Chapter 170: The Destruction of the Red Room

"Well, I will not waste any more words with you. Lift the control over every girl in the world!" Arthur immobilized Dreykov in an instant and issued his command.

Dreykov opened a drawer containing a cryptographic device. His ring served as the key to unlock it. After disabling the encryption, he operated the computer, and the giant screen displayed that the brain-control programs for countless girls across nations worldwide had been deactivated. They were completely free.

"What did you do to me?" Dreykov regained his composure after finishing the operation, yet he still could not control his own body, able only to speak freely.

"Didn't you enjoy controlling others? Now I will let you taste what it feels like to be controlled by someone else!" Arthur said with a cold smile.

Natasha walked up to Dreykov, stared at him fixedly, and asked, "What was my mother's name?"

"Hmm... The place where we buried her, there is a tree, a pink flower, truly beautiful. And a gravestone with her name carved upon it. What was her name again? Hehe, unknown!" Dreykov said mockingly.

"You have lost all your humanity. Did you ever feel even a shred of regret when you turned your own daughter into a weapon?" Natasha questioned, pointing her gun at Dreykov's head.

"Ha, ha! Humanity? I am merely grateful to you for creating such a handy tool for me. Go on, Natasha, pull the trigger," Dreykov laughed wildly, his expression distorted as he spoke.

"Killing you would soil my hands! Do it yourself!" Natasha placed the gun on the desk. In truth, Natasha was unable to shoot him anyway, as a gas surrounded Dreykov that prevented anyone from taking actions to harm him.

"Since you enjoy having widows whose missions failed deal with themselves, you should handle yourself the same way!" Arthur crossed his arms and looked at Dreykov. He could never have imagined a person could become so twisted, worse than an animal. Killing him would make Arthur feel that his own hands were dirtied as well!

"No!!!" Tough as Dreykov tried to act, terror finally gripped him as his hand automatically picked up the pistol from the desk and aimed it at his own head.

Bang!

Dreykov pulled the trigger. Instantly, a bloody hole was blasted into his head. He fell backward, blood pooling out.

With reddened eyes, Natasha looked down at Dreykov's corpse lying on the floor, speechless for a long time.

Arthur walked over, embraced her, patted her back, and joked teasingly, "Come on, is this still the fearless Black Widow? Why are you so shaken today?"

"I am fine, I just thought of my mother..." Natasha pushed Arthur away, speaking to him with tear-rimmed eyes.

"...You know, I have never seen my biological parents either. My adoptive father raised me, but he also left me when I was sixteen. Now you are my family, and to you, Yelena, Melina, Alexei, and all of us are your family, aren't we?" Arthur looked at Natasha and said.

"Let's go!" Natasha wiped away her tears and turned to walk out.

"Hey, am I your family or not? Make it clear," Arthur chased after Natasha.

"You... barely qualify," Natasha said expressionlessly.

"Then you had better treat this family member of yours better from now on. Don't assign any more missions to me; figure those out among yourselves," Arthur seized the opportunity to say.

"In your dreams!" Natasha gave Arthur a sideways glance before striding toward the exit.

"Let's discuss it more! Don't walk so fast, wait for me..." Arthur chased after Natasha, and the two of them took the elevator together to leave Dreykov's office.

Arthur and Natasha searched the entire Red Room base from top to bottom, rescuing all the young female widows. Everyone gathered at the tarmac and boarded a transport plane to leave the place.

"Is everything resolved?" Yelena asked, looking at Natasha and Arthur.

"With me making a move, wasn't it as easy as taking candy from a baby?" Arthur asked smugly, lifting his chin.

"What about Dreykov?" Yelena asked again.

"He put a bullet in his own head and died!" Natasha replied from the side.

"Good riddance! Then let's get out of here," Yelena walked toward the Quinjet.

Melina and Alexei took charge of rounding up and escorting away all the other female operatives whose control had been lifted.

"What should we do with this base?" Natasha asked Arthur.

"Actually, turning this place into an Avengers base wouldn't be bad at all, but it looks too ominous. Let Tony build a new one later. You go ahead, I'll stay behind to take care of this," Arthur told Natasha.

Natasha nodded, boarded Yelena's Quinjet, and departed. The other two transport planes also left the area, leaving Arthur standing all alone.

Arthur spread his five fingers toward the base, and a red sphere of energy enveloped the entire Red Room facility. With a flick of Arthur's hand, the colossal Red Room base rapidly soared straight up into the sky.

Enveloped in Arthur's energy, the Red Room base breached the atmosphere and headed straight into outer space. Just as it put some distance between itself and Earth, the entire foundation exploded, shattering the Red Room to dust in the void of space.

Looking up from afar at the exploded Red Room base, Arthur turned and walked in the direction where Natasha and the others had left.

...

The young girls trained in the Red Room were all freed from control by Arthur. Having been orphans abducted by Dreykov, they had nowhere else to go.

In the days ahead, they would live under the care of Melina and Alexei, and Dreykov's daughter Antonia was no exception.

Yelena also declined Natasha's invitation to join the Avengers, deciding instead to stay with Melina and the others. Melina, Alexei, and Natasha were her family.

Yelena gifted her favorite vest to Natasha as a token, and Natasha happily accepted it.

Perhaps these Red Room widows would establish a new intelligence organization, but Arthur no longer paid attention to such matters. Compared to the enemies Arthur would face next, these spies and operatives posed no threat to him whatsoever.

Arthur accompanied Natasha to the place Dreykov had mentioned, where Natasha's mother was buried.

Gazing at the gravestone inscribed with the word "Unknown," Natasha's eyes grew red. She squatted down, stroked the headstone, and gently brushed away the dead leaves scattered around its base one by one.

Arthur handed a prepared bouquet of flowers to Natasha. She placed the flowers before the gravestone and stared at it blankly.

Observing Natasha and the lonely gravestone beneath the tree, Arthur felt the atmosphere growing somewhat sorrowful. He raised his hand and swept it through the air.

The soil surrounding the gravestone suddenly transformed into a patch of verdant green grass. Little red flowers sprouted from the earth, and the withered tree burst forth with fresh green buds, subsequently blooming into clusters of pink flowers.

Instantly, the entire environment became vibrant with life, resembling the arrival of spring.

With tears streaming down her face, Natasha broke into a smile at the sight before her, turning her head to look at Arthur standing behind her.

"You really know your tricks. If you weren't already with Wanda, I might just fall for you too," Natasha joked, looking at Arthur.

"You can say things like that here, but don't ever utter them at the Avengers Compound. Otherwise, even if Banner doesn't tear me into two pieces, Wanda will blast me into stardust," Arthur replied righteously. The two of them locked eyes and suddenly burst out laughing together.

The gloom in Natasha's heart vanished in an instant. That's right, she still had this "lovely" family!