Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

Chapter 557: The Serpent Shield Reveals Itself

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"That’s a very insightful parable," Grant Rogers commented.

He too avoided directly stating his own thoughts or position, instead criticizing the story from a higher perspective.

Henry spread his hands and said, "Yeah, that’s what I think too. Kindness without a full understanding of the situation, and without the resolve for self-sacrifice, is just stupidity.

"I believe you fought in that war because you wanted to oppose fascism. Not because the American government told you to beat someone up simply because they were German, right?"

Since Henry used the term "World War," he naturally wasn’t guessing that the old veteran before him had participated in regional conflicts like the Korean War or Vietnam War.

That meant his enemy could only have been Nazi Germany.

At last, the old white man nodded in agreement.

"That’s right. I stood up because I opposed fascism and unreasonable racial discrimination policies. It was only because Germany was under the leadership of a madman at the time that I fought them."

The old man chose his words carefully.

At least during the war itself, many people—including the German populace—didn’t know about the Nazis’ massacres of Jews and various inhumane atrocities. At most, they knew about racial segregation and the forced relocation of Jews into concentration camps.

Those brutal acts were only publicly exposed after the war ended.

So during wartime, slogans about opposing fascism could be shouted openly.

But talking about opposing genocidal atrocities? Even many Jews who weren’t directly involved probably wouldn’t have believed the full extent of it back then.

"Exactly." Henry grinned smugly. "If someone starts talking purely about kindness and goodwill, I’d just wonder whether they have ulterior motives and plan to use that favor to demand something later."

Chuckling softly, Grant Rogers said, "Kid, you don’t need to be so guarded. I only came today out of curiosity. I wanted to meet you. Nothing more."

Since things had already reached this point, Henry forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"Heh. Mr. Stark told me someone was planning to give me a surprise today. I thought maybe Mr. Rogers was going to introduce me to a beautiful granddaughter of his."

"What a pity. I don’t have children, so naturally I don’t have grandchildren either. As for grandnieces and grandnephews, none of them are the right age. Ah, enough about that—someone troublesome is coming over. If anyone asks, just pretend you never saw me. Alright?"

Before leaving, the old white man gave Henry a playful wink.

Then he smoothly turned to chat with other people, like a sociable old man accustomed to these kinds of gatherings and blessed with an extensive network of acquaintances.

The timing of Grant Rogers slipping away was odd—no one had actually been preparing to approach Henry and join their conversation.

Perhaps there had been some sign Henry failed to notice.

Without the assistance of his eyes, his control over his surroundings had clearly declined quite a bit.

Before long, a group of people who looked completely out of place at this capitalist gathering entered the venue.

After glancing around for a moment, they headed directly toward Henry.

The man leading them didn’t move very fluidly, but his status was obviously high. Two or three burly men followed behind him attentively.

Dressed in a standard black suit, he immediately extended his hand upon arrival.

"Mr. Henry Brown, I’m John Garrett. Finally meeting you in person hasn’t been easy."

"Hello, Mr. Garrett."

Henry returned the handshake and greeted him politely and succinctly.

Another John. At this rate, the day he collected all seven Johns wasn’t far away.

But what Henry was really thinking was:

This guy seems like a major figure in HYDRA-S.H.I.E.L.D. So the Serpent Shield is finally making a move?

"I came to see you today because it concerns your past."

"My... past?"

An unpleasant feeling immediately welled up inside Henry.

Was S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to settle old accounts?

Or had his identity as a transmigrator been exposed?

The latter seemed even more impossible. Henry couldn’t think of any way his transmigrator status could have leaked.

As for his alien identity, that had stopped being a secret long ago when the Skrulls caused trouble on Earth.

Henry absolutely refused to believe that with a loudmouth like Nick Fury around, that secret could still be kept.

Since he still had trump cards left to play, and the worst-case scenario was simply fighting his way out, Henry naturally wasn’t particularly worried.

Calmly, he said, "There’s nothing interesting about my past. It was ordinary and boring. Is there really any need to dig into it?"

"Please come with me. There are some people who want to meet you. Once you see them, you’ll understand everything. They’re waiting in another small conference room."

This was... a banquet at Hong Gate?

Unfortunately, after losing the abilities granted by his eyes, Henry couldn’t confirm what was happening inside the smaller rooms surrounding the semiannual conference venue.

Even using his super hearing, he could only... hear faint conversations in Russian.

A ridiculous possibility surfaced in his mind, causing Henry to remain rooted in place, completely unwilling to cooperate.

Seeing this, John Garrett didn’t threaten him outright, but his tone grew heavier.

"Mr. Brown, arranging this meeting wasn’t easy. We finally managed to persuade Ms. Carter to help set it up, so it’d be best not to waste her kindness. Don’t you agree?"

To Henry, this involved not only Peggy Carter’s reputation, but also young master Tony Stark’s.

Emotionally and logically, it wouldn’t look good for him to simply turn around and leave.

And besides...

Claiming he didn’t want to know who those Russian-speaking people with strangely familiar voices were would just be lying to himself.

"Lead the way."

Henry finally gave a positive response and followed the HYDRA-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to see the "surprise" they had prepared for him.

Because the building was an old-style office structure, it lacked the transparent glass partitions favored by certain places obsessed with openness.

The heavy concrete walls only added an ominous feeling to the upcoming encounter.

When Henry followed John Garrett into the small conference room beside Stark Industries’ semiannual meeting hall, there were no tacky decorations like banners, streamers, balloons, or confetti cannons.

There were only two clearly separated groups of people.

The smaller group, dressed in black suits, chatted casually about work complaints like ordinary office employees gossiping during downtime.

The other group wore far more mismatched and plain clothing.

They looked around nervously, occasionally whispering among themselves.

The moment Henry saw them, unbearable memories surged into his mind one after another.

Researchers from the underground Siberian laboratory of the former Red Empire—the personnel responsible for the alien research project.

Men and women alike.

Twenty-three people in total.

Standing there alive before his eyes

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