Merlin stood outside the hospital room.

From his point of view, Maria. Kasol was lying in a hospital bed, still unconscious, not yet awake.

It had been a week since the woman was hit by a bullet, and Du Pende's timely rescue saved her life, but the shattering of her spine caused by the bullet made it difficult for her to wake up in a short time.

This injury would have been incurable just a few years ago.

That means that even if Mary finally wakes up, the best outcome will be to stay in bed for the rest of her life.

But fortunately, there are now medical treatments for this injury.

Renowned neurosurgeon Stephen Brown. Strange, and his assistant Palmer. In the past six months, Dr. Christine has successfully performed 15 spinal stitching surgeries that are similar to Maria's.

Those patients are also recovering quite well.

Unfortunately, the doctor is now in high demand, and his surgery schedule has been scheduled for an exaggerated 2 years later.

Even if Merlin had instructed Icarus to use some personal connections, Maria's surgery could only be scheduled four months later at the earliest.

But that's not the worst.

"Frank. Casul has been with his wife for the past few days, and he is a very infatuated man, who stays here except for the children. ”

Sharon stood behind Merlin, and she whispered to Merlin, who was standing in front of the window of the ward:

"After learning that Dr. Stephen could treat his wife's injuries, he and his friend Billy Brown. Russo went to Dr. Stephen's office together. ”

"And then?"

With his hands behind his back, Merlin asked:

"Why did the two of them leave? And why did you get into a plane crash? ”

"Because Dr. Stephen's surgery was expensive."

Sharon looks at the unconscious Maria in the hospital room. Casor, she said with some reluctance:

Frank's pension alone was not enough, so he decided to join Billy. At Russo's security company, he also begged Dr. Moira to repair his calf injury through his cloak. ”

"The two of them went to Europe two days ago to negotiate their first business, which was introduced to them by a general of the unit they had served before, and it was a military outsourcing task on the battlefield in the Middle East."

"The two of them and a group of veterans recruited by Russo traveled through the war zone in a helicopter, but encountered an unexpected skirmish, and unfortunately, a rocket hit their helicopter..."

Merlin was silent.

As deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he is well aware that in some hot spots in the Middle East and Central Asia, the military does outsource some peripheral military projects to private military contractors.

It was deadly, dangerous, but lucrative.

The military has always been generous in this kind of spending money to hire people to play with their lives.

Frank and Russo are both retired veterans, and if they don't want to make a profit by doing bad things, it is indeed a good job for them to return to the battlefield and trade their lives for money.

Especially when Frank is in dire need of money...

Anything can happen on the battlefield, and it all seems reasonable.

Perhaps, Frank and Russo were just out of luck.

"Can you find the body?"

Merlin asked.

Sharon shook her head:

"It's a hot spot, sir, and there's been a new round of war there, starting a few days ago."

"Maybe sending out a demon hunter agent can indeed find the bodies of Frank and Russo through the war zone, but I don't think the Director will approve of this operation."

"Hmm."

Merlin nodded.

Indeed, neither Frank nor Russo were employees of S.H.I.E.L.D., and he could not ask S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to risk intervening in the war to find two people who had nothing to do with their job duties.

What's more, the nature of those two guys entering the battlefield is more akin to mercenaries.

In addition to their loved ones, even their employers don't care about the loss of a team.

"Where's his baby?"

Merlin looked at the unconscious Maria in the ward, he moved his finger and said to Sharon, who was beside him:

"Is someone taking care of them?"

"Frank. After Casul's news came back, Lisa and little Frank were taken back to their home by the Divine Man, and Cage and Jessica were taking care of them for the past few days. ”

Sharon Says:

"The two children are very well-behaved, they come to visit their mother every day, but they don't know yet, their father will always..."

"Shh

Merlin suddenly made a silent gesture.

Moments later, Frank's eldest daughter, Lisa, walked out of the elevator with her younger brother, Frank Jr.

Luke in a suit with sunglasses. Cage accompanied the two of them, and the hero was carrying some fruit in his hand, and he was supposed to accompany the child to visit the patient.

Cage saw Merlin and Sharon standing outside the hospital room for the first time, and his expression changed.

But before the Divine Power Man could speak, Merlin took the initiative to come up.

He stopped in front of his eyes looking at his two children, he took out his wallet, fumbled in it, and finally pulled out a photo that had faded a little and handed it to the two children.

