Traveling Together

They first went to Dr. Pym's laboratory and searched separately according to what they had learned.

Daisy mainly examined the equipment. Not all of it was the newest or most cutting-edge, but everything had been wiped spotless. From what several assistants said, the Old Doctor treated every piece of equipment like his own child.

Her field evidence search course had been mediocre at best. She gave the place a cursory once-over and found no suspicious clues. Too bad she did not understand Cisco, Vibe's abilities from the neighboring DC universe. Otherwise, if she found something the Old Doctor had used, Vibe could locate him with a frequency pulse.

In fact, it was not just her who found no clues. The other three women came up empty-handed as well.

Black Widow questioned several assistants separately and confirmed the places the doctor frequented.

After filtering them down, only the hospital, bar, and park Daisy had mentioned remained.

"Your algorithm is incredible. It'll save a lot of time in intelligence analysis from now on. Impressive!" Black Widow praised her.

Next came splitting up to investigate. There were three suspicious locations and four of them.

"Central Park is huge, so I'll go there. Sharon can pose as a nurse and ask around at the hospital. You two go to the bar."

They acted immediately, without wasting a second, and split up at once.

Going to a bar with the stern, unsmiling Hill was honestly a challenge for Daisy.

Still, she had to go.

If this were a movie or TV show, they would have charged in, beaten people up, forced the information out of someone, then packed up and left.

Reality did not work that way. Any bar that could operate in a bustling area had connections behind it, either with the police or the mob. Could they just beat someone up and swagger away? No matter how she thought about it, that was impossible.

Hill was determined to complete the mission perfectly, and Daisy did not want to turn this into some huge shootout.

They had to dress the part, at least enough to look convincing.

Daisy had only brought a shoulder bag. Hill had brought a few things too, but neither of them had clothes suitable for a bar.

Black Widow had sent them to the bar precisely to give them time to prepare outfits.

Once they learned Hill had a black card with an unlimited credit limit, they headed straight for the mall.

To avoid attracting attention, Daisy followed the style of local female students. She bought a camisole, frayed denim shorts, and peep-toe heels.

Hill perhaps thought it would be too strange if they both wore shorts, so she picked out an off-the-shoulder top, a patterned skirt, and strappy heels.

They casually bought a few pieces of jewelry as well, and the total did not cost much.

The bar would not open until evening, but they did not idle around. They booked a room near the bar. Daisy used the local network to search the Old Doctor's personal spending records, while Hill impersonated an FBI agent at the police station to look for reports filed over the past few days.

They met in their room that evening. Only then did Daisy realize a problem: she should have changed clothes first.

Now that they both needed to change, seeing each other naked was unavoidable.

Hill did not notice her reaction and quickly began taking off her clothes.

Daisy felt that going to change in the bathroom now would be too strange, so she could only take off her top.

Women's wars were everywhere. Even two women who did not care about appearances found themselves evaluating each other's figures while changing.

Her stomach was really toned...

This woman was quite well-endowed. It had not been obvious before...

"You actually have such a large-caliber handgun?" Daisy had just taken off her pants when she heard Hill say that. Her entire body went numb, and her scalp nearly exploded. Two seconds later, she realized Hill meant the Rhino Revolver.

Realizing it had been a false alarm, she secretly wiped away a cold sweat.

Hill had no idea about the misunderstanding she had caused and continued questioning her.

"Can you use a gun like that? Even modified, it isn't suitable for women. It could injure your wrist." Hill was two years older than her and far more experienced, and she now looked like a senior instructing a junior.

"...I was born with strong wrists. Don't worry, it's my talent!" Whether Hill believed her or not, Daisy used a terrible excuse to brush off the matter of the gun.

With shorts and high heels, she could not tuck the handgun away. Daisy put the gun and ammunition into her handbag, and Hill did the same.

Strapping a gun to the thigh was a clever trick. It could use a pair of pale thighs to draw a male enemy's attention before drawing the gun. Whoever designed the holster definitely understood men well, but neither of them would need a holster tonight.

They stepped out of the room and both felt something was off.

"We should stand closer." Daisy spotted the problem. They were neither too close nor too far apart. If they said they did not know each other, it did not look right. If they said they did, they still seemed unfamiliar.

Besides, two women going to a bar together carried a rather unusual implication.

"What are two women supposed to look like when they go to a bar?" Daisy was a little lost. Holding hands seemed too childish—they were not little girls—but linking arms seemed overly intimate.

She took out her tablet and searched it, but even big data could not help this time.

Hill went over the training she had received, but none of her courses had ever covered what posture two women should use while walking.

"Let's link arms. The people ahead are all doing it." Hill thought for a moment before speaking.

Daisy was speechless. Those were men and women! She asked another strange question. "Then... do you link arms with me, or do I link arms with you?"

Hill turned to look at how they were dressed. "You're taller and act more masculine. I'll link arms with you."

Daisy held out her arm, and Hill linked hers through it. Neither of their outfits had sleeves. Their smooth skin touched, and both felt a slight strangeness, but they quickly suppressed it. Neither mentioned it.

With that small detail settled and no flaws apparent, they finally left their lodging and headed toward the nearby bar.

Then another bizarre accident happened. Their heels clicked against the pavement, and Daisy discovered that their steps were perfectly synchronized. The swing of their legs, the height they lifted them, the order in which their feet moved, even the force with which they landed were nearly identical. There were obviously only two of them, yet they walked with the rhythm of an honor guard.

The synchronized movements made Daisy feel extremely strange, and she hurriedly changed her pace.

As she changed, Hill changed too. The result of their simultaneous adjustments was that their rhythm fell back into sync again.

"Haha... these shoes are a little uncomfortable." Daisy tried to ease the awkwardness.

Hill's face was slightly red as well. "Yeah, my skirt is a little tight too."

They tried hard to adjust, but their rhythm kept converging. The more they adjusted, the more perfectly they matched.

Budapest's night was not particularly lively, and there were not many pedestrians on the streets. The sound of their synchronized footsteps seemed especially conspicuous.

"Um... I'll step with my left foot, and you step with your right!" Daisy tried to make a suggestion.

With one using her left foot and the other her right, neither of them could walk anymore. Their arms were still linked, and they nearly fell flat on their faces.

Just as Daisy was so anxious she wanted to claw at the wall and use her powers to jump straight over there, they finally reached the bar.

The deafening music drowned out their footsteps, and both of them breathed a sigh of relief.