Chapter 217: Departure, Clearing Out the Red Room
"Finally, there's yours, Felicia."
Felicia put on her suit.
The overall silhouette of the blue and gold suit was more form-fitting than the previous two, with smooth, rounded lines somewhat similar to the Black Panther suit.
However, the difference was that the hem of the suit had countless slender chains, looking like tassels on a skirt.
But as long as one activated overclock mode like Peter, these "tassels" would immediately extend, forming slender metal tubes.
"This suit also incorporates your fighting style, mainly focusing on high-mobility close-quarters combat in daily use."
"But if you activate overclock mode, these metal tubes can be extended and inserted into the ground, allowing you to immediately draw groundwater for water manipulation even when there is no water source around."
"If there is no groundwater, these tentacles can also quickly absorb surrounding moisture—such as humidity in the air or surface water."
"The obtained water flow passes through the pressurization device on the wrist, which can spray supersonic water blades, used to cut opponents or objects that are difficult to break through."
"Unfortunately, I haven't invented the special particles Peter told me about that can enlarge or shrink molecular structures; that's not my specialty.
If I could develop that, it wouldn't be so troublesome. I could completely compress several water towers and install them on your suit, so you wouldn't have to worry about water shortages in future battles."
"Cool~" Felicia couldn't help but give a satisfied response, clearly very pleased with this suit.
...
After the suit testing session ended, Peter let Gwen and Felicia go back first to continue fighting crime in New York or discuss college plans.
Peter himself stayed with Tony.
After the two girls left, Tony finally asked:
"Tell me, what's the big secret?"
"Do you want to stretch your muscles?" Peter asked.
Hearing this, Tony's eyes immediately lit up.
He had been cooped up at home for almost a month and was already feeling extremely stifled.
"Where to?"
"The Red Room, ever heard of it?"
Tony's expression changed subtly: "That organization of the Russians that specifically trains female assassins?"
Speaking of this, Tony suddenly thought of something:
"Wait, that's not right. Why would you suddenly think of taking action against the Red Room? Right, I remember that Agent Natasha seems to have come from there.
That lady's look at you earlier wasn't exactly innocent."
At this point, Tony's smile couldn't help but become a bit lewd, full of gossip.
Sigh, knew this guy Tony wasn't that easy to fool.
However, Peter hadn't intended to hide it from him, so he simply admitted it openly:
"That's right, she is now considered a member of my family."
Tony:...
Everyone, who understands the helplessness of just wanting to joke around but accidentally eating some real gossip?
"Damn, I'm actually starting to envy you, you bastard!" Tony couldn't help but mutter with some resentment.
Although he had a comprehensive advantage in quantity, when it came to quality, he lost to Peter by too much.
Gwen, Felicia, Natasha... which of these girls wasn't a one-in-a-million existence?
And they weren't just vases with looks and no brains.
Such high-quality girls were all monopolized by Peter alone.
It's so painful~
This was only because Tony already had vague thoughts of turning over a new leaf; otherwise, he would have been stimulated to the point of collapse by Peter!
After watching him self-regulate for a while and clearly having recovered, Peter poked him with his elbow and asked:
"Are you going or not?"
Tony took a deep breath, then slapped his thighs and stood up.
"Going! Of course I'm going!"
He cracked his neck, making a clicking sound.
"I've been rotting in the lab for so long, it's just the right time to test the combat performance of the new suit."
...
Two hours later.
Peter, Tony, and Natasha sat in a quinjet that already had a very distinct style, flying at full speed towards Europe.
Because the Wheel of Fortune was in charge of controlling the flight, the three of them could rest in the cabin of the aircraft.
Natasha had originally considered Tony's presence and wanted to keep a little distance from Peter.
But Peter pulled her directly onto his lap, leaving Tony speechless, even regretting that he hadn't volunteered to fly the plane.
"Where did you get the information?" Peter asked, leaning into her ear while playing with Natasha's fingers.
"Melina." Natasha's expression looked calm, but her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"Who?" Tony couldn't help but ask.
"My fake mother."
This answer almost made him spit out the coffee he had in his mouth:
"You have a fake mother too?"
"It was necessary for the infiltration." Natasha's tone was very flat. "During the three years of infiltration in Ohio, she played the role of my mother."
"I originally resented her for ignoring me after the mission ended, but yesterday, when I took the initiative to contact her, she risked great danger to send me the location of the Base.
In addition, she also apologized to me, explaining that she had no choice all these years."
Natasha's words were clearly directed at Peter.
Peter then followed up:
"Natasha, although you aren't truly mother and daughter, you also know that your parents didn't raise you, and perhaps they have already..."
"So, you can actually try to find these family members of yours; they can also become a comfort in your life, can't they?"
Hearing Peter's suggestion, Natasha subconsciously looked up at him, feeling somewhat sweet in her heart.
This feeling was the first time she had experienced it, aside from those three years in Ohio.
Seeing the two of them starting to get lovey-dovey again for no reason, Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes:
"I can't take it anymore. If you don't talk about business, I'm going back to rest!"
Peter glared at him with some dissatisfaction, but considering that the other party had just helped him build the suit, he finally gave him some face and signaled for Natasha to get back to the point.
"According to Melina, the headquarters of the Red Room has been moving, but in the last six months, they have suddenly settled down and built an underground facility on the border of Belarus and Poland."
"How deep?" Peter asked.
"Six underground levels, each equipped with an independent blast-proof system."
"Number of people?"
"About two hundred resident Agents, not counting the trainees in training."
Tony whistled: "Two hundred Black Widow-level assassins? This lineup is a bit scary."
"Not everyone is at Black Widow level." Natasha corrected, "But the top fifty are definitely not weak."
"Also..." Speaking of this, her voice paused, and her expression became somewhat ugly, "Melina said that guy Dreykov has recently obtained a batch of new weapons."
"What new weapons?"
"Iron Man Suit!"
====================
Chapter 218: I'm Simply Handsome to Death
"Iron Man Suit?"
Tony's expression changed instantly, his brow furrowing into a deep frown.
