Shadow of the Beautiful World

Another morning came, the sun pierced the darkness and sprinkled into the city, illuminating the world, but some corners were still occupied by darkness, and in those darkness, things that ordinary people could not know were still happening.

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Victoria's steel sword was on the neck of a killer. He looked very old, with white hair and a neat suit. He looked like an insurance salesman with a successful career.

The old man's body is a bit bent, he is no longer young, but maybe the temptation of money is endless, and maybe it is to maintain the dignity of the Assassin League. In short, such an old guy who should have retired long ago also joined the team In the hunt of three young assassins.

But he failed.

At his feet, there was a sniper rifle cut off by a sharp blade. He was holding a dagger in his left hand, but his wrist was cut by a sharp blade, preventing him from fighting back.

The cold long sword was on the neck, and it might cut off the neck in the next moment.

The old killer sighed, he dropped the dagger, leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, as if waiting for the arrival of death.

He is a high-ranking member of the League of Assassins in New York, and one of the most powerful assassins at the Continental Hotel in New York. He is Talia's absolute confidant, but unfortunately, he still lost.

But Victoria did not cut the sword.

His body was scarred and exhausted from the night of chaos, but Victoria, a well-trained military doctor, raised his wrist and looked at the time. On the black dial, the hour and minute hands pointed to the 8 o'clock position.

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Victoria put the sword back into its sheath, and she stretched out her hand towards the old killer in front of her. She said:

Mr. Marcus, the time is up, the hunt is over...

I still remember how you took care of us when we joined the League of Assassins, you are a respectable senior, but IMHO, you should enjoy your retirement instead of continuing to do these 'dangerous' work.

The old killer opened his eyes and glanced at Victoria. He shook his head and sighed regretfully, then grabbed Victoria's hand and let her pull him up from the ground.

The old man covered the wound on his left arm and said to Victoria:

I didn't even plan to come. Ms. Thalia gave us temporary orders in order to make our loss less ugly... But the era of the League of Assassins may really be over. You young people, you are really sorry gone.

A corrupt system has no future.

Victoria turned her head to look at the sunlight overhead, and said:

The Assassin legacy that has been discarded should also be re-executed... This is just the beginning, Mr. Marcus, never stand in front of the Brotherhood, but now, please allow me to say goodbye.

The young Assassin girl turned around and walked into the dark alley, her steps faltered a bit. It was not easy to defeat the old man, but it didn't matter, they won.

Having completed their trials, it was time to truly begin rebuilding the Brotherhood.

At the same moment when the three young men completed the hunting trial, in the room on the second floor of the Continental Hotel, Merlin put the pocket watch back into his pocket, and then threw a portable animus virtual instrument to Tully who was sitting beside him sullenly. ya, he said:

Here, you can try it first. You can take it as a game to pass the time, or take it as an answer.

Under the sunshine outside the window, Merlin said softly:

What are real assassins? Where did their power come from? What role did assassins play in human history... All your questions can be answered from those ancient memories.

Talia, you are also the daughter of an assassin, and you also have the blood of an assassin...

Merlin cast the transfer spell, and his figure quickly disappeared into the room amidst the distortion of the light, but his voice still echoed in the room:

Your father was also a member of the fraternity. Listen to the history and don't let him down.

After Merlin disappeared, Thalia with an indifferent face turned her head to look at the black animus virtual instrument thrown by Merlin on the table. She stared at it with suspicion in her eyes.

During Lars al Ghul's lifetime, he never revealed information about the Brotherhood of Assassins to her.

Maybe it was Talia's growth that made him feel disappointed, maybe it was to protect his daughter from intervening in the eternal struggle between the Assassins and the Templars. But after the death of Master Ninja, Thalia inherited the withered League of Assassins, and she also learned those seemingly absurd stories from the secret volume left by her father.

She's...not a person of faith.

But now, after witnessing how the three young men defeated the assassins of the League of Assassins in the dark, Thalia also became interested in this mysterious inheritance.

