“Damn right…”
Natasha looked slightly embarrassed.
Although Coulson and Fury had warned her before the mission that their target wasn’t human and that her charm might not work…
…she hadn’t completely believed them.
After all, whether someone was human or not, the appreciation of beauty should be universal, right?
As it turned out…
She was completely wrong.
Not only was the man codenamed “God of Death” unmoved by her appearance, but he had even bluntly told her to get lost.
Fortunately, Natasha Romanoff wasn’t an ordinary woman.
As one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s finest agents, her mental resilience was exceptional.
She wasn’t about to be discouraged by a minor setback.
Since Lorde wasn’t interested, Natasha dropped the act.
The seductive smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a calm and professional expression.
“Sir,” Natasha said seriously, “I came on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.
to thank you for your help the other day.
The agent you saved survived because of your intervention.”
Clink…
Clink…
Nemu puffed out her cheeks as she happily attacked the enormous steak in front of her with her knife and fork.
Meanwhile, Lorde quietly sipped his coffee, his gaze drifting toward the window as though Natasha wasn’t even there.
She was completely ignored.
Veins bulged on Natasha’s forehead.
If she had been capable of defeating him, she would have already wrapped her legs around his neck and crushed his skull with a Scissor Kick.
An entire hour passed.
Lorde finally finished his coffee.
Nemu also finished her meal, leaving a stack of empty plates on the table that perfectly demonstrated her surprisingly enormous appetite.
As for Natasha…
She had been standing there the entire time.
You bastard…
What an insufferable man…
She had cursed this utterly unromantic jerk nearly ten thousand times in her mind.
Even so, the smile on her face never faltered.
Every now and then, she cast a pitiful glance toward little Nemu.
“Brother…”
Nemu’s heart softened.
Tugging gently on Lorde’s sleeve, she whispered,
“That big sister looks so pitiful.
Why don’t we let her sit down?”
Nice assist.
Lorde silently praised Nemu before reluctantly glancing at Natasha.
“Since my sister is asking…
sit down.”
“We can talk.”
Natasha secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The first hurdle was finally over.
Now the real negotiation could begin.
Lorde had already noticed that the ordinary customers in the restaurant had quietly been replaced by S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents.
Not only that…
Hidden beneath Natasha’s long red hair was a communications earpiece.
If he had to guess, the person listening on the other end was that old schemer himself.
Nick Fury.
Interesting…
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Lorde’s lips.
This could be considered his first real confrontation with the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Natasha casually brushed her hair back, secretly tapping the earpiece twice to signal that the conversation had officially begun.
At S.H.I.E.L.D.
Headquarters…
Dozens of elite personnel had gathered inside the command room.
Negotiation specialists.
Psychologists.
Micro-expression analysts.
Behavioral profilers.
Logic experts.
Nick Fury sat at the center with his hands folded, his single eye gleaming with calculation.
Finally…
The God of Death.
Using the Heavenly Eye surveillance system combined with facial recognition technology, they had searched nearly the entire United States before finally tracking him down.
“Let’s see…”
“Hello, Mr.
God of Death.”
Natasha sat across from him and looked directly into his eyes.
“My codename is Black Widow.
I represent S.H.I.E.L.D., and I’m here to speak with you on its behalf.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Resting one elbow on the table, Lorde lazily supported his chin with his hand.
“Just tell me what you want.”
Natasha organized her thoughts before replying.
“It’s quite simple.
To better protect humanity, we’d like to establish a cooperative relationship with you.”
“Cooperation?”
Lorde lightly tapped the table with his finger, a trace of disdain appearing in his eyes.
“Cooperation only exists between equals.”
“Do you honestly believe we’re equals?”
“Perhaps not,” Natasha admitted calmly.
“But as long as both sides can benefit from helping one another, I’d still call that cooperation.”
“Interesting logic.”
Lorde remained expressionless.
“Then tell me…
with your pitiful strength, what exactly can S.H.I.E.L.D.
offer me?”
