I Don't Care, You Take the Blame—It's All Your Fault!

At the ruins of the Red House Base.

The once-enormous vegetation had been burned into dead wood, the fertile earth reduced to scorched soil, and the corpses of mutated giant insects lay everywhere.

Faint cries for help and agonized wails could still be heard.

It seemed that, under that terrifying explosion, a few lucky survivors had made it out alive.

Bang!

A stone slab near the outer edge of the ruins was pushed aside from below, and five figures crawled out.

They were Nick Fury, Coulson, Melina, Alexei, and Yelena.

"Damn—this base was blown to hell. That bastard Dreykov was ruthless!"

Staring at the ruins strewn across the ground, Alexei could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

If Melina had not led them into a blast-proof underground shelter made from specially treated metal,

he would probably have ended up like those giant bugs on the ground, blown into pieces and scattered everywhere!

Melina and Yelena ignored Alexei's exclamations. Instead, mother and daughter quickly split up in opposite directions to search for Natasha.

Seeing this, Nick Fury had Coulson go help search as well, while he went aside to fiddle with his equipment and contact the personnel waiting outside.

No one knew how much time passed before the sun finally rose and the night receded.

A large number of vehicles, personnel, and helicopters bearing the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia arrived one after another from afar.

Since S.H.I.E.L.D. was technically a civilian organization serving the Security Council, the Russian authorities did not interfere and readily let them through.

Besides, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Dreykov and the Red Room had long become thorns in Russia's side.

Now that someone had cleaned up this mess for them, they were more than happy to take it easy.

Once the S.H.I.E.L.D. logistics personnel took over, the search and rescue operation through the ruins was quickly completed, and the results were reported to Nick Fury.

The moment he received the news, Nick Fury went to Melina and the other two, who were sitting blankly on the eastern side of the ruins.

"There were quite a few survivors from the explosion, mostly people who had been near the outer perimeter. As for Miss Romanoff..."

Nick Fury did not know how to put it. After gathering his thoughts, he continued, "Our people didn't find her, but I suspect she successfully escaped and returned to the organization behind her."

"After all, with physical abilities as strong as hers, an explosion of this scale would have left some trace behind."

Hearing Nick Fury's words, Alexei immediately beamed. "See? I told you there was no need to worry!"

"With someone as strong as Natasha, a little explosion like that can't do anything to her..."

"Shut up!" x2

Melina and Yelena, who were already in foul moods, nearly shouted at the same time in response to Alexei's hindsight.

The shout made Alexei shrink his neck and sit back down, looking as wronged as a quail.

His standing in the family was plain to see.

After yelling at Alexei, Melina finally turned to Nick Fury with a puzzled expression.

"Director Fury, could you tell us more about the organization behind Natasha that you mentioned?"

Nick Fury had no intention of hiding anything. After all, he did not know much himself.

"I don't know the specifics either. I only heard Miss Romanoff mention a place called Kamar-Taj, as well as a strict teacher and many members as formidable as she is."

"Kamar-Taj?" Melina and the other two exchanged looks, realizing none of them had ever heard of the place.

However, Yelena's expression relaxed considerably. "It seems my sister had her own difficulties, which was why she couldn't come see me."

Seeing that he had said everything that needed to be said, Nick Fury finally revealed his true purpose.

"We'll continue investigating this organization. If possible, I'd like the three of you to stay with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while first."

"After all, your identities are all rather special. Consider it doing me a favor and following the proper procedure, so everyone can rest easy."

Having learned his lesson, Nick Fury did not start by trying to persuade them to join with lofty ideals as he had with Natasha.

Instead, he took a roundabout approach: first get them to S.H.I.E.L.D., then gradually influence them with its ideals until they joined.

"Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't restrict your freedom. As long as you don't do anything illegal, there won't be a problem."

Upon hearing Nick Fury's invitation, Alexei was the first to voice his approval. "I think it works. We don't have anywhere else to go anyway."

After thinking it over briefly, Yelena nodded as well. "As long as you don't treat me the way the Red Room did, I have no objections."

"Of course not. You can live the life you want. We won't interfere too much." Nick Fury hurriedly emphasized how democratic they were.

Seeing her younger daughter Yelena agree, Melina voiced her agreement as well.

After all, she had promised Natasha that she would take good care of Yelena from now on and make up for her childhood.

Kamar-Taj.

"Natasha, wake up!"

Natasha, who had been unconscious, was jolted awake by Mordo's familiar voice.

"Why isn't she waking up yet? Could that explosion have really damaged her vitality?"

Before she could even open her eyes, Kaecilius and Mordo started arguing beside her.

"Of course she was hurt! I told you to hurry, but you only got it done when that terrifying explosion was practically over!"

"If anything happens to Natasha, I'll report it truthfully to the Sect Master and have him kick you straight out of the sect!"

"I just wasn't proficient with the new spell yet!" Mordo was getting anxious too. He had no intention of taking the blame for no reason.

"You keep blaming me, but why don't you talk about yourself!"

"If you could learn faster and better than I did, you could've pulled Natasha out earlier!"

Kaecilius snorted coldly. "I don't care. You were the one who dragged me away back then, which let Natasha sneak out. Anyway, this is entirely your responsibility!"

Because their duty at Kamar-Taj was to take care of Natasha's daily life, they had nearly been scared out of their wits when she ran off.

On top of that, Ancient One, that old schemer, refused to explain things clearly, forcing the two of them to chase after her and protect her.

Yet the moment they followed Natasha's trail to the Red House Base, they encountered the massive explosion there.

They had finally managed to pull Natasha out using a portal improved by Feng Xu, one that could be opened with spiritual energy alone without a sling ring.

Yet Natasha had been blasted unconscious and still had not woken up.

If not for the jade pendant Feng Xu had refined around her neck, which had been continuously giving off golden protective light,

they would have suspected Natasha had been killed by the blast.

"You don't care? Well, I don't care either! If I get kicked out of the sect, I'll stand outside your place every day and use spiritual energy to make hip bones to smash your windows!"

Just as the two kept arguing and were on the verge of coming to blows,

Natasha finally opened her eyes and sat up from the ground.

"You two useless... Senior Brothers, stop arguing. I'm fine."