"With the Russians' technical level? They can handle a Battle Suit? I bet they can't even manage reactor miniaturization."
Tony had an expression that said, "Don't make your brother Tony laugh."
Peter had a faint suspicion in his heart, but he didn't take it to heart.
"I'm not clear on the specifics either." Natasha shook her head gently.
"Although Melina is still affiliated with the Red Room, she has actually been out of the inner circle for a long time, so she can't get more detailed intelligence."
"It doesn't matter~" In the end, Peter made the final call.
"Regardless of what technology they have or how many experts they have, no matter how tough the tech is, it's not as tough as ours, and no matter how many experts there are, they aren't as strong as us."
"I like hearing that!" Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter.
"No matter what trump cards they have, the three of us will just steamroll all the way!"
...
After the quinjet flew at full speed for about three and a half hours, the holographic projection map showed they were very close to their destination.
Simultaneously, the Wheel of Fortune reminded them via the quinjet's broadcast system:
"Warning! A large number of abnormal heat sources detected on the ground!"
While speaking, the holographic projection switched to the ground view.
In the image, the seemingly desolate snowy plains were moving silently.
Six massive circular metal covers flipped outward like petals, revealing the pitch-black silos below.
"Holy crap." Tony's reaction was faster than Peter's because his Battle Suit's scanning system had already locked onto the things inside those silos.
"Surface-to-air tracking missiles produced by Hammer Industries, eighteen of them, with a range sufficient to cover our current altitude."
"When did that loser Hammer start doing business all the way out here!"
While Tony complained, eighteen missiles trailing white exhaust plumes rose sequentially from the silos, heading straight for the quinjet like a swarm of crazed white snakes.
"Can the quinjet's interception system handle it?" Peter asked.
Tony responded after a quick glance at the radar screen:
"At full speed, we could handle it with higher speed and the anti-missile system on the quinjet, but if we want to continue landing, it will be difficult."
Hearing this, Peter immediately made a decision:
"The cost of this quinjet isn't cheap. There's no need to lose a quinjet for the sake of the Red Room. Let's just skydive. I'll handle the quinjet with my magic."
While speaking, Peter placed his hand on Natasha, and the black-gold Battle Suit covered the Black Widow instantly like a liquid fluid.
After the Black Widow put on the Battle Suit, Peter immediately gave the command to the Wheel of Fortune.
The quinjet's hatch opened instantly, and the terrifying high-altitude airflow immediately threw everything in the cabin into chaos.
Under normal circumstances, a passenger in the cabin hitting this terrifying airflow would have a very high probability of being killed on the spot.
But because Natasha and Tony had the protection of their Battle Suits, they were not affected at all and could easily fly out of the quinjet against the strong airflow.
Compared to them, Peter was showing off even more.
A layer of cyan Wind shield expanded in front of him at some point.
Facing the terrifying strong airflow, even his hairstyle didn't get messed up. He walked leisurely to the hatch and performed a Leap of Faith.
"Shit~" Tony, looking back at this scene, couldn't help but feel a bit sour:
"Will this kid die if he doesn't show off?"
The moment Peter jumped from the hatch, the quinjet's engine let out a sharp roar and began to perform high-speed maneuvers in a manner that completely violated conventional flight mechanics.
It was so fast that the tracking missiles behind it couldn't keep up.
In the underground Base below, seeing three unidentified flying objects falling rapidly from the sky.
The completely unmanned machine guns and turrets on the surrounding watchtowers fired automatically, with barrages mixed with Rockets attacking Peter and the others in the air.
Tony let out an excited cry, the light from the thrusters at his feet instantly expanded several times, and his flight speed suddenly increased accordingly.
The flashy gold-and-red armor wove through the missiles like a butterfly through flowers, facing the rain of bullets, and swept across the snowy plain in a near-ground-level posture.
Ding ding ding~
Bullets hitting the armor couldn't even scratch the metal coating on the surface.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the other hand, various parts of Tony's body expanded instantly—palms, shoulder armor, chest—all weapon bays fired at the same time.
Countless miniature missiles exploded like scattered flower petals, each precisely hitting the machine gun towers and missile silos on the ground.
Chain explosions bloomed into orange-red mushroom clouds on the snowy plain, staining the white earth charred black.
In just over ten seconds, the entire Base's outer defense facilities were wiped clean.
"Damn~"
Tony hovered steadily in mid-air, mimicking Peter's earlier arms-spread-wide gesture from the Leap of Faith, shouting ostentatiously:
"I'm simply handsome to death~!"
Unfortunately, the coolness lasted less than three seconds.
The half-meter-thick alloy door at the front of the Base slid open to both sides, and a group of female Agents wearing leather clothes and holding electromagnetic weapons rushed out.
Electromagnetic-accelerated sniper rounds hit Tony's body; although the impact was completely absorbed by the Vibranium.
But the electromagnetic interference caused the Mark Battle Suit, which hadn't activated its shielding function in time, to instantly paralyze.
Tony:...
Both were showing off, why does someone always jump out to cause trouble as soon as I start?
A bit annoyed, Tony originally wanted to go on a killing spree, but after seeing the looks of the female Agents below, he immediately changed his mind.
"Peter, to be honest, this situation is trickier than I imagined... you know, I've never hit a woman!"
On the other side, Natasha looked at the young girls below, whose expressions were as empty and cold as machines, and she also felt uneasy.
The Black Widow, always known for being "cool and efficient in combat," rarely felt a pang of compassion:
"Peter, is there any way to control all these people without hurting them?"
"You know, they're actually a bunch of poor souls, just like..."
Natasha wanted to say just like Captain America's best friend Bucky Barnes.
But considering that this name might make Tony see red and lead him to do something irrational, she swallowed her words.
However, even if she didn't finish her sentence, Peter, who had already been intimate with her, understood what she meant:
"I get what you mean, leave it to me~"
While speaking, Peter, who was just a mortal body, was actually faster than Tony and Natasha with their thrusters; he landed on the ground in the blink of an eye.
Then, Peter's calm gaze swept over the group of female warriors below.
