"They are called the Ten Jie Gang."

In the inner room of the bar, Merlin listened to his wine supplier, Alev, who has lived in Kandahar for generations, said the news he knew.

"They appeared in Kandahar very early. When I was young, my deceased grandfather said that they had their own power in Kandahar City long before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. My grandfather said that for a while, the officials in the city were constantly killed, and every bizarre death scene, there would be a sign of the Ten Rings Gang."

"My grandfather said that they were a group of forces that appeared on this land very early. They were said to have fled from the East. The warriors who were acting in the dark, just like the legendary Assassin, they obeyed a powerful leader, who was said to be an immortal saint."

"Of course, these are just legendary stories."

Alef looked at the badge in Merlin's hand with some fear, and he said:

"My grandpa used those stories as legends to scare me and my siblings, but then, a few years ago, when my business was at its peak, I actually met them."

“Where?”

Merlin asked.

“In the mountains south of Kandahar.”

Alef said:

"There are many canyons there, and they are hiding in one of them. A friend of mine helped me take a business and said that a group of 'jihadists' wanted a batch of wine, which was very large. But you also know that those who claim to be jihadists are the most paranoid and craziest believers, and drinking is a sinful act for them."

"That means they are not sincere, at least not as sincere as their external publicity."

Merlin said something, which attracted Alef's frequent nodding.

The wine merchant recalled his experiences several years ago and told Merlin:

"I was a little hesitant at the time. I also knew the virtues of those jihadists, and I was worried that something would go wrong. But my business needed funds at that time, so in the end, I took over that business."

"I went to deliver the goods in person."

Alef said:

"They blindfolded me and went to their base with three trucks filled with wine."

"It was a very distant canyon, with people everywhere, Yuri, many people, and very messy. In it, I not only saw a lot of weapons piled up in the caves where the Arabs were, they were all very advanced weapons, but I also saw the huge and carefully cared for fields that were opened behind the canyon."

Speaking of this, Alef hesitated a little, whether he was not sure whether he should say what he saw.

Merlin guessed what Alef was hesitating about, and he said:

"What is planted in those fields should not be crops, right?"

"Um."

Alef nodded, and he emphasized:

"It's a very evil thing."

"Drug x."

Meilin nodded in a clear way, and now all the key points were linked together.

"What else?"

Merlin asked, and Alef shook his head:

"No more, that's all. I was very scared at the time because the militants always had some inappropriate behavior, but unexpectedly, the transaction went smoothly. I didn't see their leader, but the person in charge of the handover readily settled the bill for me. They wanted more wine, but I refused."

"Although I'm not a very sincere person, I'm going to that kind of place once."

"Oh, that's it."

Merlin was a little disappointed, and Alef gave a little information.

He told the dead militant before that the stronghold of the Ten Rings should be in the mountainous areas in the southern part of Kandahar, but there are many canyons in the valley. With this news alone, it is impossible to lock the location of the Ten Rings.

“How many of them have?”

Merlin asked.

"At least 400 people!"

Alef recalled and said:

"They opened caves in the canyon and lived in it. I saw the insignias they printed on the tent, which was exactly the same as the insignias in your hand, very much like the things that some jihadist organizations would make. But how to say, those people gave me a different feeling than the jihadists I had seen before. Just like you said, they were well, not sincere."

"They are more like a group of armed warriors."

"A sincere person will not sell x."

Merlin shook her head:

"That is also a very wrong behavior in your teachings. I know enough. Thank you, Alef, for taking your father away quickly. In a few days, I will go to your wine warehouse and check out with you."

"Um."

Alef called his sons outside in, lifted his father and prepared to leave. And just as he left, he seemed to remember something again, and he said to Merlin:

"There's another thing. When I left the canyon, I seemed to see a few white people."

"Um?"

Merlin looked at Alef and frowned and said:

"How could white men appear in a base where people claim to be jihadists?"

"I'm absolutely not wrong."

Alef said:

"Although I only stayed there for less than an hour, I remember that they were wearing black uniforms and a few were wearing military uniforms. Because they were different from others, I remember it very clearly."

"Yeah, I get it."

Merlin nodded, watching Alef leave in a hurry, then returned to the inner room, took out his notebook, and wrote down the message on it.

Many similar pieces of information have been recorded in Meilin's notebook. In the past few months, the clues of the Ten Rings hiding near the city have become clearer and clearer.

But, there are still a little less.

Some of the most critical.

