Time is a wonderful thing. Those things that have happened are originally thought to be deeply engraved and will not be forgotten. They will slowly fade as time passes and eventually become ordinary experiences.
Occasionally I feel that it happened yesterday, but more often, the alienation brought by that time makes people feel that it happened more like it happened a million years ago.
Memory is also a wonderful thing.
In a blink of an eye, the 1994 Spring Festival had arrived. Merlin sat in his office in Paris and quietly wrote a report. He was summarizing and counting the European branch's rebellion and absorption of intelligence personnel in the former Soviet Union over the past year.
After completing the Norwegian expedition, Merlin helped Gatler complete the task of rebelling against hostile agents for the next half year. They went to Eastern Europe, Central Asia and even Moscow several times, bringing back the intelligence workers who had nowhere to hide and had no way to hide because of the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
Just like in 1992, Merlin, Patton and Fury recruited Natasha in Sokovia.
During this year, Merlin also witnessed the cruel and cruel "transformation" of several large intelligence organizations left behind by the former Soviet Union.
According to the information collected by the European branch, the "Red House" that had trained top agents like Natasha was attacked and eroded by other intelligence organizations.
It declined rapidly this year, and only two or three kittens remained until now. One of the biggest opponents of this Strategic Science Legion during the Cold War was completely extinct.
And across the ocean, the Strategic Science Legion encountered the same situation, but its members were still struggling to support it.
Recently, things have changed.
According to the news that Merlin got from Fury, Kohler, the incompetent person in charge of the Strategic Crisis Intervention and Intelligence Logistics Department, is currently being suppressed very badly. His poor work ability has not only failed to successfully suppress Nick Fury in this year, but with Pierce's secret help, Fury, who is becoming more and more confident, has begun to fight back.
At present, in the organization, fewer and fewer agents are willing to obey Kohler. The incompetent authority to embellish himself is gradually collapsed, while Nick Fury, who is nominally a Level 3 civilian agent, is recovering his strength day by day.
The attempts of other institutions hidden in the dark to erode the original Strategic Science Legion have basically been shattered. Now it seems that the incompetent Kohler has been regarded as an abandoned son, and it is difficult for him to get help and support from the upper powers.
Now only one opportunity is needed, Fury is confident that he can completely drive Kohler from the throne of director.
The most intuitive manifestation of Fury's advantage is:
Last month, Merlin's agent level, which had been deliberately suppressed, finally rose from level 1 to level 2. This means that Kohler's control over the personnel system of the Strategic Dangerous Intervention and Intelligence Logistics Department was completely broken.
In addition, Merlin's own situation has also changed a lot in the past year.
As Merlin's own magic level grew higher and higher, the dark magic in his body became more gentle and obedient, and it was no longer a fatal problem.
On the other hand, Merlin finally finished chewing the introductory magic textbook "Standard Spells. Elementary" 2 months ago and began to move towards a more complex magic stage.
He also began to learn potions by himself, which is equivalent to the medicine and treatment methods in the wizarding world. Because Merlin was once very interested in medicine and had some basic medical skills, he made quite good progress in this area.
But potions involve a lot of messy and weird materials, which forced Merlin to travel between Paris and London at a monthly frequency in the second half of 1993. Just like other wizards, he has become a frequent visitor to Diagon Alley and occasionally asks Hermione to find some rare items for him.
In short, whether it is an agent or a wizard, Merlin has almost passed the introductory stage in these two professions.
"Didi, Didi"
The sudden ringtone of the cell phone interrupted Mei Lin, who was writing quickly.
At this moment when the Spring Festival in 1994 just ended, another thing that made Meilin happy was that he could finally get rid of the brick-like communication tool he used to be.
Earlier this year, Stark Industries released a more convenient and lighter communication device, which was said to have been designed by talented designer Tony Stark himself, and its appearance was unexpectedly similar to the phone sent by Old Afu to Merlin.
After this press conference, Merlin was finally able to use his small mobile phone openly.
