Leaving Kagome having the time of her life playing with the portal on the side, John Quinn called Natasha down to the basement after she had waited in the living room for a long time.
He took the case from her hands and opened it.
A light-blue serum, identical to the one given to Tony, lay quietly inside.
As the climate-controlled case opened, a faint chill wisped into a veil of pale white mist, swirling once around the genetic serum before dissipating.
Natasha’s breathing hitched slightly.
John took out the vial and motioned for Natasha to take it.
“I made a few fine adjustments tailored to your physiology.
As it works, it will heal your body.
Endure it as best you can—it’s going to hurt.” Natasha’s situation differed from Tony’s.
Tony’s wound had never fully closed, and he was an ordinary human to begin with; taking the serum simply triggered a standard healing process, regenerating tissue to close the gap.
Natasha’s serum, however, involved organ regeneration, which would disrupt the internal balance her body had maintained for decades.
If one were to perform an internal scan on her, they would see that because she had been missing certain internal organs since childhood, her anatomical development diverged from that of a normal person.
The absence of her uterus and ovaries had caused her other organs to shift and settle out of alignment.
Using the serum meant restructuring her internal organs and restoring her original living tissue.
The process sounded simple enough—growing back the missing organs, shifting everything into its proper position, and restoring systemic harmony.
Simple to describe, but the body’s physical reaction would be immense.
Organ rejection wouldn’t occur since the tissue was grown from her own cells, but the intense agony caused by tissue growth and internal organs squeezing against each other would be agonizingly difficult to endure.
Unfortunately, anesthetics couldn’t be used.
Tony had received anesthesia because he required surgery, and his body possessed a clear genetic baseline—his brain knew a chunk of flesh was missing from his chest.
Furthermore, the divine energy serum John had given Tony back then had very weak self-healing properties; closing the wound was its limit.
Natasha was different.
Since her body had grown past adolescence without those organs, she needed a focused mental intention while taking the serum.
As the genetic formula took effect, her conscious mind had to guide the process, signaling her brain what changes were needed so her genes could select and regenerate the proper organs.
Without that conscious guidance, letting the formula run wild might sprout ten extra kidneys, leading to complete chaos.
This was why Captain America was such a classic example—the serum magnified his noble virtues because he was genuinely righteous at his core, whereas the Green Goblin served as a cautionary tale, his dark nature amplified because he was never a good person to begin with.
Natasha’s deepest desire undoubtedly included making her body whole again.
John had specifically boosted the serum’s regenerative aspects, which slightly reduced potential strength gains, but in return, it granted a comprehensive boost to her overall physical attributes and a massive surge in stress resilience.
John pulled the curious Kagome back a few steps and gestured toward a nearby sofa.
Natasha walked over, sat down, took a deep breath, and injected the serum into herself without hesitation.
Within two seconds, her eyes widened.
Blue veins bulged across her skin, and her whole body shuddered violently.
Just as she was about to leap up in agony, John stepped forward with his right foot.
His Sharingan spun rapidly—the three tomoe dissolved and reassembled into an array of eight celestial bodies of varying sizes, slowly orbiting his pupil like a miniature solar system.
An immense pressure descended from above, pinning Natasha firmly to the sofa.
Unlike its standard evolution, the creation of the Scripture of the Primordial Dao had altered the Sharingan’s higher forms.
Instead of evolving into a mere magic-type hexagram, it now manifested an esoteric planetary cosmic chart—referred to as Heaven and Earth.
Kagome clutched John’s arm in worry, but John patted her hand, signaling that everything was under control.
As an elite Black Widow, Natasha possessed willpower far surpassing ordinary people.
Once she realized John was stabilizing her physical body, she funneled all her focus into guiding the serum’s restructuring process.
Even amidst the agonizing torment of genetic remodeling, she maintained absolute clarity throughout.
The process didn’t take long.
In just ten short minutes, the transformation ran its course.
Drenched in sweat, Natasha slumped onto the sofa, devoid of any strength to stand.
Resting her right hand over her lower abdomen, she could clearly feel that the former hollowness was gone, replaced by a warm, full sensation.
Her external physical changes weren’t dramatic.
She had grown slightly taller, though curling up made it hard to tell.
Her muscle mass hadn’t ballooned excessively—while her strength far exceeded a normal human’s, it was likely around seven to eight times human peak.
What stood out was her perfected bodily proportions—her cup size going from a C to a D, the refined contour of her waist and hips…
Well, John could only marvel at how deep a woman’s desire for aesthetic perfection ran.
Deep enough to willingly trade a fraction of physical power just to ensure flawless beauty.
Kagome jumped onto John’s back, covered his eyes, and urged him to leave immediately.
Chuckling, John carried Kagome on his back, pretending to be blind as he fumbled his way upstairs.
Kagome grabbed a set of loungewear and went back down to the basement.
When Natasha and Kagome returned to the living room, John turned to look.
