Shadow of the Beautiful World

A few hours later, on a small plane flying from Nevada to New York, Merlin, wearing Eric's trench coat and sitting in a wheelchair, was talking to Eric.

Holding a photo album in his hand, he looked at the handsome Eric in the photo, and he couldn't help but say:

Ah, it seems that I did miss a lot. Not only did I fail to attend your graduation ceremony, but I also failed to send you to college in person. Speaking of which, how is Mit's life?

That's it.

Eric, who was sitting on the sofa, said to Merlin while drinking Coke:

It's not as good as I thought it would be, but it's not bad either.

Where's Charlie?

Merlin flipped through the photos, and the next page was a photo of Eric and the girl Charlie. Judging from the background of the photo, it should be at May's house.

A smile appeared on the corner of Merlin's mouth, and he asked:

Has the kid been doing well for a while?

fine.

Eric sat up straight, winked and said to Merlin:

Charlie and Mei get along very well. They often go out shopping together to buy clothes. By the way, Charlie even found a new boyfriend.

oh?

Merlin flipped through the photos and asked casually:

Is it from New York? Is it her classmate at Imperial High School?

It's me! Merlin!

Eric called out:

Didn't I tell you before you left home for Afghanistan that I was going to track down Li? Two months ago, I did!

You bastard, you really are

Merlin raised his head and stared at Eric with slightly angry eyes, who was a little scared.

But a few seconds later, Merlin sighed, and he waved his hand helplessly:

Forget it, this is something for you young people, so I won't participate. But if you dare to do something excessive, I will break your legs, believe it or not?

Hey, this is my first love.

Eric shrugged:

Anyway, have some confidence in me, okay?

Did anything else happen during this period of time?

Merlin closed the album, leaned back in the wheelchair, and said to Eric:

Let's not talk about trivial matters, I mean, has anything major happened recently?

Let me think.

Eric put down the Coke in his hand, and after a while, he moved his fingers and said:

The European Cup football game has started eh, but I suspect that's not what you're asking. Oh, yes, 5 months ago, the President announced a full-scale investigation of the CIA, and it is said that one-fifth of the officials were removed at once. , because there is a serious problem of corruption within them.”

I heard from Coulson that it's all thanks to you.

Colson really dares to say anything casually.

Merlin rubbed his forehead with trembling fingers, and said:

That does have something to do with me, but I can't tell you the rest. What else?

besides

Eric thought hard for a long time before saying hesitantly:

In the past few months, there have been many cases of missing homeless people in New York City. When I chatted with Coulson, he told me that it was because of the active vampire groups in New York recently. Those who disappeared, 70% They were all taken away by vampires.

vampire?

Merlin narrowed his eyes.

Although his thin cheeks now look undisguisedly weak, when he squinted his eyes, the colder temperament still made Eric, who was sitting opposite him, tremble subconsciously Body.

The young man could feel that Merlin seemed to have changed a little after escaping from Afghanistan this time.

When talking about those threats, Merlin's tone and expression became colder than ever.

It's just like

Like a real piece of ice.

Well, I see.

Merlin nodded, he looked at the time displayed in the cabin, and he said to Eric:

It's almost New York, you go home first, I have to go to the office.

You should go home and rest!

Eric said in a worried tone:

An organization as big as S.H.I.E.L.D. can't function without you. You're only going to wear yourself out. Look at what you look like now. Heck, you're 40 pounds lighter than before! You're almost skinny head.

I know.

Merlin waved his hand, he interrupted Eric, he said:

I'll rest. After everything is arranged, S.H.I.E.L.D. is full of talents, but there are some things that I can only do by myself.

Gattler has been running s.d.o.l.d. for me for almost a year.

Merlin moved his fingers with some difficulty, and he said:

I can't bother him too much. He is also very tired. It's time for him to go back to Europe to rest.

Although Merlin's tone was gentle, Eric looked at Merlin's slightly gloomy face, and he could guess from Merlin's expression that Merlin's acting work for that Gartler agent this year should be

Quite dissatisfied.

An hour and 45 minutes later, the small plane landed at SHIELD's corporate airport outside New York City.

When Eric pushed Merlin's wheelchair and walked out of the cabin, not far from their eyes, a black nanny car was already waiting for them.

Agent Coulson, who was wearing a uniform and sunglasses, exuded a serious demeanor, was standing beside the car. When he saw Merlin, his expression changed, and he immediately walked towards Merlin.

Sir, long time no see.

Coulson took off his sunglasses, he squatted down, and looked at Merlin.

Merlin also looked at him, he looked at his subordinate, his younger brother, there was a touch of warmth flowing deep in his eyes. But soon, the warmth in Merlin's eyes disappeared, replaced by a sternness.

When I leave, let you take care of s.d.o.l.d. for me, Coulson.

Merlin says:

On the surface, Gartler is the acting minister, but some of the actions and decision-making power are in your hands. But you see, Coulson, I was away for 7 months, and I fell asleep for another 9 months, more than a year. Time later, when I awoke, I heard news that vampires were ravaging New York

Merlin patted Coulson's hand, and he said softly:

This situation really disappoints me, Coulson.

You'd better give me a reasonable explanation.

Facing Merlin's questioning, Coulson's expression was a little ashamed. He stood up, opened the car door for Merlin, and said:

On the way, sir. Commissioner Fury and Dr. Hall are still waiting for you.

