58. Call of the Brotherhood - Happy Birthday Mother Motherland

On the second floor of the Continental Hotel, in this well-decorated suite, children sit on sofas and watch cartoons, while adults sit at a table on the other side and they talk.

"This is Agent Hill."

Merlin introduced to Thalia, who was sitting across from him:

"She's Fury's assistant and is here on behalf of Fury, and if you want to work further with S.H.I.E.L.D., then you can contact Ciel in the future, and of course, you may have to meet with Fury."

He said:

"It's not easy to convince Fury to accept your existence. Fury is not like me, he is not a good talker. ”

"I'm sure there's a lot to talk about between me and Director Fury."

Talia didn't care, the woman who exuded femininity all over her body leaned back in her chair a little lazily, and she said:

"We and S. L.D.'s happy collaboration has proven this, and there are many areas where the League of Assassins and S.H.I.E.L.D. can work together. Of course, it's not a good time to talk about this topic tonight, I just want to catch up with old friends and tell you about my new industry by the way. ”

She looked at Bruce, then at Merlin, and she said:

"You two are one of my few friends, tell me, what do you think of my continental hotel?"

Bruce shrugged, he didn't answer.

But from the super-rich man's slightly critical gaze, it can be seen that Bruce doesn't seem to be very interested in this place.

Merlin glanced at the furnishings around him, and he said slowly:

"From a hotel point of view, it's not perfect. Still, I'm guessing you're not just really planning to run it as a hotel, you're planning to have the League of Assassins emerge from the shadows of your long life in a different way? That's not a good idea. ”

"No, you're only a fraction right."

Talia stood up, took a bottle from the nearby wine cabinet, and poured a glass for Bruce, Merlin, and Ciel, and whispered:

"It's an attempt, Merlin."

"The League of Assassins under my father's leadership has been successful, and for the past few hundred years it has been a powerful force in the dark world, feared and feared, but... Times have changed after all. ”

"My father's set is no longer applicable in this information age. The death knell's raid on Nandarbat is a testament to this, an ancient heritage that has been exhausted by the power of modern science. ”

Talia raised her glass to the others, and the other three also raised their glasses, and after Merlin took a sip of wine, Talia continued in a conversational manner:

"The crushing defeat of Gotham, the attack on Nandarbat, the mutiny of several branches..."

"The League of Assassins suffered one blow after another, and almost fell apart. We have fallen all the way from the highest peak to the valley, and if it weren't for the help of noble people, I am afraid we would have died in name only. ”

She glanced at her former lover and placed her hand on Bruce's palm, who subconsciously tried to break free, but in the end, he gently held Talia's hand.

This gesture made Talia smile slightly, and the seductive woman turned her head and shrugged her shoulders at Merlin, and said:

"After my father's death, the dynasty he built had collapsed, no one could save the tradition from falling, and those of us who survived by luck can only learn from our painful mistakes."

"The League of Assassins needs a new model to reassert itself in the new era."

"Working with the authorities is just one part of this new model."

Talia put down her glass, and she said to Merlin and Ciel:

"Believe it or not, under my leadership, the League of Assassins follows the ancient way of the Assassins, where we exist to guard order, to protect freedom, not to destroy it... We both have a common purpose, and that's the basis of our cooperation. ”

"As for the Continental Hotel, Merlin is right, this is a new survival mode that I have planned for the Assassin League."

Talia reached out and clicked on a small black box on the table, and the next moment, a blue holographic projection appeared in front of the eyes of the four people.

It was a rotating model of the Earth, and there were a lot of red dots on the map.

"The Continental Hotel in New York is the first, then London, Rome, Tokyo, Cairo, Casablanca, etc., we will have a large hotel chain around the world, it does not serve ordinary people, and this system will become the new framework for the existence of the League of Assassins."

"Each hotel will be a place for my Assassins to recuperate and give feedback, and will be their base of operations, providing them with weapons, living resources, honorarium, and other requirements."

"As soon as they receive the order, they will come to the hotel to prepare, which means that they are about to start the mission, and when the mission is completed, they will leave the hotel, which means that they will return to their lives."

Talia flicked her beautiful long black hair, and she said to Merlin:

"Facts have proven that the pure-hearted lifestyle is not suitable for this era, the assassins also need to have their own lives and socials, I will not ask them to cut off ties with society, I want them to truly integrate into the world, into the crowd, only by being familiar with this society, can we better protect it..."

"You said the mission."

Agent Hill was not tempted by Talia's statement of "guarding the world", and she calmly asked:

"What task? Assassinate? ”

"Assassination is only one part of the story, it's more about intelligence gathering, and at this stage, we have to keep a certain low profile so as not to be targeted by other peers."

Talia waved her hand, and she said indifferently:

"The Dark World has its own set of rules, Agent Hill, and I know that as a public official, you instinctively hate any crime, but trust me, many times, there are many jobs that you can't afford to do."

"Bang"

A strange gold coin bounced up in Talia's hand and ended up on Hill's finger, to which she said:

"It only takes one or two of these coins to fall into your network, and if we can pay more, we'll be happy to help you solve those tricky problems."

"You asked S.H.I.E.L.D. to hire assassins?"

Hill said to Talia with a strange face:

"With all due respect, ma'am, your ideas are a little too wild."

"You mean I'm naΓ―ve?"

