Marvel Magic Event Book

Chapter 1759

The noisy machinery, billowing black smoke and vibrating as it rolled over the cobblestone road, surged into the Golden Palace along the avenue. The bright yellow and warning black paint on the steel exteriors of the machines clashed sharply with the tall golden statues and ancient relief murals lining the road. Technicians in black armor, black robes, and red robes hurried about, not even wasting time to evade the patrols of the genetically modified warriors, simply proceeding in a straight line according to the established procedures.

The main part of the Supreme Throne has been removed.

To accomplish this task, the Mars Foundry is now assembling a colossal machine comparable to the German Liebherr 13000 crane. This mobile hoisting tracked vehicle, used in the construction of large power plants, boasts a 250-meter-high boom capable of lifting 3600 tons at a time. Two such machines are needed to barely lift the throne portion of the Supreme Throne, which is then transported by a different tracked platform used to transport space rockets to the launch site. This is only the main body of the Supreme Throne; the much larger control units and processors beneath it have not yet been transported.

According to calculations by technicians at the Mars Foundry, a large portion of these machines would be discarded here to accommodate equipment being moved from the Golden Palace. Participating in such a transport operation was a dream for many engineers, who completed the task at breakneck speed, completely disregarding numerous safety regulations. This included not using hoisting methods to repair damaged hydraulic transmission lines on the crane arm, but instead using four prosthetic legs on their backs to climb 200 meters into the air to perform the repairs.

When Salomon summoned the person in charge to his presence to report on their work, the Mars Foundry technicians confidently declared that they had taken safety precautions and installed an anti-gravity parachute device on the colleague in charge of maintenance work—after undergoing numerous cybernetic modifications, these people's weight far exceeded that of normal humans, and also exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the anti-gravity parachute device.

However, they still believed that since the work could be resumed simply by replacing parts after a fall from a height of 250 meters, the job should be considered safe. Efficiency was more important than safety.

Salomon had nothing to say and could only let the Martian foundry continue operating.

Guided by the guardians watching over the Celestial corpses, this group of tech fanatics quietly embarked on an even more dangerous path. In the Immortal City's laboratory, these madmen actually envisioned loading antimatter into mortars, even if the mortar's launcher was within the blast radius, just like the mad scientists in 1950s fantasy novels.

Before departure, the Sky Sword Space Station forcibly sent inspectors to check the machinery brought by the Mars Foundry. If it weren't for the limited carrying capacity of the Sky Carrier and the automated cargo ship, the Mars Foundry would definitely have loaded even larger transport machinery onto the ship and then ruthlessly abandoned it after the work was completed.

For the sake of the Martian foundry's output, the emperor had to put up with them.

Otherwise, Yugoslavia would have had to abandon its heavy industry and become like Latvia or Estonia.

The Mars Foundry spent 12 hours, with the help of assault transports and tracked vehicles, finally managing to cram the main equipment of the High Throne into the Sky Carrier Cross Rose. Then they spent another 12 hours cramming the remaining cables and processor units into another Sky Carrier, Golden Lily. The rest of the equipment was disassembled and loaded into automated transport ships.

In addition to the paper documents and storage media moved from the Golden Palace Library, at least two-thirds of the armored units brought from Earth have to remain here, and technicians have begun to install molten metal bombs in the armored units that have been decided to be abandoned.

Once they set sail, these molten metal bombs will explode, burning any equipment that might leak information.

This is equivalent to burning gold equal to the weight of an armored vehicle, but the cost is worthwhile. The exploding ammunition and fuel will become the first line of defense against the Dark Order's ground forces. The Emperor did not intend to confront the Dark Order head-on here, nor did he intend to face the enemy warships. He simply wanted to use this opportunity to observe the Dark Order's ground forces.

The battle between the Dark Order and humanity will take place on the ground, making military observation essential.

Hela is unable to fight against the Emperor's army, and the Emperor's army is unable to fight against the Dark Order's army. This result is entirely due to the difference in organizational structure and individual combat capabilities. The Dark Order's massive number of bio-monsters may actually be Hela's advantage. Other high-ranking generals are probably no match for Hela. Therefore, this war between Asgard and the Dark Order may very well force the Dark Titan Thanos to take action personally.

