The head of the Combat Division, a former Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent codenamed "White Bear" Leonid, was going to have three competitions with a new teacher over topics covered in the Comprehensive Combat Class.
As soon as this news came out, it spread like wildfire throughout the Combat Division. Even students from the other three academies heard about it and started asking what was going on.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy was a place focused on training special talents. Everyone who got in was already one of the best, so the school's atmosphere was usually very serious, and it was rare for anything out of the ordinary to happen.
Because of that, whenever something unusual did happen, it always stirred up everyone's curiosity.
From the principal to the newest students, no one was an exception.
When Weaver drove Raymond back to the academy after helping him get some new clothes, she immediately got a call from the Spy Division's director, asking her about the details.
Once she realized what he was asking about, her tone turned a bit cold. "Don't ask me. I don't know what's going on. If you want answers, ask Leonid yourself!"
"Don't be like that, Agent Weaver. My people told me you were in the office when it happened. You must know something, right?" the Spy Division's director didn't back down.
"Your people? You've planted spies in the Combat Division?" Weaver raised an eyebrow.
"Don't call them spies. I'm just helping them train their infiltration skills—it's part of our curriculum," the director said with a straight face.
"Them?" Weaver didn't follow his excuse. Instead, she picked up on a different detail from his words.
"Ahem, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. I'll find out soon enough anyway..." the director gave up when he saw she wasn't going to spill anything.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Raymond had been setting up his new phone.
When he saw Weaver hang up with an annoyed look on her face, and after hearing some of her conversation, he guessed what was going on and asked with a smile:
"The news got out?"
"This Leonid is really too much!" Weaver said, clearly upset.
She didn't need to think too hard to figure out that someone had leaked the news and maybe even helped spread it.
And who else could that be?
"Looks like Director Leonid's afraid I'll back out if I lose…" Raymond guessed Leonid's plan and smiled.
Leonid had probably leaked the news to make sure that, if Raymond lost, he wouldn't stay by using pressure from Director Fury or Principal Dugan.
Now that the whole academy knew, public opinion would force him to leave.
"I was going to go easy on you, but since you dug your own hole, don't blame me if you fall in," Raymond laughed and shook his head.
To be honest, he didn't really care much about Leonid's attitude.
After activating the Deadshot and Tao Pai Pai sub-personalities, and figuring out how Immersive Mode worked, he no longer cared much about staying at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy.
If he wanted to leave now, he totally could. No matter where he went, he'd live comfortably.
He chose to stay simply because he wanted to rest for a while. He didn't feel like running around and also wanted to get more familiar with this world—to see how it differed from the many versions of the Marvel universe he knew.
During this time, he could also explore more features of the system.
It was a win on all fronts.
As for being a teacher at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, to him it was just a fresh new experience. He could do it or not—it just depended on his mood.
Leonid's overreaction didn't bother him at all. In fact, it made things more fun.
But Weaver didn't know any of this. From her point of view, Leonid had gone too far.
"Dr. Raymond, with Leonid pulling stunts like this, you can choose to stop the challenge. I'll talk to Principal Dugan about it—it won't affect your job offer," Weaver said comfortingly.
"No, no, thank you for the offer, Ms. Weaver, but I actually kind of like what Director Leonid did. Now I'm even more excited for the challenge," Raymond replied with a grin.
Weaver was a bit surprised by his reaction.
But remembering what Hill had told her, she decided not to say anything more.
She would just go along with whatever he wanted and hope things didn't get too ugly in the end.
...
The location Leonid picked for the challenge was an outdoor multi-purpose training base normally used by students of the Combat Division.
By the time Weaver brought Raymond there, the place was already packed.
In the sky, several small drones hovered above, filming the field from every angle without missing a thing.
Seeing this, Weaver grew even more annoyed, but since Raymond didn't say anything, she kept quiet too.
When Leonid saw them arrive, he was the first to speak. "I'm really sorry. I don't know which of my people leaked the news. By the time I found out, it was too late to stop it... Once this is over, I'll definitely investigate and find out who was responsible!"
Leonid sounded righteous, like he truly meant it.
But both Raymond and Weaver could easily tell he was just making excuses. This was like a thief crying "Stop thief!"
"Oh? Then maybe I should send someone over to help you investigate. We'll get to the bottom of it in no time," Weaver replied casually.
"Uh... that won't be necessary, Agent Weaver. We can handle it ourselves," Leonid quickly declined.
His reaction made the truth even more obvious.
Still, without solid proof, even though Weaver was also a Dean, she couldn't publicly embarrass Leonid in front of so many people. That would hurt the Academy's reputation.
"Alright, enough with the small talk," Raymond interrupted. "What's the challenge? How are we doing this? Just tell me, Director Leonid. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."
"You're right, Doctor," Leonid nodded quickly.
Seeing Raymond didn't press further about the leak, he was secretly relieved and started explaining the three challenges he had picked.
"Comprehensive Combat is a unique course designed by our Combat Division. Over thirty years ago, Principal Dugan personally created this course and set its direction and teaching standards...
"Over the years, the course has been constantly updated and improved, always keeping up with modern times and new technologies…"
Leonid gave a brief introduction to the Comprehensive Combat course. Some of it Raymond already knew, but there were also parts he hadn't heard before.
So, even though Leonid hadn't gotten straight to the point, Raymond didn't interrupt him.
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