MARVEL : A myriad of personalities

Ray understood exactly what Leonid was thinking.

Most likely, in Leonid's eyes, he was just some privileged brat relying on powerful connections to pressure S.H.I.E.L.D. into letting him do whatever he wanted.

So he didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled and asked,

"Director Leonid, the reason you don't want me teaching the integrated combat course—is it because I look like some bookworm, and you think I'm not qualified to teach it?"

"That's not what I meant," Leonid replied reluctantly.

But his tone and expression made it obvious to anyone that was exactly what he meant.

Ray wasn't blind—he could clearly see it. But he didn't care and simply continued, smiling,

"I heard... you used to teach that course yourself, didn't you?"

"That's right," Leonid replied, still unsure where Ray was going with this.

"Then how about this? Let's have a little match," Ray proposed with a casual grin.

"You can choose the events—anything related to the integrated combat curriculum. Pick three. We'll compete."

"Huh?"

Leonid blinked, surprised by the sudden suggestion.

"What, Director Leonid—don't tell me you're scared?" Ray asked, smirking.

"Me? Scared? Hah." Leonid scoffed twice and didn't even bother to defend himself. He just asked,

"How do we determine the winner?"

"Three events—if I lose even one, I'll consider it a total loss," Ray replied with a light chuckle.

"If I lose, I'll withdraw my application to the combat division. No need for you to deal with me again. But if I win?"

"If you win, then I'll greenlight everything for you from now on. No interference, I swear!" Leonid declared.

"And don't bother with that 'I lose if I drop even one event' stuff. Let's keep it fair—best of three."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Excellent. Then let's ask Ms. Weaver to act as our witness," Ray said, glancing at her.

"I've got no objections," Leonid shrugged.

Seeing them both look at her, Weaver had no choice but to nod in agreement.

She had considered stopping Ray—after all, he had no real reason to get involved in this bet. With backing from Director Fury and Principal Dugan, not even Leonid could block Ray's appointment.

Even if Leonid didn't like it, there was no way he could defy an order from above.

But since it was Ray himself who proposed the bet, and both sides clearly agreed to it, she realized stepping in would just create unnecessary problems.

So after a brief hesitation, she agreed.

"Then it's settled—this afternoon," Ray said. "Director Leonid, I'll leave the venue prep to you. I still have a few things to discuss with Ms. Weaver. Once everything's ready, just inform her."

"No problem," Leonid replied immediately.

Arranging a training ground? For the director of the combat division, that was easy—just a quick call, no need to lift a finger himself.

"See you later, Director Leonid~~~" Ray waved cheerfully.

"See you this afternoon," Weaver added as she rose to leave.

Watching them walk away, Leonid let out a cold snort and picked up the phone to start making arrangements.

He knew Ray was trying to provoke him—clearly. But he didn't care, because in his mind, there was no way Ray could win.

Now, if he were being challenged by a current high-ranking field agent from S.H.I.E.L.D., maybe he'd worry about the outcome.

After all, he had stepped away from frontline duty ten years ago.

Even though he kept himself in shape, his combat prowess wasn't what it had once been.

But Ray? He was an academic. There was no record of him having any exceptional combat ability. Sure, he might be a genius in psychology—but that had nothing to do with integrated combat.

If Leonid was afraid of someone like that, he might as well resign on the spot.

---

As for Ray, his original reason for looking for Weaver was actually quite mundane: he needed to get some essentials—clothes, a laptop, a proper phone and number... the basics.

He was still wearing the standard uniform Hill had found for him at the mountain lodge. Other than that, he didn't even have a spare pair of underwear.

His phone? A random no-name model the agents had given him—barely good for calls or texts, let alone internet access. It drove him nuts.

Until now, he had been too focused on redeeming character cards and exploring the Immersion Mode to care about such trivial matters.

But now that he had a bit of downtime and had grasped the basics of the immersion function, he finally realized just how unprepared he was. Not having basic supplies was getting more and more irritating.

As a citizen of the 21st century, not having a proper phone or laptop was unthinkable—let alone underwear.

So he rushed off to ask Weaver for help.

Of course, there was one other thing he needed to handle first: replacing the bank card of the original owner of this body.

Ray's body, formerly owned by a psychology expert, had affiliations with several universities and companies. Between speaking fees and publication royalties, he had a seven-figure bank account.

Converted to yuan, that was more than Ray had ever earned in his previous entrepreneurial life.

And that was despite the original owner not even being particularly money-hungry. If he had been, his assets could easily have been two or three times higher.

Ray didn't expect Weaver to pay for anything—he intended to use his own funds.

He hadn't expected to walk in on her arguing with Director Leonid—and even more, that the argument was about him.

Strictly speaking, he didn't have to get involved at all. With Fury and Dugan's support, Leonid could protest all he wanted—it would change nothing.

But since he would be stationed at the academy for the foreseeable future, Ray didn't want to deal with a hostile superior every day.

So he stepped in, deciding this was the perfect opportunity to settle things once and for all.

"Perfect," he thought as he sat in the passenger seat of Weaver's car, en route to handle the banking.

"I'll let the Deadshot persona stretch his legs—and I'll finally get to see what he's really capable of."