In Washington, near the White House office, the mysterious man, Lord Pierce, frowned, trying every means to deal with the trouble in front of him.
But after thinking about it, there was no good way to solve the current dilemma.
It was a great idea to use Merlin's hand to clear away the power of the Red Skull back then, but once Merlin's blade aimed at his own people, it would feel very uncomfortable.
Hydra is a secret organization. As Merlin said, hiding in the dark is their greatest advantage. Once exposed to the sun, this huge and bloated tissue can only become a living target.
Most importantly, after Mrs. Hydra, the most powerful spellcaster inside Hydra, was defeated by Merlin, Pierce could no longer show higher combat power to deal with Merlin.
This head-on battle between high-end forces is not Hydra's traditional advantage.
If Merlin, who did nothing and allowed to act ruthlessly, and Fury, who was very sensitive, continued to cooperate with each other to investigate, the other factions of Hydra would definitely be involved in this revenge war.
The war continued to expand, and that was not what Pierce wanted to see.
After all, the other branches are not as stubborn as the remnants of the Red Skull, and they and Pierce's faction have always cooperated well with each other.
After all, there are not so many idealisms for adults, especially those old men. Everyone joins the same organization more to seek benefits, power, wealth, status, etc.
As for the "new order" that His Excellency Pierce always talks about, it will also be a new order that meets the interests and needs of most Hydra members.
Once those people find themselves at risk of being targeted by a dangerous assassin walking in the shadows, it is hard to say whether they can continue to be proud of their Hydra.
This huge interest group formed by the Mysterious Man is likely to fall apart.
He stood up a little annoyed and walked around the office, trying to find a good idea until several minutes later, Pierce's eyes fell on a document on the coffee table.
That's the progress report on the Avengers program that Fury just submitted.
That was a plan that Fury had been strongly advocating after the Kerry invasion. In Pierce's view, this plan was a bit whimsical.
Not to mention whether those summoned superheroes can fulfill Fury’s expectations for them, let’s talk about the complex issue of human nature.
Becoming an Avenger means shouldering a terrible and heavy mission, and leading the way into the battlefield when danger comes.
Heroes are also human beings, they will be afraid and they will be tired. What's more, powerful individual strength often pursues freedom and status that matches strength, which are difficult for Fury to provide to those heroes.
To sum up, Pierce has always been not very concerned about promoting this plan.
But now, Pierce suddenly felt that perhaps it wasn't a bad thing to have a superhero team directly managed by the World Security Council.
He narrowed his eyes, walked forward, sat on the sofa, and picked up the report.
After flipping through a few pages, a vague idea appeared in his mind.
"As long as one introduction and one piece of evidence, many 'heroes' will jump out to help me solve this problem. The premise is that they must be able to fight enough and have weaknesses that can be controlled."
A ray of light flashed in Pierce's eyes, he rubbed his chin and said softly:
"Well, maybe that's possible."
A moment later, a phone call came to Fury.
"Fry, prepare a speech on the Avengers Project as fast as possible."
Pierce said to his subordinates who had fought hard on the Vietnam War with him:
"I will hold an internal meeting of the World Security Council in the last few days, and I will give you plenty of time to explain the Avengers' philosophy and its structure to the directors."
"Hmm? Pierce, haven't you always felt that this plan was flawed?"
Fury asked in confusion on the other end of the phone:
"Why did you suddenly turn to support it?"
"Ah, this is the moment, that is the moment."
Pierce smiled and replied:
"I looked at the report of the semi-demon incident a few days ago. Our Merlin and the superhumans in his department performed well, ending the trouble as quickly as possible, which gave me the feasibility of the Avengers program."
"In the face of crisis, we must have enough choices. The Avengers plan may be our Jedi turnaround card. So I plan to give this plan a chance. But Fury, you have to understand that the patience of other directors is not as good as mine. So once this plan is passed, you have to let them see the profits in the shortest time."
“I mean, ours find something 'good' that catches their eyes."
Pierce bounced his finger and said calmly:
"How is the search progress near Greenland? Haven't your captain been found yet?"
“It’s slow, Pierce.”
Fury said helplessly:
"The environment there is harsh and sparsely populated, and the cost of large-scale searches there is very high, so I can't mobilize more resources to find someone who has been missing for decades."
"This won't work, Fury. Since we have decided to do one thing, we must do our best! I will solve the problem of funds, so you don't have to worry."
Pierce said in a deep voice:
"Just send reliable personnel to go there, we must bring back our captain in the shortest time! He was a flag in the hearts of the people during World War II, and now, we also need him to become a flag again!"
"A banner representing justice!"
"I got it, Pierce, I'll speed up the progress."
After hanging up Fury's phone, Pierce's inner worry slowed down a little.
"But it's not enough just the Avengers plan, this plan takes time after all."
Pierce leaned against the sofa, rubbing his forehead, thinking about the resources he could use at the moment. After a moment, a new idea appeared in front of him. He quickly walked to the desk, reached out to open the drawer, and took out a quaint notebook from it.
That was a note left by his father, which recorded many secrets of Hydra.
Pierce flipped through several pages in it, and he tried to find a new enemy for Merlin and Fury, one with Hydra without affecting his basic power.
“There are several who meet the requirements.”
Pierce looked at the records in his notebook, sat in a chair, pondered for a moment, and nodded:
"We want to move into deeper darkness, which takes time for Merlin's vengeance-driven warrior, and also requires a new target, an enemy that is strong enough to allow him to fight for a long time."
"It's a bit difficult to make a decision. This kind of black water splashing cannot be discovered by them."
