Academy Life Takes a Strange Turn

May trained with Daisy for two hours, stamped her learning ability as "passable," then left without another word.

She neither said she would come train with her every week nor tossed her some secret manual.

Aunt May had arrived abruptly and left strangely, as though they were chance acquaintances and she had merely offered a few pointers because Daisy happened to please her eye.

There was no need to say it—Director Fury had definitely been behind this. Daisy was certain of it. Otherwise, was it because they were both Chinese diaspora and May found her pleasing? There were Chinese diaspora students at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy too. Had Melinda May eaten herself silly and decided to practice martial arts with her?

Before the cafeteria closed, she went back for two more slices of Pizza before returning to her room.

It was already evening. In the city, eight or nine o'clock would have been the height of the nightlife, but while S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy did not enforce military-style management, most people had returned to their rooms to rest by then.

Full and satisfied, Daisy took a hot shower and went straight to bed.

Over the next few days, she gradually adapted to life there. Her relationship with Sharon Carter steadily warmed. Both believed the other had been sent to keep an eye on them, so in order to put the higher-ups behind each other at ease, they deliberately catered to one another until they were starting to look like close friends who could talk about anything.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy had no opening ceremony. Once you arrived, you began studying. However, the instructors taught according to their own schedules and would not alter their pace for anyone.

Missed something earlier? Didn't understand it? Sorry, go teach yourself!

Daisy found studying extremely difficult. Most of the people studying there already had college degrees. As a high school dropout mixed in among them, the pressure on her was immense.

Fortunately, she still had some foundation from her previous life, and the Terrigen Crystal had strengthened her intelligence a little. She could more or less understand some of the classroom material.

Only after getting to know her better did Daisy realize that Sharon Carter's bold claims about learning everything and mastering everything were mostly bluffing.

At least, Sharon had no answer to many of the questions Daisy asked her.

"I kept seeing you nodding in class. I thought you understood it!" Daisy looked at this "good friend and bestie" with a face full of frustration.

Sharon Carter looked a little embarrassed. She scratched her blonde hair. "Quantum mechanics... it's not exactly very useful. I really haven't studied it much, so... sorry..."

She truly could not understand why a wild-looking beauty like Daisy wanted to study quantum mechanics. Wasn't that something only old men and women researched?

Her enhanced intelligence did help Daisy somewhat. Even if she did not understand much of the pure theory, she could force herself to memorize it, then combine it with her powers in her room to search for common ground.

Modifying her handgun was also put on the agenda. Daisy signed for and swiped her card to collect a Chiappa Rhino revolver directly from logistics.

She entrusted the modification job to another familiar stranger, Leo Fitz. Like her, he was currently a new student, though he belonged to the science academy.

At this time, Fitz was somewhat dull and awkward. When Daisy came looking for him, the curly-haired young man was tinkering with some machine. After hearing what she wanted, Fitz gave her a curious look.

"This weapon performs poorly in actual combat and is not suitable for women. Its recoil and ammunition capacity are both major problems, and its malfunction rate is much higher as well. Shouldn't you choose a smaller-caliber weapon instead?" When it came to weapons, engineering, and machinery, the young man became animated, and there was already a hint of authority in his tone.

Daisy had anticipated this. She made up a story about being taught a breathing technique by some master when she was young. The conclusion was that she had been born with tremendous wrist strength, so using this gun would not be a problem at all.

"I see..." Fitz did not particularly want to take on the modification job, but he did not know how to refuse, so he silently accepted the revolver.

Daisy took out her tablet. She had specifically drawn a design sketch. The Rhino Revolver's appearance completely copied Harley Quinn's Love and Hate: a white grip, black body, with the Latin word for "love" engraved on the left side of the cylinder and "hate" on the right. However, she did not need to load two different types of bullets. The lettering was ninety-nine percent for looking cool.

With the gun entrusted to Fitz, Daisy threw herself back into her heavy studies.

One month later.

"Come on, let's go to the tactical demonstration classroom. I heard a very famous new student arrived today." One day, as Daisy buried herself in a book on wave function analysis and applications, Sharon Carter dragged her out of the library.

"Who is it? Someone more famous than you?" Daisy asked.

Sharon gave a self-deprecating smile and avoided the question.

When Daisy entered the classroom and saw the woman standing amid the crowd, she was a little dumbfounded. Maria Hill? Wasn't she Nick Fury's adjutant, personally kept at his side and trained by him? Why was she taking classes too?

Hill wore the same style of combat uniform as they did, with her hair in a single ponytail and pale blue eyes. She was listening attentively to the instructor's lecture.

She could not exactly be called an icy beauty. On the contrary, she could exchange a few words with anyone who spoke to her and was very polite. Yet the faint sense of distance around her made people hesitate to approach.

Daisy and Sharon whispered to each other from the side.

"You know her, right?" Sharon asked.

After studying there for over a month, it would no longer be appropriate to pretend to be a clueless newcomer. Daisy nodded. "That's Maria Hill, right? Isn't she supposed to be the Director's adjutant?"

There was a trace of satisfaction in Sharon's eyes. "Maybe she got dismissed."

Daisy did not think so. In her memories, Hill had served as an adjutant for a long time, then spent quite a while as Deputy Director and Acting Director.

The two had crossed paths quite a few times in one timeline. At the time, Daisy had been the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. After she was suspended for assassinating the chairman of A.I.M., it was Hill who took over her leadership position.

Although Fury had promoted and valued Hill, she had not followed all of Fury's orders. In short, she was a strong woman with her own mind.

Maria Hill entering the academy became a diversion from the daily grind of schoolwork. To the onlookers, changes in upper management had nothing to do with them. They only cared about the present.

Daisy was the same. She quickly put Hill out of her mind. Even if Nick Fury appointed Tony Stark as his adjutant, she would not care. She turned around and plunged back into various physics texts.

However, on Hill's third day at the academy, Daisy completely lost her composure.

Phil Coulson, wearing the expression of a harmless nice guy, came to the academy as an instructor. Officially, he was there to teach combat experience, but Daisy felt he was more like he was delivering patriotic education, endlessly talking about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s historical significance and glorious achievements.

Things like, "We are the shield separating the real world from the unknown world." Things like, "Passed down through generations, all the way to today." Things like, "Protecting and preserving the truth, providing ordinary people with a healthy and peaceful living environment."

Phil Coulson spoke with great passion. It was obvious that these were his genuine beliefs.