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Thor watched with satisfaction as the Asgardians boarded the spaceships in droves at the spaceport, while Heimdall stood by, his expression cold. Thor had no objection to the humans' actions; he simply asked if they could accommodate all the survivors, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he rushed to help, ignoring everything else. Loki, on the other hand, watched the humans' transport with amusement, but like Heimdall, he felt no goodwill towards what was unfolding before his eyes.

"What is this?" Heimdall angrily questioned the Emperor, pointing at the cranes in the spaceport and the supplies being transported to the ship. "I didn't know Asgard would welcome bandits."

“You can think of it that way, Heimdall,” the Emperor said calmly. “This is the price Hela paid for her rule. If you still have grievances, you can consider it as travel expenses for the humans to help the Asgardians evacuate. Unless Thor intends to reconquer this place, you won’t need it—look at the Asgardians who are still alive, they can’t even muster a berserker legion.”

"Coward!" Heimdall spat disdainfully.

"The Dark Order's next destination is Asgard. If Hela wants to truly rule Asgard, she must win this war," the Emperor said. "Whether it's Hela or humanity, the Dark Order is the most pressing threat. I have no obligations to Asgard, nor do I care about the Asgardian succession, so we have a possibility of joining forces—luckily, she still has some sense."

"When will these things be returned to the true heirs of Asgard?"

"Return them? The true heir?" The Emperor looked at the distant spaceport, his tone rising dangerously. "Asgard has no right to negotiate now. You are just a group of refugees who have lost their technology and knowledge. You either stay here and become Hela's undead or die in the invasion of the Dark Order, or you accept resettlement. There is no other choice."

“If you threaten Thor with the lives of the Asgardians…” Heimdall paused, then suddenly became dejected, as if accepting the situation.

"Don't tell Thor about the Dark Order. I'll give you the activation rune for the Rainbow Bridge, allowing you to access the Rainbow Bridge entrance near Asgard. Your fleet can't fight the Dark Order, but the Rainbow Bridge will give your fleet unparalleled maneuverability. You know what that means—you can safely travel faster than light within the Eukrasil route. Otherwise, even you wouldn't have been able to get this fleet out safely."

"Deal." The Emperor nodded. A safe shipping route meant he wouldn't have to expend his power to protect the fleet; this deal was very worthwhile. Now that the Dark Titan Thanos had obtained the Power Stone, the Emperor wasn't sure what level of power that purple giant had reached. He needed to conserve some strength to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

“But I can’t give any assurances about what Thor might do after witnessing the Dark Order’s fleet. He is the Crown Prince of Asgard and must be accountable for his actions and those of his people. No one should be his babysitter.”

“That’s enough. He has grown a lot.” Heimdall nodded. As the head of Odin’s most trusted intelligence organization, he understood the mindset of a monarch. Every monarch is a miser; they will never do anything that doesn’t benefit their rule. Apart from the knowledge accumulated over millennia, Asgard is currently of no use to the Midgardians.

All royal friendships come at a price, a fact Thor has yet to grasp.

“The Asgardians will be welcomed on Earth, but not everyone will be friendly. There, honor will be worth less than money,” the Emperor said. Heimdall bowed respectfully to the Emperor, for this reminder was timely. Unlike Thor, Heimdall was not naive; he knew clearly what the Asgardians would face next—perhaps the Midgard kingdom on Earth would initially welcome them, but as they discovered that the Asgardians had lost their ancient technology and wisdom, becoming merely a group of humanoid beings with immense physical strength, they would no longer be greeted with mead and applause, but rather with the operating table.

The Midgardians wouldn't care about a prince who has lost his kingdom.

Even if the prince were incredibly powerful, Thor couldn't protect every Asgardian at all times. In comparison, the emperor, who merely took Asgard's scientific and magical technology and equipment, was already a good person. At least under the emperor's protection, the Asgardians wouldn't become experimental subjects, or even... food.

This universe is cruel and merciless. The Asgardians must choose their overlord, and there is no other choice but the Emperor. Moreover, Heimdall believes that the Emperor is also a god. After Ragnarok, the new gods are destined to establish a new world and a new civilization on a grassy land.

