Chapter 34: So Stark Really Got Kidnapped?

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"Yes, Director, I'm certain!"

"It made me look like a lunatic just minutes ago."

Facing Agent Coulson's gaze, Natasha Romanoff solemnly nodded, providing a definite affirmative answer.

"So, you're telling me..."

"Your silence earlier, with your mouth agape, was because of that invisible 'Item 084' I couldn't see?"

Coulson stared at Romanoff for confirmation.

"Correct."

"When I tried to speak about Item 084, I felt an inexplicable force choking me."

"It rendered me speechless."

Romanoff detailed the incident to Coulson.

"Is that so?"

Coulson responded noncommittally and fell into contemplation.

Under normal circumstances, nobody would believe such a story coming from Romanoff; it sounded far-fetched.

However, as a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson had encountered his share of supernatural incidents, so his reaction was relatively composed.

He didn't dismiss Romanoff outright, but neither did he accept her story at face value.

He needed to make a judgement of his own.

"Hold on."

Coulson's thoughts raced again.

He recalled Romanoff's previous actions and cast a glance towards his notebook.

Of course, Coulson couldn't see anything.

As far as he was concerned, his desk was as empty as ever, devoid of any item.

"Additionally, you placed that 'Item 084' here?"

"And yet, I cannot see it?"

Coulson slapped his hand down on the notebook.

More accurately, it was on the "projection" of the notebook.

Romanoff could see very clearly at that moment that the notebook had actually become a holographic projection.

There was no physical object in front of Coulson.

Coulson's hand just passed through the notebook, pressing directly onto the desk!

But when Romanoff reached out, it was solid to the touch, and she easily picked up the physical notebook.

There was no doubt about it, the notebook was solid!

Item 084!

This was undeniably an Item 084.

"Yes, Director, it is as you see."

"Your hand was on that 084 just now, but for some reason, the 084 became intangible."

"And now, I am holding it in my hand."

As she spoke, Romanoff shook the notebook in her hand for Coulson to see.

But from Coulson's perspective, Romanoff was just miming the action of holding something—nothing more.

Her hands were empty.

But that wasn't all.

Coulson pulled up the office surveillance footage for a closer look.

Still, it showed nothing out of the ordinary.

It's worth mentioning here.

The reason J.A.R.V.I.S. could see the notebook was that the notebook allowed it to.

Just like Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff, J.A.R.V.I.S. was an owner of the notebook.

Otherwise.

Not even an AI program of J.A.R.V.I.S.'s caliber would be able to see the notebook.

"So, you're telling me that you have no way to prove the existence of this 'Pending 084'?"

Agent Coulson's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"I'm sorry, sir, as it seems now, I indeed have no way to disclose anything."

Black Widow Natasha Romanoff spoke to Coulson with a hint of frustration.

"Is that so?"

Coulson felt a headache coming on.

How was he supposed to proceed when she couldn't provide any concrete information? Even Coulson wasn't certain.

Was this all just talk from the Black Widow, or did she actually have the described 084 in her possession?

It wasn't that Coulson doubted Black Widow.

Even if she was one of his most capable and trusted subordinates.

But how could he be convinced by just a "performance" without any tangible evidence from start to finish?

"Alright, Natasha, hold on to that 'Pending 084' for now, and make a trip to the tech department."

"See if you can discover anything."

"We'll talk about what to do next when I return."

After giving it some thought, Coulson made this decision.

"Understood!"

Black Widow could only nod in agreement.

At this point, aside from doing this, there wasn't much else she could do.

After leaving Coulson's office, Black Widow didn't hesitate.

She took the mysterious diary straight to the tech department, subjecting it to all sorts of tests and analysis.

But the result was the same.

All of the cutting-edge equipment from the tech department, every top-level method, failed to detect the diary.

To anyone and anything other than Black Widow herself, this diary seemed non-existent.

Black Widow gave up completely.

With the current situation, she indeed had no way to reveal the diary.

So~

Black Widow's expression became extremely serious.

Whoever was behind this, why did they give her such an eerie diary?

What was their purpose?

Besides.

Black Widow's attitude toward the information revealed by the diary had changed significantly.

Previously, she was skeptical, with "doubt" weighing much more than "belief."

But now?

Black Widow had a certain degree of trust.

After all.

The person behind the scenes had given her an 084-level item; it couldn't just be to deceive her, could it?

"So, does that mean... Tony Stark could really be kidnapped?"

"Sometime soon?"

Black Widow's eyebrows knit together slightly.

If this was true, then in theory, SHIELD could not just stand by and do nothing.

After all, it would have significant implications.

But the key issue was that Black Widow simply couldn't reveal the contents of the diary!

Not to mention.

The description of the kidnapping in the diary was brief and lacked detailed information.

So, after much deliberation, Black Widow realized.

Apart from closely monitoring Tony Stark in private, there was really not much more she could do at the moment.