Natasha Romanoff rushed to the Stark mansion as fast as she could.
The Red Room, that was where she was trained to become a Black Widow. It was a concentration camp specifically for training female assassins. All those who completed the graduation course and survived would earn the title of "Black Widow."
They were the elite of the elite, assassination experts proficient in infiltration, combat, firearms, and all other necessary professional skills. They could silently infiltrate the side of any big shot, kill with a single strike, then retreat unscathed, returning to the shadows to subvert regimes and influence the world situation in the dark.
And now, such a dangerous group had set its sights on Tony Stark, the target of her current surveillance mission, and also a big shot with the potential to change the world pattern single-handedly.
Natasha was now certain that the two Black Widow assassins who had just infiltrated her residence must have come for this reason as well.
For some reason, the Red Room had targeted Tony Stark. While monitoring Stark and formulating an assassination plan, the organization unexpectedly noticed Natasha, who was also lurking by Stark's side—this was a very reasonable deduction. Because before becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Natasha was originally a member of the Red Room. The Red Room would naturally recognize her as soon as they saw her face.
Perhaps the Red Room judged that Natasha would be an obstacle to their mission to assassinate Stark, or perhaps the Red Room simply decided to clean house after recognizing her as a defector.
Regardless, Natasha was certain that Tony Stark was currently in mortal danger, and she had reported this matter to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
At this very moment, Fury was probably dispatching personnel to support Stark, but they shouldn't be faster than Natasha. Because Natasha knew she was the closest S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to the Stark mansion.
She parked her car downstairs, climbed onto the balcony as lightly as an ape, drew her gun, and cautiously peeked in from the window.
The floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor was shattered all over the floor. It looked like the assassins had already been here, but there was no one in the bedroom.
Natasha's heart sank, and she prepared for the worst. She entered the room quietly through the window, holding her gun, maintaining vigilance as she went down the stairs to the living room.
Then she saw this scene.
At a glance, there were a total of four Black Widow assassins.
One was pressed face down on the bar table. Judging from the unnatural posture of her hanging arms, she was probably dead. Another seemed to have just rolled down the stairs. Judging from the angle of her twisted neck, her head must have hit the ground first.
There was one on the living room floor, and one hanging from the chandelier... Natasha found it hard to imagine how that one got up there.
As for the main character she was supposed to protect, Mr. Tony Stark, he was currently sitting in the sofa with his legs crossed in a grand manner, casually fiddling with a floating projection screen in front of him, seeming to be busy with something.
And Mr. Stark had obviously noticed her arrival long ago, because without even lifting his head, he sat on the sofa and waved casually, signaling: "Sit anywhere."
In that instant, Natasha, holding a gun, felt she looked a bit silly.
Just a short while ago, the moment these four Black Widow assassins infiltrated this mansion, they immediately received the warmest reception.
Although these four were probably quite excellent assassins, obviously their exquisite shooting and combat skills were useless in front of a cross-generational individual weapon like "Iron Man." It felt similar to a group of primitives waving pitchforks against modern soldiers armed with live ammunition; the highlight was simply that "times have changed."
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, holstered her pistol, and simultaneously pressed her earpiece: "Black Widow calling headquarters. Crisis averted, reinforcements cancelled. Codename, Rotten Tomatoes."
A second later, a voice came back from the other side: "Headquarters received, reinforcements cancelled."
Tony didn't look nervous at all as an assassination target. Instead, he walked familiarly to the bar, took out two wine glasses, and placed them on the table.
"Looks like your mansion's security is pretty good," Natasha said naturally as she walked in.
"What else can I do? I guess the downside of being famous is that there's always someone eyeing your head," Tony responded helplessly, then changed the subject, "Rotten Tomatoes? Seriously? Do you guys really not have any cooler codenames to use?"
As he spoke, he poured himself a glass of golden liquor, then gestured to the other glass for Natasha.
"Want some too?"
Natasha was somewhat surprised by this tycoon's psychological quality, while shaking her head and saying: "No thanks, I don't drink on the job."
"It's okay, as the boss, I grant you special permission to drink a little." Tony smiled at her. "Headquarters Legal Department, I remember correctly, right?"
Natasha shrugged, not denying it.
Actually, from the moment she appeared in front of Tony, she understood that the mission to infiltrate his side had already failed.
The assassination incident was an unexpected situation. Tony hadn't intended to make direct contact with Black Widow so soon. He originally had other plans to contact Nick Fury directly and speak with Fury himself.
It was a pity. He could have squeezed a bit more surplus value out of this highly capable super agent before she left her post.
"You don't look very well."
Tony returned to the sofa with two glasses of wine.
"Did you not have a very pleasant day today?"
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but as soon as he did, Natasha thought of working like a corporate slave at the company all day, and her face immediately darkened.
Who do you think I look bad because I'm working for?
"Never mind that, you seem to know someone wants to kill me." Tony looked serious. "Who are they?"
Natasha found it a bit strange that he didn't ask about her identity.
She thought for a moment, shook her head and said: "Sorry Mr. Stark, I don't have the authority to disclose this to you."
Tony didn't mind and said directly: "Red Room, right?"
Natasha: "!"
Years of training allowed her to maintain a calm expression on her face, but she was secretly shocked in her heart.
Why would Tony Stark know about the existence of the "Red Room"?
Before today, even Natasha had always thought the Red Room had been destroyed.
Seeing that the other party remained silent, Tony said indifferently: "Don't like to talk? Fine. Then how about finding a time to invite your boss for a chat. Is it... Director Nick Fury, right?"
Natasha: "!!!"
Natasha had received professional training and would never easily show her emotions.
Unless she couldn't help it.
This time, even her face couldn't help but show a momentary look of surprise.
This person even knew Director Fury's name.
But how was this possible?
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current policy was to hide in the shadows, and very few people knew of its existence. Although Director Nick Fury held a high position, even fewer people knew his name and identity.
Given Tony Stark's status and identity, it wasn't strange for him to know about the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, after Tony successfully escaped from the cave in the Middle East and returned, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Agent Coulson to contact him, responsible for investigating the details of Tony's kidnapping.
But for him to actually know Director Fury, that shouldn't be the case.
In an instant, Natasha almost completely overturned the image of Tony Stark she had built in her mind up to this point.
Because she suddenly realized that this person's shrewdness was probably far deeper than he usually showed.
He knew about the existence of the Red Room, seemed to know she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and even knew about Director Fury. This meant that the connections, resources, and power Tony Stark possessed were probably broader and stronger than she imagined.
What was even more terrifying was that with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ubiquitous eyes and ears, plus her close-range observation these past few days, not a single trace of where his intelligence network came from had been observed.
It seemed that the report on Tony Stark would need to be re-evaluated.