Chapter 417: The Golden Sentry, Kang
Reed stared at Dr. Kang, a trace of disbelief in his eyes. He couldn't believe a man as brilliant as Dr. Kang would join the Illuminati just to seek protection.
Reed knew Dr. Kang was extremely smart. There had to be deeper motives behind his decision.
Reed and Dr. Kang were both meticulous, intelligent men.
Smart people always have their own agendas, Reed thought, and every member of the Illuminati was the same. Truth be told, each of the six seat-holders had a different heart and a different scheme. They fought each other openly and in secret, and none would give an inch.
Take Black Panther. He obviously hadn't joined the Illuminati in pursuit of some lofty ideal. He wanted to use it to win Wakanda recognition and support from the federal government.
Atlantis had its own calculations as well. It participated in the Illuminati mainly to make trading goods easier, so it could consolidate and grow its ocean kingdom.
As for Baron Zemo, he had always been a mystery to Reed.
Reed didn't understand why S.H.I.E.L.D. had insisted on bringing Baron Zemo into the Illuminati in the first place.
Deep down, Reed had long suspected that Baron Zemo might be a mole planted in the Illuminati by Ethan, the Lord of Hell's Kitchen. After all, there was no obvious connection between the mutant kingdom and Hell's Kitchen.
And yet, though HYDRA had investigated several times, it had never found any evidence of collusion between the mutant kingdom and Hell's Kitchen.
That only made Reed more suspicious. Everything looked too clean, as if someone had carefully wiped it down.
Baron Zemo's appearance hadn't been especially sudden. But Cassandra had first shown her face in Hell's Kitchen, and that was hard not to connect.
Reed knew nothing of HYDRA's true intentions, and he was starting to have doubts about the Illuminati itself.
The organization was powerful, but its members seemed far more concerned with their own nations' interests than with the Illuminati. That was fundamentally different from the Avengers he'd been part of before.
At every Illuminati meeting, the members discussed how their own nations could profit. Almost no one ever truly worked to advance the Illuminati.
Reed was no exception. He admitted that a big part of why he'd joined was that it gave him a broader platform from which to gain more power.
He worked so hard because he had no other choice besides the Illuminati. The Illuminati was his kingdom.
It was just that, as its king, he was something of a puppet.
So Kang had to have secrets he couldn't share. All that talk about seeking S.H.I.E.L.D.'s protection was a lie.
The Dr. Kang across from him was frighteningly strong. No one in the Illuminati could beat him.
How did Reed know? Because this man had done the thing Reed dreamed of doing: he'd slapped Hell's Kitchen in the face.
Kang had been hunted by a crowd of Hell's Kitchen's superheroes and had fought his way out. Well, "Hell's Kitchen" was overstating it. It was really just Kingpin's forces and some of the Continental's people.
It had all happened so suddenly. Who could have guessed the Golden Serum would succeed? What Reed found even harder to believe was that Dr. Kang had drunk it without hesitation before it had even gone through animal testing.
That courage and resolve left Reed both astonished and impressed. Ordinary serum had already killed a great many people, yet Dr. Kang had miraculously survived. That alone proved he was extraordinary.
As much as Reed craved the Golden Serum, he didn't dare try it lightly.
He knew he only had one life. He couldn't gamble the way Dr. Kang had.
So all he could do was look on with envy as the Golden Serum made Dr. Kang even more powerful.
Reed couldn't help thinking that someone as powerful as Dr. Kang could easily go off and live in seclusion, or strike out on his own and build a power base of his own.
Yet he had chosen to join the Illuminati. Why?
What did he want from the Illuminati?
Dr. Kang sat quietly across from him, watching Reed sink deep into thought.
His face no longer looked as honest and simple as when they'd first met. Instead it had a cool, shrewd air.
His eyes, behind the reflection of his lenses, seemed even deeper and harder to read.
The change made Reed realize this was probably Dr. Kang's true face: deep, shrewd, and full of mystery.
Dr. Kang took off his glasses and slowly wiped them with a soft cloth, asking casually, "What exactly are you so nervous about, Mr. Richards?"
His tone carried a hint of mockery and insight.
"Of course I came here with a purpose. Perhaps we share the same purpose. Ethan."
Dr. Kang smiled faintly, set down his glasses, and said coldly, "You've had contact with the multiverse, haven't you?"
The words landed like a bombshell and set off a storm in Reed's mind.
Surprise flashed in Reed's eyes. He had always believed he was the only one who knew this secret.
But Reed had weathered plenty of storms. He quickly composed himself and feigned confusion. "What are you talking about? The multiverse? Is there really such an amazing thing in this world?"
He played dumb to test Dr. Kang's real intentions.
"Don't bother testing me, Mr. Richards. The Council of Reeds is quite famous throughout the multiverse, you know," Kang said offhandedly.
Kang's answer made it clear to Reed that the man knew perfectly well Reed was aware of the multiverse.
Reed had learned of it through the Council of Reeds. So how did the Kang in front of him know?
Had some other variant of Kang come to find him?
Then had he joined the Illuminati because of the multiverse?
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