"At present, the preliminary restructuring of the system of vampire society in New York is nearing completion."

"The Supreme Family controls most of the Bronx and keeps a low profile, and we communicate with them very well, and any sustaining orders are effectively executed."

"And in Staten Island and Manhattan, the resurgent Blood Elders are secretly accumulating power, and they are at an extreme disadvantage, and they will all choose to lie dormant for years to come. What's even better is that several new leaders of the Blood Clan Elders, at this stage, need to rely on the power of S.H.I.E.L.D. to stabilize their positions. ”

"If this trend continues, in about 5-10 years, the order transformation of New York's vampire society will be completely completed. Although these bastards are wild and untamable, the situation in the future is destined to be many times better than the situation we faced before. ”

On the 4th basement floor of the 21st Century Bell Telephone Company, in S.. In L.D.'s conference room, Phil Coulson, who had just been promoted to Level 5 agent a few days ago, put down the laser pointer in his hand, and with the completion of his summary of the vampire's mission, the projection of the picture that kept beating behind him slowly dissipated at this moment.

The lights in the conference room were turned back on, and in front of him, on either side of the long table in the conference room, sat Melinda, Sharon, who was also a Level 5 Agent, and Level 4 Agent Jimmy, who had just been transferred back to headquarters to serve as the commander of the investigation team. Wu, as well as Rose, and two other observers, one was Maria, who came to accept the results of the vampire war as an assistant to the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Hill, she's kind of S.. L.D. is an old friend of the people.

Next to Hill was a smug warrior in a standard military sitting position, wearing a black combat uniform, short hair, and a beard.

He was sharp-eyed and taciturn, and from the beginning of the meeting to the present, he sat in a chair like a statue, with his waist straight.

Hill didn't introduce the warrior to the crowd, but he was allowed to enter the highly classified S.. L.D.'s home base, which proves that he is also a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself.

Directly across from Coulson's agent, on a chair at the back of the room, Merlin, dressed in a gray casual suit and wearing rimless glasses, didn't seem to pay much attention to Coulson's summary report, and kept his head down and looked at the few documents on the table.

Merlin looked up after Coulson's summary, and he turned to look at Agent Hill beside him, pushing his glasses, and asked:

"This is the content and results of our work more than two months ago, of course, there are still some details of the work that are not included in this summary, but we have prepared a full set of written documents. You can tell Fury the original, or just throw the file at him. ”

"I don't have your authority, sir."

Hill shrugged her shoulders as usual, and as she reached out to take the briefcase full of papers that Sharon had handed her, she said to Merlin:

"I wouldn't dare just break into the director's office, throw papers on his desk and turn away."

"So he still thinks of a good agent like you as a secretary who handles copywriting?"

Merlin complained:

"It's too big to overkill, Hill, or you're going to apply to S.. L.D., I desperately need an all-round assistant right now, and you can go out with Coulson... I mean, in Fury's hands, you can't use your talents at all. ”

"But I also learned a lot from Director Fury."

Hill brushed her short hair, and she politely refused:

“S.. L.D.'s job may not be suitable for me, but of course, I will take the invitation from the senior to heart, and if I get tired from sitting in the office one day, I will also consider whether I need to change my lifestyle. ”

With that, Hill nodded to the other agents, and she stood up and said to Merlin:

"That's all for today, Chief Merlin, I'm going back to the Trident Mansion. I'm still waiting for my report. ”

She looked back at the unsmiling warrior beside her, and said to Merlin:

"Also, Director Fury approved S.. L.D.'s new recruit plan, taking into account S.D. L.D. is really lacking in interference at the moment, so the director has sent an elite task force under the headquarters as your backup team, and if needed, you can use me to mobilize this large 120-man operation force. ”

"This is the commander of Rapid Reaction Force 1, Level 5 Field Agent Bullock. Mr. Rumlow. ”

Hill introduced the silent warrior to Merlin and the others, who stood up, gave Merlin a military salute, and nodded slightly to the others.

"Well, that's good."

Merlin observed the taciturn warrior.

In the dark perception, he could perceive that this Mr. Rumlow was very active, like a burning fire, which meant that the warrior's vitality was very strong, and it also proved that he was a real elite, but he still did not exceed the limits of the human body.

His temperament is very cold, especially those dark gray eyes, and several scars on his face, which prove that he is a war-hardened veteran.

"I believe in the combat effectiveness of the rapid reaction force formed by Fury, but S. . L.D.'s approach to combat is not the same as the battles you've been through before. ”

Merlin played with the black pen in his hand, and he said to Rumlow:

"So for the next 1 month, you and your fighters will have to accept S. L.D.'s heterogeneous combat training. I can't just throw you into the battle against the aliens, it could easily cause you massive losses. ”

"Melinda, Sharon."

Merlin said to his best operational specialists:

"The two of you are in charge of the combat training of the Rapid Reaction Force, no problem, right?"

"Nope! Sir. ”

Melinda and Sharon replied in unison.

"What about you? Mr. Rumlow, do you have any questions? ”

Merlin looked at the fierce warrior again, who shook his head and said briefly:

"No, sir!"

"Well, so be it."

Merlin raised his wrist and looked at the time, he put away the papers on the table and said to the others:

"Now the meeting is over, let's all go about our own business."

The other agents rushed out and left the conference room, the vampire war from months ago left a lot of trouble, and these agents have been dealing with these legacy troubles in recent months, and the whole S.. L.D.'s system was running at a rapid pace, which also made Merlin feel a sense of urgency, overstretched, and almost every power under his command was being used to the extreme.

This has left his department, in recent times, incapable of looking beyond the major cities on the East Coast.