Maybe... maybe she should pay due respect to myths and legends, maybe, as Merlin said, she should try... to become a real assassin?

In this conflicted state of mind, Thalia reached out her hand, and after confirming that the black instrument was not filled with bombs or other deadly mechanisms, she put the virtual instrument on her head.

The white light danced in front of her eyes, as if searching for past memories and inheritance in blood and genes. After a few seconds, a picture unfolded in front of Talia.

The yellow sand is long, the desert is smoky, and in the sandstorm that covers the sky, a man with a camel is struggling to move forward in the wind and sand.

Thalia looked at the man staggering forward from a third-party perspective, and she felt that this man's back was very familiar...

Father?

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Merlin's figure appeared in the ghost base. He was already familiar with this place, so his teleportation landed on the destination he wanted to go very accurately.

In front of him was the biology research room at the bottom of the ghost base. Through the glass door, he could clearly see Dr. Moira and Miss Lillian busy in the lab.

Speaking of which, the biological laboratory should have been located on the basement floor like the data room, but because of a problem with Dr. Moira's experiment last time, after most of the staff in the base suffered from food poisoning incidents, this experiment The room was moved to a more safe place.

Merlin pushed open the door and walked into the laboratory.

Hi Lillian, the dress is beautiful and it suits you very well.

He greeted researcher Miss Lillian, who looked up and gave him a sweet smile. The young botanist asked:

Sir, are you here to inspect the work?

I just want to see the subordinates who are working hard, and encourage them by the way.

Merlin made a serious joke, he turned his head to look at the enclosed area behind the laboratory, his expression became a little more serious:

Yes, I'm here to check on the progress of the 'dress change' plan, I think you should give me some good news.

Come with me.

Dr. Moira, who was wearing a white coat, put down the petri dish in her hand, brushed her hair, and said to Merlin:

It just so happens that the third batch of transformations is underway. In addition, when Lilian and I were sorting out the research materials of a.i.m, we discovered something interesting. I think you might be interested, but we can talk about this later.

Under the leadership of Dr. Moira, who was walking on high heels, Merlin entered the transformation chamber connected to the biology laboratory after going through triple identity verification. This is a fairly empty area, with nearly 30 silver-gray transformation chambers placed.

The shape of these transformation chambers is like an enlarged hamster cage, but the principle of their operation is not much different from the first-generation transformation chamber designed by Vivian.

The temperature here is so low that even ordinary people feel cold.

Merlin walked to the front of the transformation chamber closest to him. He reached out and brushed the ice mist on the glass of the transformation chamber. Through the glass, he saw a young man lying in the transformation chamber, in the deep sleep brought by the low temperature, Four hoses that continuously deliver various liquids are connected to his body, and a special vital sign instrument monitors the transformation process in real time.

Merlin noticed that there was this soldier's personal information on the nameplate next to the transformation chamber.

Experiment No. 76: Jack Morrison.

Merlin looked at the nameplate, and on Icarus' lens, information about this soldier was quickly listed.

He was a captain of the Army's 107th Corps, participated in the Afghan War, and joined the Logistics Department of the European Division of S.H.I.E.L.D. last year after retiring due to injuries. He became a Level 4 agent last year because of his outstanding performance and dedication.

Merlin looked at the profile of Jack Morrison. This agent voluntarily applied to enter the Clothing Change program because he wanted to cure his handicap.

And the approver of his involvement in the program is... Gartler.

Not at all what Merlin expected.

Same sickness and pity for each other, ha.

Merlin stared at the soldiers in the transformation chamber, he shook his head, and didn't pay any more attention to him.

The experimental subjects included in the first phase of the costume change plan are all internal members of S.H.I.E.L.D. At least at this stage, Fury has no plans to share this body enhancement technology with other organizations, which is also Merlin's idea.

The transformation of the witcher was originally a mysterious magic experiment, but with the help of advanced technology, after several years of hard work by excellent researchers such as Moira and Lillian, s.d.o.l.d. finally mastered all the variables in this ritual, The enhancement technology has finally matured, and it has entered the mass production stage.

