Natasha Romanoff felt very strange right now.
As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, her personal resume should be considered quite extensive. Over the years, she had done almost every kind of job and played all sorts of identities.
It was no exaggeration to say that her rich undercover experience was enough to write a book titled An Actor's Self-Cultivation. Before this, she had been confident that there was no role she couldn't handle.
But now, her confidence was wavering a bit.
Logically speaking, Natasha's mission should have been considered a failure by now. After all, her undercover target was Tony Stark, and the plan was to pose as a beautiful employee to get close to Stark for observation and assessment.
And now that Tony Stark, the subject of her observation, already knew her true identity, logically, there was no need to continue this undercover operation.
But then came the interesting part.
Tony Stark clearly knew she was a spy, yet he didn't fire her. Instead, he accelerated her promotion and even specifically brought her along on a business trip to Monaco.
Even stranger was that her superior, Nick Fury, clearly knew she had been exposed, yet he didn't notify her to cancel the mission. Instead, he told her to maintain the status quo and remain on standby.
Thus, this mission became quite bizarre for Natasha.
Continuing to be undercover when the target knew she was undercover... she really hadn't done this kind of job before.
And to be honest, she originally thought assessing Tony Stark would be an easy job. Before coming here, she thought Stark should be an easy person to read, but recently she found herself increasingly mistaken.
Sometimes she felt Stark's actions were contradictory, and sometimes she felt she couldn't figure out what was going on in this high-tech tycoon's mind at all... just like in the past two days.
Just before setting off for this Monaco racing trip, this eccentric boss suddenly called a hotel in Monaco, talking nonsense about "booking all the rooms in the hotel."
"...I am very sorry, Mr. Stark. But you must understand, we are a major international brand." The hotel manager on the phone maintained a humble yet confident professional smile. "I believe you also know that the next few days are the peak period for the Monaco Grand Prix, and almost all the rooms have already been fully booked."
Although Tony Stark was a world-famous figure, as the manager of a grand hotel, he had received many wealthy people, celebrities, and even political figures. The manager prided himself on having seen the world and wouldn't be easily scared by the other party's title.
"Of course, I understand," Tony said. "Business is all about integrity. But what's that saying? There's nothing money can't buy..."
The manager laughed: "I believe the original saying is not quite like that. You are also a businessman, so I think you should understand, Mr. Stark. For our industry—especially for an international brand like ours—reputation is priceless. Many people have already booked our services; this is our promise to our customers. So I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but this isn't about money. We can't just violate... Huh?"
There was a commotion on the other end of the phone, as if someone had hurriedly approached the manager. The manager covered the receiver and whispered something, followed by a strange cry like "My God" that he couldn't hold back.
Tony smiled: "Looks like you've received my electronic check."
The manager's calm and composure vanished instantly, and his tone became stuttering: "But Mr. Stark, this, this, this... this check, this number... you, you, you... I, I, I..."
He sounded like he wanted to ask if the exaggerated number on the check was a mistake made by a drunk Mr. Stark, but his tongue seemed tied in knots, and he couldn't get the words out for a long time.
Tony said casually: "I heard your hotel's rule is triple compensation for cancellations? If a customer books a room and the hotel breaches the contract, you not only have to bear the customer's loss but also pay triple compensation. I understand your difficulty, really, but I also really need these rooms. So this check is a small token of my appreciation. Of course, it's still just a proposal. If you find it really inconvenient..."
"Convenient! Very convenient!"
The manager's tongue seemed to suddenly untie.
"Our hotel is not only committed to building an international brand but will also always spare no effort to meet all the requirements of top VIPs. For example, high-quality customers like Mr. Stark are always the guests we prioritize..."
(Omitting a long string of flattery here.)
Thus, Tony successfully booked all the rooms in the entire hotel for the duration of the Monaco Grand Prix.
At this moment, he felt more and more deeply that one of the most significant benefits of transmigrating as Tony Stark was that any problem that could be solved with money was not a problem at all.
The movies only said Tony Stark was very rich, but never gave a specific value. It seemed that Stark's setting of being "rich" had reached a conceptual level to serve the plot. If one had to compare, he was probably much richer than any tycoon in reality before his transmigration.
In fact, combined with the Marvel setting, if there was such a person who not only had a vast fortune built from arms dealing since the war era but also possessed hundreds or thousands of exclusive black technologies leading the world by a century, headed by the "Iron Man Armor," plus the monopoly in the global energy sector after the advent of the Arc Reactor...
So it's not an exaggeration to say he was "conceptually rich."
However, Natasha was still very puzzled.
After accompanying Tony onto the private jet, she finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Do you really need so many rooms?"
Tony joked: "I can't sleep when there are people upstairs or downstairs."
Natasha didn't believe it at all. Tony hadn't been a shut-in before; she knew he didn't have this eccentricity.
Although Stark was rich, he wouldn't do this kind of thing just to show off his wealth—as if enjoying the sense of achievement brought by spending money like water, and the sense of superiority when the other party bowed down to tons of cash.
No, Stark shouldn't be that kind of person. She was sure Tony had an ulterior motive, she just couldn't see through it for the moment.
But Tony had no intention of explaining to her. Instead, he changed the subject and suddenly asked: "By the way. The identity information and address I sent you last time, that was your sister, right? Did you go see her in the past two days? Is she okay?"
Natasha's expression was a bit odd: "I saw her. She's fine."
She didn't want to say much to Tony; they weren't that close yet.
Natasha did go to see Yelena, but the process wasn't exactly pleasant. They had a fight and finally parted on bad terms.
Natasha didn't want to talk about her own affairs, so she steered the topic back to Tony: "You know, booking the entire hotel, this amount of money might be nothing to you, but it's still enough to get you on the news. The media will definitely report it, and you will be very high-profile..."
"That's great." Tony blinked.
Natasha wasn't sure for a moment if this tycoon was playing dumb.
"This does no good for your personal image," Natasha said. "Also, it's not good for your security detail. Because this way, the whole world knows where you are staying in Monaco..."
"That's why I brought you along." Tony smiled. "With the world's top S.H.I.E.L.D. agent protecting me personally, do I still need to worry about safety?"
Natasha: "..."
She leaned back into her seat and turned her head to look out the window.
She suddenly felt like she didn't want to talk to this tycoon anymore.