"Ward, Ward, help me inform Melinda that there is a commander's meeting at 4 o'clock this afternoon."

In the basement of the 21st Century Bell Telephone Company, in Merlin's original office, Coulson was sitting in a chair, working on the papers in his hand, and said to the phone on the desk:

"By the way, Agent Jimmy is in need of a new batch of defensive equipment and some high-tech materials in Kansas."

"Yes, Chief Coulson."

A capable man's voice rang from the phone, it was Coulson who was serving as S. L.D. Department Chief, give yourself a job assistant of your choice.

His name is Grant. Ward, unlike other rookie agents from S.H.I.E.L.D., was a young man with super executive skills who was transferred from the European Division. Agent Gatler is at work.

Because of Merlin's ascension to the command level, Gatler saw S. L.D., a subordinate department under Merlin's direct management, felt that it was more promising to have a capable Ward here than to keep him in the European branch.

So Gatler had a phone call with Merlin, Level 3 Field Agent Grant. Ward was transferred back to New York and became S. Ward. A member of L.D.

He also lived up to Gatler's letter of recommendation, and the young man showed himself to be good in a short period of time, and was looked down upon differently by Coulson.

There is gossip that Coulson intends to train Agent Ward to be the captain of an operations team, but Ward's credentials are very similar to that of S. Ward. L.D. is a bit shallow in a department, so it is estimated that it will take a while longer for this excellent field agent to be promoted.

After all, under the control of Merlin, this department has grown from a small marginal department to a key department under the S.H.I.E.L.D. system, fully responsible for the monitoring and management of supernatural and alien affairs, especially after successfully controlling Brimstone Harbor and spreading its influence to the entire East Coast in a short period of time. The rise of L.D. was inevitable.

But for Coulson himself, the last two weeks have not been pleasant.

First of all, his girlfriend, cellist Miss Audrey, has completed her studies in New York and has returned to her hometown of Polanty, and the long-distance relationship does not feel good, which makes Coulson, who sleeps alone at night, somewhat irritable.

Secondly, his old boss, Merlin, went to the Trident building and became the deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., although nominally he was still directly in charge of S.S. L.D., but he is no longer in charge of the specific work of this department.

He left all his work to Coulson, and despite the help and sharing of Melinda and Jimmy, Barbie, Tripp and Mike, Lincoln and a series of other friends, the information about the alien world and supernatural events from the entire East Coast still poured into Coulson's mind, like a flood, so that Coulson could not stop it at all.

During this period of time, he worked overtime until late at night every day, but he only barely managed to master S. L.D.'s internal system, it is estimated that it will take some time before he falls into the details and completely controls the situation.

Coulson is not Merlin after all, and his ability to receive and process information is still slightly higher than that of ordinary people. What Merlin takes 10 minutes to work on, Coulson probably takes 20 minutes or more to complete.

In fact, if it weren't for the Witcher's strong body, I'm afraid Coulson would have been crushed under the pressure of this heavy work.

He was a responsible man, and he didn't want to disappoint Chief Merlin, who had single-handedly pulled him.

"Ding, ding, ding."

The sound of his cell phone interrupted Coulson's thoughts as he read the papers, and he picked it up and glanced at it, well, it was a call from Chief Merlin.

Coulson put his phone to his ear, and as soon as the call was connected, Merlin's calm voice rang.

"Coulson, why hasn't the budget for the next quarter been submitted to me yet? Also, how could there be a sudden large-scale food poisoning outbreak at the ghost base? ”

"Well, the budget is ready, sir, I'll send it to you."

Coulson, holding his phone between his head and shoulders, and his hands tapping on the keyboard of the computer, said to Merlin with some guilt:

"As for the food poisoning at the ghost base... Because of the water pollution accident in the laboratory, I have temporarily closed the water source there and arranged for personnel to be replaced. ”

"Water contamination in the lab?"

