Shadow assassin, Natasha's extreme loyalty
Let's rewind to four hours ago.
An unregistered underground bunker in Washington, D.C..
"Agent Romanoff! I repeat, abandon your infiltration mission in Siberia immediately and evacuate!"
Through the miniature communication headset, Nick Fury's voice was unusually frantic. The former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. spoke at breakneck speed, the background noise filled with the clatter of keyboards. "Lynn has completely lost control! He's not only taken control of that Witch, but now he's using Tony Stark as a pawn! If you try to touch Hydra's core data now, you'll only get yourself into a meat grinder!"
Siberia, an extremely cold ice field where temperatures can drop to minus forty degrees Celsius.
Natasha lay prone behind a raised snowdrift, letting the fierce wind pile snow onto her shoulders. She wasn't wearing polar cold-weather gear, just a thin, black, tight-fitting tactical suit. The biting wind lashed her cheeks like blades, but she didn't even flinch.
"Director," Natasha said in a low voice, her tone carrying a chilling calm, "You don't understand him at all."
"Natasha! You've been hypnotized! That memory is fake!" Fury roared into the communication channel.
"Fake?" Natasha's lips curled into a sickly smile.
In her mind, the rainy night in Budapest in 1999 flashed back. Lynn, covered in blood, had pulled the control switch without hesitation to detonate a high-explosive grenade amidst the enemy's encirclement, in order to cover her retreat. The deafening explosion, the flames flying everywhere, and the resolute yet tender look in Lynn's eyes when he looked at her for the last time.
How could this excruciating pain be fake?
"He would give his life for me." Natasha's fingers lightly traced the Tactical Dagger on her outer thigh, a fanatical obsession gleaming in her eyes. "Now, it's my turn to clear the way for him. Anyone who dares to stand in his way, I'll kill. Even you, Fury."
Click.
Without hesitation, Natasha crushed the miniature earphone and casually tossed the parts into the snow.
She looked up, the pale beam of the searchlight sweeping across the distant snowstorm. Five hundred meters ahead lay the entrance to the Hydra missile silo. The remnants of Crossbones were attempting to transfer the core data of the "Winter Soldier Infiltration Plan."
Inside, you'll find what Lynn needs.
Like a Black Panther lurking in the shadows, Natasha burst forth from the snow-covered hill. Her movements were swift and deadly; the Red Room's top-tier assassination techniques were brought to their fullest potential in this moment.
Two armed Hydra Sentry are stamping their feet to keep warm.
call--
A gust of wind whipped up a cloud of snow.
Before the two could react, Natasha had already glided close to the ground behind them. With her left hand gripping the dagger in reverse, she precisely stabbed it into the left Sentry's carotid artery; at the same time, she used the momentum to leap into the air, her long legs clamping tightly around the right Sentry's neck like steel clamps, and twisting it sharply to the side.
Click!
The dull thud of bones breaking was perfectly masked by the sound of wind and snow.
Warm blood splattered onto Natasha's fair face, freezing into dark red shards in less than two seconds, stinging her skin. Without even blinking, she drew her dagger, stepped over the corpse, and silently slipped into the ventilation duct.
A strong smell of engine oil and a musty metallic odor hit me.
Natasha crawled quickly through the narrow pipe. Only one thought occupied her mind: obtain the data and present it to Lynn. This was her only bargaining chip to prove she was more valuable than the Witch, more valuable than the silk-spinning girl.
Ten minutes later, in the core computer room on the third basement level.
"Hurry! Import all the data to this hard drive! Commander Pierce is dead, and that monster Lynn could come knocking at any moment!" A Hydra officer stood in front of the control panel, impatiently urging the technicians.
Bang!
The ventilation louvers overhead crashed down with a loud bang.
Natasha fell from the sky, her knees slamming heavily onto the officer's shoulders, breaking his spine. The instant she landed, she simultaneously drew her Glock pistol from her waist.
Bang bang bang bang!
Flames spitted out. The four armed guards in the server room didn't even have time to draw their guns before each of them had a bloody hole between their eyebrows and fell straight down.
A piercing alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire underground base. Red warning lights flashed frantically.
