Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 655 10. Escaping Madness

During the three hours after the European branch's arrest operation ended, Merlin was quite busy.

It is not a big problem for junior agents to be taken away, and the affairs at hand can be assigned to their colleagues, but the vacancies of senior agents are terrible, especially in management.

This is like a precision machine, the lack of a single gear may cause the entire machine to stop, therefore, Merlin must fill in the vacancy in the shortest possible time.

However, when any large-scale plan is planned, there will be follow-up supplementary plans, just like the "liquidation operation" also has a complete supplementary plan for personnel transfer.

Merlin only needs to talk to someone according to the personnel promotion form in his mailbox, and then give those lucky ones a promotion and salary increase, and encourage them a bit.

"Agent Algerd, don't be nervous, I came to you because I have something important to tell you."

Merlin was sitting on the office chair. He put his hands crossed on the table and propped his chin. Beside him was a stack of personnel files and some new secret agent certificates, all of which had been prepared in advance.

In front of his eyes, a male agent in his 30s was standing there. His name was Algerd, and he was a level 4 agent in the logistics department of the European Division. Although Director Merlin was very gentle, he was still a little nervous. .

He had to be nervous.

Just a few hours ago, he had witnessed his chief and three colleagues being taken away by Chief Merlin. Although the chief told them that this was a drill, anyone with a brain knew that it couldn't be a drill.

In a few hours, nearly 300 people were taken away from the entire Paris headquarters... almost one-tenth of the number of agents in this office building.

In addition, the headquarters building has been sealed off by field agents armed with live ammunition, so a delicate atmosphere is brewing in the building, which is restlessness mixed with anxiety.

Everyone is worried that they will be the next to be taken.

"Don't be nervous... Forget it, let me just say it."

Merlin looked at the unconcealable fear in the eyes of the agent in front of him. He originally wanted to comfort him, but after talking to 7 people in a row, Merlin became a little impatient.

This was supposed to be the job of the personnel department, but unfortunately, the senior agents of the personnel department were also taken away. Merlin just promoted a level 4 agent to be the temporary manager of the personnel department, and they were still busy with the management of the personnel department. Assignment of new jobs to junior agents, and promotion of some junior agents.

Therefore, when it comes to the promotion of senior secret agents, only Merlin can do it himself.

"Agent Algerd, this is a personnel appointment from the Trident headquarters. Starting today, you will be promoted to a level 5 agent, and you will be temporarily in charge of various tasks in the logistics department of the Paris headquarters."

Merlin picked up a document from his hand, put the new agent ID on it, and handed it to Agent Algerd who looked nervous in front of him.

The latter is obviously a little confused.

Promotion is of course a good thing. Promotion means an increase in status and salary, and upgrading to level 5 means that Agent Algerd has officially entered the middle management.

But today such a big thing happened, and he got promoted and raised his salary. These two things happened at the same time, which made Agent Algerd a little bit at a loss.

He froze there for a while, and didn't reach out to pick up the documents and new certificates that Merlin handed over, which made Merlin a little confused. He looked at the agent with blank eyes in front of him, and he stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers, saying:

"Mr. Algerd, are you unwilling to accept this appointment? Or do you have other ideas? It doesn't matter, just tell me."

"Uh, no no, I didn't mean that! Chief."

The Level 4 agent who woke up from his dream immediately stretched out his hands to catch the document and his new ID. He looked at the Roman numeral 5 printed on the ID, and a strange emotion rose in his heart.

There is joy, there is also surprise, but more of it is doubt.

He carefully looked at Merlin's expression, and after a few seconds, he asked hesitantly:

"Director, can I ask about this morning's..."

"no, you can not."

Merlin looked at the agent in front of him, with a formulaic smile, he said:

"You are also an old agent, Algerd. Although we have never met before, I believe you should know that we have confidentiality regulations."

"Uh, okay."

The newly appointed logistics commander was a little embarrassed. He said to Merlin:

"I went back to the office immediately to deal with the delay."

"Well, you are the commander of the logistics department, you can do things in your own way."

Merlin picked up another document, and he said to Agent Algerd:

"I can reveal to you a little bit about our colleagues who were taken away. They made some mistakes, some economical, or legal and S.H.I.E.L.D. internal rules. I hope that after you go back, you can Explain this to colleagues in your department so they don't worry too much."

"The investigation has ended. Since you haven't been taken away, it means that you have no problems. Just work hard as before."

"Also, call in Agent Julie from the medical department for me, she should be waiting outside."

Merlin waved to Agent Algerd, who immediately turned and left the office. A moment later, a female agent walked into the office. Like Algerd before, she also had undisguised blankness and worry in her eyes.

"Agent Julie, don't be nervous, I came to you because I have something important to tell you..."

Merlin kept talking to people until 6 p.m., 30 minutes after closing time, and he was still in the office.

The European branch is the direct manager of all the subordinate departments of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the European region. Like the Trident headquarters, it has many, many branches. Since the afternoon, reports from other subordinate departments have been continuously sent to Merlin. here.

From Germany, from Sweden, from Greece, etc., the results of the 'liquidation' actions of various lower-level departments are constantly being collected in Icarus' communication system, and then submitted to Merlin, so that he can have a better understanding of the situation in Europe. Complete control.

"As of now, the liquidation of the European branch has basically ended."

Icarus reported to Merlin:

"95% of the marked HYDRA elements have been captured, and there are a few scattered guys who have escaped capture due to various emergencies, but 7 task forces are on the move, probably tomorrow, There will be a final result.”

"Well, we are fully prepared in Europe, and this result is not surprising."

