Daisy's Report

Tony Stark strode lightly into the room, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the three people. He ignored the men outright. In his eyes, the maid was somewhat lacking in looks, while Daisy, seated in the middle, naturally entered his field of vision.

Seemingly with great poise, he adjusted his suit and extended a hand to Daisy. "Miss Johnson, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Daisy felt certain a vein had popped on her forehead. This guy radiated one thing from the inside out: pretentiousness! Like a peacock desperately flaunting itself, she dearly wanted to blast him away with a shockwave.

Taking every consideration into account, Daisy reluctantly shook his hand. Compared with the proper Pepper and the wise Obadiah, this Tony Stark was like a bastard—a lecherous bastard, at that.

There was nothing in his head besides machinery and women.

Apparently to display his authority here, Stark began asking questions the moment he sat down. Daisy patiently humored him.

"Data analysis? It doesn't seem particularly technical. Your information processing is incredibly crude. If it were me..." He had no idea what tact or respect meant. Between science and women, he chose science, instantly abandoning any attempt to charm them. Right in front of Daisy and the others, he criticized their data analysis method until it sounded utterly worthless.

Daisy sneered inwardly. Stark looked down on data analysis only because he had the artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S., didn't he? What was so great about that?

As Tony Stark continued his grand speech, the others lost all interest in conversation. Fortunately, it did not take long for the data analysis to be completed.

The result surprised Daisy somewhat. The place that could currently help Stark Industries expand its economic territory was actually Afghanistan.

Was this guy going to Afghanistan to sell missiles because of my data analysis? Daisy found it a little unbelievable. She had previously thought of herself as a participant in the plot, but now she seemed more like its designer.

"You've been ignoring the Afghanistan region all this time? You've never sold anything there before?" Daisy asked tentatively.

"Our focus has always been on the Americas and Africa. Trade volume in the Asian market has been very low," Obadiah said vaguely. Daisy guessed there were other internal complications, but they had nothing to do with her.

Pointing at the analysis, she said, "According to my algorithm, the fighting there is escalating. The U.S. military has now withdrawn its lines of defense to several major cities. Tribal armed groups urgently need missiles, weapons capable of deciding the outcome of a war with a single strike."

"As the intensity of the local conflict rises, they will need more than just missiles. Radar, rifles, armored vehicles—everything related to war. This region will provide Stark Industries with a steady stream of profits." She made her final projection. As for whether the people of Afghanistan lived or died, that was none of her concern.

Obadiah applauded her words. Her analysis was highly objective and faintly aligned with some of his own ideas. Now that an outsider had voiced them, it suited his wishes perfectly.

Without waiting for Tony to speak, he made the decision himself. "Stark Industries will pay Skye Data Analysis Company 1.5 million dollars annually to join our advisory team. In addition, we can pay 300,000 dollars for this consultation."

Tony Stark was somewhat dissatisfied. What was so impressive about a simple data analysis? He could do one in minutes. However, he considered Obadiah's dignity and did not voice any objection. It was only a little over a million dollars anyway.

With business concluded, a small company like theirs could hardly expect a giant like Stark Industries to host them for a banquet. They shook hands, said their farewells, and went their separate ways.

As they were leaving, Tony Stark casually asked Daisy whether she was interested in having dinner with him. She rejected him without a second thought. He merely shrugged, seeming not to care much.

Daisy and Tony Stark's first official encounter came to an end. It could be said that neither had left a very good impression on the other.

After returning to their company, the group held a small meeting.

As they made a name for themselves, the big data model gradually came into the spotlight. Interested parties had already begun studying algorithms based on their model.

Daisy instructed James to adjust the company's primary business direction, cede a large portion of the market, and use their early advantage to focus fully on the medical field.

As long as they could provide the best medical consultations, patients would not mind spending a little more money. After all, they only had one life.

"Poach talent! We have money now, so the company's development needs to speed up. Our scale has to rise to the next level." After delivering her concluding remarks, Daisy looked around at the others to see whether there was anything else.

James coughed. "An investment bank contacted me before and asked about investing."

"Which investment bank?" Daisy asked.

James pulled up the record. "Echinda Capital Management. Its headquarters are in the northeastern United States. It is an investment bank focused on genetic engineering, new media, and nanotechnology, with very substantial capital."

Daisy thought about it briefly, and her expression became a little strange. She remembered this investment bank. When she had first transmigrated, she had gathered information. The Typhon Group, Echinda Capital Management—the names alone made it obvious that these were important Hydra organizations.

As she remembered, Echinda Capital Management's two partners were publicly identified as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Now that she had joined S.H.I.E.L.D., she had surely disrupted their plans.

Absorbing an obscure little company was entirely different from absorbing a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's company. They were still hidden in the shadows and would not expose themselves over such a small profit.

"They didn't contact you again afterward, right?"

"That's right."

"All right, I understand. If there's nothing else, the meeting is adjourned."

After wrapping up matters in New York and eating a carefully prepared dinner made by the maid, she went straight back to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Half an hour later, a five-hundred-word report appeared before Nick Fury.

The weather in October was still somewhat hot, even in Washington. The air conditioning in the room was turned up high, yet Nick Fury did not feel hot at all as he sat in his office wearing a leather jacket.

He read the report in his hands twice from beginning to end. Daisy had criticized Stark until he was practically worthless.

Harsh, vulgar, lustful, lacking in teamwork, obsessed with empty fame—between the lines, Daisy conveyed only one message: this was a human scumbag. If he ever got into trouble, they absolutely must not rescue him! Let him die!

Nick Fury naturally would not believe only her side of the story, but based on the information S.H.I.E.L.D. had gathered from every angle, Daisy's report was fairly objective.

He signed it, filed it away, and began handling the next matter.

It concerned the three female trainees. All three had great potential, but deciding how to employ them required some careful thought.

He needed the opinions of elite agents as reference. To prevent his subordinates from coordinating with one another, he questioned them individually by video call through a secure channel.