There was a hint of helplessness in Merlin's tone, and he said:

"Let me guess, Moira is running an unplanned experiment again?"

"Uh, yes."

Coulson Says:

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't notice the problem in advance."

"What does this have to do with you?"

Merlin asked rhetorically:

"Even I can't control Moira's hand, and you can control her? Coulson, it's good to be brave enough to admit mistakes, but don't force yourself to take the blame for these mistakes that have nothing to do with you. ”

He said:

"Temporarily seal Moira's lab, give her a small warning, and let her go to Lillian's lab to help out... Uh, forget it, you can deal with these things, I won't interfere more, after all, you are the S. L.D.'s leadership. ”

"But this is a warning, Coulson, you better keep an eye on the ghost base, if something happens over there, it will be a big problem."

"Okay, sir, I'll take care of it."

Coulson replied:

"I will arrange a thorough inspection in the next few days to eliminate potential safety hazards in the base."

"Well, let's do it."

Merlin Says:

"I'm sure you can do it well."

After saying that, he hung up the phone, it seems that Merlin really doesn't plan to interfere too much with Coulson's management, and Coulson put down the phone, he sighed:

"The more you trust me, the more pressure I have... Alas, it seems that being needed is not only a blessing, but also a burden. ”

"What are you complaining about?"

The door to Coulson's office was pushed open, and Melinda, who was standing at the door, heard Coulson's emotion, she put a stack of papers in her hand in front of Coulson's eyes, and said:

"What burden?"

"No, nothing."

Coulson shook his head, he looked at the papers on the table, and he said:

"What is this?"

"It is the application for the establishment of branch departments in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the planning scheme of the two departments."

Melinda brushed her short hair, and she said:

"Chief Merlin has asked us to spread our influence to the West Coast as quickly as possible, so I plan to establish two more branches over there as quickly as possible."

"It's going a little too fast, Melinda."

Coulson looked at the papers on the table, and he said to Melinda:

"I'm not going to expand blindly until I'm really in control, it will distract our already strapped human resources. I plan to set up a branch office in San Francisco in the first half of next year. ”

He propped his chin in his hands, looked at Melinda, and said:

"I'm going to start this new group of new recruits who still need time to grow."

"Okay."

Melinda did not refute it, and said to Coulson:

"You're the boss now, so I'll listen to you. Also, about Agent McRae... How are you going to arrange him? ”

The question made Coulson hesitate for a moment.

In the current S.. In L.D.'s system, Jesse McRae is a very special person, he has excellent combat skills, excellent intelligence gathering ability, and good command ability, which can be compared to high-level agents.

But the problem is that there is something wrong with McCree's origins, theoretically speaking, he is still a monitored person at the ghost base, Merlin has given McCree a chance, and McCree has also proved his intention to "change his ways" in several operations.

Merlin had planned to suck him into his department, but a sudden promotion put the matter on hold, and now the issue was put in front of Coulson's eyes.

He had to make a decision whether to trust McRae or let him continue in his current status as an "idler".

After a dozen seconds of thinking, Coulson looked up and said to Melinda:

"I'm going to recruit him as a full-fledged agent and give him a team to lead."

"Was it the command in the first place?"

Melinda frowned and said:

"Will this be controversial? And, again, the old question, do you think he is trustworthy? ”

"He's proven himself, hasn't he?"

Coulson Says:

"In the Norse battlefield, in Brimstone Harbor, he has led the way, and he is willing to be trained in the secret service course, I don't have the ability to see through people's hearts like Chief Merlin, but I feel that I can trust him, we give him a chance he needs, I have a hunch that he will not let us down. However, you have a point in mind, so let him lead the newly formed Team 11. ”

S.. L.D.'s new prefect, Phil Coulson, gestured his finger and said:

"To borrow the words of the director at the previous meeting, what he thinks is not really important, the focus is on his actions."

"Well, you convinced me."