The next second, a terrifying aura suddenly erupted.
Conqueror's Haki!
Under the effect of this Haki, these female warriors had no power to fight back, falling to their knees one by one with a thud.
It was as if... they were kneeling in perfect unison to welcome their emperor!
Chapter 219: Whiplash x Red Room
Watching Peter easily take down the female Agents who had caused him no small amount of trouble using Conqueror's Haki, Tony couldn't help but look a bit pained.
Fine, I'm already tired of saying how envious I am!
Tony and Natasha landed and approached Peter.
Natasha frowned almost the instant she landed:
"Why are they acting like they were prepared? Could it be... Melina used me?"
"Don't think the worst of everyone."
Peter gently patted Natasha's shoulder and then said:
"Maybe that scumbag Dreykov just planted some listening devices around your mother."
Natasha glanced at Peter; in the end, she didn't say anything like "she's just my fake mother."
"Who cares about all that!" Tony spoke up from the side:
"They all rushed out at once, which saves us some effort... Let's go in and see what other tricks that old bastard Dreykov has up his sleeve."
With that, Tony was the first to charge into the underground Base.
Seeing this, Peter and Natasha naturally had to follow him deeper into the underground levels.
Just as Tony said, because most of the forces had rushed out, the resistance inside the underground facility was extremely weak.
Peter and the others broke through the defenses of the first four floors without much effort.
But when the three reached the fifth underground floor, the situation reversed instantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of iron gates slamming shut echoed behind them; the passages to the four floors they had just cleared were all sealed off!
Immediately after, a dense crowd of figures swarmed out from behind the doors.
All of them were women, all wearing black Battle Suits.
The design of these suits was very crude, not even providing 100% armor coverage.
But one look at the Arc Reactors emitting a faint blue light on their chests and the two metal Whiplashes crackling with electric arcs wrapped around each of their arms was enough to be certain.
These suits were the real deal, and they clearly all came from the same hand.
Almost the instant that name surfaced in Peter's mind, the Whiplash army parted like a tide to both sides,
And a tall, long-haired man with a sinister face stepped out, a strange smile on his face.
He wore a clearly more advanced Iron Man Suit; not only was it larger, but the Whiplashes in his hands were also noticeably thicker, dragging on the ground with a grating screech.
It was Ivan Vanko, the man Peter had previously sent Hill to investigate, only to receive news of his death!
"What a pleasant surprise!"
Ivan Vanko pointed a finger at Tony with a hint of madness:
"Before I could even set off for America to find you, did you, the thief, deliver yourself to my doorstep?"
"Thief?" Tony's brow furrowed, clearly not understanding what this guy was raving about.
Seeing Tony's confused look, Ivan felt a surge of rage and began to shout frantically:
"Damn you, Stark! Your whole family is a bunch of hypocrites!"
"Your father stole my father's technology and kicked him back to Siberia to die, and now you have the nerve to act like you have no idea?
Do you think you can just keep stealing other people's research and enjoy your wealth in peace?"
Hearing the keywords "father" and "Siberia," Tony, who had watched Howard Stark's video tapes beforehand, immediately turned cold.
"Oh, it's you." His tone suddenly became nonchalant, even a bit playful,
"I wondered who it was. So you're the pup of that useless old dog who clung to my father's coattails to barely develop the reactor, then immediately tried to steal the tech to sell it, and remained unrepentant even after being caught."
Hearing Tony dare to call him a pup, Ivan's face turned ashen.
His hands gripped the handles of the Whiplashes tightly, the whips crackling in response to his emotions.
"Kill them!"
The inarticulate Ivan couldn't think of a witty comeback, so he chose to strike first.
At his command, dozens of Red Room female Agents in mecha suits activated their Whiplashes simultaneously. Electric arcs wove into a blinding net of light in the air, surging toward Tony's group.
Seeing the female Agents charging aggressively, Tony reacted almost instinctively.
He raised his hands, and the energy beams from his palms knocked the leading female Agents to the ground.
Tony thought that would be enough.
But to his absolute surprise, those three female Agents stood back up within fractions of a second after being knocked down.
Even though their mecha suits were partially paralyzed and they had severe burns from the energy beams—their expressions didn't change at all.
It wasn't that they were gritting their teeth through the pain; they simply couldn't feel it!
"What the hell?" Tony was completely stunned.
If it weren't for the red blood flowing from those female Agents, he would have almost thought they were some new model of android.
"Agents from the Red Room are like this,"
Natasha's cold voice came from behind:
"The mission comes first. As long as the mission is accomplished, it doesn't matter if they die."
"I get the logic, but this is completely beyond human instinct!"
Tony watched as one female Agent's mecha suit shattered, pinning her beneath its weight.
Yet, as if she felt no pain at all, she continued to crawl forward desperately, until... she literally tore her own legs off from under the heavy armor without even noticing!
Looking at the Red Room Agent who only had her upper body left but was still frantically clawing at him with her hands,
Tony couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle, and he instinctively took half a step back.
Because of that momentary lapse and retreat, a Whiplash whistled through the air and struck him hard from the side.
This was followed by a second, a third... countless Whiplashes lashed against Tony's body.
Tony didn't think much of it at first.
He now had 100% confidence in Vibranium.
Even if he were lashed a hundred times in a row like a plantation worker from over a century ago, his armor wouldn't suffer the slightest damage!
Vibranium technology, kid!
However, before he could activate the kinetic energy release function, red warning windows popped up before his eyes in the next second.
"Warning: Abnormal energy loss detected, sir!"
"Weapon systems temporarily paralyzed!"
Only then did Tony suddenly realize.
These Whiplashes weren't meant to lash him! They were... meant to steal his energy!
"Damn it!" Tony's face changed. "Their whips are draining the energy from my reactor!"
Seeing that Tony had finally realized, Ivan Vanko let out a dark, triumphant laugh:
"Do you like it, Stark? This is a gift I designed specifically for you."
"Let's see how long you, the thief, can hold out."
====================
Chapter 220: The Three of Us Are Truly Amazing
"Idiot!"
