Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 404: 404 MCU 79

At that, Yelena asked in surprise,

"Shouldn’t we be avoiding them for now? They’re Black Widows. And there’s even an armored vehicle..."

"Why bother? We’re stronger, so why run?"

When I said that, Natasha thought for a moment and then agreed.

"I suppose... Jin’s right. We’ve faced worse than this. What’s the Red Room compared to that..."

She was right—just recently we’d been fighting robots with alien weapons and countless super-soldiers, so the Red Room was nothing.

We moved the Talarian to an empty lot on the outskirts of the city and waited there.

We did it to avoid civilian casualties, but honestly, the bigger reason was to save the fund.

We couldn’t afford to wreck another city.

After a short wait, the Black Widows on bikes began heading toward us, and I waved cheerfully at them.

"Over here! Right here!"

Without hesitation, the Black Widows opened fire on us with machine guns from their bikes, and Natasha immediately used her [Barrier-Barrier Fruit] ability to put up a barrier and block the bullets.

RATATATATAT!!!

TINK TINK TINK TINK!!!

Just then, the lead bike hit a wire we’d set up between the trees and went flying, so I used Eldritch Magic to create a rope and snagged the flying Black Widow like a fish.

"Yelena, now!"

"Huh? Ah... right..."

Yelena was startled and couldn’t react at first, but when I called out, she snapped out of it and pulled off the Widow’s helmet, spraying the antidote on her face.

The following Widows swerved to avoid the wire, splitting off in both directions to attack us.

"Natasha! Take the left side!"

"Got it!"

There were four Black Widows attacking on bikes—one was already down, and two headed left, so I asked Natasha to hold them off for a moment.

I moved to the right alone, blocking the Widow’s submachine gun fire with one hand using an Eldritch Magic barrier, while with the other hand I created a rope, snagged her, and pulled her in.

"Yelena."

"Got it."

FSSSH—!

Seeing that, the remaining Widows stopped their attack, hesitated, and turned their bikes to flee.

I also threw a rope at one of the fleeing Widows, tied her up quickly, and pulled her toward us.

THUD!

Yelena immediately sprayed the antidote on the downed Widow without hesitation.

FSSSH—!

"Ah... That’s a shame. One got away."

"Yeah. Well, we’ll see her again when we get to the Red Room."

Yelena stared at us with wide eyes and said,

"I never imagined this. Are the Avengers really this strong? I’ve seen Jin’s magic on TV, so I can accept that, but what was that strange glass-like barrier you used, Natasha?"

When Yelena asked, Natasha looked a bit flustered.

"Well, you see... It’s an ability I ended up getting somehow."

"What kind of answer is that... Whoa!"

Yelena was about to press further, but an armored vehicle suddenly appeared and started pushing in, so she stopped.

I immediately stepped in front of the armored vehicle and used Eldritch Magic to create a giant circular saw, then launched it at the incoming vehicle, slicing it cleanly in half.

SCRRREEEECH—!!!

The split vehicle lost its balance and tipped over shortly after.

THUD!

Yelena was amazed once again.

"Wow... You really weren’t kidding. There’s nothing to worry about at all. But someone’s getting out of that vehicle?"

As Yelena said, someone crawled out of the overturned vehicle—it was Taskmaster, just like in the original.

He wore a skull-shaped silver helmet and hood, with various equipment and a small round shield strapped to his back.

Taskmaster was a fairly popular character who appeared in various media, games, comics, and animation.

He was Tony Masters, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the innate ability to copy others’ fighting styles—but in the MCU, the character was changed to someone else.

Moreover, his ability was also altered from an innate talent, making him quite different from the original.

Because of this, fans had complained, "If you weren’t going to make him interesting, why change him at all?" and he ended up being dismissed as a lackluster villain.

’He got a lot of hate.’

He got into a fighting stance as soon as he emerged from the vehicle, but then he suddenly pressed his ear and listened to something, then quickly retreated.

He must have received orders from someone.

"Huh? He looked like he was going to fight, but he just ran?"

"Yeah, weird."

We ignored Taskmaster’s escape and began tending to the Widows who were starting to regain consciousness.

