"No, that's impossible!"
As soon as the thought appeared, she immediately dismissed it.
It was just too unbelievable.
Before coming here, she had already checked Raymond's file. She knew that he had only been recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. because of Project TAHITI and that he was nothing more than a psychological expert.
Besides the file, she had also done a thorough investigation on Raymond, tracing his life from childhood to the present.
She was sure that Raymond had no background and wasn't anyone important in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Could someone like him, who accidentally got dragged into the extraordinary world, really know about Clairvoyant?
She just couldn't believe it.
"He must be bluffing. That has to be it!" Raina convinced herself.
"Miss Raina?"
Seeing that Raina had been silent for a while, Raymond smiled slightly and reminded her.
Raina snapped back to reality, calmed herself, and continued, "Dr. Raymond, if I were you, I would accept this deal. You have no idea who you're up against..."
"Oh? Are you threatening me?" Raymond raised an eyebrow.
"It's just a friendly reminder." Regaining her composure, Raina smiled. "I'm just a pretty woman, of course, I can't do anything to you. But I can't guarantee that the people behind me won't take action if you refuse to cooperate."
"So, you're saying if I don't make this deal, you guys will kill me?"
"I don't know. But I'd suggest that you think carefully. They may not take your life... but sometimes, staying alive can be more painful than death."
"Are you done?"
"Hm?"
"If you're done, please leave. I still need to take a walk around the hospital gym. We can talk some other time."
With that, Raymond stood up on his own, ready to leave.
"Dr. Raymond, are you sure you want to do this to yourself?" Raina also stood up, her tone growing urgent.
"See yourself out."
Without looking back, Raymond left the room, waving casually behind him.
"You—!"
Seeing Raymond leave like that, Raina could no longer keep her composure. She was furious!
This was the first time someone had played her like this—especially a man!
She had been chosen by the Clairvoyant's people because of her ability to manipulate others, especially men.
She could easily turn those with ulterior motives into obedient fools who would tell her everything.
That's why tasks involving persuasion or recruitment were usually given to her.
After investigating Raymond, she had thought this mission would be foolproof.
According to his file, he was clearly an academic type, deeply involved in psychology. While psychologists weren't complete bookworms, compared to someone like her—who had spent over a decade navigating the underground world—he should have been easy to handle.
But the result was the exact opposite of what she had expected.
In their exchange, Raymond had had the upper hand the entire time, completely crushing her!
She had been on the defensive from start to finish.
This wasn't right...
"Could he be gay?" The more Raina thought about it, the angrier she became.
"Miss, are you done talking already?"
While Raina was lost in thought, the staff member she had sent away earlier had somehow returned, looking eager to please.
"Hmph!"
Raina had no interest in dealing with a pathetic simp at this moment. She snorted coldly and turned to leave without another word.
The staff member was left standing there, utterly confused. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong or why this beautiful woman—who had just been exchanging flirtatious glances with him—had suddenly become so indifferent.
…
After leaving the visitation room, Raymond didn't actually go to the gym.
That was just an excuse to brush Raina off.
As he walked down the hallway, he thought about the possible scenarios.
"Fury has already erased all records of Project TAHITI. If HYDRA wants to dig deeper, they'll have to go after the few people who were involved from start to finish."
"Compared to Fury and Coulson, I'm definitely the easiest target. Since they've already come knocking, they're not going to give up just because I refuse to cooperate."
"Judging from what Flower Girl hinted at, they plan to use force next?"
"Well, that's convenient…"
Raymond's lips curved into a smirk.
Provoking Flower Girl had been part of his plan from the beginning. As soon as he found out what was going on, he had already decided to force HYDRA to take aggressive action against him.
He was confident that Fury wouldn't just abandon such an 'important asset.'
If things got messy, Fury would surely take notice and find a way to get him out of here—openly and legally.
That would solve his biggest problem.
Compared to David, a walking doomsday threat, and the old fox Shadow King, HYDRA was nothing.
Kuro's personality might struggle against David and Shadow King, maybe even barely survive in their presence, but against HYDRA's regular agents? They were nothing.
In fact, even the super soldiers created by HYDRA's "Centipede Project" were no match for Kuro.
That's why Raymond never took HYDRA seriously.
If HYDRA had already overthrown S.H.I.E.L.D. and taken full control, he might be a bit more cautious—after all, they would then have access to powerful weapons.
But right now? Ehhhh…
As for why he didn't just agree to the deal and use HYDRA to escape?
Come on, betraying an organization isn't that simple.
If he did that, he'd not only make an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he wouldn't necessarily be safe with HYDRA either. They might just double-cross him in the end.
HYDRA was full of shady characters, and who knew if someone would decide they didn't like him walking away with a fat reward?
Sure, he wasn't afraid of a few backstabbing HYDRA weaklings. He could easily turn the tables on them.
But if that happened, he'd end up being hunted by both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA.
That was the last thing he wanted.
So, after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to piss Raina off and burn the bridge completely.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting for HYDRA to make their move.
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