Chapter 536: A Ghost Named Medal Respect… (Part 2)_1

Black Widow has never been trusted, a fact well-known to every member of Congress, military general, and even to the members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Her presence here is only due to her genetic modification, similar to Captain America. She's excellent in intelligence work, but more importantly, she is a defector from the Soviet Union to America, symbolizing more than she represents.

Natasha understood this but chose to stay here, primarily because of Nick's scheming.

After Nick took over S.H.I.E.L.D., aside from the untrustworthy, the subordinates' abilities were inadequate, but their country was still alive, needing a lot of intelligence. Apart from paying their wages, Nick would create a bunch of useless intelligence to satiate their demand.

As for Natasha, though not trusted, she was highly skilled. More importantly, since the Soviet Union was gone, Nick didn't need to fool her with empty information—paying less for a better employee, Nick certainly made full use of her.

Therefore, for a long time, Natasha was Nick's trusted aide and the backbone of S.H.I.E.L.D. Since joining The Avengers, most interactions with superheroes have been handled by this female agent.

It is undeniable that she is beautiful, sexy, and excellent at socializing, getting along well with the members of The Avengers.

A previous person was also correct in mentioning to the Vice President that Natasha indeed had the most frequent contact with Shiller among those of the opposite sex.

However, the real situation probably differs a lot from their speculation. Natasha's interactions with Shiller mainly served two purposes: first, to notify Shiller when Nick had come up with a marvellous idea, or to relay information from Shiller back to Nick when Shiller had come up with a brilliant plan.

The second purpose was to be in charge of picking up and dropping off Pikachu when Shiller needed a sitter for it.

Typically, the first activity was enveloped in some peculiar smell of money. Most of the time when Natasha played messenger for Nick and Shiller, she was immersed in astonishing revelations of macroeconomics.

As for the second activity, most of the time, 90% of Natasha's attention was spent on keeping Pikachu's mouth shut.

Even so, seen from the eyes of the congressmen and the Vice President, it's a different story. S.H.I.E.L.D. has many agents, plenty of which are women, so why is Natasha the one in contact with Shiller the most?

What distinguishes Natasha from the other female agents? Is it only because she's a Soviet?

Are you two colluding?!

But again, its all relative. Compared to Shiller—who has the ideas and abilities to revive the Soviet Union—Natasha, who might possibly be a KGB spy, seems far more trustworthy.

When Natasha was called into the secret meeting room, she was holding a cigarette. As the female agent took a puff, she swept her red hair behind her ears and exhaled smoke towards the startled secretary, followed by a smile.

As Shiller felt before, when Black Widow focuses her charm on a man, hardly anyone can resist.

The reason why the Avengers rarely felt this way is because they weren't the target. Black Widow was too lazy to waste her expressions on them.

"What do you want to ask?" Natasha's English always carried a Russian accent, but it wasn't harsh; instead, the upward inflection in her tone made it somewhat enticing.

The interrogator lowered his head, trying hard not to look at Black Widow's face. But when the smell of smoke wafted over, many fantasized ideas stirred in his heart, making him involuntarily drift off.

"Are you KGB?" The interrogator started questioning.

"Don't ask such a blatantly stupid question. I'm a Soviet, and once a Soviet agent. Are you asking if I'm KGB?" Natasha leaned on the armrest, smoking.

"Then are you still KGB now?"

"You asked another foolish question. I'm already in America, do you think I would still be KGB? Even if I were, do you think I'd admit it?"

Natasha's strategy for dealing with the interrogation was different from Shiller's; she answered every question, cooperated actively, and had a good attitude, but ultimately, all of the questions led back to the beginning.

"Honestly, since you've already decided to cooperate with Russia, why are you still concerned about the KGB? The Soviet Union no longer exists. Even if someone wants to revive it, it has nothing to do with me."

"Don't you wish Shiller to revive the Soviet Union?"

Natasha flicked the ashes off her cigarette, lowered her eyelids to cover her gaze, and after a while, took another puff, and said, "If he truly comes back, then I would certainly die, and if I don't die, it means he hasn't truly returned."

"Truthfully, since things have gone this far, stop fussing over these issues. That era has passed, and I have no intention of going back."

The interrogator opposite her hesitated, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. Following instructions from the Congressmen via his earpiece, he asked:

"What's your relationship with Shiller?"

Natasha lifted her eyelids slightly and said, "You should know, the relationship between any agent and their psychiatrist is never good."

"But don't you share a... umm, common belief?"

"Belief? I haven't heard that word in a while."

Natasha took a deep puff, and after exhaling the smoke, her beautiful face was shrouded in a blurry mist. She said:

"I admire him. After experiencing that era, he can still maintain his beliefs and even plans to put them into practice. He can do it, but I can't."

