The discussions at the Future Science Foundation are still going on, but Merlin has left Vienna and he has more important things to do.
Although SHIELD has taken a series of "technical" measures to prevent the fermentation of the incident in the Aishingwald area, it is difficult to truly hide such a big noise that night. This matter needs a final conclusion, and Merlin is busy with this.
Fortunately, with the influence of Hermione and Porter Jr. in European wizards, the day after the incident, S.H.E.L.D. received help from a group of Ministry of Magic wizards. Through the large-scale use of repair spells, S.H.E.L.D. agents spent less than 5 hours to restore the Eisingwald Industrial Zone to a "should" scene.
At noon, the factory that has been blocked is also open to some reporters. Of course, these reporters were allowed to enter the factory for interviews after careful selection.
They are all mainstream media, and they are accustomed to speaking with facts, rather than gossip newspapers who like to catch up on the wind and shadows, spread rumors everywhere, and are afraid that the world will not be in chaos.
Among them is Merlin's old friend.
"They said there was an earthquake here last night?"
Miss Louise Liann was sitting on the smart car in Eisingwald Industrial Park. She looked at the slightly embarrassed internal buildings of the Smart Industrial Park with curiosity. She had been to Nubani Industrial Park in Africa. The atmosphere there was very similar to that here, and they all looked very organized.
But Louise is obviously more interested in these medieval-style buildings around her.
Beside her, Clark also held a camera, recording the intelligent machinery industrial robots that were cleaning the ruins after the earthquake on the roadside, and some staff from German officials seemed to be surveying the situation after the earthquake.
Faced with Louise's inquiry, Clark said softly:
"Maybe it was an earthquake. Didn't the Earthquake Bureau also confirm it? A small-scale earthquake, with the source of the earthquake, just covered the industrial area, causing the collapse of buildings and the damage of some equipment."
"Onika Group is quite generous this time and did not stop our interview."
Louise grabbed the camera and took a few photos of the robots who were cleaning up the ruins, she said:
"It is probably because of fear of causing public panic. Now this place is full of rumors. Local tabloids exaggeratedly said that someone had seen the mythical monster Craken rising from the sea, saying that the sea monster was attacking the industrial park, and there were quite a few people who believed it."
"It's normal, Louise."
Clark twisted the camera, he said:
"I heard from some local colleagues that the people in this place have always been superstitious. And the locals do not have a good sense of industrial parks. I heard that when they established the industrial zone in Aishingwald, the nearby residents were not very happy, and many people were unemployed because of this."
"However, Onika Group has built several raw material processing plants near the industrial park, which has provided more and better jobs than before."
Although the famous reporter instinctively felt that this matter was a bit abnormal, she could not find any evidence. She was like a bickering with her boyfriend. She grabbed the smart car and stood up, and took a long shot of the smart tower in the distance. She said:
"And the tax paid to local governments every year is more than ten times the previous one. Except for those stubborn people, no one wants this industrial park to be moved from the local area."
"Hey, why did this dock become like this? Logically speaking, even an earthquake would not cause such a large-scale collapse. Could it be that Onika Group used materials that did not meet the standards? Internal corruption? Or unexpected situations?"
Louise seemed to smell the news. She stopped her smart car, quickly held the camera and rushed to the completely collapsed dock.
Clark hurriedly followed. After running a few steps, Clark turned around with some sense and saw Merlin in a windbreaker standing on the side of the road like a ghost. He pointed to Louise in front of Clark, and shook his head.
Clark immediately understood.
He turned his head and said to his girlfriend:
"Louise, the press conference of the Onika Group is about to begin, we are almost late, come and see it later!"
A few minutes later, Clark persuaded Louise, who had already discovered some clues, to get on the smart car and leave the dock. Merlin watched their departure backs. He looked at the collapsed dock again. He pushed his glasses and said:
"To be honest, if I hadn't known that Miss Louise was just an ordinary person, I sometimes really felt that she also had super powers. She could always find some hidden information that others could not find."
"There are always people who are sensitive in some aspects, Merlin, you can understand that maybe Miss Louise's superpower is constantly discovering hot topics of news."
Icarus' lenses quickly scanned the collapsed dock and quickly identified several twisted metal cannon barrels buried under the ruins. Merlin waved his hand, and in the changing gravitational beating, the wreckage that was not found deep under the ground was cleared out and then placed in a smart car parked beside him.
"To be honest, Merlin, the statement of earthquake is really bad."
Icarus commented:
“It will certainly attract a lot of suspicion.”
"But as long as most people believe it."
Merlin said:
"Any event will be debated, but as time goes by, no matter how bored people are, they will continue these debates. According to my experience, maybe within a month, this event will be forgotten. After all, the interesting things that are happening in the whole world are always attracted by new big events."
He shook his head and said:
"We, humans, are creatures that are good at forgetting."
"Well, from my observation, you are."
Icarus no longer continues this emotional problem. Her logical thinking circuit does not like these topics that are difficult to measure with data. When Merlin got on the smart car, she asked another thing.
"Inside the Onika Group, several shareholders, including Wakanda's official, have questioned the security issues of the Smart Industrial Park. The Ten-Ring Gang's operation exposed previous management loopholes. People with sensitive identities like Tony Stark, who have high authority, have already posed a threat to the security system of the Industrial Park."
"Mr. Lex Luther proposed to cancel all secondary authority so as not to happen again in the future like this one. Prince Techara did not agree with this view, and he felt that it was risky to put all authority into S.H.E.L.D. and the World Security Council."
