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Back to the contact point, pretending to be a patient for two more days, Daisy, under the pretext of spending Christmas and recuperating, returned to America.
In these two days, two significant events occurred. The strong earthquake still attracted some attention, and a five-person team from a US military outpost near the earthquake zone searched the area. With low morale during this time and the approaching Christmas, they just hastily inspected the area, yielding no results.
The other event was somewhat gruesome. In an attempt to boost morale and vent their anger, two generals urgently dispatched a large army to annihilate the tribe that had previously deceived Daisy and the others. Through slaughter and one-sided battles, the soldiers, who were once terrified and trembling, regained some spirit.
After returning home, Daisy first refrigerated the severed finger. Later, within the SHIELD organization, she inquired and learned that Ms. Victoria Hand had not returned and was determined not to rest until capturing the Hulk. She might be currently squatting in some remote wilderness eating a boxed meal.
Seeing others so dedicated, Daisy couldn't be too conspicuous. She met with a few acquaintances for a meal and then began studying the Disintegration Beam Ring.
This ring was entirely bright silver, and the surface was faintly visible. When energized, a golden cube would appear. Upon closer inspection, numerous energies could be seen flowing through various areas via some electronic circuit.
Daisy tried various methods, but the ring completely ignored her.
Mandarin thought it was a magical artifact, but Daisy knew it was a technological creation.
Since it was a technological creation, it could be deciphered using technological means.
Daisy didn't use her SHIELD connections. Instead, she asked the mutant scientist Hank, known as the Beast, for help. After looking at the ring for two days, the super-genius made a device called a data reader.
The reader looked like a pair of pliers, with the jaws clamping onto the ring. Subsequently, a large amount of data would be simulated into a peculiar signal, ultimately displaying on the screen as a type of writing entirely different from Earth's.
Deciphering text, especially extraterrestrial text, wasn't Hank's expertise, but it was Daisy's forte.
Relying on artificial intelligence to forcefully analyze the language, she was sure to obtain information from within the ring.
However, deciphering work took time, and Danger was still at Professor Charles' place being a bug. Activating a large amount of computing resources would certainly alert the old bald head. Daisy's order was to carry out the deciphering work without alarming others, making the mission time-consuming.
She handed over the texts from the Mandarin to Danger for handling. After spending a quiet Christmas with the maid, she handed over the collected gemstones for the maid to handle. Afterward, Daisy rested for two more days before returning to Afghanistan.
...
One month later, a large-scale power outage occurred in the fifth town named Karami. Daisy estimated the power loss and concluded that Stark's Mark I was officially activated.
She immediately deployed personnel and eventually found the unkempt Tony Stark in the desert area, twenty kilometers north of the town's border.
Tony Stark, who usually acted cocky in front of Daisy, now looked exhausted, with his head wrapped in clothes. In a daze, he saw their plane and waved desperately as if he was crazy.
Whether it was due to exhaustion or just passing out, Stark collapsed in the desert.
Fortunately, Daisy had sharp eyes; otherwise, this person wouldn't have been noticed from high altitude.
Daisy turned to Rhodey and said, "The person has been found. I'll leave the follow-up tasks to you."
"Why not come with us?" Colonel Rhodes was puzzled. Saving someone without showing up? Agents not only have higher combat skills than soldiers but also have high moral standards?
"I still have my mission. Don't mention us in front of Stark." She said solemnly. In fact, she wanted to show off in front of Stark, but Nick Fury gave an urgent order instructing them not to contact Stark. She had to change her words at the last minute.
The colonel, observing Daisy's expression that said that she couldn't be too detailed about this, made up a lot of things in his brain and saluted, expressing gratitude.
Daisy, along with the agents, took another helicopter back to the SHIELD base in Afghanistan. Later, she would return to Washington on a Quinjet.
After getting on the plane and turning on automatic return, she sent an encrypted email to the maid.
With Tony Stark rescued, it meant she could start shorting Stark Industries' stocks, investing as much money as possible. When Stark returned home and closed the weapons department, with a time difference in advance, she could at least triple her funds.
Simultaneously, she mobilized Danger, cleaning up loose ends. No AI of the same level could trace the money's whereabouts. From the outside, it appeared to be a coincidental transaction made by hundreds of accounts nationwide.
Back at headquarters, Daisy was brought to Nick Fury's office. Upon entering, she discovered not only herself being summoned but also Victoria Hand.
The old virgin looked somewhat haggard, with her left arm in a splint hanging around her neck. As a commanding officer who hadn't experienced field operations much, facing the Hulk must have been an immense pressure...
Seeing Daisy, the other party snorted, and the disdain in her eyes was not concealed.
Nick Fury's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Holding two files, he angrily flipped through them and then slammed them on the desk, producing a muffled sound.
"Look at what you've done? Two missions resulted in heavy casualties!"
As he spoke, he picked up one of the files. "Look at this, Agent Victoria Hand! Is this the combat operation you commanded? 95 Brazilian police officers sacrificed, 270 American soldiers sacrificed, 12 SHIELD agents sacrificed! Civilian casualties are even more, and the losses in material and property cannot be calculated..."
Daisy stood on the side, enjoying the spectacle, almost laughing out loud. Unfortunately, as her smile appeared, Nick Fury turned to her and started berating her as well.
"Don't laugh! And you, the Kandahar military base is 80% destroyed! Four F-22s crashed, over 300 US soldiers died, and countless military supplies were lost! The Pentagon is asking for an explanation, what am I supposed to say!?"
Fury was spraying saliva while yelling, and all of them didn't have just the relationship between the employee and the boss. Everyone is a worker, and the two who were scolded just ignored him.
Victoria Hand was looking at the scenery outside the window, while Daisy took out her phone and talked with Maki about the Stark shares.
The rant continued for twenty minutes before finally getting to today's main topic. Both of their missions were suspended, and future matters concerning Stark Industries would be handled by Phil Coulson. As for the Hulk, it was temporarily put on hold.
Afterward, without giving them a chance to retort, Nick Fury waved his hand dismissively, get out!
Daisy returned to her residence, took a shower, had dinner, and then turned on the TV to await the Stark Industries press conference.
As the moment approached, she felt a bit anxious. If Tony Stark didn't follow the expected path and, instead, decided to expand the weapons department after being stimulated, what would she do? If that happened, the "hard-earned money" she earned from SHIELD would go down the drain.
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