In Fury's office, seeing Fury throw a slap on the defense department, Merlin, who almost made a mistake, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

But new questions arise.

After Fury explained some things to Hill and after Hill quit the office, Merlin asked:

"Do you have anything to tell me about that mysterious 'Seventh District'?"

"I don't know much, Merlin."

Fury sat back on his chair and said to Merlin:

"I recently found out that around 1960, the Ministry of Defense sent an official expedition to the Arctic. No one knew what their purpose was. But in the context of the Cold War, the possibility of those soldiers crossing the Arctic Circle at the risk of irritating the Soviets was definitely a major plan, and they could even turn the secret of the war."

"And there is a little more."

Fury leaned against the chair and said to Merlin with his fingers crossed:

"In that old document, when the Ministry of Defense's expedition returned to the West Coast in 1960, it seemed that some secret things were transported back. And in the years after that expedition, new technologies from the Ministry of Defense have emerged one after another, new missiles, new vehicles, and more advanced information transmission systems, which help the United States become faster and stronger."

"Even I found some clues. In the 'Apollo Moon Plan' that began in 1962, a lot of new technologies were used, and the 'Star Wars Plan' proposed in the 1980s, all of which may have come directly from the suggestions of the Seventh District, so this made me wonder what those soldiers found under the ice in the Arctic and what they got from it."

Fury said in a serious voice:

"And, I now have a great doubt on the real purpose of our astronauts landing on the surface of the moon more than 30 years ago, and what exactly did they find on the surface of the moon during the six moon landings?"

Fury's series of descriptions made Merlin feel a sense of creepy.

As an adult, he knew the hypocrisy of history, but he did not expect that there would be such a big connection behind the incident he was involved in.

If rumors about mechanical life and the seventh district of the Ministry of Defense are true, it means that his promise to fly over the mountains to help it find the b-127 will likely be directly obstructed by the Ministry of Defense.

So this time, the biggest opponent he has to face is probably not the vicious Decepticon robot flying over the mountain pass, but the soldiers of the Ministry of National Defense.

"Our colleagues at the Ministry of Defense are like us, Merlin."

Fury looked at the surprised expression on Merlin's face and said softly:

"They also have a lot of secrets, and they are trying to know more and control more. And since the last time we took Base 084 from the Ministry of Defense, our relationship with them has not been very good."

"So do we need to get involved in this?"

Merlin asked:

"If those mechanical lives really exist and are trying to launch a threatening attack on us."

“I can’t tell at the moment.”

Fury shook his head:

“There is too little information available now. And, Merlin, I have to ask clearly, what is your source?”

Fury looked at the several documents in his hand, the stories about Cybertrons and the division of the systems between them, and no matter how they looked, they seemed to have learned directly from a mechanical life.

This made Fury doubt the reliability and authenticity of Merlin's source.

Merlin was prepared for this issue. He coughed lightly and said to Fury:

"There is something I haven't told you, Fury, she met me before Ms. Carter disappeared. Ms. Carter told me to hand over some of the information she kept to you when it was safe. But I can't be sure if it's safe now, so the information has been kept in my hands, and this information has been found in those information."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Fury's expression became serious, and he said to Merlin:

"What else did Ms. Carter say?"

Merlin hesitated for a moment, he looked at Fury and asked:

"Before answering this question, I want to ask you a few questions, Fury."

"What is the 'Avengers' plan? Why do you use sl.d. as a cover-up to transfer it cash?"

Merlin said in a deep voice:

"Ms. Carter told me before leaving that there is a darkness that is ignored in our organization. To be honest, I really can't believe it, but the facts are right in front of me. This is why I didn't hand over the information to you as soon as possible. Because I can't be sure, are you also part of that darkness?"

"Are you crazy?"

Fury, who was questioned, replied bluntly:

"I am the director of SHIELD and the nominal supreme commander. What is the benefit of destroying SHIELD? And, do you think people like Pierce will allow me to do whatever they want?"

"Tell me first, what is the Avengers plan?"

Merlin asked stubbornly:

"This name doesn't sound serious. Maybe you are really a villain who hides and tries to destroy the world?"

