Red Room’s Compromise

"Who exactly are you…?"

With a large-caliber pistol floating in the air aimed at him, Taras raised both hands with an arched brow, finally realizing he had kicked an iron plate this time.

He unwillingly looked at Natasha over Logan’s shoulder, softened his tone, and said calmly, "No matter what, you can’t take our person away. This is an area closely watched by the Soviet military. If anything happens, the nearest Soviet military base will send troops over."

"Soviet troops?" The hooded young man smiled faintly, showing no sign of backing down out of fear.

"Why do I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before?" Taras stared directly at him, his brows tightly furrowed as a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

"Taras."

Perched on Logan’s shoulder, Natasha, knowing she was safe now, blinked and spoke with mockery in her voice. "You’re a senior member of the Red Room, familiar with intelligence from every country in the world, yet you can’t even recognize the man standing before you."

Taras frowned at the hooded young man leading the trio, trying hard to identify him from head to toe. Just then, the young man looked directly at him. The exposed half of his face was sharply handsome and cold, his azure eyes bright with confidence, carrying an indescribable authority and pressure.

"Wait, you’re…" He sucked in a breath as recognition struck him. His entire body trembled violently, his shock beyond measure.

Good heavens! What was that demon god of death doing here?!

"Mr. Kyle, why have you come to our side of the Soviet Union? Premier Stalin has wanted to meet you for a long time, yet the U.S. State Department didn’t even give us notice." Taras forced out a bitter smile, silently cursing himself for not realizing it sooner. The only man who could make Natasha defect on the spot and disregard military threats on Soviet soil was the man before him.

Kyle of the American Empire, the Symbol of Peace, the legendary figure who had ended World War II, a godlike Superhero promoted throughout the Americas!

"You should know that I’ve retired from the U.S. military, right? I’m only representing myself now." As Kyle spoke, he pulled down his hood, revealing his gleaming blond hair.

With a devilish smile on his face, he said, "During the war, your Red Room owed me something. With interest, it’s quite a lot now. If you don’t mind, I can visit a nearby base of yours and sit down for a slow talk."

"I understand." Taras was drenched in cold sweat as he nodded heavily.

The moment he learned Kyle’s identity, he understood that this was no longer something he could handle alone.

Deep within the mysterious region of the wasteland lay the Soviet Red Room base.

"Commander Taras has returned!"

The armed soldiers guarding the entrance stood solemnly, preparing to open the gates in welcome. But they soon froze in bewilderment.

Taras, usually arrogant and flamboyant, was bent at the waist, humbly following beside a young man as he led him toward the base entrance. Behind them followed a little girl carrying a sword and a burly man with Natasha over his shoulder.

"What are you standing around for?" Taras shot the guards a furious look, wiping cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve as he hurriedly said, "Open the gates already! And send someone to notify the senior staff. Tell them an ‘honored guest’ has arrived! There’s an important matter that requires a meeting!!"

"Yes!" The guards answered hastily.

This was the first time the Red Room had received an uninvited outsider, and most importantly, the visitor’s status was simply too great. One wrong move could turn this into a disaster threatening national security.

World War II had only just ended, and the hero known as the Symbol of Peace had come knocking in person. Anyone would be uneasy, much less the Red Room organization, which knew itself to be at fault.

Kyle and the others sat down in the reception hall of the Red Room’s main building. The next batch of trainee agents had been collectively summoned to serve them as attendants.

Taras requested ten minutes for discussion. Along with the other two senior Red Room officials, he anxiously entered the meeting room, shut the door, and discussed how to deal with this emergency.

"How did he find us when the Red Room has gone unnoticed by outsiders for so many years?" Norris, the Red Room’s supreme leader, asked.

"That’s no longer important." Taras clutched his head tightly and said irritably, "What matters is that our reckless mission offended Kyle before. Now he has come to our door with people, demanding an explanation and repayment of the so-called debt."

"He said he has already retired and is acting only on his personal position. It has not escalated into a conflict between nations."

"Isn’t he alone enough?" Another Red Room executive said helplessly as he considered the matter. "If we can pay a price through compromise, resolve this peacefully, and ask him to leave the Soviet Union, that would be the best outcome."

If they could settle things through reason, that would naturally be for the best. After all, no one wanted to truly fight that man.

"The problem is that Kyle is adamant about taking Natasha away, and Natasha herself has agreed, betraying the organization. Also…" Under the astonished gazes of the other two, Taras sighed. "He wants us to hand over the Super Soldier Serum formula."

"Absolutely impossible!" Norris and the Red Room executive’s expressions changed drastically as they rejected it in unison.

Norris pulled a long face and said coldly, "The Super Soldier Serum formula is the foundation that allows our Red Room to create top-tier agents. We can never hand it over!"

"Of course I know that. But Kyle also said that if we don’t produce something sufficiently sincere, then in ten minutes… no, in less than five minutes, he will destroy this place." Taras glanced up at the clock and bitterly finished relaying the message.

The Red Room executive opened his mouth, stammering, "How is this a negotiation? It’s clearly a threat!"

"Too arrogant." Norris vented his anger by slamming a fist onto the conference table, the dull sound echoing through the room.

Taras moved his lips, but there was one sentence he did not say.

That was, They truly have the strength and leverage to threaten us. He did not need to say it. The three people present, all seated in senior Red Room positions, understood it perfectly well.

After another round of discussion, with only one minute remaining of the time Kyle had given them, the Red Room’s three senior officials finally reached a compromise:

First, they could abandon Black Widow Natasha. No problem!

Second, they could never yield on the Super Soldier Serum formula. Otherwise, they would rather fight to mutual destruction—even if it meant sacrificing the Red Room base, they could not allow the American Empire to gain the means to create Super Agents.

However, to ensure that Kyle would accept their compromise and leave peacefully, the three added another item to replace the Super Soldier Serum formula.

Inside the reception hall of the main building.

Kyle sat calmly by the window. The Red Room’s buildings were all old-fashioned single-story structures, and the floor-length curtains were uniformly blood-red. Under the sunlight outside, the room was bathed in crimson light.

Logan and Yutong were equally unconcerned, calm as though they were sitting in their own manor.

Any one of the three could have come here and destroyed the Red Room base. With all three arriving together, there was essentially no chance at all for the other side to turn things around.

This was the quick battle Kyle had spoken of: leave in the morning, finish the job that same day.