Jessica was waiting outside the conference room of the underground base of the 21st Century Bell Telephone Company. The private detective picked up a glass of water from the water dispenser next to him, leaned against the wall as if no one was around. After drinking the glass of water, he sneakily put the cup on the wall and eavesdropped on the movement in the conference room.
She is not an ordinary person. In her early years, she also encountered the same thing as Matt Murdoch. She was infected with chemical agents. The incident caused Jessica's family to leave her, and it also brought unexpected physical enhancement to Jessica in disguise.
But disaster is disaster, and it can always change a person. That accident also created this girl's outlook on life that is drunk and rebellious, and she is content with the situation.
Of course, the encounter with Zi Ren later is another sad story in her sad life.
In short, her perception is stronger than that of ordinary people. With the help of the sound-gathering effect of paper cups, she can hear the movements in the conference room made of sound insulation materials. The sound is very weak, but she can barely hear that in the house separated by a wall, someone is being beaten.
The sound of fisting to the flesh made Jessica unable to help shrink her neck.
After several minutes, the door of the conference room was opened from the inside and Merlin's voice came:
"Stop eavesdropping, come in, Jessica."
The private detective immediately threw away the paper cup in his hand and walked into the conference room with a very respectful attitude. As she expected, Luke Cage, the divine power man, had been beaten to the point of being blue and swollen, and the invulnerable defense was useless in front of Merlin.
Merlin was unharmed and even her hairstyle did not become more scattered.
He sat on the chair, sipping tea with a calm face, while Luke Cage grinned and stroked his cheeks, and his unruly temperament was completely wiped out.
Most people with superpowers are confident in their abilities, and having confidence in themselves is the first step to becoming a hero and a prerequisite.
It is precisely because they have power that they are more respectful of power than ordinary people.
"Mr. Cage told me about what he was hiding. Some guys who advocate biological transformation and evolution are working in secret with the Ministry of Defense to find suitable prisoners to transform biologically in many prisons on this continent."
"The means are extremely cruel, and the survival rate of the transformed people is very low. The hands of those guys are covered with blood. Although the victims are not innocent, they cannot be allowed to continue to go crazy."
Merlin said to Jessica:
"Mr. Cage has realized his mistake of fighting alone under my 'persuasion', and he is very happy to help us find those lunatics."
"It's a pity that I haven't had time to track down the clues that come with him recently, so I'll leave this to you, Jessica, as a private detective, you should be proficient in tracking and secret searches, so I hope that you two can work together to find out the bastards who use prisoners to conduct illegal biological experiments in the shortest time."
“I’m willing to accept this commission.”
Jessica nodded immediately. She was unwilling to disobey Merlin, but after a few seconds of thinking, she still asked in a low voice:
"But how does the compensation count? My apartment rent has been delayed for two months. I mean, I need money."
"You guys one by one"
Merlin couldn't help but rub his forehead, and he said:
"Why are you living so miserably? Maybe you should quit drinking? This will save you some money."
"Not every superpower can stand high like you and don't worry about money, Mr. Merlin."
Jessica complained:
"A few capable guys I know have been doing a bad life. On the one hand, we have to hide our abilities from being discovered by people around us, and on the other hand, we are unwilling to do some 'business' that makes money quickly like those criminals."
"Okay, okay, don't be miserable. I will notify the Finance Department to issue you two of your allowances in advance."
Merlin took out her purse from her pocket, pulled out a few notes and handed them to Jessica, he said:
"This is my personal support for you and the medical expenses paid to Mr. Cage. If I know you use this money to sell alcohol, I will take time to talk to you. In addition, from now on, you should call me 'superior'."
"Okay, sir."
Jessica took the banknote handed over by Merlin quickly, and she put it into her pocket, and then said to Merlin:
"Who should we contact? Sir, please contact you directly?"
"No, I'm not responsible for cases of this level."
Merlin bounced his finger and said:
"After a while, someone will come to take you to handle the procedures. Regarding the progress of the case, Colson will arrange a special informant for you. I would like to remind you again that you are now considered official personnel, so no matter what you do, you must pay attention to the influence and means. While ensuring your own safety, try to be gentler in your style."
He took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, then stood up and said to Jessica and Luke Cage:
"The secret field team of you two is code-named 'Defender'. I look forward to seeing you in this new system, Jessica, pay attention to your image in the future and don't make yourself like a rebellious girl."
"Okay, I'm leaving, you guys are here for a while."
After saying that, he pushed open the door and left the conference room. After a while, he came to the mysterious room through the door of the bathroom.
As usual, Xuanlan stood at the door, waiting for Meilin.
"Look, I said, if everything goes well, I won't use it."
Meilin returned the suitcase with the fear hammer to Xuanlan, who took it in his hand and said to Meilin with a gentle face:
"This also proves that you don't need this cursed power to solve the trouble in your hands. I still think that these powers should not be activated. There is a reason why they were sealed in the first place."
"I hope so."
Merlin took off his glasses, and he looked at Icarus who was no longer responding to him, and he said:
"But I still lost something and lost an assistant and a friend, which made me feel a little regretful."
"She is not without the possibility of being repaired."
Xuanlan said:
"It's only a matter of time before any machine can be repaired."
Meilin did not answer, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Xuanlan:
"I need to go to the ice room."
"Hold on."
Xuanlan quickly put the Fear Warhammer back to Merlin's collection room, and then opened the closed ice room for Merlin. In the deepest part of the ice room, the modified Kerry mechanical sentry was still there, and it was still in a state of shutdown, like a giant steel box.