I first cut off all their communication devices so no location or other information could leak.

"Ugh... Damn it..."

"Are you coming to?"

"Y-yeah. Damn... It was my body, but I couldn’t control it. It felt terrible..."

Yelena sympathized.

"I know that feeling."

One of the Widows who had regained consciousness then shared something shocking.

"Still, we’re better off than some. Some Widows have been given to powerful figures as bodyguards and—sexual slaves—to solidify Dreykov’s position. They’re fully conscious but can’t resist, so it must be hell for them."

Yelena was shocked.

"What?! Is that true?! I’ve never heard of that!"

"Unfortunately, it’s true. Top-performing Widows wouldn’t know since they’re not involved. But I almost got sent off myself, so I know. The Widows used that way were either underperforming or had issues."

This wasn’t in the original story, but it was hard to deny it was plausible.

Widows were beautiful—raised from childhood—and sterilized, so they had no risk of pregnancy.

Natasha, hearing this, couldn’t contain her rage and cursed.

"That bastard Dreykov!"

"If you’re going to destroy the Red Room, count us in. We’ll help too."

Unexpectedly, the Widows who had been freed from their brainwashing offered to help without any convincing.

They seemed to have plenty of resentment built up.

But it was hard to just call it luck—their stories of being treated like combat machines or dolls were heartbreaking.

I asked them,

"By the way, where is the Red Room located?"

"Even we don’t know. They keep moving locations. And Widows are drugged before entering for security reasons."

"I see..."

Just then, Yelena thought for a moment and said,

"There is someone who might know."

"Who?"

"Our father."

Natasha frowned at that.

She didn’t seem to like their adoptive father, the Red Guardian—Alexei Shostakov.

"Huff... Where is he now?"

"He was discarded by the higher-ups and imprisoned in a converted gas field prison in Siberia."

"Figures... His end isn’t exactly glorious."

"Tell me about it."

"Then let’s go right now."

As Natasha was about to board the Talarian with the Widows, I stopped her.

"Wait. Instead of going right away, let’s call the Aurea. We’re going to rescue more Black Widows besides these, right? And we’re running low on antidote, so I’ll have the Avengers base make more and send it. I already know the ingredients, so they’ll produce it quickly."

"That’s true—it’ll be more convenient to move around that way. So what do we do until the Aurea arrives?"

"What else? We plan the prison escape, and in the meantime, we eat good food and enjoy some sightseeing."

"But they might attack again, right? What about the civilians nearby?"

"No, they definitely won’t. If they come at us again after this, they’d have to be brainless. We can move around freely without worry."

I was certain because of Taskmaster’s behavior.

The fact that he’d received orders and fled meant Dreykov, who controlled him, had essentially admitted we were too much to handle.

"I’m not sure..."

"Trust me."

"Alright, okay."

We moved to a quiet café as I suggested, ordering Langos—a traditional Hungarian dish—and drinks with the Widows.

But when the Widows devoured the Langos so quickly that their plates were empty in no time, Natasha asked curiously,

"Haven’t you guys been eating properly?"

"That’s not it... It’s just hard to get sweet treats..."

"Really? Then order whatever you want. Don’t worry about the money."

When Natasha said that, the Widows stopped hesitating and ordered whatever they wanted.

Natasha and Yelena looked at them with pity.

While they ate, I used Minerva to print out maps and blueprints of the prison.

We began planning the Red Guardian’s escape, which ended up being similar to the original.

"That guy would probably just eat the food even if we hid an earpiece in it without noticing."

"Really? Then how about hiding it inside a Red Guardian toy and sending it?"

"Good idea. That’s better. We also need to stay hidden—if the Avengers are caught breaking a prisoner out of a Russian prison, it’ll be a huge problem."

"Hah, being heroes sure comes with a lot of baggage."

The plan was surprisingly simple.

We’d deliver an earpiece to the Red Guardian to let him know we’d arrived, then he’d escape the prison on his own and come out to the clearing.

Then the cloaked Aurea would lower a wire and pull him up—that was the entire escape plan.

The reason it was so simple was that we trusted the Red Guardian’s physical abilities as a Soviet-made super-soldier.

