Marvel With Zanpakutou

The weather was perfect, with bright sunshine.

Lush green trees lined both sides of the street, flowers were in full bloom, and a delightful fragrance drifted through the air. Dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves, bringing a touch of spring warmth.

If not for the person standing beside her, whose frosty expression radiated waves of cold, Natasha might even have felt like enjoying afternoon tea.

The moment she recalled the plan this man had come up with thirty minutes ago, the seasoned super agent known as the Black Widow—who had carried out countless high-risk missions—felt an overwhelming urge to explode on the spot.

In all her decades as an agent, she had never seen such a crude plan.

The entire operation consisted of only three steps.

It was practically the same as putting an elephant into a refrigerator.

Yes.

That famous old joke.

Open the refrigerator, stuff the elephant inside, then close the refrigerator door.

Chen Lin’s operation plan was basically the same joke in another form.

First, arrive at the destination—S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, the Triskelion.

Second, find the primary target, Alexander Pierce, while eliminating a few cannon fodder along the way.

Finally, destroy the three Helicarriers and stop Project Insight at its source.

Simple, right?

After hearing the entire plan, Natasha’s trigeminal nerve twitched violently. Even her impeccable facial control nearly collapsed, and she almost turned into a walking meme.

The operation plan was so simplistic that calling it a "plan" was practically an insult to the word itself.

She had spent decades working as a spy, yet she had never seen anyone openly storm through the front entrance of an enemy headquarters and go on a killing spree.

Unfortunately...

And fortunately.

She was about to try it today.

Because time was running out, they decided to split into two groups. Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson would search for the missing Nick Fury, while Natasha would accompany Chen Lin to destroy Hydra.

Chen Lin would eliminate Hydra and stop Project Insight, while she would reboot the Eye System and search for Fury’s whereabouts from another angle.

The plan had been settled.

But... the problem was...

They had already been standing by the roadside like idiots for nearly half an hour.

"If you don’t mind, may I ask something?" Natasha glanced at the man beside her and cautiously asked, "We’ve... been standing here for half an hour already. Are you waiting for someone?"

Chen Lin didn’t answer.

He merely glanced sideways at her.

"I get it!"

From that look, she seemed to see a trace of confidence. Natasha suddenly had an epiphany and exclaimed excitedly, "You’re deliberately exposing our location so Hydra will come and capture us. Then we’ll use the opportunity to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside and tear them apart from within, right?"

"That’s it! It has to be!"

Without waiting for Chen Lin to respond, Natasha flushed with excitement and muttered to herself, "The Triskelion has extremely tight security. If we charge straight in, we’ll definitely be detected, which would trigger unnecessary fighting and possibly even fighter jet support!"

"I thought you were really planning to rush in head-on, but you’ve actually thought this through so deeply. Looking at it now, pretending to be weak and intentionally getting captured before launching an attack from inside is a much simpler approach!"

"No... you’ve misunderstood."

Chen Lin looked at her with a complicated expression, his eyes somewhat strange. After a moment of silence, he said,

"I’m just waiting for a taxi so we can ride there."

"..."

The corner of Natasha’s eye twitched slightly.

She swore to God that if she could beat him, she would have snapped this bastard’s neck long ago.

Taking a taxi to the Triskelion was about the same as telling a cab driver you wanted to go to the Pentagon or the White House.

Most likely, the driver would call you a lunatic before kicking you out of the car.

"A... a taxi? You’re not joking, are you?" Natasha finally calmed herself down and forced a smile. "Besides... can’t you fly? Why would you need a taxi?"

"First, I can fly, but I don’t want to carry you while flying." Chen Lin counted on his fingers with complete seriousness. "Second, taking a taxi is more convenient. Besides, you people can reimburse the fare."

"..."

Natasha fell into deep contemplation.

Had she somehow offended God recently?

Otherwise, why had He sent this bastard to torment her?

"Then you can go by yourself first..." Natasha took several deep breaths, constantly reminding herself not to get angry. Getting angry over this bastard wasn’t worth it. Maintaining her standard professional smile, she said, "I’ll figure out my own way to catch up afterward."

"No."

Chen Lin frowned and shook his head.

"Last time I got there by teleporting, so I don’t remember the route at all. Besides, if you don’t come, how am I supposed to know where to go once we’re inside?"

Crack...

Natasha’s composure finally shattered.

The fake smile remained on her face, slowly freezing into place.

Can’t beat him... can’t beat him... can’t beat him...

A professional agent must maintain basic composure.

Never compromise professional standards.

After repeating those words to herself countless times, Natasha smiled once again.

"Wait here for a moment."

Chen Lin expressionlessly nodded.

Natasha turned around and hurried away in quick little steps, disappearing around the street corner. Judging by the fury in her stride, she probably wouldn’t calm down until she’d crushed a few paving stones.

About three or four minutes later...

The roar of an engine echoed through the street as a black Audi drifted around the corner like a bolt of lightning, carving out a beautiful arc before coming to a smooth stop in front of Chen Lin.

The window rolled down.

Resting one hand on the steering wheel, Natasha raised an eyebrow at Chen Lin.

"Chen, get in."

Chen Lin hesitated for a moment.

"Where... did you get this car?"

"Never watched a Hollywood movie?" Natasha smiled faintly, her fiery red lips exceptionally alluring. "One of the essential skills of an agent. I requisitioned it temporarily, of course."

Temporarily requisitioned?

Chen Lin curled his lips, pretending not to notice the obvious signs of forced entry.

"Requisitioned my ass... You probably stole it."

Still, he didn’t care.

Whether it had been requisitioned or stolen made no difference.

After all, whoever ended up paying the compensation afterward certainly wouldn’t be him.

Chen Lin sat in the passenger seat.

Before he even had time to fasten his seat belt, the engine let out a thunderous roar.

An intense force shoved him back into the seat.

With the tires screeching violently against the pavement, the sedan shot forward like a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage.

"You probably don’t care, but I’ll ask anyway."

Keeping one hand on the steering wheel while the other held back her windblown red hair, Natasha looked straight ahead.

"The area within fifty kilometers of the Triskelion is a national military zone. It’s guarded by countless soldiers. How exactly are you planning to get through all those obstacles?"

"Drive through them."

The wind howled outside the windows.

Chen Lin narrowed his eyes slightly and calmly replied,

"You just focus on driving. Leave everything else to me."

"I hope you don’t make a mistake."

Natasha glanced at the man beside her, took a deep breath, and said firmly,

"Otherwise, the only thing waiting for both of us... is to be blown to pieces."

Just as Natasha had expected...

Before they even reached the Triskelion, they received a warning.

Several armed helicopters had already taken off, circling overhead.

Mounted beneath each helicopter, the black muzzles of heavy autocannons slowly rotated as they warmed up.

If they dared approach any closer, the next thing greeting them would be a storm of bullets.

"Chen... we’ve been locked on!"

No matter how strong her nerves were, Natasha still broke out in a cold sweat as the helicopter cannons targeted them. Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

"Keep driving."

Resting one hand against his cheek, Chen Lin’s deep eyes remained as calm as still water.

"Don’t worry about anything else."

"I’ll take care of it."