Shadow of the Beautiful World

Snapped

The empty wine glass was placed on the bar counter, and in the bar full of people, Merlin's voice was slightly low, and his voice was accompanied by a gloomy voice.

Continued Cup.

That's not like you, Merlin.

Josie, the owner of Josie's bar, turned to look at Merlin.

She and Merlin are old acquaintances. When Merlin moved to Hell's Kitchen, she opened the bar here.

Back then, Josie was a well-known long-sleeved and good dancer in Hell's Kitchen, but now she has become a kind aunt.

And in these years, almost every week, Merlin would come here for a drink with a lady with short hair.

Well, and Hill.

Ever since Merlin brought Hill to Josie's bar for the first time, it has almost become a common habit of the two of them to sit in Josie's bar one day a week.

The stout Russian aunt picked up Merlin's wine glass, and while pouring wine for Merlin, she said:

Why didn't you see your girlfriend today?

Josie, I've said it many times, Hill is not my girlfriend.

Merlin sitting at the bar was smoking a cigarette while saying:

I have to emphasize it almost every time I come.

Yeah?

Aunt Josie put a glass of wine with ice cubes in front of Merlin's eyes.

She lay on the bar and said to Merlin:

But I always feel that the two of you are a good match, especially when you drink and chat together...

She likes you, Merlin, there is no doubt about it. Believe me, I have seen many couples who are close on the surface but disgusting on the inside in my life, but you are different from that Miss Hill...

When you first moved here, you were still a young man. At that time, Miss Hill was with you until now...

Look at you, Merlin, you are not young anymore, and Hill is not young anymore, but every time she looks at you, she still looks exactly the same as ten years ago.

The barkeeper, always warm to acquaintances, chatted with Merlin, and she said:

Don't blame me for talking too much, but you two are really a good match.

Maybe, but it's too late.

Merlin grunted as he stifled the cigarette in the ashtray.

Then he picked up the wine glass, raised his neck as before, and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

There was a trace of melancholy in his eyes.

He looked very much like those middle-aged office workers who were depressed and hopeless, but he had been drinking heavily without a trace of drunkenness.

Maybe he didn't come to get drunk.

Maybe he was just looking for a place to relax and be depressed.

So Hill isn't coming tonight?

Aunt Josie glanced at the door, and then at the lonely Merlin. While wiping the bar with a rag, she said:

You two had a fight?

Well, she has a job, tonight...well, probably won't be able to come for a drink for a long time.

Merlin shook the ice cube of this life, and he said to Aunt Josie:

Hill has been promoted. She is now a commander... er, I mean, a department manager. She manages many people and travels all over the world. She must be very busy recently.

Oh, I got promoted.

Aunt Josie smiled and said:

It's only natural for a girl as capable as Hill to make a career out of it.

Again, Merlin, last time I met your little Matt, he and Fuji came here for a drink. I asked him what you do, but he hesitated and refused to say.

me...

Merlin put the empty glass on the bar, winked at Aunt Josie, and said:

I'm in the same unit as Hill, and I'm still her boss.

Oh, office romance.

The bar owner immediately showed a meaningful smile, and she gave Merlin a thumbs up, she said:

Excellent, no wonder she has been refusing to announce her relationship, that's how it is.

I said you were thinking too much, Josie.

Merlin folded his hands on the bar, and he turned his head to see the crowds in this lively bar.

Josie's Bar is almost becoming a landmark in Hell's Kitchen, and people from other districts hang out here almost every night.

The business here is really good.

After a few seconds, Merlin looked at the bar owner with some bewilderment, and said:

You just said, Matt and Fudge come to your place to drink? You sell them alcohol?

Uh, no, those two boys were coming to drink that day, but I refused, and I gave them each a glass of watermelon juice. It is against the law to sell alcohol to minors...

How shrewd is Josie, the owner of the bar? With a big wave of her hand, she forcibly changed the topic to the other side:

Speaking of which, Merlin, you seem to be in a bad mood today, and you came here to drink alone, what happened?

Huh? Is it so obvious?

Merlin signaled Josie to pour him another glass of wine, while he was shaking the glass, looking at the amber liquid in the glass, his eyes gleamed with faint glints of light.