It was a picture of him when he opened a bar in Kandahar with a group of soldiers who came to drink.

Also in the photo are young Frank and Russo.

"I'm your dad's friend."

Merlin looked at the two children in front of him, he reached out and touched the head of little Frank, who still had a medical bandage on his face, and he smiled a little, and said to the two children:

"You can call me Uncle Merlin."

"Hello, Uncle Merlin."

Frank's youngest son, who was polite, called Merlin, then grabbed the picture and looked for his father and Uncle Billy on it with great interest.

The child was not old enough for him to know what was happening in his home.

And his sister Lisa seemed to be silent, and the little girl must have felt a heavy pressure.

She was looking at Merlin with a slightly strange gaze, and after a moment the big girl asked softly:

"Uncle, my father, he..."

"Your dad went to make money."

Merlin said to the girl:

"You can see that your mom is in a bad situation, I made an appointment with him and paid for the medical bills, but your dad is a very strong man, you know, Lisa."

"Anyway, that stubborn guy doesn't want to owe me a favor."

Merlin shrugged, and with a look of helplessness, he said:

"He may be out for a long time, after all, it's a lot of money, but he'll always come back, trust me, little girl, when your mother recovers, he'll definitely come back."

"Remember at all times that your father really loves you and can give everything for the sake of both of you."

"So... Don't blame him for being away from you for so long. ”

"No matter what happens in the future, you must be a good child."

He reached out and patted Lisa and little Frank on the shoulder, then said to Luke. Cage Says:

"Cage, take care of the two children for me, and tell me if you have any difficulties."

"Nothing, sir... Uh, Merlin. ”

Luke touched his big bald head, and he said to Merlin:

"Jessica also likes these two children, Lisa is very good and can help her clean up the room, and she is happy to let the two children stay for a while until their mother recovers."

"Well, I'm relieved to hand them over to you."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, he reached out and pushed his glasses, he waved goodbye to the two children, and then walked briskly out of the hospital with Sharon.

"Sharon, make an appointment for Fury for me."

At the entrance of the hospital, Merlin said to his assistant:

"Regarding the virus mutant, I'm going to meet with him this afternoon, so that the director had better take some time out of time."

"Yes, sir."

Sharon nodded, she got into her car, and quickly left the place.

Merlin, on the other hand, stood at the door of the hospital, and he looked back at the place where he had saved lives, and a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes.

"Icarus, send Talia the location where Frank and Russo's plane fell, I need her to do me another favor."

"What do you think of Frank. Kasol didn't die? ”

Icarus asked:

Is this idea based on rational judgment? Or is it from your instinct? ”

"Instinct."

Merlin lit a cigarette a little irritably, and said:

"I still remember the first time I met Frank, he fought a group of bandits from the Ten Rings, and everyone but him died."

"The bodies pressed on him, and he had only one breath left, and if I hadn't passed by there, he would probably have died in that damn place."

"I remember Frank. Casor is a very hard-fought man, Icarus. ”

Merlin raised his head and let out a puff of smoke, and he said:

"He was the one who rescued me from the collapsed cave, and although the cave collapsed because he threw a bomb, he saved me... I have to do something for him. ”

"If he does die, I will take care of his wife and children."

"But if he's not dead... Then I'm going to have to find him! ”

——————————

In the afternoon, in Nick. In Fury's office, Merlin and Fury sit opposite each other on the couch.

Fury is still wearing the same turtleneck sweater and cool black leather jacket that has not changed for thousands of years, with a big bald head, a black eye patch, and some scars on his face, wearing high-top Marine combat boots, and a pistol at his waist.

Judging from the way he speaks and the pace of action, it's really hard to believe that he is already an old man who is almost 60 years old.

"How about the talks in Switzerland?"

Fury leaned back on the couch and asked:

"I heard you were talking to some politicians about the later stages of the Smart Machines Project?"

"It's just a preliminary plan."

Merlin Says:

"The power of the spark source has begun to decay around the world, and it is estimated that after the end of the fifth impact, the energy of the spark source will completely dissipate, and the primordial intelligence machine will no longer be a problem."

"However, the intelligent machinery industry has been formed, and it has been integrated into the civilization process of this world, so everyone is very concerned about some things in the future."

"But I wasted a week there, and the long meeting didn't have a productive result."