Facing Ivan Vanko's provocation, Tony broke his composure with just two simple words:
"Do you think doing this will work on me?"
"You're just like your father, who only knew how to ride others' coattails; you're just eating the Stark family's leftovers!"
"The palladium reactor you're using was phased out by me months ago."
"The new element reactor I use now has energy conversion and storage efficiency dozens of times that of palladium. You moron, even if you charge your reactor until it explodes, you could never drain me dry!"
Tony mocked Ivan Vanko with a relaxed expression.
Hearing Tony say he had already completed the upgrade to the new element reactor, Ivan Vanko's expression couldn't help but change.
An unprecedented thought welled up in his mind.
His father had never proposed the concept of a new element reactor, always saying that palladium was the best material.
But now, Tony Stark, whom he viewed as a thief, said he had developed a new element...
Could it be that his father had been lying to him all along? Was his father the real thief?
These chaotic and complex thoughts flashed through Ivan Vanko's mind for only a second before he immediately snuffed them out.
Because he knew he had no way back!
If he wanted to be the best scientist, Tony had to die.
If the second-place wants to surpass the first-place, the most efficient way is never to surpass them through hard study, but to directly ensure the first-place can never take an exam again!
At this thought, Ivan suppressed the complex emotions in his heart and sneered:
"Unluckily for you, I do indeed have a group of good tools around me who won't let go even if they're charged until they explode!"
Hearing this, Tony and Natasha's expressions both changed.
The two subconsciously looked at the Red Room female Agents surrounding them, wielding Whiplash that bound them.
The light from the arc reactors on their chests was now visibly becoming blinding, and the armor on their arms began to smoke and deform due to the excessive energy absorption.
But they... still held onto the whips tightly, refusing to let go!
Boom!
The mechanical armor on a young female Agent's arm exploded, and metal fragments embedded themselves into her flesh.
Her arm became a bloody mess from the explosion, yet her eyes remained hollow and expressionless, her hands gripping the whip as if they were welded shut.
"Fuck!"
Now, it was Tony's turn to lose his composure.
Although he was a playboy, he had no perverted hobbies and couldn't stand seeing beautiful, charming girls die miserably before him like tools.
"Peter!"
He couldn't help but shout at Peter, "Stop fucking watching the show! Use your invincible superpowers to do something!"
Not far away, Peter, who was leisurely knocking out the female Agents rushing at him, looked back, then withdrew his gaze and spoke calmly:
"Small problem. Natasha can handle this situation."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tony's face turned ashen.
"She can barely protect herself right now, how is she supposed to..."
Crackle! Crackle!
Before Tony could finish, he heard bursts of ear-piercing electrical crackling from nearby.
He subconsciously turned his head and saw that Natasha's Battle Suit had somehow suddenly restored its power system, and she had actually snapped all the whips coiled around her, instantly regaining her freedom.
Seeing this, Tony couldn't help but be stunned:
"Wait, how did you do that? I don't remember installing such a feature on that Battle Suit!"
Natasha glanced back at him, suddenly opened her faceplate, and gave him a slight smile:
"Who said my movements depend on a power system?"
Tony:???
He was a bit confused at first, but then he quickly realized the meaning behind Black Widow's words.
He watched as Black Widow retracted the black-and-gold battle suit after opening her faceplate. Then, a layer of blue-white substance, like slime, enveloped her, forming another tight-fitting suit.
Facing a Red Room female Agent in an Iron Man Suit rushing at her, Natasha used a redirection technique, actually grabbing the opponent's arm and throwing her—Iron Man Suit and all—straight out!
That was an Iron Man Suit; even if it was made of light metal, the person and the suit together weighed at least five or six hundred pounds.
And she just threw her like that!
Only then did Tony finally realize.
There was no special power system; she had just been using the thousand-pound suit as mere armor, using her terrifying physical strength to drive the suit instead!
Fine, fine, so out of the three of us, I'm the only normal person, huh.
Just as Tony was complaining in his mind, the next second, he saw another incredible sight.
Natasha, having retracted her suit, let out a low growl like a Beast from her throat, followed by a series of popping sounds from her bones.
Amidst the continuous popping, her figure suddenly expanded to over two meters tall.
Her short hair, a gradient of fiery red to icy blue, grew wildly until it reached her waist. A pair of white wolf ears pricked up from her hair. A snowy, fluffy tail extended from the base of her spine, swaying gently in the cold wind.
Silver-white fur spread across the backs of her hands, forearms, and both sides of her cheeks.
Her pupils turned from green to icy blue slits.
Okuchi no Makami: Half-Beast Form!
Cold air erupted from Natasha's body, and thick ice immediately formed under her feet, spreading in all directions at extreme speed.
At the same time, Peter turned the little broken watch on his wrist, and his body began to change rapidly as well.
Ice-blue patterns slowly covered his entire body, and his eyes changed from their original deep brown to scarlet.
Frost Giant Form!
Peter, now a Frost Giant, shared a look with Natasha from a distance.
Immediately after, Peter opened his hands, and two visible whirlwinds condensed in his palms.
The moment he threw the whirlwinds, Natasha leaped high in perfect synchronization and exhaled a cloud of breath.
The breath froze the rapidly merging whirlwinds, instantly forming a frost tornado of exaggerated proportions in the spacious underground area.
Wherever the tornado passed, the temperature plummeted instantly.
The Red Room female Agents, numb like machines, only needed to be grazed by the tornado for their bodies to be quickly frozen, completely losing their ability to move.
Seeing this unforgettable scene, Tony was completely dumbfounded.
Amazing, they even have a combined ultimate technique!
Practicing a combined ultimate technique in secret without telling me, huh?
On the other side, the hideous smile on Ivan's face froze.
Seeing the terrifying storm, he decisively tried to snap the whips in his hands and cranked his thrusters to the maximum to escape.
But before he could take off, a cold snort came from beside him:
"Hmph, trying to run!"
It was Tony, who had successfully restored his power system after the other female Agents were frozen. He grabbed the whips Ivan had used to bind him and, with his superior power system, threw Ivan Vanko directly into the frost tornado.
