Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Lich King: "Do you crave power?" [New Book—Please Add to Your Collection and Recommend]

From Natasha’s subconscious, Roald glimpsed a photograph of Captain America lying in a hospital bed, the medical equipment around him unmistakably from seventy years ago, steeped in the patina of history. He also saw a blue cube; there was no need for explanation. Roald instantly recognized it as the Cosmic Cube salvaged alongside Captain America, which, in this world, was the universe’s artifact.

Within the Cube lay one of the six Infinity Stones: the Space Stone.

Infinity Stones were more akin to manifestations of certain cosmic laws, much like legendary cards with particular effects in a game, though there were subtle differences between cards. Roald believed the Infinity Stones were conduits reflecting the universe’s own power, originating from and acting upon this reality.

In essence, they were keys, each corresponding to one of six universal principles: Power, Time, Space, Soul, Reality, and Mind.

Currently, the Cosmic Cube—or rather, the Space Stone within—was in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. It had the power to instantly transport objects or people to any location in the blink of an eye, to twist or rearrange space at will, even create new realms. Thus, abilities such as teleportation or spatial stasis were as effortless as breathing before the Space Stone. It also contained boundless energy.

In another telling, after the collapse of Doom’s Battleworld, Mister Fantastic harnessed the power of Molecule Man to recreate the entire multiverse. In this new universe, the shattered Infinity Stones and the Time Stone were reforged, each finding a new bearer.

And the master of the Space Stone was none other than Black Widow.

Now, fate’s trajectory followed its predetermined path, at least in some aspects.

Truth be told, Roald desired the Soul Stone most, but he had no means to obtain it now. Still, he was curious about what kind of card could be forged from the Space Stone, given its terrifying strength and limitless energy.

S.H.I.E.L.D. sought to study it, but clearly lacked the capability. In fact, their research had inadvertently unleashed Loki, leading to the Chitauri invasion.

Roald cared little about Loki’s appearance; his current plan was to activate the Space Stone and expose its coordinates. Whether Loki arrived was his own affair; whether S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened, or if the Avengers emerged, seemed irrelevant to Roald.

Should Loki descend, Roald hoped to seize the Mind Stone as well.

From the moment he first encountered Natasha, Roald had been contemplating how to acquire the Space Stone. With the effects of Infection deepening, he was in no hurry.

Through their psychic link, Roald prepared to launch a verbal assault upon Natasha.

He was certain she would be deeply moved.

After clearing his throat, he began his customary rambling.

"Do you crave power?"

...

Natasha Romanoff had been terribly unhappy of late.

Terribly, terribly, terribly unhappy.

Important enough to repeat thrice.

Not only had she been affected by a certain giant spider, leading to her failure in Brazil, but her recent mission regarding the Hulk had also ended in defeat. This left her with profound doubts and frustration about her own abilities and allure.

But most crucially, for the past month, she had been plagued daily by a voice whispering incessantly in her ear.

"Do you crave power?"

In the underground base in Ohio, after several sleepless nights on assignment, the persistent murmurs had left her utterly exhausted.

"I just want to rest now," she finally muttered, unable to bear it any longer.

Roald immediately seized the opening, finding a gap in her thoughts.

"You’ve agreed. That’s good... Here’s a little reward for you!"

Natasha felt her fatigue vanish in an instant, and something began to fill her entire being.

Then...

She was horrified to discover she could no longer control her own body!

Her consciousness was seized by an inexplicable force, and her mind was flooded with knowledge she didn’t understand, but instinctively knew was formidable.

Though she had been injected with the serum and possessed some minor psychic hypnotic abilities herself,

What was this?

Natasha quickly realized something was fundamentally wrong. She felt like a puppet, manipulated to perform actions at someone’s whim.

This was not hypnosis, nor was it mere suggestion.

It was an utterly crude, unreasonable, direct control of her body—a natural suppression from a higher-dimensional life over a lower one.

"Yet every power comes at a price..."

A cold voice echoed once more in Natasha’s mind.

She opened her mouth in terror.

But shouting accomplished nothing; her body moved of its own accord, stepping out of her room and surveying the intelligence throughout the Ohio base.

!!!

Natasha kept mentally urging herself to stay alert. She didn’t know what her controller wanted, but being allowed to freely roam the base and observe intelligence surely bode ill.

The more she resisted the sense of being controlled, the more overwhelming the invading consciousness became.

Letting herself be steered, she walked through most of the base. The guards and researchers she passed showed no suspicion, nor did they notice anything amiss.

Some even nodded to her with friendly greetings.

Natasha knew this wasn’t her own will; these actions weren’t hers.

No matter how desperately she called for help within her mind, she was powerless, forced to watch herself approach the most critical laboratory entrance and stride over to the guard at the control room door, presenting her credentials.

"Open the door, soldier."

Her voice brooked no argument.

"Yes, ma’am."

The guard outside the lab paused for a moment, saluted her respectfully, scanned her iris, and opened the research lab door, suspecting nothing, detecting no anomaly.

Natasha saw the arrangement of everything inside: the guards’ positions, the location of hidden items.

No, it was the one controlling her who now had a clear view of the lab layout and obtained the intelligence he sought.

Natasha knew how it all happened, but was helpless to intervene or prevent it.

But she realized her adversary's goal had been accomplished.

"Now you should release me, right? What are you trying to do?"

Since the controller could manipulate her body, he likely could read her thoughts. Natasha pondered, hoping her inner monologue might elicit some response.

Or perhaps, she simply wanted to test whether he could perceive her thoughts.

But Natasha received no answer. The foreign will didn’t vanish; instead, it compelled her to walk about inside the laboratory, inspecting every detail. Worse still, the surrounding researchers, upon noticing it was her, withdrew their gaze, with not a single person noticing anything amiss.

Soon, the voice in her mind returned. Natasha felt her body slam down onto the floor, beyond her control.

A green spell shimmered and exploded within the lab.

A voice sounded from the void.

“Servants, it’s time to prove your worth.”

At the same time, she rose and pressed her hand against the Cosmic Cube. A surge of immense energy shot skyward.

A chilling, irresistible will of death descended upon the lab. Natasha saw the guards and researchers all tremble, their eyes rolling white, instinctively kneeling on the floor.

Amid the flickering blue light, she vaguely saw a tall, armored figure appear before her.

Roald had arrived, and his first words were:

“Hail Hydra!”

Natasha, still under control, echoed:

“Hail Hydra!”