I have arrived in Hebei Province!

For the first time, Jos made an extremely reckless decision without any prompting from the system.

After all, he was facing the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.—a true anti-hero. Even if Nick Fury’s cause was noble and just, his methods were often as ruthless as those of the worst criminals. If he were provoked, the best-case scenario would be losing his position at S.H.I.E.L.D.; in the worst case, he might very well find himself added to Fury’s personal hit list.

Yet Jos did not hesitate to place himself in front of the silver-haired girl. She was far stronger than he was, but Jos had a different role to play. He was gambling. Fury could justify any manner of interrogation or torture in the name of rooting out Hydra’s remnants, but when it came to Jos, he was forced to weigh his options more carefully.

Jos, after all, was now one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own. If word got out that Fury had targeted one of his own agents, it would do the organization no good. Moreover, Jos had already displayed several remarkable abilities, along with a keen mind and steely resolve; he was bound to become a valuable asset in the future. To lose him to the opposing side over this would be a costly mistake for both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

All these thoughts flashed through Fury’s mind in the span of a single step, and ultimately, he halted his advance.

Catching this, Jos let himself smile with a touch of pride. Speaking with a clever man was always a time-saver.

That smile, however, left Fury momentarily at a loss.

Perhaps recognizing that it was no longer appropriate for him to remain, Fury exchanged a look with Natasha, then turned and left the room.

Watching Fury depart, Natasha made a helpless expression that, perhaps unintentionally, looked rather cute. Jos, however, was unmoved.

As a seasoned agent, Natasha’s charm was one of her greatest weapons. She could adopt whatever persona the situation demanded.

Natasha chuckled softly, “Don’t blame him. This is the first time in years we’ve managed to capture such a complete group of Hydra’s upper ranks alive. We have to get something out of her...”

“I know nothing,” the silver-haired girl interrupted coldly before Natasha could finish.

Her absolute refusal left Natasha with a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. She pointed at Jos, saying, “Do you realize that if he hadn’t pleaded for you, you’d be out there undergoing interrogation with the others? Do you really think we can’t break a few ordinary people?”

“She’s right. That bald hard-boiled egg is exactly that kind of man,” Jos nodded emphatically, not to play along with Natasha’s good-cop-bad-cop routine, but simply because he knew it to be true; he didn’t want the silver-haired girl to suffer.

“I’m just telling the truth. I’m nothing but their weapon. They gave me targets, I executed; the rest has nothing to do with me.” The girl’s face remained unchanged, her tone as cold as ever, even at the mention of torture.

“Tch...”

Natasha, losing interest in pointless debate, simply opened the door and signaled Jos and the girl to follow. She led them into the adjacent room.

There, Jos saw neither Steve nor Tony. Instead, several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were interrogating and torturing some cocky young Hydra members. Whether the two Avengers had been sent elsewhere or had simply left to avoid witnessing this, Jos couldn’t say.

Though they disliked it, none of the Avengers were naïve idealists. Even Captain America had killed his share on the battlefield; he was certainly no saint who would stop Fury’s methods, though he might prefer not to witness them.

Natasha’s purpose was clear: if Jos insisted on protecting the girl, then showing her the fate of the others would serve as a warning. After all, with so many prisoners, as long as one of them talked, it would be a victory for S.H.I.E.L.D.

“You little traitor! I knew it! I knew you were the mole!” one of the young men began to curse as soon as he saw the silver-haired girl brought in unharmed.

“No. As you’ve all said before, I’m just a blade. Whoever wields me can use me—nothing more,” she replied, her demeanor unchanged, ignoring his abuse, then leaned against the wall in silence.

“Ah... that’s right. Someone like you, a failed experiment, is unworthy of being a member of the sacred Hydra! Anyone who gets in my way is trash!” The young man was taken aback, then burst into laughter, launching into a torrent of German.

“What’s he saying?” Jos turned to Natasha, knowing she was fluent in several languages, German included.

“He says this girl doesn’t understand German, and so is unworthy of being a true Nazi. He claims she’s meaningless,” Natasha translated offhandedly, her expression unreadable. Whether he meant it seriously or was trying to cover for the girl, Natasha wasn’t about to judge from a few words.

Suddenly, the young man noticed Jos standing behind them and sneered mockingly, “I came to Hebei Province to practice kung fu with all my heart!”

Natasha, hearing this, suddenly turned to Jos with a look of profound disappointment, leaving him quite bewildered.

“What? What did he say now?”

“He said that when they were discussing their plans before, it was all right in front of you, but you didn’t understand a word of German...” Natasha had read Jos’s file—he clearly had no talent for languages, let alone the notoriously difficult German.

At that, Jos remembered—those people had indeed spoken in German in front of him, assuming he couldn’t understand, and had simply discussed their plans openly.

“German, huh... That’s not much of a problem,” Jos replied with a strange smile, as if suppressing a laugh.

Natasha shot him a resentful glance, but knew better than to force the issue. She could only sigh, “No need to pretend here; we’re all on the same side. Anyway, I’ll find a way to get something out of him.”

“Trash! You make me so mad, I just love eating baozi!”

But in the next instant, Jos spoke in flawless, native German.

(All German phrases in this chapter are unrelated to the original meaning. Please do not take them seriously.)