"Ah~~!"
Soon, the arrogant Green Goblin had his arm broken by Artoria and fled. He had been happily 'educating' Little Spider when he was suddenly smashed out of the air by a pitch-black rod that came out of nowhere. Even with his superior physical fitness and the help of the Green Goblin suit, this blow left his head spinning violently.
However, he quickly regained his senses when he saw the rod swinging at him again. After blocking it with his hand, he realized his arm was broken. Knowing he couldn't win, he cleverly glanced at Little Spider, threw a few smoke bombs, and escaped through the sewers.
"He certainly slips away fast!"
Artoria hadn't intended to kill the Green Goblin in one hit, so she had held back sixty percent of her strength; otherwise, he would have been flattened. The Green Goblin was the father of Little Spider's best friend; it was best not to draw this web of 'love and hate' onto herself. Besides, how else would the second-generation Green Goblin appear?
"Hi..."
"If your injuries aren't healed, go back and rest. Don't ask me anything. Thanks. I don't like potatoes, and I like meat pies even less. Thank you."
Before Little Spider could finish his sentence, Artoria shut him down with a barrage of words. This was the first time since he put on the spider suit that someone had silenced him like this, leaving him feeling quite frustrated.
"I'm busy. Goodbye."
"Good... bye."
Without giving Little Spider a chance to speak, Artoria ended the conversation and vanished in a streak of light. She left Little Spider standing there blankly with his right arm raised. Artoria quickly returned to her building, slipped into her office, and deactivated her Spirit Gear. Her original ladies' suit remained unchanged; it seemed she had moved past the stage where using Spirit Gear would ruin her clothes.
After completing all this, Artoria acted as if nothing had happened and resumed her leisurely'salted fish' lifestyle. It was great to push all the work onto Gwen; Gwen was an incredibly capable assistant. It was wonderful that many things didn't require her personal presence to be resolved.
"Captain, are you thirsty? I know a great cafe. Captain, are you hungry? Let me tell you, there's a Chinese restaurant with top-tier food, it's super delicious."
"..."
At this moment, Captain America's heart was crumbling. His peaceful daily life of trying to learn new things had been suddenly shattered by a red-haired beauty. She had come with a high-level order from the Officer, making him live with this guy who seemed like a 'fanatic.' He felt like he was going to break, especially when he was on the toilet without paper and a hand silently reached out with a roll. God knows how he resisted the urge to kick him out.
But seeing that harmless smile full of admiration for an idol, the Captain couldn't bring himself to dampen his enthusiasm. Moreover, this person was the one who had taught him the most lately, so he could only endure it.
"Special Agent Phil, I think Agent May is looking for you."
Since he couldn't dampen the other's enthusiasm, the Captain could only try to shift his focus to work. Conveniently, another colleague contacted him. Phil's reluctant departure gave the Captain goosebumps.
"Agent May, is there a mission?"
Work was work. Once away from the Captain, Phil's IQ immediately returned as he contacted Agent May.
"The Director wants you to prepare. We're about to welcome a big guy."
"Address?"
"In a moment! Someone will pick you up. Just wait where you are."
"Understood."
While S.H.I.E.L.D. was moving quickly to recruit powerful Avengers, Artoria was looking playfully at the Western beauty before her, Sharon Carter. This was the first time Artoria had met the girl who, following in her elder's footsteps, fell in love with a man from her elder's generation. It seemed that even if she didn't go looking for S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming to her. Interesting; this gave her more bargaining chips. Excellent. She just wondered if S.H.I.E.L.D. could offer what she needed—whether she could get some Kree corpses from Nick. She'd never know without trying.
Given Nick's cautious nature, Artoria couldn't bring this up herself. If she slipped up, she probably wouldn't even get a chance to touch an alien organism. If possible, she wanted to launch the hyperion now, but technical limitations made it too slow. She didn't know if she could finish refitting the hyperion before the Battle of New York. That would be a great opportunity; while everyone was focused on New York, Artoria could find a chance to secretly put the hyperion into Space. By then, even if it were discovered, it wouldn't be a big problem.
"Hello, Miss Sharon Carter. May I ask what brings you here?"
Since it was all just small talk anyway, Artoria was bored enough to chat with a beauty to pass the time. Even though she had thousands of Shadow Clones training in the underground Base, she didn't suffer any ill effects. She couldn't help it; she was just that strong now (funny).
"Hello, Miss Artoria. This should be our first meeting, but I've heard about you from my elders..."
Sharon Carter didn't state her purpose immediately, instead starting with the connection between their older generations. Special Agent Carter and old man Howard were colleagues, so it made sense for Carter to know of Artoria's existence. It was reasonable from any perspective. Sharon wasn't wrong to start the conversation this way, but she didn't know that the'shrewd' person in front of her already knew everything. Artoria just pretended not to know, watching her perform and nodding at the appropriate times to show she understood.
"Why does this feel so strange?"
Watching the two interact from the side, Gwen felt it was very odd. Artoria's indifferent attitude and Sharon's attempts to bridge the gap through family connections made her feel that something was off. It was as if Artoria knew exactly what the other person was going to say next. Or rather, Miss Artoria had long expected her to come, so she wasn't surprised at all. This made Gwen very curious; she had been observing Artoria's every move, so she could see this clearly in their conversation.
"If you have time, could you please visit Aunt Peggy? Her health isn't very good, and she just Hopes to see the daughter of her former colleague."
After saying this, Sharon looked at Artoria expectantly. Through her aunt, she could explain S.H.I.E.L.D.'s affairs to Artoria. If Artoria wavered, combined with her aunt's assistance, Artoria might actually join S.H.I.E.L.D., and her mission would be complete.
Although the invitation had an ulterior motive, her words weren't false. Her aunt's health was indeed failing, and she couldn't handle any major shocks. Therefore, her words were sincere; anyone who didn't know the full situation certainly wouldn't refuse.
"Alright, Miss Carter, I'll go."
Artoria happened to want to meet this legendary female Special Agent, so she agreed readily. This made Gwen even more confused; she felt Artoria had been waiting for those exact words, but she couldn't find any proof. She could only watch in silence as the two acted all friendly.
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