He watched as Ivan Vanko was quickly frozen, then fell to the ground and shattered into a floor full of blood-red ice crystals.
Tony couldn't help but whistle in satisfaction.
The three of us are truly amazing.jpg!
Chapter 221 Dreykov: This is Impossible!
After an unknown amount of time, the ice tornado gradually dissipated, and the entire fifth underground floor turned into a World of ice and snow.
Tony carefully surveyed this frozen World; in fact, even his Battle Suit had been frozen.
However, his Battle Suit had been designed with a constant temperature system from the start, which meant he remained unaffected inside the armor.
Looking at the girls frozen within, Tony couldn't help but ask:
"These girls won't freeze to death, will they?"
"They won't." Peter had already returned to his normal form, his tone incredibly relaxed.
"They won't die for a while. Once we deal with the mastermind Dreykov, I'll give them some treatment and it'll be okay."
Tony:...
You're making me look really stupid like this.
...
After confirming that the female Agents of the Red Room wouldn't die, the group proceeded toward the final floor.
After Natasha tore the iron door of the sixth floor to shreds with a claw, she found the door at the end of the corridor wide open.
"He didn't run?" Natasha couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.
"Not only did he not run," Peter couldn't help but smile after deactivating his Byakugan,
"He's also very confidently nestled in his executive chair clipping his nails."
Tony:...
What should I do if it feels like the whole World is full of Idiots? Waiting online, it's pretty urgent.
As Natasha and the other two walked into the office at the end of the corridor, the massive executive chair in the center turned around, revealing a slightly pudgy, middle-aged white man with a balding 'Mediterranean' hairstyle—it was the mastermind behind the Red Room, Dreykov!
Dreykov unhurriedly clipped his nails and spoke without even looking up:
"You've finally arrived."
His tone made it sound as if he had been waiting for Peter and the others for a long time.
His calm and composed demeanor clearly triggered some of Natasha's painful past memories.
In a flash, she instinctively charged toward Dreykov.
But before she could reach him, two figures dropped from above, blocking Natasha's path from the left and right.
The moment she saw these two, Natasha froze on the spot, her ferocious expression turning into one of shock and complexity.
Clearly, there was a story here.
Peter looked up at the two women facing Natasha.
The one on the left had a high golden ponytail, with suppressed anger faintly visible in her eyes.
The one on the right wore a tight-fitting Battle Suit with a cape, but her helmet had been removed, revealing an 'yin-yang face' that was half fair and flawless, and half severely burned.
Because he was familiar with the plot, he recognized at a glance that these two were Natasha's 'sister' Yelena and 'Taskmaster' Antonia Dreykov!
"Yelena."
Natasha spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly.
Yelena's lips moved as if to speak, but she didn't say anything. Her gaze didn't change, still radiating intense anger.
Dreykov was clearly very satisfied with this. He admired the expression on Natasha's face and spoke with a punchable face:
"How does it feel to see your long-lost sister and... my poor daughter whom you killed?"
Hearing this, Natasha's body couldn't help but tremble, and her gaze instinctively lowered, not daring to meet the eyes of the two in front of her.
If there was anyone Natasha felt she had wronged in her life, the answer was undoubtedly these two.
She had wronged her fake sister, Yelena.
Because when she escaped the Red Room back then, she could have taken Yelena with her.
It's just... she didn't know if Yelena still remembered that experience like she did, or even if Yelena still treated her as a sister.
So, to escape the Red Room as much as possible, she chose to leave without saying goodbye.
She escaped the misery alone, leaving her sister Yelena in the Red Room to continue a dark and filthy life.
As for Antonia, she was the poor person she had accidentally killed.
After Natasha escaped the Red Room, she had been trying to rescue the other female Agents.
To that end, she launched several assassination attempts against Dreykov.
In the final assassination attempt, she blew up Dreykov's secret office.
She never expected that Dreykov's innocent daughter, Antonia, was also there at the time.
She was caught in the crossfire and completely engulfed by the explosion.
The terrified and panicked look in Antonia's eyes as she was consumed by the flames had been an inescapable nightmare in Black Widow's heart for a long time.
Seeing these two again now, she completely lost her composure for a moment, her heart filled with guilt, not knowing what to do at all.
Unlike the panicked Black Widow and the spectating Tony,
Peter's emotions remained stable. His gaze quietly swept over the cracks in the walls and the air vents before finally landing back on Dreykov, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
Dreykov, whose attention was all on Natasha, didn't notice this smile.
At this moment, he was also smiling, and his smile was far more smug than Peter's:
"As my most perfect creation, you have disappointed me greatly."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small remote control, quietly pressed a button on it, and then said:
"Natasha, you shouldn't have betrayed me, and you certainly shouldn't have come back!"
The moment the button was pressed, Yelena and Antonia, who had been like robots, suddenly reacted.
The smile on Dreykov's face also changed from confidence to arrogance.
He pointed at Peter and Tony, who were watching from a distance, and shouted imperiously:
"Go! Capture them and turn them into my puppets as well!"
The moment the words fell, Yelena and Antonia moved instantly.
However... they had just taken a step when Natasha pressed them both down on the spot, like holding down little chicks.
Huh?!
Dreykov's expression changed.
He pressed the remote control in his hand again in disbelief and then ordered:
"Let go, and together with Yelena and Antonia..."
He stopped mid-sentence because he noticed that Natasha's gaze hadn't changed at all.
No, saying there was no change at all wasn't quite accurate.
In fact, Natasha's beautiful vertical pupils were now filled with curiosity.
She didn't understand what kind of trick Dreykov was trying to pull at all.
For the first time, an emotion called panic appeared in Dreykov's eyes:
"You... how can you be fine? The Pheromones have clearly been released. Why hasn't the Chip in your body reacted yet?"
Hearing this, Natasha tilted her head in confusion:
"What Pheromones? What Chip?"
There wasn't a hint of acting in her words; she was genuinely baffled.
