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Ch. 258 The Female Hacker Skye
🕑 Added 2024-01-09 16:00:07 +0000 UTCNot long after Russell publicly revealed himself as the superhero Serum, reporters dug up information about Diana being his girlfriend.
While some reporters had secretly investigated Diana's identity, none of them had uncovered her true identity until now.
Speaking of this, it's worth mentioning S.H.I.E.L.D.
As a professional global official intelligence and espionage organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. was indeed skilled in forging documents.
Fortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D. did not engage in the business of providing fake credentials; otherwise, the fake credentials they produced could be even more authentic than the real ones.
When Diana appeared, the flashlights and reporters' attention that had been focused on Russell shifted to her.
Despite being targeted by various cameras, Diana remained extremely composed, displaying no signs of nervousness. She exuded an indescribable grace and nobility, standing there with an air of regal elegance.
Unlike Kara, Peter, and others, Russell had not prepared any briefing materials in advance for Diana to handle reporter questions.
It wasn't that he forgot; it simply wasn't necessary.
Although Diana had disguised herself as an ordinary person before, as a superhero, she had seen grander events than Russell. Even if the audience consisted of ordinary human reporters, she wouldn't be flustered, let alone if she were facing demons from hell or creatures from the abyss.
After Diana arrived by his side, Russell took a step back voluntarily, giving her the podium. He stood behind her like an assistant.
Seeing his action, the reporters, who had prepared various questions, began their inquiries.
While the questions from the reporters were diverse, some of them were tricky, designed with word traps. However, Diana's responses were flawless.
Some questions even stumped Russell, leaving him wondering how to answer, but Diana provided perfect answers without hesitation.
Watching Diana calmly respond to various questions from the reporters, Russell silently applauded the education of the ruler of Themyscira.
That's what elite education looked like!
If it weren't for Diana's more fashionable and casual attire, she could easily pass for a White House spokesperson.
The reporters continued to ask a variety of questions, and Diana adeptly defused them with ease.
Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, more than an hour had gone by. Russell checked his antique Patek Philippe wristwatch and decided to conclude the press conference, which had overrun by half an hour.
After Diana provided yet another flawless response, Russell stepped forward, took Diana's hand—delicate, smooth, and seemingly fragile—though lacking any actual weakness.
While he hadn't spoken yet, Diana immediately understood his intention.
She gracefully stepped aside, turning the microphone in Russell's direction.
Although many questions from the reporters remained unanswered, Russell had no intention of letting them continue. Under the reporters' watchful eyes, he concluded the press conference using official language.
After the press conference, Russell and Diana took a private elevator back to the Chairman's office on the top floor.
Originally, Russell had planned to discuss Diana's official membership in the Justice League with her.
However, he had forgotten one thing.
His golden-haired secretary, Ellie, was not only sporting twin ponytails today but also dressed in a JK style that didn't quite match the corporate environment.
Although Ellie hadn't come to work in an actual Japan JK uniform, her attire today bore the distinct characteristics of the JK style.
A deep blue plaid pleated skirt, a white blouse reminiscent of a sailor uniform, a Kansai collar, black leather shoes, black knee-high socks...
While Diana had never dressed in JK style, she was well-versed in it as a woman, especially considering Russell's interest in Japan anime and games.
Ellie's desk was located to the right of Russell's office door, the usual placement for a secretary's desk.
Russell started explaining, "The company doesn't have a dress code for employees. This must be Ellie's personal preference."
Russell began explaining.
"But isn't this more than just your secretary's personal preference?" Diana raised an eyebrow, asking.
"I don't know!" Russell replied earnestly.
While he knew that Ellie would dress this way, it was likely because he had instructed her to do so, but Diana didn't pursue the matter further.
She was an accommodating woman, especially when it came to indulging Russell's quirks.
Seeing that Diana wasn't going to pursue the issue further, Russell took Diana's hand and quickened his pace, leading her into the office.
After closing the office door, he finally felt a sense of relief.
As Diana sat on the sofa in the reception area, Russell retrieved a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and poured himself and Diana a drink.
After filling their glasses, he turned to Diana and said, "Now that your identity is public, I'd like to appoint you as the new head of the Justice League, if you don't mind."
While taking on the role of the Justice League's leader could help him gain more recognition and fame, Russell had considered this move even before the Justice League was formally established. It wasn't about being a figurehead; it was because he believed that Diana was better suited to lead a superhero team than he was.
Diana didn't immediately respond but instead picked up her glass and took a sip.
After tasting the whiskey in her glass, she set it down and said to Russell, "Do you have any other plans?"
"It's not really a new plan; I just believe that you are better suited to lead the Justice League than I am."
Russell explained slowly.
"Alright, since you don't want to continue being the head of the Justice League, I'll take on the role. Besides, I don't need to work at the museum anymore."
Diana's flawless face displayed a warm smile.
"Mm."
Russell expected Diana to agree, and her acceptance didn't surprise him.
