Chapter 156: Arc 4: Chapter 43: S.D.O.L.D.

"I knew that me following you here was no good!"

On the way back to SHIELD headquarters, a dissatisfied Merlin complained in the passenger seat:

"Why didn't you even talk with me about such a big thing?"

Fury who was driving did not respond immediately, he turns the steering wheel and firmly drives the car; a few minutes later, he then opens his mouth:

"Talk with you about what?"

He turns and looks at Merlin:

"Who is there in SHIELD right now who's better to lead this department than you? You're an expert on mysterious affairs, as well as one of my most trusted agents, you proved that you had the ability, hope, and will to maintain order during the previous incident."

"Most importantly, the other level-5 agents are all busy with their own duties. You're the only one slacking off, wanna be a 'carefree' field agent, hah?"

Fury says in a low tone:

"You think I would let such an excellent person spend his days rotting away?"

"So to speak."

Merlin sets his sights on the bustling streets outside the window, he was still somewhat dissatisfied as he says:

"I can understand, but I think it's best you give me a heads-up. I was only leading 2 rookies before, and now I have to take care of an entire department, those are two very different things, alright?"

"So I gave you buffer time."

Fury says casually:

"Supernatural Defense Observations and Logistics Department (SDOLD) is the new name of this department. We still have many details to discuss with the Magical Congress, so optimistically it will be a few months before the department is set up."

"I'll arrange for you to head to the academy and learn specialized classes on leadership and organization management, it'll take about a month. Agent Weaver will personally teach you these things, she was hand-trained by Miss Carter; a standard of an excellent internal agent, as well as the founder and leader of the academy, you must learn from her."

"Hell."

Merlin cursed in a low tone:

"I thought that I've gotten away from that place forever, and I still have to go back and learn 3 years later...f***ing hell!"

A few minutes later, Merlin calms down, he had already guessed this result. He had known Fury for quite a long time now, he knows what kind of person Fury was; even if SDOLD didn't show up, Fury would still have arranged him into other departments.

He was the kind of person who makes the best use of everything.

Merlin quickly accepts this fact, he turns to Fury and asks:

"What about the staff composition? You're not telling me that I'm still an army of one?"

"Of course not!"

Fury shakes his head and says:

"Hill, tell your officer Merlin the basic structure of the department."

Hill in the back row immediately picks up the documents by her side and reads them out softly yet concisely:

"For starters, we'll choose 20-30 people from SHIELD's new recruits to join SDOLD. Among them, 5-10 of them will be internal agents while the rest will be field agents, Officer Merlin, you need to start training these recruits the moment you return from the academy."

"And due to the specialty of supernatural events, SHIELD's logistics department will help you develop a series of special devices and weaponry, including holy silver bullets, spectral glasses, irregular detectors, etc. And while we do not have any textbooks regarding how to define and deal with irregulars, the Magical Congress will be supplying us with those textbooks."

Hill brushes her short hair, she looks at Merlin in the front row and says:

"Because SDOLD will only be responsible for handling events ranked B and below during the beginning, thus there will be a longer overall run-in and adapted combat period according to Director Fury's plans; we're thinking that in 3-5 years, this mature department will be able to handle rank A events alone."

Merlin nods, Fury then says:

"Though I may not understand much about wizards, I can guess that there are different voices even amongst the wizards. This is normal since there are bound to be violent dark wizards if there are peaceful wizards."

"At first, our relationship with the Magical Congress is that of cooperators, but once we get stronger, they'll eventually enter our framework as well."

"Wizards will eventually become monitored since they too are a part of supernatural affairs."

"Of course...I knew your plan is not so simple."

Merlin sighs and tells Fury:

"I should've guessed from the start that you view wizards as an unstable factor too, right? If possible, you'll put a monitor on every one of them so as to observe their actions all the time; you're quite the control freak."

Fury did not reply to Merlin's comment, seemingly acknowledging it.

The senior agent says in a low tone:

"President Samuel told mus that he wishes to build a new order where wizards and humans can co-exist. If this is the truth, then there shouldn't be many rebounds with our plan to monitor wizards; if it was a lie, then we have the necessity for us to set up a plan to monitor and observe."

"Wizards' inheritance, their lifestyle, and even their worldview are different from normal people. They're different from the scattered mutants, they're stubborn, arrogant, yet have dangerous powers. This power can be used to benefit the world, but it can also be used to challenge the world order."

Fury says:

"SHIELD's plan may seem tough, but in fact, it's drawing a line for them. As long as they do not cross this line, they can assimilate with the world with kindness, and if they cross it, they will be warned and even punished."

"You know what? Merlin, it's like teaching children good habits, when they're young, they may not be able to understand how important it is to cultivate good behavior; when they grow up, the good habits they've cultivated from their childhood will allow them to have better lives, they will, in turn, thank us for it."

He looks at Merlin and deepens his tone:

"This is to protect normal citizens and wizards alike. We're doing good, though they may not understand it, we're still doing good."

Merlin remains quiet for a brief moment before smiling and saying:

"Are you persuading me? Fury."

"No need to do so, I understand and will follow as you plan. I hope not for there to be another Voldemort-like guy in North America."

He stretches his body, leans against his seat, and says softly:

"Wizard supremism? Huh, how foolish!"