"And how should I turn Merlin's eyes to those guys? This needs to be planned."
"Wait for the opportunity first, it will always come."
—
"Hi Merlin!"
Accompanied by a cheerful call, the little Daisy, wearing a cowboy suit and a decent cowboy hat, rushed towards Merlin cheering. In a cheer, she was held in Merlin's arms, turned around in place, and placed on the ground.
There were children around them, and they were dressed up and looked like they were having a festival.
"Where are your parents?"
Merlin squatted beside Daisy, reached out and hooked her nose, and he said to the child:
"Are they here today?"
"Um."
Daisy nodded and pointed to the adults behind her who were communicating with Father Paul, and she said:
"Dad was chatting with the priest there, and mom was resting in the church. She didn't like crowded places. I just saw Brother Eric and Sister Charlie, who were hiding in the church and kissing."
The precocious child covered his eyes and said with a smile:
"They are unsatisfied, haha."
"Uh, just leave them alone, they are unbearable children."
Merlin reached out and patted Daisy on the head. He stood up and introduced the child behind him who had a big hat covering his face to Daisy:
"Daisy, this is my sister, Riven."
"Hello, Riven."
Daisy waved to Bingbing cold Riven politely, but Riven kept her original posture as if she hadn't heard it, standing alone in the corner.
"Riwen!"
Merlin strengthened her tone, and then Riven raised her head impatiently, glared at Merlin, and then looked at Daisy. She said to the girl of her age in front of her in a plain voice that was no emotional fluctuation:
"Hello, my name is Riven."
"Wow, you're so beautiful."
Daisy saw Riven's eyes and her face and suddenly widened her eyes. She walked to Riven's side, reached out and pulled Riven's hand, and she said:
"Why are your hands so cold? Is she sick? Merlin."
Daisy looked back at Merlin, who shrugged and said:
"Well, Riven is really feeling uncomfortable recently, but I hope she can find a good friend, like a child like you."
"Uh-huh."
Daisy nodded vigorously, and she said to Merlin:
"I will be good friends with Riven."
"Then I'll be relieved."
Merlin bent down and patted Daisy on the head. He looked at his watch and said to Daisy:
"You sister Elsa is going to pick up Matt. Little Ava will come with her Uncle Bill later. I'm going to pick up my little nephew Peter now, so I'll hand Riven over to you. You have to take good care of her for me, okay? Daisy."
"You go."
Daisy waved to Merlin, and she grabbed her cowboy hat and said to Merlin:
"I will take good care of her, this is an agreement."
Merlin nodded, and he walked towards the exit of the fundraising event, greeting people whom he knew. He had lived in Hell's Kitchen for many years and was familiar with the people around him.
After watching Merlin leave, Daisy turned her head and looked at Riven. All the smiles on her face disappeared. The little girl put her waist on her waist and said angrily, "The expressionless Riven on the opposite side said:
"Don't you like Merlin?"
Riven glanced at Daisy, and she asked with interest:
"Why do you call him brother? Judging from your age, you should call him uncle."
"Do you care about me!"
Daisy snorted, and the image of a good girl completely disappeared at this moment. She said to Raven fiercely:
"You have to be nice to Merlin. He is a great man. You are not allowed to be so rude to him!"
"Do you care about me!"
Riven answered with the same reply as Daisy, which made Daisy very dissatisfied.
This child has lived alone in Hell's Kitchen for several months. He is not the kind of girl who is powerless. Her actions to express her anger are also very direct.
She pushed Riven to the ground, and Riven subconsciously wanted to use magic to fight back, but the problem was that her black and white magic was sealed now. Although she grew up in Azaras, her physical fitness was much better than that of ordinary children, Daisy was born with an alien. Although she had not yet transformed, her physical fitness was also not weak.
The two girls screamed and tear each other together, and no one came to stop them, just to think it was a joke between the children.
More than ten minutes later, when Merlin held Peter, who was almost 4 years old, and returned to the fundraising site with his sister and brother-in-law, he saw two girls dressed in disheveled clothes, scattered hair, and scratches on his face.
Eric, who had a headache, held Daisy like a little monkey, while Charlie grabbed the angry Riven's arm and prevented the two children from touching each other again, but the two of them still glared at each other with their eyes, as if they were rolling in the grass.
Ava in a black dress and Matt wearing sunglasses sat on the chair aside. Ava told the quiet Matt excitedly about the fight between the two children, but she was afraid that the world would not be in chaos.
"Oh, Peter is still good."
Meilin held his little nephew and turned around and said to Mei behind him:
"I really plan to send Riven to you for a while. Sister, this kid has a weird temper. Maybe you can change her a little."
"I don't have time, brother."
Mei said to Meilin with some regret:
"I've been helping with community welfare organizations recently, and I'm planning to officially join in to help those in need, so it's already hard to take care of Peter alone."
"Yes, Merlin."
Ben also reached out and patted Merlin on the shoulder, and he said:
"Riwen is your sister. I believe you will get along well in the end. You have such a good temper. Look, the children in this orphanage like you very much, and Riwen will definitely accept you."
"She is different from other children."
Merlin looked at Riven, who was gradually calming down under Charlie's comfort, and he said:
"Riven has experienced some terrible things. She has been shutting herself up. I really don't know if I can do it."
"You can, brother."
Mei reached out and patted her brother's arm, and she smiled and said:
"You can do it, you have a special power, Merlin, which makes you a better person."
"I've seen it, and I believe Riven will see it in the end."
Chapter completed!