Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 909 Hunting the Winter Soldier (Part 1)

Natasha Romanov had just filled and organized her sniper rifle magazine and packed it into her sports backpack when the satellite phone indicator light on her pillow began to flash. She tucked her red hair behind her ear and answered the phone; a bland, synthesized voice came from the other end. Agent Romanov immediately stopped what she was doing and pulled a small notebook from her jeans pocket. She silently compared the code given by the synthesized voice with the numbers she remembered, and then performed the calculations.

This is an extremely complex cryptographic mechanism. Only intelligence personnel familiar with this formula, which is based on the zodiacal cycle, can verify identities using this cryptography. It is a low-security verification method. For high-ranking officials in the Immortal City's intelligence department, online voiceprint, iris, fingerprint, genetic, and even mental power comparisons are required. However, when providing information to non-official intelligence personnel, a calculated, several-hundred-bit dynamic cryptographic security procedure is sufficient.

After confirming the call originated from Immortal City's intelligence department, Agent Romanoff provided her cipher. She then received a message from intelligence: Steve Rogers and Pietro Maximov would arrive at the mission location in three hours, and Wanda Maximov would arrive in Romania six hours later aboard a Quinjet. Immortal City's armed forces would not be involved in the mission and would not provide any support except for the safe house. Next came Pietro Maximov's local restaurant reservation and Steve Rogers' flight log. While Wanda Maximov's participation in the mission was somewhat unexpected, as she was aware of the arguments and disagreements between the Maximov siblings, she naturally supported their reconciliation, as a member of the Avengers family.

However, she also believed that Wanda might be carrying some kind of mission, a mission personally given to her by Salomon.

But that wasn't something she needed to think about right now. Natasha Romanov hung up the phone, walked to the window, and carefully parted the cheap curtains of the hotel to glance at her target. It was a rental apartment, located in a transportation hub but with very low rent, and not many tall buildings nearby to obstruct the view. The building she was in was a hotel about 600 meters away from that rental apartment. This very dilapidated hotel was on the verge of closing down, and she had easily infiltrated it with her false identity, booking a room for surveillance and sniping.

Based on the target's modus operandi, three hours would be ample time for her to kill the target and return to the mission location. No one in the Avengers would discover what she had done before the mission. An assassination beyond visual range is something even superhumans couldn't react to, so she was very confident in this operation.

"I'm carrying it out," Salomon said to the little black kitten.

Normally, he wouldn't need to personally plan conspiracies and schemes. However, this time it involved Wakanda, the Immortal City's greatest ally, and Wakanda was involved in the Immortal City's industrial and technological research. Although Wakanda's technology was developed based on vibranium, it was still extremely valuable to the Immortal City. Therefore, Salomon unusually got deeply involved, instead of letting Stephanie do these dirty tricks.

Natasha Romanov aimed at the target and took a deep breath.

Wearing a brown jacket and a baseball cap, the Winter Soldier walked cautiously down the covered corridor, his head down. He quickened his pace slightly as he passed exposed stairwell corners to avoid exposing himself to potential snipers. He had mentally rehearsed all possible scenarios before moving in, and his returns from intelligence gathering trips had all been smooth. However, this time he couldn't follow his planned route—a young couple living downstairs were directing movers to carry furniture. The Winter Soldier's path to the stairs was blocked by a dressing table with illegible handwriting. He tried to walk around the small piece of furniture to continue, only to find the stairs now cluttered with miscellaneous items.

Natasha Romanov saw the target briefly appear in her sights before disappearing again.

She had been watching the young couple and the movers carrying things for an hour. She had also confirmed through her binoculars that they were just civilians who had moved in six months ago and hadn't shown any unusual behavior. However, she knew any experienced agent would be on high alert at this point, and the Winter Soldier was no exception. Through her scope, she saw him hiding in a concealed corner of the staircase and behind some clutter. Agent Romanov slowly moved her gun, estimating the target's height, and aimed the crosshair at the wooden cabinet obscuring him.

The Winter Soldier gripped his pistol tightly. A porter brushed past him as he carried items from another dresser down the stairs. Nothing happened; the young couple even gave him an apologetic smile. Thirty seconds later, the couple and the porter had reached the bottom of the stairs, and the Winter Soldier finally turned his gaze to the dressing table. He saw a line of very clumsy, childlike handwriting on it. He had initially assumed it was a message from the husband to his wife, but now everything seemed a little off.

Why don't they move this small piece of furniture?

Adrenaline surged, and the Winter Soldier instinctively took a step and tumbled down the stairs. Immediately afterward, a violent explosion engulfed the stairwell corner, thick black smoke and shockwaves engulfing the entire apartment building. The Winter Soldier, still unsteady, was dazed and disoriented by the shockwave; red and blue specks flashed wildly before his eyes, and the choking smoke made it almost impossible to breathe. Before he could even understand what was happening, the young couple and the mover who had gone down the stairs retrieved weapons from a dresser and returned to attack him. The Winter Soldier immediately drew his pistol and returned fire, forcing them back before running back up the stairs and taking cover in the thick smoke and flames caused by the explosion. The assassins disguised as the couple and the mover followed closely behind.

He dodged bullets while returning fire, and slowly made his way through the thick smoke to his designated escape point.

The apartment door the Winter Soldier was leaning against suddenly opened, and two assassins wielding knives and pistols, dressed in standard combat body armor, attempted to attack him from the side. However, he deflected the knives and bullets with his metal arms concealed under his sleeves, and grabbed one of the assassins by the collar, slamming him against the wall. The sounds of fighting attracted three disguised assassins behind him, who, wearing pre-prepared gas masks, joined the fray.

They didn't know that someone would be blocking their way, and that person wasn't one of theirs.

However, it's too late to talk about it now; their most important task is to capture their target.

"F*uck!" Natasha Romanov cursed under her breath, scanning the building through her scope to find the mission target obscured by the thick smoke. She didn't go downstairs, but the upper floors were too shrouded in smoke to snipe. She hadn't expected someone else to have found the target and set a trap for the Winter Soldier beforehand. She now suspected the apartment's landlord wasn't the original person; the young couple had likely been replaced by assassins.

Agent Romanov heard a silenced gunshot nearby, which, based on experience, he judged to be a sniper rifle. After the shot, the assassin disguised as a porter collapsed as she emerged from the smoke. She quickly looked outside and saw the curtains of a nearby window being drawn. Agent Romanov immediately shifted her aim, fired at the window, and then instinctively rolled backward. A bullet pierced the wall near her ear, sending large chunks of plaster flying and scattering white lime all over her leather jacket.

She rolled away again to avoid further attacks.

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(End of this chapter)