Shadow of the Beautiful World

beep, beep

There were bursts of busy tones coming from the phone in Pierce's hand.

The old man was a little dazed and lost. He put his mobile phone on the table and walked to the empty window.

He watched everything outside the window.

Chaos in Washington, D.C. was extinguished early on.

Except for the official workers on the street who are cleaning up the mess, it seems to be quiet again here now.

But Pierce knew, beyond the city, all the way north.

In the city where Merlin was, the chaos continued.

The insight system did not achieve a satisfactory result in New York.

There seems to be a kind of magic in that city, which can make everything take an unexpected turn.

Prepare the helicopter!

With his hands behind his back, Pierce said to the Hydra commander waiting behind him:

I'm going to New York.

Boss, it's not a good idea to go there now.

The commander persuaded:

That city hasn't...

I said, I'm going there!

Pierce turned his head, looked at his subordinates behind him, and said:

Which word do you not understand?

Seeing Pierce's cold expression, the subordinate who wanted to say something rationally closed his mouth.

He turned and left to prepare the helicopter the leader needed.

These soldiers who have not betrayed Hydra in the most critical moment are idealists like Pierce.

In other words, they were too severely brainwashed by Hydra's extreme thinking, and they believed that a perfect order would come.

Under the protection of the vision mothership hovering high in the sky, the world will become more peaceful, free from ugly conflicts and tragedies caused by hatred.

They will be the defenders of the world.

They will replace S.H.I.E.L.D. and do better than S.H.I.E.L.D. …

Yes, they believe it.

If you've sent an invitation...

Pierce picked up the cane that was set aside, running his fingers over the top of the cane.

In the orange light, a trace of stubbornness flashed across his old face, and he said:

Then I will respond, Merlin.

The future I will give you, you must accept! You must complete it!

A world armed with order, a better, stronger world... There will be no one better than you...

click

The drawer of Pierce's desk was pulled open by him, and the old man took out a well-maintained pistol from the drawer.

He looked at the cold weapon.

He has used it to knock down many enemies in the Vietnam battlefield, and this weapon has special meaning for him.

Then come on.

Pierce grabbed a handful of bullets, put them in the cylinder, and pocketed the pistol.

Leaning on a cane, he walked out of the office, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

The last battle, ha...

The moment of exiting, it's okay... After all, I didn't die weakly on the bed.

More than 20 minutes later, Pierce's helicopter landed on the tarmac on the left wing of the Trident Building.

Under the maintenance of Hydra soldiers injected with T enhancer, Pierce walked into the hall at the top of the building.

Many people were there waiting for him.

Victoria, long time no see.

Pierce greeted a senior agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., that was Victoria Hand.

A very capable and commanding lady.

She is not a member of Hydra, but she has become one of Pierce's most capable assistants in the golden apple's thinking transformation.

Now she's in charge of cleaning up New York City.

The controlled fake Fury also stood in the crowd.

But he's just a meaningless impostor, and no one pays attention to him.

Pierce, 10 minutes ago, we caught a special person outside the Trident building.

Agent Victoria said to Pierce:

He said he came to see you specially.

Um?

Pierce turned his head and looked at the tablet computer held in Victoria's hand.

On that computer screen, the clown's damn face was grinning exaggeratedly at Pierce.

The guy is locked up in an office somewhere in the building right now, awaiting Pierce's verdict.

he?

Pierce shook his head:

kill him!

OK.

Victoria did not refute, and was about to issue an order immediately.

But the next moment, the clown's scream came from the tablet.

He said:

Big man! Wait, before you gave me a bullet to taste, didn't you wonder why I knew you were going to kill me, but I ran back to throw myself into the trap?

I'm not interested in knowing.

Pierce sat on a chair in the hall, without turning his head, he said:

I don't want to talk to you any more.

In the office where the clown was held, the soldiers who guarded him, wearing combat helmets, had drawn out their pistols and pressed them against the clown's forehead covered in colorful paint.

