Are you serious?"
After hearing this, Red Guardian scoffed in an exaggerated tone, "You know I'm a Soviet superhero, right? And now you're asking me to work for America?"
Considering the past relationship between the Soviet Union and America, Red Guardian felt this sounded utterly absurd.
"Mr. Aleksey, the Soviet Union no longer exists, so I don't believe there's any such obstacle between us."
"On the contrary, I see this as a new beginning. What do you think?"
Nick Fury peered at Red Guardian with his single eye.
Although Red Guardian was imprisoned, he wasn't completely cut off from the World.
Besides him, the super soldier, many other prisoners were held in that prison.
In addition, Red Guardian was usually able to read newspapers and watch the news.
So, Red Guardian naturally knew that the Soviet Union no longer existed, and he had long come to terms with it over the years.
But even so, it wasn't an easy task for Red Guardian to switch allegiances so quickly.
"Also, you dedicated your entire life to the Soviet Union, but what did you get in return?"
"Spend the rest of your life in prison?"
"It's me who pulled you out of that hell!"
Nick Fury's voice resonated again, and his words instantly struck Red Guardian's core.
Red Guardian's expression couldn't help but change.
As the Soviet Union's only super soldier comparable to Captain America, Red Guardian initially harbored immense ambition.
He wanted to become a superhero as celebrated as Captain America, or even more influential.
He aspired to achieve a greater and more magnificent career than Captain America.
But what was the reality?
The Soviet Union only assigned him frustrating undercover missions, preventing Red Guardian from utilizing his full potential.
Ultimately, he was imprisoned due to political disagreements.
His best years were wasted in a dark and dismal prison!
It's worth mentioning.
The Red Room back then wasn't the Red Room of today; it was still a Soviet spy agency.
Dreykov was not the leader of an assassin organization but a high-ranking Officer in the Soviet Military.
Therefore, his every action represented the Soviet Union.
Under these circumstances, it was impossible for Red Guardian not to harbor resentment.
"Furthermore, I think there's someone you'll be very happy to see."
As Nick Fury said this, the door suddenly opened.
A figure with a very fiery physique walked in front of Red Guardian.
"Natasha?"
Red Guardian naturally recognized Black Widow, and it was precisely because of this that he felt somewhat surprised.
Unlike in The Black Widow movie, Black Widow was still an ordinary Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. at this time.
She was not yet the World-renowned Avenger.
So, Red Guardian wasn't as clear about some of Black Widow's affairs.
He only knew that Black Widow had disappeared after faking Dreykov's daughter's death, and he truly didn't know about the subsequent events.
After all, Red Guardian was in prison.
His contact with the outside World was limited to chatting with fellow inmates and watching news on television.
So Red Guardian never expected that Natasha, who also came from the Red Room, would start working for the U.S. as well.
Wait a minute!
Not only that, Red Guardian also instantly realized something.
Why would the U.S. intelligence agency suddenly rescue him? This must also be due to Natasha's involvement, right?
"Hey, Aleksey."
Black Widow looked over with a somewhat complex expression, then greeted Red Guardian.
"Aleksey? That's too cold, little Natasha, I'm your father, right?"
Red Guardian exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, while making a gesture to hug Black Widow.
But he was easily dodged by Black Widow.
"Understood."
Red Guardian didn't press the issue, "You're their negotiator, aren't you? Natasha, you've really changed."
"No, I'm not their negotiator; I'm just giving you a way out."
Black Widow's words were incredibly sharp, hitting the mark directly, "You know better than anyone that you have no other choice."
"You either join us, or you'll be sent back to that dark and dismal prison. You knew that the moment you were rescued."
Red Guardian's mouth twitched uncontrollably: "Natasha, you really haven't changed at all. You're always so merciless with your words."
What Black Widow said was correct.
Red Guardian wasn't a fool; how could he not understand that no one would rescue him for no reason?
Whoever this one-eyed Nick Fury was, he had gone to such great lengths to rescue him. It couldn't be for charity; there must be something he wanted.
So what was there about an old, fat man, who had been imprisoned for decades and was out of touch with the World, that someone would covet?
What value did he still have?
It was nothing more than his super soldier status.
Red Guardian, of course, knew this, so when Nick Fury proposed the Avengers, he knew.
If he didn't agree, the other party would not hesitate to imprison him again.
Coupled with his disheartening experiences in the Soviet Union, Red Guardian already had an answer in his heart.
The reason he was still acting proud in front of Nick Fury was nothing more than the art of negotiation.
"You haven't seen each other in a long time. I imagine you have a lot to talk about."
Nick Fury's voice rang out. After greeting Red Guardian, he turned and swaggered away.
However, as he reached the Base door, Nick Fury stopped.
He sternly reminded Red Guardian, "Mr. Aleksey, until you give me a definite answer, you can only stay here and go nowhere else. I trust you'll understand."
After dropping that remark, Nick Fury finally swaggered away.
He looked as if everything was under control.
And in reality, it was.
Considering Red Guardian's background and experiences, Nick Fury was quite confident he could persuade him to join the Avengers.
The problem wasn't there now; instead, Nick Fury needed to assess whether Red Guardian was qualified to join the Avengers.
This was also another task Nick Fury had given Black Widow, not just to simply act as a negotiator.
"Barton, keep an eye on every move of the Red Room."
After returning to his office, Nick Fury assigned another important task to Hawkeye Barton.
With someone like Red Guardian suddenly being abducted, Nick Fury believed the Red Room would definitely be alerted and might make some moves.
