Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1046, Section 1042: System Check (Second Update)

Constantine used the synaptic probes on the power armor to command it, reducing the power of the electromagnetic clamps on the bottom of his boots. This allowed him to move nimbly within the cabin without floating due to the near-disappearance of gravity in the upper atmosphere, preventing embarrassing situations like his pointed helmet hitting the shuttle's ceiling. This shuttle was a new model produced by the Martian Foundry, boasting greater firepower, more space, and a larger carrying capacity. After Constantine personally tested it and gave him permission, the Royal Guard no longer had to carefully turn around in the cramped assault transport boat when traveling with the monarch. As this was a personal vehicle, the originally cold interior of the crew cabin was decorated with many Baroque-style ornaments, making it look less like a spacecraft and more like the living room of a mansion.

In contrast, Hammurabi was less adept at the maneuver, as it was his first time boarding the shuttle. "You'll get used to it next time," Constantine chuckled kindly at the sounds of his companion's armor slamming into the cabin and the combat robots lined up on either side. Hammurabi quickly regained his footing thanks to his excellent reflexes and balance. As soon as he steadied himself, Constantine handed him a data panel and explained in detail why he had left his seat. "From an intelligence perspective, Mycroft Holmes is still unwilling to abandon his offshore diplomacy policy. This pattern of behavior is easily predictable; we can extract more useful information by constantly pressuring him, but others can do the same."

"Mycroft Holmes might have leaked information; Victoria Hand's intelligence analysts have already made that judgment," Hammurabi said, flipping through the data panel in his hand, agreeing with Constantine's assessment. "But his weaknesses are equally obvious. First, his power; second, his family. The White House and the EU manipulating the IMF's impending decision doesn't benefit Mycroft himself; he wants us to sabotage it—it's an obvious short-term gain. It seems he still harbors the remnants of the British Empire's past, which is quite rare."

"While his intelligence is exceptionally high by ordinary standards, he is ultimately just an ordinary person, only able to focus on what's around him. He's arrogant, which is his most obvious weakness." Constantine didn't pay much attention to Mycroft's personal thoughts when evaluating Mycroft Holmes. In fact, the Guardians rarely showed empathy, partly due to the aftereffects of mental cleansing, and partly due to remnants of their pre-modification personalities. "I want to request permission from the Sovereign to raid the prison island and bring Ms. Holmes, with her antisocial personality, back to the Immortal City," Constantine said. "On one hand, her value surpasses that of Mycroft and Sherlock, and the Guardians also need a suitable intelligence analyst; Ms. Holmes's talents would be very useful to the Guardians. On the other hand, we can use her as a hostage to force Mycroft Holmes to work diligently for us."

"I'm arranging Ms. Holmes's menu now. I wonder if she'll like the orange-flavored ration sticks," Hammurabi said cheerfully. "Supilulimas highly recommends this flavor; he thinks that kind of emergency ration is very helpful for wilderness covert operations. At least you won't be tracked by wild animals because you're so disgusted by the taste. That's what he said on the comms last night." Hammurabi was quite pleased with his companion's sense of humor in South America. "My database hasn't been updated with the latest information on Helmut Zemo yet. Has he arrived in Vienna yet? I'm worried he won't work according to plan, and sooner or later, it will bring different results. Will his wife be able to control his behavior?"

"The psychoanalyst has a formal written conclusion, in Appendix C. While we don't share that emotion, we still can't ignore the compensatory psychology of mortals. Helmut Zemo always believed our goals were completely aligned—to destroy the ridiculous Avengers organization. He had no idea what our true target was. Unbeknownst to him, our assassins had already modified the equipment he was using." Constantine frowned, speaking with an incomprehensible tone. "My lord wants him to have a good ending, so after cutting them off completely, find them a place to live in seclusion—a place that Wakanda agents can't find."

The shuttle had no windows; only the cockpit had armored glass providing a view of the outside world. Even so, Constantine could still determine his location through the time displayed on his helmet-mounted projector and through simulations and calculations in his brain. He estimated the distance between the Sisterhood's assault transport ships and their destination, then used the combat communications channel to command them to catch up quickly. The shuttle was now less than two hundred kilometers from Vienna in a straight line—a distance that could be covered in the blink of an eye. Vienna was about to host a conference attended by dignitaries from various countries. This conference would be the clarion call for Latvian war, and the monarch of the Immortal City had even prepared a speech and a conspiracy for it. Constantine glanced at the tightly bound armory box beside his seat, containing the supplies needed for this mission.

Hours earlier, Victor von Dúnm, the regent of Latvia and the Immortal City, announced in a televised address that he would present a gift to the nations of the world. This was a deterrent to those with ulterior motives, and an exceptionally generous gift to friendly countries. However, delivering this gift would not be easy; Constantine demanded that they control the venue and surrounding area during the monarch's speech. This would require the Imperial Guard to possess formidable firepower and manpower to accomplish this objective.

「堡垒型智控战斗机器人阿尔法小队正在自检。类脑皮质层卷鬚完整度：98.52%；抗电磁噪声隔离设备：完整；算法版本：Fortress-1.013欧米伽-0.04，相较于前版本优化率：0.013%；反应堆核心温度与散热系统：正常；离子盾发生器：正常；神经光缆传导效率：95.56%；自适应反应瞄準阵列準确率：99.89%；行为模式编码检查……检查完成……」

"Sages, speak like humans," Constantine interrupted the Martian foundry technicians' lengthy report without hesitation. These combat droids had seen combat against carrier battle groups, where their firepower seemed somewhat overkill. However, due to time constraints, the senior engineers hadn't been able to perform maintenance on all the combat droids in time. Therefore, ever since the fortress-type combat droids were clamped to the sides of the cargo hold, these technicians had been constantly inspecting them inside the cargo hold.

"Our lord is about to appear, and I need you to complete your tasks."

"Done, done..." The sudden reprimand made the technician stammer, as if he were a robot crammed with obsolete code and stuck in a rut. After a few seconds, the technician reached out and patted the enhanced thinking module on his head; the interface was covered in shiny marks from dried disinfectant gel. Without undergoing the mysterious genetic alchemy or similar genetic modifications of the Royal Guard, mid- to low-level technicians at the Martian Foundry responsible for data processing often had to install external thinking modules and brain-computer interfaces. While the number of neurons in the average human brain is sufficient to manipulate data that even the world's supercomputers cannot calculate, operating fortress-type intelligent combat robots without the module would result in a burnt-out cerebral cortex, because the amount of feedback code produced by these supercomputer-equipped robots is astonishing. Even if algorithm iterations create new redundancy and obsolete code, the thinking modules of the relevant technicians must keep up.

"Self-test complete, but this intelligent machine, personally developed by the Great Sage, contains many mysteries. It's too perfect for us," the technician said somewhat embarrassedly. "It's a completely new world, a world constructed from binary code and computer languages..."

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(End of this chapter)