"Who exactly are you people?"
In the midst of their entangled clash, Tony realized that, in his current state, he truly had no way of dealing with the man before him—Pierce.
Pierce, too, seemed to be merely trying to stall him so that the armed personnel on the ground could retreat. He showed no intention of actually fighting Tony to determine a victor.
Tony simply stopped his largely ineffective attacks for the time being and tentatively began talking with Pierce.
Pierce let out a noncommittal chuckle. "That's something I can't tell you."
As for Tony no longer continuing the fight, Pierce naturally had no objections. After all, the main purpose of showing up here was to ensure the smooth withdrawal of his Hydra agents. Defeating Tony here would bring Pierce no benefit whatsoever.
On the contrary, Tony's talents were extremely important in Pierce's eyes. He was someone who could be put to use and play a huge role in Hydra's plans.
For example, the so-called Insight Project carried out by S.H.I.E.L.D.—but secretly controlled by Hydra. If Tony served as a technical consultant, the design and construction of the Helicarriers could be greatly accelerated.
And then there was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research into various supernatural phenomena—Game Cartridges and Gaia Memories. Tony, as a consultant, could also significantly advance that work.
Once S.H.I.E.L.D. made progress in researching these things, wouldn't that essentially mean that Pierce's branch of Hydra would also gain access to those research results?
Thus, in Pierce's eyes, Tony's existence at this moment was absolutely beneficial and in no way harmful—to himself and to Hydra as a whole.
The Mechanical Memory Tony possessed had no compatibility with Pierce's Weather Memory, so Pierce naturally had no intention of going all out in a life-or-death struggle with him.
"Since you don't want to reveal your identity or origins, then I'll ask you another question—where did your Gaia Memory come from?" Tony shrugged and asked.
In his heart, he had already basically concluded that Pierce was probably not a member of the mysterious Foundation X. After all, based on Tony's own understanding and personal experiences, although this so-called Foundation X was extremely mysterious, its members would always openly state their identities whenever they appeared, clearly telling the people they contacted that they were members of Foundation X.
When that man who called himself Eternal delivered the Mechanical Memory and the Lost Driver to Tony, he had been secretive and never revealed his face—but when it came to identifying himself as a messenger of the Foundation, he had held nothing back, almost as if he were afraid Tony wouldn't understand.
Hearing this, Pierce's heart stirred. He looked at the Memory and Driver at Tony's waist. "Then who gave you your Gaia Memory?"
Pierce had already more or less confirmed that the way Tony obtained his Gaia Memory was the same as his own—and the Punisher Frank's.
After a moment of silence, Tony spoke. "My Mechanical Memory was delivered to my home by a mysterious guy who called himself Eternal.
"Now you can tell me where your Gaia Memory came from, right?"
A flash of just as I thought passed through Pierce's mind. With a meaningful tone, he said, "My situation is the same as yours. This—"
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire came from the direction where the Hydra agents were retreating, interrupting Pierce before he could finish.
It seemed that the Hydra squad had run into some trouble along their escape route.
Pierce's expression tightened, and he immediately rushed toward the direction the Hydra agents had gone.
"Nick Fury, is that your support team arriving?" Seeing this, Tony guessed that it might be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coming to provide backup and immediately contacted Nick to confirm.
"No. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support team is still on the way. They haven't engaged the enemy," Nick replied after a brief silence, having confirmed with the support unit, his tone carrying a hint of confusion.
"Then that's strange. Who on earth is blocking the retreat of this mysterious organization's armed personnel?" After hesitating slightly, Tony followed Pierce as well, wanting to see exactly what was going on.
Pierce and Tony followed the rapidly dwindling gunfire to the scene, only to witness the Hydra agents being completely overwhelmed in a one-sided massacre.
A group of figures with the visual style of ninja characters straight out of a game were attacking the fully armed Hydra agents.
Although these Hydra agents were well-equipped and highly trained, their weapons were completely ineffective against this group of ninjas.
On the contrary, once a Hydra agent was struck by one of the glowing throwing darts hurled by the ninjas, they immediately lost all ability to move, collapsing to the ground like corpses.
Seeing the style of these ninjas, Tony's first thought was the Bugster Virus.
"Could it be players sent by Dan from Seito Hospital—other users of Player Drivers—dealing with the people who kidnapped Li Hua?" Tony quickly scanned the surroundings and discovered Kamen Rider Fūma not far away, wearing a Player Driver with a Game Cartridge inserted at his waist. He silently speculated.
"Who exactly are you? Do we have some kind of grudge between us? Why are you attacking my subordinates?" Pierce asked, his tone filled with apprehension.
After all, not long ago he had been thoroughly beaten by Genm, and now, when facing beings that used similar Game Cartridge powers, he instinctively felt a few degrees more fear.
Fūma noticed Pierce and Tony flying over, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two. After confirming their identities, he spoke to Pierce.
"You're the holder of the Weather Gaia Memory, right?
"Actually, I have no grudge against you. I was simply given a task—to come and greet you."
"Greet me?!" Pierce's mouth twitched.
Is this how you greet someone? Showing up and knocking everyone down first?
Wait—this style felt oddly familiar. And combined with the use of Game Cartridge powers…
"Who gave you this task?" Pierce asked cautiously.
Fūma replied indifferently, "I'm here on behalf of Foundation X, to deliver their regards. They want you to know that you may freely use the power of the Weather Memory—but you are not to interfere casually in matters that the Foundation does not want you involved in."
"These people's consciousnesses, I'll be taking them," Fūma said, pointing at the Hydra agents who had been wiped out in just a short time. "Consider it a warning—a greeting.
"And also a small, insignificant price to pay."
"Matters I shouldn't interfere in? You mean my actions against the Bugster Virus?
"So the Bugster Virus is also under the control of Foundation X?" Pierce's mind raced with speculation and calculation.
"Did you understand what I said?" Fūma asked impatiently when Pierce failed to respond for a long while.
Pierce's expression shifted repeatedly. In the end, he still chose not to make a move against Fūma. The main reason was that he had absolutely no confidence—being brutally beaten by Genm had left him with considerable psychological trauma.
Moreover, when it came to the now even more unfathomable and mysterious Foundation X, he simply lacked the resolve and courage to confront them head-on.
"I understand the Foundation's meaning," Pierce said in a low voice.
"I've delivered the message. My task is complete. What happens next has nothing to do with me. Let's part ways here," Fūma said casually, waving his hand. Then, together with the ninja legion, he transformed into points of light and disappeared.
(End of Chapter)