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After the meal, because of the fierce battle last night, Gwen and the others couldn't get up so quickly, even as people with Spider Abilities.
So after eating, they continued to rest.
As for Ryan, he parted ways with Peter and Harry, who had finished breakfast.
The two brothers went to the Spider Family's new Base to report and prepare for today's patrol mission.
Ryan, on the other hand, headed to Parker Tower on his own.
After all, although he was a hands-off boss, a lion occasionally needs to inspect his territory, doesn't he?
Flashing into his office at Parker Tower, Ryan saw several unexpected people.
Besides Natasha, even Tony, Hydra Cap, and the Winter Soldier were all there.
And by the looks of it, a conflict had broken out!
After all, Tony was currently pinning the Winter Soldier to the ground and beating him!
The Winter Soldier didn't fight back, taking Tony's fists right to the face!
Beside them, Hydra Cap Steve not only didn't break up the fight but even held back Natasha, who wanted to intervene. He kept cheering from the sidelines, saying things like, 'Tony, did you not eat today, kid?' 'Do you want your Uncle Rogers to buy you two cheeseburgers to top up your energy?' 'Or maybe let your parents in heaven grant you strength?'...
With Steve's 'encouragement,' Tony really did hit harder and harder. Not only was the Winter Soldier's face disfigured, but even Tony's knuckles were skinned and bleeding.
Seeing this scene, Ryan twitched his lips, walked over to Natasha and Steve, and asked speechlessly:
"What's going on here?"
Seeing Ryan appear, Steve didn't dare to be cheeky anymore and quickly wiped the grin off his face.
Natasha explained with a face full of exhaustion, "BOSS, it's all because of this guy Steve. I called them here originally to prepare to go and destroy the Red Room together to rescue my sisters who are controlled by it..."
"But this guy brought Hydra's Winter Soldier along and, without a word, dropped a massive bombshell. He told Tony right to his face that his parents were killed by the Winter Soldier, so the scene turned into this..."
Hearing this, Ryan couldn't help but glance at Steve in surprise.
Although he had already expected that Steve, with his reversed personality, wouldn't take sides like in the original story.
But he also hadn't expected this guy to pull off such a crazy move!
Not giving any buffer space at all, going straight for the truth—is that even okay?
Forget Tony; who could handle this?
It's lucky Tony didn't come in his suit; otherwise, the Winter Soldier wouldn't be eating the fists of Tony's mortal body, but the iron fists of Tony's steel body!
Facing Ryan's surprised gaze, Steve didn't panic at all. He shrugged and said leisurely:
"A blood feud must be repaid with a life. Bucky did wrong and needs to bear the consequences. Even if he is killed by Tony in revenge, it's the price he should pay, isn't it?"
To this, Ryan was non-committal.
But Natasha disagreed. Her brows furrowed as she retorted:
"But that was when he was brainwashed by Hydra and used as a human weapon. It was committed when he had no choice, not out of Sergeant Barnes's own will. It's just like when I was a Black Widow assassin in the Red Room; it was passive, wasn't it?"
Steve's cold eyes looked at Natasha, who was trying to excuse Bucky, and said indifferently:
"That's why I had Bucky face Tony as the Winter Soldier, not as Bucky!"
"If Tony kills Bucky as the Winter Soldier now, wouldn't that be a kind of release for Bucky? At least he wouldn't have to face the pain of having killed countless innocent people, even his own friends, once he wakes up!"
"Agent Romanoff, this is a different kind of mercy for him, you know?"
Hearing Steve's words, which were so cold they lacked any emotion, Natasha felt chilled to the bone.
Killing him is a kind of release?
She really wanted to refute this sentence, but she couldn't.
Just because it wasn't out of one's own will, could regaining consciousness wash away the innocent blood once on one's hands?
As the first Black Widow to be redeemed from the Red Room, Natasha knew the answer best.
That was... no!
She didn't know how many nights she had been startled awake in her dreams by the innocent faces she had once killed!
She didn't know how many times she had felt so guilty she wanted to commit suicide because she thought of those who died because of her!
Therefore, she also knew very well that the truth was likely as Steve said...
Waking up was not a release for the Winter Soldier, or for the other Black Widows of the Red Room. Dying before waking up might actually be a true release...
At least... they wouldn't have to go through that disgusting redemption, wouldn't have to experience the strange looks from the world, and wouldn't have to experience the verbal and written condemnations from the victims' families!
Therefore, Steve's words made Natasha fall silent, seemingly acquiescing to his words.
Seeing this, Ryan couldn't help but rub his brow.
These two guys—one's personality had become too extreme because of Hydra's brainwashing.
The other's personality had gradually become too soft because he had recruited her into a desk job.
One really dares to say it, and the other really dares to believe it!
Sigh, it seems he, the boss, has to step in personally...
Ryan took a step forward and patted Tony's shoulder as he continued to land punch after punch.
"Ryan, even you want to stop me from taking revenge?" Tony didn't look back, but he stopped his falling fist, his voice suppressed with anger.
Ryan glanced at the Winter Soldier on the ground, who had been beaten into a pulp, and smiled disdainfully:
"Stop you from taking revenge? Are you joking? Whether it's my friendship with this guy or his value to me, he doesn't even compare to a single hair on your balls. If you want, I can crush his head for you right now!"
Hearing this, Tony couldn't help but look back at Ryan and said speechlessly, "Then why did you interrupt me?"
"Because I can see the conflict in your heart, so I plan to give you a choice directly." Ryan rolled his eyes. A red light flashed in his hand, and a blood-red dagger appeared out of thin air, which he handed to Tony.
Tony took the dagger blankly: "This is..."
Ryan squatted down, level with Tony, who was straddling the Winter Soldier, and pointed to the position of the Winter Soldier's heart, saying indifferently:
"He's a Super Soldier like Steve. Even if you punch him all day, he won't necessarily die. But if you thrust this knife down here, he will definitely die!"
Hearing Ryan's words, Tony's mouth twitched violently, and the hand holding the knife became a bit hesitant:
"But wouldn't killing him like this be too easy on him?"
Hearing Tony's duplicitous words, Ryan chuckled, and the dagger in Tony's hand turned into red starlight and disappeared:
"Heh, since you don't plan to kill him now, then keep him for now. Wait until your old man and old lady come back and see how they deal with him~"