Returning Fully Loaded, Come Back in Two Years

Click!

Natasha pushed open the door and stepped out. The corridor was pitch-black, and she fixed her eyes on the figure trying to hide in the darkness.

"Yelena Belova, no need to hide. Your heartbeat is as loud as thunder."

Having been called by name, Yelena remained unmoved in the shadows. She held her breath and gripped the piece of iron tightly in her hand. It was her only weapon.

The base had been invaded. She did not care who the enemy was, nor did she care what would happen to the captured female trainees. She only wanted to seize the enemy leader and use him as leverage for a chance to escape.

The Winter Soldiers were too powerful, and there were too many of them. This was the only plan she could think of. The leader would surely have a formidable bodyguard at his side, but that still gave her better odds than fighting twenty Winter Soldiers.

Natasha loosened up her limbs slightly, then abruptly drew the pistol at her waist. Yelena’s pupils contracted. The instant the barrel pointed toward her, she rolled repeatedly to dodge aside.

But awkwardly, Natasha did not fire. Instead, she set the gun on the ground and kicked it with her heel all the way down the corridor.

"What do you mean?" Yelena stood up and discreetly glanced at the pistol in the distance.

Natasha said nothing. She crooked a finger at Yelena. Seeing that the latter still stood guard where she was, Natasha suddenly stepped forward and charged at her.

She was fast. In the darkness, Yelena only heard the rush of wind coming at her. She bent down and rolled several times, arriving where Natasha had just been standing. Yet the moment she rose, Natasha had already accelerated to her side, her whip-like kick carrying the wind as it lashed down fiercely.

Smack!

Yelena raised an arm to block. An enormous force spread from her arm through her entire body. Her chest tightened, her breathing stalled, and she was kicked flying. As though prepared for it, she twisted her body before landing, rolled swiftly across the floor to bleed off the force, and scrambled to her feet.

Another heavy kick greeted her. Though her instincts were sharp and she blocked in time, she was still sent flying into the wall.

Bang!

Yelena hit the ground. Agonizing pain, as though her arms and back had nearly snapped, surged through her body. She gritted her teeth and stood, struggling to regulate her breathing and suppress the pain.

So strong!

The leader’s bodyguard was even harder to deal with than she had imagined. It would have been one thing if she was merely fast, but her strength was terrifying as well. Yelena held a sharp blade in her hand, yet could not even find a chance to swing it.

Thinking of women, then recalling all the strange details from tonight, Yelena carefully studied Natasha under the faint light. Realization flashed through her eyes. "No wonder you found this place. So it was you, traitor, who led them here—Natasha Romanoff!"

"Oh, you know me?" Natasha sounded surprised. Had the Red Room’s security work become so poor that even junior trainees knew her name?

Yelena said coldly, "Of course. You were my template. Many instructors mentioned you—the one who should have become a Black Widow."

"Is that so? So you’re that outstanding?" Natasha raised a hand and twirled her hair around her finger. "Forgive me for not seeing it earlier. After all… you’re so weak!"

"Hmph! Don’t get too smug. I’ve already broken every record you left behind!"

"That really is surprising…" Natasha’s expression gradually turned serious. She realized that this outstanding junior was not cute at all.

A cunning gleam flashed in Yelena’s eyes. She suddenly threw the sharp piece of iron in her palm. She had planned this attack for a long time and was certain it would not miss.

A cold glint flashed through the air and reached Natasha in an instant. The icy light reflected in her pupils, yet Natasha did not move her feet. She merely tilted her head slightly and dodged it.

The iron shard embedded itself in the wooden wall behind her. Yelena stepped forward in a sudden rush. When she reached Natasha’s side, she dropped low with one knee to the ground and slid forward on both knees, evading the long leg kicking at her face.

As they passed each other, she sprang up from the ground, spun around, and kicked at Natasha’s neck. At the same time, she stretched out in midair and reached for the iron shard in the wall.

With the cold glint back in her hand, Yelena folded her body with the flexibility of a world-class gymnast, completing an extremely complex aerial maneuver before fiercely stabbing the iron shard toward Natasha’s neck.

Natasha swiftly swayed her upper body aside and chopped down with one hand, firmly catching Yelena’s slender wrist. Then she drove an elbow into her abdomen, stepped forward, and used an explosive over-the-shoulder throw to hurl Yelena behind her away.

Yelena slammed hard onto the ground. By the time she climbed back up, she felt as though every bone in her body was about to fall apart.

"Stop struggling. Your attacks pose no threat to me at all." Natasha chuckled. Her junior was fairly capable, about evenly matched with Natasha back then, but now she was simply not enough.

A sly look flashed in Yelena’s eyes. "Idiot. You were never my target."

With that, she abruptly turned and rushed into the monitoring room beside them. Her earlier moves had all been feints, all for this moment.

"Wait, inside…" Natasha raised a hand to stop her, but Yelena’s back had already vanished through the door. She could only lower her hand and brush back her hair. "Why choose death? Wouldn’t it have been nice to play with me? There are all beasts in there!"

As Yelena stepped into the monitoring room, her heart gave a jolt. There were more people inside than she had expected.