This was also a perfect opportunity to test the waters and further investigate the Red Room, killing two birds with one stone.
"Understood, Officer. I've already laid out some bait."
"Now, we'll see if any fish take the bait."
Hawkeye Barton responded meaningfully.
During the raid on the prison to abduct Red Guardian, Hawkeye Barton had deliberately left some clues, or rather, dug a trap.
If anyone truly followed those clues, Hawkeye Barton would surely know and would then trace them back.
"Go."
Nick Fury was confident in Barton's work. He just nodded upon hearing this, said nothing more, and dismissed Barton.
Nick Fury believed that this wave should still yield some results, as Red Guardian's identity was indeed extraordinary.
And facts proved that Nick Fury's guess was correct.
"Our secret Gulag prison was raided, and Red Guardian was abducted?"
Red Room Aerial Base.
Dreykov looked at the Widow reporting to him, his brows immediately furrowing slightly, and his expression becoming somewhat grave.
That Base had been secretly operated by him for so many years without any issues. Why would something suddenly go wrong?
Of course, that question was a bit foolish.
Whoever the mastermind was, they had abducted Red Guardian, so the objective was already clear.
The only question was, who was it?
The fact that the other party could locate where Red Guardian was imprisoned and abduct him so quickly and silently indicated that they must be extremely powerful.
Whoever it was, they must have a significant background.
"Investigate!"
"I want to know who did this!"
Dreykov immediately issued this command to the Widow in front of him.
These Widows had all been controlled by Dreykov using special neuro-agents, completely losing their own consciousness and becoming puppets.
Naturally, they showed no delay and immediately took their orders and left.
Just as Nick Fury had predicted, the Red Room immediately launched a vigorous investigation into Hawkeye Barton's operation.
And they quickly traced it back to the clues Hawkeye Barton had deliberately left behind.
"The fish took the bait!"
Hawkeye Barton, who was already prepared, his eyes immediately lit up.
Naturally, without any further ado, he began to secretly clash with the Widows from the Red Room.
The final outcome was unquestionable.
No matter how powerful the Red Room was, at best it was an assassin organization, and being a clandestine organization, how could it compare to a behemoth like S.H.I.E.L.D.?
This confrontation could be said to be a complete failure.
Not only did they fail to trace Hawkeye Barton, but Barton also successfully captured some of the Red Room's Widows.
However, what Barton never expected was that all those Red Room Widows committed suicide the moment they were captured.
Right in front of Barton!
Why would they do such a thing?
Why couldn't Barton and his team prevent those Widows from committing suicide?
Because when their conventional suicide attempts were thwarted, those Widows chose a method that was astonishing, even chilling.
They suffocated themselves by holding their breath!
Yes, it was that exaggerated.
It even shocked Hawkeye Barton, a seasoned veteran who had seen countless major events.
Committing suicide by holding one's breath was something Barton had never heard of, and it made his scalp tingle.
"They held their breath and suffocated themselves?"
Not only Hawkeye Barton, but even Nick Fury, upon hearing the report, was deeply shocked, finding it incredibly unbelievable.
As the King of Spies, Nick Fury was accustomed to all sorts of deaths.
But suffocating oneself to death by holding one's breath was truly a first for him to hear.
He even found it somewhat incomprehensible.
Could a person truly do such a thing?
When holding one's breath leads to a certain degree of oxygen deprivation, would the body still be under one's control? Wouldn't it automatically regulate itself to breathe?
Nick Fury and Hawkeye Barton would never have guessed that those Widows who suffocated themselves were not voluntarily holding their breath, but were remotely controlled by Dreykov to do so.
That's right.
The pheromones developed by the Red Room were so terrifying; they could make those affected obey like robots.
They could also directly control the brain by manipulating human ganglia, achieving control that could stop a person's breathing.
So, despite not wanting to admit it, Nick Fury had to acknowledge that their operation against the Red Room was a complete failure.
They gained nothing but a few corpses.
And after this operation, the Red Room would undoubtedly become even more cautious.
It would be almost impossible for them to reveal any more weaknesses and be easily caught by S.H.I.E.L.D.
However, thankfully, good news came from Black Widow.
"Officer, he agreed."
Just one week later, Black Widow came to Nick Fury to report.
Nick Fury was not surprised by this outcome, as Red Guardian truly had no other choice now.
"He made a wise choice."
Nick Fury nodded, looking as if it were a matter of course.
Then there was nothing more to say.
Nick Fury began issuing some relevant orders, temporarily and secretly relocating Red Guardian.
Because from beginning to end, Nick Fury either used his private forces or people validated by the diary, like Black Widow and Barton, so Red Guardian's matter was temporarily kept from HYDRA.
HYDRA was not informed.
This little interlude passed, and Nick Fury's life returned to normal.
As always, he continued to team up with Tony Stark to fight HYDRA.
Nothing worth mentioning.
Until…
"Officer, it's here! That mjolnir!"
"There really is a mjolnir that fell from the sky!"
Nick Fury, who was processing relevant documents in his office, received a report from Coulson.
Upon hearing this news, Nick Fury immediately disregarded all other matters.
He instantly looked up, and a sharp glint flashed in his single eye.
It had been some time since he learned the important intelligence about Thor's impending fall from the diary, and Nick Fury had made corresponding preparations for it.
Had this crucial moment finally arrived!
Thanks to the book friend 'Good Books Are So Few' for the reward!