To this day, the prophesied deity has disappeared without a trace. Perhaps the prophecy refers to this deity from Midgard. As for what obligations must be fulfilled to accept protection, that can be discussed later. Heimdall is determined to fight for the interests of the remaining Asgardians, and perhaps Loki can help.

Heimdall glanced at Loki by the spaceport window.

The God of Mischief's expression was unpredictable, completely ignoring his brother's calls for help. From the moment they began their escape, Heimdall had been unsure of Loki's thoughts; he wouldn't completely trust this mischievous fellow like others did. Although Frigga had forgiven Loki before her death, and the God of Mischief was no longer a prisoner, he was still unpopular.

“Loki needs to join the negotiations,” Heimdall said. “At least he needs to be present during the negotiations.”

The Royal Guard specifically assigned a Royal Guard to watch over Loki. If necessary, these perfect human warriors wouldn't even blink, nor would they be fooled by illusion magic. Even the God of Mischief would find it difficult to escape under the Royal Guard's surveillance. The Emperor believed Loki wouldn't give up so easily, and keeping an eye on this somewhat dishonest fellow would prevent a conflict with Thor.

The staff viewed Thor as a single-threaded organism, with operating logic similar to that of a cat. Loki was Thor's trigger command, like the shadow on the cat's head. As long as there was a certain area, it would trigger Thor's hostile program. Therefore, the Guardians had to take measures to control this unstable factor.

Meanwhile, surveillance of the Dark Order's fleet continues.

From an astronomical perspective, Asgard is not closer to the Dark Order's fleet than Midgard, but Asgard's observation equipment is more advanced. Heimdall's observational ability is a magical talent, not a scientific measurement that can precisely calculate distances, but he can accurately locate objects using specialized equipment custom-made for him by the Asgardian Observatory.

However, this required digging out the main equipment from the already packed warehouse of the Cross Rose; otherwise, Heimdall could only see the situation of the Dark Order's fleet, and he couldn't even see the Dark Titan Thanos himself—the latter had extremely powerful magical protection that could shield Heimdall's vision. But Heimdall knew which equipment was the most important, and with his help, the Martian foundry technicians no longer needed to rummage through piles of equipment, shortening the overall dismantling process by at least four hours. Finally, the task of observing enemy movements still had to be carried out by the Emperor's fleet.

The specific measure involves launching four space telescopes directly from the main guns of the space carrier. By comparing and analyzing the telescopes with star maps on Earth, the location and size of the Dark Order's fleet can be calculated. This is a complex and sophisticated calculation task, but it is not a difficult task for the space force.

News of the Dark Order's impending arrival spread throughout the galaxy. It was no secret that such a massive fleet traversed half the galaxy; many civilizations could detect the Dark Order's movements. Before the Dark Order set sail, the Emperor obtained intelligence through his past as a space pirate. This intelligence described the fleet's size and the extent of alien destruction along the Dark Order's route.

After extensive verification, the staff deduced the size of the Dark Order's fleet. This intelligence formed the basis for this expedition, and all material preparations and personnel deployments followed this information. Now, the speed of the Dark Order's fleet determined how much the Emperor could move, and he hoped the Dark Titan Thanos would arrive as late as possible.

But it's not too late. Hela's patience is being tested. Although the Emperor has persuaded her to understand that the Dark Titans are the true enemy, no one knows if she can maintain her restraint forever. According to the temporary agreement, Hela relinquished important facilities such as the library and observatory, withdrawing all her forces deep into the palace. The Emperor is unaware of the situation inside, but more and more undead are pouring into the Golden Palace from the gardens. The genetically modified warriors have to strengthen their defenses, preparing to deal with Hela if she breaks the agreement.

Odin's Treasury marks the dividing line between the two powers.

There stood a small tactical squad of knights, and an armored knight riding a dead warhorse slowly made his way across the blood-soaked ground, accompanied by savage spirits wielding battle axes and clad in wild beast pelts. The two sides faced each other, ensuring the tension didn't escalate; nothing else mattered. No one cared about the fate of the Asgardian nobles.