Earlier in the corridor, she had held her breath and listened closely for breathing and heartbeats. She had discovered only one person in the monitoring room. She had guessed that person was the leader directing the Winter Soldier squad—a useless sort who could only command battles and needed subordinates to protect him.

Natasha’s appearance had not surprised her. It was perfectly normal for a weak leader to have a powerful bodyguard at her side. Besides, Natasha was stronger than her. If Yelena could not hear Natasha’s breathing or heartbeat, it only meant Yelena herself was not skilled enough.

But… why were there two extra people in the room?

Was that pathetic leader really so afraid of death?

Yelena’s gaze swept rapidly across the room. An Asian young man with a friendly smile—the source of the heartbeat, undoubtedly the pathetic leader; a cold-faced white man with a blank expression, whose gaze felt like knives against her skin—definitely someone she could not provoke; and a large masked man with dull, lifeless eyes, who felt like a corpse without a trace of vitality…

Yelena had already built up speed. The situation in the room was unexpected, but she could no longer stop. She charged straight at Jason, who stood in her way.

Squelch!

What surprised Yelena was that she had intended to force Jason aside by stabbing down with her iron-shard dagger, but he did not react at all. Even when the shard sank into his neck, he did not move in the slightest.

They were very close. Every hair on Yelena’s body stood on end. The hand pressed against Jason’s chest detected no heartbeat. He really was a dead man.

Jason: (._.)

Yelena: (゜ー゜)

His eyes were moving. A living dead man!

Yelena’s heartbeat began accelerating against her will. Watching Jason silently look down at her, she suddenly realized something.

She was not even afraid of the living, so why should she fear the dead? Especially a dead man who would not fight back!

With that thought, she darted around Jason. Once she confirmed he was not pursuing her, joy surged through her heart. Looking again at the icy Bucky blocking the way ahead, there was no mistake—this expressionless man with no heartbeat or breathing was also dead.

Yelena thrust out her iron-shard dagger, preparing to do it again and slash open Bucky’s neck as well.

Smack!

Bucky grabbed the iron shard stabbing toward him in one hand. It was his mechanical arm, but beneath his long sleeve and gloves, it looked no different from an ordinary arm, aside from being somewhat thicker.

Yelena tugged twice but could not pull the iron shard free. She had no choice but to let go and retreat. Then she heard the screeching sound of metal twisting.

With a cold expression, Bucky crushed the iron shard into a wrinkled lump. With a violent flick of his hand, he smashed a monitoring screen, then clenched his mechanical arm into a fist and brought it crashing down.

He knew Russell was very satisfied with Yelena’s performance and that he would gain another new colleague. That was why he held back with this punch, giving Yelena time to evade.

Boom!!

The mechanical arm struck the floor, blasting a deep crater into it and scattering debris everywhere.

Yelena’s scalp went numb. She raised Bucky’s danger level to the highest possible rank, pushed off with both feet, and retreated. She was far too close to someone dangerous.

Bucky snorted coldly and took one step, appearing before the retreating Yelena. His mechanical hand pressed down on her shoulder while his right arm delivered an uppercut into her abdomen.

He was too fast. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and Yelena did not even have time to make a defensive move. Excruciating pain spread through her entire body. After landing, she clutched her stomach and curled up like a lobster, her mouth wide open but unable to produce a sound.

Bucky had no intention of showing her any mercy. He grabbed Yelena by the hair and lifted her from the floor. At that moment, Natasha walked over from the side and kicked his arm away.

Natasha said coldly, "What is it, chief instructor? Are you trying to save face for your useless subordinate?"

Bucky shot back, "Don’t use this chance to frame me. I was only teaching her a lesson. She tried to attack the boss."

"What a joke. Did she have the ability?"

"Having the motive is enough!"

Seeing the two glaring at each other as though they were about to start a brawl, Russell waved a hand and had them move aside.

"Bucky, you’ll never find a girlfriend acting like that!" Looking at Yelena twitching endlessly on the floor, Russell lamented Bucky’s complete lack of grace. Unlike him, he never hit women.

"BOSS, you’re right. I think so too. He’ll either be a bachelor for life or find a man to spend the rest of his days with," Natasha added.

Bucky’s face darkened, but he said nothing. It really is different after sleeping together. The favoritism is way too obvious.

Russell lowered his head and examined Yelena. A second-generation Black Widow after Natasha, she was only fifteen or sixteen now. She had long light-blonde hair, a somewhat youthful face, and cold eyes. She was far from possessing the deadly charm a Black Widow should have, but there was no denying that she was beautiful.

"Take her with us. The mission is over. Have the soldiers clean up the scene. Don’t let anyone see signs that Super Soldiers fought here."

With a second-generation Black Widow in hand, he could cultivate another combat asset. Yet Russell was a little disappointed.

It had clearly been a fight between two beauties, but the scene he had expected never appeared. No hair-pulling, face-scratching, biting, or clothes-ripping. One-star review!

Under the night sky, five trucks returned fully loaded, leaving behind an empty house and the cold corpses of its guards.

Russell did not set the place ablaze and reduce it to ruins. He planned to come back in two years for another harvest. Though the odds of the KGB still being here by then were low, Russell had taken a liking to these little spiders. Before the collapse, he would harvest as many times as possible.

The feeling of harvesting fruit without working for it… ahem, was really great!