Chapter 8: Black Widow
Two weeks passed, and Natasha Romanoff finally came back from her mission.
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., sat in his office, waiting for his most trusted agent.
Natasha Romanoff, wearing her tight black suit, hurried toward the office.
Knock, knock, knock...
With Nick Fury's permission, Natasha Romanoff entered the office.
"Director, what's the matter? Why so urgent? Why did you call me back?" she asked.
"This mission belongs to you," Fury said seriously.
Nick Fury took out a file and placed it in front of Natasha.
Natasha Romanoff looked it over. "Tony Stark?"
Nick Fury continued, "He's not the key. The important thing is that someone is influencing him behind the scenes."
Natasha Romanoff listened quietly as Nick Fury told her everything he knew.
More often than not, Natasha wasn't a pure combat-type agent, but rather an intelligence officer.
She had very strong insight abilities and extremely high intelligence acquisition skills. Sometimes, through simple conversation, she could get the information she wanted.
For example, when Loki came to Earth and was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha learned Loki's true purpose through careful dialogue and manipulation.
"Winter Soldier... the death of Howard Stark—did he do it?" Natasha asked, her expression darkening.
Natasha Romanoff recalled fighting the Winter Soldier once before. The Winter Soldier was stronger and more ruthless, fighting like a cold machine without emotion.
In the end, she had been injured and narrowly escaped death.
Holding the information, Natasha Romanoff fell into thought. "I'll go to Stark tomorrow and find a way to get the information we need."
"In addition to Stark, his assistant Pepper is also a good entry point," she added strategically.
After getting ready, Natasha Romanoff contacted Pepper, voluntarily identified herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and said that she would visit Stark's villa tomorrow.
Stark was busy in his workshop, but fortunately, his work was progressing well.
The new arc reactor had been successfully made, and the improved armor was about eighty percent complete.
The Mark II armor was about to be successfully finished.
Knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had personally come to deliver information, Stark had to find time to meet them.
---
Natasha Romanoff didn't wear formal clothes like Phil Coulson. She dressed very casually and attractively.
Looking at her, who would dare to believe she was a highly trained agent?
Pepper greeted Natasha Romanoff and Phil Coulson. Looking at Natasha, Pepper felt a little surprised—she didn't expect such a beautiful woman to be an agent.
"Hi, Pepper. My name is Natasha Romanoff, and I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Natasha said with a warm smile.
"Hello. Stark is still in the underground studio. Please wait a moment. I'll ask him to come out," Pepper replied.
"Thanks."
When Stark came to the living room and saw Natasha Romanoff, his eyes lit up. He automatically ignored Phil Coulson completely.
A beauty of this level was rare.
Even Tony Stark, who had been in countless relationships and had many women around him over the years, was somewhat captivated.
"So, you're also an agent? You're so beautiful. Why would you choose to be an agent?" Tony asked flirtatiously.
Natasha Romanoff smiled slightly. "Some people have many choices, while others have no choice."
"Tony, here is the information you wanted," she said, becoming more professional.
"We have shown enough sincerity. So please tell me—how did you know these secrets?"
Stark was about to continue his usual evasive approach.
"I'm a genius. Is it difficult for me to know these things?" he said dismissively.
"You are a genius, but you shouldn't blindly trust the person who told you these secrets. He must have some other purpose in doing this," Natasha said carefully.
"He hopes to achieve a certain purpose through you."
"You should trust us even more."
"Our S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded by your father, and your father had a very high status in S.H.I.E.L.D. When your parents had their accident, we investigated for a long time. Finally, in order to protect you, we concealed the truth from you."
Stark was furious. "Protect me? So you hid the truth? This is not protection!"
"You never told me the real truth, and that's the problem!"
Natasha Romanoff saw that Stark's mood had fluctuated greatly, and she knew that this kind of moment was the best time to extract intelligence.
"Exactly," she said gently.
"But even though you know this now, what can you do?"
"Do you know who the real murderer is?"
"Our S.H.I.E.L.D. has been investigating for so many years, but there are very few clues. Do you think you can catch him by yourself?"
Tony Stark looked at the file in front of him—the Winter Soldier file—and felt rage building inside him.
"I'll catch him because, well, I am Tony Stark," he said with determination.
Stark took the materials and went back down into the underground research room. Pepper's eyes were full of worry.
All of this was carefully observed by Natasha Romanoff, who stood up, preparing to leave.
"It seems I should leave too," she said.
"I'm sorry. This incident hit Tony very hard," Pepper apologized.
"I know. But if he continues like this, he will inevitably fall into dangerous obsession and bring himself into real danger," Natasha warned.
Natasha Romanoff had insight into Pepper's conflicted thoughts. "Miss Pepper, you've been with Tony for so long. You don't want to see him in danger, do you?"