Thor could not forgive them. The Emperor didn't need them; only Hela needed them, but only their bodies, not their souls. The drone saw thick smoke billowing from behind the Golden Palace and blood splattered across the courtyard. Large numbers of undead pounced on the armed noble soldiers, tearing apart their armor and flesh. Then, the skeletons rose again, limbs and entrails hanging from their bodies, becoming one of the undead soldiers once more.

"How much longer?" the emperor asked.

Commander Constantine of the Royal Guard took out a tablet. "Less than 10 hours, my lord."

“Tell the Martian foundry that I will no longer tolerate their desire to take every single atom. Take the irreplaceable parts as soon as possible, or none of us will be able to leave.”

With the new orders issued, representatives of the Martian Foundry attempted to reason with the Emperor, but were ruthlessly turned away by the Royal Guard. Constantine told them that if they couldn't board the ship within the allotted time, the Emperor would leave them in Asgard to face Hela and the Dark Order, and would remove their prosthetic bodies before leaving. The Martian Foundry fell silent, and even their retreat became twice as fast, leading some to suspect they had undergone lower limb modifications.

Ten hours passed quickly. The genetically modified soldiers and space special forces gradually withdrew from the Golden Palace and evacuated to the spaceport. Before boarding the ship, the Martian foundry looked back longingly at the dimming Golden Palace, turning back again and again as they boarded. The mortal soldiers had been rotated, but none of the other superhumans closed their eyes. Nearly 48 hours of continuous work had not made them feel tired. Next, they would face battles that could occur at any moment.

Hela made a brief appearance, coming to collect Surtur's skull and the armored vehicle bomb detonators piled up in the port and on the main road. Compared to when they set out, the Emperor's fleet had several more Asgardian freighters. Thor chose the ships with the largest carrying capacity, cramming as many survivors as possible into them without considering comfort.

There were several Martian technicians on those Asgardian ships who had been learning Asgardian spaceship piloting techniques since the humans entered the Golden Palace, and were now in charge of piloting them. Compared to the civilians on that ship, they knew the Asgardian spaceships best. Although they couldn't compare to the Aesir gods like Thor, Loki, and Heimdall, they were more than capable. Heimdall had kept his promise and handed over the method for crossing the Rainbow Bridge in the Asgardian sector to the Emperor.

The fleet moved slowly through space, gradually heading towards the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge.

Through the porthole, they saw Asgard receding further and further into the distance under the star's glow. Simultaneously, space telescopes detected several small reconnaissance ships with a distinctly Chitauri style in the star's halo. This bio-mechanical pirate civilization was the vanguard of the Black Order; their arrival often signaled the approach of the Black Order's main fleet. The Black Order was unaware of the Rainbow Bridge entrance to the Asgard Sector. Their location was at the point of least gravity within the system, the point where a faster-than-light passage would be opened, and also the point where the Emperor's fleet would enter the Asgard Sector.

Without Heimdall's information, the human fleet would have crashed directly into the Chitauri fleet.

"All speed up! The Dark Order has spotted us!"

The Emperor stood on the bridge, below which dozens of busy commanders saw the massive fleet on the radar and finally realized what they were about to face. Communication from various ships and between upper and lower decks was extremely dense; they often had to switch communications after only a few words, painstakingly coordinating pre-battle preparations.

Humanity has never engaged in space naval warfare before, nor does it have any relevant experience. No matter how meticulous the prior planning and strategy, they may still encounter unexpected situations before the actual battle. They can only rely on rigorous training and preparation to compensate for these shortcomings, while summarizing experiences to prepare for the next war. The Emperor sent a magical communication to Hela; with all of Asgard's infrastructure at a standstill, this was the only way to contact Hela.

The bridge became busy again. After a while, the cameras and drones installed in Asgard transmitted images showing the Emperor and his staff seeing Hela leading her undead army out of the Golden Palace.

The goddess of death rode a giant, grey-black wolf, followed by withered death knights and Valhalla spirits. All of Odin's contingency plans had come into play, though not in the way he had envisioned. In the end, Odin had accomplished the ultimate goal of the Aesir, preventing the souls of the Asgardians from falling into the hands of monsters behind the veil of shadows and suffering torment that even the annihilation of the universe could not end.