Merlin shook his head:

"I seriously suspect now that Pierce let me go there for him because he hated wasting his time."

"He's carrying you, Merlin."

Fury Says:

"Allowing you to show your face in that circle and make some relationships will be very helpful for your future career planning."

"My career plans?"

Merlin snorted:

"Am I going to run for president if I don't become a secret agent in the future?"

"No kidding, Fury, I've got all the stuff in my head that means I'm not going to show up even after I retire... Okay, let's not talk about that. ”

He reached out and stroked his glasses, and blue projections were projected from Icarus' frames, appearing in front of the two of them.

Merlin pointed to a double helix image that resembled a biomolecular structure in the projection, and said to Fury:

"That's what I'm here for today, and let's see the results of our biologists' preliminary research on that variant."

"This thing..."

Fury rubbed his one-eyed, he looked at the swirling molecular structure, and said:

"It looks like some kind of virus..."

"Yes, a virus, a virus that can be genetically modified to exist in the form of an organism."

Merlin said seriously and seriously:

"Although the mutant seems to have triggered some sort of 'self-destruct device' that causes most of its cell samples to dissolve itself after being killed, biologists have found something useful in it."

"Out-of-control mutants may seem dangerous, but in reality finding weaknesses isn't hard to deal with."

Merlin pointed to the swirling molecular diagram of the virus and said to Fury:

"But this, this is what is really dangerous."

"I consulted with our biologist, and she told me that this thing is infectious, and super infectious, but the virus in that mutant is locked in a 'bio-locked' way."

"But since the people behind the creation of that mutant were able to lock down the ability to infect, then I think they must have a way to unravel it."

At this point, Merlin stopped, and Fury's one-eyed narrowed.

He looked at the structure of the virus on the projection in front of him, and then at the simulated projection of the tyrant, and said:

"So if necessary, they can use this new type of biological weapon, and it can set off a battle in a short period of time... Well, Resident Evil? ”

"That's right! That's what I want to say. ”

Merlin snapped his fingers, sat up straight, and said:

"The accidents caused by the mutants are only superficially over, and the search for this new virus has only just begun."

"Hmm."

Fury nodded, and Merlin brought enough evidence to prove his point, and the tracking of the virus was already a sure thing,

But the director rubbed his chin and said:

"I've seen reports of this incident, and your subordinates suspect that some of the remnants of Abstergo Pharmaceuticals were responsible. Do you want to look it in this direction? ”

"Nope."

Merlin shook his head, and he said:

"I don't want to discourage my subordinates from doing their jobs, and there are things I can't tell them. But I can assure you, Fury, that this has nothing to do with Abstergo..."

"This virus only seems to be related to Abstergo's field of expertise, but in reality, what the drug company was working on before its collapse is completely different from this virus."

Merlin lowered his voice and said:

"Abstergo, who is in a state of disarray, has taken the blame for the man behind the scenes."

"Or rather, someone is deliberately misdirecting our gaze towards Abstergo... In order to protect the real masterminds. ”

"But they didn't expect that I myself might be one of the few people in the world who knew everything about Abstergo."

"Huh?"

Fury's eyes twitched, he looked at Merlin, and he said:

"It's getting more and more interesting, it's like a pit where you keep digging new things... Do you have a suspicion? ”

"Yes."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, he put away the projection in front of him, picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and said:

"Raccoon City, Colorado, the hottest pharmaceutical company in North America right now, Allah Bray, Umbrella."

"The timing of their convoy passing through New York coincided with the time when the runaway body appeared... My instinct tells me that this may not be a coincidence. ”

"So you're going to look it up?"

Fury also picked up the teacup, and he asked:

"Start now?"

"No, I'll leave this to Coulson."

Merlin took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, and he said to Fury:

"I probably don't have time to focus on this in the near future, and there are more tricky things to deal with."

"I mean, Fury, if Coulson they find anything, they'll report it to you directly."

"Huh?"

Fury frowned, and he asked:

"What is it that is more important than the imminent Resident Evil?"

"Yes."

Merlin shrugged helplessly, and said:

"A few years ago, during the Cybertron War, I made a pact with a very dangerous man who has the ability to destroy the world, and now the time is coming..."

"It's been urging over there, and I've got to get it done in a hurry."

"Anyway, I'll leave it to you to track down the umbrella, Fury."