Chapter 18: The Goddess of Luck Has Never Left, You Just Haven't Noticed Her

After dealing with the matter of the magic hammer, Coulson and Melinda were assigned by Nick Fury to head downstairs to hand over related tasks. Now, the only ones remaining in the Director's office were the idle Annie and Director Nick Fury.

The Director's office was located at the highest point of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, offering a clear view of the scenery outside and the specific details of the indoor airfield below. At this moment, the extremely bored Annie was leaning against the floor-to-ceiling glass of the office.

She was staring intently below, watching the S.H.I.E.L.D. ground crew in the parking area performing maintenance on several strange aircraft. Annie recognized those iron lumps—they were called airplanes! However, these seemed a bit different from the ones she usually saw.

Just as Annie was getting bored and wanted to tell her "Black Charcoal Uncle" that she wanted to go out to play, she suddenly noticed the ground crew clearing a spot for one of the planes. After a group of people gestured with glowing sticks, the strange aircraft started its engines and slowly lifted off vertically. Then, it flew out through a steel gate in the middle of the building, slowly turning invisible as it flew. Before long, it had completely vanished from little Annie's sight.

It could fly *and* turn invisible!?

Although it was only visual invisibility—its sound could still be heard, and it could be clearly sensed through magical perception—Annie felt that even this was quite amazing.

*These interesting things look like so much fun. I suddenly want one!* Annie clenched her small fists in excitement and bit her lip. She swore she would get one no matter what; she would find a way, no matter what! Even if she had to steal it!

*These planes probably all belong to this Black Charcoal Uncle, right?* Annie turned around to look at Director Nick Fury, who was sitting behind the desk.

She was wondering exactly what method she could use to get a plane from him to play with. *Oh no! I really shouldn't have called him One-Eyed Black Charcoal just now. What should I do now? Do I really have to steal it? But I don't think I can bring myself to do that...*

"Shut up, Tiberius! I am not going to apologize to him!" Annie flatly rejected Tiberius's suggestion that she apologize to the man.

Apologize? Not a chance! Annie was always right! Besides, she hadn't said anything wrong; he really was just a one-eyed, black-charcoal man! If he looked like that, was he not allowed to be described?

After Coulson and Melinda left, Director Nick Fury began to carefully observe little Annie, who was leaning against the glass watching the airfield below. After a while, he reached a conclusion: *It seems she really is just a little girl! Watching her lean against the window, getting startled and excited by the airfield below, she's quite adorable! Perhaps I really shouldn't have gotten angry with her just now? After all, children say things without thinking!*

Seeing Annie turn to look at him, Nick Fury was preparing to strike up a casual conversation to pass the time and ease the awkward atmosphere created by their earlier encounter.

But before he could speak, two crisp knocks sounded at the office door, and a middle-aged blonde man in a well-tailored suit walked in with a smile.

"Oh, Minister Pierce! Welcome, welcome!" Nick Fury immediately stood up and stepped forward to embrace Pierce. This Pierce was no ordinary person; he could not be treated with even the slightest negligence.

Alexander Pierce was not only a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. official but also a former Director. He was an old acquaintance of Nick Fury and currently served as an assistant to the Director as well as the head of a vital department.

"Haha, Nick Fury! It's been a long time. You've become quite the busy man since you became Director. How about it? If you have time, let's go for a few drinks?" After the embrace, he began to tease.

"Pierce, you know as well as I do that S.H.I.E.L.D. is overwhelmed right now. Things keep popping up one after another; I'm almost going crazy from the workload! I actually envy you. Since stepping down, I bet life has been much easier, right? Look at you, you look much more energetic than before!" Nick Fury replied with a laugh.

"Oh? Is this the little girl, Annie? How cute!"

Pierce looked toward the little girl standing by the floor-to-ceiling window with feigned surprise. As a high-ranking Minister of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a key member of the World Security Council, Pierce naturally had the authority to access Annie's files! Therefore, he knew all about her; her information was all recorded in the S.H.I.E.L.D. archives.

He had come because he heard a report from his subordinates that Coulson and Melinda had returned to headquarters with a little girl to report! So, he had rushed over to investigate. And here he was, finally getting the chance to see this miraculous alien girl in person.

"That's right, this is Annie! Annie, why don't you say hello to Uncle Pierce?" Nick Fury responded to Pierce with a full smile.

"Hello! It's nice to meet you!"

Annie looked at Nick Fury, then at Pierce, blinked, and suddenly flashed a cunning smile. If Coulson or Melinda, who knew Annie well, were here, they would have known that seeing that smile meant someone was definitely about to have a bad day.

Just a moment ago, Annie had been worrying about how to ask the Black Charcoal Uncle for one of those invisible planes below.

