Capturing Pietro without letting him realize who they were was easy for World Serpent.
They found him in a bar, already acting like he'd lost his mind, clearly high as hell.
Then Blonsky walked up and dropped him with a single punch. A group of big men in black suits grabbed Pietro and hauled him away by force.
These Beastform Troopers had lived through life and death on battlefields for years. They'd killed more people than they could count. Even in plain clothes, that vicious aura couldn't be hidden. Ordinary people just had to stand a little too close and their legs would go weak from the killing intent. No one dared to interfere.
Even the small local gang that "owned" the bar didn't dare to show their faces. Even if they brought everyone they had, they still wouldn't be a match for these men in black.
"What did Pietro even do to get in this kind of trouble?"
Only after the Beastform Troopers were gone did Pietro's drinking buddies finally breathe again and start whispering.
"And you still dare to talk about it? What if knowing him drags us in too?"
"Who's Pietro? I don't know him."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, keep partying."
Pietro was taken to a warehouse. Then a bucket of ice water was poured over him from head to toe, shocking him awake on the spot.
It was freezing weather, and the water even had chunks of ice in it.
Only then did Pietro realize something was very wrong. Black suits stood everywhere around him.
Blonsky didn't show himself. He only passed along the boss's instructions.
So before Pietro could even ask where he was, a fist smashed into his face.
Then one Beastform Trooper beat him down without mercy. By the time it ended, Pietro couldn't even stand. He lay on the floor, groaning weakly.
"Tomorrow we'll come back and loosen your bones again," the Beastform Trooper said with a savage grin, then left.
The warehouse door closed. The pitch-black darkness made Pietro feel a fear he'd never known before.
And with his body soaked through, the cold stabbed straight into his bones.
"Isn't this kid going to freeze to death?"
Other Beastform Troopers watched the feed on a screen.
"Relax. In the second half of the night, once he can't take it and falls asleep, he'll release heat."
Blonsky had clearly figured out what the boss wanted. This was just "education" for the kid. As for why World Serpent had to do something this small, Blonsky figured it was because they were devouring HYDRA too slowly, and the boss thought they had nothing better to do.
With the newly joined White Queen, Emma, Zod had her join the plan to absorb HYDRA. As for Silver Fox Kara, Zod no longer thought much of her, so he didn't bother looking for her.
With telepathy, Emma easily cracked several HYDRA outposts. She brainwashed the HYDRA agents inside and brought them back, then Zod implanted thoughtwaves, subtly turning HYDRA into World Serpent.
Once this kind of thing got hold of a thread, it could follow the vine all the way down. There was no real defense.
HYDRA also had no concept of guarding against telepathy. In a world where mutants and Inhumans hadn't appeared, the only super soldier was Captain America, plus the Captain Marvel Nick Fury had once seen. Neither of them had ever displayed telepathy, so Emma moved through everything like she was unstoppable.
"Boss, I did so well. Do I get a reward?"
Emma went to Zod to claim credit.
"Oh? What reward do you want?" Zod asked.
Zod didn't mind. Emma really was capable, and she was naturally villainous. She had zero aversion to what World Serpent did. Jessica and Wanda couldn't compare, which was also why Zod hadn't told them anything about World Serpent.
Emma came from a rich family, a true heiress. She naturally didn't care about money or luxury. Besides, Zod paid her a salary, and it was high.
"Boss, then be my boyfriend," Emma said bluntly.
Zod looked at her calmly.
"I'm not interested in little girls."
"Little girls?" Emma looked down at herself. Even among early-maturing American girls, she was absolutely top tier, alright?
"Esdeath," Zod called.
Esdeath appeared out of nowhere.
"Of course she's a little girl. He's not interested in an unripe fruit like you," Esdeath said, leaning against the back of Zod's chair. She pressed her cheek to his, kissed him once, then mocked Emma.
Emma couldn't swallow that. She immediately hit Esdeath with telepathy.
Esdeath frowned, sensed the intrusion, then slammed back without any courtesy.
Emma's head snapped with pain and she stumbled back several steps.
"You have telepathy too!" Emma blurted out, stunned. She'd always thought this power belonged to her alone, and she'd been proud of it.
"She's Esdeath, Jormungandr's White Queen, my right-hand woman," Zod introduced.
After discovering Emma's telepathy mutant ability, Zod didn't hesitate. He directly added Emma's mutant gene into Esdeath.
He stripped out the diamondization ability and adjusted the mutant gene, giving Esdeath an extremely powerful telepathy, at least not inferior to Professor X.
Kryptonian soldier genes, plus mutant Iceman genes, plus telepathy mutant genes, and on top of that, Esdeath had been sunbathing all this time. She'd grown so strong she could beat the Hulk flat with her bare hands.
Emma looked at Esdeath, then at herself. Height, looks, strength, she was completely outclassed. And the title "White Queen of Jormungandr" was something Emma had locked onto from the start, only to find out someone already held it.
What she didn't know was that Zod never planned to give his Four Sovereigns to outsiders.
The Black Queen was a powerful artificial intelligence. The White Queen was Esdeath. As for the Black Emperor and White Emperor, Zod was still choosing, but there were too many candidates. He still hadn't decided.
"Well? Want me to tame her for you?" Esdeath asked softly into Zod's ear.
"No need. Emma is still useful," Zod said, shaking his head.
"Besides that reward, is there anything else you want?" Zod asked Emma.
"I'm keeping that reward. I will become Jormungandr's White Queen!"
Emma glared at Esdeath, then turned and left.
"I don't think I ever said I'd agree to her just because she becomes White Queen," Zod said, puzzled, looking at Esdeath.
"No. Her target is me now. Looks like she's treating me as the one she has to beat." Esdeath wore a troubled, I've-been-targeted expression. "What do we do, Boss?"
"You are not allowed to tame her," Zod said seriously.
/-\
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