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Chapter 152 Bucky’s Task
“When that green monster flew away with his fleshy wing, I chased after him. Probably I’m too fast for him, the monster was stunned before starting to panic and plunge straight into the ground.”
In the underground laboratory of El Building, Leo was introducing the green monster’s identity to Peter. He waved his hand, “When I landed next to the monster, he was on the brink of death.”
Peter anxiously listened and hurriedly asked, “Then, who’s that monster?”
“As that monster was dying, he gradually turned back. And you won’t imagine that that person is our mayor, Norman Osborn.”
“Norman?!” Peter was stunned.
“That’s right. Dr. Octavius mentioned before that Norman was studying genetic research. I reckon that green monster was a product of mix and match of various genes and Norman had used the research result on himself.”
Leo made an educated guess about the monster’s origin and wondered doubtfully, “But I can’t understand why Dr. Octavius wanted to murder Norman all of a sudden?”
Shaking his head, Peter indicated his uncertainty but he firmly stated, “Norman must have done something bad to Dr. Octavius again, forcing Doc to snap.”
In fact, Leo believed this was the case too, after all, Norman had done many similar things before. “If Norman hadn’t died, we could’ve asked him.”
“Did Norman really fall to his death?” Peter was doubtful as the green monster was hopping and bouncing like a monkey on the rooftop.
“Yeah, why would I lie to you?” Leo had an innocent face.
Peter asked again, “Where’s Norman’s body?”
Leo understood Peter’s concern and explained, “The body has been dealt with. No one will find it.”
A missing mayor sounded better than a murdered mayor. While both were huge news, at least missing wasn’t as scary as murdered sounded.
The method Leo used to dispose of Norman’s body was simple. After the Anti-gravity Pulse Blaster had charged for a while, it would release an energy blast. However, this energy blaster was fundamentally different from the Vibranium Offensive Rune as it exhibited both strong impact and high temperature. Therefore, Norman’s body was incinerated by Leo and dumped into the ocean. Regardless of methods, it absolutely wouldn’t be discovered.
Peter nodded as he wasn’t worried about how Leo did the work.
Out of the blue, Steam’s crispy voice echoed, “Buzz! Master, Mr. Barnes, and Miss Romanoff are requesting entry to the lab at the southwest entrance. Authorize?”
“Ask them to wait on the first floor, I’ll head up now.” Leo refused to let Natasha enter his lab. Her kind of brazen undercover, not only did she join the company, but also lived in his house. The lab was the only secret spot he had left, he didn’t wish for Natasha to see it.
If it wasn’t for Leo constantly trying to win Natasha over from Fury, with just her egocentric attitude, he would’ve restricted her freedom from the beginning. Unlike her current state, running all over New York City.
On the southwest entrance, Steam replied as per Leo’s instruction, “Buzz! Master asks the two of you to wait on the first floor. He’ll be there soon.”
Natasha had long known about Steam’s existence and thus wasn’t curious about it. Instead, she was more curious about what was on the basement level. “Teacher Bucky, have you gone down to the basement before?”
“Of course.”
“What’s in there?”
“Leo doesn’t allow me to tell you.”
“Hmph! Pretentious!” Natasha revealed her disdain.
“To be honest, if you want to know what’s in the basement, it’s easy.”
Ever since Bucky refused Leo’s “seduction plan”, a task was slapped onto his face. And it was to persuade Natasha to “cross the floor”. Thus, Bucky commented, “Leo said as long as you’re willing to work for El Tech Company in the future, every secret within the office is opened to you.”
“Don’t care.” Natasha turned around and marched upstairs while simultaneously deciding she must unearth whatever was in the basement. This was Black Widow’s temperament. The more secrets the other possessed, the more she desired to dig them out. Who knew if this was an occupational disease formed ever since she engaged in the secret service?
Shaking his head, Bucky felt he was still miles away from completing his task. He followed Natasha upstairs.
In the lab, Leo was going to ask Peter to meet Bucky and Natasha on the first floor together.
Yet Peter declined and said, “Mr. Erwin, I won’t be meeting Teacher Bucky. I need to go home. Recently, MJ is extremely worried about my safety. If she finds out I sneaked out, I’ll face her lectures.”