Although he hadn't discussed this with Diana in advance, once he proposed it, Diana was unlikely to refuse. Unless Diana wanted to be a hands-off leader like him.
After discussing this matter, Russell set down his glass, turned his wrist, and retrieved the Space Stone from the system space.
"This is the Space Stone, the true source of power for the Cosmic Cube."
"Now that you're the new head of the Justice League, I'll leave the research on the Space Stone to you."
Russell handed the Space Stone to Diana.
Taking the Space Stone and examining it with a puzzled look, Diana spoke slowly, "Alright."
Having delegated the responsibilities of the Justice League's head and the task of researching the Space Stone to Diana, Russell felt considerably relieved.
While he hadn't had many responsibilities as the former head of the Justice League and couldn't personally conduct the research on the Space Stone, any task, no matter how small, was still a task.
After spending about half an hour in the office with Diana, Russell and Diana left the Octopus Monster headquarters and flew to the Justice League headquarters.
Diana's appointment as the new head of the Justice League didn't require a separate press conference. As long as the Justice League continued its activities, there would be plenty of opportunities to announce this in the future.
Upon arriving at the Justice League headquarters, Russell had No. 3 inform Diana of some confidential information within the Justice League.
This included things like the heavily guarded brainwashing chamber, the mind control techniques employed by HYDRA, the secretive cooperation with the Brotherhood, the origins of the White Zetsu warriors, and the progress of the development of the Cosmic Cube energy weapons, and more.
Although Russell had briefly mentioned some of these things to Diana before, her understanding had been limited. Diana had a general idea of their existence, but she wasn't aware of the specific details or developments.
Now that Diana was the new head of the Justice League, she had the right to know what activities the Justice League was currently engaged in.
Although the Justice League was involved in various covert activities, dealing with these issues wouldn't be difficult for Diana, who had received an education from the ruler of Themyscira.
In addition to sharing these things that only he and No. 3 knew with Diana, Russell also informed her of his plan to become the new leader of the HYDRA faction as soon as possible.
He had already instructed Bakshi to warn the HYDRA faction led by Pierce.
The word was already out, and Russell had no intention of delaying further. As for Diana's reaction to his decision, she didn't comment on it.
While HYDRA was portrayed as a ruthless evil organization in official propaganda, Diana was not the type to be easily swayed by official narratives. HYDRA may not be a righteous organization, but the official agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D. and the CIA weren't any cleaner than HYDRA.
When Diana began to understand some of the current activities of the Justice League with No. 3's assistance, Russell went to the room with the Cloak of Levitation and started playing a game with it.
Although he had handed over the Justice League matters to Diana, he didn't plan to contact Bakshi immediately.
Bakshi side had yet to receive a response from other branches of HYDRA, and Russell didn't mind giving them another day.
Time passed slowly.
Just as Russell and the Cloak of Levitation were engrossed in the game and couldn't pull themselves away, No. 3's voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"Sir, we have confirmed Skye, the female hacker from Rising Tide's whereabouts. Should we arrange for contact now?"
While Russell had only asked No. 3 to investigate Skye's information yesterday, as a thoughtful artificial intelligence, No. 3 knew his master's personality and preferences well.
"Project her here!" Russell put down the game controller and instructed No. 3.
"Understood, sir."
As soon as he spoke, a holographic virtual screen appeared in front of Russell.
Although Skye hadn't awakened her seismic powers yet, she had already gained some fame in the hacking community.
A significant portion of her reputation came from the Rising Tide organization. However, as a rare female hacker in the community, Skye was quite popular, even if she had never shown her true face online.
Skye's current appearance was different from what most people in the hacking community might expect.
Her mixed Asian heritage, black hair, and petite figure, along with her early twenties age, made her look like any other college student. At first glance, she didn't seem like a hacker.
While Skye hadn't revealed her true appearance online, finding photos or videos of her was not difficult for No. 3.
If it weren't for Skye being cautious about concealing her identity, No. 3 would have been able to gather information about her within an hour, rather than taking a whole day as it had now.
After reviewing the information collected by No. 3 and the public surveillance footage obtained from government agencies, Russell asked, "Has anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. made contact with her?"
If he remembered correctly, Phil Coulson had begun to contact Skye after the Battle of New York.
After being fatally wounded by Loki's scepter and healed with Kree blood and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s advanced technology, Nick Fury had tasked Coulson with assembling a team.
Their first mission was to investigate the Rising Tide organization.
It was around this time that Skye had contact with Coulson and his team and was eventually recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D.
Although the Battle of New York had only recently concluded, there were many differences between this world and the Marvel Universe that Russell remembered.
In his memories, Coulson had never become the director of the New York branch of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Based on the current information, S.H.I.E.L.D. has not made contact with Skye. However, Rising Tide did attempt to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D., so it's possible that S.H.I.E.L.D. already has some information on some of Rising Tide's members."
No. 3 replied promptly.
"Find a way to infiltrate Skye's current phone or computer to test her hacking skills."
"Understood, sir."
