Shadow of the Beautiful World

Alexander Pierce was sitting in his office. There were many documents on his desk, and above those documents, there was a holographic projection dancing.

Kill me and let this end in blood.

puff

Blood splattered everywhere.

During the projected jump, Merlin took a step forward, pressed his right hand on Gideon Malik's shoulder, and the holy silver hidden sword that popped out from his left hand accurately pierced the chest of the director of the World Security Council. Hesitation, without the slightest hesitation.

The expression on his face also looked very calm, as if he had finished a trivial thing.

Look, it's really chilling.

Pierce looked at the frozen picture in front of him, he wiped his neck subconsciously, and said:

If one day, such a Merlin stands in front of me, it will be really hopeless.

So you have to act first.

A sullen voice rang out from the telephone beside Pierce's desk, like an invisible devil stirring up malevolence, and said:

You can't let him continue to grow stronger. Although I don't understand these magical things, if he can already defeat an evil god, it means that most of the conspiracy methods you can use are against him. has expired.

oh.

Pierce took off his reading glasses, and said calmly:

Your own revenge failed, so you want to borrow a knife to kill someone?

With all due respect, robot, maybe your data module is very advanced, but your level of conspiracy is so bad that it makes people laugh. You don't need to remind me that I have my own method and my own plan.

Now is not the time, it is far from the time.

Pierce, playing with his eyes, said:

Speaking of it, I'm even more curious. How did you secretly take these pictures? I heard that Merlin has a powerful artificial intelligence assisting him. As far as I know, the bugs in his office come from various forces. It never worked.

Hearing Pierce's inquiry, Soundwave sneered, and the Decepticon who specialized in concealment and detection after rebirth said softly:

Judging by your human standards, Miss Icarus is indeed scary enough, but in my opinion, she is just a little girl who has just learned to walk. If she wants to truly understand the secrets of data and machinery, that lady has long way to go.

But even if I want to explain to you the principle of the 'virtual information beacon' I use, it is difficult for you to understand with your engineering level. In short, Mr. Pierce, you just need to understand that as long as I want, I will You can see, you can capture a lot of things that only stay at the data level.”

There was a pause in Soundwave's voice, and after a few seconds it said to Pierce again:

For example, Miss Icarus is about to decipher the data card that poor Mr. Gideon left for Merlin. Sir Pierce, what exactly did you leave in that data card?

That was a surprise.

Pierce picked up the handkerchief and wiped his reading glasses. He said with a smile:

After the death of my old friend Gideon, Merlin still has doubts. I can feel that he still doesn't believe that Hydra is dead. The same is true for Fury. To reassure them completely, they have to take the last step , I have to make some more sacrifices but fortunately, I have prepared for this a long time ago.

Pierce put on his glasses again, picked up his water glass, walked to the window of the office, looked at the city in front of him, took a sip of water, and said softly:

For acting, there must always be a happy ending.

On the other side, in the Trident Building, in Merlin's office, Miss Icarus has reached the final step in deciphering the data card.

Merlin leaned back on the office chair. On the lens in front of his eyes, the progress bar in front of his right eye was slowly increasing while the data flow in his left eye was swiping.

He was also really curious about what kind of information was hidden in the data card he got from Gideon.

Crack complete.

Accompanied by Icarus' gentle voice, the deciphered and complicated data in the form of documents or photos was completely expanded before Merlin's eyes.

It was a summary of many, many tasks, and various financial reports. This should be the work summary within Hydra, and it also includes some personal information of Gideon Malik.

But there was no personnel information that Merlin wanted to see.

Think about it too, Hydra, who has been fighting S.H.I.E.L.D. for so many years, should not be so stupid as to leave a list of all personnel information. To be honest, if the list really appeared, Merlin would doubt its authenticity.

Retrieve this information, Icarus.

Merlin says:

Find out the most valuable ones.

Hold on.

