LazySageDao
patreon
644. Avengers' Training: SHIELD II
🕑 Added 2024-10-13 04:07:05 +0000 UTCc“Unless that is unacceptable to you,” Edward added. Project Phoenix involves a prominent philosophical debate on Earth regarding the use of teleportation. According to science fiction, one form of teleportation is disassembling the person on a molecule level and rebuilding it somewhere else. However, the newly rebuilt body is only a copy — albeit a perfect copy on an atomic level, it’s still a copy.
The debate involved whether this newly transported person was dead or alive and whether they were the same person or not. It’s the same for Project Phoenix. The Empire had a similar debate, and everyone agreed that the new person was someone else once the soul perished.
Some Arcanists can accept being reborn using this method. After all, the new bodies have all their memories, personalities, and DNA. As for the soul? As long as a pure soul is used for the revival, they can rebuild their soul to come as close as possible to their original body.
However, many people cannot accept this form of death. Some extremists even reject the idea of changing their bodies, even if it’s a perfect genetic clone perfectly suited for their souls.
“I have no problem,” Fury said. He did not care in what form as long as he was alive.
“Good,” Edward nodded. “Do you have any questions?”
Fury pondered, analyzing everything he knew, and asked a crucial question: “How can I send the information I’ve gathered without being noticed?”
‘He’s indeed someone with excellent analytical abilities,’ Morgana praised. One of the reasons Fury was an excellent spy and reached this position — especially as a black man — was due to his abilities.
“Don’t worry about that,” Edward said before explaining the system his Speed Force Clone used that involved sending messages through the Blank Realm.
“That seems secure enough,” Fury nodded. Although he did not understand the nitty-gritty, he could tell Edward took the necessary precautions to ensure that the relay of information was as secure as possible.
“Any more questions?”
“No. I’m good.”
“You have much to prepare, so let’s get started.” The Empire has its method of training spies, including cultivating their analytical abilities. Fury also needed to know information about Tier 11 Entities so he could have some idea of how to deal with them. However, most of this knowledge is theoretical and was gathered by Edward. Lastly, Edward wanted to teach Fury everything the Empire knew about Luck so he could better use his talent.
‘Maybe we should grit our teeth and buy a basic understanding of Tier 11 from the Akashic Record. It would not only help with the mission but also be a significant help to making our Tier 11 Path,” Morgana suggested.
Edward considered this suggestion and nodded. He closed his eyes to access the Akashic Record and search for the price. He almost cursed since he could not even afford even the basic price. Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and sold countless pieces of knowledge from the Empire before buying the information.
‘One day, we must rob the Akashic Record,’ Morgana said.
‘Are you saying that because of the vast library of knowledge or because of the pain of paying so much?’
‘Both.’
Edward chuckled. This information is crucial to him and Fury’s mission. However, this was not the time to focus on it since he still needed to train the other two.
“Ms. Marial Hill,” Edward said, looking at her result. She did not say anything and just listened attentively.
“You have a high talent for the path of Psychic and an extraordinary talent for Battleship Commandment and Cosmic Battle.” Edward clicked his tongue and shook his head after saying that.
“Is something the matter?” Maria asked calmly.
“Battleship Commandment is a rare talent, but if you add your psychic potential,” Edward commented with shining eyes. “I know how I’m going to train you. I’ll turn you into a Hivemind, but instead of controlling organic matter, you’ll be in charge of millions of battle spaceships. You’ll be our timeline’s first line of defense in the Void Realm.”
The more Edward thought about it, the more excited. However, he suddenly sighed deeply. “It’s unfortunate.”
“What is?” Maria asked. The man’s sudden change of mood caught her slightly off guard.
“The Empire’s program to train commanders is nothing extraordinary since we’ve only fought a few minor cosmic wars and one major war. Although we have made millions of simulations in Virtual Reality, it’s nothing compared to actual war. With my knowledge, I doubt I could develop your full potential.’
‘With her talent, maybe she can develop a better training plan — especially after experiencing such a massive war as this [Convergence].’ Morgana suggested.
‘You’re right. In the meantime, I should probably contact Olivier and see how things are going on her side in the Star Trek World.’
While these two were communicating, Maria resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Earth hasn’t even entered the Space Age yet, let alone participated in a cosmic war, yet this man was talking about the level of training commanding officers. In fact, she could tell that this man probably had extremely high standards, so when he said their training system was nothing extraordinary, it was perhaps one of the best in many dimensions.
“You can train me however you see fit,” Maria said directly.
“Alright,” Edward nodded. “As for you, Coulson, your talent lies in leadership.”
“That’s it?” Coulson did not hide his disappointment. He was a big fan of superheroes, especially Captain America, so he thought this was his opportunity to be one.
“Now that Fury is going on this secret mission, SHIELD will need a new director.”
“Wait, you’re talking about me?”
“Who else is here?”
“But what about Agent Maria or Agent Romanoff?”
“They have their roles to play, and you have yours,” Edward explained. “SHIELD will be more instrumental to our cause than you realize. As the date of the Convergence approaches, all kinds of trouble will happen. Earth will be the first place to show signs of trouble, followed by everywhere else in the universe.
“In the next few years, SHIELD’s operation will spread through every corner of the universe, and there must be someone at the head capable of controlling it.”
Edward paused to give him some time to process this.
“Although your talent lies in leadership, it doesn’t mean you won’t have powers. The Psychic System is perfect for most leadership jobs since it’s an excellent way to control situations and relay messages. You can also minor in [Aura] to ensure you’re not vulnerable once your psychic powers don’t work.”
“I see,” Coulson nodded.
“In that case, let’s get started,” Edward said. Most of Fury’s training involved learning, so Edward put him into virtual reality. Meanwhile, the others also needed to learn many things, but they also needed to train.
So, Coulson and Maria will have lessons with Edward in the morning, and in the afternoon, they will enter Virtual Reality. Maria studied military tactics, space warfare, battleship structures, commands, etc. Meanwhile, Coulson focused on developing his leadership skills, which involved studying mannerisms, charisma, facial expression reading, intimidation tactics, manipulation, etc.
The Empire has a way of training government officials, which involves putting them in a Virtual World and having them solve real-life problems. Edward used the same approach for Coulson. He simulated how to expand SHIELD’s influence throughout the universe.
Of course, Edward does not expect Coulson to succeed in the simulation now. The universe is vast and full of complicated organizations and factions. So, Edward put the passing mark for Coulson’s test that SHIELD’s influence can spread through the Milky Way. He'll pass as soon as he achieves that and can leave this place. Coulson can then start applying what he’s learned outside while keeping up with his training independently.