"Hell! Merlin!"

Fury stood up suddenly, and he stood on the table with his hands on him, looking at Merlin, and he said in an angry voice:

"That's not something you should know. There are no more than 10 people in the world who know this plan. Our organization has confidentiality regulations and you are violating it!"

"You can punish me at any time, Fury."

Merlin also stepped forward, pressing the desk with both hands, looking at Fury without any retreat, and he said word by word:

"But I must be sure that you are trustworthy! Otherwise I will not hand over the information to you! Ms. Carter chose me to save those information for a reason. Maybe she also thinks that you are not trustworthy! You have changed!"

Two friends who had worked together had a tense momentum in Fury's office this time.

Neither side was willing to retreat, and Merlin regarded Fury as a true friend, but now he found that Fury used him and his department as a guise to hide some of his own, perhaps dangerous secrets.

This made Merlin feel that she was deceived and fooled.

Fury is also suffering. There is a reason why SHIELD retains the agent hierarchy. As secret keepers, they are destined to be unable to completely express their gratitude to anyone, especially since he can get in touch with all the secrets of SHIELD like this, he cannot tell his subordinates everything he handles.

Although Merlin is trustworthy.

But rules are rules.

After a few minutes of stalemate, Fury gritted his teeth and took a step back. He glared at Merlin fiercely, bent down, and in his drawer, he opened a safe encrypted with four-fold fingerprint, iris, password, and key, took out a document from it, and threw it in front of Merlin.

Merlin picked up the file and opened it, and found that it contained his personnel information.

And on this document, he has a new code name

Avengers 004.

"What does this mean?"

Merlin looked at Fury in confusion, and the latter said in a stiff tone:

"This means you are also a member of the Avengers Project, even though you don't know that."

"You want to know what the Avengers plan is? Very good, then I will tell you, but you remember it for me, Merlin, if anyone, any force, knows any clues about the Avengers plan from your mouth, then prepare me and spend the second half of your life in the Isle Prison!"

Fury glared at Merlin and said seriously:

"I'm not kidding you!"

"OK."

Merlin put down the documents in his hand, looked at Fury, opened his fingers, and covered the two with shadows to ensure that the secret Fury would describe next would not be known by a third person.

After doing all this, he made a "please" gesture.

"The Avengers Project was proposed by me after the Kerry War in 1995, submitted by Pierce to the World Security Council for discussion, and was finally established in September 1995."

Fury whispered:

"Its confidentiality level is extremely high. Logically speaking, Ms. Carter probably wouldn't know about this. But I know my old boss very well. She is the best agent in the last world and her connections are scary. If she insists on investigating this matter, she should be able to find some news."

“As for what it does? It’s very simple.”

Fury tapped the table with his finger:

"What happened in the Kerry War made us realize one thing. Among the stars there are all kinds of crises that threaten our world, and that is a crisis that we cannot solve with normal force. As a protective agency, we must make plans for these crises in advance."

"The emergence of Carol Danvers made us realize that in addition to large-scale improvements in existing military technology and armed forces, the second way to protect ourselves is to form an elite squad with a small number of people but strong force, enough to carry out star-level asymmetric combat operations. The members in it should be super force like Carol Danvers. Of course, people like Carol are too rare."

Fury said with some regret:

"So we have to mobilize huge resources to find such people around the world, or people with the potential to become superheroes."

"The Avengers Project has two components, the first one is to search for members and invite them to build the Avengers."

"The second part is to deal with major crises or wars that may occur in the future. In the current plan, once a crisis similar to the Kerry war occurs, the Avengers plan will be launched and commanded by the World Security Council to defend our world and civilization."

"How many people do you want to use to fight against the alien fleet that may appear in the future?"

Merlin shook her head:

"Even if everyone you find is a fierce girl like Carol, it's impossible to do it. Personal power is limited in large-scale wars."

"Of course we know this."

Fury said to Merlin with a calm expression:

"Do you know the 'nuclear deterrence'?"

"Um."

Merlin nodded.
To be continued...