34: Chapter 34 You asked for this.

The dark blue serum was injected into her veins, like a cold viper, instantly burrowing along her blood vessels into Natasha's brain.

"Ugh..."

Natasha threw her head back sharply, her slender neck tensing into a fragile arc.

The sensation wasn't painful.

On the contrary, it brought a terrifying sense of detachment. It was as if her soul was being forcibly ripped from its shell, and all her defenses, resolve, and willpower vanished like bubbles in that moment.

Chen Yuan pulled out the needle and tossed it into the tray, producing a crisp "clang."

"The willpower of the Russians is truly admirable."

He pulled over a chair and sat down in front of Natasha, crossing his legs, and observed the changes in her pupils with keen interest. "But before chemical equations, all beings are equal."

Natasha's gaze began to unfocus.

Her emerald eyes, originally as sharp as knives, were now veiled in a hazy mist. Her breathing became rapid.

"Hot..."

She murmured unconsciously, her body twisting on the metal chair, trying to escape the pervasive, burning heat.

"Tell me, what does the Siberian Trading Company want?"

Chen Yuan's voice was very soft, carrying a strange, hypnotic power. "Don't lie; you know the consequences of lying."

"They want... the formula..."

Natasha's lips trembled, her voice intermittent, like sleep-talking. "Not just 'Vitality'... but the technology that can regenerate severed limbs... that is 'God's Code'..."

"The old guys in the consortium... they are afraid of death... they want to live on..."

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

As expected.

Whether it was the dignitaries of the East, the tycoons of the West, or the oligarchs of the North, once wealth accumulated to a certain level, the only pursuit left was immortality.

"Besides the technology, what else?" Chen Yuan continued to press. "You've been laying plans in San Verde for so long, just to steal a formula?"

"No..."

Natasha's expression suddenly became somewhat conflicted, as if she had touched upon some deep secret. But as Chen Yuan snapped his fingers lightly, that line of defense instantly collapsed.

"There is... resources."

"Underneath the Widows Village... there is a rare mineral vein... recorded in the blueprints left behind by the Germans during World War II... that is the key to creating 'Super Soldier'..."

Chen Yuan's pupils constricted slightly.

Rare mineral vein?

No wonder those Russians were shipping RPGs to the slums; it turns out it was to seize territory and mine.

"Very good, you're a good girl."

Chen Yuan stood up, reached out, and patted Natasha's burning cheek. "As a reward, I'll give you a little gift."

He pulled another, much smaller syringe from his pocket.

Inside was a transparent liquid that looked unremarkable.

【Nano-Control Parasite (Neural Takeover Type)】.

"Don't be afraid, it doesn't hurt at all."

Chen Yuan brushed aside Natasha's red hair, dampened by sweat, and aimed the needle at the back of her neck. "This is an 'amulet' that many people would beg for but never get."

"Zzz—"

The micro-syringe pierced in.

Billions of nanobots instantly flooded into her spinal cord, rapidly climbing along the central nervous system, and finally established an impassable "firewall" between her cerebral cortex and brainstem.

Natasha shuddered violently, then slumped onto the chair, falling into a deep sleep.

...

Half an hour later.

A basin of ice water was poured over her head.

"Splash!"

Natasha jolted awake, coughing violently, water droplets dripping from the tips of her hair.

Subconsciously, she wanted to lash out and attack; it was an agent's instinct.

But the next second, she froze.

The ropes on her body had been untied, and that torturous neural-sensing suit had been removed, replaced by an oversized men's white shirt.

She was lying on a comfortable sofa, and that demonic man was sitting behind the desk opposite, holding a glass of red wine, looking at her with a half-smile.

"Awake?"

Chen Yuan raised his glass. "Did you sleep well?"

Natasha touched the back of her neck, where there was an imperceptible needle mark.

Memories flooded back like a tide.

Interrogation, truth serum, and that final injection...

"What did you do to me?!"

Natasha stood up abruptly, killing intent surging in her eyes. She grabbed a fruit knife from the table, her figure moving like lightning as she lunged straight for Chen Yuan's throat.

The movement was still sharp, and the speed was still astonishing.

But just as the tip of the knife was ten centimeters away from Chen Yuan.

"Hum—"

Natasha's mind suddenly went blank.

The hand holding the knife seemed to be clamped tightly by some invisible force; no matter how hard she tried, even until her knuckles turned white, she couldn't advance even a fraction of an inch.

That feeling was as if her body had betrayed her soul.

"Clang."

The fruit knife dropped to the floor.

Natasha clutched her chest, knelt on the ground, and gasped for air. A sense of fear originating from the depths of her genes made her tremble all over.

She discovered with horror that she couldn't even generate the slightest thought of harming the man in front of her. As soon as killing intent arose, her brain would suffer intense stabbing pain, as if countless needles were piercing her brain matter.

"I said, this is your 'amulet'."

Chen Yuan walked over to her, squatted down, and leveled his gaze with hers.

"The nanobots have taken over your central nervous system. From now on, your life is mine. Your thoughts are also mine."

He reached out and gently adjusted the collar of Natasha's shirt, his movements as tender as if he were treating a lover, but the words he spoke were as cold as ice:

"You can try to commit suicide, but I guarantee that before you can act, your hand will break your own leg first."

"This is the price of betrayal."

Natasha slumped on the floor, the rebelliousness in her eyes finally completely shattered.

She knew she was finished.

As an agent, losing control over her own body was more terrifying than death.

"Why didn't you kill me?" She asked in a hoarse voice, filled with despair.

"Because you are still useful."

Chen Yuan stood up and looked down at her. "Those Russians are still waiting for you to go back and report, aren't they?"

"Go back?" Natasha was stunned.

"That's right."

Chen Yuan walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the five hundred biochemical soldiers lining up outside, their backs as straight as spears.

"Since you don't want to die, then be a double agent for me."

"Return to the Siberian Trading Company and continue to be their high-level representative. I want to know their every move, I want to know what they have dug up, and I also want you to..."

Chen Yuan turned back, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth:

"Stab them in the back at the critical moment."

"This is what is called—a pledge of allegiance."

Natasha bit her lip, blood seeping out.

She looked at this man, a deep sense of powerlessness welling up in her heart.

Resistance was futile.

Submission might allow her to survive.

"Fine."

She struggled to climb up from the ground, tidied her messy long hair, and regained some of the cold elegance of an agent. "I agree."

"But I have one condition."

"You have no right to set conditions." Chen Yuan interrupted coldly. "However, considering your good figure, I can listen to the intelligence."

Natasha took a deep breath, her eyes becoming serious:

"Do you think your only enemies are the Russians?"

"Just before I came here, I intercepted an encrypted message."

She walked to Chen Yuan's side and lowered her voice, as if afraid of disturbing the ghosts in the air:

"That 'Godfather' from Mexico has already arrived in San Verde."

"And he is currently in contact with my superiors. They are preparing to join forces, and at your moment of greatest pride..."

Natasha made a throat-slitting gesture:

"Swallow you whole, skin and bone."