As they approached the SHIELD office building, Merlin suddenly remembers something, he looks back at Fury and asks:

"How come I've not heard of Constantine lately?"

"Oh, that guy quit."

Fury replied with a dissatisfied expression:

"A letter was sent to my office last week, Constantine said that he was done with serving the powerful and wanted to seek himself a new, free life. He even bid me farewell and says that it's been a pleasure working with you."

"Lastly, he told me to warn you to be wary of Daimon."

Fury knew who Daimon was, a few years ago, Merlin handed him information about the powerful half-demon he had discovered that was located in New York. The senior agent parks his car in the parking lot and tells Merlin:

"Constantine says in the letter that due to your intervention, Daimon had a new argument with his sister, the two fought it out and reconciled, but they may turn their spears at you."

"Is that so?"

Merlin rubs his aching forehead and says:

"It's troublesome dealing with these lunatics, I'll keep it in mind."

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He opens the car door and enters the SHIELD office building with Fury and Hill, the place was as busy as always.

As a new batch of recruits entered SHIELD, Fury could allocate more resources, and under the support of the WSC, SHIELD has begun setting down roots across the globe.

Of course, now was just the beginning, it would still take a very long time for SHIELD to establish its intelligence and operations structure across the world.

As someone who's seen and participated in the rise of SHIELD, Merlin felt like he was watching a growing juvenile every time he visited SHIELD's office building.

3 years is a mediocre period, but for Merlin, he has a special feeling toward this place and this intelligence organization.

In Fury's office, Fury hands Merlin some resources and says:

"Here is the information on the recruits, you can pick them yourself or wait for me to dispatch you some."

"I'll do it myself."

Merlin stores the thick stack of human resources papers into his handbag, he tells Fury:

"Coulson and Melinda are already very familiar with the supernatural events in New York, I need them both to continue as my assistants. I can't teach every newbie personally, so I think that SDOLD should maintain an elite structure during its beginnings."

"You don't have to tell me that!"

Fury sits on his office chair and waves at Merlin, he looks at him with his right eye and says:

"You're the boss now, you're qualified to determine how your department is run. What I need from you is a weekly report on the supernatural affairs in New York to HQ, as well as a monthly operations report."

He points at his head and says:

"I'm but a man, Merlin, I can't personally handle everything one by one. I have to look at the overview, and you will be my eyes on the details, I trust your abilities, so do your best."

"I have only one request."

He crosses his fingers and looks at Merlin:

"Within 3 years, you must restore the now chaotic dark world of New York to have basic order. Collection of information on all irregulars must be done within 3 years."

"Any questions?"

Merlin presses his glasses and tells Fury:

"No! I'll do my best."

"Alright, that will be all."

Fury pulls the drawer, takes out a black bank card from it, and hands it to Merlin:

"This will be your start-up capital, Officer Pierce specially permitted it so you won't have to go through the hassle."

Merlin takes the card and shrugs at Fury:

"Then thank Officer Pierce for me, speaking of which, it's been a long time since we've last seen him."

"He's busy."

Fury says:

"He wishes to compete to become the new Chairman of the Council, this is a very important yet very cumbersome process. Like running for president, he's practically flying across the world seeking support from the council members."

"This is good."

Merlin picks up his handbag and tells Fury:

"He is our backer in the World Security Council, isn't he? The steadier he is, the quicker SHIELD grows. Anyways, I'll be off now, call me directly when the agent academy is ready."

"Mmm."

Fury nods and sees Merlin out of his office.

He turns on the computer and prepares to deal with some official work, when suddenly, the phone on Fury's table rings, he looks at the dialer and picks up the phone.

"Pierce, me and Merlin were just talking about you, what a coincidence."

"Fury, let's talk about this later, I have something urgent for you."

Pierce's tone on the other side was serious as he says:

"On a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, a German archaeology team just discovered a supposedly alien tomb, they've found remnants of an alien there. From their report, it looks like a Kree. And supposedly, there are lots of unidentified  and the wreckage of a small starship."

"I need you to send someone to take over that tomb immediately and conduct an investigation."

Fury's expression becomes serious from Pierce's information, he says deeply:

"Tell me the exact location, Pierce, I'll have my best agent head over there as fast as he can."

"Mmm."

Pierce gives Fury a string of coordinates, and after they finished with their official business, Pierce asked casually:

"You just said that you were conversing with Merlin? How's our talented young lad been doing?"

"He's doing quite nicely."

Fury says:

"Intel about Project Monarch, cooperation with the wizards, etc, Merlin did them all himself; Miss Carter sure does have a good eye, as she's found us a truly talented person."

"Yes, I knew Merlin was a talented person for quite some time now."

Pierce exclaims:

"For our organization, the more talented people like him, the better, are you not going to promote him? Fury, are you just going to let him slack off like so?"

As he spoke, his tone becomes stern.

Fury snorts and says:

"He's not gonna slack off so easily. I just gave him a new department to run that specializes in dealing with the supernatural events occurring across New York and its neighboring areas; he'll get busy after some time."

"Mmm, that's it, Fury."

Pierce smiles with satisfaction:

"We want to let the most suitable people do what they do best in the most suitable positions, give them a stage to show their worth, and I trust that..."

"Merlin won't disappoint our organization."

"He will do his part in the founding of our new world order."

 

 

 

-End of Arc 4-

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