But Hill didn't leave immediately, instead, after the other agents had walked out of the room, Hill stepped forward and closed the door to the room. Merlin was stunned for a moment by this move, and he looked at Hill and said:

"What? Anything else? ”

"Yes."

Ciel's expression turned serious, she walked over to the projector, inserted a USB flash drive she had with her, plugged it into the projector, turned off the light, and sat down next to Merlin with the remote control.

In the darkness, Merlin's sense of smell became a little sharper, his nose moved, and then he whispered to Ciel:

"You changed your perfume?"

"Huh?"

Hill hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and whispered:

"It was Natasha's suggestion, she said, that female agents should wear special perfumes."

"Well, it's quite special."

Merlin replied with a smirk:

"If I'm not mistaken, there's a little aphrodisiac in this perfume... I mean, it's great for Natasha's operations specialists and spies who need to be infiltrated in disguise, but it's not for you, Hill. It doesn't match your temperament very well. ”

"Uh, okay."

Ciel's cheeks were a little red at this moment, but fortunately she couldn't see her expression clearly in the dark, so in order to divert the awkward atmosphere, she picked up the remote control and said:

"I'll go back to the old one, now let's talk about the matter at hand."

"Huh"

With the laser pointer of the remote control in Hill's hand shining, in the blue light projected in front of the two of them, an unclear picture appeared in the conference room.

Merlin's eyes narrowed immediately.

In that picture, there was a black shadow, like the size of a normal person, but this guy had two wings on his back and two short knives in his hands.

This photo should have been taken in a dimly lit environment, and many of the details were quite blurry, and it could be seen that the person taking the picture was very emotional, and the picture was somewhat distorted.

But even so, Merlin saw a silhouette that resembled a human face from the photograph, in the head of the monster.

"What is this?"

Merlin asked.

"A few months ago, around the time you were busy with the vampire wars, new species appeared in places like Philadelphia and Chicago."

Hill calmly replied:

"More than 200 people in both places witnessed these 'Batmen' coming out in droves in the dark of night, causing sporadic attacks and causing some panic. At that time, S.. L.D. couldn't muster any more manpower, so the Director sent Agent Natasha to gather information. But just as Natasha arrived in Philadelphia, the guys mysteriously vanished. ”

"You mean, even Natasha missed?"

Merlin rubbed his chin as he looked at the strange creature in the photograph, and after a moment he said:

"Can you identify them?"

"We found several bodies in some remote areas of Philadelphia, and they were extremely badly damaged."

Hill Says:

"What is certain now is that they are not outliers. Genetic studies have shown that the genetic makeup of these batmen is based on that of ordinary humans. Now we have the internal conclusion that these bat-people were once humans, but may have undergone some more complex biological modifications to make them what they are now. ”

"You say they've been gone for months?"

Merlin played with his pen and said:

"Then why are you telling me the news now?"

"That's what the director asks."

Hill was also a little puzzled and said:

"The Director kept this information confidential until today, and did not ask me to pass it on to you today. He said that as long as you see this information, you will understand what he means. ”

"To be honest, I don't understand."

Merlin shook his head, he looked at the blurry photograph that was rapidly changing on the projection in front of him, and said:

"What else did Fury say?"

"The director said that there must be an organization behind these batmen that we don't know about is manipulating them, although we haven't seen their purpose yet, but this matter must be taken seriously, and today's documents are the beginning of the intelligence sharing done before the big event."

Hill replied, and Merlin's eyes flashed with light.

He knew why Fury had to give him this information by telling Hill, who didn't know anything.

He had previously spoken to Fury about the hidden dark forces within S.H.I.E.L.D., when Fury ordered Merlin not to act rashly, fearing that Merlin's personal actions might startle the snake.

And now these documents that have been handed over mean that Fury has affirmed that the organization behind these batmen is likely to have a connection with those ghosts hidden within S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Well, I see."

Merlin nodded, and said to Hill as usual:

"Leave these things behind, I'll take the time to look at them, and if necessary, I'll go to those places for myself."

"Yes, sir."

Hill turned off the projector and put the USB stick in Merlin's hand, she turned on the light, and as she packed her things, she prepared to leave here and go back to the Trident Mansion.

Merlin looked at Hill's side face, and after a few seconds, he suddenly said:

"Ciel, do you want to have dinner together tonight?"

"Huh?"

Ciel, a little bewildered by Merlin's sudden invitation, looked at Merlin, and after confirming that the chief was not joking, she thought for a moment and replied:

"Okay, then after work?"

"Yes."

Merlin Says:

"I'm going to pick you up then?"

"I'll drive myself."

Hill smiled, and she asked:

"Where?"

"Mick's Inn, in Queens."

Merlin gave an address, Hill nodded, and then left the conference room with papers and handbags.

After Hill left, Merlin returned to his office with the USB flash drive sent by Fury, he inserted the USB flash drive into the computer, and after repeated searches, Merlin found an encrypted file in the last folder.

He dragged the mouse and double-clicked on the file, and a combination lock popped up on the screen.

Merlin looked at the 7-digit combination lock, he thought for a moment, and typed a few characters on the keyboard.

“89084-2”

This is Merlin's previous identity code in the Strategic Science Corps, with the click of the enter key, the encrypted file on the screen in front of Merlin's eyes is opened, and a countdown to destroy the file also appears in the lower right corner of the screen, Fury only leaves Merlin 5 seconds to check the message text in that folder.

But for Merlin, that time was enough.

He glanced at the hundreds of words on the screen, and with a crisp sound, the document was automatically destroyed.

The next moment, Merlin leaned back in his office chair, closed his eyes, and began to recall the contents of the letter.

"You're so cautious, Fury."