The chaotic data and information in front of Merlin's eyes began to be quickly arranged. Among the briefing-style documents, Merlin also saw the news briefing that recorded the news of the murder of Howard Stark and his wife, as well as a series of civil war information about the Middle East. The summary, as well as some social news from Eastern Europe, reports on the subversion of domestic affairs in several small countries.

This means that behind these things, Hydra is intervening.

In addition to the chaotic and huge data information, Merlin also found a weird little program in the data card. He asked:

What does this program do?

It's a message sending and receiving program.

Icarus ran the program on her own initiative, and after a few seconds, she replied:

It is an internal communication system that uses special white noise to exchange specific information by distributing quantum keys in the gaps between multiple communication frequency bands. It is not advanced in concept, but the design is very Sophisticated, it's hard to detect. This should be Hydra's internal communication program, maybe Gideon Malik sent instructions to his subordinates through this program.

It sounds like the kind of encryption used by secret agents in the Cold War, of course they've added something new to the old method

Merlin rubbed his chin, he said:

This is a perfect opportunity Icarus, keep this program active, turn it into a bug hidden in the Hydra communication frequency band, capture and track and record every communication signal that appears in this frequency band .”

Merlin narrowed his eyes, with a cold light dancing in his eyes, he said:

When enough signals are captured, we can wipe out the remaining dregs.

OK.

Icarus responded. For an advanced artificial intelligence like her, maintaining such a tracking program does not take up too much computing resources. It is also very simple to follow the source of the signal.

A few seconds later, Icarus finished retrieving the information in the data card. She seemed to have discovered something. She hesitated a little, but she still said to Merlin:

Perhaps you should look at this, Lord Merlin.

swish

A briefing-style screenshot appeared in front of Merlin's eyes. It was a document on Hydra's pursuit of traitors.

There are many such documents in the information, Hydra is not monolithic, there will always be people trying to break away from this organization, of course, Hydra's treatment of those who leave is not gentle.

In fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. also has special procedures for dealing with defectors. As far as Merlin knows, Agents Natasha and Patton have two teams of field agents dedicated to tracking defectors.

For an organization with strict rules, if such things as betrayal cannot be dealt with in a timely and effective manner, it will greatly damage the internal unity of the organization.

A traitor's blow to one's own morale is far more terrifying than a powerful enemy.

But the hunting document in front of Merlin's eyes was indeed something special. When it appeared, Merlin's eyes widened immediately. Obviously, the content in it shocked him very much.

He stared at the briefing and the photos on the briefing, which were his very familiar and trusted friends.

John Gartler

Code Clairvoyance

Merlin remained silent. He carefully read every sentence in the briefing, every single word. After more than ten seconds, he stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the crowded highway in front of the Trident Building.

This may be a trap deliberately left by Hydra to sow discord between you and your friends.

Icarus persuaded:

Aren't you also very suspicious that the death of Gideon Malik does not mean that Hydra has completely disappeared. Perhaps, this is just a part of the conspiracy. Calm down, Merlin, calm down.

I'm calm.

Merlin reached out and lit a cigarette. He took a deep breath amidst the rising smoke, and said to Icarus:

Contact Coulson and ask his assistant, Agent Ward, to come see me as quickly as possible. He is Gartler's adopted son, and if I get some bad news from him, then unfortunately, I have to go and talk to John. Let's talk.

A few seconds later, Icarus sent the information requested by Merlin to the mailbox of s.d.o.l.d. Director Phil Coulson. After receiving Coulson's reply, Miss Artificial Intelligence said to Merlin:

With all due respect, Your Excellency Merlin, it doesn't make sense to get too entangled in this matter.

Even though Agent John Gartler was part of Hydra before, he has defected from that organization and cut himself off from them years ago. Perhaps he was once your enemy, but he isn't anymore. Your deliberate pursuit of truths that should be forgotten will only lead to a series of unnecessary troubles.

