Early the next morning, Merlin arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters building in downtown New York as promised.

The exact location of the building is kept secret, and from the outside, it doesn't look like a secret agency at all, but rather like a growing number of high-rise office buildings.

As far as Merlin knows, there are three office buildings like this in S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York City alone, and each building is responsible for handling different affairs.

Fury had been looking for a place around New York to build a real headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was difficult.

Not to mention the funds needed to build the new headquarters, Fury's proposal would have been difficult to pass by Congress because of the secret nature of the work alone.

But in 1995, things changed.

At Peirce's suggestion, S.H.I.E.L.D. was transformed from a national defense organization into an operations and logistics organization under the World Security Council.

In other words, Merlin's institution began to turn from the shadows to the foreground.

Isn't it normal for a large, ostensibly new, international organization to have its own office building in bustling New York City, as a large, ostensibly international organization?

According to the grapevine that Merlin had heard recently, Fury's proposal for a new headquarters had already begun to be discussed in Congress, and it was heard that there was a high probability of passing.

It is said that Fury has already given a name to the new headquarters building, which has not yet been shadowed.

He's going to call it the Trident Building.

Well... This is very much in line with Fury's nomenclature style, which has always been a little secondary.

Of course, Merlin didn't care about these things. Three years have passed since he joined S.H.I.E.L.D., but the amount of time he has worked in the office building is almost a handful.

From the day Merlin became an agent, he seemed to be outside the main structure of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fury needs Merlin to deal with some sudden paranormal phenomena for him, and supernatural phenomena are notoriously mysterious, and these matters that cannot be known by ordinary people need to be kept secret, and even Merlin's name is sealed in those secret files.

Many staff members don't even know that there is such a person at the top of S.H.I.E.L.D.

And those who really know about Merlin's existence are very interested in this mysterious Level 5 agent.

You know, the highest-ranking agent in S.H.I.E.L.D., that is, Nick. Fury himself is only a Level 6 agent.

Dressed in a gray suit, Merlin was carrying a handbag and rimless glasses, dressed like a young and promising senior salesman.

He walked into an elevator unobtrusively, and the moment the elevator closed, he took out his ID card and swiped it in a hidden groove in the elevator. A small green light lit up on the elevator panel, and Merlin's fingers clicked rhythmically six times.

"Bang"

With a soft sound, the elevator that had been slowly rising immediately accelerated, and after 40 seconds, Merlin reached the 34th floor of the building, almost close to the top floor.

"Ding"

With a soft thud, the elevator doors opened.

A busy work scene appeared in front of Merlin's eyes.

Men and women in black uniforms are busy at their workstations, walking around with papers in their hands or tapping on keyboards with their fingers.

In the conference rooms on either side of the corridor, there are meetings going on, and on the large television hanging on the wall, there is a map of the world marked with many red dots, which seems to represent what is happening around the world at this time.

The early morning sunlight shines down the glass of the upper floors into the huge office area, reflecting a busy scene.

To be honest, Merlin's first impression here is not like a secret organization, but like a busy business company.

Merlin reached out and pushed his glasses, put his left hand in his trouser pocket, and carried his handbag in his right hand, and walked to the inside of the office.

This strange little brother who suddenly appeared naturally attracted the attention of these internal agents, and many people were watching him wherever Merlin walked. There was also a more vigilant guy who had already picked up the phone. But just as the agent was about to make a call, he was pressed to the phone with both hands.

"Sir Merlin."

A voice rang out behind Merlin, the bald-headed housekeeping agent Japas. Hitwell shook his finger at the vigilant agent, then straightened his clothes and walked briskly towards Merlin.

The latter turned his head to look at him, and a smile appeared on his calm face.

"Long time no see, Hitwell."

"Yes, indeed."

Hitwell also had a smile on his face as he made a "please" gesture to Merlin and whispered:

"I've rarely seen you here, sir. Please come with me, your office is in front. ”

Hitwell gestured to the others, motioning for them to continue their work. Then take Merlin to a quieter, high-class office area.

Merlin noticed that the nameplate on Hitwell's chest had changed, saying:

"You're a Level 2 agent now?"

"Yes, I was promoted 1 month ago."

Hitwell Says:

"Thanks to you, after participating in the operation to bring down Kohler, I was rewarded from within the organization, and then I was promoted. Of course, I'm still far behind you, sir. ”

"You can't say that."

Merlin shrugged his shoulders, and he said to Hitwell:

"I don't come here very often, but I also know that internal agents are promoted more slowly than field agents, and the fact that you can be promoted so quickly shows that you are capable. Speaking of which, Hitwell, I still have one less assistant, do you want to transfer to the field agent again? I think you're right to run around the world with me. ”

"Well, forget it."

Although he knew that Merlin was joking, Hitwell still subconsciously touched his bald head, it seems that the last half-demon incident caused a big psychological shadow on him.

After walking for a few minutes, he led Merlin to a window-side office with a sign on the door that read "Merlin. Riley's name, titled "Special Operations Supervisor".

Hitwell turned and said to Merlin:

"This is your office, sir. It's been around for a long time, but you haven't been here, it's been sitting idle, but don't worry, we have someone to clean it twice a week, so it's clean, just like new. ”

Merlin nodded, took out his ID card, and swiped it on the lock, and the office door opened.

"By the way, sir, I've got a message from the director, and your assistant will come to your office to look for you in a moment."

Hitwell looked at his watch and reminded:

"About 15 minutes later."

"Well, yes, that's what I'm here for today."

Merlin walked into the office and said without looking back:

"Go ahead and get busy with you, Heatwell, I may be out of here in the afternoon... Seriously, the atmosphere here is depressing. ”

He complained as he placed his handbag in the drawer of his desk.