These mass-produced versions of the Aegis Demon Hunter are destined to be a trump card that S.H.I.E.L.D. can play in its future affairs.

Lilian's girl is amazingly talented in the field of botany. She creatively integrated her research on plant regeneration cells into the process of 'mutational transformation', making the transformation that was originally full of pain into what it is now.

In the cold transformation room, Ms. Moira softly introduced the progress of the 'dress change' plan to Merlin:

The low-temperature environment puts the subject into a deep sleep, and the mutation-inducing agent is injected into the body without consciousness, but the neutralizing agent mixed with the plant regeneration gene will also be injected at the same time.

You should be very clear that the process of transformation is actually tearing apart the original mortal body, and with the help of heterogeneous genes, reshape the extraordinary physique for the experimental body and inject new, unfamiliar power.

This tearing process will bring terrible pain, but the plant regeneration gene neutralizer cultivated by Lilian has changed this process. It will make the cells of the human body stronger and more plastic. Complete the mutation transformation of the body without being torn apart.

Ms Moira said in a very academic tone:

Lilian's efforts made this transformation, which was originally full of pain and despair, safer and more controllable. The transformation of the first and second batch of 60 Aegis demon hunters was all successful, and there was no personality or emotional change. Confused.

The only disadvantage is that due to the influence of plant neutralizers, compared with your 'original', the newly born second-generation demon hunters will have a slightly weaker perception of magic power, and their physical fitness and growth will also be affected. ...but they are still 'super soldiers' in the eyes of ordinary people, and they fully meet the requirements of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Um.

Merlin nodded. From his perception, the breath of life of the individuals in the 30 transformation chambers in front of him was indeed much stronger than that of ordinary people, but weaker than the first generation of demon hunters he personally transformed.

But as Moira said, what S.H.I.E.L.D. needs is a group of super soldiers who can intervene in different situations. Quantity is a very important factor. The weakening of individual strength can be filled by quantity. From this point of view, The dress change program was undoubtedly a success.

The mass-produced version is always a bit worse than the handmade version. It takes more time to grow up as an instant fighter. Everyone can understand this.

Merlin patted the transformation chamber beside his hand, he looked back at Moira, and asked:

How long will it take for this group of Aegis demon hunters to complete the transformation?

Due to the adoption of new technology, their conversion time will be longer. About a month later, SHIELD will harvest another 30 demon hunters, then the fourth batch, the fifth batch, until the final completion 1510 quota, it may take several years.

Moira said in a familiar way:

But if you can grant us more funds and make more transformation chambers, then the progress of the 'refitting' plan will proceed faster.

There's no need to go any faster.

Merlin shook his head, he explained:

A qualified demon hunter does not only need to complete the transformation. Recasting an extraordinary body is only the first step. They also need to go through systematic learning of alchemy, swordsmanship, magic seal, etc. These trainings take a lot of time and resources, the current progress is just right.”

He looked at the silver-gray conversion chamber in front of him, and said:

Besides, we have already mastered this technology. After the Aegis Demon Hunter's tactical system is fully mature, we can carry out large-scale expansion at any time... It's just a matter of time.

All right.

Moira didn't care that her suggestion was rejected, she continued to introduce the current situation of the dress change plan to Merlin, and Merlin followed Moira around the entire transformation room, after confirming that the dress change plan was steadily advancing , Merlin marked a √ in the column of the dress change plan in Icarus' database, which represented success.

He has a lot of things to focus on now. Without the help of Icarus, who has strong computing power, Merlin and his assistant Sharon would be busy without touching the ground.

You just said that you found something interesting?

After walking out of the transformation chamber, Merlin said to Moira:

What is it?

The 'Reaper' project.

Moira answered seriously:

We have successfully restored all the steps of the 'Reaper' variant studied by a.i.m. If you think it is necessary, we can restart this research at any time.

Oh, I remember.

Merlin rubbed his chin, he said with great interest:

Is that the black mist mutant made after my combat style?

It's interesting...take me to have a look.