He picked up his phone, pressed the answer button, and placed it in his ear:
"Hey, Fury? Is there anything important to call across the ocean at this time?"
"Your secondment is officially over, Merlin, go back to New York."
Fury's voice sounded a little tired, and a little solemn, he said:
"Constantine disappeared a week ago. Agent Hitville, who was responsible for assisting him, also mysteriously disappeared 1 day ago. Two hours ago, your house in Hell's Kitchen was burned along with my car."
"Bang"
The pen in Merlin's hand made a light sound under heavy pressure. The level 2 agent narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be thinking. After thinking, he asked:
"Is Eric and May okay?"
"I'm in Queens now."
Fury replied:
"At present, they are still safe. I have arranged manpower at St. Matthew's Church. But the attacker is very mysterious. I have checked all the monitoring equipment on the streets of Hell's Kitchen, but found no useful information. The fire in your house is burning a bit bizarre."
"Okay, I get it."
Merlin stood up, picked up her coat, opened the door, and said to Fury:
"I'll rush back as fast as possible, protect my family, please."
"Um."
Merlin hung up the phone and returned to his hotel room as fast as possible. After more than ten minutes, Merlin, wearing a gray casual suit, dragging a trolley case, and carrying a backpack, took a taxi and headed to the airport.
He did not forget to call Gatler. He told Gatler about what happened in New York. The latter did not stop Merlin, but used his connections to arrange him to the most recent passenger plane to fly directly to New York.
Nearly 9 hours later, at dawn, Merlin, dragging a box, stood on the streets of Hell's Kitchen.
In front of him was his former house, but now, there is only a piece of ruin left behind after being burned.
Meilin walked into the ruins that were still emitting a burnt smell. He squatted down and touched the burned remains with his gloved fingers. The fire was completely burning, and almost nothing was left in the ruins.
But this is not the case in Merlin's eyes.
He reached out and took off his frameless glasses. In the state where the spiritual vision was opened, he could clearly see a trace of mark left on the ruins of the sea of ​​fire. Among the ashes, there was a faint smell of sulfur, which ordinary people could not catch at all.
It is actually not real sulfur, but a residue from the power of demons, which is considered a kind of magical energy.
Merlin grabbed a handful of heated ashes, and opened his hand and let the ashes scatter from his fingertips. He carefully distinguished the slightest breath of sulfur in the ashes. After a few seconds, Merlin put on his glasses again.
That aura is very familiar.
He was also loyal to knowing who the mysterious murderer was.
Morris
Rabies Morris, the "son" of the Three Palace Demon, once formed a cult group in Hell's Kitchen. Merlin had a relationship with him before going to Europe. Under Fury's push, Kohler joined forces with the New York Police Department to eliminate Morris' cult, and the rabies also disappeared at that time.
More than a year has been enough for Merlin to forget this man, but now, it has appeared again.
And this time, its goal is very clear, it is for Merlin.
In the dark night, Merlin picked up his cell phone and called Fury, and he said to Fury:
"I know who the attacker is, Fury. Can you contact Ulysses. Bloodstone Master?"
"I haven't contacted Ulysses in 4 months."
Fury replied in a low tone:
"The Bloodstone Master will not have any contact with the outside world when performing a mission, but this time, I doubt that the master was in trouble. According to your opinion, are the dark creatures that attacked this time?"
"Yes, one and half demon."
Merlin said:
"Do you remember the hell rabies destroyed by Kohler a year ago? The missing cult leader is back. And you are right, he came for me, can you invite you?"
"boom"
Before Merlin could finish her request, a strange explosion sounded in the darkness not far away, like a bomb was detonated.
Merlin looked up and saw an arc of light intertwined dark red and white light lit up in the night sky, like a lightning bolt that tore through the darkness, in that direction was St. Matthew's Church!
"Protect my cousin, Fury! That half-demon appears, I'll hang up first!"
Merlin turned off his cell phone, pulled out his wand, and turned into a rolling black smoke, rolled up his salute, and rushed towards St. Matthew's Church a few blocks away.
