As soon as Andrew finished speaking, the illusion completely collapsed, and Natasha returned to reality, her face filled with confusion. Was everything that just happened real? Why was it so fast? Not even a minute had passed.
"Though I don't know what this Demon King wants to do, his efficiency is truly high. If S.H.I.E.L.D. had such high efficiency, Earth would have achieved complete peace long ago."
Natasha complained. Although the other party's origin was unknown, his method was undoubtedly correct. The only thing to consider was, would the other party have some conspiracy?
"Even if there's a conspiracy, I'm still going to find Dreykov. I'm going to kill him and rescue Antonia and Yelena. Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D. will always stand behind me."
Natasha made up her mind to go to Russia alone to rescue her adoptive father—her adoptive parents were spies who adopted her and Yelena to complete their mission.
The Red Guardian had been imprisoned for too many years and had become deranged. Fortunately, he still remembered the location of Natasha's adoptive mother, Melina.
Melina had long been dissatisfied with Dreykov. She decided to team up with Natasha to deal with Dreykov, and the first step of their plan was for Melina to feign betrayal, allowing Dreykov to send people to capture Natasha and the Red Guardian.
Then, everyone returned to Dreykov's lair aboard a warplane. At this point, Natasha finally understood why no one had discovered Dreykov—his lair was in the sky, a large sky fortress.
"What's wrong with the people in this world? They dare to build fortresses in the sky without even a defensive shield. Dreykov is like this, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is also like this."
Andrew complained. He had been monitoring Natasha with his magic, and Natasha did not disappoint him, successfully finding Dreykov's lair.
Actually, if Andrew was willing, he could also find Dreykov's lair with some effort, but he didn't do so. The reason was simple: he needed to save his time for enjoyment.
Was Gwen not sweet enough, or was Susan not gentle? When someone else could do it, why do it himself?
"Harvesting time."
Andrew wasted no time, pulling the consciousnesses of all Black Widows inside the fortress, except for Natasha, into an illusion. There were over two hundred in total—this was not the total number of Black Widows, as a large number of Black Widows were lurking worldwide to gather intelligence.
Andrew floated in the air, saying from a high vantage point, "Give me your souls, and serve me. I will help you escape Dreykov's control and grant you the chance for revenge."
This contract was much stricter than the contracts Andrew usually used. Once signed, the Black Widows' souls would be completely controlled by Andrew. If he wanted the Black Widows to live, they would live; if he wanted the Black Widows to die, they would die.
Although the conditions were harsh, all the girls, including Yelena and Taskmaster, did not hesitate. They pressed their handprints immediately—they had been controlled by Dreykov with drugs, leading lives worse than death.
"You will become my Black Widows, fighting for me and collecting souls for me."
Andrew nodded with satisfaction. He said, "Don't worry, I've always been very good to my own people. In a year, I will help you restore your bodies and turn you back into complete women."
"Restore our bodies?"
All the girls' eyes lit up. Dreykov was a beast; to make the Black Widows better at completing missions, he completely removed their reproductive systems, meaning all Black Widows were incomplete women who could not bear children.
"Additionally, as long as you perform well, there will be other rewards."
Andrew said, "Such as eternal youth, extended lifespan, superhuman power, and so on."
The more the girls listened, the brighter their eyes became. A black-haired girl knelt down and shouted, "Willing to serve you, Lord Demon King."
"Such a flatterer."
Yelena pouted, then knelt down with the others, shouting in unison with the other kneeling girls, "Willing to serve you, Lord Demon King."
"Very good. Now, first, take your revenge. My magic will help you break free from the drug's control."
Andrew laughed heartily, "Oh, and remember to get the master key from Dreykov. All Black Widows, except for the unseemly one, I want them all."
...
In the control room, Dreykov looked at Natasha, who was disguised as Melina, and sneered, "Natasha, you are my most successful creation. How could I not recognize you?"
Natasha tore off her mask and said through gritted teeth, "Dreykov, your time has come. This time, I will not make the same mistake again."
"I am standing right in front of you now. Can you kill me?"
Dreykov motioned for Taskmaster, the armored person beside him, to remain still, and said with a smile—Taskmaster was his daughter, Antonia. After being injured in the explosion, Dreykov implanted chips in her body, transforming her into the half-machine, half-human Taskmaster.
Taskmaster can mimic everyone's movements, such as Hawkeye, and Steve Rogers.
Natasha tried to attack Dreykov, but her fists couldn't truly land. Dreykov said triumphantly, "All Black Widows have been injected with a pheromone lock by me. As long as they smell my scent, they cannot attack me."
"Poor Natasha, while you were in S.H.I.E.L.D., I couldn't touch you. Now that you've walked into my trap, I will use you to secretly control S.H.I.E.L.D. This world will completely belong to me."
Dreykov was very pleased. Just then, Natasha suddenly lowered her head and forcefully slammed her nose against the table, making a loud thud.
Then, with blood streaming from her nose, Natasha looked up and said triumphantly, "You thought I didn't know about the pheromones…"
Natasha had only spoken halfway when Taskmaster suddenly punched Dreykov on the side of his face. Dreykov screamed and flew backward, two blood-stained teeth flying through the air.
This was not all. Taskmaster pulled out the long knife from her back and used it to pin Dreykov's arm to the deck. Dreykov let out a piercing scream, twitching on the ground.
"Father, thank you for taking care of me all this time. We will repay you well."
Taskmaster said coldly. At the same time, screams and gunshots rang out from outside, as the Black Widows had begun their attack.
Natasha was dumbfounded. What was happening? Also, did she break her nose for nothing?
Dreykov asked in alarm, "Antonia, why can you break free from the drug's control?"
Taskmaster said, "Because someone helped me. I recovered from the moment Natasha came in."
"Then why did you wait until I broke my nose to act?"
Natasha was very displeased. Breaking her nose hurt a lot, didn't it?
Taskmaster glanced at Natasha, but did not answer. Are we close? Also, I did it on purpose, is there a problem?
Natasha was a little embarrassed. She apologized, "About what happened back then, I'm sorry, but I had to do it. Only with you present could I confirm that was the real Dreykov."
Taskmaster ignored Natasha. She searched Dreykov for the key, inserted it into the control panel, and then skillfully manipulated the system, making the Black Widows' battle smoother.
Taskmaster had always been by Dreykov's side when he controlled the system. With Taskmaster's talent, operating this system was not difficult at all.