, they still couldn't quite understand how he had done it.

To be precise, they couldn't comprehend how Russell's eyes had suddenly gained the ability to emit such terrifying heat rays.

"Doctor, tally up how many people and supplies are left in the base. We have a lot of work to do next."

Although Dr. Wilson was the highest-ranking official in the base, no one felt it was inappropriate for Russell to assign tasks to him now.

"Alright, I'll give you the detailed data later."

After saying this, Dr. Wilson left with the surviving researchers and soldiers.

Although Russell hadn't explicitly stated it, Dr. Wilson had already guessed his intentions.

With Jack's death, the secret agreement between Russell and Wilson was about to enter its second phase.

After Dr. Wilson and the others left, Russell finally spoke to Allen and Heather, "From now on, you're both free."

Although Allen and Heather were second-generation Abomination soldiers with considerable combat abilities, their strength wasn't indispensable to Russell.

If they had rich combat experience, Russell might have tried to recruit them, but as they were now, they hadn't yet demonstrated that value.

"Are you kicking us out?"

The first to respond wasn't Allen, who had become Russell's little fanboy, but Heather, who usually didn't speak much.

At this moment, Heather looked like a little kitten about to be abandoned by its owner, gazing at Russell with pitiful wronged eyes.

"I'm not kicking you out, I'm setting you free. You can do whatever you want. No one will force you to do things you don't want to do anymore, like the training and fighting you dislike so much. You never have to do those things again..." Russell patiently explained.

According to his plan with Dr. Wilson, they would soon completely break away from Hydra.

Of course, while escaping, they would also take some things that belonged to Hydra.

This meant that from the moment they left the base, they would officially become enemies of Hydra.

Hydra's pursuit wasn't like that of ordinary gangs. They had all kinds of professionals and countless elite agents and soldiers.

More importantly, Hydra could now use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources to hunt them down.

So, for the safety of Allen and Heather, Russell didn't plan to drag them into this mess.

After hearing Russell's explanation, Heather spoke earnestly, her eyes fixed on Russell with unwavering determination, "If that's the case, I choose to keep following you! I'm just an average girl... I'm not good at fighting, and I don't have much self-defense ability. So, for the sake of my safety, I plan to keep following you!"

None of the three men present believed her reasons.

Like come on, she's a second-generation Abomination soldier. In her transformed state, she can toss military Humvees around like toys.

She might not be great at fighting, but even without combat skills, she could easily take out many professional soldiers...

'It's already a miracle if you don't cause trouble for others. How can you claim to have no self-defense ability?'

If Heather could use such flimsy reasons to stay, then Allen, as Russell's little fanboy, naturally wouldn't fall behind and immediately stated his choice, "I also plan to keep following you. There's still a lot I need to learn, so I won't leave until I've learned everything, sir!"

"Sigh... Just don't regret it later..."

After saying this, Russell glanced at the bald Jasper and led him to a meeting room in the base, "Take a seat. No need to be so formal."

At this moment, Jasper no longer had the confident demeanor he had initially. Instead, he followed behind Russell like a little lackey.

After pouring coffee for himself and Jasper, Russell sat on the sofa opposite Jasper, looking at the high-ranking Hydra officer with interest.

Jasper, who had become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and was later recruited by Hydra, naturally had his own outstanding qualities.

Otherwise, why would both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, two organizations teeming with talent, take an interest in this combat-inept bald man?

When Jasper saw that Russell had brought him alone to the meeting room and even poured him a cup of coffee, he knew Russell must have new plans for him.

Jasper: "Uh, just say what you need to say. I'll agree to anything..."

Since Jasper was so straightforward, Russell got straight to the point, "I like dealing with smart people. It saves time and effort... That's right, I have a new task for you. I want you to act as if nothing happened and return to Hydra headquarters to continue doing what you've always been doing."

Jasper immediately understood that Russell wasn't sending him back to Hydra to do nothing, "You want me to go back and be a double agent?"

"To be precise, not a double agent, just my spy within Hydra... You are Hydra's spy in S.H.I.E.L.D., and now you'll be my spy in Hydra. So, that's not really being a double agent."

Russell continued, "Of course, if you need it, I can also pay you a salary, just like Hydra. That way, you can collect paychecks from S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, and me... three salaries."

After hearing Russell's explanation, Jasper took off his gold-rimmed glasses and smiled wryly, "I shouldn't have come here in the first place. I suppose I don't have the right to decline, do I?"

Perhaps because he had been with Hydra for so long, Jasper instinctively lumped Russell together with Hydra's people.

"You guessed wrong this time. You do have the right to refuse. If you don't want to do it, you don't have to. I don't like forcing people. You can also do as you said earlier and quit Hydra. As for how to handle it, I think you'll have your own ways."

Having Jasper return to Hydra as his spy would indeed give Russell access to a lot of insider information.

But this insider information wasn't indispensable to him because if he remembered correctly, Hydra wouldn't last much longer.

"I'm starting to doubt whether the '19 years old' on your profile is accurate..." muttered Jasper.