After hearing Icarus' description, Merlin nodded and said:
"The fact that Tony was taken hostage was indeed a bit unexpected and difficult. I can't send agents to protect those who have permissions 24 hours a day, so I prefer Luther's opinion that canceling the secondary permissions is a good way."
"But what I care more about than these discussions is, Icarus, how did Mandarin know that Tony has the high authority to enter and exit the industrial park?"
"This information is top secret, and even the members of the World Security Council do not know it."
Merlin rubbed her chin and said softly:
"Although it can be attributed to magic, I always feel that this matter is worth pondering, how did this news leak out?"
"Maybe you should have looked at his memory before killing him."
Icarus said:
"Did you neglect it?"
"Mandalin uses magic, Icarus, and the soul-catching spell is not omnipotent. For a spellcaster like him, it is very difficult to view memory information. Moreover, his soul is protected by the Ten Rings and there is no useful thing at all."
Merlin moved his fingers and said:
"Anyway, this incident reminds me of the need to be vigilant about the Onika Group."
"Nick Fury's call, Merlin."
A communication request appeared on Icarus' lenses, and Merlin immediately connected the communication. The next moment, Fry's face, which was really not beautiful, appeared in front of Merlin.
"Have you had any results in communication with the German government?"
Merlin asked, and Fury replied in a bad tone:
"Well, there, they agreed to continue operations of Eisingwald Industrial Park and would not impose restrictions on the industrial park."
"It sounds like a good thing."
Merlin stared at Fury's face and said:
"But judging from your expression, there seems to be something bad?"
"Yes, they made an additional request."
Fury looked around and sighed, and he said with a bad expression:
"The German official requested to send a military force to the Eisingwald Industrial Park, and to reset a new defense system in addition to the security system that the industrial park already has, so as to ensure that this invasion will not happen again."
"And what's worse, the Russian representatives also made the same request, asking for the same troops to be placed in the forthcoming Voskaya Industrial Zone. Pierce had a fight with them, and the bureaucrats obviously wanted to take the opportunity to interfere in the management and ownership of the intelligent center."
Merlin's expression changed a little, and he said:
"That is, they also regard the intelligence center and industrial zones as part of the new arms competition?"
"Yes, we try not to make this happen, but at the moment, they are not willing to give in. Perhaps there are many people who have the same ideas as war madmen like Mandarin, and they are hiding among governments."
Fury said with a gloomy face:
"They grasped our weakness, Merlin, and they were threatening us without a doubt."
"Either agree with their request, or the Voskaya Industrial Zone and the next few industrial zones will be established. When the fourth impact of the fire source arrives, the problem of free intelligent machinery in Siberia and other regions can no longer be concealed. The plan that has been implemented for several years has aborted, and the confrontation between humans and intelligent machinery has truly begun."
"Damn politician!"
Merlin and Fury cursed almost at the same time, but both of them fell silent.
This problem is very difficult. The things created by the Ten Jie Gang gave other countries sufficient reasons to demand troops from the Smart Industrial Park.
More than ten seconds later, Merlin raised his head, his expression was a little subtle, and he said to Fury:
"I suddenly had an idea, Fury. Promise them."
"Um?"
Fury looked at Merlin in surprise. He didn't say anything. He was waiting for Merlin's explanation.
"The garrison can be, after all, governments are also responsible for the people. We can understand that what happened in the Aishinwald Industrial Park exposed our mistakes in this regard, and we are willing to bear the consequences of the mistakes."
Merlin whispered:
"But I don't think that ordinary troops can undertake this task. In the battlefield against intelligent robots that may be militarized, ordinary soldiers will not play much role in addition to increasing casualties. All countries hope that the garrison of industrial parks must have special forces that can deal with the threat."
"If they don't have one, they have to find a way out themselves. If it really doesn't work, we can help them train."
A light blew in the eyes of the deputy director of SHIELD, he said:
"They give out people, we give out plans, and there are many defense plans for them to choose from. There must be something that will satisfy them. Since they want to garrison troops, they also need to provide funds for training these special forces."
"It will take at least several years for a special force to be truly formed, which is enough for us to complete the construction of various industrial parks. As long as we wait for the energy remaining from the fire source to be completely released, the Intelligent Machinery Plan will be successful. How they will deal with those Intelligent Machinery Centers will be their business."
Merlin said:
"After the world has accepted the existence of intelligent machinery, even if they want to demolish those industrial parks, it has nothing to do with us. What we want is not the intelligent center, what we want is the smooth transition of this matter, and what we want is the world order not to be destroyed."
"Your idea"
Fury rubbed his chin, and after a moment he nodded to Merlin, he said:
"It's quite constructive. I'm going to discuss it with Pierce and then contact you later."
"Buzz"
Fury's communication hangs up, and Icarus's voice sounds again:
"Aren't you worried that those politicians will regard the intelligent equipment centers of various countries as bargaining chips for competition between countries in the future? If those intelligent equipment centers are really militarized, then"
“No.”
Merlin said to Icarus:
"The control of the 'builder' has always been in the hands of the World Security Council. If the control of artificial intelligence that matches the smart tower is lost, the smart tower will be just an empty shell."
Merlin pushed his glasses and said:
"Once the 'builder' program is destroyed, it is not that easy for countries to reverse reset the program. After all, it was developed by the combined efforts of the smartest group of people in the world, and the flexibly used Cybertron knowledge contained in it is not so easy to crack."
"When the Intelligent Machinery Project was started, we had the means of counter-attack. Although we were unwilling to use it, if this plan became the biggest unstable factor for the world."
Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, he looked at the sea in the distance, and said:
Chapter completed!