While she was at her wit's end, she heard Tiberius say: *This Earthling in front of you named Pierce has strong hostility toward you!* Out of curiosity, she had secretly cast a mind-reading spell on him. Because Annie was certain she didn't even know him, why would he be hostile? Thus, Annie very much wanted to see why Little Bear said this person harbored ill intentions toward her.

Mind-reading was incredibly effective against Earthlings who lacked magical resistance. Annie easily obtained everything she wanted to know from his mind! After a brief scan, Annie felt that today was her lucky day. This was wonderful! Her plane finally had a lead!

After finally dealing with Pierce and seeing him off, Nick Fury turned around and let out a sigh of relief, only to find Annie looking at him with a triumphant smile. This left him very confused. He looked up and down at his own clothes and wiped his face, but there didn't seem to be anything dirty on it.

"What is it, Annie? Is there a problem?" Nick Fury was baffled. What was going on with this little girl? Why was she suddenly acting so eccentric? What was so funny? Why was she still laughing?

"Black Charcoal Uncle~!" Annie dragged out the words in a spoiled tone, staring at him with ill intent. "How about we make a little deal? What do you think? It'll be lots of fun!"

"What deal? What do you want? Tell me first!" Nick Fury became wary. His agent instincts told him that this little girl was plotting something against him, so he did not blindly agree.

"You give me one of those invisible planes from down there, and I'll give you some very important intelligence. Very, very important!" Annie emphasized the importance of the information.

"What? You actually want a Quinjet? That's impossible! If it's just to go up and play for a bit, that's perfectly fine! But giving one to you is absolutely out of the question!" Without a second thought, Nick Fury rejected her! Was he joking? Give a fighter jet to a little girl? Did she think he owned S.H.I.E.L.D.?

"Don't be so quick to refuse! I just used magic to look into that weird mister's memories, and I found something very interesting! As long as you give me one of those planes outside, I'll tell you. It's a great deal!" Annie pointed at the row of Quinjets on the landing pad below, looking quite smug.

"What? You can use magic to read people's memories?" Director Nick Fury was so shocked he took several steps back! Was this little girl really this overpowered? She could read memories? Then, had all the top-secret information in his head just been seen by her?

"Oh, that's not important! What's important is: that weird mister just said something very bad about your S.H.I.E.L.D.! Are you sure you don't want to make a deal with me?"

Annie had wanted a flying mount ever since she was in the Voodoo lands. Although she knew flying magic, flying herself was too tiring and wasteful of mana, and it was very slow! Originally, the old dragon in the Voodoo lands was the best choice, but it was ungrateful and refused to cooperate, so Annie ended up burning it!

After that, she hadn't found anything suitable, and the matter had been left hanging.

It wasn't until she arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters that Annie's eyes immediately locked onto those things called Quinjets. They could turn invisible, they were fast, and they looked beautiful!

However, because her relationship with the Black Charcoal Uncle had become so strained—they had clashed the moment they met—she hadn't dared to speak up even after thinking about it for a long time. Annie had been holding it in, almost unable to stop herself from just snatching one! But who would have thought that the weird mister who just arrived would provide her with an opportunity?

"Oh? Then tell me first!" Nick Fury remained noncommittal, cautiously keeping his distance from Annie to prevent her from using that memory-reading magic on him again.

***

"Hey! Annie! Are you sure the Director actually gave it to you? You're not joking, are you?" Back at the beach villa, Coulson and Melinda looked at the Quinjet parked on the villa lawn with expressions of utter disbelief! At this moment, Annie was on top of it, directing staff members on the preliminary design and decoration scheme for the plane.

Coulson even suspected whether Annie had used some kind of mind-control magic on the Director. Otherwise, how could the Director possibly give a Quinjet to a little girl? Although this little girl had an extraordinary identity and powerful abilities, there was no need to go that far, was there?

"Of course! Uncle Coulson, Black Charcoal Uncle is actually a man of his word. He really gave this plane to me!" Annie jumped down from the high cockpit door, incidentally giving Nick Fury a "good person" card.

Annie looked at her future private plane with satisfaction. She had decided! From now on, it would be called: *The Princess Annie!*

"Then how exactly did you do it? Can you tell us?" Coulson and Melinda were still completely bewildered.

"I made a little deal with Black Charcoal Uncle using some intelligence!" Annie looked at them triumphantly. "And Black Charcoal Uncle also said that this matter must be kept absolutely secret. I can't tell anyone, including you two."

"..." Coulson and Melinda's mouths twitched, momentarily speechless.

*Keep it secret? You've already said way too much!* It seemed the Director really had given her the plane. Furthermore, the two of them shouldn't investigate this any further; it would likely be a violation of discipline!

After speaking, Annie suddenly floated into the air, circling the plane once! Then, she drifted over to a staff member who was terrified by her sudden display of flight magic, demanding that he paint the plane's exterior a flame-like red, because Annie loved the color of fire! The current grayish paint job was simply too ugly!

(End of Chapter)