Then let them wait a little longer!

Merlin says:

There is nothing wrong with my body, and compared to the physical examination, I think it is more important to do business.

He waved to Eric who was standing outside the car door, signaling him to go home first. After this car, there is another car that will take Eric back to Hell's Kitchen.

And at the moment the car door closed, Merlin said to Coulson:

Go to the s.d.o.l.d. office first, and call Melinda and Sharon over! And Agent Gartler, I want to know what happened while I was away.

As Coulson drove away from the airport, he said to Merlin who was leaning on the back seat:

Sir, Chief Gatler returned to Europe 4 months ago. The news you sent back before your disappearance let us know in advance the plan of the Ten Rings to move to North America. The European branch launched a targeted operation to intercept Part of the extremists trying to divert.

Because of the conflict with the Ten Rings Gang, the current situation in the European branch is very tense. Chief Gatler has even begun to dispatch agents from North Africa and South America to support him.

oh?

Merlin narrowed his eyes, he didn't expect Gatler to be in trouble now.

That means that the chaos of the alien order in New York has nothing to do with Gartler. In other words, the current vampire chaos in New York is all the problem of your three secret service directors?

Well, so to speak.

Coulson peeked at Merlin's expression through the rearview mirror. He explained:

But it hasn't been this bad all the time, sir. Actually, the vampires have been raging, it's been in the last two months, and it's not the part of the vampires that are native to New York. I mean, the ones who started the riots Guys, a bunch of lawless outsiders.

Outsider?

Merlin frowned.

He knew that creatures like vampires had a strong sense of territory. They were based on families and occupied independent territories. Generally speaking, once a foreign vampire tries to make a living in the territory of another vampire family, he has only two choices.

Either abandon your own family and integrate into a new family.

Or fight with the local vampire family with real guns and grab the territory directly.

But now, according to Coulson, there seems to be a third situation in New York?

Tell me in detail.

Merlin said.

Coulson turned the steering wheel and drove the car towards the new office building of S.H.I.E.L.D. He explained to Merlin behind him:

Sir, you also know that before you left, the 'Blood Clan Presbyterian Council', the 13 American families, although they have been secretly fighting against the order that we and the Magic Congress are promoting, at least they have not confronted us in the open. But recently For a period of time, a split occurred within the Sanguine Elders Council.

The cause of the split was a group of vampires who migrated from South America. They were abnormally not attached to any of the 13 families. Instead, they got mixed up with a group of radical civilian vampires.

Coulson said to Merlin with some headaches:

This directly led to the great increase in the strength of the commoner vampires who were originally suppressed by the 13 families. Under the leadership of a vampire named Dickon Forrest, they began to officially split from the rule of the blood elders. Those lunatics are a group of out-and-out 'big vampires', they claim to overthrow the ignorant rule of the Sanguine Presbyterian Church and establish a new social order of vampires.

The recent disappearance case in New York is just a side event of the friction between the two sides. According to our observation, sir, maybe in a few months, a civil war among vampires will break out on the entire east coast. And this civil war among vampires is definitely It will affect vampires in other parts of North America, and then the problem will really become serious.

It's such a big fuss?

Merlin was a little surprised, and he also understood Coulson's difficulties.

s.d.o.l.d. is just a new department, and its limit of dealing with different kinds of affairs alone is at most A-level incidents.

But as Coulson said about the status quo, the Blood Clan Presbyterian Council that commands North American vampires is split internally, millions of vampires have begun to divide into factions, and they are sharpening their knives to prepare for a vampire civil war. Even if it is just a precursor, it is definitely considered This is an S-level incident.

Even if the turmoil of this kind of division only exists in New York, it is not something that a s.d.o.l.d. with insufficient strength can handle alone.

Is there any action that the Magic Council didn't get involved in?

Merlin asked:

How can those wizards sit back and watch the vampires mess up like this? : :

We're understaffed, sir.

Coulson said helplessly:

The Magic Congress protects the order within the newly established 17 heterogeneous protected areas. At our request, Aurors are sent to patrol and guard three places in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, but this is the power of the Magic Congress in New York. It’s the limit of what they can do. They have to monitor other hotspots throughout North America, and there is really not much power for us.”

The most terrible thing is, Chief Merlin, the internal chaos of the vampires is actually just an introduction. The chaos they cause is like a stone thrown into the water. The waves caused make other aliens also start to move.

Coulson said:

Melinda and I have been busy appeasing other aliens recently. Sharon's operation team has also been hunting down those violent civilian vampire lunatics. Agent Sharon herself was injured. In fact, she is still alive. She is receiving treatment at the SHIELD Hospital.

Is Sharon's injury serious?

Merlin asked with concern.

He once promised the missing Ms. Carter that she would take good care of her niece. If something happened to Sharon, then Merlin would have broken his promise.

This is unacceptable to him.

Actually, it's okay, it's just a skin trauma.

Coulson said:

Several vampires hid outside her apartment and tried to sneak attack her, but Sharon killed her with a holy silver bullet. She was really lucky that she wasn't bitten by those vampires.

Well, it seems that I did blame you all wrong.

Hearing this, Merlin's serious expression softened.

He turned his head and looked out of the car window, his frail, thin face was reflected in the car window, and after a while, Merlin said:

Then go see Fury.

Exactly, I have something to talk to him about.