Out of habit, Nick Fury closed the office door and pressed the shield button under his desk.
He picked up the diary and began reading.
[For a week, Steve's mood has visibly stabilized. Although there's still a trace of melancholy in his eyes, it's much lighter compared to before.
[Over these seven days, the two of us went for morning runs, then showered and had breakfast together.]
[Mornings were spent at the coffee shop, afternoons fishing by the river.]
[The pace of life this week has been very slow, and it might not be long before Steve can fully accept current realities.]
[At least, in his words, over the past week, he's been able to sleep at night!]
[…Well, actually, the real reason he can accept reality and feel at ease]
[Is because I told him I'm not from this world.]
[Many things are like this—not suffering from scarcity but from inequality.]
[So when a person abandoned by the world meets another person abandoned by the world, there's always comfort in their heart.
[He is… and so am I. ]
"Not suffering from scarcity but from inequality? What does that mean?"
Looking at the diary entry, Wanda looked up and asked Natasha Romanoff.
"That's a famous saying "
Facing Wanda's question, Natasha Romanoff explained with a smile, "The original text should be: 'I have heard that those who possess a state or a household do not worry about scarcity but about inequality, do not worry about poverty but about instability. For if there is no inequality, there is no poverty; if there is no instability, there is no danger.'"
"Well… to give the simplest example, it's like distributing candy to a few children."
"If everyone gets the same amount, everyone is happy."
"But if you give one child three candies and another five,"
"Then the child who got three will feel unbalanced."
Hearing Natasha Romanoff's explanation, Wanda nodded lightly: "I see. But Natasha Romanoff, how do you know this?"
Looking at Wanda's genuinely curious expression,
Natasha Romanoff fell silent for a moment, then hugged Wanda and said: "When I received special training in the Red Room, in those years we not only had to learn chemistry, firearms, makeup, concealment, and other essential skills for an agent."
"But also knowledge about various countries."
"Only this way could we better integrate into local environments and complete missions more smoothly."
Clearly, Natasha Romanoff didn't want to say more about the Red Room.
So she changed the subject with a smile: "However, it seems Su writes the diary in Chinese, but what we see must be the Black Gold Diary's translation."
"I didn't expect the Black Gold Diary to have a translation function. At first, I thought Su wrote it in English!"
Seeing that Natasha Romanoff obviously wanted to change the subject and avoid talking about the Red Room,
Wanda gave her a sweet smile and continued reading the diary.
But her fair, delicate hand gently held Natasha Romanoff's.
Everyone has a past they don't want to talk about.
Wanda had learned this long ago.
Feeling the warmth of Wanda's hand, Natasha Romanoff smiled silently.
She knew this was Wanda's silent way of comforting her.
[Steve's mood is stabilizing more and more, and it seems to have become a habit. ]
[Almost every morning, he comes running to knock on my apartment door, but that's okay. ]
[At least, I'd forgotten how long it's been since I woke up early. ]
[When I used to live with my wife Wanda, we always hugged each other and stayed in bed until 7:30 a.m. ]
"Ah!"
Seeing herself mentioned, and how they hugged each other in bed in the mornings,
Wanda suddenly felt her cheeks burn.
She glanced secretly at Natasha Romanoff and found her expression unchanged.
Without even a hint of a smirk.
Wanda breathed a sigh of relief.
Fourteen or fifteen is an age for saving face.
This kind of thing is too embarrassing!
Well, it's not me!
It's the parallel world me.
She kept comforting herself inwardly.
But looking at the words below, the corners of her mouth still lifted.
[Wanda's birthday is in a few days. Natasha Romanoff has already invited me. Maybe I should prepare birthday gifts in advance. ]
[Pietro's birthday gift is easy—just buy him a large game console and a wearable basketball. ]
[…Wanda's birthday gift… should be carefully prepared. ]
Seeing that he was preparing a gift for her with care,
The corners of Wanda's mouth lifted slightly.
It felt like… since her parents passed away,
It had been a long time since she received a birthday gift!
[Mentioning Natasha Romanoff, I suddenly thought of something.]
[In my parallel universe, after Tony Stark was kidnapped and returned, Nick Fury sent Phil Coulson to ask Tony what happened and about the armor. ]
[While Pepper Potts became CEO of Stark Industries, Natasha Romanoff became Tony's assistant. ]
[That's why Nick Fury learned Tony Stark was dying from palladium poisoning. ]
[But now, Tony Stark is back, and Pepper has met Natasha Romanoff more than once at Peach Blossom Grove Café. ]
[So what's next? Will Nick Fury send someone to be Tony Stark's assistant to investigate this? ]
[But since Tony Stark held a press conference and announced closing the weapons manufacturing division, ]
[According to Pepper, it seems no one from S.H.I.E.L.D. has come to ask about Tony's kidnapping. ]
[Is Nick Fury not curious about how Tony escaped? ]
[If he's not curious, then Tony might die! ]
Reading this, Nick Fury's expression suddenly turned serious.
Earlier, he thought the diary was just expressing recent moods.
Unexpectedly, it said Tony Stark was about to die?
This made Nick Fury pay close attention!
[Forget it, anyway. Tony hasn't investigated yet that the one who instigated his kidnapping was Obadiah Stane, whom he trusts most and even treats like an uncle. ]
[Wait until he investigates and after the battle with Obadiah Stane's Iron Monger wearing the Mark armor, ]
[If Nick Fury still doesn't act, then I can only "accidentally" find out about Tony Stark and tell Natasha Romanoff. ]
[Anyway, according to Pepper, Tony has been asking around about me, Mr. Superman! ]