Merlin reached out and opened the black computer in front of him, there was a blocked interface on the screen, and Merlin was required to enter his ID and password. It was distributed together when he joined the company, but in the past three years, apart from the time when he was in the office in the European branch, Merlin used it very rarely.

It's 1995, and a new generation of personal computers has begun to gain popularity, and the latest computer is a little more advanced than the one used by Merlin in Europe.

He opened his mailbox first, and earlier this day, Agent Hill had sent him a revised assessment of the Imperial Organization.

Merlin clicked on the report and picked up a glass of cold water from the water dispenser next to him, and as he drank it, he began to browse through the assessment report of the demon reform.

As Fury reminded, the evaluation report, which was originally full of dry goods, many secrets, and covered with specific photos, has been revised into a large, general, and specious article.

In the report written by Hill himself, which only shows a hint of "secrecy" in key places, this document leads ordinary people to ignore the real core elements by exaggerating some external facts about the Imperial Organization and the Imperial Plan, as well as some outdated confidential information.

NONE OF THE INFORMATION ABOUT RATON, KONG, AND SKULL ISLAND APPEARS ON THE FILE.

Godzilla is known to many people for the reason for the dismantling beam that he fought against the Kree not long ago, so this mysterious monster cannot be simply ignored.

Hill simply posted the truth about the Lawton incident during World War II and the nuclear bomb test on Bikini Atoll in 1954 to prove Godzilla's existence, and used a tirade to convince the security representatives that the Imperial Organization had always been in control of Godzilla's activities.

Anyway, Merlin took 10 minutes to read the report, and he found it perfect.

Agent Hill's writing skills are far superior to Merlin's, and she spent one night perfectly completing Fury and Merlin's new requirements for reporting.

When Merlin finished reading it, he felt that there was nothing about this thing that needed to be modified or suggested by him.

So he pondered for a moment, and wrote back to Hill, with only four simple words:

"Great! Come on! ”

And just as Merlin finished writing the email, a rhythmic knock on the door sounded in the office.

"Come in!"

Merlin leaned back in his office chair and shouted softly.

The next moment, a familiar face appeared in front of him.

Phil in a black suit. Coulson walked into the office with a file bag in his hand, and when he saw Merlin sitting in the office chair, the young man with a slightly high hairline was stunned.

Merlin was also stunned.

He didn't expect that Fury's new partner for himself was actually Phil...

It was actually his former brother.

Merlin has been deliberately keeping his distance from Phil since the Kree incident, fearing that the dangerous work he is doing now will involve Phil.

He also planned to find an opportunity to suggest to Fury that Phil be placed in the housekeeping system, just like Hitwell, to do some logistics and management affairs. But unexpectedly, Phil continued to choose the future of field agents and operational experts.

This made Merlin a little angry and a little frightened, was it a coincidence, or did Fury discover his potential relationship with Phil?

It stands to reason that it won't... He was obviously well hidden, and he didn't reveal the existence of the Coulson family to anyone at all.

But Merlin is not angry now, and it is even more difficult to refuse his new assistant in person.

Because, behind Phil, there is a newcomer.

It was a woman, a young woman, with black hair, and about 1.70 tall. The contours of his cheeks have obvious oriental marks, he has short hair, and he looks very smart in a black uniform like Phil.

But those smart eyes mean that this is a newcomer with a lot of ideas.

Like Phil, she looked at her new boss with a bag of papers in her hand and a hint of curiosity.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Merlin tapped a pen in his hand on the table. Behind his glasses, his gaze sharpened, and he looked at the two young men in front of him, like interviewers.

He acted like he didn't know Phil at all.

But Phil didn't panic, he glanced at the lady next to him, these two people should have known friends from the Secret Service Academy. The lady nodded to Phil as if to encourage him.

Phil took a deep breath and placed the bag of papers in his hand on Merlin's desk, then took a step back and began to introduce himself.

"Hello, Sir Merlin, my name is Philip. J. Coulson. I'm from..."

Merlin listened carefully to Phil's self-introduction on the surface, but in fact, he was thinking about Phil's whereabouts and stays in his heart.

As one of the few Level 5 agents currently in S.H.I.E.L.D., he certainly has the right to refuse Phil's employment, and he is somewhat sure that he can convince Fury to transfer Phil to civilian duty.

But doing so is risky, and it will make Fury doubt his intentions, and Merlin is well aware of what a shrewd and undeceived soul Fury's exterior hides.

Second, with his understanding of Phil's character, even if he fires him, Phil will still find a way to continue to be a field agent. He has had a stubborn personality since he was a child, hidden under that appearance that is always smiling.

Man, that's it, the more you deny a person, the more he wants to try to prove himself.

So instead of having Phil go with the other field agents, it's better to keep him with you.

In this way, whether it is protection or training, it is much more convenient.

Merlin's eyes changed at this moment, and he seemed to have made up his mind.

He reached out and knocked on the table, interrupting Phil's self-introduction, he looked up, looked at Phil, and he said briefly:

"That's it. Welcome to my group of agents, Phil. Colson. ”

"Now, please introduce yourself to the lady next to you... What is your name? ”

The girl who sat on the side probably did not expect Merlin to ask her so directly, and the expression on her face was a little surprised, but soon she stood up at once, and replied in a calm and crisp voice:

"Sir, my name is May, Melinda. Plums. ”

"Well, tell me about your own experience."

Merlin picked up Melinda's file as she introduced herself.

But he only glanced down, and his eyes suddenly changed. On Melinda's file, in the field of recommenders, there is a name that he is familiar with.

Peggy. Carter!

This girl... Like him and Fury, it was recommended by Ms. Carter herself!

This made Merlin more and more curious, what kind of background and identity is hidden behind the young and lively girl in front of him?