Black Widow's Investigation

Natasha did not go knocking on his door right away. She investigated first.

She spent three full days wandering around Chinatown.

Through various means, she learned about Mr. Wang's life.

He had lived in an orphanage since childhood;

After watching Hong Kong martial arts movies, he had developed a love for martial arts. He practiced on his own whenever he had free time and was once mocked by the other orphans;

At the age of twelve, he had spent the $13.51 he had painstakingly saved to buy more than a dozen books by the pound from an old street vendor;

At fourteen, he had left the orphanage and made a living through massage, tendon adjustment, and bone setting. His skills were excellent, making him extremely popular with middle-aged and elderly men and women alike;

He charged no money and had many nicknames: Old Wang, which he called himself; Little Wang, what most people called him; Big Wang, what people his age called him; Master Wang, what his patients called him; Thunder-Born Wang Jianqiang, used exclusively by the orphanage director; Little Fatty Wang, used by the other people from the orphanage; and Mr. Wang, used by only a very few people;

He had a record of fighting and had never lost;

He had gone door to door challenging every martial arts school and dojo in Chinatown and the nineteen surrounding streets, without a single defeat;

Three years ago, he had met Skye, who was a year older than him. They were close, and Skye often invited him to talk through the night in her van, or he invited Skye to his bachelor apartment to discuss life and ideals;

The business card Melinda had given her was owned by nearly every elderly man and woman over sixty in Chinatown...

This "Master Wang" was actually a celebrity in Chinatown!

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigation quickly yielded results.

Robbie Reyes had seen Skye's trashy online ad claiming that "Master Wang could cure all illnesses" and called the number. Probably because he had truly run out of options and was desperately grasping at anything, he had asked "Master Wang" to treat his brother Gabe's broken leg. She did not know that Skye had fabricated the online and communication records.

Master Wang and Skye had then gone to Los Angeles.

Their car had broken down, so they sent it to a repair shop, then went to Robbie's home.

After that, there had been a transfer of a moderate sum of money, presumably the consultation fee.

A few days ago, Robbie and Gabe had moved and followed Master Wang to New York.

Master Wang had suddenly opened a specialty store, presumably using the consultation fee Robbie had paid.

Robbie worked as a clerk for Master Wang, while Gabe studied martial arts under him.

"Interesting." Natasha's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

His massage, tendon adjustment, and bone-setting techniques were superb. He truly deserved the title of "master";

His combat ability was also extremely strong, making him worthy of the title as well.

A teenager not yet eighteen had such abilities and had become a master in two fields?

There were no suspicious points in his life.

The true turning point had been when he bought those dozen or so books from a roadside stall.

Self-taught?

No.

There were geniuses everywhere in the world, but this "Master Wang" was beyond the description of genius!

Either he was the reincarnation of a living Buddha, or he had been taught by a true master!

"That old street vendor was the real master!" Natasha let her imagination run wild.

The old vendor had seen that Master Wang, still just a child, loved martial arts and trained diligently. Perhaps he had even been a peerless genius found once in a century, one in ten thousand, so the old man had entrusted him with the responsibility of saving the world...

Ahem, so he had taken a liking to Master Wang, secretly accepted him as a disciple, and taught him martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine.

Just as Ms. Carter had recognized Melinda's potential at a glance back then, giving rise to today's The Cavalry.

As for who that old street vendor was?

"The real Kunlun Iron Fist!" Natasha clenched her fist.

Though it was all speculation, she was confident that she was almost certainly right.

Why had Kunlun Iron Fist trained Master Wang?

Perhaps he had merely valued Old Wang's diligence and talent. Or perhaps he had wanted to cultivate K'un-Lun's next generation.

If Master Wang was lucky, he might even have the chance to become K'un-Lun's next Iron Fist and soar to greatness.

"If we want to find Kunlun Iron Fist, Master Wang is the breakthrough!"

Natasha no longer hesitated.

Kunlun Iron Fist had encountered her before, and Coulson and Melinda had also met Master Wang. Unless Master Wang was an idiot, he surely knew someone was watching him and would be on guard.

Coulson and Melinda had both spoken highly of "Master Wang."

Surveillance would be useless. The other side would not reveal any flaws;

Forceful methods were unsuitable as well. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s target was Iron Fist, not Master Wang;

To put it bluntly, S.H.I.E.L.D. had plenty of combat experts and martial arts masters. And no matter how incredible a martial arts master was, could he really stop bullets and grenades?

With sufficient preparation, a well-trained and fully equipped Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. could take down a so-called martial arts master!

But someone at Iron Fist's level was different.

The limited information available showed that masters capable of using "qi" had comprehensively enhanced physical abilities. Their strength, speed, constitution, neural reflexes, and all their senses surpassed those of ordinary people. Even barehanded, such people were not opponents ordinary agents could handle.

The moment you drew your gun, they would have already spotted you and taken you out!

Though their encounter had lasted only a few minutes, Natasha was certain:

"Iron Fist" was not an ordinary martial arts master, but a grandmaster—perhaps even a Grandmaster.