I know, Icarus, I understand.

Merlin took a deep breath, and said softly:

But I don't have many friends, so each one is very important. I have to ask why, why John is hiding these things.

Maybe, he has his own reasons.

Icarus says:

At least based on my analysis of Agent John Gartler's behavior in recent years, he is very loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Well, is there a reason?

Merlin shook his head:

Then maybe John should be ready to tell me everything he's been hiding.

—

Crack, crack, crack

At the place where the light of the stars originated, in a place shrouded in starlight, on the large gaming table lying across the galaxy, Mr. Overlord, who hadn’t played for a long time, looked at the projected picture, and he looked at Merlin’s face. With a look on his face, he clapped his hands, and he said:

Wonderful, wonderful!

This round of games is really exciting, and the self-derived stories in this world are also tortuous enough. I had completely lost confidence in Hydra, but I didn't expect that this organization would give me another wave of life in the midst of twists and turns. .”

I told the two of you a long time ago.

The elder of the universe who served as the referee stretched out his hands, and he said solemnly:

The bone dice you roll just keep triggering new events, but how those events develop, how they move forward intertwined, the ups and downs of this story are all driven by the actions of the beings themselves who participated in the story of.

You are not destiny, and don't try to play destiny.

The god of death sitting on the other side of the gaming table did not participate in this topic. He stroked the black and white ring on his finger and said:

The life-and-death cycle of this pocket universe is almost complete, it is only a few steps away from the final shaping, and this game is almost over.

Tyrion Dawnblade looked at Cyber ​​Hawk on the other side of the gaming table, and said:

I've almost lost interest in this game.

Oh, is it because you feel like you're about to lose?

Overlord provocatively said:

Why don't you abstain directly, maybe you can give Merlin a real relief before he reaches the end of the story.

You have a good idea.

The god of death said in a cold tone:

I think I have a great advantage. It's always boring to play a game that I've already won, isn't it?

Okay, stop arguing, words are meaningless to win or lose.

The elder of the universe who was the referee stopped the quarrel between the two participants. He looked at the gaming table, and at the center of the gaming table among the stars, on the bone-white fate bone dice, two phantoms that were shining were almost shattered.

The fourth round, the redeemer and the burden bearer are over! Please prepare to start the fifth round of dice rolls. I want to remind you that you still have the last two chances to roll dice.

Old rules, I'll come first.

Overlord pinched his fingers, and the bone-white fate dice jumped into his hands. The guy put his hands together and exhaled between his fingers, like a qualified old gambler.

He waved his wrist and tossed it lightly, and the light and shadow on the six sides of the dice began to dance non-stop until the dice hit the table, and a picture shining brightly appeared in front of his eyes.

It looked like a celebration, many handsome and strong warriors seemed to gather together to celebrate the victory.

Well, the era of heroes and strife has come, hope and despair also blow the trumpet, the chosen people call themselves heroes, and they are ready for praise and victory.

Overlord looked at the picture, he frowned and said:

Well, neither good nor bad, luck can only be said to be so-so.

The Grim Reaper silently picked up the dice, and tossed it casually, the dancing lights and shadows shone, and the moment the dice landed, the shimmering projection was very similar to the scene of the Heroic Age.

But the heroes on the screen who were originally celebrating their victory are brandishing their weapons to resist the enemies coming from all directions, just like reefs and isolated islands that are constantly being washed away by the sea tide.

Age of Chaos

Grim Reaper looked at the picture, and said softly:

Power breeds challenge, challenge breeds conflict, conflict breeds war, war breeds chaos

The monarch who controlled death shook his head. He seemed dissatisfied with the dice he rolled. He glanced at Merlin in the projection, and said softly:

It seems that the era of benevolence is over.

After rolling the dice, I announce the return of fate!

The referee raised his hands, and his voice shook the entire Milky Way amidst the light and shadow beating:

The fifth round begins!

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