American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

If it were Superman, he would definitely rush to rescue the wizards. But Rune's first choice was to go to the core location to see who the enemy was. Their actions seem drastically different, but the core logic is the same. Superman cares deeply about human life, and so does Rune, especially the lives of his enemies.

Rune deftly shut down the computer, then asked, "Can you cast spells here?"

Rita was taken aback, and then she began to try to transform back into Animagus.

The good news was that she could indeed cast spells, but the bad news was that her wand had already been taken away. The next second, a wand flew towards her.

"Take this, find something that can hold things, cast a Seamless Stretch Charm on it, and then put all these computers inside," Rune ordered, before flying straight towards the location the soldiers remembered. The reason this place was accessible for spellcasting was because an excessively strong magnetic field would interfere with the computers' operation, so it had been somehow granted special protection.

If possible, Rune would prefer to do it himself, which would only require removing the hard drive from the computer. However, time was of the essence, so he had to move everything. In fact, Rune's actions were those of a true master hacker. As everyone knows, computers or other devices storing confidential information are always physically disconnected from the internet. To obtain this information, hackers would need to infiltrate facilities and steal the data.

It doesn't sound like something a hacker would do, right? In people's common perception, hackers are supposed to sit in front of a computer, frantically typing away, then some meaningless characters flash across the screen, and suddenly they have access to confidential documents. But that's reality. If some so-called confidential documents are actually stolen this way, it only means that these documents aren't really that "confidential."

When Rune descended from the sky, the soldiers guarding the adult wizards surrendered without hesitation. Not because he could fly, but because of the damage he caused to the ground upon impact—who would want to fight a guy whose mere descent could destroy three centimeters of concrete?

The officer's face looked as if it had been haphazardly sculpted by the knife of time, crisscrossed with wrinkles. He looked like a tough man, but around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth, several unusually deep creases appeared, as if a fawning smile was constantly on his face, even making his skin wrinkled. His eyes were small and cunning, his pupils darting around as if he were always calculating something. His military uniform was wrinkled and unkempt, the buttons undone, hanging crookedly on his body.

"Hello, hello, you can just call me Jack. I don't know how I should address you?" He walked up, bent over, and asked with a smile.

"You may continue to call me a wizard," Rune said, looking at the man before him and the soldiers behind him who had already raised their hands and thrown down their weapons. "But what I'm more interested in is why you surrendered so readily?"

Logically, in a base with such a high level of security, the guards should be the best of the best, with extremely high loyalty, like the two groups he had just killed. Even after he punched an armored vehicle to pieces, they still gripped their weapons, attempting to attack him. But this man surrendered so easily; that seems somewhat illogical, doesn't it?

However, as Jack recounted his story, Rune had to admit that they did indeed have reasons to surrender.

Don't be fooled by Jack's current obsequious demeanor; he was once a seasoned veteran of World War II and numerous Middle East wars. However, after the Middle East wars ended, when his men returned home, the promised compensation had vanished without a trace. Several soldiers even committed suicide inexplicably. This didn't just happen once, but five times in total. Some soldiers even perished in plane crashes before returning home.

If Jack hadn't been sentimental and wanted to have a drink with his former subordinates, he wouldn't have known any of this. The reason Jack survived wasn't because he served his so-called motherland, but because he had participated in many Middle Eastern wars, was familiar with the local customs and ways of the world, and could better carry out infiltration missions. In addition, his superiors valued him, and Jack actually believed that last point was the real reason he was still alive.

But from then on, he became passive and turned from being a diligent and hardworking soldier into a lazy and complacent old soldier who began to fawn over his superiors. In the end, he was sent here.

Of course, the daily agonizing cries of the trapped wizards were also a reason for their surrender. Before, they could hypnotize themselves into believing their actions were for the sake of the nation. But when the nation betrayed them, were they to betray even their human conscience?

"...If you don't believe me, you can go in and see for yourself," the officer said helplessly. "I initially thought this was a cushy job, but after only a few days, several of my men couldn't take it anymore."

"Alright, I can give you a chance." Rune nodded. "When I leave here, give me a reason not to kill you. If the reason is good enough, you live. If it's not good enough, you die."

The officer immediately leaned in, trying to shake Rune's hand, but Rune avoided him. Jack could only watch with a bitter expression as Rune walked into what could only be called hell, sighing, "My Jesus Christ, what am I going to do?!"

The other soldiers, seeing Rune go inside, also huddled together with gloomy expressions. Jack sat down dejectedly on the ground and started offering cigarettes.

"Boss, why do you still have cigarettes?" a private asked, dumbfounded. The veteran next to him gave him a hard knock on the head, silencing him.

"If you say another word, you won't get your cigarette!" Jack sighed. "Let's all have this one; it might be our last."

The soldiers removed their equipment. Jack only had a pack of cigarettes on him, which wasn't enough to share with every soldier. But the veterans had a tacit understanding: each of them would take a puff and then pass it to the next person.

Their faces were filled with sorrow, their brows furrowed. Some had already begun to kneel and pray, while others muttered curses under their breath. They had all heard Rune's words, but what could they offer to persuade that terrible man to spare them?

After finishing his last cigarette, Jack lay down on the ground, staring blankly at the clouds in the sky. The sunlight shone on him, but it brought no warmth; instead, it seemed even more glaring. Perhaps this was his punishment, he thought.

Think about it, he didn't accumulate much money in his life, while those in power made a fortune. He had no time for his own son; instead, he went to the battlefield to kill other people's sons. Whether as a father, a husband, or simply as a human being, he seems to have failed miserably.

"So tiring..." he thought to himself. He touched his sidearm. He had been feeling tired ever since that party. The disdainful looks from his former subordinates at the party; the angry rebukes from his superiors afterward; and the investigations by certain specialists. In that instant, he felt like a stranger to the very organization he had always been loyal to.

But now, at least I still have the right to rest, right? Looking at the white clouds and blue sky, a long-lost feeling welled up inside me, like returning to a carefree childhood. Perhaps it's time for me to unload this burden.

So he summoned his adjutant, who always accompanied him, whispered a few words to him, and then looked at his sidearm. It was an M1911, almost as old as he himself had been in World War II. Back then, the country wasn't like this...

So this old fellow held up the head of the other old fellow.

"Bang—"