Chapter 1840 - Discount, and Meeting Natasha Again

After some trash talk, Tony returned to the topic. “Natasha couldn’t find anyone suitable, which is why she’s looking for you.”

Luke found that odd. “Can’t she just put in a commission with the bigshot?”

Tony burst out laughing. “That Alfred is a great butler who charges a 5% brokerage fee. It seems Natasha owes a lot of credit points, and doesn’t dare put things on a tab with him anymore.”

Luke was enlightened. “So, she’s coming to me because she wants a discount?”

“It’s not that bad…” Tony started, then changed his words. “Mm, of course, if you’re willing to give her a discount, she won’t object.”

Luke nodded. “That’s not a big problem. But why can’t anyone on your side do it?”

Tony sighed. “This involves people in high places, and it wouldn’t be good for me and the old Capsicle to step in, in case it turns into an international dispute. The old Capsicle also found some leads on that metal-armed puppet. Hawkeye has another mission and can’t get away – you understand.”

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Luke understood perfectly.

Tony was an American national defense supplier, and Steve was known as ‘Captain America.’

The Avengers carried out assignments in Europe from time to time. Minor issues did pop up, but they usually involved several days of talking at most.

If the Cobra incident was resolved perfectly, the embarrassed higher-ups would only be able to smile on the surface and swear inwardly.

If Cobra made big news this time, wouldn’t that mean that the ‘American’ Avengers hadn’t handled the matter well enough, so the country should take some responsibility?

This was a common problem with governments.

When it came to a lot of things, there was no reward for doing the right thing, but you took the blame for anything you did wrong.

Rather than let superheroes seize power for themselves, some people would rather let civilians die.

Tens of thousands of people died in shootings in the United States every year. A ban on guns could reduce that number significantly, but that law never passed.

Logically speaking, the death of a million ordinary people out of hundreds of millions of people wasn’t a big deal.

Typical examples included the old who were a burden on the system and the homeless who did nothing to create value in society.

If millions of people in these sorts of groups died, it would already be good enough if some people just went on TV and put on a show of mourning before they went home and popped open bottles of champagne to celebrate.

In the event of a huge crisis, the so-called ‘respect for life, freedom and equality’ in Europe and America was worthless – that was used to con civilians.

Given Tony’s public identity and the collapse of the old SHIELD, the American government gave him some support despite their dissatisfaction with the Avengers.

This was backing, but were also fetters, which meant that the Avengers had to tread cautiously.

If it really was an emergency, they would still fight first. However, what Natasha had were just some rumors.

The situation had yet to be confirmed, so it wasn’t appropriate for the Avengers to become fully involved.

The Bat Squad, which had no association with any government organizations, were hence the best helpers.

When it took action, the Bat Squad wouldn’t help or make anyone take the blame.

Seeing that Luke had agreed, Tony revealed some new information. “Well, go and do your best to investigate the weapon. It would be good if you can get comprehensive technical data on it.”

Luke asked, “Are you interested?”

Tony smiled sneakily. “It might be nanotechnology. Don’t you want it?”

Luke’s eyes lit up. “In line with our research direction?”

Tony shook his head. “I’m not sure. It was just a passing remark. If you want to know more, hurry up and talk to her.”

Luke chuckled inwardly. “Thank you for not forgetting to let me know when you’re busy.”

The tycoon had probably been thinking about the nanotechnology ever since he heard the news.

No wonder he had contacted the Dark Knight. Wasn’t he clearly urging him to hurry up and become a thug, and carry out a robbery?

Tony was definitely thick-skinned in moments like this. He said brazenly, “The more capable you are, the more you have on your plate. Go, I have faith in you.”

…

A day later at dusk, Luke arrived at the stretch of grass next to the fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower.

He went over to a lone figure who was sitting on the side, and held out a takeaway cup of coffee. “Is this their target?”

Natasha took the coffee cup, her eyes still on the Eiffel Tower. “Is there any place in France that can create bigger news?”

Luke leaned back and looked up at the tower.

The top was still awash in orange light, but most of the tower was already in shadow.

Thinking for a moment, Luke said off-handedly, “The Elysée Palace is pretty important. There’s also the Louvre, Versailles, and Notre Dame for a wider range of impact. The Champs-Élysées could also be one.”

Natasha wanted to roll her eyes. What boring talk.

Nothing needed to be said about the Elysée Palace. As for the other locations, they would be densely packed with tourists. If an attack happened, it would be very easy to wipe out the people gathered there.

Although there were a lot of tourists on Champs-Elysees, it was a long avenue, and the attack range wouldn’t be big enough to cause enough casualties.

This logic was hard to refute.

But why was he bickering just for the sake of it, and in such an unfeeling way to boot? As expected of a straight man who wasn’t charming at all.

Based on his looks alone, however, he didn’t have to worry about not getting a girlfriend.

Natasha wasn’t annoyed.

It was normal for capable people to have quirks. She wasn’t a good-tempered and obedient girl either.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she was a little surprised. “You’re really so relaxed. Where did you get this coffee?”

Luke said, “It’s from a small shop.”

Natasha couldn’t help but take another sip. “It seems you’re already very familiar with Paris.”

Drinking his coffee and recalling his ‘pleasant’ experiences in France, Luke couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, I’m quite familiar with many places here.”

Looking at the smile, Natasha suddenly understood. “Like, neuf trois?”

Luke said, “Sort of.”

For the next half an hour, they simply sat and chatted without discussing Cobra.

Natasha didn’t need Luke to teach her how to be a special agent.

She wasn’t in a hurry to talk, which meant that things weren’t that urgent.

But Luke was a little suspicious.

Could it be that this Black Widow owed him too many credit points and didn’t want to sell herself to repay the debt, so she was making friends with him first for a chance to get the lowest discount?

Rubbing his chin, he felt that this guess was quite reasonable.

As an elite female agent, Natash’s bottom line was very different from that of ordinary people.

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However, she would always pay back a debt, and would never renege on it.

She wasn’t using her most aggressive moves to get close to Luke – clearly, she didn’t mean anything by it.