Because the plot's trajectory had been completely disrupted by Peter, Natasha had no idea there was a Chip in her body.
She certainly didn't know that Dreykov had developed technology to use Pheromones to control the Chips inside all the Red Room's female Agents.
"Impossible! This is impossible!"
Dreykov couldn't help but mutter in panic:
"I clearly implanted a microchip in your nasal cavity. I personally supervised the implantation. How could it..."
While Dreykov was questioning his life, a light voice came from a distance:
"Oh, that thing."
Peter shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed look. "I took it out for her a long time ago."
====================
Chapter 222: Recovery, Yelena's Little Scheme
A second of silence.
Natasha turned to look at Peter, something flickering in her eyes.
"...A long time ago?"
"Back when we first met, at Midtown High School."
Hearing this, Natasha couldn't help but fall silent for a few seconds, her eyes growing slightly misty.
It turned out that this guy had solved a huge problem for her without her knowledge so long ago.
Tony, listening from the side, couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
He thought to himself, no wonder this kid Peter could have a girl on each arm; his long-term planning was truly impressive!
On the other side, Dreykov's face had turned an indescribable shade of ashen defeat.
He had originally planned to use Yelena and Antonia to buy time to activate the device.
Then, he would exploit the feelings between Natasha, Peter, and Tony to turn the tables and control them all.
That way, he would emerge as the ultimate winner.
Not only could he control everyone, but he could even go a step further and use the power of Peter and the others to gradually rule the United States and even the entire World.
But now, it was clear that all of this had become a fleeting dream!
Unwilling to give up, he gnashed his teeth and quickly changed his plan:
"Yelena! Antonia! Cover my retreat!"
The moment Dreykov gave the order, the two who had stopped moving because they were restrained sprang into action again.
Ignoring the immense strength from Natasha's arms, the two began to struggle frantically.
They acted as if they wouldn't care even if their own heads were torn off.
Natasha already felt she owed these two, so she naturally couldn't let anything happen to them while in her hands.
Therefore, even though she could have easily snapped their necks, she chose to let go.
The moment she released them, Yelena and Antonia immediately moved.
The two coordinated perfectly, launching a barrage of swift attacks at Natasha like a violent storm.
Among ordinary people, both of them were top-tier experts.
But for Natasha, who had consumed the Okuchi no Makami Apple and was protected by the symbiote suit, their attacks were mere child's play.
If they didn't have those two faces, Natasha could have crushed their heads in a matter of minutes.
But now, she appeared incredibly passive.
She was even being pinned down by the two of them, completely at a disadvantage.
"Peter, something doesn't seem right," Tony couldn't help but nudge Peter's elbow.
"Natasha can't handle those two girls at all."
In fact, Peter had already seen this without Tony having to say a word.
He had only wanted to see if Natasha could actually harden her heart.
But it seemed Natasha was far more fragile than he had imagined.
It could be said that as cold and ruthless as she was toward outsiders, she was just as cautious and protective toward her own people.
To Peter, however, this was actually a virtue.
He wouldn't dare keep someone by his side who could ruthlessly strike down their own people without hesitation.
Peter finally stopped watching and took a step forward, instantly flashing to Natasha's side.
"Leave these two to me. You just take care of Dreykov."
Natasha didn't refuse; she knew she couldn't bring herself to deal with them, so she decisively tagged out to Peter.
Compared to Natasha's painful hesitation, Peter's handling was much more straightforward.
He instantly flashed in front of Antonia.
A massive amount of muscle analysis data immediately flooded Antonia's vision.
This was why she was known as "Taskmaster."
Dreykov had subjected her to perverse technological modifications, implanting a complete motion capture analysis system in her brain.
This allowed her to analyze an opponent's next move within milliseconds and instantly make a choice based on the analyzed electrical signals.
The speed was so great that it could completely bypass the time required for the brain to process and analyze information.
It was purely muscle replacing thought.
But... in the face of Peter, all of this became a joke.
The moment she saw Peter raise his hand, Antonia instinctively performed a grappling move, intending to dislocate Peter's arm.
She clung to him, but no matter how much force she applied, Peter's body remained motionless.
It felt as if she were clinging not to flesh, but to a bundle of steel coils!
At the very moment Antonia latched onto Peter's arm, a faint glimmer emerged from Peter's palm and quickly covered Antonia's entire body.
Under the influence of this white light, she fell into a state of complete paralysis, as if her power had been instantly cut.
Then, a massive amount of electrode pads and tiny chips were purged from her body, and the horrific burns on her skin were covered by new, smooth skin at a visible rate.
In just three to five seconds, all the "tech and enhancements" on Antonia's body vanished.
The terrifying and hideous burn scars on her body also disappeared.
On Antonia's smooth, renewed face, a human expression finally appeared—not anger, but bewilderment, a sense of confusion after long-term suppression, not knowing where to go.
"One down."
After dealing with Antonia, Peter turned his gaze toward Yelena, who was "clanging like iron."
While Peter was healing Antonia, Yelena hadn't been idle at all, launching a frenzy of punches and kicks at him.
Anyone else would have been beaten to death countless times by now.
But who was Peter? He would dare to take a head-on punch from the King of the Frost Giants, let alone from a young brat like Yelena, who was about his age.
He didn't even need to activate Iron Body or Armament Haki; her strikes landing on him were no different from a tickle.
"Next, it's your turn!"
As he spoke, Peter casually poked Yelena's forehead with a finger.
Yelena was much easier to deal with than Antonia.
Taskmaster was full of tech and enhancements, while Yelena was just flesh and blood.
She couldn't even react to Peter's movement before being restrained by him.
The horse talisman went to work once again.
Before long, a small chip was purged from Yelena's nose, and her previously hollow eyes immediately became lively.
Although the pheromone chip controlled her body, it didn't erase her memories, so Yelena clearly remembered the tender affection on her "sister's" face when she looked at Peter earlier.
Thus, after regaining control, she couldn't help but look Peter up and down, and after a moment, she blurted out:
"So, should I call you brother-in-law?"
