Chapter 95: Natasha Romanoff's Perks!
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Lorien understood what Natasha was saying. Essentially, the Avengers' rights had been significantly reduced. Captain America had disappeared with some of the team, while the remaining members either joined the United Nations or retired.
However, everyone knew that retirement wouldn't be peaceful. But life at the base wasn't all bad; for example, unless on official duty, the identity of a superhero couldn't appear in the normal world. That's why Natasha came here dressed as she did—she was free when not on official duty but couldn't reveal her superhero identity. Otherwise, it might lead to chaos or be perceived as a crisis, causing panic. It was a bit of a tough situation.
Lorien nodded after listening, showing he understood. But after sensing Natasha's true feelings, he smiled and said, "But I can sense that you have your own solution. And most of the reason you came to me is to express your inner thoughts—to complain. And part of the reason is that you want to see how Wanda is doing. Have you had a good time?"
Yes, Natasha was such a mature agent. Did she need an outsider to guide her? Not at all. She had her own subjective consciousness and knew what she wanted to do! But remember, women are often emotional creatures. In many instances, what they need is understanding, conversation, and recognition. They want their innermost thoughts to be known but often can't say them outright. It's a bit paradoxical, but fortunately, Lorien had the Phoenix Force.
Natasha opened her mouth in shock after hearing Lorien's words. She was amazed that Lorien had perfectly expressed all her deepest thoughts. It was as if she, a seasoned agent, was standing naked in front of Lorien, She was shocked for a long time before nodding slowly in agreement.
"Your words are really lethal to women. No wonder Wanda stuck to you after meeting you this time."
Lorien coughed twice. "Let's talk business. Wanda's doing quite well. I sent her to Kamar-Taj to learn spells and receive systematic training from the magicians. After some time, when she's ready, I'll take her to get another artifact, and she'll become the strongest in the Nine Realms."
Hearing this, Natasha asked curiously, "The strongest magician in the Nine Realms? What about you?"
Lorien smiled but didn't respond. Natasha gave him a knowing look, assuming Lorien was the strongest magician in the galaxy or something. But in reality, she couldn't even imagine how strong he truly was.
Natasha then sighed about Wanda. "Congratulations to Wanda for finding such a great partner. Kamar-Taj—I've only seen it in the S.H.I.E.L.D archives, and magicians are even rarer. I didn't expect her to go directly to such a prestigious place for training."
At this point, Lorien still smiled and remained silent. Natasha would be even more surprised if she knew who was currently teaching Wanda. But she didn't know who the Ancient One was, and S.H.I.E.L.D didn't have any records on the Ancient One either, so Lorien couldn't brag about it.
"It's better if you focus on yourself, Miss Natasha," Su Yi said, gesturing to the milk tea Natasha hadn't touched yet. "How do you feel about being part of the Avengers under the new management model? If you're unhappy, you could always resign. I'm in need of a female housekeeper and secretary, and you could fill both roles and save me some money."
As the saying goes, if you have work, the secretary will do it; if there's no work... Well, cough, cough.
"This retreat sounds good," Natasha blinked, "but my salary is quite high."
"It's okay, I'm not short of money," Lorien joked.
Natasha lowered her head, picked up the milk tea, and opened the lid. Then she continued, "Strictly speaking, the new Avengers are more relaxed than before. The U.N. doesn't want us to carry out secret missions because they know we would execute them well. The unclassified missions are pretty simple, and some of us feel like we're going to get rusty. But the burden is lighter."
After saying that, Natasha took a sip of the milk tea and nodded with satisfaction. "The milk tea is good, very delicious. And no, it's not drugged."
Lorien was speechless for a moment. "As if I would need to drug you."
With Lorien's power, would he even need to use drugs? And did Natasha look like someone who was afraid of being drugged?
Lorien watched Natasha drink the milk tea. She took a small sip at first to taste it, then started taking larger sips once she realized how good it was. If she were really afraid of being drugged, would she be drinking like that?
After finishing her drink, Natasha seemed more relaxed and began carefully observing Lorien's office. She had only glanced at it briefly when she first arrived, but now she wanted to take a closer look—especially at the little girl with green hair. Natasha blinked at the girl playing games in the corner behind Lorien, then pretended to be enlightened and said, "So you already have a daughter? So fast!"
Lorien: ...
Lorien knew she was teasing him. Natasha had high emotional intelligence. If she asked directly, it would be like an interrogation, considering her background as an agent. But by joking around like this, it felt more casual and interesting. Not to mention, Natasha was quite skillful in her approach.
Lorien turned halfway toward Natasha and said, "You remember that person who appeared at your base in the middle of the night? I threw her over to you back then."
"Huh?" Natasha was a bit puzzled. "That... Hela?"
"You got it." Lorien nodded to confirm. And when Hela heard Lorien mention her name, she immediately turned her head, bared her little tiger teeth, and raised her little fists at Lorien. It seemed she was threatening to hit him if he mentioned her again!
"So cute!" Natasha was surprised to see Hela's half-grown face. She hadn't expected Hela, who looked so fierce when mature, to appear so adorable as a child. Oh right, she was originally a princess after all.
"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff," Lorien introduced Natasha to hela. "Don't worry, with her skills, even if she wanted to spill secrets, she couldn't contact Odin anyway."
Little Hela couldn't hold back her laughter, bursting out in giggles. Natasha immediately rolled her eyes at Lorien. What a blunt way to phrase it! Couldn't he have just said she was trustworthy? If both were true, did he really have to talk about her abilities instead of her character?
Natasha was at a loss. Lorien tried to comfort her, saying, "It's okay, you'll get used to it after hearing it enough times."
Natasha: ...
"You're not human!"
And so, Lorien continued to chat leisurely with Natasha. Neither of them had anything urgent to do, and it wasn't time for Lorien to get off work yet. Lorien was happy to have someone to pass the time with, especially when it was Natasha.
So, they talked from noon until the afternoon, until four o'clock. Satisfied, Natasha Romanoff stretched in front of Lorien. Not bad—she seemed to be in good spirits, just like before.