Shadow of the Beautiful World

They're called the Ten Rings Gang.

In the back room of the bar, Merlin listened to his alcohol supplier, and Alef, who had lived in Kandahar for generations, told him what he knew.

They have been in Kandahar for a long time. When I was young, I heard from my late grandfather that they had their own power in the city of Kandahar long before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. My grandfather said that there was a period Over time, officials in the city have been killed continuously, and every time there is a bizarre death scene, there will be a sign of the Ten Rings Gang.

My grandfather said that they were a group of forces that appeared on this land very early. It is said that they fled from the east. Those warriors who acted in the dark are like the legendary Assassin Like us, they obeyed a powerful chief who was said to be an immortal saint.

Of course, these are just legendary stories.

Aleph looked at the badge in Merlin's hand with some fear, and said:

My grandpa used those stories as legends to scare me and my siblings, but then, a few years ago, when my business was at its peak, I actually met them.

where?

Merlin asked.

In the mountains south of Kandahar.

Aleph said:

There's a lot of ravines out there, and they're hiding in one of them. A friend of mine took an order for me at the time, saying it was a group of 'jihadists' who wanted a lot of wine. But you know that too. , those who call themselves jihadists are the most paranoid and craziest believers for whom drinking alcohol is a sin.

That shows that they are not sincere, at least not as sincere as they advertise.

Merlin said something, which attracted Aleph's frequent nods.

The wine merchant recalled the experience several years ago, and he said to Merlin:

I was a little hesitant at the time. I also knew the virtues of those jihadists, and I was worried that something would go wrong. But at that time, my business needed funds, so in the end, I took the business.

I went to deliver the goods myself.

Aleph said:

They blindfolded me and went to their base with three trucks full of alcohol.

It was a very remote canyon, full of people, Yuri, many, many people, and it was very messy. I not only saw a lot of weapons piled up in the caves of the Arabs, but they were all very advanced weapons. I And saw the huge, well-tended fields behind that canyon.

At this point, Alef hesitated, whether he was not sure whether he should tell what he saw.

Merlin guessed what Aleph was hesitating about, he said:

Those fields should not be planted with crops, right?

Um.

Aleph nodded, and he said with emphasis:

It's a very evil thing.

Poison x.

Merlin nodded knowingly, now all the key points are connected.

anything else?

Merlin asked, Alef shook his head:

No, that's all. I was scared at the time, because militants always behave inappropriately, but unexpectedly, the transaction went smoothly. I didn't meet their leaders, but The person in charge of handing over paid me very quickly. They also wanted more wine, but I refused.

Although I'm not a particularly sincere person, it's enough to go to that kind of place once.

Oh, that's it.

Merlin was a little disappointed, Aleph gave little news.

Both he and the dead militant said that the Ten Rings' stronghold should be in the mountains south of Kandahar, but there are many canyons in the valley, and it is impossible to locate the Ten Rings' location based on this information alone.

How many are there?

Merlin asked.

At least 400 people!

Aleph recalled a moment, he said:

They opened a cave in the canyon and lived in it. I saw their emblem printed on the tent, which was exactly the same as the emblem in your hand. It looked like something that some jihadist organizations would make. But how to say, Those people struck me as different from the jihadists I've seen before. Like you said, they were, uh, not sincere.

They were more like a group of armed warriors.

Sincere people don't sell sex.

Merlin shook his head:

In your doctrine, that is also a very wrong behavior. I know enough, thank you, Alef, take your father away, and in a few days, I will go to the warehouse where you put the wine, billed you.

Um.

Alef called his sons who were outside to come in, lifted his father up, and was about to leave. And just as he was leaving, he seemed to remember something again, and he said to Merlin:

One more thing. When I left the canyon that time, I seemed to see a few white people.

Um?

Merlin looked at Alef, he frowned and said:

White people, why did they show up in a group of self-proclaimed jihadists?

I was absolutely right.

Aleph said:

Although I only stayed there for less than an hour, I remember them wearing black uniforms, and a few of them were in military uniforms, because they were dressed differently from the others, so I remember them clearly.

Well, I see.

Merlin nodded. He watched Alef leave in a hurry, then returned to the back room, took out his notebook, and wrote down this message on it.

In Merlin's notebook, many pieces of similar information have been written down. In the past few months, the clues of the Ten Rings Gang hiding near this city have become more and more clear.

However, there are still a few.

Some of the most critical.

Merlin didn't just come here for the Ten Rings Gang. Fury sent him here to find out the evidence of large-scale drug trafficking involving the bodies of soldiers who died in battle.