Hearing those words, Natasha, who was pinning the despondent Dreykov to the ground in the distance, felt her body tremble as if struck by an electric current.
As for Peter, he instinctively looked into Yelena's eyes.
From those amber eyes, Peter could read plenty of cunning and... possessiveness.
Clearly, this younger sister, who had been deeply hurt by her older sister once before, was currently devising some sort of revenge plan centered around him.
Chapter 223: Execution, Vengeance Achieved
Peter could naturally guess what was going through the little girl's mind.
This girl clearly hadn't fallen in love at first sight; she simply wanted to use him as a tool, hoping to lure him under her skirt so her dear sister could feel the sting of a knife to the heart.
If this revenge plan were used on Tony, it might actually work.
But unfortunately... Peter was different.
He was different because... he had very refined tastes!
Peter sized Yelena up, making an assessment in his mind without changing his expression.
Her figure was indeed good; although the size of her headlights left something to be desired, those long legs were even longer than Black Widow's. Overall, she was roughly on par with Black Widow.
However, in terms of looks, she fell quite short.
Not only did she have freckles, but her skin also looked quite rough, completely lacking that seductive aura Black Widow possessed.
Moreover, even if her looks were equal, he had no interest in being used as a tool.
Therefore, Peter didn't give Yelena any room to continue her fantasies and directly raised his hand to give her forehead a light flick.
Boing~
A crisp flick landed squarely on Yelena's forehead.
The young girl let out a cry of pain and couldn't help but clutch her forehead, taking half a step back.
"Calling me brother-in-law is correct," Peter said as he withdrew his hand, his tone still light. "But don't even think about the drama of seducing your brother-in-law to steal him away; your brother-in-law isn't into that."
Natasha, who had been holding Dreykov with one hand like a little chick, couldn't help but tremble slightly upon hearing this.
She then snapped her head back, first glaring at Yelena with eyes like knives.
That look was no different from a mother wolf guarding her prey, filled with ferocity.
But then, her gaze shifted to Peter.
That look was first as soft as water, then became charming and enchanting, enough to make one's bones feel weak.
Clearly, Natasha was very satisfied with Peter's stance, and she was already deciding when to properly reward him.
Tony witnessed the whole thing from the side. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he decisively spoke to Jarvis:
"Jarvis, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and take notes for me!"
As the saying goes, no wonder Peter can have a girl on each arm. Next time, I'll try this approach with Pepper.
Maybe I'll be able to unlock some new ways to play...
On the other side, Yelena clutched her forehead for quite a while before recovering.
A moment later, she shot Peter another fierce glare.
However, she knew her limits after all.
She knew that even a hundred of her tied together wouldn't be a match for this brother-in-law.
So, she didn't plan to say any harsh words; instead, she turned her head decisively and chose to squeeze a soft persimmon.
So the question was, who was the soft persimmon on the scene?
The answer was self-evident!
It was, of course, Dreykov, who was being held by Natasha like a dead dog.
"You know, old man."
She walked over to Natasha's side, grabbed the few remaining hairs on Dreykov's head, and forced him to meet her gaze:
"The biggest wish of the first half of my life was to one day crush your neck with my own hands."
Hearing this, Dreykov's fat body couldn't help but tremble.
Hearing this, Natasha's grip tightened slightly, causing the fat man to make a squawking sound like a duck.
"Now," she exchanged a look with Yelena, then released her hand, throwing Dreykov onto the ground, and said:
"I think I can fulfill that wish for you."
Seeing the two sisters about to strike and finish off Dreykov together, Peter suddenly spoke up:
"Wait a moment."
The two of them paused simultaneously, turned their heads, and looked at him with confusion.
"Killing him now would be unfair to the others in the Red Room."
Peter said this without any special expression, as if he were stating a very ordinary fact.
Natasha's brow furrowed slightly; she didn't speak, but she was clearly listening.
"Those girls," Peter tilted his chin, gesturing toward the frozen female Agents on the upper floors,
"They are also victims. If you let this guy die at your hands like this, how are they supposed to dispel the hatred in their hearts?"
After he finished speaking, the scene fell silent for a few seconds.
A moment later, Natasha spoke softly:
"You're right. It would be unfair to them."
Yelena turned back to Peter and asked:
"...Then what do you plan to do?"
Peter didn't say anything, but his figure blurred as he instantly left the sixth basement level.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Peter's figure turned completely into a beam of light, rapidly weaving between the frozen female Agents and those knocked unconscious by his Conqueror's Haki.
The horse talisman's power spread from his palm, flowing into the bodies of the frozen female Agents. Tiny chips and electrodes were extracted from their skin, falling onto the ice with a series of fine, clicking sounds.
Their hollow eyes gradually began to change.
Fear, confusion, sorrow... finally, it all transformed into a volcanic rage.
...
Once all the female Agents of the Red Room had regained consciousness, Peter brought them back to the bottom level.
Dreykov was still pinned to the ground. He watched as the girls walked in one by one, watching as each of them revealed eyes that looked like they wanted to tear him into a thousand pieces.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and a large wet patch visibly soaked the ground beneath him.
"Wait, wait!" he screamed at the top of his lungs:
"You can't do this, you can't do this to me! You orphans, without me, you would have died in some gutter long ago!"
"I provided you with food, I provided you with drink..."
Crack!
Before he could finish, the sound of a bone snapping rang out abruptly.
Someone had directly dislocated his jaw.
The moment they saw this figure clearly, everyone present gasped in shock.
Because this person was none other than Dreykov's daughter—Antonia!
Antonia locked eyes with her father.
The moment their gazes met, Dreykov was suddenly stunned.
That face was so flawless; the scars were gone, the wounds were gone, exactly like the figure in his memory.
Dreykov opened his mouth; he wanted to say something, but he couldn't make a sound.
As for Antonia, she had already crouched down, drawing a dagger from her waist. Holding it in her hand, she looked down at him.
"Father."
She lightly stroked Dreykov's face, her voice very soft, even carrying a strange tenderness.
"You destroyed everything I had. Now, it's your turn!"
