The Party and the Tidal Flat

"Master Leon, perhaps Miss Natasha really is quite good. She doesn't seem like the kind to bend for money, and she has a sense of justice."

After everyone had left, JARVIS spoke again.

Leon replied perfunctorily, "Yeah, she'd make a great subordinate. Loyal, indifferent to fame and profit, unafraid of sacrifice—where else could I find someone that good?"

"Master... your perspective is truly surprising. It is always beyond my calculations."

"That's how it should be." Leon swiped across the electronic screen a few times. "By the way, search the Red Room's mainframe. See if there are any files related to Hydra."

"Please wait... There are eight infiltration files and 316 transaction files, all related to Hydra."

JARVIS expanded the folders on the large screen.

It added, "However, the Red Room does not know that the targets of these infiltrations and transactions are Hydra."

"I retrieved those results based on the Hydra intelligence you uploaded earlier."

Leon folded his arms. "Eight infiltrators! The Red Room really is capable. It even managed to plant spies in Hydra."

"The files show that after one Widow agent infiltrated a research facility controlled by Hydra, she was recommended to join S.H.I.E.L.D.," JARVIS said.

"In terms of identity, this Widow agent is also a Hydra agent, though she does not know it."

"There's even a double agent! Why do I suddenly think Dreykov is a genius?" Leon clapped his hands.

He thought for a moment. "Have Natasha find a way to contact that Widow first and inject her with the inhibitor!"

"Then package up all Hydra-related files and send them back to Tony's mainframe!"

"Also, remember to keep the parts of the files related to the Red Room. We can use them to make trouble later."

"Understood, Master Leon," JARVIS replied.

A file transfer display immediately appeared on the large screen. "The file package has been transferred to Mr. Stark's mainframe."

"Nicely done!"

Leon slapped the table in satisfaction, as though he were patting JARVIS on the shoulder.

Rolling his shoulders, he said, "Tonight's work can end here. Next comes the happy time of soaking up the sun!"

"And you too, JARVIS. You're off work now. From here on, you can run however you like on this fortress's mainframe!"

"Thank you, Master Leon," JARVIS said.

"However, I must remind you that there are still four hours until your next scheduled sunbathing session."

To predict the upper limit of his strength increase.

Leon had kept every one of his trips into space to bask in the sun at a fixed duration this month.

If he wanted to bathe in sunlight whenever he pleased, he would have to wait another half month or so.

"All right, I forgot." Leon rubbed his chin. "Then I'll go help the girls clear the bodies."

He floated up, flew out of the command room, found the busy Widow agents, and helped them carry the corpses.

What should have taken several hours was finished in less than ten minutes.

So Leon simply gathered everyone and held a party in the officers' mess hall on the fortress's lower level.

When the party began, there was only simple instant food on the table. The stars of the show were the large quantities of whiskey and champagne Leon had brought up from the wine cellar.

The girls sat neatly around the table, each with a plate and a wineglass beside her.

At first, they sat stiffly, unsure of what to do with their hands and feet.

They could not even adjust to a meal with no time limit.

But soon, as one bottle after another of expensive champagne sprayed into tall glasses.

The girls from all around the world gradually let themselves go.

At first, they spoke quietly among themselves.

Then they gradually began boldly asking Leon all kinds of questions.

Finally, the girls cheered, clinked glasses, drank deeply, and surrounded Leon as they sang childhood nursery rhymes from their memories at the top of their lungs.

English, German, Chinese, Portuguese—joyful children's songs in all sorts of languages rang out.

Nearly a hundred arms of every shade took turns lingering on Leon's body, only to be helplessly pushed away by him.

By the midpoint of the party, most of the girls were only just getting excited.

Their specially trained, even modified bodies were destined to make getting dead drunk difficult.

But that did not stop their actions from becoming increasingly bold or their words increasingly explicit.

Leon began to feel that what he had started was no longer a party, but a...

So he wisely closed the door and left the officers' mess hall, leaving behind a group of flushed girls singing and dancing.

"Whew... Next time, I definitely can't have dinner with so many girls."

Leon casually grabbed a towel nearby and wiped the marks covering his face.

"Especially girls who can't be drunk no matter how much they drink, and only get more worked up?" a female voice gently added.

"Hm?" Leon turned around in astonishment.

Natasha stood against the wall nearby. She had handed him the towel.

"Why aren't you having a few more drinks with them? Your little sister has already started taking off her coat and dancing the Hopak," Leon teased.

Natasha took back the towel, stepped forward, and wiped the marks from Leon's neck and behind his ears.

"If I stayed inside, wouldn't I miss my chance to wait for you?" Her beautiful amber eyes blinked playfully.

Leon looked at her beautiful face, so close to his. "Looks like I just escaped a tiger's den only to enter a wolf's lair?"

He had to admit it.

As long as he did not use his super vision to examine her, Natasha was a top-tier beauty.

"What do you think?" Natasha rose onto her toes and hooked her arms around Leon's neck.

She breathed damply into Leon's ear. "I don't stink anymore, do I, you bad guy?"

"That's hard to say." Leon lowered his voice. "Maybe I'll have to smell you carefully to find out."

Natasha tilted her head and pressed her cheek against Leon's.

Her nose lightly sniffed. "But I think you smell especially nice. Want to come to my room tonight and find out why your scent is so strange?"

"Are you serious?"

Natasha's fingertips slid down from the S-shaped emblem on Leon's chest.

"That depends on whether you're willing to be the tidal flat where I can stop and put down roots."

"With the greatest pleasure!"

The two figures came together, slowly entered the elevator, returned to Natasha's room, and slammed the door shut.

Beep! Beep!

JARVIS issued an urgent alert, its notification tone ringing nonstop.

"Hm? What is it?" Leon half-opened his sleepy eyes and reached around, following the sound until he found his phone in the Superman uniform on the floor.

Ding!

The phone screen lit up, and the wavelike line representing JARVIS appeared on the display.

"Master Leon, I apologize for disturbing your rest, but perhaps Mr. Stark needs your help."

"Tony?" Hearing that something had happened to his big brother, Leon instantly woke up and sat upright.

"What happened to him?"

"Mr. Stark is on the fortress's top deck. He has been stopped by the young lady agents. There is an emergency!"

"Hm? The deck? Agents? Why did he come here?" Leon was completely baffled.

"Tell him to calm down. Don't let him clash with the Widows; we're all on the same side. I'm going to see him now."

Leon pulled away the fair arm draped over him and smacked the lump beneath the blanket beside him.

"You're awake and still pretending to sleep. I'm going to check on Tony. Hurry up and follow me."

Natasha opened her eyes, but they lacked their usual sharpness. Instead, they resembled a lush, deep green pool in summer, so rich it seemed ready to overflow.

"So when will next time be?" She sat up hugging the blanket, her shoulder-length hair in disarray and revealing part of her rosy-white collarbone.

Leon quickly put on his uniform. "Whenever you want to come find me."

"What are we now?" he asked as well.

Natasha gave him a captivating smile. "You know me so well. You should know."

"The only, most special friends?"

"You're very greedy, but I agree." Natasha hugged her knees through the blanket. "After all, you're my boss. But you can't dock my pay in the future."

"Why would you need to worry about salary and benefits? What I gave you last night, couldn't you barely hold it all in both hands?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

Hearing that, Natasha pulled the blanket over her head and said nothing more.

But after Leon left, she poked her head back out from beneath the blanket.

In the empty room.

Her eyes flickered as she extended a hand and made a loose grasping gesture. Her brows rose with an unreadable meaning, and her lips silently formed a "Wow!"