Natasha didn't even glance at the corpse on the ground. She shoved aside the terrified technician and roughly ripped the black solid-state drive connected to the Motherboard. The drive was still hot from the server's operation, but she treated it like a rare treasure, stuffing it tightly into her inner pocket.
"Data in hand, Lynn," she murmured, a morbid satisfaction in her eyes.
Boom!
The explosion-proof door to the computer room was blown open by high explosives.
A dozen fully armed Hydra agents rushed in with assault rifles, and a barrage of fire instantly covered the entire control panel.
"Kill her! Get the hard drive back!"
Natasha rolled to the side, dodging the first wave of bullets. A stray bullet grazed her left arm, drawing a spray of blood. She gritted her teeth and advanced instead of retreating. Instead of choosing the safest route of retreat, she engaged in the bloodiest close-quarters combat against the barrage of fire.
She needs to act quickly.
A dagger sliced through her throat, a bullet pierced her skull. Natasha completely abandoned defense; every move was a desperate, life-or-death attack. Her bodysuit was ripped open with over a dozen gashes, blood staining her clothes, but her movements showed no sign of hesitation.
Because she knew Lynn was watching her. Even if they were halfway around the world, that man's gaze was definitely fixed on her.
They stormed through the server room, breached the corridor, and destroyed the elevator.
When Natasha dragged her badly wounded body back onto the Siberian Ice Fields, she left behind a trail of mutilated corpses.
The frigid blizzard enveloped her once more. Leaning against the cold concrete wall, she gasped for breath, her left hand clutching the hard drive to her chest.
Just as she was about to send the Red Room Encrypted Signal to Lynn.
"Bang! Bang!"
Heavy footsteps pierced through the howling wind and snow, approaching from the shadows of the long corridor.
Metal military boots crunched on the snow with a chilling sound. A Mechanical Left Arm, gleaming with a cold silver light, tore through the snow, and Winter Soldier, stepped out expressionlessly. His eyes were vacant, like a soulless killing machine.
Natasha's pupils contracted sharply.
She recognized the man. The legendary instructor of the Red Room, Hydra's ultimate weapon.
"Hand over the data." The Winter Soldier's voice was devoid of any human emotion as he raised his assault rifle, the muzzle firmly locked onto Natasha's forehead.
Natasha spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and forced herself to stand up straight. She pulled out the only Tactical Dagger left on the outside of her thigh, her pupils burning with a reckless and insane killing intent.
"Want it?" Natasha sneered, her eyes filled with obsession with Lynn. "Come and get it yourself."
Without a word, the Winter Soldier pulled the trigger.
Natasha dodged to the side at the last second, a bullet grazing her cheek and leaving a bloody mark. She used the momentum to lunge forward, her dagger aimed straight for the Winter Soldier's throat.
However, the difference in combat strength became undeniable at this moment.
The Winter Soldier's Mechanical Left Arm shot out and grabbed Natasha's wrist with incredible speed and precision. A powerful burst of metallic force erupted instantly.
Click!
Natasha's wrist bone cracked, and the dagger slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. The Winter Soldier lashed out with his right leg, kicking her hard in the abdomen.
Bang!
Natasha was sent flying backward, crashing heavily against the concrete wall before sliding to the ground. She coughed up blood, staining the snow in front of her. Her vision blurred, and excruciating pain tore at every nerve.
The Winter Soldier slowly stepped forward, looking down at her. The muzzle of his assault rifle was pressed firmly against Natasha's forehead.
"Mission complete," the Winter Soldier said coldly, his index finger pressing on the trigger.
Natasha didn't close her eyes. She clutched the hard drive to her chest tightly, and the last thing that came to mind was Lynn's face with its lazy smile.
Just as the Winter Soldier was about to pull the trigger...
Boom--!
Above the polar night sky, two destructive forces tore through the wind and snow without warning.
A dark blue flame, accompanied by the violent roar of Heavy Armor breaking the sound barrier, emanated from the thrusters, like a meteorite falling.
The other force was Scarlet storm as thick as blood. It carried a terrifying pressure that crushed all physical laws and instantly enveloped the entire ice field. The surrounding frigid snow and wind were abruptly halted in mid-air in the face of this power.
Natasha looked at the blinding Scarlet in the sky, a sickly smile curling at the corners of her lips.
He's here.