Talia chuckled, she glanced at the silent Merlin, and then said to Ciel:

"Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. can solve all the problems? Yes, you may be able to, but is there a difference between a bullet coming out of the muzzle of your agents' guns and a bullet coming out of the muzzle of my assassins? ”

"If a criminal is sentenced to death by you, then it doesn't make sense to worry about who will carry it out."

"You see, Agent Hill, I'm telling you all the secrets of the Continental Hotel and how it works, so that you can convey my description to the Director behind you."

Talia Says:

"I believe that Mr. Director will make the right judgment."

"That sounds like a big change."

Merlin didn't care about the arguments between Thalia and Hill, saying:

"It seems that you are planning to transform the League of Assassins into something else entirely, and that old traditions have been abandoned, which is not a good thing or a bad thing, but I believe that not all members of the League of Assassins will adapt to this change, right?"

"yes."

Talia also had a headache and said:

"When an organization has existed for too long, some internal ideological debates will evolve into very bad divisions of power, and there will always be some people who accept the traditional growth and are not very willing to keep up with the pace of the times, but it doesn't matter, the establishment of the Continental Hotel does not mean that we will usher in another internal division."

She said:

"Tradition and modernity can coexist, and the decline may not be a bad thing, at least at this stage, where we can put aside the conflict and work together to rebuild the organization."

"Okay."

Merlin nodded, and he remained silent.

He didn't have any more questions to ask, and he had no objection to a group of Assassins planning to open the door for business.

Thalia's way of being open and honest with S.H.I.E.L.D. also made Merlin very satisfied, she could have built the Continental Hotel without notifying anyone, but she invited people from S.H.I.E.L.D., which meant that Thalia was willing to enter the big framework set up by S.H.I.E.L.D.

She is willing to follow the rules.

Merlin welcomed that.

"It seems that Mr. Merlin has no objection, and that's good."

A smile appeared on Talia's face, she glanced at Hill, and did not say anything more, but turned her gaze to Bruce beside her, and said:

"Bruce... Tell Merlin about your troubles, you are friends and should help each other. ”

"Trouble?"

Merlin looked up at Bruce, who neither he nor Talia had identified because of Hill's presence.

He said to Bruce:

"What's the trouble you're in again?" Business's business? ”

"Yes."

Bruce glanced at Hill, nodded, and whispered:

"On the 'business' side, not long ago, I received a strange invitation... I don't know how to describe it to you, but anyway, they sent someone to sneak into my manor, and without alerting anyone, they put the invitation on my bedside. ”

Bruce said in an accentuated tone:

"I was still resting in my bedroom."

"Huh?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed.

Although Bruce is just a normal person, he is Lars. Al. Gul's proudest disciple, he made a name for himself in Gotham City, making the criminals fearful, which proved his strength to act in the dark.

Bruce's perception is keen, Merlin knows this, and Wayne Manor has all kinds of surveillance equipment hidden, but putting a letter next to his bed without alarming him and those surveillance devices is also a testament to the strength of those 'visitors'.

"Tell me about the invitation... And, why didn't you tell about it sooner? ”

Merlin stared at Bruce and said:

"You always seem to like to be alone in all your troubles, but I want to remind you that you have friends."

"I think I can handle it."

Gotham Rich shrugged his shoulders, he raised his glass, and said to Merlin:

"But it turns out that the water in this matter is much deeper than I thought ... Talia, why don't you take Miss Hill to see your new clothes? I think you'll make good friends. ”

Bruce turned to Talia and said a word, who immediately stood up and said to Bruce:

"Okay, dear."

She looked back at Hill, and she made a "please" gesture:

"Please come with me, Miss Hill, and let the men continue to talk about boring topics, and let's go look at my collection, I have a dress that suits you very well."

Hill, of course, understood that Talia was trying to get her out of here and create an environment for Merlin and Bruce to communicate alone, and that what they were going to talk about was definitely something that was inappropriate for her to hear.

She glanced at Merlin, who nodded at her, signaling that she didn't need to worry.

So Ciel stood up, straightened her dress, and obediently followed Talia out of the suite.

As soon as the lady left, Bruce's disguised gentle expression of a business tycoon vanished, his face turned serious, and he took out a silver badge from his pocket and placed it in front of Merlin's eyes.

"This... It was placed at my bedside with the invitation. ”

"Looks like the logo of the League of Assassins."

Merlin picked up the badge, and on it was a sharp white emblem, like the Hidden Blade when it was deployed, very similar to the logo of the Assassin League, but Merlin looked closely, and found that the color mark was still slightly different from the logo of the Assassin League.

It lacks a few cumbersome details and maintains a simple and quaint style.

"The Assassin Brotherhood..."

Merlin clenched the sign in his hand, and he remembered Lars. Al. The stories of the Assassin legacy that Gul told him when he died, he looked at Bruce and said:

"They have a summoning to you... Lars. Al. Gul told me that there were few real Assassins in this era, and that he was wrong, perhaps even Lars, who claimed to be the last heir to the Assassin Brotherhood. Al. Gul himself was misled. Perhaps, the arrogant Assassins did not bother to admit that the Demon Head was one of them. ”

"The Assassins have been hiding in the shadows... They never died. ”

Merlin touched his arm, and he whispered:

"Bruce..."

"You have been called, and you must respond."

PS:

Today's National Day Ceremony, plus more! Plus more! There are 7 more today, and the rest will be placed on the 10th ~ Happy birthday to the motherland ~ Happy holidays brothers ~ And, last month's results were so dismal, I hope this month's results can be a little better ~ Please support the brothers! Thank you~

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