Pondering on the spot for a bit, Leo said, âSteam, answer it.â
Once the call went through, a sweet ladyâs voice was transmitted by Steam, echoing in the whole basement, âHey, Leo. Itâs Natasha.â
Leo lifted his brows, slightly surprised. But the next moment, he had some guesses, âIs the investigation done?â
âYeah, the investigation ended right after you left in the morning. Iâm released now and this is my new number.â
âHowâs the result?â Leo asked.
Natasha stayed silent for a moment before answering, âNeither bad nor good. Iâm now a Level 1 Agent, I donât even have the same authority as when I first joined.â
âWhy donât you just leave S.H.I.E.L.D.?â Leo frowned.
âAlthough S.H.I.E.L.D. had eliminated the H.Y.D.R.A. spies, the bad habits remain. Joining is easy but leaving isnât.â Natasha softly chuckled.
Leo was suddenly delighted, âFrom your words, does that mean youâre not going to stay in S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore? Can you leave straight away?â
âThereâs no need to take such a forceful approach. Iâm a Super Soldier, thatâs my greatest shield. They wonât ask too much from me.â Natasha laughed and continued explaining, âIâm still able to move freely, but I nominally still have to carry S.H.I.E.L.D. agent identity.â
Nodding, Leo contemplated for a bit and asked, âWhatâs your plan? Anywhere to go?â
Without waiting for Natasha to answer, he continued, âWhy donât you return to Erwin Tech Company, you still owe me money after all.â
âIsnât it El Tech Company?â Natasha selectively ignored the second half of the sentence.
âItâs a new thing. How is it? Does this name ring well?â
Natasha didnât continue fooling around with Leo, she said after thinking for a bit, âI want to meet Fury first and hear his takes.â
She still placed Furyâs opinion at first.
âSure then. Remember to mention my suggestion to Fury, Iâm sure he will agree for you to return to continue working in Erwin Tech Company.â Leo was brimming with confidence.
But Natasha replied, âI canât meet him.â
âWhat do you mean? Is he dead?â Leo was startled because he just met Fury in the morning.
âNo.â Natasha retorted, âThe Security Council is stopping me from seeing him.â
âOh, I misunderstood then.â Leo slapped his forehead as he was slightly dizzy from all the stuff he was busy with lately.
Natasha continued asking, âLeo, can you bring me to meet Fury, silently? Donât let others notice.â
She didnât use a forceful tone to ask Leo and didnât even mention Leo possessed a shrinking technology that would easily help her. Despite her feigning disinterest in Pym Particles on the surface, she wasnât dumb. She knew that the shrinking technology was Leoâs most important stuff.
âNo problem.â Leo didnât reject and replied perplexedly instead, âWhy do all of you love the word âsilentlyâ?â
âAll of you?â Natasha was confused.
âWait for me for an hour. After lunch, Iâll go and find you. Iâll bring someone else with me too.â
He didnât tell Natasha Bucky would be traveling with him. He wanted to give her a âsurpriseââŠ
Since Leo refused to say much, Natasha was smart enough and wouldnât ask too much. She obediently hung up the phone, a stark contrast to half a month ago when she always bickered with Leo whether at home or the office.
Leo marched out of Erwin Buildingâs basement and went to look for Bucky.
âŠ
Thirty minutes soon went by as Leo and Bucky were eating. After filling their stomach, Leo brought Bucky to an empty space in the basement.
Right now, Steam was huffing and puffing, working hard dismantling the Arc Reactorâs steel foundation in full swing.
Bucky secretly stole a few peeks at the steel foundation and couldnât resist asking, âLeo, whereâs that whatever reactor? Arenât you building it for months? Itâs almost done, why did it disappear all of a sudden?â
Leo smiled and swiped his hand on the storage belt, picking out Viper Mark VIIâs energy module. The energy module instantly enlarged and levitated in front of Leo by his control. He pulled the Arc Reactor out and waved it before installing it back.
Meanwhile, Buckyâs jaw and eyes were wide open. He extended his arms, making a half-circle, âThat hugeâŠâ and closed his arms, making a circle with his index fingers and thumbs, âThis tinyâŠâ
Leo nodded in response.
Bucky helplessly lowered his hands, âLeo, I wonât be surprised with whatever you cooked up in the futureâŠâ
Recently, he had been receiving quite a lot of shock and surprise from Leo and was almost immune to them!
âAre you sure?â Leo chuckled.
Bucky nodded his head.
One minute laterâŠ
âThis is f*cking amazing! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!â Standing by the Capsule Houseâs window, Bucky tightly gripped the stainless steel pole next to him to prevent being knocked over by the shaking house and couldnât resist shouting.
From his perspective, underneath his feet was a transparent window and through the window, it was as if watching a plane making abrupt turns. Everything in the house was turned sideways at the moment and the stainless steel pole he was holding was, according to Leoâs words, the clothesline in the living room.
As Bucky was shouting, he recalled what happened in the basement.
After he nodded, Leo suddenly pulled out a tiny house from the belt. The house was rather delicate and he was instantly attracted by it when Leo took it out. Just as he was about to take a closer look, Leo suddenly threw the house up and the tiny house instantly became a two-meter-tall real houseâŠ
Based on Leoâs instruction, he slightly lowered his head and entered and followed by the door automatically shut. Besides, he also felt a sense of suffocation albeit for an instant. He wasnât surprised as he believed this must be Leoâs trick.
But all of a sudden, loud thudding noises came from outside.
He took a look at the window and found out it was a one-meter-thick white rod with traces of red knocking at the window. But his familiarity with human anatomy made him instantly realize the rod seemed to be a humanâs fingerâŠ
Then⊠then he sensed the house and he was flying. When he firmly stood again, a one-meter-huge eyeball suddenly appeared outside the window. Truly scaring the wits out of his pants!
Concurrently, Leoâs booming voice sounded, vibrating the room, âGrab the clothesline on top of your head tightly. Weâll be taking off soon. This is the first time this house is carrying a passenger, many things arenât accounted for. So take notes of your feelings and give feedback later for me to improve it.â
He was dumbfounded before realizing the huge eyeballâs owner was Leo. He must have shrunken together with the house. However, before he could make sense of Leoâs words, he⊠almost puked out!
After he tightly gripped the clothesline on his head⊠no, next to his legs, he finally had the time to contemplate what had occurred just now.
Therefore, he involuntarily shouted as the definition of unexpectedness slapped hard on him.
At the same time, he couldnât help to think that if possible, he wanted to get a suit from Leo to play with!