As long as he pulls the trigger, this evil spirit will be completely wiped out.

At the moment when his life was in crisis, the clown did not show any expression of fear. He said:

You need my help, big man...you know that.

Merlin is coming soon, he wants to do everything right, and he has powerful friends, relying on these crooked melons in your hands, you can't stop him at all...

You know what he's going to do better than I do.

Your ideals have reached the final step. You have spent so much effort to arouse fear in this world, and you have shown your strength. Under the guidance of fear, they will choose to hand over their freedom in exchange for safety.

But, all this 'greatness' came to an abrupt end...

Will you be willing?

Pierce still didn't respond. In front of the clown, the soldier's finger was already on the trigger.

I can help you catch Merlin!

The clown threw out his last trump card.

You don't want him to die, you want him to be one of you, I felt it from the beginning, I can help you catch him! That's why I threw myself into the trap...

I turned the city upside down with a few bombs and a few idiots, but it's not challenging, I haven't had fun yet!

The clown grinned, his wide eyes filled with madness.

He shouted:

Let me play one last time, with Merlin, who will never be defeated, and his friends! One last time!

After playing, I can die at any time...

swish

Pierce raised his finger, but he still didn't look back.

What you said was very good, and even made my heart a little bit, but I have seen what you can do, clown, Arthur...

I've already been bitten once by your mad snake, and I won't make the same mistake again.

People like you... shouldn't have appeared in this world from the beginning.

kill him!

boom

The soldier pulled the trigger at this moment.

But no bullets were ejected from the barrel.

In its place is a small red flagpole that pops up, along with a red cloth strip that says bo.

Ha ha ha ha

The clown laughed wildly, and he casually unfastened the handcuffs that were not closed.

The soldiers beside him also took off their masks, revealing the expressionless face of the divine man Luke Cage.

Judging from Cage's slightly dull eyes, he should also be controlled by the clown with the golden apple.

The clown moved his wrists. He stood up and stood on the chair, completely ignoring the Hydra soldiers who broke into the door behind him.

When the power man swung his fists and knocked the soldiers down, the clown grabbed the camera in front of him.

Pointing the thing at his face, he smiled and said:

You really are the same as Merlin, they are both so difficult to deal with, and you are not as easy to deceive as others...

Okay, okay. I admit I lied, I didn't come to catch Merlin.

But I didn't lie either.

The clown pointed to his face, he looked down at the weird and inferior children's watch on his wrist, and said:

I do want to play games with them, I just need to borrow some of your tools...

Now, it's almost time. Oh, by the way, it's very interesting to act with you, you are a great pretender, old man, let's do a stage play together next time!

Ha ha ha ha

The hydra game is over, the next play, I call it... the clown game!

Snapped

The monitoring screen on the tablet computer became dark at this moment.

Pierce's eyelids twitched, and he shouted to the agents beside him:

Main control room! Go!

Things got out of hand.

No, from the moment he signed the contract with the devil and released the clown, things started to get out of hand.

—————————————

Do you understand what I mean?

In the underground control room at the bottom of the Trident Building, Harley Quinn, the clown girl holding a golden apple, was with her arms akimbo.

She shouted to the staff who were busy manipulating the insight mothership:

Let's start now!

crash

The interference power of the golden apple on thinking exploded from the golden ball in the clown girl's hand, like an open arc. Within the range of influence of this thing, ordinary people were almost powerless to resist.

There are two other people guarding Harley Quinn.

Cloak and dagger.

These two young men were also controlled like Luke Cage.

Actually it's not just them.

According to the clown's instructions, Harley raided the headquarters of the New York Heroes Association with fear gas, and almost wiped out all the street heroes who were gathering there at that time.

She dumped all the gas bombs in a helicopter into the association headquarters.

Under the effect of an excess of fear gas, the heroes froze.

This makes mind interference with the golden apples easier.

The evil duo chose some powerful heroes to follow them into the Trident Building, and the rest of the heroes were dispersed to cause chaos everywhere to divert attention.