His strength had already surpassed the performances of those martial arts masters recorded in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Level 7 classified files, including Madame Gao!

Most importantly, judging by the director's tone, he seemed to want to recruit Iron Fist and form the Avengers Initiative.

Iron Fist did not seem hostile toward S.H.I.E.L.D.

Under such circumstances, her methods had to be gentler. She could not be too forceful.

They might even become teammates someday.

Natasha decided to pay him a visit.

That day, she arrived at the Azeroth Specialties Shop.

The moment she reached the entrance, Natasha froze.

Wasn't this a little too much?

Three men were sunning themselves outside the door... Well, one was lying in a chair enjoying the sun, while the other two were holding horse stances.

There were few customers in the small shop, yet only one young woman was busy working. No matter how she looked at it, something was wrong. Where was these men's gentlemanly conduct?

As the Black Widow, an agent who had received the strictest and cruelest training, Natasha did not believe in that nonsense about "gentlemanly conduct" and "taking care of women." When she went on missions with others, she was usually the one taking care of those pitifully weak men—

Later, she had simply stopped going on missions with anyone else and always worked alone.

But she was still a woman, and she could not stand the sight before her.

She was not asking them to treat women especially well.

But at the very least, shouldn't there be equality between men and women?

Natasha took a deep breath, calming herself as she gave the simple yet not-so-simple little shop and its surrounding environment a few appraising glances.

The shop was small, but renting it so quickly had not merely been a matter of money. It also showed that Master Wang had extensive connections and influence, earned through four years of treating elderly people for free.

The passersby were all very friendly toward Master Wang, and Master Wang acted very casually around them. That was precisely proof that they were close.

Forceful measures truly could not be used, or there would be serious trouble.

Whether in China or the United States, elderly men and women were not to be provoked—especially once they reached a certain scale.

What if hundreds or even thousands of old men and women went to protest at New York City Hall, or started doing square dancing there?

Robbie and Gabe were holding horse stances. At a glance, their stances looked flashy and impractical, yet their physical fitness was remarkably good. Neither of their legs trembled at all. It was unbelievable. How did they do it?

Even more unbelievable was Gabe. Hadn't his leg been broken? Why did it look completely healed? Was it the result of some miraculous Eastern treatment, or the aid of "qi"?

When her gaze drifted to "Master Wang," Natasha was first a little disappointed, then abruptly startled.

This "Master Wang" actually gave her the feeling that he was just an ordinary chubby shut-in.

In any other place, she truly would have thought Master Wang was an ordinary person. But he clearly was not.

He had none of the characteristics of a combat master or martial arts master.

His palms were not rough, his legs were not thick, his butt was not particularly large, and his entire body radiated laziness. Unlike Agent Grant Ward or Brock Rumlow, he did not remain vigilant at every moment.

Someone like this was simply a born "disguiser"!

What made women most envious was that Master Wang's skin was genuinely good. It was not especially fair, but it was healthy and delicate. How could a man be like this...

Besides, most martial arts masters had acceptable height-to-weight ratios.

But this Master Wang seemed to be just a little chubby, with a particularly noticeable belly.

It was not a beer belly, because it was so round and did not sag. It was probably genetic...

Was he really a master of both traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts?

The more she looked, the more he resembled a con artist posing as a master!

Of course, Natasha would not deny her previous investigation and judgment.

It only meant that this Master Wang differed from what she had imagined. Perhaps this was simply what an Iron Fist disciple was supposed to be like...

Having finished her observations, Natasha rehearsed her words in her mind and entered the shop like an ordinary customer.

The shop was not large, and there were not many shelves. She could take in most of it with a single glance.

Tiger bone medicinal wine, $66 per bottle;

Tiger penis medicinal wine, $88 per bottle;

Tiger fang pendants, $99 each;

Tiger-head shoes, $11 per pair;

Tiger-skin hats, $22 each...

Natasha was speechless. She did not even want to mock it.

Master Wang, since when had tigers become so cheap?

And those tiger-skin hats and tiger-head shoes were obviously made of cloth. They had nothing to do with tigers—not even a cent's worth...

Natasha kept her expression neutral and sneered inwardly.

Still, she could not call Master Wang an unscrupulous merchant. After all, anyone could tell from those prices that the goods were fake. People came to shops like this specifically to buy fake products!

Suddenly, a beautiful hand reached out from behind her. It held a golden glass bottle containing some kind of liquid that was extremely, extremely important to men. A bold and domineering line of English was printed on it:

Indian God Oil!

"No need, thank you. I'll look around on my own..."

Natasha refused out of habit.

But before she could finish speaking, she suddenly became alert.

Something was wrong!

The mighty Black Widow, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strongest agents, had not even noticed the other person approaching from behind?

She had not detected anyone behind her at all!

Aside from Master Wang, was there another hidden expert in this little shop?

Natasha was about to strike immediately.

Then she saw the hand move aside, place the Indian God Oil on the shelf, and casually pick up a box of Durex.

"Or perhaps you need this instead, Agent Romanoff?"