Black Widow Arrived

Future Technology Company had no volunteers, so it could not conduct human trials.

Human trials were not something to rush into. No one knew what might happen.

Fortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. had plenty of people with disabilities...

After a few days of waiting, they finally brought some over.

Li Wei stopped what he was doing. The next ten-pull could wait.

"Send Coulson over."

He could not be bothered to go over there himself, so he had Coulson come to him.

Li Wei felt neither fondness nor dislike for S.H.I.E.L.D. It had nothing to do with him. As long as it helped him make money and made things convenient, he did not care about the rest.

Like now. S.H.I.E.L.D. could readily bring him people willing to take part in human trials.

Li Wei could make money too. Everyone won.

Ding.

A moment later, the elevator reached his floor.

Coulson walked in with a woman.

She had curly red hair and wore a form-fitting uniform. Her eyes were alluring, and her figure was flawless.

Li Wei looked past Coulson and asked, "Who's this? The assistant you arranged for me?"

Of course he knew who she was. She was impossible to miss.

"Natasha Romanoff."

Coulson smiled. "She'll be your point of contact from now on, Mr. Li. I may be busy."

That suited Li Wei just fine. Coulson was reliable, but he preferred women.

"Li Wei."

"Natasha."

Li Wei held out his hand. Black Widow could hardly refuse, so she stepped over and shook it.

Their eyes met, and both smiled.

Coulson acted as though he had seen nothing. No wonder Agent Hill was reluctant to send Natasha over.

Black Widow had only joined S.H.I.E.L.D. recently, after the Battle of Budapest.

The agency did not trust her much yet, so it had sent her to deal with Li Wei.

"If you don't let go, I'll flip you over," Natasha Romanoff said with a smile.

"I'm about to have a match with Tony Stark. Want to give me a practice round?"

The moment Li Wei finished speaking, Natasha slipped into his arms.

Before he could figure out what she was doing, she sprang up onto his shoulders and locked her legs around his head.

For a moment, Li Wei thought she was showing off her weapons...

They were right in front of him, after all.

"Ahem."

Li Wei patted her thigh, signaling her to get down.

Natasha did not take him down. She simply slid off and gave him a smiling glance.

"At your level, you'll have no trouble with that playboy."

"Your legs are impressive too."

Li Wei returned the compliment. They were trading flattery now.

She was Black Widow, after all—the Red Room's finest agent.

"How many people did you bring?"

"Ten."

Coulson said, "This is only the first group. We can find more if you need them."

"Then let's go to the lab."

Li Wei wiped away some sweat and headed over with Eve and 2B.

Black Widow studied the two women. Something about 2B felt odd, and Eve's proportions were even more unusual.

Could a woman really have a figure like that?

Black Widow compared Eve's figure to her own and found herself outmatched.

Eve had curves in all the right places. They might defy human anatomy, but the visual effect was stunning.

Dr. Otto's laboratory.

Ten S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with various disabilities had already arrived.

All had severe injuries, mostly missing arms or legs.

Otherwise, they would not have been so eager to volunteer.

To them, a chance to return to normal was better than living like this.

Whenever Li Wei saw a scene like this, he felt he was doing immeasurable good.

What other scientist cares this much about the people?

"Dr. Otto, how are the preparations?"

Li Wei walked over.

These days, Dr. Otto rarely went anywhere without his four mechanical arms.

He wore a noninvasive Brain-Computer Interface on his head, like a simple hood. The four mechanical arms obeyed his every command.

Dr. Otto braced two of the arms against the floor and lowered himself down.

"I've run the simulations with Red Queen many times. I can guarantee there won't be a problem."

Dr. Otto could barely contain his excitement.

He hoped the experiment would succeed. Then he could have an Invasive Brain-Computer Interface installed in his own head.

It was far more extreme than a semi-invasive one.

An Invasive Brain-Computer Interface required opening the skull and implanting electrodes directly into the cerebral cortex or ventricles.

It would respond faster, handle heavier loads, and even allow a chip to be implanted.

Of course...

The drawback was that an overload would fry the user's brain.

That was why hackers in Cyberpunk World so often ended up with fried brains.

"Shall we start?"

Li Wei looked around. No one objected.

The first test subject, an agent missing an arm, lay down on a hospital bed. Medical staff wheeled him into the operating room, where the surgeons were waiting.

Future Technology Company had signed a contract with a major hospital to handle the surgeries.

Unfortunately, Li Wei had not found anyone named Strange.

He had asked around and learned that Strange was a neurosurgeon. It was not his area of expertise.

"This will be a semi-invasive procedure," Dr. Otto explained. "We'll implant the electrodes beneath the skull, against the dura mater, without penetrating the cerebral cortex. It should be fairly straightforward."

Coulson had not realized it was so dangerous. He looked at Dr. Otto. "Can't they use the one you're wearing?"

"No."

Dr. Otto shook his head at once. "A noninvasive interface is vulnerable to all sorts of interference. Even hair can slow the transmission of neural signals. If that lag appears, it can have serious consequences."

"Imagine it happening at a critical moment. Think how dangerous that would be."

Coulson and Natasha both nodded.

Natasha Romanoff folded her arms and looked around the laboratory.

"What are you looking at?"

Li Wei was a little curious.

This was Black Widow, after all.

Compared with Scarlett Johansson, the actress from his previous life, Natasha had slightly longer legs and stood around five feet seven.

It was as if Scarlett's one shortcoming had been corrected.

"Nothing. It just reminded me of something unpleasant."

Natasha shook her head.

Being in a laboratory reminded her of the experiments the Red Room had performed on them.

They had left her unable to bear children. She could never become a mother.

Something occurred to her, and she asked, "That drug you've been promoting—can it regrow any organ?"

Li Wei knew what she was thinking, but he was not certain.

"That still needs testing. In theory, it should be possible."

If it can regrow a limb, regrowing an organ shouldn't be too hard, right?

Black Widow's expression did not change. He could not tell whether she truly cared.

Ding!

Just then, a light in the laboratory flashed, and Dr. Otto grew excited.

"The surgery's over."

Soon, a surgeon came out and nodded to everyone.

"The surgery went well. It'll be a little while before he wakes up."