Chapter 206 - 205. Viper Bends the Knee
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Viper stood still, but her skin crawled under Nolan’s gaze. It wasn’t just intimidation he looked at her like she was a puzzle to solve, not a person.
Trying to keep her edge, she spoke quickly. "I can help you consolidate the rest of Hydra."
She stepped closer. "Strucker’s faction. Zemo’s operatives. Everything they knew, every classified file on superhuman research, every weapon, it can all be yours."
Nolan studied her silently. Then spoke.
"Show me the Serpent Crown."
Viper hesitated but only for a breath. With a subtle gesture, the artifact materialized in her hands.
A grotesque crown seven intertwined snake heads frozen mid-snarl. It pulsed with a foul, otherworldly aura.
Nolan arched a brow.
He didn’t even bother hiding his disgust. "That’s... repulsive. Whoever designed this clearly had no taste."
Aesthetic aside, he extended his mind, scanning the crown’s surface. Power leaked from it in waves—seven streams of volatile, negative energy. The very air around it seemed to ripple with entropy.