The current situation shows that the Ten Rings Gang should be the provider of those drugs, but Merlin doesn't know much about CIA's local news.

Those of my colleagues have been hiding in this place for too long, and it is not so easy to find them.

CIA has a solid base in Afghanistan. As early as the Cold War, they began to accumulate strength in this strategic location in Central Asia.

After the Soviet Union's failed invasion of Afghanistan, the cia established a secret but stable system here.

If Merlin finally finds out that the evil x-trafficking operation is really involving CIA, it means that CIA's system in Afghanistan may have been rotten from top to bottom.

That is an extremely alarming state of affairs, especially when this war is about to break out.

But what is very troublesome is that because of CIA's decades of operation, they have a large number of people in the local area, and their eyes and ears are all over the land. This forces Merlin to conduct any investigations on CIA carefully.

He can't reveal his identity, he can only wait for the opportunity.

Moreover, there is another troublesome thing that is bothering Merlin now.

This mission, according to Fury's plan, should end within a few months, and Merlin thought so at first, but during his lurking, something terrible happened.

It is now November of 1999, and just a few months ago, an astonishing attack occurred in the United States. The specific situation does not need to be described, but the impact it caused was extremely bad.

Although war has not yet been officially declared, the Ministry of Defense has begun to secretly dispatch troops to Afghanistan to collect necessary war information.

This also means that Fury's plan to keep Merlin away from New York to avoid disaster has completely failed.

According to the news sent by Fury, the search for Merlin within the Ministry of Defense has not stopped.

The actions of Merlin and his team led to the direct exposure of the Seventh District, implicating several plans led by the Ministry of National Defense and being forced to join the supervision of the World Security Council, which meant that the freedom of action of the Ministry of Defense was interfered.

This made the generals very angry.

On the surface, they must admit their mistakes generously.

But in private, they also hate those who do bad things. What's more, Merlin's actions not only slapped the Ministry of National Defense hard on the cheek, but also caused them to lose considerable profits.

If the vengeful generals found out that Merlin was active in Afghanistan, then in this chaotic area far away from the mainland and where SHIELD was weak, they would definitely come up with many ways to get rid of Merlin, the guy who caused them a lot of trouble.

What a headache.

Merlin put down his notebook, and he returned to the bar. He looked at the scenery outside the door seemingly bored, but his mind was running fast.

The direct intervention of the Ministry of National Defense has turned the already chaotic situation in Afghanistan into a catastrophic trend again, and the conflict between the American soldiers who came with revenge and the local armed forces has intensified.

As an outpost of the war, cia's intelligence collection work in Afghanistan has also become more intensive. In this month alone, Merlin has seen the traces left by the agents' actions several times in the nearby blocks.

Merlin seemed to have fallen into a swamp caused by a war. He was stranded by this sudden war in this country that had been in turmoil for decades.

Of course he could abandon the mission and return to New York.

But so much energy has been invested here, and so many clues have been found, even if Fury is willing to give up, Merlin himself is not willing.

He is not a person who likes to do useless work.

It's hard to make a quick breakthrough in the cia's investigation in a short period of time.

Merlin thought with some regret:

Unless I find their base camp and rush in and find the evidence.

Then, change your mind, Ten Rings Gang.

Merlin looked at the badge he was playing with in his fingers, and a general idea had emerged. There was a gleam in his eyes:

It seems that I have to go to the canyon that Aleph mentioned. If he read it correctly, I can get some information about where the white people who appeared in that canyon may be.

After making up his mind, Merlin had to be ready to act.

The mountains in the south of Kandahar are very vast. The entire country is located in the Pamirs. The unique landforms of Afghanistan determine the number of canyons in the mountains, and most of those places are not very suitable for human activities. Some of the canyons are still close to danger. The natural ecology of the desert is extremely harsh.

Even for someone like Merlin, if he wants to explore that place for a long time, he must prepare a lot of necessary things.

After making up his mind, Merlin looked regretfully at the small bar he had opened for several months.

In the past few months, he has maintained a lurk, but he is used to this kind of leisurely life. To be honest, this is the most relaxing period of time he has lived in the past few years since he joined the S.H.I.E.L.D. .

Well, the bar owner's career is coming to an end.

He turned around, poured himself a glass of wine, and added some ice.

He leaned against the bar counter, sipping the cold liquid lightly. In this empty bar except him, Merlin closed his eyes and began to enjoy his last bit of leisure time.

He is a person with strong execution ability. Tomorrow, he will start his own actions.

May all be well.