George originally thought that Dr. Merrick could truly create life.
This was why he was willing to give Merrick a chance.
If possible, George wouldn't mind setting aside old grievances, respecting talents, and inviting Merrick to be an honored guest.
After all, once his Little Cosmos becomes reality, it will need life.
If Dr. Merrick's technology is feasible, then, after becoming real, Little Cosmos would quickly give birth to life of its own.
The result—
Is this it?
A wasted expectation.
However, he didn't have any intention of killing Merrick.
At least not now.
After all, the reason he initially sought out Dr. Merrick wasn't because of Merrick's supposed ability to create souls from nothing, but simply because Merrick's cloning technology could clone a new body for his sister from her DNA.
So…
George thought, then looked at Merrick, who seemed defeated, as if knowing his cloned nature had been exposed and believed his life was about to end, and said: "I can still spare you."
Merrick, hearing this, had his dim eyes reignited with a glimmer of hope as he looked at George.
"Really, Mr. Phoenix?"
"As long as you can clone a body for my sister."
"But my cloning, you just said…"
"I only need the body, without your soul infusion."
"No problem."
Merrick's eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Seeing this, George chuckled, didn't pay more attention to Merrick, and instead glanced over at Natasha: "He's all yours, don't kill him."
Natasha, hearing this, curiously looked at George, who was preparing to leave: "You're not taking him with you?"
She knew what George wanted Dr. Merrick for. After all, if it hadn't been for George looking for Merrick, who knows how long Hydra would have kept hiding.
Now that Dr. Merrick had been found, George's words suggested he didn't plan to bring him back.
George laughed at Natasha's question.
"Want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"The lie?"
"I told Sharon that I was only borrowing Dr. Merrick, so technically, he's still yours."
"Uh, and the truth..."
"I don't have the money to set up a cloning lab like this, and I need to visit Georgia with Gwen to see my grandfather, so taking him back isn't convenient."
"Got it."
Natasha understood, then nodded and said: "I'll make sure he gets safely to the bureau."
George acknowledged with a nod, ready to leave.
However...
Just as he was about to slip away, he suddenly turned back, eyes falling on Dr. Merrick.
George's instantaneous sharp gaze seemed to see through Merrick entirely.
Merrick felt a chill under the gaze.
But soon, George withdrew his gaze, without saying anything further.
Natasha glanced at George and then ordered two S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to take Merrick away.
Once Dr. Merrick was escorted out, Natasha looked at George.
"What's wrong?"
"Once back, have someone thoroughly check this Dr. Merrick."
"Why?"
Natasha asked, slightly frowning.
George didn't answer, just continued thinking quickly.
He was about to leave, yet as he was about to slip away, an inexplicable unease surged in his heart.
George knew well that this unease was not baseless, but his Sixth Sense warning him.
As for what about.
Naturally, he was thinking about once Dr. Merrick cloned a new body, his sister could finally be revived.
Obviously.
The problem wouldn't lie with his sister; since it's like this, the probability of the Sixth Sense warning only one possibility.
Dr. Merrick has an issue.
George instinctively thought that this Dr. Merrick was not the real Dr. Merrick.
But...
His Sixth Sense had scanned through the current Dr. Merrick just now, ensuring he wasn't one of the clones he'd just seen.
Yet the Sixth Sense does not mislead.
Since he awoke the Sixth Sense, its warnings have been almost highly accurate every time.
George was confident of this, hence this Dr. Merrick must have an issue.
After all, sometimes having no problem is the biggest problem.
So…
George's eyes sparkled as he looked at Natasha, without hiding it.
"This Merrick has issues."
"What?"
Natasha, mildly surprised at George's words, then seemed to guess: "He's a clone too?"
George shook his head.
He had seen the clones Merrick successfully activated.
Indeed.
In an ordinary person's eyes, they could truly blur into reality and falsehood.
But in George's eyes, they couldn't.
Don't forget.
George also mastered parts of the Life and Death Law, so even if clones could fool ordinary people, in his eyes, they were just soulless walking corpses.