Merlin looked at the world map unfolded on the lens in front of him, rubbed his chin, and said:

"But the South American side surprised me a little. The arrest operation there seems to have failed?"

"It's not a failure."

Icarus zoomed in on the map of South America, where several places were marked in light red. The artificial intelligence lady explained:

"The arrest operation of the South American headquarters in Chile was very successful, but the arrest results of its 12 branches are regrettable. More than one tenth of the Hydra escaped from the inventory, and the political situation there is also unclear. , There are many nacui remnants active, and the forces among them are intertwined, and our agents are greatly disturbed when they operate, so we cannot simply blame them for their unfavorable actions."

"Well, did Fury take steps?"

Merlin asked, and Icarus quickly replied:

"Additional 4 special response units have been transferred to South America, but there are several countries that refuse to provide law enforcement authority to S.H.I.E.L.D., even if the World Security Council temporarily intervenes, this makes the agents only take covert operations ...so according to my prediction, the 'chaos' over there may continue for a while."

"Well, it's not perfect, which is a bit of a shame, but it's not unacceptable."

Merlin whispered:

"Hydra's final organizational framework has been completely destroyed. Even if some mice escape, they can only become wandering soldiers. Without the support of the organization, they can't cause too much trouble."

"drop"

A soft sound came from Icarus's mirror frame, which represented the appearance of a new communication message.

Merlin glanced at the source of the communication, and found that it was sent by the SDOLD agent commander Alfonso McKenzie who was seconded to Europe to carry out the arrest mission. Merlin connected the communication, and McKenzie's tower-like figure appeared in Ica Rose's lens.

Merlin asked:

"Mike, if I remember correctly, you were supposed to be doing arrests in Belarus. What happened?"

"No, Chief Merlin, the arrest operation went smoothly."

The place Mike was in seemed to be in a wilderness, and there was a whistling wind in the background of his voice. He reported to Merlin in a strange tone:

"We caught the escaped Hydra, sir, but the problem is...they're crazy."

"what?"

Merlin asked in surprise:

"Explain, Mike, what is 'crazy'?"

"It's hard for me to explain it to you on the phone, sir, you'd better come and see for yourself."

Mike said to Merlin in a serious voice:

"Not only these escaped Hydras, but also the branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Belarus. The captured Hydras also showed signs of madness, and this happened suddenly. According to the conversations with the command agents of the Belarusian branch, this madness appeared shortly after the liquidation operation began."

"That kind of madness is spreading like a plague, and even the command agent has language confusion, but he can still maintain basic reason."

Mike's expression was a bit ugly, he said to Merlin:

"Sir, this incident reminds me of some supernatural events that SDOLD has dealt with. I suspect that there may be something special hidden in the Belarus branch."

"Well, wait a minute."

Merlin stood up and stretched out his hand towards the black windbreaker hanging on the hanger in the office. Beowulf made a gurgling sound, and then quickly "jumped" onto Merlin, and quickly reorganized into the classic slim-fitting windbreaker.

Under the light of the transfer spell, Merlin soon appeared at the location of Agent Mike. The task force commanded by Mike was all young men from the SDOLD department. They often cooperated with wizards to deal with supernatural events. Stuff they are not unfamiliar with.

"Sir!"

Mike nodded slightly to Merlin, and then led him to the temporary tent set up in the wilderness. In that tent, several captured Hydra senior agents were handcuffed, but as Mike said , Their mental state seems to be a bit problematic.

Several people were chattering nonsense, even though their wrists were tied, their hands were still moving in the air, as if they were sketching something.

Merlin walked up to a guy with a dull face, and he stared at this guy, as if that guy didn't see Merlin at all, as if he was immersed in his own world.

"Snapped"

Merlin waved his hand and slapped this guy with such force that the guy's cheeks were swollen, but it still failed to wake him up.

He quickly noticed the guy's moving fingers in the air, and he said to Mike:

"Bring paper and pen here."

Soon, a piece of paper was sent to the tent. Merlin uncuffed the guy in front of him, then stuffed a signature pen into his hand, and suspended the piece of paper in the air, like a drawing board.

Merlin stood up and watched the guy holding a pen, writing and drawing on the white paper.He said to Mike next to him:

"Have you searched the base of the Belarus branch?"

"Barbie is leading a search. After discovering a suspected supernatural phenomenon, we evacuated the building according to standard procedures."

Mike replied:

"But the insanity has spread, and after our agents left the building, they all deteriorated rapidly... the longer they stay in there, the more affected they are, like a weird enchantment Same, but the problem is, we can't find the source of this oddity at all."

"Sudden appearance, group madness, it seems that the mind has lost control..."

Merlin stared at the muttering guy who was writing and drawing on paper, and he said:

"It does look like some out-of-control 084 items with mysterious side powers... He finished the drawing."

Mike took a step forward, took the white paper suspended in the air, and placed it in front of Merlin and him. The paper was marked with strange pictures with a signature pen.

It's like a strange combination of short straight lines and circles, which looks like some kind of meaningless secret language, but this picture is not complete, it should belong to a small part of a larger secret language system.

"What is this? A kind of puzzle?"

Agent Mike looked at the picture in front of him, he was a little puzzled.

But Merlin who was standing beside him narrowed his eyes. Obviously, he recognized what this thing was. He had seen it before, more than once.

"No, it's not a puzzle."

Merlin said to Mike:

"It's the Kree language, and it's the oldest of the kind... Well, it looks like our dear HYDRA have brought us something amazing, Mike, to get Barbie as fast as possible Get out."

Merlin says:

"If it's something related to the ancient Cree people, Barbie may not be able to handle it by herself."

"It seems that I have to go there myself."

(End of this chapter)