He said:

Well, it's a bit annoying...

Then tell me.

The bar owner said:

For the sake of you being a regular customer, I would rather take the time to listen to your complaints.

Merlin was silent for a while, he remembered the advice of his personal psychiatrist Zatana, it is not okay to keep these things in your heart.

Maybe, he really should find someone to talk to.

A few seconds later, Merlin took a sip of his wine and said to Josie:

A friend of mine, um, from work.

He is terrible. He belongs to the kind of guy that almost no one likes. He has a gloomy mind and loves to play tricks, but...he is barely a good guy. We cooperated very happily before.

Merlin shrugged, he sighed, and said:

But overnight, he became an unreasonable jerk.

He remembered the quarrel with Fury today again, he took out the cigarette case a little annoyed, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

In the Numbani Industrial Park today, Fury seemed to be a different person, stubborn and rigid, and he didn't know what evil he was.

Witnessing Fury's stubborn reluctance to give up the insight plan made Merlin feel unspeakable worry and anger in his heart.

He was the one who said that he rejected the insight plan.

Now the person who restarts this plan is still him...

Merlin seriously suspects that the sss serum that Fury has been taking has had sequelae, and Fury may have injured his brain when he was attacked before. Merlin couldn't understand Fury's series of actions during this period.

Amid the rising smoke, Merlin said:

He is doing a very dangerous thing, and I am very aware of the danger of that thing, I tried to dissuade him, but...

Merlin sighed and said:

I'm in a bad mood, but there are children at home, so I can only come here to calm down.

A business matter?

The bar owner shrugged her shoulders and said:

It's always annoying. I used to work before I opened the bar.

But I always feel, Merlin, this incident seems to be just an introduction...

In the past, you and Hill would also talk about some work matters, but at that time, Hill was always complaining, and you were listening. You don't seem to be a person who will affect your mood because of trivial things at work.

Josie looked at Merlin, the Russian aunt wiped the table and said:

It must be that you are not very happy in your heart, like a pile of gunpowder kegs, and this terrible thing happened again, a spark that fell into your heart, and then... bang!

The barkeep made an explosive gesture.

Merlin pursed his lips, looked at Josie, and said:

Wow, you are really amazing, Josie, have you discovered all this?

Ha, Merlin.

Josie snorted triumphantly. She shook the waist of the bucket and added another glass of wine to Merlin. She said:

I have dealt with all kinds of people for decades, and I can tell what is on your mind at a glance.

Merlin didn't respond to Josie again.

He had been really bad for a while, the reminder of the parchment made him feel depressed, and today he and Fury had a quarrel.

Indeed, as Josie said, it was a spark that detonated all the negative emotions in Merlin's heart during this period.

this is normal.

Merlin looked at the swaying liquid in the wine glass in his hand, and he could see his slightly distorted face reflected in the wine.

For nearly 40 years of his life, he lived in a game. He was born for this game, prepared for it, and thought about the end every day after he guessed the truth.

And now, the end is coming.

In this case, if he is not nervous at all, it means that he has given up fighting.

In the face of this fateful moment, who is not nervous?

This glass of wine is my treat for you.

Josie stood up straight, and she said to Merlin with her arms crossed:

Men from my hometown have this habit, if they are afraid, if they don't know what to do, they drink a little alcohol and let the alcohol make decisions for them.

Look at you, you look pretty good.

The bar proprietress knocked on the table, she said to Merlin:

Drink this glass of wine and go to fight like a man! There are several younger sisters and younger brothers in your family waiting for you to come home. What's the matter with me! Get out after drinking!

good!

Merlin raised his neck and drank a glass of wine in one gulp. He stood up and put some money on the bar. He said to Josie:

I probably won't be here for a long time...I mean, if I can drink here next time, how about a waiver?

It's good luck for me.

OK.

Josie gestured her middle finger rudely to Merlin, and she said:

Next time, I'll charge you double the drink price.

Hahaha

Merlin smiled and shook his head, he pushed open the door of the bar and walked out.

At this moment, Icarus, who had been silent all the time, said:

Alexander Pierce sent a text message 10 minutes ago, inviting you to visit his home. It is said that it is related to the Insight Project and Nick Fury.