Melinda raised her wrist and looked at the time, and she said:

"Your assistant Ward just told me there was a meeting at 4 p.m., right?"

"Hmm."

Coulson nodded, and he said:

"It's about the meetings where the newly recruited agents rotate through the various departments, and about the allocation of the four new business planes that have been assigned to us. I'm also going to hear how you're feeling about your work these days, especially Barbie, who's not like us, doesn't have a lot of experience in charge of the overall department. ”

"They're doing a great job."

Melinda Says:

"Miami, Atlanta and Philadelphia have been quiet this week."

"I need to hear them say it themselves."

Coulson smiled and said:

"I need to hear from them, only they know what problems and troubles they have... But now that we're a few hours until 3 p.m., would you like to take a trip to Kansas with me? ”

"Ghost base?"

Melinda crossed her arms and said helplessly:

"I was there for a while, and it was a boring place."

"But it's also a very important place, especially at this moment when the mutant Utopia Island is about to appear in front of the public's eyes, and there must be no problems there."

Coulson stood up, gathered his things, and said to Melinda:

"Let's go, let's go over together and do a surprise inspection to see what's really going on there."

Melinda looked at Coulson with a strange expression, she took out her sunglasses from her pocket, buttoned them on her face, and said to Coulson:

"When you become leaders, do you all start to like this kind of surprise inspection?"

"This way we can peel off the camouflage and see the real picture."

Coulson waved his hand disapprovingly, and 20 minutes later, a small plane took off from New York and flew in the direction of Kansas.

—————————————————————

"It's really strange."

In the laboratory of the ghost base, Miss Lilian, a researcher at the base, was watering her beloved flowers and plants when she heard a slightly surprised exclamation from behind.

Miss Lillian turned her head to look at Researcher Moira sitting in front of the computer behind her, and she stroked her long fiery red hair and asked:

"Did something happen?"

"Someone sent me an email saying they were going to offer me a job offer."

Lady Moira, who wore gold-rimmed glasses, turned her head and said to Lillian:

"You should also know that my reputation in the past period of time is not very good, but all companies or laboratories that are affected by public opinion have respected me. So, I suspect that the email is either a prank or has an ulterior motive. ”

"Don't be so pessimistic, maybe someone has noticed your talent again."

Lillian put down the kettle in her hand, and she walked over to Moira to read the mail on the computer with the elusive senior.

Although she and Moira are not very good friends, after working together for a while, after all, Ms. Moira has also given her a lot of valuable guidance on her research topics related to leaf greens and plant toxins, which has kept Lillian's relationship with Moira good, and even willing to help Moira clean up the mess after the results of an unplanned trial go wrong.

Seriously, if it weren't for Lillian's help, the large-scale food poisoning that has occurred in the base in the past few days would not have subsided so quickly.

"Hey, this company... Raccoon City's umbrella company. ”

Lillian looked at the emblem at the bottom of the letter, a white and red ring that was divided into 8 points, red and white staggered for 4 squares each, looking like an open red and white umbrella.

"It also emailed me to be the head of the drug testing department, which if I'm not mistaken, a few days ago."

"Hmm... Aren't you going to check it out? ”

Moira said to Lillian:

"I have a bad reputation, and I don't expect to be in public for the rest of my life, but you're different, Lillian, you're a real genius in your field of study, you shouldn't be buried in this little obscure place, I think you can give it a try."

"Forget it."

Lillian shook her head, and the pretty girl whispered:

"I've always thought this company was a little weird, maybe it was just a psychological effect, but after all, I promised Chief Merlin to help him simplify the experiment, and it was almost finished, so everything waited until it was completed, and then..."

"Bang"

Before Lillian could finish her words, a huge eastward sound exploded on the ground above the two of them, and immediately after, a piercing siren sounded throughout the base.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! ”

Winston's voice rang out from communicators all over the base:

"The base is under attack with high-intensity energy! Enter the highest level of alert! Defense program, launch! ”