Peter speculated that the one who had intervened to preserve the fragments of Earth-2149 was the Beyonder. However, he couldn't be certain which one it was, or rather, which iteration of the Beyonder's lore was in play.
In different continuities, the Beyonder's power varied wildly. In some scenarios, he was terrifyingly powerful, virtually peerless across the entire multiverse; in others, he might struggle to defeat a single Cosmic Cube.
But considering the immense power this Beyonder had already demonstrated, Peter estimated he needed to take the matter seriously. It was highly likely that this wasn't just any ordinary Beyonder, but the Pre-Retcon Beyonder.
However—what did that have to do with Peter's current situation?
The Beyonder might be orchestrating a Secret War, planning to hand-pick individuals from across the multiverse to participate in his little game of "house." But a very realistic problem was that Peter was currently quite busy; he didn't have the time.
"Even if I finish what I'm doing, I might not necessarily go, unless there's a truly unavoidable reason..."
Besides, this didn't necessarily look like an invitation for him. If the Beyonder really wanted to invite him, why send the Zombie Head over? For all he knew, it was an invitation for Deadpool.
As Peter thought this over, he tossed the Zombie Head, which was wrapped tightly in webbing, to Deadpool. "A gift for you, presumably."
"Damn, why are you dumping it on me—"
Leaving Deadpool to deal with the Zombie Head, Peter led the group back to the primitive altar where they had been earlier. Bob was still standing exactly where they had left him, looking for all the world like a well-behaved little boy.
Peter walked over and questioned him. "If we intend to infiltrate Hydra Mountain, what preparations do we need?"
Bob looked up with a face full of feigned innocence. "Huh? What preparations?"
"Codes, passphrases, passwords. Don't tell me you Hydra people don't have any of that."
Peter frowned at Bob, but after a two-second silence, Bob simply shook his head.
"The thing is... we actually don't need those things. Let me explain, sir. You see, we've been living quite comfortably in this godforsaken place. In decades, we've never encountered a single intrusion! This just proves the place is safe as houses. Since it's so secure, there was obviously no need to implement any software-level security measures..."
Bob's words seemed to hold some logic. After listening, Peter keenly picked up on a specific detail and pressed further. "You say there are no software-level security measures. So, conversely, there are hardware-level measures?"
In that moment, Bob felt his mouth had betrayed him, creating unnecessary trouble for himself. After some stammering, he reluctantly pulled out his Hydra pass. "No matter who you are, you must carry this to enter the interior of our base. Otherwise, it's a no-go..."
At this point, Bob seemed to suddenly remember something and unhesitatingly sold out his former comrade. "Even though our population here isn't large, the administrative planning is a total mess. Don't worry, you can just take that other guy's card. It'll pass the scanners just fine. No one will notice that you aren't actually the person on the card!"
In other words, inside the Hydra Mountain base, they didn't even bother to verify if the person matched the information on the card; as long as you had a card, you were in.
For a moment, Peter found it hard to believe this was true. He began to suspect Bob was intentionally baiting him into a trap. However, after thinking it over, he felt that Bob's current behavior was more like a clown than a Hydra soldier.
But Peter was more focused on other matters.
"That's not what I'm asking. I want to know about Hydra Mountain's defensive layout. What other detection methods do they have? Can they see invisible characters and such?"
Essentially, Peter wanted to know if he could infiltrate using his invisibility, and if Kitty could enter smoothly using her powers.
As for Deadpool, no one cared whether he could get in or how he would enter Hydra Mountain. He would inevitably just "respawn" at a random location anyway.
However, these questions exceeded the limits of Bob's knowledge. He was completely clueless. Seeing Bob's blank stare, Peter could only sigh.
"So, we still haven't gathered intel on their detection methods. If we had that, we might have found a way to circumvent them. Without intel, we're just relying on luck..."
Peter sighed helplessly. Meanwhile, Deadpool, having finally pacified the Zombie Head, couldn't care less about such things.
Only Kitty spoke up. "I might have an idea. It's just not exactly... uh, conventional."
Just as Peter was about to answer Kitty, Ka-Zar walked over and asked, "You intend to challenge these terrible people? Your so-called Hydra, our 'Creators'?"
Hearing Ka-Zar's words, Peter looked at him and asked in return, "So, you also feel there's something wrong with Hydra?"
Ka-Zar fell silent. As part of the High Evolutionary's experiment to restudy human evolution, Ka-Zar had lived in the Savage Land for a long time and had begun to doubt the divinity of these so-called gods quite early on.
Furthermore, he was the first to discover that these "gods" could bleed and die. He had seen the corpses of Hydra soldiers; he knew they were not invincible and that they merely viewed his people as pets.
And now, a group of outsiders had arrived. They seemed remarkably capable, knew the true face of the "gods," and were their mortal enemies.
This was the ultimate opportunity to rescue his tribesmen!
"There is a small path that leads directly to the vicinity of Hydra Mountain. However, it's still some distance from the main gate. If you intend to go deep inside, you will certainly encounter a major battle. You need me."
Ka-Zar knew ways to get as close to the main gate as possible, while Peter looked thoughtfully at Bob's identification card.
Nanobots rapidly converged, forming a new card that looked virtually identical to the Hydra ID, save for the face.
"There's another card on the body of the other Hydra soldier. Give that one to Kitty. Additionally, these might serve as substitutes..."
Peter was referring, of course, to the counterfeit cards he had fabricated with nanobots. "We have to test them first. If there are no issues, we can all infiltrate Hydra Mountain together."
Peter looked at the makeshift team before him and nodded.
"When that time comes, we shall liberate the Savage Land!"
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