“Anything.”
Natasha answered confidently.
“You may be incredibly powerful, but this is still human society.”
“S.H.I.E.L.D.
possesses the most advanced technology on Earth.”
“If there’s a problem you can’t solve alone, perhaps we can.”
“Anything?”
Lorde let out a cold laugh.
“That’s quite the claim.”
“You can’t even see Hollows.”
“You’re mistaken.”
Natasha smiled and reached into her jacket before placing a small device on the table.
“Take a look.”
“We may not be able to see Hollows directly…”
“…but this scanner can already detect and accurately locate them.”
Holy…
Lorde was genuinely surprised.
His face remained perfectly calm, but inwardly he was astonished.
As expected of Marvel’s ridiculous technology.
In only a few days, S.H.I.E.L.D.
had already developed equipment capable of detecting Hollows.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
Headquarters…
Several experts immediately reached the same conclusion.
“He’s hesitating.”
“Keep applying pressure.”
“Don’t give him time to recover.”
Receiving the signal, Natasha continued with a confident smile.
“It may not seem like much yet…”
“…but surely you can see that our technology could still be useful to you.”
Lorde frowned slightly, deliberately pretending to hesitate.
“Even so…”
“You’re still too weak.”
“Sir.”
Natasha suddenly became serious.
“Strength isn’t everything.”
“Besides…”
“Does the appearance of the Hollows truly have nothing to do with you?”
“What…
what do you mean?”
Lorde’s expression immediately changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely flustered, as though she had uncovered a secret he desperately wanted to hide.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., the psychologists and negotiation experts leaped to their feet.
“He reacted!”
“Our theory was right!”
“The appearance of the Hollows isn’t accidental!”
Encouraged by their confidence, Natasha pressed forward.
“Mr.
God of Death…”
“How do you explain that?”
Lorde’s expression darkened.
He slammed his palm onto the table.
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
“What do Hollows have to do with us Gods of Death?”
“Us?”
Natasha immediately caught the wording.
Not me.
Us.
That single word changed everything.
There was more than one God of Death.
Nick Fury’s expression darkened as well.
More than one…
Which meant they weren’t individuals.
They were an organization.
Suppressing her shock, Natasha continued.
“Our data shows that Hollows have only appeared in New York.”
“Is that really just a coincidence?”
She sighed softly.
“We’re genuinely worried.”
“Worried?”
Lorde sneered.
“Worried about what?”
“You.”
Natasha’s expression became sincere.
“Hollows are terrifying.”
“You’re fighting them alone.”
“If something ever happened to you…”
“Wouldn’t humanity be doomed?”
Lorde snorted.
“Don’t worry.”
“Even if I die…”
“Someone else will replace me.”
Natasha widened her eyes in surprise.
“Someone else?”
“You’re not the only God of Death?”
“Of course not.”
Lorde sounded almost irritated.
“Are you stupid?”
“How could I possibly be the only God of Death?”
“Then…”
“There are many more?”
“Naturally.”
“Where are they?”
“In Soul Society.”
Beautiful.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury nearly jumped out of his chair.
That single sentence was priceless.
Soul Society.
The God of Death wasn’t acting alone.
There was an entire organization behind him.
Natasha secretly smiled.
It seemed her interrogation skills hadn’t dulled at all.
Getting information from this so-called God of Death had been surprisingly easy.
Meanwhile, Lorde maintained the appearance of someone who had accidentally revealed classified information.
But inwardly…
He was laughing so hard he almost couldn’t contain himself.
Black Widow…
Nick Fury…
They believed their psychological tactics had succeeded.
In reality, everything had unfolded exactly as Lorde intended.
By pretending to slip up, he had deliberately planted the existence of Soul Society into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intelligence network in the most believable way possible.
After all…
A cunning man like Nick Fury trusted only the information he uncovered himself.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
thought they were five steps ahead.
But Lorde…
Lorde was already in the stratosphere.