"What a troublesome Little fellow," Zhou Yi remarked, shaking his head as he watched the awakened girl immediately leap into Natasha's arms without a word.
The girl's intense attachment to Natasha was not a good thing for Zhou Yi, as it meant it would take a great deal of effort to take her away from Natasha.
Having no time for such trouble, Zhou Yi simply tossed the problematic task to Natasha.
"You explain this clearly to her! It wouldn't be right for me to bring it up directly."
Natasha, who had dragged Zhou Yi here intending to introduce him as the girl's future adoptive father, hadn't expected Zhou Yi to be so irresponsible.
So, rolling her eyes, she could only speak to the girl.
"Shirley, this is Zhou Yi. You will be living with him from now on. If you can, I hope you can call him Father. Trust me, he will give you a happy life."
Natasha spoke very sincerely, but the Little Girl named Shirley didn't really give her Face.
She just clung tightly to Natasha's waist, burying her small Face in her embrace, unwilling even to look at Zhou Yi.
In response, Zhou Yi merely whistled and quietly backed out.
He knew it was time for Natasha to give the girl counseling, and his presence inside was inappropriate.
So, he consciously left the two of them space to interact.
Natasha sighed; Shirley's resistance was within her expectations.
But some things did not move according to her will.
Shirley liked her; she knew this because she also liked the Child.
However, she truly lacked the ability to raise this Child.
She was an Agent, or, to put it less kindly, a tool in someone else's hands.
A major reason she didn't want Shirley to stay by her side was that she didn't want her to become like herself.
Among the people who could protect her from being used as a tool and whom she could trust, Zhou Yi was the only choice.
This was also why she agreed with the suggestion put forward by Coulson.
She recognized Zhou Yi's power, and only his kind of power could make those with ulterior motives retract their claws.
"Shirley, I am doing this for your own good. You are still young now and might not understand what I mean."
"But you will understand later. Only by his side can you grow up carefree and become an adult!"
Stroking Shirley's small head, Natasha said with emotion. She didn't want her to encounter the dirty World of adults so early, but sometimes she had no other choice.
Cruel reality always destroys all your beautiful visions, and you can only forever submit before reality.
"I know, Natasha." Shirley's small, blonde head rubbed hard against her embrace, her large eyes filled with crystalline tears, making her look like a heartbreaking porcelain doll.
"But I don't want to leave you. I want to be with you."
"darling, I don't want to leave you either." Natasha kissed her forehead, and tears began to fall from her own eyes.
"But I have no other choice, I'm sorry. Shirley, I can't give you the life you deserve."
"It's okay, Natasha. I don't blame you!" Shirley clumsily reached out to wipe away her tears. The Child, whose life had been fraught with misfortune, showed rare precociousness at this moment.
"I will listen to you, Natasha. But can you promise me that you will visit me often in the future?"
"I will, Darling." Natasha cupped Shirley's small Face and said very solemnly.
"I promise you!"
Having said that, she tightly embraced Shirley in her arms.
Zhou Yi stood outside the tent and lit a cigarette.
He could hear the conversation between the two women. What surprised him was that they had developed such intimate feelings in such a short time.
He didn't know what kind of experiences Natasha had gone through to unleash her maternal side at this moment.
But a woman capable of such emotions was much better than a cold, mechanical being.
Agents were also different; humanized fellows like Natasha and Coulson were always more reassuring than those who only knew how to follow orders.
The sounds of crying and laughter continued inside the tent, and Zhou Yi no longer intended to keep listening.
Being caught eavesdropping would not be easily explained, especially when the woman inside was so difficult to deal with.
To avoid such trouble, he returned to his own tent.
There was a greedy Big Cat there, and a fellow who was still unconscious needing his care.
However, as soon as he entered the tent, Zhou Yi found that the atmosphere inside was not much better than Natasha's—perhaps even worse.
Jill, who had woken up at some unknown time, was coldly staring down Ada Wong, who was watching over her. If gazes could materialize in reality, Zhou Yi could swear that the air was filled with bullets and clashing swords.
Coulson, that fellow, actually ran off without even thinking to warn him. Could such a person even be called a friend?
Zhou Yi felt he was about to despair over that word.
"You two continue. I just came to check on the Big Cat."
Using the Big Cat—who was constantly chewing on an entire beef leg—as an excuse, Zhou Yi gave two dry laughs and prepared to slip away.
But neither of the two people present would let him escape so easily.
"Stop right there, Zhou Yi. What did you do to me?"
He didn't need to look to know this was Jill speaking. She was currently wrapped in a hospital gown, hugging her chest, and staring intently at him.