The moment she finished speaking, she thrust the dagger into Dreykov's mouth and sliced his tongue off in one stroke.
After completing this, she took a deep breath and placed the dagger into Yelena's hand.
One cut after another...
One person after another...
When Natasha cut off the last piece of flesh, only a white skeleton remained at the scene...
====================
Chapter 224: Reunion
The white skeleton lay there quietly, the smell of blood mixed with a sense of void after liberation, permeating the air of the sixth floor underground.
There was no crying, no screaming; all the girls just stood quietly, looking at the pile of bones as if saying goodbye to their own unbearable past.
Antonia sheathed her dagger, walked up to Peter, and bowed deeply. Her voice was still a bit raspy, but perfectly clear: "Thank you."
The girls behind her followed suit, bowing in unison.
"Alright, alright, everyone stand up." Peter waved his hand with a calm expression that said 'it's no big deal, don't mention it.' "The great vengeance is served. What are your plans next?"
As soon as those words were spoken, the scene fell into silence again.
"You are free." Peter looked around at the group of girls, whose average age was barely over twenty, and said calmly, "From today on, you are no longer anyone's tools. You can have your own names and live the lives you want to live."
Free?
This word was too foreign and too heavy for them.
They had received inhumane training in the Red Room for as long as they could remember; their World consisted only of missions, obedience, and killing.
Now, the shackles that bound them had been shattered, but they were like birds that had been kept in a cage for too long, suddenly not knowing how to fly.
Bewilderment was written on every single face.
Natasha looked at them, a flash of pity in her eyes.
She understood this feeling all too well, just like when she first left the Red Room and stood on the streets of New York, watching the busy traffic and bustling streets, yet feeling completely out of place with the rest of the World.
In the long silence, Yelena suddenly sighed:
"We don't know how to do anything except kill people. Does this World really need people like us?"
These words clearly resonated with the girls; they each showed expressions of self-deprecation, looking like orphans abandoned by the World.
Seeing their lost and helpless looks, Peter hesitated for a moment before finally speaking:
"I have an idea. Of course, I'm just making a suggestion; it doesn't matter to me whether you accept it or not."
"My foster parents are planning to open a charitable foundation in New York. If you really have nowhere else to go, you can work there."
"Helping more unfortunate people and feeling the warmth of this society might help you resolve the knots in your hearts."
"Of course, if some of you don't want to deal with too many people, you can also try going to the countryside to start a small farm together."
At this point, Peter kicked the skeleton on the ground:
"This guy must have accumulated a lot of ill-gotten wealth, enough for you to buy a farm and enjoy a peaceful pastoral life undisturbed by others."
"Additionally, you could also form a mutual aid society specifically to hunt down those unscrupulous wealthy people or scumbags who toy with emotions."
"If during this process you feel that you have completely integrated into society, you can also just leave and enjoy your own lives."
After Peter finished speaking, the entire office was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
The girls looked at one another, and finally, it was the relatively lively Yelena who spoke:
"Good idea! No wonder you can be my brother-in-law. I've decided, I'm going to join your family's foundation."
As for Antonia, after thinking for a moment, she spoke hesitantly:
"I... I don't know how to do farm work."
"That's simple." Peter turned his head to look at Natasha and said:
"I remember you said before that your Mama set up a farm, right? Why not let the rest of the girls go with your Mama to start a farm in the countryside near New York?"
To this, Natasha naturally nodded.
Antonia and the other girls were also very happy to hear that they would have one of their own to help them run the farm, and their eyes sparkled as they looked at Peter.
Yelena looked at her 'companions,' then at the composed Peter, and finally walked quietly to Natasha's side and whispered:
"Hey, you'd better keep a tight leash on your man, don't let him go around flirting with everyone!"
Hearing this, Natasha's lips twitched speechlessly, but after a moment, she still whispered back into her sister's ear:
"I can't control him, but you can rest assured, his standards are very high; he wouldn't be interested in a little brat like you."
Yelena's small round face instantly collapsed.
Sisters are the absolute worst!
...
After making their choices, the girls of the Red Room split into three factions.
Most of the girls decided to join the Parker Foundation with Yelena.
Another group of girls prepared to lead a secluded pastoral life with Antonia.
Finally, there were seven or eight girls left who were used to the life of killing and missions and intended to maintain the status quo.
Peter therefore established 'Black Rose' as originally planned, letting these girls join to help him secretly monitor high-level politicians in America and prevent them from plotting any more conspiracies against his family.
After getting all the girls onto the quinjet, Peter did not leave Europe immediately.
He still planned to do two things: pick up Natasha's mother Melina and her father, the Red Guardian Aleksei Shostakov.
Although these two were only Natasha's fake parents, those three years of undercover life were the only memories of family warmth she had from her childhood.
Moreover, this pair of fake parents were not heartless bastards; in fact, in the movies, they also cherished this little family.
Aleksei, as the Red Guardian, would later join the Thunder Agents along with Yelena.
Peter hoped that Natasha could still feel the warmth of a home even when he wasn't by her side.
So, he decided to pick up these two as well and take them to the United States.
...
Siberia, Seventh Prison.
This was the most heavily guarded prison in Russia, housing the most heinous criminals.
A stout, heavily bearded middle-aged man was arm-wrestling. While defeating challengers one by one, he loudly boasted about his past exploits of fighting Captain America for three hundred rounds.
This person was the former Red Guardian, Aleksei Shostakov.
"Who else! Who else dares to challenge me, the Red Guardian!"
The Red Guardian finally defeated all challengers. He laughed loudly, proudly displaying his biceps.
Just then, the prison alarms blared loudly.
The heavy alloy door was kicked open from the outside. Sunlight streamed in, and three figures appeared at the doorway.
The Red Guardian narrowed his eyes, but once he saw clearly who had come, he was stunned on the spot.
Standing before him were the three family members who had haunted his dreams for many years.
After rubbing his eyes as if he didn't care, the Red Guardian broke into a smug smile and rushed forward happily with open arms:
"My little Natasha! And my little Yelena! I knew you wouldn't forget your heroic father!"