Hela had clearly discovered the surveillance equipment, but instead of destroying it, she stared at one of the cameras, as if she could see the Emperor's eyes through the lens. "Midgard," Hela said without speaking, but the Emperor, who was telepathically connected to her, could hear her, "I will show you the true power of the Goddess of Death."

"Please let me take a good look," the emperor said slowly.

Now that the most important thing was in their hands, the Cosmic Cube was locked in a safe engraved with protective spells, making its location undetectable even by the Dark Order through any means. It seemed the Emperor's relaxed tone had provoked Hela's anger; she issued a command, and more and more undead pushed the armored vehicle, loaded with bombs, to the end of the road.

The wait was long, and when the Emperor's fleet arrived at the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge, the first Chitauri landed in Asgard. These Chitauri pirates didn't even conduct reconnaissance before parachuting directly from the gravity well, completely unaware of the problems amidst the ruins. What greeted them were undead emerging from every corner.

To this day, the Chitauri's weapons have been studied tens of thousands of times. Hundreds of research institutions have written papers on the effects of their plasma and laser weapons, the energy sources they use, and so on. Four years have passed since humans first encountered the Chitauri, enough time for them to thoroughly understand their military technology and physiological structure. For the Emperor, the outcome of this Chitauri landing operation was a foregone conclusion.

Even though the Chitauri managed to kill a few hundred undead in front of them, more undead surged up and overwhelmed them—the same thing happened to thousands of Chitauri. Then these corpses rose again, took up their weapons, and aimed at another group of Chitauri soldiers who were landing.

"Why aren't we leaving yet!" Heimdall was frantic, shouting into the communications channel, "The enemy is here!"

"Don't worry, we have time." The Emperor hung up the communication, letting Heimdall worry on his own. The Emperor told Tita, "Prepare the missiles. When the main fleet lands, we will need to support Hela."

“Yes, my lord.” Tita nodded and ordered the weapons commander on the bridge to prepare to launch a nuclear weapon.

The Dark Order fleet failed to detect the human fleet's presence. By the time the missiles hit their targets, there would be a difference of several hours in travel time between the two. Unless the Dark Order fleet could instantly accelerate to near-light speed, it simply couldn't catch up with the human fleet, so the Emperor was quite confident. Now he wanted to test the destructive efficiency of nuclear weapons against the Dark Order fleet—Commander Constantine of the Royal Guard brought over a document filled with action plans—the latter half of which contained the results of research on the Dark Order, requiring testing one by one.

This war was unlike the Asgardian war, which was filled with passion and glory; it consisted only of well-organized tables and experimental plans. The Emperor observed the Dark Order's fleet's reactions as if they were meat in a petri dish, using those reactions to challenge his strategy.

The battle at Asgard Spaceport continues, and Hela's army grows ever larger.

The Dark Titan Thanos seemed to have lost patience and began deploying large numbers of bio-engineered war beasts to replace the timid Chitauri. These bio-engineered war beasts showed no fear, only boundless rage and cyborg claws. Initially, Helya's undead army was routed by the sheer number of bio-engineered war beasts, but then the Valhalla heroes rushed into the battlefield, using their fury, weaponry, immortality, and military discipline to push back the Dark Order's army at the spaceport.

Many bio-engineered war beasts were pushed down the gravity well at the edge of the spaceport by the round shields, and fell with the endless water flow.

"Fire." The Emperor gave the order, and the main cannon, which had been prepared beforehand, fired five interstellar missiles in quick succession. Watching the trails of light fade into the distance, the Emperor crossed out another task on the document. "Prepare to photograph the damage, then return. There's no need for us to stay here any longer. Once the Dark Order discovers that the Cosmic Cube isn't here, they'll definitely come after us."

All probes were ready to capture firsthand data. The representatives of the Mars Foundry were extremely excited; they were responsible for correcting the trajectories and were also members of the committee responsible for the complex assessment of the damage effects. This represented a masterpiece of human engineering science. If these nuclear bombs could destroy a warship, they would be more than capable of destroying missile launches—a project for the upcoming Greek conquest, which the Mars Foundry would certainly not miss.

"Will Hela surrender to the Dark Order, my lord?" Tita asked.

“I don’t think so.” The emperor shook his head. “She still has the fire giant Surtur. I think with her pride, she is only capable of destroying everything.”

(End of this chapter)