manynovel Chapter 236 Target: Puerto Rico!
Chapter 236 Target: Puerto Rico!
Chapter 236 Target: Puerto Rico!
Puerto Rico, a magical land, is magical because it is a very good sociological case study that can tell you how the colony operated in the past.
Puerto Rico is a sovereign territory of the United States, but none of its residents have the right to vote or be elected in general elections because Puerto Rico is not a state; it is an overseas dominion. They can elect their own executive officer and government, but only if they meet certain U.S. requirements. They can also elect a commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives, but since the commissioner is not a member of Congress, they have no voting rights.
However, due to its unique geographical location in the Caribbean Sea, it does have a truly unique advantage in astronomical observation and research; otherwise, the United States would not have placed its "Sky Eye," the Arecibo Radio Telescope, here.
"Well...we'll be arriving at San Juan International Airport soon. Most of your trip will be in San Juan. Researchers from Stanford Research Center, the National Science Foundation, and Cornell University, who will be in charge of managing the telescopes, will lead you through various scientific activities and experiments. Once you disembark, the relevant staff will arrive. Please follow their instructions."
The teacher leading the group said what was expected. After all, even if you take away the two and a half days for the round trip by plane, the students would still have to stay in Puerto Rico for a full four days, and it was impossible for them to go to see the radio telescope all of them.
Peter watched the landmarks draw ever closer, reflecting on the preparations he'd made for this trip over the past two days. First, there was the capture of Tombstone and his drug cartel, then the Venom issue—though not yet resolved, at least a direction had been found. Besides that, he'd also been responsible for escorting prisoners into the Raft Prison, and had the opportunity to visit them as well.
He was probably the Avenger who cared most about the Raft Prison. After all, it's common knowledge that once a prison is built, the chances of it being broken into increase dramatically. So he went to check on the Raft Prison and had a friendly chat with the supervillains who had been captured there.
Including playing blackjack with Deadpool for a full half hour, just the two of them.
Furthermore, another aspect of Raft Prison that Peter should be concerned about is their jailer, Ultron. Because Otto Octavia hacked into Ultron II's system using his electronic vocal cords, and given the ineffectiveness of the temporarily upgraded Ultron III in combat against symbiotes, Pym is accelerating his research into Ultron IV. The good news is that Ultron's underlying logic has been reprogrammed; it's no longer the vague notion of "helping humanity achieve peace," but rather the concrete goal of "assisting the Avengers in their operations."
Hopefully... it won't turn into an Omnic Crisis.
Besides, Peter hadn't had a proper rest in a long time, so this week's trip from New York to the Caribbean was a good opportunity for him to relax. Puerto Rico isn't like New York City, so there probably aren't any supervillains there.
"Peter, the schedule is almost entirely afternoons with activities; the mornings are basically free time." Gwen, sitting to Peter's right next to him by the aisle, checked the schedule on her phone and asked Peter curiously, "Do you have any plans for spending this time?"
"That's the biggest problem: I don't have any plans."
"Didn't you say your detective agency has team-building activities? What are they?"
"That was at night, a four-hour Cthulhu role-playing game every day, but there were no Cthulhu monsters, only deduction. Some senior students wrote modules and acted as moderators, while other club members played the deductions."
In other words, Peter Parker's daytime hours are free.
Gwen raised an eyebrow and began searching for places to visit nearby. As for Cindy, who was sitting to Peter's left by the window, she was reading as usual and didn't seem to intend to get involved in the conversation.
The plane landed quickly at the airport, and somewhat unexpectedly, Peter and his group were told they didn't need to leave through the normal channels. Staff at the Arecibo Observatory had arranged two buses for them to go directly to their hotel. Peter was puzzled and curious about this arrangement, and looked around curiously. His spider-sense told him that everything was fine.
In fact, it wasn't just him; almost all the students started discussing it. After all, a large portion of the students participating in this event were members of the detective club, and they were quite sensitive to unexpected situations and irrational behavior. They immediately began discussing why they were doing this and whether something had gone wrong. The bookworms' curiosity and boundless imagination were unleashed.
"Peter, Peter, has something happened?"
Harry, curious, leaned closer and asked, "Any rumors?"
"No, everything is normal in Puerto Rico."
Peter said irritably, then looked at Cindy. The Avengers hadn't found anything wrong in Puerto Rico, so what about S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Cindy simply shook her head, indicating that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know either.
Just as the nerds were arguing, a clear, fake cough interrupted the conversation. A tall, female officer in an air force uniform stepped off the bus. She had long blonde hair, was not wearing a military cap, and simply stood in front of the students with her hands behind her back.
Most of the students gasped in surprise because the female officer, who looked to be in her early twenties, tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, was really beautiful, beyond the reach of most bookworms.
"Hello, kids. I know you have some concerns, which is normal. After all, this is a somewhat unreasonable arrangement. Actually, we did it this way for a reason. This visit is to find students from high schools across the United States who are interested in and have potential in astronomy and cosmology for observation. If you have excellent academic performance and talent in related research, the Pentagon will pay your full tuition and cover all your student loans."
The bookworms were even more astonished, and some even asked why they didn't just go directly to the university or find some capable professors.
"Because we are undertaking a plan for the next 100 years, and this is a rapidly changing era, we need young people with innovative thinking."
The female officer chose to evade the question with roundabout talk, and then introduced herself with a smile: "Hello everyone, I am Carol Danvers, the security director for the U.S. Army's Project Pegasus and Arecibo Observatory."
To reiterate, if there's a problem with the punctuation, it's an issue with the starting point. Everything is normal in the author's backend, so even if you point it out, it can't be changed because there's no problem there.
(End of this chapter)