Kagome’s clothes looked surprisingly fitting on Natasha.
“John, thank you.
I feel amazing.” Natasha sat opposite John and carefully poured him a cup of tea.
She hadn’t fully mastered her newfound strength yet.
John smiled and took a sip of the tea.
“Time is short.
Kagome has exams in a few days, and I have to head to Kamar-Taj for my studies shortly after.
So your mindset needs to adapt fast.
Natasha, are you ready to face who you are now?” Before Natasha could speak, John reached out his left hand, drawing the handgun she had set aside earlier.
In an instant, he flipped off the safety and leveled the barrel straight at her forehead.
Natasha gasped.
Her instincts as a seasoned spy kicked in instantly, and she tensed her legs to dodge, but the scabbard of the Void-Severing Sword—summoned abruptly by John—pressed against her abdomen, pinning her back onto the sofa.
A flash of fire erupted from John’s left hand.
*Bang!* Natasha’s pupils contracted.
Unable to move her body at a distance of barely three feet, a slight tilt of her head narrowly saved her.
Before she could catch her breath, John pulled the trigger again and again.
Natasha had no idea how she survived.
She simply dodged with all her might based on what her heightened perception saw, until finally, pushed to her limit, she raised her hand.
John had already set aside the emptied pistol and retracted the Void-Severing Sword, taking another casual sip of tea.
Natasha panted heavily, sweat once again soaking through her fresh clothes.
Slowly lowering her raised hand, she dropped the item in her palm onto the glass coffee table with a sharp clink.
It was a bullet.
Watching the bloody nick on her palm stop bleeding and rapidly close up, Natasha’s mindset shifted fundamentally from that moment on.
More than just controlling physical power, John’s first lesson had saved her from countless detours: acknowledging her new status as a superhuman power.
Only now did she clearly realize that in certain situations, she didn’t need spy tradecraft—she needed to step forward and believe in her own power.
This was the birth of conviction, the greatest gift John had given her besides the genetic serum.
Only a Natasha with this mindset could become a Dark Knight protecting the Parker and Norsen families and serve as John’s true ally, rather than just an agent who happened to gain strength from a serum.
Tony possessed this power of conviction as well.
His past experiences bred a deep-seated distrust of the world, and his desire to stand on equal footing with John drove his relentless obsession with perfecting his armor, keeping him forever on the front lines.
Now, Natasha was ready too.
Glancing at the sofa’s backrest behind Natasha, which now oozed exposed stuffing, John smiled.
“Don’t stare.
You’re paying for the sofa—out of your own pocket.” Natasha chuckled.
“Luckily, I have an expense budget for missions.
I’ll buy you the best set money can buy.” John poured Natasha a cup of tea.
“Let’s talk business.
You already know your adoptive father’s location.
As for the Red Room headquarters, it’s in Russia—keep your eyes raised high, and you’ll find it.
I won’t interfere with the rest; settle it yourself.
I’ll be in New York for the next few days.
Put Kagome’s task on hold for now, and take Hawkeye with you to get your personal affairs sorted.
By the time you return, I’ll be leaving for Kamar-Taj.” “Keep my eyes raised high?
In the sky?
That bastard Dreykov has been flying in the sky all along?” Natasha gasped.
With a clear direction, everything else would fall into place.
“Bring them back, and I’ll heal them.
But Natasha…” John looked straight at her.
“There’s only one of you.
I need you to maintain absolute control over everyone under you.
So this power belongs to you alone—don’t expect extras for everyone.” Natasha understood his point instantly and held no complaints.
She had already received enough and didn’t ask for much more; curing her adoptive family was already the greatest favor John could grant her.
“Everything will be as you wish.” …
The next day, Natasha took Hawkeye and departed, while John shifted into family mode.
Every day, he drove Kagome and Peter to and from school.
In between, he either helped Uncle Ben weed and fix the rooftop garden, cooked alongside Aunt May, or went to the Norsen farm to help his father-in-law handle farm chores—ostensibly learning farm management, though in truth his father-in-law was just conscripting free labor.
The Quinn family network had no members serving in SHIELD, and Aunt Tina’s scope at the FBI was limited mostly to domestic matters.
With no updates from Natasha either, John remained out of the loop regarding specific developments.
But five days later, the neighbors on both sides of the Parker household suddenly changed.
One house was bought by a couple named Alexei and Melina.
The other house was taken by a young single girl named Antonia Dreykov, though being quite young, she was accompanied by two guardians caring for her.
Natasha had tracked down John on the fourth night, after which John spent some time healing everyone’s injuries and illnesses.
Thus, when the Parker family received housewarming invitations from both neighbors, they were met by two families basking in bright sunshine, embracing their brand-new lives.
John understood everything, of course, but saw no need to speak up.
He was content to let Uncle Ben handle neighborly relations.
John himself was about to leave for a few days to head to Kamar-Taj.