Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1081 (First Update)

All of humanity's current natural sciences are interpretations of nature, theories based on intuition. For example, a meteorite impact creating a crater or light refracting when entering water are theories formed based on intuition and causality. However, quantum mechanics, a microscopic physics, inherently contains some counterintuitive and anti-causal theories. In these theories, cause and effect do not proceed linearly in time; for example, a meteorite impacting a crater or light automatically choosing the shortest path when entering water. This resembles a kind of fatalism, a discussion of free will, and a speculation about the existence of an invisible creator, much like Orpheus's self-imposed exile after learning of the prophecy, yet still unable to change his inevitable fate.

Ancient Greek prophetic tragedies often involve rebellion against the prophecy, only to have it fulfilled. When a person learns of their future destiny, they choose to rebel, unaware that even their rebellion is part of fate. If one could stand on the banks of the river of time and look down, transcending the three-dimensional view of spacetime and entering a four-dimensional one, surveying everything that happens from birth to death, it's hard to say that this wouldn't lead one into a vortex of nihilism. Because this river of fate already includes all possibilities, including your actions of rebelling against fate; everything you do is meaningless, free will doesn't exist, and all actions are merely fulfilling the tasks given by destiny.

But for some, this pessimistic fatalism has no effect.

When a person can see all the possibilities for themselves at a given point in time, they can make a different choice that completely alters their destiny. The river of destiny breaks, and this person gains free will; predetermined fate becomes merely a reference to the future. Salomon saw several possibilities for his future. He knew clearly that he didn't possess free will because he could still see the river of destiny; only one could exist—since he could still foresee the future, it proved that the river of destiny still existed. But he never believed in predetermined fate, even though destiny encompassed all possibilities in the world, because he realized that this river of destiny would continue to flow. From beginning to end, he treated the glimpses of destiny as a reference to the future, a means of gaining linear time knowledge of the present world.

“I see that we will have several children in the future. Fate tells me that I should do this now,” Wanda Maximov said. She stood barefoot on the wet tiles, wrapped in a towel. Water dripped from her hair, and sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the rising steam from her. However, her expression did not show joy, but rather worry and bewilderment. “I see them conjoined, broken, fragmented, and incomplete. Is it because I am not looking closely enough?”

“No, Wanda, you haven’t seen enough.” Salomon reached out and carefully helped her out of the bathroom, supporting her wet arm. “What you saw is all correct. I will create children who possess some of our talents. But they will not be born from your womb, but created by technology and magic, nurtured in a mechanical womb. Their souls, bodies, personalities, and talents will be meticulously designed and allocated. They will be among the most perfect creations of my supreme alchemy. They will be my best assistants, helping me complete my ultimate plan for human ascension, allowing all humans to break free from their veil of fate and possess free will. I will be the last human in this universe who has never possessed free will.”

"Would you love them?"

"I don't know," Salomon said honestly. "I might see them as a product, or I might see them as my children. I don't know. There are very few things in this world I don't know, but I truly don't know how I will view them in the future. I will have a journey beyond dimensions, and they will be born after that journey, but I don't know what changes will occur to me after that journey, because I haven't seen enough." As he spoke, he stroked the silver cross key with Arabic vine patterns under his clothes. This was his predetermined fate; he was destined to make this transaction and transform himself. It wasn't that he didn't want to change his fate, but that he had chosen it. This was the only path to achieving his ideals; only in this way could he complete the Holy Mark and fight against those gods with twisted minds. He stepped onto it without hesitation, no matter what price he would pay, even if the end of the road was his own doom.

"Can you promise me you'll love them in the future?" Wanda looked up and asked, looking into his eyes.

"I can't, Wanda." Salomon saw the water droplets still clinging to her eyelashes. "I can't be sure what the future holds. I've never had any children, and I've seen the future, so I know nothing."

"Then what should I do?" The red-haired witch seemed to sense her teacher's embarrassment. This unusual reaction made her giggle; she found it amusing and tried to get Salomon's shirt wet. "Will this change our predetermined fate?"

I don't think so.

Pietro Maximov squinted, glancing to the left and then to the right, completely ignoring the food on his plate. Wanda stomped her foot angrily, and Pietro felt as if he had kicked a table corner; a terrible pain shot through his body from the bottom up. Even so, he forced a smile, but his tightly gripped cutlery and the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed his agony. He mentally questioned Wanda about what had happened, certain she could hear him, but she offered no response, and he couldn't discern anything from her flushed face.

"Say something," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not used to having no one to talk to at the dinner table."

“Nothing much to say, Pietro.” Salomon poured Wanda and himself a glass of red wine. It was one of the bottles from the wine cabinet he had filled for Wanda when she moved in, a perfect match for the roasted lamb chops made by the invisible servant. The cabinet still held many expensive wines; for Salomon, wine was an everyday drink, but Wanda's dependence on it wasn't as strong as someone educated in ancient Greece like Salomon, so the cabinet remained full. “We should talk about your plans. Tony Stark is about to leave for Germany with the Secretary of State. The Avengers are disbanding, and you should leave as soon as possible to avoid being monitored by the US government. I don't want to send anyone to rescue you, Pietro. I hope you don't worry Wanda.”

"Don't try to change the subject, teacher." Pietro pointed his knife at Salomon, a knowing look on his face. "Don't forget how fast I am; no one can catch me."

"Your speed is at most a few times the speed of sound; taking you down is still easy." Salomon placed a cell phone made in the Immortal City on the table. Pietro then frantically patted his pocket, because the phone belonged to him. "And you don't necessarily need to be faster than you to kill you. There are many ways to kill; not every one relies on speed."

"How did you do that?" Pietro reluctantly took back his phone. "Okay, that doesn't count! This time I'll be on my guard..."

"Ordinary people can't stay vigilant all the time, Pietro. You've never belonged to the Avengers, that public organization. You and Wanda have always been victims of the Avengers' world police mentality. Now that your sister has joined this organization to end wars between humans, why don't you join too?"

"But you started a war!"

"If criticism were effective, what would be the point of weapons? I know you want to do good, but our enemies won't stand by and watch us do it. Everything you're doing is atoning for their crimes, not ending them completely. Why not endure the pain of removing the tumor and exchange temporary suffering for future peace?" Salomon winked at Wanda and then began a debate with Pietro. It must be said that Pietro, lacking philosophical, historical, and political education from a young age, was completely unable to resist Salomon's rhetoric that united humanity under a shared destiny. The knowledge he had acquired in the castle was no match for the far more extensive knowledge of Salomon. Pietro had to agree to move out of the Avengers base as soon as possible and live in Latveria. In those three minutes, he had already forgotten his initial thought, until Salomon picked up his plate and put it in the sink, at which point he suddenly remembered that this wasn't the question he wanted to ask.

"That's not what I wanted to ask..."

"Finished eating? Let me take it away for you!" Wanda also got up from her seat, smiling broadly as she took the food he had only eaten a few bites of. Pietro sighed and slumped back into his chair. He felt he couldn't outmaneuver his teacher; the pride and self-esteem he had cultivated in the Avengers regarding his superpowers had completely vanished.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)