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Chapter 141 Natasha in Leo’s House
TL: Kyous
The distance between Orlando and New York is about 4500 kilometers. For Leo, a round trip is a matter of an hour. However, for Green Fist and the others driving in turn nonstops, they spent an entire 36 hours.
It was at 10 a.m. Saturday that Green Fist drove the young Erik to the entrance of El Building.
“Kid, get out. Mr. Erwin is waiting for you inside this building.”
Dropping Erik off, Green Fist drove back to rest. After several months of constant toiling and more than 30 hours of driving, a strong man like Green Fist could hardly stand it.
Erik got out of the car. Standing in front of El Building with a huge suitcase in hand, he raised his head and saw the extravagant words “El Tech Company”. He felt a sudden sense of loneliness.
The surrounding buildings were unfamiliar and foreign. Among the passerby, there wasn’t any familiar face. Moreover, the guard in front of the El Building appeared extremely fierce. Erik suddenly felt afraid to approach El Building as the building seemed like a hungry beast that would devour him at any time.
However, he was also afraid of leaving by himself. He had never been to New York and he only had less than twenty bucks on himself. If he left, he would starve to death!
Erik, who was sinking in fear, clutched the handle of the suitcase tightly, unwilling to move even an inch. Just as the fear and loneliness were about to drown him, Leo came out of El Building.
“Hey, over here!” Leo waved at Erik with a smile on his face.
Although Erik only met Leo once and chatted for less than half an hour, seeing a familiar face in a foreign place brought him countless amounts of courage. He took several deep breaths, gathering his courage and pulling the suitcase towards Leo’s side.
Leo led Erik into El Building. “Place your suitcase at the reception desk, I’ll give you a tour of my office first.”
Erik hid the suitcase carefully under the reception desk before following Leo wandering around El Building.
“Erik, this is a tech company. Based on the original plan between your father and me, the company will launch Vibranium products at a later stage, promoting Vibranium technology to the whole world.”
Leo started making up nonsense, “Although your father passed away, there is still you. I hope that in the future El Tech Company can still research Vibranium technologies as planned, truly achieving the advancement of technology for mankind.”
Hearing Leo talking about his father’s ideal, Erik vigorously nodded his head.
Then, Leo talked and walked while leading Erik throughout El Building. What he was talking about were the stories he made up, mostly about his “cooperation terms” with N’Jobu without disguising his desire for Vibranium.
It was uncertain what Erik’s thoughts were after hearing all of these. But after the casual chats, a smile reappeared on his face again and seemed to be very close to Leo.
After an hour, the duo returned to the entrance.
Leo suddenly said solemnly, “Erik, for the sake of your safety, your identity must be kept secret. From now on, you’re Erik Stevens, my nephew from afar. Bear this in mind, never reveal your real identity to anyone else.”
Erik nodded, “Understood, Uncle Erwin.”
Growl~
All of sudden, a rumble came out of Erik’s stomach. He rubbed his stomach while smiling embarrassingly.
“Hungry? Let’s go, we’ll get some food first.” Leo accompanied Erik toward the entrance. But Erik didn’t follow, instead, he grabbed his treasured suitcase at the reception desk before following.
“What’s inside?” Leo casually asked.
“Some change of clothes and stuff father left behind.” When talked about his father again, Erik learned how to place the sadness in the bottom of his heart, not crying again.
“Can’t you place it here first? We’ll grab it after we finish eating.”
Erik nodded stiffly, “Um… Okay!”
Leo caressed his chin, “Pulling a huge suitcase is rather inconvenient. Come on, I’ll take you to where you’ll be living first. After settling down, we’ll go have some food.”
Erik nodded and obediently followed behind Leo.
The house Leo was renting right now was a bungalow and there were two more vacant rooms available. Therefore, he was planning to let Erik live with Bucky and Ol’ Tom. The house was quite near El Building, only a block away. Soon, Leo brought Erik to the house.
Raising his hand with Mechanical Force surging, the lock was opened and the door swung open instantly. Accepting the suitcase from Erik, Leo led Erik to enter the house. Just as he entered, he heard laughter coming from the second floor. Upon closer listening, it was Bucky and Natasha chatting.
He casually placed down the suitcase and went upstairs confusingly. The second floor also had a rather spacious living room with three sofas and a coffee table. There was also a television hanging on the wall.
At the moment, Natasha and Bucky were each relaxing on the sofa, eating peanuts, watching television, and chatting.
Seeing Leo coming up, Bucky hurriedly greeted, “Leo, you’re back for once?! You want some nuts?”
“No, thanks.” Leo waved and stared at Natasha with a frown. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to discuss martial arts with Teacher Bucky.”
Natasha and Leo had some kind of beef with each other. Curling up her legs to sit more comfortably, Natasha casually replied, “We’re preparing to go and eat.”
Glancing at the ongoing Chaplin on the television, Leo gruntled internally, ‘Who the hell will believe you?!’
But right now, it wasn’t working hours and Leo couldn’t order Natasha to do anything. So, he chose to ignore the “exposed undercover agent”. Recalling the young Erik, he turned around and realized Erik didn’t follow.
Puzzled, he took a peek downstairs and saw Erik hugging his treasured suitcase, standing on the staircase as if afraid.
“Don’t be scared. Come up, you’ll be living here from now on.”
Only then did Erik carry the suitcase, panting and puffing up to the second floor. Natasha and Bucky noticed Erik and cast a curious gaze at him.
Realization struck Bucky, “Leo, is that the Erik kid you told me about?”
“Yeah, that’s right. He has been brought back.”
Bucky nodded and stopped asking. He didn’t care about Erik, rather, he was more concerned about the three hundred people sent by the Rainbow Brothers to search for Erik. With Erik being found successfully, those three hundred people should be returning gradually. He needed to consider the adjustments to the training regime and staff allocation.
However, Natasha’s interest was pricked. Fury dispatched her to investigate Leo’s secrets and a sudden appearance of a child might be an important clue.
Putting her laziness away, Natasha turned around and asked impatiently, “Leo, who is this kid? Your illegitimate child?”
“No, why only are unpleasant words coming out of your mouth?” Leo was rather speechless, “Also, you should be calling me Mr. Erwin. You’re just an employee who owns money and has no qualifications to get close to the employer.”
“Calling you mister during working hours is enough. We have known each other for so long, being casual during other times is fine.” In Natasha’s eyes, every man was a bunch of weaklings. She could call them however she liked.
“Leo, hurry up and tell me. Who is this kid?”
“It has nothing to do with you. Just do your secretary’s work properly and stop asking questions. You’ll know when the time comes.” Leo snorted. Who knew whether or not Fury had any relations with Wakanda? So, Leo didn’t want to reveal Erik’s real identity to Natasha.
After being rebuked by Leo, Natasha wasn’t furious at all. Instead, it was as if she discovered something fun as her face filled with joy.