Coulson drove quite steadily.

In the face of Merlin's current deterioration, Coulson deliberately slowed down, and after about 20 minutes, he pulled over in front of a huge building on the border between Manhattan and Queens.

As Coulson parked, Merlin rolled down the window, and he looked at the nearly 150-meter-high building in front of him with some confusion, and on the surface of the building, which was covered with glass panes and looked shining in the sun, there was an oversized black and white eagle logo of S.H.I.E.L.D., hanging on it.

The building in front of you has a main body and two outbuildings of different heights, which are connected to each other by a glass plank-like passage, and there is a huge plaza below the main building.

It looks imposing.

"This building..."

Merlin asked:

"When did you move here?"

"3 months ago."

Coulson stopped the car, turned off the engine, pulled out the car keys, and said to Merlin:

"This is the office building that Director Fury wants, and it has been secretly built for several years, claiming to be a large commercial office building, but in reality, we all call it the 'Trident' building. It's a mixed-use office building, and a lot of scattered offices across the East Coast are concentrated here. ”

“S.. L.D.'s office is also here? ”

Merlin asked.

Coulson took Merlin's wheelchair out of the back box, and while helping Merlin out of the car, he explained:

"There's just a liaison office here. We also have a new headquarters, and the former 6 basement floors of 21st Century Bell Telephone are now all ours. ”

"Old Town."

Merlin put his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair, and Coulson thoughtfully spread a blanket on him.

As he was pushed by Coulson towards the plaza of the Trident building, he complained:

"Sure enough, those of us who do black work don't even have an office building in the sun... But it's good that the old town is private enough, here... It looks a little too glaring. ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo hanging outside the building in front of him, which was estimated to be clearly visible from several kilometers away, he shook his head and whispered:

"It's not good for an intelligence organization to be so ostentatious."

"But you can't deny it either, sir."

Coulson pushed Merlin into the elevator and said:

"Intelligence is only one part of the vast system of S.H.I.E.L.D., not the most important part. As a direct subordinate of the World Security Council, we really deserve an official headquarters. ”

"Best of all, the Trident building looks cool, doesn't it?"

"Ding"

As the elevator door slowly closed, Merlin also nodded, and said:

"Really, it's really cool. Fury's long-cherished wish has finally come true. ”

A few minutes later, on the 24th floor of the Trident Building, Merlin met Fury.

He looked the same as he had looked more than a year ago, still wearing a black trench coat, combat boots, military pants, an eyepatch on his left eye, and a black turtleneck sweater that had not changed for 10,000 years.

He was waiting for Merlin in a medical room. And when Merlin is wheeled into the infirmary, he also sees Dr. Hall standing next to Fury.

The latter is a little more different than it was a little over a year ago, specifically... Hair is thinner.

It seems that for more than a year, this doctor has really been entrusted with a heavy task, and he seems to be very tired and stressed.

"Look who's here."

Fury heard the movement, turned around, and when he saw Merlin, he opened his arms and said in a voice with a little joy:

"A lot of people are concerned about you, Merlin, and you're waking up much earlier than we expected."

Merlin looked at Fury, and he chuckled and said:

"How long do you think I'm going to have to sleep?"

"At least 2 years."

Fury hugged his shoulders and snorted:

"That's an expert's estimate."

"Dr. Charles? Right? ”

Merlin Says:

"You still sent me to the mutant who can probe people's hearts."

"How do you know?"

Fury looked at his subordinate with some surprise, who leaned back in his wheelchair a little weakly, and he shrugged:

"When I was unconscious, I could hear what you were saying beside me."

"Okay."

Fury smiled, he crouched down, and met Merlin's eyes, he patted Merlin's cold hand, and said:

"Anyway, it's good to wake up, I still have a lot of tasks for you."

"I've just woken up, let me rest for a while, okay?"

Merlin said with a bit of a headache:

"At least wait until I can move freely, okay?"

"Haha, I'm just kidding."

Fury stood up, and he waved his hand to signal Coulson to leave. He pushed Merlin towards Dr. Hall, who said:

"Actually, it's good for you to do that... At least I can finally get you in the office, and New York has been a bit rough lately, I mean, you'd better be able to fix this quickly. ”

"Trust me."

Merlin Says:

"I've already started to work on it."

"That's good."

Fury pushes Merlin to Dr. Hall's side, who says to Merlin with some guilt:

"Merlin, I knew I wouldn't have modified your watch, it was the gravity that I gave you that caused your body to suffer. I'm sorry. ”

"Don't say that, Doctor."

Merlin looked at the guilt-ridden Dr. Hall, and he comforted:

"Actually, that miniature 'Gaia' system also saved me, and without your help, then what Hill would have recovered in the end might just be a corpse."

"Maybe you can tell us what it was like."

Fury and Dr. Hall set up Merlin's body from left to right and placed him on a CT-like machine next to him, and the Director stood beside Merlin and asked:

"What the hell is it that hurts you like this?"

"It's Mandarin."

Merlin was lying on the slightly warm treatment equipment, and he turned his head to look at Fury, and he said:

"It's about magic, but you can simply interpret it as a cave in Afghanistan, where I fought Mandarin in the air. I failed, I was almost killed... It's just that the skills are not as good as others. ”

"About that Mandarin..."

Fury asked with a solemn face:

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Nope."

Merlin shook his head, and before being sent into the treatment chamber by the slowly starting healing device, he said to Fury:

"I know, I've told you everything. Of course, I will tell you in detail about some of his special attack methods after the treatment is over. ”

"Hmm."

