New York, St. John's Church School.
This school is located on the west bank of the famous Manhattan Island, adjacent to the Hudson River, in what is commonly known as Hell's Kitchen.
Although Manhattan's prosperity is known to all, being called Hell's Kitchen, as the name suggests, is not a good place.
Walking down the narrow road, pushing open the rusty iron gate, and looking at the mottled walls and numerous old furnishings inside, everything before one's eyes indicated to outsiders that despite its grand-sounding name, this church school couldn't even rank among the top hundred in the local area, let alone the entire country.
Against the backdrop of its dilapidated environment, the school's only highlight was its relatively cheap tuition. There's always a trade-off; the tuition was cheap, but there were many theology courses, whether you liked them or not.
"You will be steadfast and fearless. You will forget your misery; it will be brighter than noon, and though darkness comes, it will be like the morning. Amen." The old teacher concluded today's lecture in his decades-long, unchanging tone.
The students below immediately stood up, responding with an elongated, rhythmic "Amen..."
It wasn't until the old teacher pushed open the door and walked away that the not-so-spacious classroom regained its vitality.
Gentle sunlight filtered through the window cracks, and students gathered in twos and threes, discussing various topics. They, whether intentionally or not, isolated a corner in the southeast of the classroom, where the quiet stillness contrasted sharply with the surrounding commotion.
Broken rays of light shone on her flaxen hair, her nose bridge was high, and her Eurasian features gave her a more three-dimensional look. Most striking were her slightly upturned large eyes, with their faint amber pupils instantly bringing to mind words like wildness and pride.
"Skye! Let's go eat!" Amidst the cold stares, only one energetic black girl greeted her kindly.
The mixed-race beauty sighed helplessly, "I've told you three times, the name Skye was just to deal with those foster families applying for government subsidies. I've now reverted to my real name, Daisy Johnson, remember? Repeat it!"
The black girl, used to being teased by her, mumbled it twice before being let off the hook.
The beauty named Daisy also quickly left the classroom. She needed to use the library's internet to research some information.
The mental journey from being a struggling male writer to a woman sitting in the corner of a classroom, making up the numbers and singing hymns, took a week to fully reverse.
She remembered organizing a large amount of American comic data and then feeling dizzy and preparing to sleep for a bit, only to wake up here.
All sorts of things were unfamiliar: dressing, sleeping, language, eating—everything needed adapting to. Fortunately, the students had been isolating her, so even some abnormalities went unnoticed.
After crossing over, the three key elements—time, place, and person—had all been thoroughly investigated.
The time was July 2006, and the location was, of course, New York. Although a man becoming a woman was a bit awkward, at least she hadn't turned into a lizard or a tree, and she hadn't been thrown into ancient times, so the outcome was still acceptable. It was just that this world felt a bit off—it was a world with Captain America and Stark Industries; this was the Marvel Universe.
The 'person' aspect required time to investigate. The saying goes, "three parts determined by heaven, seven parts by hard work," but the remaining ninety parts are given by one's parents. This is absolutely true in the Marvel Universe.
Having a good background and good bloodline is more important than anything else, at least for most people.
As a former struggling American comic writer, after researching countless materials, understanding all the details thoroughly, and then dying and coming to this world with her memories, she realized the moment she crossed over that her body likely possessed a superhuman bloodline.
Daisy Johnson, codenamed Quake—these memories were very clear.
But was the body she inhabited truly that Daisy? She spent three days verifying through various sources, proving that she was herself.
She found an old note with her full name clearly written on it: Daisy Johnson.
However, her previous self had always resisted this name and jokingly gave herself the moniker Skye, without even a surname... Real name Daisy, former name Skye, mixed-race. Although the parents of this body were alive, the current family status listed was 'orphan.' After cross-referencing several points, she was indeed Quake.
In the perilous Marvel Universe, having superpowers and not having them are two different concepts.
However, her superpower wasn't triggered by age or emotional stimulation; it required an alien technological artifact to guide the manifestation of that gene.
Her bloodline came from the Kree Empire, one of the three major galactic powers. In early wars, the Kree needed a large number of cannon fodder, so they used genetic engineering to modify a portion of Earthlings to serve as their soldiers.
Later, these Earthlings broke free from control and called themselves Inhumans. Daisy's bloodline originated from the Inhumans.
Normally, they are indistinguishable from ordinary people; only through activation by a substance called Terrigen Crystals can they gain superpowers.
The crystals are produced in the Inhuman city of Attilan, which, if all goes as expected, should be on the far side of the Moon.
Going to the Moon? For Daisy, with total savings of only fifteen hundred dollars, this was an impossible task. If she could easily go to the Moon, why would she need crystals or superpowers!
Fortunately, there's always a way out. Another crystal was left on Earth and eventually fell into the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Moon and S.H.I.E.L.D.—which one is simpler? She thought it was the latter.
In a world fraught with danger, she needed power. To that end, she suppressed her fear and prepared to plan an operation.
Her previous self left no combat-related abilities besides a taser, but her hacking skills were excellent. She had many botnets and servers under her control. This ability was fully inherited and was Daisy's only usable means at the moment.
Three days later, everything was ready. She quickly logged into a botnet and set up layers of disguise.
Only then did she dial the target's phone number via the internet.
Jasper Sitwell was her target.
This bald, bespectacled man of Honduran descent was officially a UN staff member, but in reality, he was the S.H.I.E.L.D. administrative department's head of recruitment, and his even more hidden identity was a mid-level Hydra operative.
The Terrigen Crystal Daisy needed was stored in a special S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse, and this bald Honduran man was her important helper.
As a capable hacker, finding the bald man's secret phone number was not difficult.
Daisy mentally reviewed the entire process, finally confirming everything was in order. She opened her second-hand laptop, used phone positioning to find Sitwell's location, waited for him to reach a public place, hacked several nearby cameras, aimed them at an observable position, and then made the call.
Sitwell, under the camera's gaze, looked a bit confused. Few people knew his private number, and he didn't recognize the incoming call.
He looked around cautiously, hesitated for a moment, then answered the phone.
Daisy activated a pre-prepared voice changer, transforming her voice into a somewhat deep male tone.
"Agent Sitwell, Mr. Whitehall needs your help with something," she said, getting straight to the point.