Her eyes were full of surprise and fury.
The surprise was because she hadn't expected to be alive, and to have undergone obvious changes.
The fury was because she felt like she had been played again.
She had clearly thought she was going to die, which was why she had uttered so much nonsense before her supposed death. Now she hadn't died, but she had almost completely lost Face.
This made Jill feel like she wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.
However, her innate stubbornness made her prefer to blame everything on Zhou Yi.
Everything was Zhou Yi's fault; even if he wasn't wrong, he had to be wrong.
Just as Natasha had said, women were inherently unreasonable beings.
Even women like Jill were no exception.
Facing Jill's interrogation, Zhou Yi thought for a moment and decided to tell her part of the truth.
He pulled up a chair, sat down heavily in front of Jill, and said.
"First, I must tell you that there is no virus in your body. Or rather, there is nothing with any negative effects remaining in your body."
"How is that possible?" Jill murmured, looking at her body, which was free of any wounds.
"Did you inject me with a vaccine?"
"More accurately, it was a type of catalyst!" Zhou Yi interrupted her speculation, explaining.
"This catalyst allowed your cells to devour the virus, turning it into the key that unlocked the evolution within your body.
The virus transformed into the energy required for your evolution, making you stronger, healthier, and younger and more beautiful.
"It made your body achieve its most perfect state, whether in terms of energy, physical ability, or age."
After hearing this, Jill stared blankly at her hands.
Those hands were already different from the ones in her memory. The hands that should have been covered in calluses and scars were now smooth like jade. Her long, slender fingers looked perfect and delicate, not at all like the hands of an elite Police officer, but rather like those of a pampered Young Miss.
"Damn it, this isn't real." Faced with an impossible situation, Jill shook her head and quickly fixed her gaze back on Zhou Yi.
"You must be lying to me. Nothing like that exists. Whatever you did, it has nothing to do with what you just said."
Jill spoke with absolute certainty, as if she had witnessed the entire process.
But Zhou Yi was certain that she had been unconscious at the time and couldn't possibly know what he had done.
So he covered his Face, adopting a look of helplessness.
"Jill, I admit I lied to you, but I never had any intention of harming you.
I paid a huge price to save you.
Even if this still can't change your resentment toward me, at least trust me this once.
The facts are right in front of you, why are you unwilling to admit it?"
"Because the facts presented to you are often what others intentionally want you to see, which means they are nine times out of ten false," Jill answered with a sneer.
"You forget I am a Police officer. I trust my intuition more than evidence."
"Moreover, I have already been tricked by you once, so I absolutely will not be tricked by you a second time."
"Fine, you win." Jill's stubbornness left Zhou Yi no choice but to give up. Since she was unwilling to believe, Zhou Yi would not force her to believe.
In any case, no matter how she questioned him, there would only be this one answer.
This was not only to resolve the doubts in her heart but also to silence certain people.
The anomaly on Jill's body was bound to attract the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., and they would follow the clues from Jill to Zhou Yi.
And only if Zhou Yi insisted that it was the effect of a catalytic vaccine would S.H.I.E.L.D. be unable to deal with him.
No one could force him to hand over something he refused to surrender; this was the confidence of a Superhero.
Jill hadn't expected Zhou Yi to concede so readily. Instead of the pleasure of winning a verbal spar, she felt a surge of annoyance.
An annoyance born of not being taken seriously.
She secretly gritted her teeth and continued her unreasonable behavior.
"Who is she? Why is she next to me?"
Pointing to the composed Ada Wong on the side, Jill's gaze sharpened again.
She looked at Ada Wong as if she were looking at a zombie, full of the urge to attack.
What was this, a natural antagonism between beautiful women?
Should I be glad that Natasha isn't here?
Zhou Yi muttered internally while turning to look at Ada Wong; he needed to know what misunderstanding existed between them.
"This is my newly recruited assistant, Ada Wong. Is there some misunderstanding between you two?"
"Just a small misunderstanding, Boss!" Ada Wong smiled subtly, then looked directly into Jill's eyes.
"Miss Valentine seemed a bit confused about the situation after waking up. She immediately launched an attack against me."
If I hadn't been armed, perhaps you wouldn't be seeing a living me right now.
From that perspective, I should thank you, Boss, for returning in time."
"Is that true, Jill?" Zhou Yi asked Jill, but the answer he received was Jill stubbornly turning her head away.
He could only sigh at this.
"Although I don't really want to manage what happened between you two.
But there is one thing I must state: Umbrella is finished.
Jill, all your enemies are going to be wiped out.
So, change your mindset and live well.
Ada has nothing to do with this matter. You don't need to make the relationship so tense."