Chapter 747: Chapter 746: Conversation between Skye and Ward
S.H.I.E.L.D. - Triskelion Headquarters -
Nick Fury didn't have to wait long before Barton walked in.
As Barton entered, Fury asked, "How's the situation with Venom—Eddie?"
Barton shook his head. "That guy is pretty laid-back, almost too relaxed. He seems to only do things when it suits his mood, and he's a bit unpredictable."
"He's not interested in joining S.H.I.E.L.D., but he knows that the company he works for is under the Charles Doyle."
"However, he has had encounters with gang members affiliated with the High Table and assassins from the Continental Hotel."
"We haven't been able to confirm whether he's actually working under Charles Doyle."
After hearing Barton's report, Fury nodded and then said, "We'll put the Eddie situation on hold for now. I have a new mission for you."
"A suspected portal linking the Ninja World to Earth has been discovered in an Incan temple in Peru, and a ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village has been transported through it."
"It's also one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but only a young ninja arrived."
"Hill has already sent over a hundred agents to secure the site. Your mission is to protect the area from enemy interference and to monitor if any more Hidden Cloud ninjas appear."
Barton nodded at Fury's orders, "Understood, sir."
"The situation is urgent; you'll be flying out immediately."
Barton left the office to gather his gear and prepare for departure.
…
Meanwhile-
On the Aircraft-
After bringing Killer Bee some food and drinks, Coulson left him to his reading.
Outside the command room, Coulson turned to Ward and asked, "What made you think of recruiting him? Aren't you worried about another betrayal?"
Ward glanced at Killer Bee in the command room and shook his head. "Isn't this your idea?"
"As the commanding officer, if you're not afraid, why should I be? And besides, he's just a consultant, isn't he?"
Coulson sighed. "Yeah, just a consultant, unfortunately."
…
Elsewhere-
Skye, realizing everyone else had something to do while she was left idle, returned to her room in frustration and began fiddling with the dolls she had brought along.
Meanwhile, Fitz and Simmons were complaining as they continued their analysis of the 084 item.
"I'm told you, we're going to regret going on field missions sooner or later."
"I just didn't expect it to happen in the first week."
Simmons nodded in agreement but kept working. On the virtual display, various data about the 084 item appeared.
Simmons examined the information and said, "The 084 was initially found at the junction of the temple in the sedimentary layer, indicating a collapse and melting event that occurred decades ago."
Fitz, who was simulating a disassembly of the object, added, "Look here, this is the light amplification."
"I think I can be fairly certain that this is a particle beam that reverses energy levels to stimulate plasma, powered by something akin to the Tesseract."
Simmons looked at the part Fitz was showing and asked, "Laser?"
Fitz nodded, "A kind of two-focus excitation energy ray."
"Do you see its readings?"
"We're lucky none of the drones triggered it."
Simmons commented, "This weapon's energy is strong enough to burn through 50 feet of solid rock and bury itself. Imagine what kind of damage it could do to people."
Fitz chuckled, "Yeah, it could burn through a plane too."
Seeing Simmons' glance, Fitz quickly added, "Just as an example."
The two had clearly understood the function of the 084 object: it was a weapon driven by an energy core similar to that of the Tesseract.
However, they were still puzzled about the sudden appearance of the ninja.
Although Simmons had analyzed how the object appeared in the temple, they still lacked sufficient information about the ninja, only speculating based on Ward's account that the ninja might not be from Earth.
…
Meanwhile-
After finishing his conversation with Ward, Coulson headed to the lounge area to find Camilla and invited her to his office for a chat.
Ward, left alone, sat on a lounge sofa, reading a book. Just then, Skye walked over with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.
"Reading The Hunger Games?" she asked.
Ward replied, "No, it's The Way He Saw the World. My S.O. gave me a list of a hundred books to read."
Hearing "S.O.," Skye looked confused, prompting Ward to explain, "S.O. stands for Supervising Officer."
"Got it," Skye nodded.
"I feel like our first impressions of each other weren't great. Let me make it up to you with a drink?"
Ward smiled, "Okay!"
Skye sat down, poured Ward a glass, and said, "About what I said earlier, about uprisings..."
"Basically, I don't want you to think I'm naive."
"I was actually referring to a tweet."
Ward asked, "A tweet?"
"Are you really trying to get me to understand you?"
Skye explained, "The people of Peru, for the first time in decades, spontaneously came together—tens of thousands of ordinary, hardworking people who had never met, united for a common goal."
"It's truly inspiring."
"I don't like bringing it up because I don't want to see a look of disgust on your face."
"But... that's what Rising Tide does."
Ward frowned slightly, "Alright."
Skye continued, "Usually, one person can't come up with a solution, but a hundred people, each with one percent of an idea, can make something happen."
"I think that's beautiful—people coming together to solve a difficult problem."
Ward thought for a moment, then said, "You and I just have different worldviews."
Skye nodded, "I've never been in a combat zone before today."
"It's crazy—you must have been through this many times."
Ward picked up his glass and downed the whiskey in one gulp.
"I'm a combat specialist. My training is to handle any situation and eliminate variables."
Looking at the Peruvian soldiers in the lounge, he continued, "And today, the variables are increasing."
Feeling the plane shift, Skye asked, "Why are we turning again?"
Ward explained, "We're circling over Peru for three hours, waiting for other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to arrive before we can leave, so we're just hovering."
"This plane can fly on autopilot, but May insists on flying manually tonight."
"There's a lot of issues on this plane." Skye commented.
Ward sighed, "Yes, it seems we have trouble understanding each other."
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