Ch. 249 You're Hydra, Aren't You?

"You..."

Natasha wanted to retort Russell, but when she actually tried to speak, she didn't know what to say.

Looking at the expression of frustration on Natasha's delicate and fair face, Russell let go of his right hand that was holding Natasha's chin and pinched her face.

"Don't always look so resentful. Over time, it's easy to develop wrinkles."

Russell said earnestly.

If he weren't aware that he couldn't compete with Russell, Natasha would want to make him experience what real pain meant right now.

Natasha didn't speak; she just turned her neck and shook off Russell's right hand.

"Alright, since Diana hasn't returned yet, let's talk about business!"

After saying this, Russell sat down in the chair and signaled for Natasha to do the same.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Natasha finally sat down in the empty chair.

"How did the brainwashing effect on you disappear?"

Russell asked straightforwardly.

Although he had some guesses now, Natasha was no longer in a brainwashed state.

To avoid leaking information about the Mind Stone, he pretended not to know anything.

Upon hearing his question, Natasha furrowed her brows in thought for a few seconds.

Then she slowly said, "When I was stopping those three aliens, I was hit by their weapon, and then the brainwashing effect on me disappeared."

"To be more precise, I was hit by a weapon that looked somewhat like a scythe and had a blue gem on it."

"Accurately speaking, I was hit by an energy beam released by that gem."

Natasha eventually revealed the truth.

Mind Stone Scepter!

Even though all the Black Order had weapons, and one of them weapon somewhat resembled a scythe, what Natasha described was undoubtedly the scepter embedded with the Mind Stone.

"After the brainwashing effect disappeared, didn't you think about telling Nick Fury about being brainwashed?"

"Of course, I thought about it. But, as I said before, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have the power to deal with you."

"Even if I told Fury the truth, there's very little he could do, and it would push S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Justice League to become outright enemies."

Natasha quickly responded.

"It seems like you're considering Nick Fury quite a bit."

"But there's one thing I don't understand. Even if you don't want to use those methods to gather information anymore and don't want to tell Nick Fury about being brainwashed, why did you have to talk to me about this after the brainwashing effect was lifted? You could have just ignored me."

"Normally, you're right; I had no reason to talk to you about this. But after the brainwashing effect disappeared, I discovered some things."

Natasha said slowly.

"What things?"

Russell was curious.

"You're Hydra, aren't you? And there are Hydra members inside S.H.I.E.L.D."

Natasha looked at Russell with intense seriousness, observing all his expressions.

Seeing Natasha's expression now, Russell raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed by Natasha's observational and deductive skills.

The brainwashing effect on Natasha had disappeared just the night before last. It had been less than 48 hours since Black Order had seized the Cosmic Cube.

Yet in less than 48 hours, Natasha had discovered a secret that Nick Fury had yet to uncover.

Although Natasha possessed some information that Nick Fury didn't know, such as her knowledge that Russell led the attack on the Norwegian base and stole the Symbiote Dragon Grendel.

It was still a challenging task to determine that there were Hydra operatives within S.H.I.E.L.D. in less than two days.

"Romanoff, everything requires evidence."

"Although you're pretty and have a great figure, if you don't have any evidence and accuse me of being a Hydra member, I reserve the right to sue you for defamation."

Russell said with a smile.

"Alright, whether you are a Hydra member, you know it in your heart."

Natasha gave Russell an eye-roll, speaking quickly.

Although it was just a habitual action, it still conveyed a sense of charm.

At least Russell now felt a little stimulated, and his mind couldn't help but recall the scene when he had inspected Natasha's progress in learning the Flying Chess game back at the Justice League headquarters.

Although he didn't say anything now, as an experienced female spy, Natasha quickly understood what he was thinking just by looking at his expression.

So, she sniffed in disdain and gave him another eye-roll.

"Seeing your current look, you probably don't have any substantial evidence."

"Tell me, why do you think I'm a Hydra member, and why do you think there are Hydra members within S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Russell asked.

"You're right; these are just speculations, and they are far from enough. But you left an obvious loophole."

"What loophole?"

"You shouldn't have brainwashed me, and you definitely shouldn't have brainwashed me in the Justice League headquarters."

Natasha explained, the earlier parts making sense, but Russell was now somewhat confused.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Natasha gave a satisfied smile and continued to explain, "The brainwashing technique you used on me is unique to Hydra."

"I witnessed this brainwashing technique when I was still at the Red Room."

Could this even happen?

Russell hadn't expected the flaw to be in this area.

But then again, he couldn't have known this in advance.

"Even so, at most, you can only accuse me of conducting covert transactions. You can't prove that I'm a Hydra member, let alone prove that there are Hydra members within S.H.I.E.L.D."

Russell continued to ask.

"That's correct, with just this, it can only prove that you're a Hydra member."

"However, you shouldn't have too much contact with Bakshi; he has more flaws than you."

"Bakshi has secretly contacted many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and coincidentally, his secret contacts with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents occurred right after Pierce disappeared."

"You have the exclusive brainwashing technique of Hydra, Bakshi secretly contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. agents right after Pierce's disappearance, and Bakshi is suspected to be one of your subordinates."

"Combining all this information, it's not difficult to draw a conclusion."

"There are not only Hydra members within S.H.I.E.L.D., but they also hold high ranks."

Natasha calmly stated.

"A very impressive guess, but you should know that guesses are not evidence."

Russell smiled.

"That's true, these are indeed speculations. However, your current behavior just happened to prove that my speculations are correct."

Natasha stated with absolute certainty.

Seeing Natasha's current expression, Russell shook his head helplessly.

"In less than two days, you've found so much information. I don't know if I should say you're efficient or if S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other agents are just incompetent."

"While it's true that I've had some cooperation with Hydra, and there are indeed Hydra spies within S.H.I.E.L.D., the level of the spies is as you've imagined."

"Since you've said so much, I don't mind revealing some information to you."

"Pierce is also a member of Hydra, and he's one of the leaders of Hydra. The Hydra infiltrators within S.H.I.E.L.D. are all under his command."

"Furthermore, Hydra has more infiltrators within S.H.I.E.L.D. than you can imagine."

Even though he would become the sole leader of Hydra in the future, Russell didn't mind sharing this information with Natasha.

He wasn't like Pierce, who had ambitions to rule the world.

More importantly, he didn't particularly care about the power that S.H.I.E.L.D. possessed.