"The things I once believed in have been shattered. Now, I'm just an agent working for money. You give me a position, pay me a salary, and I'll work for you. It's that simple."

"So you..." The interrogator flipped his palm and said, "If we ask you to approach Shiller and restrain him using your usual methods and find his weakness, would you agree?"

"You can call it seduction straight away. I already said that as long as you pay me, I'll do it. However, I can't guarantee the effectiveness of the task. Honestly, since you don't trust me, sending someone you don't back to extract intelligence from another untrusted individual, wouldn't that be a fruitless endeavor?"

"We hope to understand Shiller Rodriguez as much as possible in order to ensure that he does not spread his ideas in some inappropriate way when he gets emotional."

"As I've said, I can accept this task, but I can't guarantee its effectiveness. Seduce a radical leftist with the ability to read minds…" Natasha shook her head, looking at the interrogator with a sympathetic gaze, seemingly questioning their intelligence.

The interrogator was left somewhat speechless, but he was being constantly urged by the congressmen in his earpiece.

The voice of a translator came through his earpiece, "Stall her, we're searching her personal belongings - we must ensure she is trustworthy before we can discuss the real plan…"

The interrogator pressed his earpiece, pretending to receive a new question. Natasha remained unfazed, answering each question. Suddenly, a flurry of panicked voices came through the earpiece.

The interrogator once again interrupted the conversation. He pressed his earpiece, acting like he had a poor signal. Natasha expertly paused, taking a sip of water, calmly enjoying the intermission.

Eventually, the interrogator rose and left the room. Pressing his earpiece, he heard the voice of a congressman on the other end, somewhat flustered:

"Terminate the investigation immediately. Let her go!"

"Why?" asked the interrogator, puzzled. "She's started to demand compensation. Perhaps we can sway her…"

"I said, let her go!" The congressman sounded somewhat hysterical.

"We found an early Soviet-era Red Flag Medal in her makeup bag!!!"

"She even has the Red Flag Medal!!"

After shouting, the congressman paused, catching his breath before adding: "Go back. Let her go."

"But what if she really is a KGB agent? Don't we arrest her?" the interrogator asked.

"Arrest her? If Rodriguez finds out we've captured his 'comrade,' a comrade with a Red Flag Medal no less, what do you think he will think?"

"Uh..." The interrogator was taken aback, and then could only reply, "Okay, I'll go back and inform her."

After speaking, he went back into the room, opened the gate, and said to Natasha, "Miss, the investigation is over. You can go now."

"And what about your seduction plan? Weren't we already talking about the compensation part?"

"Congress has reconsidered and realized that the plan indeed is not feasible. Therefore, you may leave."

Natasha glanced at the interrogator, lifted her chin, nodded slightly, and walked out of the room.

When she returned to S.H.I.E.L.D., she went back to her room, grabbed her makeup bag, came out, and headed straight for the counseling room, where Shiller was waiting for her.

Natasha walked up to the table, placed her makeup bag on it, took out the medal, and handed it to Shiller.

Shiller, who was writing a case file, looked up and put down his pen, but he did not accept the medal. He asked, "Don't you want it?"

In front of Shiller, Natasha did not maintain her tense and deadly seductive Black Widow demeanor. She moved a chair to sit down, leaning back lazily. She placed the medal on the table and said:

"Once, someone wanted to award me a medal. But at that time, I no longer wanted it."

Natasha looked at the medal, revealing a mocking smile and said, "However, what I didn't expect is that even after I left him, his power still protects me."

"His presence, even once, was enough." Shiller reached out, picking up the medal.

Shiller looked at Natasha and asked, "They investigate you every day, don't you ever want to fight back?"

The midday light shone brightly in the room, casting a deep shadow from Natasha's hanging hair onto her face.

She never seemed to show her vulnerable side, even now. Perhaps this is the characteristic of the people in this country - they are not afraid to ridicule themselves with the most straightforward jokes, even up to this moment.

"Fight back? How can a stray dog that always has to rely on others fight back?"

Yet, Shiller revealed a somewhat malicious smile. He held the medal with two fingers and placed it between him and Natasha. Their gaze fell on the medal. He said, "This is the best weapon."

"The medal? You mean…" Natasha also looked into his eyes. There was suddenly an understanding between them, and a smile appeared on the agent's face.

Natasha leaned back, exhaling a puff of smoke. "The National Defense Medal that Nick prepared earlier hasn't been put to use yet. He has connections to get more…"

Shiller slapped the medal onto the table and said:

"Since their allergies are incurable, it's time for some desensitization therapy."