We judged he could make it to the clearing on his own.

But since I’d seen the original, I knew the Red Guardian had been in prison so long that his body wasn’t what it used to be.

Still, he’d managed in the original, so I figured it would be fine here too and didn’t say anything.

With the plan set, we left the café, got into the Talarian, and started sightseeing around the city.

"I think this is the first time I’ve ever gone sightseeing."

"Right. By the way, this ice cream is amazing!"

"This is the first time I’ve had ice cream in three years."

"Wow... You must have been dragged from mission to mission nonstop."

"Yeah, they kept sending us on impossible missions—I thought I’d die someday."

"Dreykov calls the Red Room a home and family—it’s all lies."

"Huff... I hope we can rescue the other Widows soon."

"All I want is to kill Dreykov with my own hands."

Yelena took care of the Widows and chatted with them, enjoying snacks together.

Since she herself had been in the Red Room until recently, she understood their feelings better than anyone.

She seemed to treat their conversations not as idle chatter, but as a way to gradually soothe each other’s wounds.

As the sun set and evening came, the Aurea arrived.

We did some shopping at a nearby market, boarded the ship, had dinner, and had a few beers.

With the alcohol loosening everyone up, the atmosphere brightened, and laughter filled the room.

"Natasha, I’ve always wanted to ask—why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"The thing you always do in fights. You know."

Yelena stretched one leg out straight, bent the other, planted one hand on the floor, and bobbed her head up and down—mimicking Natasha’s superhero landing pose in a goofy way.

"You tilt your head back, stretch your arms out, and strike a pose. Pose for life, pose for death?"

Natasha immediately denied it.

"I don’t pose."

"You’re funny. I’ve seen it on TV so many times. You’re too conscious of the cameras. Don’t you think so, brother-in-law?"

Yelena even asked me.

"Hmm... I suppose Natasha does strike unnecessary poses sometimes. But isn’t it a bit sexy?"

"Ugh! I shouldn’t have asked."

At that, Natasha quickly defended herself.

"I’m just trying to break free from the killer’s life."

"Yeah, sure. That’s just lying to yourself. Pain is everywhere, and we’re still trained killers. That’s an undeniable reality. You became a hero because of that training too."

I admitted and chimed in,

"That’s true. The past is what made you who you are today."

"So that’s what I’m saying."

"But it’s also important how you move forward based on that past."

Yelena thought for a moment, took a sip of beer, and agreed.

"That’s true."

She seemed to have a lot to think about after my words.

Sensing the mood dropping, I stood up, clapped to gather everyone’s attention, and said,

"Alright, everyone’s had plenty to drink—go wash up and get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be busy too."

"Got it."

Everyone got up and went to their assigned rooms to rest.

I used [Life Magic] to quickly clean up the table and then went to the room, showered with Natasha, and rested.

The next morning, we sent the Talarian back to the mansion, had breakfast, and flew the ship to the Siberian prison where the Red Guardian was held.

The prison was located in a very remote area near the Arctic—nearly impossible for an ordinary person to escape from without a vehicle.

Security was also extremely tight—it looked like a facility Russia had built to house serious national criminals.

We waited for a mail delivery truck heading into the prison and secretly slipped in a package containing a Red Guardian toy, wrapped like a fan gift.

Of course, the guards would inspect it, but to distract them, we included a heartfelt fan letter and some snacks like bread and cookies.

The earpiece was cleverly hidden inside the toy, so unless something unexpected happened, Alexei should be able to receive it.

"We sent it, but he’s so dense I’m not sure if he’ll actually get it."

"Tell me about it. If it fails, we’ll just have to go in ourselves."

Natasha and Yelena worried about whether Alexei would successfully receive the package—he didn’t seem like a very reliable father.

I handed out masks I’d bought in Hungary to the Widows.

Yelena looked at the mask I gave her and said, unimpressed,

"Brother-in-law... Do I really have to wear this?"

"The other members caused some trouble recently, so several government agencies are watching us. It can’t be helped."

"Huff... I guess we’ll have to hope Alexei manages to get out on his own."