"Without Icarus, this thing cannot be restarted in intelligent mode."
Merlin looked at the mechanical creature in front of him with ice ridges, and took out a small box from his pocket, and said:
“But luckily, this is not irreparable.”
He opened the box and Xuanlan saw that there were a few crystals like crystal fragments in the box. Some slightly strange power lingered on the crystal. The energy reminded Xuanlan of the bumblebee robot that was reorganized in the workshop of the mysterious house before.
"Is this the Cybertron fire?"
The housekeeper asked:
“You want to use it to turn the ‘hunter’ into a real mechanical life?”
"Um."
Merlin nodded, and he walked towards the sentry at the end of the ice chamber, he said:
"We need its existence, which is an important deterrent for those stubborn and dangerous spellcasters. I think the mysterious house also needs some extra defense."
"The power of strange spirits that entrench in the basement is a hidden danger. It is difficult to contact, understand, and resist any flesh and blood life, but it is not so dangerous for mechanical life that does not have flesh and blood and souls in the true sense."
Meilin said to Xuanlan:
"Although there is a crisis of corruption, if those forces explode, this machine can at least give you time to escape."
"I can't escape, master."
Xuan Lan lowered her head and said softly:
"Only leaving the mysterious house, my existence will disappear soon."
"I'll find a way."
Merlin reached out to take out a piece of fire fragment from the box and placed it on the surface of the large metal ball in front of him. He thought about it and took out another piece and threw it on the body of the sentry hunter. He said:
"We will find a way together. The sudden disappearance of Icarus made me realize that I could lose you at any time. I have very few friends, so this is something I don't want to see."
Meilin's words were just touching, but behind him, Xuanlan looked at him with a slightly touching look.
In Xuanlan's long life, she was rarely treated with such straightforward and calm care. Her first owner, the mysterious Mr. Leonardo da Vinci, created her, but only regarded her as a tool to assist in the experiment. After the mysterious house was infected by the spirit, he decisively gave up this place and let Xuanlan and the house penetrate by spiritual infection.
Meilin released the mysterious house and also freed Xuanlan from its long-term closure. For Xuanlan, Meilin was not as simple as the master.
As he himself said, they are more like friends, friends who help each other, and they are further in love with the master and the housekeeper. This is a rare treatment for a spirit that is feared by the casters.
"Click"
A light sound came from the depths of the ice chamber, interrupting Xuanlan's thoughts.
The female housekeeper turned her eyes forward and saw that the two tinder fragments placed by Merlin on the surface of the sentry hunter were quickly losing their luster. The energy inside them was like a rapid transfer. The crystals that existed as solids became pale and fragile. In the cold temperature of the ice chamber, the two crystal fragments quickly collapsed from the inside and turned into white powder.
On the surface of the metal box where the Sentinel Hunter was shut down, a series of gorgeous streams flowed through the dents on the body surface, like a certain liquid flowing on the metal surface, which quickly penetrated into the interior of the Kerry metal in just a few more seconds.
"Clang"
A dull loud noise rang in the ice chamber, like an old engine being activated, and a choking black smoke spurted out from the awakened body of the sentry hunter, like a cry when a new mechanical life was born.
As Meilin and Xuanlan watched, the giant metal fast body surface of the two tall two people began to split rapidly. With the sound of the collision between the internal mechanical module and the gear parts, it quickly deformed with a dazzling and futuristic sense of technology.
The first deformation was always a little longer. After a few seconds, a sentry hunter with a big change appeared in the ice chamber.
Thanks to the heavy design of the Sentinel's war model by Kerry, this machine, which was given life by Merlin, looks heavier and more stable than the ordinary Cybertron.
It is slightly shorter than the former sentry form, but it is 7.5 meters. It has thick, black and angular outer armor on its chest and limbs. It has square thick armor on its shoulders, and four parallel weapon slots. It still retains the posture of a sword-shaped hand armor that was previously modified, looking full of aggressiveness.
The weapon equipped by this sentry was separated into a three-barrel energy cannon that can be held by hand under the transformation of the fire, and was equipped in the weapon slot behind the sentry.
Since the Kree sentry also has a melee mode, after real mechanization, its left arm is also equipped with a stretchable mechanical shield. In the weapon slot behind it, there is also a one-handed spike warhammer for melee use, with the Kree style.
Its head is very anthropomorphic like other Cybertrons, but compared to other Cybertrons, the mouth of the robot is a shield-shaped device, which is paired with two separate antenna-like radar branches above the head, making it look silent and reliable.
Its eyes, that is, the information collector, are long hexagons, with beige light jumping in it, with a hint of confusion in the light, probably because it has not adapted to this new life form.
Merlin took out his phone and activated the Cybertronic conversion app. He said to the robot in front of him:
"@%￥@!*￥#@(Hello, Hunter.)"
"Click"
The hunter lowered his head and looked at Meilin. There was data in his eyes beating. After a moment, it moved its huge body, stepped forward, and half-kneeled in front of Meilin's eyes. He replied in a hoarse and slightly low voice:
"*%￥!%@#!(Hello, Knight Merlin!)"
"Um"
Meilin nodded, he turned around and looked at Xuanlan, and he said:
“It should have a new name that represents the new life.”
"Call it 'Horus'."
Xuanlan reached out and stroked the monocle glasses on her left eye, and she whispered:
"You lose Icarus, you deserve another brave eagle."
"Horus? It sounds pretty good."
Meilin savored the name, and he looked back at the black robot in front of him, and he said:
Chapter completed!