Fury nodded, he looked at his watch, and said to Merlin:

"I'll be back in 30 minutes. I also have something to tell you. ”

Thirty minutes later, as Merlin was being sent out of the silver-white treatment chamber, Fury was ready to return to the treatment room.

As Merlin sat back into his wheelchair, he saw Fury walk into the room with a document bag stamped with the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia in his hand.

"Good news, I guess?"

Merlin looked at Fury, who nodded, handed Merlin the bag of papers in his hand, and said:

"That's really good news."

Dr. Hall next to them was sorting out the test data, and this time the treatment was to do a comprehensive test of Merlin's body to determine the follow-up treatment.

Nearly 20 hours have passed since Merlin woke up, and his control over his body is slowly regaining.

At least the fingers don't shake as much as they used to.

He untied the document bag in his hand, took out the documents in it, looked at it, and found that it was his resume, that is, the personnel file.

Nothing else has changed, except for Merlin's professional level, where the original level 5 agent has been changed to level 6, and after this rank, there is a special mark, on which is a "η", which is the "7" in the Greek letters.

Merlin noticed that the font used for this "η" was different from that of other characters, and that it gave off a silvery-gray feel under the light of the treatment room.

"What does that mean?"

Merlin looked up and looked at Fury:

"Isn't the secret agent title of S.H.I.E.L.D. only level 6 at the highest?"

"Now, welcome to Level 7."

Fury folded his arms and leaned against the metal cabinet next to him.

He said to Merlin earnestly:

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting bigger and bigger, and the things we are responsible for are constantly being subdivided, and I realize that with more and more members joining our affairs framework, those originally loosely managed, but with a large number of confidential databases, need to be further divided into secrecy clearances."

"It's important, Merlin, that I can't expose some classified information that could endanger social order to a logistics agent who has been promoted to Level 5 after a long period of work. Of course, this is just a less appropriate example. ”

Fury explains:

"With the exception of you secret agents, the vast majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. are ordinary people who work for pay and benefits. Do you understand what I mean? I have to build a wall between them and you, not only to protect our secrets, but also to keep them safe. ”

"Now above level 6, there are also level 7-10 agent clearances. Less than 3% of the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. are aware of your existence. We will screen out some of the truly trustworthy people from the huge S.H.I.E.L.D. staff, proven over time. ”

"You're still like that, Fury."

Merlin put the files back in the folder, he looked at Fury, and he said:

"Always speculate on anyone with the utmost suspicion."

"It's a necessary caution, Merlin."

Fury retrieved the papers, and he said to Merlin:

"It's safer to be suspicious than to open up to everyone at the beginning and then be stabbed in the back. You're an old agent too, and I'm sure you can understand that. ”

"I didn't say 'no,' did I?"

Merlin smiled and said:

"That's good. A secret is a secret, and the fewer people who know it, the better. ”

"All right, gentlemen, put aside your secret affairs for a moment."

Dr. Hall walked up to the two with the printouts of the test results, handed Merlin the sheets of paper full of data, and said:

"There's no doubt you're recovering, Merlin."

"Does that mean I'll be well soon?"

Merlin glanced at the data, and with a bit of a headache putting the test results aside, he looked at Dr. Hall and asked bluntly:

"How long will it take for me to get back to my previous state?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you."

Dr. Hall pushed his glasses and said:

"Gravitational is distributed in your body in the form of a particle, and I can't extract it at the moment, but I'm working on it, and it may take some time, but I already have some eyebrows."

"There's never been a precedent for this substance to be combined with a human body before, and frankly, I'm surprised that you survived."

Dr. Hall sighed, explaining:

"Gravitational is essentially a special element, and it has many properties that we don't yet understand. From the current data, it hasn't had too negative effects on your body other than the previous lockdown of consciousness, but this is temporary, and no one knows if it will change again over time. ”

"Okay."

Merlin looked at his hands that were exactly the same as before, and he whispered:

"So be it, Doctor, let me know as soon as there is any news about the equipment for extracting gravity from my body, okay?"

"I'll do my best, Merlin."

Dr. Hall said seriously,

"If there is any bad change in your body, notify me as soon as possible."

"Dr. Hall is currently helping S.H.I.E.L.D. develop the 'Gaia Engine' project."

Fury explains:

"His project is now one of the key proposals of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the World Security Council attaches great importance to it. He'll be based at S.H.I.E.L.D., so it's going to be convenient if you want to find him. ”

"Hmm."

Merlin nodded, and with a slightly tired yawn, he said to Fury:

"If there is nothing else important, then I shall go back and rest first?"

"Go ahead."

Fury waved his hand at Merlin:

"Take a good rest during this time, and, don't forget about the vampires."

"Of course."

Merlin himself spun the wheels of his wheelchair, and without looking back, he said:

"I'll keep an eye on it."

Coulson waits for Merlin outside the lab, and he drives him back to his home in Hell's Kitchen before leaving. During this period of time, because of the activity of vampires, S. L.D. has a lot to do, and Coulson needs to continue to take full responsibility for the overarching before Merlin officially returns to the leadership of the Department of Mysteries.

After Coulson left, Merlin stayed in his living room, looking at the familiar, hardly changed things around him, and for a moment, he felt a little nostalgic.

After a few minutes, Merlin leaned back in his wheelchair, he tentatively stretched out his fingers, and in the empty living room, with the bending of his fingers, the vase on the coffee table in front of him slowly floated like an invisible hand holding it.

Merlin felt the still faint strength, and he frowned, looking at the vase swirling in the air, and he put his finger in front of him.

After a moment, he whispered:

"It's not all bad..."