Now, the clown's adventure is a success.

Under Harley's order, these agents who manipulated the insight mothership kept rewriting the clearing target of the high-altitude mothership.

A few minutes later, densely packed red dots reappeared on the projection in the main control room.

The number of locked and cleared targets increased at a creepy rate, and within a dozen seconds, it increased to 870,000 people.

But this time, it's not about the mad heroes and escaped criminals.

But... civilians.

The real innocents...

Hey, hello, can you hear it? Can you see it?

At this moment, on all the big outdoor screens throughout New York, including all the TV screens in New York.

Including the news or other programs that are being broadcast live, they are all transferred to another screen in the unique information control state of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The clown's strange face, as well as his sharp voice, also spread throughout the chaotic city at this moment.

Even Merlin, who was making final preparations, was attracted at this moment.

He looked back at the TV in the living room.

On that TV screen, the clown was tossing his bad hair, announcing to the whole city something he decided to do.

Hello, New York friends!

The clown grinned badly, waved his hand at the screen, and said:

I'm the new S.H.I.E.L.D. news special guest, you can call me the clown...

As for me, I'm here to tell you some good news!

I know everyone is feeling scared because of the sudden chaos in the city.

Yes, those bad guys took advantage of the terrible Director Merlin to go out and tried to stir up troubles, making everyone unable to go to work, unable to work.

But you have also seen that our S.H.I.E.L.D. has dispatched a powerful force, and the light shot from the sky can protect you!

Our trial was successful, so we decided to do the next trial.

Come on for a 'slimming' for congested NYC..check this out!

With a wave of the clown's finger, the projection of the mothership's locked target and the fast-jumping locked number appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

He explained:

You may not understand, but it's okay, let Mr. Clown explain it to you.

Those red dots each represent a locked target, and the jumping numbers above represent the number of people that will be killed by this shooting. Well, it is now 885,471 people.

Keep going, brothers, get 90w!

The Joker let out a burst of joyful laughter, and he said to the screen:

As for us, now select 900,000 people from New York City to kill on the street!

Don't worry, everyone, this is completely random, absolutely fair and just, being killed can only mean that you are unlucky...

So, who will be so lucky to be selected?

Haha, the answer is that I don't know either!

The clown's laughter echoed throughout the streets and alleys of New York, and he looked very happy.

But what he said, at this moment, really makes people unable to laugh.

Many people raised their heads blankly, looking at the sky. Above the clouds they couldn't see, the firing devices that penetrated the mothership had already begun to move quickly.

Well, it sounds a bit unfair to decide life and death based on luck alone.

The clown touched his chin, and he said again:

Well, I'll give you a choice... See that beating time?

In the upper left corner of the projection, a 120-minute countdown starts beating rapidly.

There was an odd pleasure in the jester's voice, and he said:

If everyone can kill 50 street heroes or kill 500 mutants within 2 hours, then I will cancel this salvo!

As for me, I always do what I say!

The clown snapped his fingers, and on those screens, besides the projection, two more maps were posted.

A map of New York with pulsating dots of light representing the locations of superheroes and mutants in New York City.

Go, go kill, go make trouble! Turn this city upside down!

The clown screamed, his voice sharpened because of the excitement:

Take up arms if you don't want to die...Fight for yourself and your family, men!

Oh, by the way, don't try to escape...

This mothership can cover the entire east coast. I even installed a bomb on a certain plane at the airport. Hey, I won't tell you which one it is.

You can't escape!

clown said:

Either kill or die! Either get blood on your hands, or wait to be killed!

Okay, dear friends in New York, that's all for today's news...

I wish you a lifetime of happiness, I'm the clown, next time we... er, well, maybe there won't be a next time.

Then farewell, gentlemen.

The figure of the clown appeared on the screen, he pointed to the watch on his wrist, and he said maliciously:

Mr. Merlin, if you're watching, you have 120 minutes to turn the tide and try to save your city. Don't forget to bring the bat with you! I miss him!

Hero...

Let's act!