Pepper was caught in hesitation—torn between Tony and Leo's demand for secrecy, and Natasha representing S.H.I.E.L.D.
Natasha Romanoff walked to the door and was about to leave. "Miss Pepper, there is still time. We can figure out the purpose of that mysterious person and save Tony."
"If this goes on, Tony might be in serious danger."
"You are his last line of defense. If you don't help him, no one can help him."
Pepper was moved by Natasha's words and finally made up her mind.
"His name is Leo Azmith. Here is his information," Pepper said quietly, handing over Leo's contact details.
---
Leo finished his classes and returned to his home happily.
The effort of these past days hadn't been in vain.
Mary Jane's attitude toward him had improved a lot. She wasn't far from returning to his embrace.
Leo had just arrived at the entrance of his villa and was about to enter the yard when he saw a car with a flat tire swerving in front of him.
The vehicle was out of control and almost hit Leo.
Leo subconsciously dodged, so he didn't get hit.
An extremely beautiful woman got out of the car. This woman was Natasha Romanoff.
"Oh, God!" she exclaimed.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing that Leo was safe and sound, Natasha Romanoff sighed with relief.
"Thank God, I'm so glad you're okay."
"I don't know what happened. The car tire suddenly blew out."
"I didn't do it on purpose."
"If you need compensation, we can discuss it."
Leo always felt something was wrong. Maybe it was because the woman was too beautiful, too perfectly positioned.
But overall, there seemed to be nothing obviously unusual.
"I'm fine. You didn't hit me at all. But it seems you need help," Leo offered.
Natasha Romanoff looked at her car. "I don't think there's much you can help with. I'll have to call and get the car towed for repairs."
Leo suggested, wanting to strike up a conversation with the beauty who had appeared so suddenly, "I think you'll have to wait a while. My home is right here. Why don't we go inside and have a cup of coffee together while you wait?"
Natasha Romanoff didn't show the slightest hesitation. "Oh, thank you so much! I almost bumped into you just now, and you're still willing to buy me a cup of coffee. You are a true gentleman."
"I don't think any gentleman would reject a beauty like you," Leo said with a smile.
"My name is Leo Azmith. You can call me Leo."
Natasha Romanoff also introduced herself naturally. "My name is Shena."
Leo brought Natasha Romanoff, who was going by the pseudonym Shena, into his house and began making coffee.
Although Leo didn't like coffee very much, he had good skills in making it.
While Leo was making coffee, Natasha Romanoff suddenly said, "Excuse me, can I use the bathroom?"
"Definitely, go ahead," Leo replied.
Seeing the back of Natasha leaving, Leo felt slightly disturbed.
"It's been so long since I came to this world. There are many beauties around me, but I haven't won any of them completely yet," he thought.
"Mary Jane was the closest to success that time, but because of my honest choice, she left temporarily."
"The beauty in front of me is really good—no worse than beauties like Gwen. When she comes back, I should chat with her more."
After a while, Natasha Romanoff appeared in front of Leo.
She placed her hands on the bar counter, watching Leo's movements, and posed in a coquettish manner, showing off her beautiful figure.
Leo was momentarily dumbfounded. This woman was too good at flirting.
Looking into Leo's eyes, Natasha Romanoff knew that her plan was half successful.
Of course, Natasha Romanoff was also a little puzzled internally. "Is this person really the target I'm looking for? He seems like an ordinary teenager."
"Leo, the way you make coffee is really handsome," she said flirtatiously.
"Thank you for the compliment," Leo replied.
Leo finished making the coffee and pushed a cup in front of Natasha Romanoff.
"Your coffee."
Natasha Romanoff took the coffee but didn't drink it immediately. "Why is there only one cup? Leo, don't you drink coffee?"
"Personally, I prefer to drink juice or milk. Coffee is just for entertaining guests," Leo explained.
Natasha Romanoff half-jokingly said, "Then you didn't add something to the coffee while I was away, did you?"
"For example, to make me fall into a coma after drinking it, so you can do whatever you want?"
It was normal to be wary. "There's no need for that. I prefer to rely only on my personal charm to attract women instead of using such methods," Leo said honestly.
"If you don't believe me, I can try it first, or you can choose to drink another beverage instead."
Natasha Romanoff suddenly stood up and said, "Don't bother. I have a better way."
Natasha Romanoff took a sip of the coffee and then suddenly moved toward Leo, pressing close to him.
"Can you still play like this?" Leo thought, surprised.
Feeling the movements of the beauty in his arms, Leo knew that something was definitely wrong.
Through his mind ability, he had already sensed what was wrong—she was an agent Natasha Romanoff, there were surveillance teams outside, electronic monitoring devices hidden nearby.
But he decided not to show his hand directly just yet.
Without saying another word, he immediately cast portal magic.
A golden circle appeared, and the two disappeared from the villa instantly.
