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After leaving the New York Sanctum, George paused for a moment, then immediately cast a tracking spell:
"Reveal Direction – Stephen Strange!"
Although he was fairly certain about his suspicions, he wanted to verify them in person.
Following the arrow conjured by the tracking spell, he quickly arrived at the entrance of a hospital located twenty blocks away from the New York Sanctum.
It was 8 PM, and just then, Stephen happened to walk out of the hospital after his shift. However, he didn't immediately drive off, seemingly waiting for someone.
With a wave of his hand, George activated his supernatural ability, forcibly causing a speeding car to swerve and head straight toward Stephen, who stood at the roadside.
"Oh my God!"
Stephen froze in shock as he saw the car barreling toward him.
At that critical moment, a strong hand suddenly appeared, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him out of the vehicle's path just in time, saving him from harm.
"Careful, Doctor Strange," George said with a smile.
Snapping out of his daze, Stephen cursed at the car now speeding away, then turned to thank George.
"That must've been a drunk driver. People like that should spend a few years behind bars to sober up properly.
Thank you—if it hadn't been for you just now, I'd be needing my colleagues to operate on me."
"It would be a great loss to the medical world if a talented doctor like you were injured," George replied casually with a compliment.
Stephen, clearly pleased, broke into a broad smile and extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Stephen Strange, a neurosurgeon at this hospital.
Strangely, I felt a sense of familiarity when I first saw you. Have we met before?"
"Just call me George. I was once treated at this hospital, and I heard you're the most skilled doctor here," George replied, shaking his hand.
Although George had used a memory-erasing spell on Stephen, it hadn't wiped everything perfectly. Stephen's instinctive sense of familiarity was only natural.
"Stephen!"
At that moment, a beautiful woman emerged from the hospital and waved toward Stephen.
"Your girlfriend?" George asked deliberately.
Stephen nodded.
"Yes, my girlfriend—and fiancée—Christine Palmer."
"She's beautiful. Congratulations," George said, now certain of his suspicions.
In the cinematic universe, although Stephen and Christine shared a close bond, they hadn't reached the point of engagement. Later, due to Stephen being preoccupied with matters at Kamar-Taj and disappearing for seven years, Christine fell in love with someone else, and Stephen even attended her wedding.
"Thanks. Let's have dinner together—my treat. After all, you just saved my life," Stephen said, glancing affectionately at Christine as she approached.
George smiled and waved it off.
"Thanks, but I've got things to do. Maybe next time."
With that, he turned and walked away.
As he departed, he murmured to himself:
"So it really is true… Doctor Strange, I'm sorry about this."
Of course, he had no intention of killing Doctor Strange. Even if Strange's actions could lead to the destruction of the universe, the Ancient One would never allow him to be killed.
So, he already had another solution in mind.
That was to create an opportunity for Doctor Strange to get into a car accident before Christine's fatal crash in 2016, crippling both of his hands—just like in the movie universe.
Then, he would guide him to Kamar-Taj to learn magic and recover his hands.
This way, Doctor Strange could successfully become the Sorcerer Supreme, and perhaps the critical juncture of fate could be altered.
Meanwhile, in a desert somewhere on Earth—
A plane marked with the Hydra insignia slowly descended and landed.
"Sin, think of this as me repaying a small part of the debt I owe your late father. If you want a place in Hydra, you'll have to earn it yourself from here on," said Baron Zemo, one of Hydra's leaders, as he stepped off the plane accompanied by a squad of Hydra soldiers clad in combat armor.
Beside him, a cloaked woman lifted her hood, revealing her blood-red skin.
"Zola and Pierce—those fools should have obeyed me. I am the daughter of their leader. Yet, they acted arrogantly and were defeated by a handful of mutants.
Once I obtain what my father left behind, I'll rebuild our branch of Hydra!"
Her name was Sin—the daughter of Red Skull.
During World War II, in order to cultivate elite successors for Hydra, Red Skull selected a group of top Nazi officers and women meant solely for reproduction, sending them to a secret island in exile.
Unexpectedly, Red Skull himself had a relationship with a laundress, resulting in a daughter who inherited his genes—Sin.
However, due to his deep-rooted preference for sons, Red Skull never valued Sin and refused to acknowledge her as his heir.
After Red Skull's death, his remaining forces fell under the control of Zola, who had ostensibly been absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I've said all along that Project Insight was doomed to fail. Satellites floating in the sky are just easy targets. Zola and Pierce were far too full of themselves.
That said, based on our intel, those mutants aren't to be underestimated.
My advice: don't provoke them—at least not for now," Zemo cautioned.
Even Baron Stratt, who was obsessed with superhuman abilities, refrained from targeting that group after witnessing their power—especially their leader George, who had destroyed a helicarrier with a mere blink.
The Superpower Academy housed not only many mutants but also their greatest historical enemy—Captain America.
They would need to eliminate him eventually to achieve world domination.
But not yet. The enemy was far too powerful now. They would wait—wait for the perfect moment to strike when their enemies were most off guard and vulnerable.
Patience had always been Hydra's strength—striking with lethal force when the time was right.
"You think I'm as foolish as Pierce?" Sin scoffed, a flash of disdain in her eyes.
"This is the place. According to the information my father left behind, his bunker should be buried beneath us."
The two led the armored Hydra soldiers a short distance from the plane and began excavation.
Several hours later, a bunker sealed for nearly seventy years emerged from beneath the sand.
After blasting open an entryway and violently dismantling all remaining defenses, they reached the lowest level of the bunker, where a thick, blue-covered book awaited them in the main hall.
"It's here!" Sin exclaimed, stepping forward to seize the blue book and flipping through it rapidly.
Moments later, a chilling grin twisted across her blood-red, skull-like face—a grin terrifying enough to make children cry.
Her father had once searched obsessively for mythical artifacts. Besides acquiring the Cosmic Cube, he had also discovered a divine hammer that had fallen from the sky.
And within this blue book was a detailed record of the location of that legendary hammer—one that no one had ever been able to lift.
(End of Chapter)