All right.

Merlin stretched out his hand and tugged on the collar, he said:

I'm going to find him too.

swish

The light from the street lamp was slightly distorted, like an open door, and Merlin took a step forward.

In the next second, he stepped in the living room of Pierce's mansion in Washington.

Pierce was sitting on the sofa reading a book when Merlin's sudden appearance startled him.

The old man covered his heart and glared at Merlin, he said:

Before you show up next time, please give me a call and prepare me mentally? I'm over 70 years old, and I'm really afraid that I will be scared to death by you one day.

Don't say that.

Merlin moved his body. He sat on the sofa and said to Pierce:

You're still healthy, Pierce, you've got a long life to live...

Stop comforting me.

Pierce put down the book in his hand, he waved his hand, he said:

I see it very openly. I am not very afraid of death. What I am worried about is other things. For example, I heard that you had a fight with Fury today?

how do you know?

Merlin looked at Pierce in surprise, and he said:

That happened in East Africa. Could it be that you, an old agent, also planted eyeliners in S.H.I.E.L.D.?

What are you thinking?

Pierce picked up the cane by his leg and said:

It was Fury who called me and told me that he was a little aggressive in the afternoon, and asked me to appease you... That guy just couldn't bear his face, as if his face was so expensive.

It's not a question of being appeased or not.

Merlin shook his head, he looked at the old man Pierce, he said:

What I want to know is, about the reboot of Project Insight... did you have a hand in it?

I?

Pierce shook his head calmly:

I didn't. I went to Fury that day to do the abolition process of the insight plan.

But I don't know what he thinks, he suddenly told me that maybe the insight plan can be implemented...

Having said that, the old man frowned, and he said to Merlin:

That's not the point. The point is that Fury told me at the time that he would do a good job of communicating with you, but now it seems that he didn't tell you about it at all, right?

That's not the only thing he didn't tell me.

Merlin looked at Pierce, he said:

Have you noticed that since Fury was attacked by the Winter Soldier, he has become a little...

Pierce's eyelids twitched, but he still asked without changing his face:

You mean, Fury was brainwashed?

No, he did not.

Merlin shook his head:

During the quarrel in the afternoon, I took the opportunity to check that Fury's mind is normal, and there is no sign of brainwashing or controlled thinking.

But he suddenly became so extreme that it made me think in a worse direction.

for example?

Pierce asked:

What's worse?

Such as being replaced.

Merlin narrowed his eyes and said:

You shouldn't have forgotten what happened in 1994...

Skrull?

Pierce's complexion changed drastically, he snapped his cane tightly, and said:

This is a very serious accusation, Merlin, do you have evidence?

I don't.

Merlin shook his head:

This is the worst part. Skrull's soul will change with the change of the body, and it is difficult to find problems with the Desperation Curse.

Unless I kill Fury now and see if his body will change color, there is no way for us to detect whether he is the guy we are familiar with.

And if this poor guess comes true, what is Fury replaced?

Is it when the Winter Soldier attacked? Then the Winter Soldier's attack, was it a situation specially set up by the Skrulls to break into S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Merlin made a series of hypotheses:

Is that Winter Soldier also pretending to be a Skrull? Most importantly, if Fury is a Skrull, how many people in SHIELD are real?

What is he doing to restart the Insight Project at this time?

do not talk!

Pierce put his hand to his forehead and said:

Your guess... Even just thinking about it makes people's scalp tingle.

Merlin, when and where did we first meet?

Pierce asked suddenly.

Merlin blinked and said:

Panama embassy, ​​basement, you were tied up with others, and you were punched twice by the rebels.

Well, you're real.

Pierce rubbed his forehead, there was a gleam of light in his eyes where Merlin didn't see it, and he said:

But what do we do now? If that Fury is fake...

wait!

A trace of coldness flashed in Merlin's eyes, and he said softly:

One more month at most...Carol will be back from Stellaris!

She has the ability to distinguish the Skrulls. Let Fury move around this month. If he is real, it doesn't matter.

But if he's fake, then let him summon all his accomplices to S.H.I.E.L.D., one month later...

them...

Dead!