Daisy's Wish

The science duo might achieve great things in the future, but for now, they were fresh-faced rookies who had never even left school. It was their first mission, and one personally assigned by "the Director," no less. They brought bags upon bags of equipment, including all sorts of instruments Daisy could not understand and various testing devices. Each of them even carried a pistol.

Judging by the way they held their guns, though, they probably only knew how to pull the trigger.

Flying a Quinjet was easy. Both Black Widow and Agent May had shared their flight experience with her, and Daisy had learned well. With a top speed of Mach 2.1, the jet reached the small island in Costa Rica before long.

Meanwhile, the science duo was still discussing parachute deployment and airflow.

"Don't be in such a hurry to jump, you two. There are still enemies on the island." Daisy listened to them discuss it for quite a while with a frown before helplessly interrupting them. After speaking, she activated the thermal imaging system and began scanning the entire island. At the very least, that Rhinoceros Beetle with the incomparably hard shell should still be there.

During the scan, she could vaguely hear the two muttering under their breath, saying things like it was all your fault and I hope it won't affect our grades.

Before long, the massive Rhinoceros Beetles were found. And there was more than one—there were three.

They also found a caterpillar, along with a giant earthworm that had been hiding before.

The science duo was dumbstruck at the sight of the enormous insects.

Fortunately, the Quinjet's technology was reliable. She selected the targets, pressed the switch, and used the cannons to kill them by force.

A storm of bullets ravaged the island's skies for ten minutes. The surviving giant insects were blasted into chunks of flesh scattered across the ground. Daisy circled the area twice, then landed the jet on a high point only after confirming there were no more signs of life.

The laboratory on the island had been completely blown into ruins by Black Widow. Daisy trusted that top agent's abilities; the chances of anything going wrong were low. Her main focus was the island itself.

The vegetation was outrageously dense. Anyone would have believed it was a primitive jungle. Both the plants and trees showed signs of growing larger.

The science duo quickly set up a simple testing station and began examining the air composition, soil composition, and water quality one by one.

Daisy sat nearby and waited. Half an hour later, the two reported their findings. "The air composition is normal. The water and soil have undergone slight changes, but they're harmless to the human body."

"Then why have these plants grown like this?" She pointed at a "small" blade of grass beside her that stood nearly a meter tall.

The science duo rattled off a whole pile of technical terms at her.

Daisy had only studied quantum mechanics and was a complete layperson when it came to biology. Just to be safe, she called her bargain-bin mentor, Dr. Pym, and asked whether the particles Egghead had replicated could damage the environment.

Old Pym confidently assured her that the Pym Particles he had developed were safe and non-toxic. The local mutations had only occurred because Egghead's early technology had been inadequate. That problem had long since been resolved.

After hanging up, she looked at the science duo. "I'll have to trouble you two to test the entire island. Make sure you don't miss a single corner."

After accompanying them through a full day of testing around the island, the results showed that everything was completely normal. Aside from the unusually dense vegetation, there were no problems.

Daisy flew back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and found her instructor, Phil Coulson. She greeted him warmly.

Both of them smiled very happily...

"Hi, Coulson."

"Hi, Daisy."

She cleared her throat. "The Director had me deal with the Costa Rica matter. Did you know about it?"

Coulson shook his head, so Daisy could only explain the whole sequence of events again.

"Couldn't it be handled through conventional means? Notify the local government, impose martial law for a while, then gradually lift it once there's no threat left." Coulson did not understand why she had come to see him.

Daisy pulled him into his office, indicating that she wanted to discuss it in detail. He poured her a cup of coffee and waited for her to continue.

"People have a very bad impression of agents, don't they?"

"Yes."

"Actually, governments around the world are dissatisfied with S.H.I.E.L.D. too, am I right?"

Coulson grew slightly more cautious and nodded. "That's true, but those are misunderstandings among the lower ranks. The real higher-ups know the sacrifices S.H.I.E.L.D. has made for humanity and for the whole world."

Sacrifices? What a lofty word. That word no longer suited modern society. These days, even an American soldier stationed in Iraq who got his foot pricked by a nail would seek sympathy on social media. Asking agents of the same generation to make sacrifices? No matter how she thought about it, that was impossible.

Did those agents who joined Hydra know about the Nova Corps? Did they know about Newton and Da Vinci's dispute? Did they know about the Zodiac's split? Did they know Hydra's modern-day principles? They knew nothing.

They joined Hydra only because they hoped for change. They did not care what ideals Hydra had or what grand goal of conquering the world it possessed. If S.H.I.E.L.D. could offer them a chance to shine, they might not be willing to join Hydra.

In just one month, Daisy had come into contact with many people. In the future, more than seventy percent of them would likely become Hydra agents, raising their pistols against their former comrades.

She found it regrettable—regrettable for their talents, for the few founders who had established S.H.I.E.L.D., and for all humanity.

When all the elites were exhausted in internal conflict, and the aliens arrived, only a few superheroes would be left to hold the line. That was a tragedy.

The Nova Corps had a famous saying passed down from 2620 BC to the present: "Our world should not end like this."

The members of the Corps had fought through thorns and brambles, one after another, battling aliens, battling Galactus, and sweet-talking the Celestials, all to preserve this world.

Daisy did not possess such lofty ideals, but she wanted to make an attempt. If she failed, she would go on doing whatever she was supposed to do. If she succeeded, perhaps she could save more lives.

Daisy skipped over the subject of sacrifice. "Actually, we can cooperate more closely with governments while also downplaying the darker side of being an agent, steering them more toward the image of heroes."

Coulson realized that today's conversation was becoming rather strange, and his expression turned serious.

Daisy began from the angle he liked most. "Captain America originally filmed recruitment advertisements and called countless young people to the battlefield. We can replicate that process today and get more people to join us."

Coulson's face twitched twice. Filming recruitment ads to fool the American public was Captain America's embarrassing past, but he could not say Daisy was wrong. Facts were facts.

"It will take time to face the public completely, but we can first show the government a more friendly attitude."

Coulson was having trouble keeping up with Daisy's train of thought. After considering it, he said, "You mean filming advertisements?"