Marvel: I am Iron Man

Natasha is gone.

In the end, she didn't say anything. But it didn't matter anymore; after Tony mentioned Fury's name, he was pretty sure he'd see Fury soon.

But he's no longer in a hurry about this, because a new top priority task has appeared in his to-do list.

The Red House.

Tony didn't know why, but he was clearly being targeted by this organization.

This deviates from the movie's plot as he knows it; Tony hasn't encountered Black Widow's assassination attempt at this stage in the film.

Indeed, the original plot can only be used as a reference, not absolutely trusted. After all, the very fact that Tony Stark's soul became a time traveler has already rewritten the course of history to some extent, and there is no evidence to suggest that the future will definitely not change.

This is why Tony always felt an urgent need to accelerate the development of various new technologies, weapons, and armor. It seemed that only in this way could he gain a little sense of security.

An organization that employs top-tier assassins has set its sights on his head. Although they failed this time, they certainly won't give up. The Black Widow assassins will continue to try to disguise themselves, infiltrate, and assassinate him in secret. They can impersonate anyone and anyone to get close to him, and he obviously can't stay hidden in his armor forever.

Just thinking about such a possibility sends chills down one's spine.

Is this still available?

No. He has to find a way to take the initiative and eliminate them before they succeed, otherwise he won't be able to sleep peacefully.

Tony sighed.

Although he was a Marvel fan in his previous life, he never really thought about traveling to this dangerous world.

All I want is a good night's sleep. Is that too much to ask?

Tony sat in the basement laboratory of the villa, surrounded by a ring of floating screens. Each screen contained a file, and each file corresponded to a to-do item he had listed, along with a dangerous name.

Obadiah Stan (resolved), Ivan Vanko, Aldrich Killian...

All of them were potential threats that he knew would inevitably pose a threat to him in the future and that he had to deal with.

If you just can't get a good night's sleep no matter what you do, then there's nothing you can do...

Tony looked at the screen, rubbed his temples, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes.

...I had no choice but to eliminate all the dangers myself.

...

...

Not far from Stark’s residence, Natasha Romanov removed the tracker that automatically attached to the bottom of her boot and threw it into the vast ocean beyond the road.

The tracker had silently and automatically attached itself to her boots the moment she stepped out. She guessed that Stark probably wanted to use her to get closer to S.H.I.E.L.D., to get close to Director Fury, and to keep track of the real-time progress of the investigation into the Red Room killer.

But she's Black Widow, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agent; counter-tracking techniques are a fundamental skill for her. While Stark's tracking gadgets are quite high-tech, this level of technology is useless against her.

Having confirmed that she had shaken off the pursuers, Natasha did not return to the apartment where she had previously lived under her disguised identity, but instead headed to the nearest safe house of S.H.I.E.L.D.

A top-secret dedicated line was activated in the safe house. After patiently going through multiple authentication steps, a steady voice came from the other end of the microphone.

"This is Nicholas Fury," the man said.

This is a top-secret line that connects directly to Director Fury. Only a very few people, including Natasha, are authorized to use it, and it's a one-time use line. Once used, the line will be abandoned, and the safe house will be destroyed along with it.

Fury: "Agent Romanov, I heard tonight is going to be a long night?"

"Director Fury," Natasha hesitated before asking, "Could... I report in person?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the communication line, then Fury's voice came through again: "Okay."

Half an hour later, Natasha reached the rooftop of the building at the designated address. As she climbed the fire escape to the top floor, she saw Chief Fury already standing on the edge of the rooftop, facing the city lights, his black trench coat fluttering in the wind.

Nick Fury listened to Natasha's entire mission briefing, including the attack on the Red Room, the exposure of his identity, and Tony Stark's unusual knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Red Room.

After listening to the briefing, Fury faced the city and pondered for a few seconds. Throughout the entire process, his expression remained completely unchanged, no matter what he heard.

Natasha was already used to this. Director Fury was always like that, always calm and collected even in the face of a collapsing mountain.

Perhaps this is precisely why Director Fury's very presence always brings a sense of security. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. trusts him implicitly, believing that no matter the crisis, Director Fury can always handle it with ease...

...Well, at least the agents within S.H.I.E.L.D., besides Hydra, all trust him.

After hearing all this, Fury seemed to think for a moment, then spoke without turning his head.

"I understand," he said. "You did a good job, Agent Romanov. I'll arrange for other agents to take over. You can step down from this mission for now."

Natasha was taken aback.

Withdraw? By ourselves?

For so many years, she has been one of Director Fury's most trusted aces, practically his right-hand woman. The most top-secret and dangerous missions to date have always been her responsibility.

Now, Director Fury is actually asking him to withdraw from the mission he is currently carrying out—this is unprecedented.

Not to mention this involves a mission from the "Red House," which is also closely related to her personally...

Thinking about this, Natasha seemed to suddenly understand.

"Is it because of the 'Red House'?" Natasha asked. "Is it because this concerns me that I need to withdraw from this mission?"

Nick Fury did not answer, nor did he show any expression.

But Natasha understood him. If anyone within S.H.I.E.L.D. truly understood Nick Fury, then Natasha, as his right-hand woman, was undoubtedly one of those very few.

Natasha quickly guessed what was going on, her expression gradually turning strange: "Could it be that S.H.I.E.L.D.... actually... always knew that the 'Red Room' still existed?"

Fury remained silent.

Natasha took a deep breath: "Director Fury, do we... have SHIELD actually always held the location of the 'Red Room'?"

She knew S.H.I.E.L.D.'s style... no, or rather, Director Fury's style.

Even if an organization like the Red Room is known to be active, S.H.I.E.L.D. would most likely choose to monitor it covertly rather than eliminate it directly, and might even use it if necessary.

If used properly, Fury could use this organization to remove obstacles that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want to deal with personally, and S.H.I.E.L.D. could completely absolve themselves of any involvement.

While Natasha held extremely high authority within SHIELD, there were still many secrets she didn't know. Furthermore, she was always a competent soldier, never asking questions she shouldn't.

Therefore, it is entirely possible that S.H.I.E.L.D. was aware of the Red Room's situation without their knowledge.

Fury still didn't answer her question, only calmly saying, "Your mission is complete, Agent Romanov. Good job."

Natasha lowered her head and took several deep breaths.

"receive."

She didn't say anything more, turned around, and left the rooftop.

Natasha left, only about a minute later.

On the rooftop of this building, fifteen meters behind Nick Fury, a transparent ripple appeared in the air.

The silver Mark II Iron Man armor deactivated its stealth mode and slowly walked up.

Tony Stark's voice was transmitted through the armor's voice modulation and mechanized processing.

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight. Don't you think so, Chief Fury?"