“Alright then, you should get going. I won’t see you out! Bye!” Leo was blinded by the affection of the couple and immediately sent Peter out. On top of that, he deliberately added, “Remember to be on time for work tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
Peter innocently shrugged. Under Leo’s authorization. He rode Leo’s special elevator for taking flight. His house was a three-minute distance away from El Tech Company and he swung into his house’s window.
Gently closing the window, Peter took off his suit and tiptoed into the bedroom. When he saw Mary Jane was still sleeping on the bed as if never discovered him sneaking out, he was secretly on cloud nine. He turned around to quietly close the door. Before he could turn around, his body froze, realizing his jig was up.
“Pete, where did you go just now?” Mary Jane sat on the bed, sharply glaring at his back.
“Washroom.” He stiffly turned around with a smile. “I had the urge to pee, so I went to the washroom.”
Mary Jane continued glaring daggers at him without saying anything. Just as he was flushed with embarrassment, Mary Jane suddenly pounced on him, “Pete, I’m scared. I’m scared I won’t see you again one day after I wake up.”
“No, MJ.” Peter patted Mary Jane’s back and consoled her, “Your hubby, I, is rather sturdy.”



Leo leisurely exited the basement and saw two figures in the first floor’s lobby. One sitting while another standing. The one sitting was Bucky, with a calm face while the one standing was Natasha, also with a calm face, but traces of anxiety were hidden within her eyes.
Fury suddenly assigned an urgent mission to Natasha in the middle of the night, and she accepted. However, when she rushed over, there was nothing left. How should the prideful Black Widow report back to Fury in the morning?
Seeing Leo headed over, Natasha promptly voiced out, “Did you go to the Waterfront District? What the hell happened there?”
“Yup!” Leo gave her a short answer before facing Bucky, “Why didn’t you pick up my call?”
Bucky’s calm mask suddenly shattered. Scratching his head, he replied, “It broke.”
“Broke?” Leo was confused, “Let me have a look, maybe I can fix it.”
“The phone’s here.” Natasha took out the damaged phone and handed it to Leo while asking once more, “Can you tell me what happened there?”
Receiving the phone, Leo’s eyes “shone”. After fondling the phone a bit, he found out it was fixable. He chuckled, “If I told you, what are you going to do?”
“Of course to continue the investigation, completing Officer Fury’s mission,” Natasha explained rightfully.
“Then I can’t tell you.” Leo kept the phone in his pocket and added, “Now you’re an employee of El Tech Company. How could you accept a private commission?! It’s even free labor! Unacceptable! What if it drags down your work during the daytime?!”
In an instant, Natasha reached her boiling point but was unsure how to retort. She took several deep breaths and reassured, “It definitely won’t affect the office. I’ll investigate it after work.”
“You still have a child to take care of after work, this is something you’ve promised! Are you trying to go back against your words? What if it affects cute little Erik’s growth?!” Leo retorted righteously.
“You
” Pointing at Leo, Natasha was looking daggers at him. She momentarily paused before saying, “What should I do for you to willingly tell me what happened at the Waterfront District?”
“No way. You can just give Fury a truthful report of the current situation.”
Leo still hadn’t had the big picture of the entire matter and this also involved the group of sorcerers. He wasn’t willing to let Fury be aware of all of this. Who knew what that daring coal would do? What if Fury damaged his relationship with the sorcerers? He still wished to go to Nepal and learn magic.
Under Natasha’s furious gaze, Leo leisurely turned back to the lab again. He was in a hurry to fix the phone. In his eyes, playing on the phone was more interesting than conversing with Natasha. Besides, he also had a sudden flash of inspiration, he felt he could start a cell phone department using his vision of the future. The current mobile phone was only capable of showing strings of numbers. There wasn’t even a contact-saving function. It was too backward!
After Leo’s figure disappeared, Bucky was unwilling to let Natasha sulk. He explained, “Don’t get mad about it. Leo’s always acting like this toward outsiders. If you truly joined El Tech Company, I’m sure you’ll realize he’s a selfless person.”
Bucky never forgot about his task. When opportunities arose, he would try to persuade.
Every time when this topic was brought up, Natasha wasn’t fond of talking. Right now, she silently headed out of El Building.
“Hey, where are you going?” Bucky stood up and chased after her.
“Back to sleep!” Natasha answered, “I have to take Erik to school in the morning!”
Bucky chuckled inwardly and followed along.