The Unlucky Bald Egghead

"Heh heh, relax. I'm not an enemy. I just got lost and accidentally wandered into this car. I'm not with the people here!"

The transport car's door opened, and a bald Black man in a black leather coat and a one-eyed eyepatch stepped out.

To show his sincerity, he even tossed out his weapon and raised both hands high.

"I'm just a poor ordinary man who got lost."

"An ordinary man who got lost?"

Natasha let out a mocking laugh. "Ordinary people don't carry weapons around, nor would they be so unfazed by these corpses."

In a base filled entirely with Slavic faces, a Black man had suddenly appeared. Of course Natasha knew he was not one of them.

Besides, the Black man spoke fluent American English.

She was merely curious about the infiltrator's purpose, and he could conveniently help draw away some attention for her.

She flicked the gun in her raised hand. "Come here."

"Fine, don't shoot. I was just making a little joke to lighten the mood."

The bald egghead shrugged and walked over. "Though I suppose it wasn't very funny."

"Shut up!" Natasha grabbed the bald egghead's arm, twisted it behind his back, and pinned him against the car.

"If you don't want to lose your life, behave yourself. I ask, you answer."

"Oh God, you're too strong! My arm's about to dislocate!"

Pinned against the car, the bald egghead cried out in pain.

He swore he had never expected a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl not only to summon monsters to fight, but also to possess such terrifying strength!

If he had not been a top agent with an exceptionally fit body, that move could easily have fractured a bone!

"I know my limits." Natasha sneered without easing the force in her grip. "You have thirty seconds to answer my questions."

"Who are you, and why did you come here?"

"Before I answer that, I think we should get rid of that thing, so nobody else can listen in."

The bald egghead glanced sideways toward the sole remaining surveillance camera in the distant corner.

Bang!

"Can you talk now?" Without even turning her head, Natasha shot and destroyed the camera in the corner.

In any case, her goal had been achieved. Whoever was watching through the surveillance had seen clearly that more than one person had infiltrated the place.

"Nice shot." The bald egghead offered a bit of flattery before continuing.

"I'm Nick Fury, deputy director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I came here to rescue my subordinates and determine whether the research here poses a threat to Earth or all humanity."

Afraid Natasha would not believe him, Nick Fury added, "I know about your background and what this place used to be like. But things changed after you escaped more than a year ago."

"You saw it on your way here: insects as large as trucks, native plants enlarged a hundredfold. In short, all these changes are deeply concerning."

Nick Fury had quite a bit of information on the Red Room, including details about some of its personnel and even its roster.

Normally, a spy-training base like this was nothing worth paying attention to. But under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to take it seriously.

After all, according to the information he had obtained, all of this had been caused by an unknown object falling from the sky.

After the events involving Carol, the Kree, and the Skrulls five years ago, he certainly had to thoroughly investigate any unknown extraterrestrial object before he could truly rest easy.

"Strategic... what division?"

"The name's a little long, but you can call it S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You're American, right?"

Disgust appeared on Natasha's face, and her hands tightened slightly. "You really think you're the world's police, trying to keep everything under your control?"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Nick Fury cried out in pain again and hurriedly protested. "We're not an official organization, and we don't serve any single country. We serve the United Nations Security Council, formed by all allied nations!"

"Besides, I've met people with extraordinary abilities like yours before. She could fly, and she could even fire photon energy from her hands to fight aliens!"

Nick Fury's words instantly excited Natasha. "She can fly and fire photon energy to fight aliens?"

"Could she be a sorcerer from somewhere like Kamar-Taj?"

"How lucky. When I go back, this information will definitely make Teacher happy. No, it would be even better if I found her and brought her back directly..."

Nick Fury heard Natasha's excited muttering loud and clear.

Yet the meaning behind her words sent a chill down his spine.

Someone with terrifying strength like Natasha actually came from an organization on Earth!

And it was constantly gathering people with extraordinary abilities—an organization S.H.I.E.L.D. had never recorded!

Most importantly, Natasha had joined that organization less than two years ago, yet she had grown from an ordinary agent into someone capable of utterly crushing a top agent like him!

One could only imagine what kind of monsters were inside!

It was like discovering a nest of aliens living right outside his front door. Too terrifying!

Seeing the shock on the egghead's dark face turn it pale, Natasha immediately realized she had said too much.

Her hand tightened again as she said fiercely, "You didn't hear anything I just said. Understand?"

"Understood, understood!" Nick Fury nodded like a basketball being dribbled.

For now, he would definitely pretend he had heard nothing. But once he returned to S.H.I.E.L.D., that would be another matter.

Moreover, this little girl named Natasha was clearly the key to breaking into the organization called Kamar-Taj.

Whether for the Avengers Initiative that was about to begin or to uncover the truth about Kamar-Taj, he had to find a way to recruit her into S.H.I.E.L.D.

He immediately put on a fawning smile and said, "With your strength, why not join S.H.I.E.L.D.? We can protect Earth's safety together and prevent alien invasions... Ah!"

As she listened to Nick Fury ramble on, Natasha failed to control her strength for a moment. With a crack, she dislocated his arm, leaving it dangling limply at his side.

Silence—

Natasha tilted her head at Nick Fury. "Do you still want to keep talking?"

"N-No." Cold sweat streamed down Nick Fury's face as he immediately shut up.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from the passageway connecting to the warehouse in the distance.

They were likely Red House Base soldiers who had come to surround them after receiving the intrusion alert.

Crack!

Seeing the enemy approach, Natasha snapped Nick Fury's dislocated arm back into place and released him.

She then picked up another gun from the ground and headed toward the distant passageway.

"Deputy Director Shield, save whatever you have to say until you survive. Oh, and don't expect me to look after you."

"I don't need you to look after me. And I'm the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

Nick Fury helplessly moved his arm around, then pulled several small discs from behind his back and followed her.

"Don't let my being fifty fool you. Dealing with this trash is still easy for me, or I wouldn't have broken in alone to rescue people!"

Even Nick Fury felt a little bitter as he said it.

It was currently the period for selecting the official director, and after Agent Coulson and the others he had sent were captured, he truly had no capable people left under his command.

After returning this time, he felt he needed to speed up the training of some promising new talent.

He seemed to remember that there was a newcomer named Maria Hill who was quite good...