---
Outside, in the surveillance van, an agent reported urgently, "Report! The target has disappeared, and Natasha has also disappeared!"
"Disappeared? What do you mean?" the team leader demanded.
"They just disappeared suddenly—vanished into thin air!"
"Send someone inside immediately and look for any signs of the target. Locate Agent Romanoff's tracker. We need to find them now!" the commander ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
In an instant, several agents appeared at Leo's villa door and rushed inside, beginning to search frantically.
---
At that very moment, Leo and Natasha Romanoff had appeared within Stark's underground studio.
A golden circle had transferred their location in an instant, as fast as teleportation, then disappeared like a passing breeze.
Stark, who was working on the Mark II armor, was completely taken aback by the sudden appearance of Leo and Natasha Romanoff.
"What the...!" Stark exclaimed.
Seeing the scene in front of him clearly, Stark couldn't help but fall into confused thought.
"Leo, I remember you said you wouldn't enter my house without my permission," Stark said with annoyance.
"And even if you want to... play some romantic games with beautiful women, you shouldn't come to me. I remember you have your own villa."
When Natasha heard Leo's voice, she immediately knew for certain that Leo was really the one behind everything.
Of course, what made Natasha most curious was that she had clearly been in Leo's villa, but had suddenly appeared here in Stark's workshop.
Natasha Romanoff brushed her hair back calmly, then pulled out her pistol and pointed it at Leo.
Stark clearly saw Natasha Romanoff's face. "A female agent? Leo, do you like female agents too?"
"Stark, can you shield all her electronics and block all signals from this room?" Leo requested.
"There is some content that cannot be leaked for the time being."
Stark chose to believe Leo. "JARVIS, block all signals."
"Yes, sir," JARVIS responded.
Seeing that Natasha Romanoff was still pointing her gun at Leo, Leo remained extremely relaxed.
"Relax, Natasha Romanoff. I mean no harm," Leo said calmly.
"I don't believe you," Natasha said coldly.
"Tell me—what is your purpose?"
Leo said with a smile, "Of course I have one, but you'd better put your weapon away first."
Stark also reminded her, "Put down your weapon, beautiful agent. Your weapon is useless against him."
"Hundreds of bandits from the Ten Rings, armed with heavy weapons, couldn't kill him."
"If you don't believe me, you can shoot and try."
Stark's words actually challenged Natasha Romanoff.
Leo didn't expect that Natasha Romanoff would really dare to shoot—and she emptied a whole magazine!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets hit Leo's body and fell harmlessly to the ground.
"I believe it now," Natasha said, lowering her weapon.
Leo came back to his senses. "Tony, was that really necessary?"
"And you, Natasha Romanoff—how dare you actually shoot? You just emptied an entire magazine!"
Natasha Romanoff explained calmly, "For confirmation at first, I only fired one shot, and I aimed carefully, so I promise I wasn't trying to kill you."
Leo thought about it. It seemed true.
Natasha had started to shoot more recklessly only after confirming that his body could block bullets.
"I have a complaint, Natasha Romanoff. You'd better figure out how to make it up to me," Leo said with a slight smirk.
After Natasha Romanoff determined that she couldn't control or harm Leo, she didn't plan to continue fighting, but instead decided to use intelligence and manipulation.
"What compensation do you want?" she asked smoothly.
"I haven't decided yet, so I'll ask for it later," Leo replied.
He was about to tease Natasha Romanoff further when he turned to Stark.
"Tony, put me in contact with Phil Coulson."
Stark didn't understand Leo's intention, but he still chose to help Leo contact Phil Coulson.
Phil Coulson was at Leo's house when he received the call from Stark.
"Hi, I am Phil Coulson. Stark, what do you want?" he answered.
Leo spoke into the phone. "I am Leo, and I am at Tony's house with Natasha Romanoff."
"Tell your director, Nick Fury, that we have something important to talk about. Natasha Romanoff will explain everything when she returns."
"One more thing—tell your people to get out of my villa immediately, without leaving any cameras or drones. Otherwise, I don't mind visiting S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters directly and uninvited."
After Phil Coulson heard this, he immediately replied, "Understood. I will pass this message to the Director."
"Everyone, stop the search and pull back!" he ordered the team.
The agents withdrew from Leo's villa, and Coulson immediately called Nick Fury.
"Director, this person can actually bring people from one location to Stark's villa instantly—some kind of transfer ability," Coulson reported.
"Bring everyone back first. Trust in Natasha Romanoff's abilities," Fury ordered.
Phil Coulson agreed without hesitation. "Director, should we continue to monitor him from a distance?"
"There's no need for cameras or close surveillance. Just keep a few agents nearby and monitor the area discreetly," Fury decided.
"Clear," Coulson confirmed.
---
After getting the answer from Phil Coulson, Leo felt more relaxed.
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