Merlin did not come here simply for the Ten Rings Gang. Fury sent him here to find out the evidence of large-scale drug trafficking involving Cia.

The current situation shows that the Ten Lords Gang should be the providers of poison x, but Merlin doesn't know much about Cia's local news.

My colleagues have been hiding here for too long, and it is not that easy to find them.

Cia has a stable basic foundation in the Afghanistan region. As early as the Cold War, they began to accumulate strength in this strategic area of ​​Central Asia.

After the failure of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Cia established a secret but stable system here.

If Merlin finally found out that the evil dealership operation really had Cia involved, it means that Cia's system in Afghanistan may have been broken from top to bottom.

That was an extremely amazing situation, especially when the war was about to break out.

But it is very troublesome that because of the decades of operation of Cia, they have a large number of local people and their eyes and ears are all over the land, which forces Merlin to carefully conduct any investigations on Cia.

He cannot reveal his identity, he can only wait for the opportunity.

And, now there is another troublesome thing that is bothering Merlin.

According to Fury's plan, this mission should end in a few months. Merlin thought so at first, but something bad happened during his lurking process.

It is November 1999, just a few months ago, there was an amazing attack on the mainland of the United States. There is no need to say more about the specific situation, but the impact it has caused is extremely bad.

Although there has not been a formal declaration of war yet, the Ministry of Defense has begun to secretly send troops to Afghanistan to collect necessary war information.

This also means that Fury's plan to keep Merlin away from New York to "avoid disaster" was completely ruined.

According to the news sent by Fury, the Ministry of Defense's search for Merlin has not stopped.

The actions of Merlin and his team led to direct exposure of the Seventh District, which implicated several Ministry-led programs that were forced to join the supervision of the World Security Council, which meant that the power of the Ministry of Defense to operate freely was disrupted.

This made the generals very angry.

On the surface, they must admit their mistakes generously.

But in private, they would also hate those who did not make a bad thing. What's more, Merlin's actions not only made the Ministry of Defense slap hard on the cheek, but also caused them to lose considerable benefits.

If those generals who hold grudges find Merlin active in Afghanistan, then in this chaotic area far away from the local area and the weak S.H.I.E.D., they will inevitably come up with many ways to solve Merlin, a guy who caused them a lot of trouble.

“It’s really a headache.”

Merlin put down his notebook and returned to the bar. He looked bored at the scenery outside the door, but his mind was actually working quickly.

The direct intervention of the Ministry of Defense has made the already chaotic situation in Afghanistan again tend toward disaster, and the conflict between American soldiers and local armed forces, which came with revenge, has become increasingly fierce.

As a war outpost, Cia's intelligence collection work in Afghanistan has become increasingly intensive. This month alone, Merlin saw several traces of agents' operations in nearby neighborhoods.

Merlin seemed to have fallen into a war-induced swamp, and he was stranded in this country that had been turbulent for decades by this sudden war.

Of course he could give up his mission and return to New York.

But he has invested so much energy here and found so many clues. Even if Fury is willing to give up, Merlin himself is not willing.

He is not a person who likes to do useless work.

"It is difficult for the investigation on Cia to make a quick breakthrough in a short period of time."

Merlin thought with some regret:

"Unless I find their base camp and rush in to find evidence."

"Then, change your mind, the Ten Rings Gang."

Merlin looked at the badge playing with in his fingers, and a general idea had appeared. A light flashed in his eyes:

"It seems that I have to go to the canyon that Alev mentioned. If he read it correctly back then, maybe the white people in that canyon were there, and I can get some news."

After making up his mind, Merlin must be ready for action.

The mountainous areas in southern Kandahar are very vast, and the entire country is located in the Pamir Plateau. The unique landform of Afghanistan determines that the number of canyons in the mountainous area is astonishing, and most of them are not suitable for human action. Some canyons are still close to dangerous deserts, and the natural ecology is extremely harsh.

Even for a person like Merlin, if he wants to explore that place for a long time, he must prepare a lot of necessary things.

After making up his mind, Merlin looked at the small bar that he had been running for several months with regret.

He has been lurking for the past few months, but he has become accustomed to these leisurely days. To be honest, this is the most relaxing period he has lived in the years since joining S.H.E.L.D.

"Well, the bar owner's career is about to end."

He turned around, poured himself a glass of wine and added some ice.

He leaned against the bar, gently sucking the cold liquid. In this bar where there was no one except him, Merlin closed his eyes and began to enjoy his last leisure time.

He is a person with strong execution ability, and tomorrow he will start his own actions.
Chapter completed!