In less than a minute, Merlin's figure appeared in front of St. Matthew's Church. In front of him, the gate of the quaint church, which had been more than a hundred years old, was broken into pieces, and flames were burning in the church, with sounds of help.
Merlin rushed into the church with his wand. He looked at the raging flames in front of him and the nuns who hurriedly avoided in the flames.
“aguamenti! (Summoning the Water Spell)”
Merlin's wrist turned, and a slightly complex spell was released with magic. At Merlin's fingertips, the top of the wand Lora shone with magical light. Wherever it pointed, there were sparks like a passive stream of water, like a small rainstorm that occurred in the church.
Call the water spell.
The auxiliary magic of summoning Qingquan and the dining-making technique that can make food can complete a not-so-rich but absolutely full lunch in an instant.
Under the continuous washing of cool raindrops, the burning flames in the church were extinguished bit by bit, and there was a strong demonic aura left in the church, but in Merlin's dark perception, there was no demonic whereabouts.
He inserted Lora back into the wooden box at his waist, and then walked into a messy church. The terrified nuns gathered together and prayed silently. Under the church's pulpit, Merlin saw the old acquaintance, Father Paul.
The latter seemed to be frightened. He collapsed on the stairs of the pulpit, and his black robe had a burnt spot. He held the rose rosary tightly, lowered his head, and quickly recited the sacred scriptures. But his body was trembling, which represented the situation of ordinary people after experiencing supernatural events.
"Father, are you okay?"
Merlin squatted in front of Father Paul, patted the priest on the shoulder and whispered:
"What happened just now? Can you tell me?"
Hearing the call, the praying priest opened his eyes and saw Merlin, he was a little surprised:
"Merlin? You haven't shown up for more than a year. Eric said you're on a business trip in Europe."
"Yes, I just came back."
Merlin said in a gentle voice:
"As soon as I got off the car, I saw the church fire. I came to help. What happened just now? I heard a loud noise, and the light that was lit up in the sky, the tangled, dark red and white light. What was going on?"
“That’s that’s that’s it”
The priest recalled what happened just now, and his body trembled even more violently. He held the rosary tightly, closed his eyes, and said like a dream:
"It's the demon! I saw the twisted, hideous, ugly demon breaking into the church. It brutally smashed our door. It spewed out the fire of hell and wanted to burn us to death. But it must be the blessing of the gods. A white light appeared in the church. It injured the demon and the demon ran away."
"Oh my God! Christ is above, there are really demons in this world."
Speaking of this, the priest hurriedly stood up and walked under the icon on the wall, standing there more sincerely than ever. While marking a cross on his chest, he thanked his god with a thankful voice.
The confused nuns also prayed with the priests. For a moment, this messy church seemed to have become sacred.
Merlin did not disturb them, and he took a few steps back and searched among the burning ruins of the church. Finally, on the ground near the church gate, Merlin found a blood stain that was sticky like cooling magma.
He half-kneeled in front of the blood stain, took off his gloves, wiped them with his fingers, and then placed them under his nostrils and sniffed them.
The pungent scent of sulfur made Merlin frown tightly.
Father Paul did not lie. This was indeed the blood of the demon, or the half-demon. As expected, a demon came to the church but was driven away by mysterious power. If the half-demon Morris came, then it must have come here for Little Eric.
Merlin felt a hint of urgency, and the half-demon obviously knew all his news. It was trying to hurt Merlin's friends, follow its actions, the next step
It should be plum.
His cousin, his only relative in his bloodline.
"Damn it!"
Merlin stood up, put on his gloves, looked back at the priests and nuns who were praying. He shook his head, dragged his luggage, and left the church.
In the late night when Christmas Eve was approaching and it seemed extremely cold, a deadly cold light flashed in Merlin's eyes. He picked up the phone, dialed it, and put it in his ear. He whispered:
"Hey? Tucker?"
Chapter completed!