So, if Merrick were also a clone, he could see it at a glance.
But Merrick isn't.
At the very least, Merrick indeed has a soul, which can't be compared to those soulless clone bodies.
But what a pity.
George isn't the type who likes to look at evidence.
He prefers intuition, just like how he never considers a friend's faction.
Take Anna for example.
To this day, that first phone number from Anna is still in his contacts.
So...
George's thoughts spun, then he said to Natasha, "After we return, investigate thoroughly. If nothing comes up, let him clone something and see what happens."
Upon hearing this, Natasha looked at George curiously.
"Can't you see what's wrong with him?"
"I can't, but my intuition tells me he has issues."
"..."
If it were just anyone saying this, Natasha might not take it seriously.
But if George says it, that only means one thing.
There's really something wrong with this Merrick.
Natasha pondered for a moment, then looked at George, "If this Dr. Merrick does have issues, it only means we didn't find this place by luck, but were led here on purpose?"
After all, being able to find Dr. Merrick this time indeed seemed like luck.
First, a Hydra agent defected.
Then they noticed the warehouse had an unusual consumption of supplies, and coincidentally, they ran into a Hydra agent coming out of the base.
One word.
Smooth!
Everything fell into place naturally.
But what if this smoothness isn't luck, but rather orchestrated?
What if Merrick was released by Hydra to make S.H.I.E.L.D. believe they captured the real Dr. Merrick?
And it's not hard to figure out why Hydra would do this.
Maybe George isn't worried about his clone, but S.H.I.E.L.D. is genuinely concerned. So, they are very serious about capturing Dr. Merrick.
Even more serious than capturing Hydra.
In one sentence.
Until Merrick is captured, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't rest.
During the time they knew Hydra was attempting to clone George, the number of destroyed Hydra bases surpassed previous counts.
In the past, S.H.I.E.L.D. might hesitate when facing suspected Hydra.
But now.
Sorry, any suspicion of Hydra needs to be checked.
If they are wrong, they'll deal with that later, after all, they have Japanese agents, who can apologize with a proper bow.
In short.
Because of the Merrick incident, any remaining Hydra bases have had uncomfortable times.
So, in this case, Hydra must find ways to relieve the pressure.
And how to alleviate this pressure, what better way than handing Merrick back to S.H.I.E.L.D.?
If they can't return the real one, a fake one would do.
Natasha narrated her conjecture, "…if this Dr. Merrick isn't the real Merrick, it would explain why we seemed so luckily found Dr. Merrick this time."
As she spoke, Natasha became increasingly suspicious that they didn't find Merrick by chance, but rather because Hydra intended for them to find Merrick.
However...
George's suspicions don't need evidence.
But S.H.I.E.L.D.'s suspicions do require evidence.
Natasha nodded, "Understood, once we return, I'll immediately arrange a full scientific examination on this Dr. Merrick and notify you of the results as soon as possible."
George smiled, "No need to rush, wait until I return."
Natasha caught onto a key word in George's statement.
"Return?"
"Yeah."
George nodded, offering Natasha a smile, "Tomorrow… no, actually today, Gwen and I will go to Waterfall Town. Assuming no surprises, this Christmas should be spent there."
That's the plan.
If his sister wasn't back from Hell, he would've spent Christmas with her as usual.
But this year is different.
His sister is in his Netherworld, so it doesn't matter where he goes, and Gwen is also eager to visit her grandfather.
Hearing this, Natasha nodded, "Alright, then after we finish all the test results, and everything is confirmed, I'll let you know?"
George really wanted to say, regardless of whether this Dr. Merrick is real or fake, he doesn't care at all.
But looking at Natasha's insistent face, he could only nod and prepare to leave.
"Alright then, I'm heading off."
"Okay."
Natasha smiled and said, "Goodbye."
George also said goodbye, then turned around and disappeared from Natasha's sight.
The next second.
He reappeared.
Natasha watched as George returned, blinking her eyes.
George slightly smiled.
"Oh, by the way, can you…"