17: Chapter 17 The Black Widow's Infiltration

Washington, Triskelion Headquarters.

Inside the Director's office, Nick Fury stared at several high-definition satellite photos on his desk, his remaining eye filled with deep solemnity.

The photos were aerial views of the abandoned church in Hells Kitchen. Over a hundred neatly sliced gangster corpses littered the streets, and blood had dyed the sewers red.

"In a single night, over a hundred fully armed gunmen were sliced into pieces. There were barely even signs of return fire."

Fury looked up at the red-haired woman standing before his desk. "Natasha, that four-armed monster from Siberia has come to New York. And now, he's operating in human form."

Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top Agent, Black Widow.

She picked up a photo and scanned it, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Slicing over a hundred people apart with bare hands? This defies common sense. Officer, what do you need me to do?"

"Locate him, then find a way to get a DNA sample. Hair, skin cells, blood—anything will do. The Science and Technology Division needs to analyze his weaknesses." Fury tapped the table. "Remember, you must not engage him. You saw what happened to Rumlow; I don't want to lose my best Agent."

"Understood." Natasha tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear and turned to walk out of the office.

...

10:00 PM, Manhattan, Continental Hotel Rooftop Bar.

Having ransacked the underground casino, Lynn naturally wouldn't mistreat himself. He used stacks of U.S. dollars to book the penthouse suite in this luxury hotel.

Now, Lynn had washed away the smell of blood and changed into a well-tailored black shirt. He sat at the bar, swirling a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

Soothing jazz music echoed through the bar.

A red-haired woman with a hot figure, wearing a wine-red deep-V silk dress, carried her glass and naturally sat in the empty seat next to Lynn.

"Alone?"

The woman turned her head, her red lips parting slightly as she breathed softly. A faint, highly seductive scent of perfume wafted into Lynn's nose.

Lynn turned his head to look at the woman before him, who radiated mature charm.

Natasha.

It had to be said that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network was indeed impressive, locating him so quickly. Moreover, her disguise was perfect; her eyes were dreamy, and her body language perfectly conveyed interest in her prey, just like a socialite looking for excitement in a high-end bar.

Any ordinary man would have succumbed by now.

But Lynn was no ordinary man.

After merging with Bullseye's [Absolute Precision and Dynamic Vision], Lynn's World had become completely different.

In his line of sight, the laziness and intoxication Natasha feigned didn't exist at all. He clearly saw that the pulse in her carotid artery was slower than average, a sign of an Agent who had undergone rigorous training to suppress their heart rate. Despite her seemingly casual sitting posture, every muscle was tense and coiled, ready to strike and kill at any moment.

Lynn's gaze even pierced through the refraction of light, locking onto the uniquely designed ring on the ring finger of her right hand.

Hidden inside the ring was a micron-level titanium alloy blood collection needle.

"Yeah, alone."

Lynn withdrew his gaze and downed the whiskey in his glass. He didn't expose her; instead, he followed along with Natasha's lead. "The drinks here are too weak. Want to go upstairs for a glass?"

A nearly imperceptible flicker of astonishment flashed in Natasha's eyes.

She hadn't expected the mission to go so smoothly. According to the files, this man was an extremely brutal, psychopathic killer. But now it seemed he still couldn't resist a man's instincts.

"Sure." Natasha curled her lips into a smile and took Lynn's arm.

The two walked through the corridor and swiped the card to enter the penthouse Presidential Suite.

*Bang.*

The heavy solid wood door closed.

The moment the door locked, Natasha, who had been soft and supple just a second ago, had eyes that instantly became as sharp as a blade.

Without any hesitation, her right hand, which was holding Lynn's arm, suddenly flipped. A faint blue titanium alloy micro-needle popped out of the ring on her ring finger, stabbing fiercely toward the vein in Lynn's neck at an extremely tricky angle!

Fast, precise, and lethal.

This was a finishing grapple move she had practiced countless times. As long as it pierced the skin, the potent anesthetic in the needle could take down an elephant in three seconds while simultaneously extracting a sufficient blood sample.

*Clang!*

An extremely faint sound of metal clashing rang out.

Natasha's pupils constricted sharply.

She felt as if she hadn't stabbed human skin, but a solid titanium alloy armor plate! The sharp, specialized blood collection needle had actually bent the moment it touched the skin of Lynn's neck!

"How is this possible..."

Amidst her shock, Natasha reacted extremely quickly. With the sneak attack failed, she immediately switched to a full-on assault.

She kicked off the ground, her body soaring into the air. Her long legs were like a pair of lethal scissors, clamping tightly around Lynn's neck. Using her waist to generate power, she attempted to use her full body weight and leverage to snap Lynn's cervical vertebrae!

Black Widow's signature killing move—the Lethal Scissor Kick.

However.

Lynn stood where he was, unmoving.

No matter how much force Natasha applied, his mutation-enhanced cervical vertebrae were like an iron pillar welded into reinforced concrete.

"Use some strength. Haven't you eaten?"

Lynn sneered and suddenly raised his left hand, grabbing Natasha's slender, pale ankle.

His five fingers tightened like iron pincers.

"Ugh!" Natasha cried out in pain, feeling as if the bones in her ankle were about to be crushed.

Lynn applied force with his arm, swinging Natasha—who was still clamped around his neck—and slamming her hard onto the large bed in the center of the room like a ragdoll.

*Thud!*

The Simmons mattress shook violently.

Natasha was dazed by the impact, but her Agent instincts made her reach for the inside of her thigh the moment her back hit the bed.

*Zzzzt!*

Two small high-voltage tasers appeared in her hands, and a faint blue electric arc flashed, striking Lynn directly in the chest!

An ultra-high voltage current, strong enough to instantly knock out over a dozen buffalo, surged through Lynn's shirt and into his body.

Lynn didn't even flinch.

For the host of the [Heatblast], who could swallow nuclear explosion energy, this level of current didn't even count as a massage.

He stepped forward, his right knee pressing heavily onto Natasha's abdomen, pinning her to the bed. His left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing her pale neck.

*Clack.*

The tasers fell to the ground.

Natasha's hands gripped Lynn's wrist as he choked her, struggling desperately. Her beautiful face turned flush red from suffocation.

She finally experienced the fear Rumlow had described in that report.

In the face of this man's raw power, all the fighting skills and assassination methods she took pride in were like a ridiculous joke.

"Is this all Nick Fury taught you?"

Lynn looked down at Natasha, his fingers tightening slightly, depriving her lungs of their last bit of oxygen.

"Cough... You..." Natasha struggled to get a word out, her vision beginning to go dark.

Lynn didn't kill her.

Using his free right hand, he slowly slid the severely deformed blood collection ring off Natasha's finger and tossed it onto the carpet.

Then, under Natasha's desperate and terrified gaze, the inverted triangle Bloodtrix on Lynn's wrist, which had been hidden in his sleeve, lit up with a blinding scarlet glow.

Several dark red bio-metallic wires emerged from the watch face like living things.

"You want my blood?"

Lynn looked at the top female Agent beneath him, who had given up struggling. His lips curled into a violent arc, and the dark red wires slowly pressed against Natasha's carotid artery.

"What a coincidence. I want yours, too."