Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1088 (Second Update)

After the 15th century, with advancements in production technology in Europe, the cost of manufacturing candles, which had previously been exorbitantly priced, began to decrease. It was estimated that their price was roughly equivalent to a day's wages for an average worker at the time. The upper-class nobility began to display their wealth by lighting increasingly more candles when guests visited. Costume parties, exclusively for the upper class, originated in this era, with nobles often disguising themselves as laborers. In the nobility's view, the lower classes were vulgar, uncultured, and impious; they believed that by dressing as the poor, they could indulge in base acts and their desires at the ball without restraint. Hammurabi found records of costume parties in a corner of the Praetorian Guard's library. It is said that a queen held a costume party in her palace where guests were not allowed to wear clothes, only jewelry that matched the theme of the hall to cover their bodies; its extravagance and unrestrained indulgence drew attention.

The Imperial Guard believed that their monarch's participation in the Sokovia Agreement's power-enhancing conflict while donning black armor was akin to attending a masquerade ball—a way to conceal his identity and do what his status forbade. After all, no nation wanted to see a three-meter-tall Latvian emperor in golden armor suddenly appear on its territory. Although everyone knew Latvian possessed teleportation technology, this would reignite the already de-escalating tensions in Europe, something Latvian desperately wanted to avoid, and could potentially disrupt ongoing negotiations.

Because of the monarch's remarkable sense of humor, the original black armor was designed to resemble Darth Vader.

Upon learning this news, Hammurabi spent the entire night watching the Star Wars movies and wrote lengthy negative reviews for Star Wars VII, VIII, and IX. After doing so, he advised the monarch not to dress up as Darth Vader, arguing that such an appearance would only create a strong comedic effect, and no one would mistake the monarch's powers for the "Force." His monarch accepted the advice, but Hammurabi was dissatisfied that the monarch again rejected the security agreement drawn up by Commander Constantine, only allowing Hammurabi to remain in low Earth orbit aboard a heavy assault transport ship instead of participating in the battle. This made Hammurabi feel utterly useless.

"Why must you personally get involved in this, my lord?"

"Think about what would happen if enhanced individuals and psionicists became tools for making money." While waiting for the armor to be transported to the heavy assault transport ship, Salomon patiently explained his motivation to Hammurabi. "The US military is currently relaunching the Super Soldier program in conjunction with many laboratories. Predictably, the next step is to create heroes, establish a new department to promote one or two celebrity politicians, and officially portray the newly launched superheroes as symbols of justice, producing movies and reality shows. Joining the ranks of those who 'entertain to the death,' they'll use cultural hegemony to create opportunities to send enhanced individuals on so-called counter-terrorism missions, completely replacing organizations like the Avengers that don't obey orders."

During this period, both liberals and evangelicals (respectively the American left and right) benefit. Diverse superheroes can garner votes for the Democratic Party, while Christian superheroes can win votes for the Republican Party. The public won't have much to complain about, as their attention is already drawn to the glamorous superheroes, and any dissenting voices will be drowned out by organized, fanatical online followers.

At this point, the Emperor of Latvinia and the Immortal City looked utterly disgusted. He didn't need any prophetic abilities to see how things would unfold. There's nothing new under the sun; the logic of the capital market is solely about making money. This has been applied to celebrities and idols before. The Sokovia Accords and the subsequent US super-soldier program were merely tools for making money and exercising hegemony, disguised in the guise of idol worship. It wasn't that no one realized the loopholes in the Sokovia Accords—despite the participation and signature of over a hundred countries, and the seemingly dignified order established in the first half, many weak Third World countries were coerced by media hegemony or threatened by economic sanctions and thus unable to resist, which is why they signed the agreement. Otherwise, the term "weapons of mass destruction" would have been used in the UN forum, or agencies like the UNHCR would have begun to cut aid. Aid from Western countries cannot help African countries develop their own industries and education; stopping aid would be a fatal threat to those African countries that rely solely on aid to support their civilian populations.

"What consequences will this have? Any country that loses out in public opinion will become a destination for so-called 'superheroes,' and the manipulated United Nations will become a tool to provide justification and endorse any actions of these 'superheroes.' If it is later discovered that the so-called terrorists are innocent or have caused indirect harm, they only need to offer flowers to express their condolences and then go looking for the next victim," he said. "We all know that the power of the enhanced individuals is related to extradimensional forces and the blood of the gods, so going out of control is the only outcome of the super soldier program. Even if those forces don't go out of control, they will create bastards who do whatever they want. Important clauses like the Sokovia Accords cannot be left to those tycoons to implement; they will sell the rope that hangs them for money. I don't care about their lives, but before they are harmed, a large number of innocent people will suffer losses. Therefore, this time I must completely eliminate all the so-called 'superheroes.' This kind of organization should not exist in this world."

Hammurabi detected the hatred and resolve in the monarch's tone. The hatred was directed at the shortsightedness, blindness, and greed that had led the entire human race to destruction, while the resolve stemmed from the monarch's belief that his cause could tame this dragon of greed within humanity. The Praetorian Guard understood the monarch's unspoken message: the monarch wanted to personally kill the mastermind behind it all to vent his anger, and he was glad that the monarch still retained some humanity.

He quietly turned off the censorship software on his helmet's communication system. The frequency of the word "fuck" in various tenses during the monarch's speech skyrocketed, appearing once or twice in almost every sentence. He silently turned the censorship software back on, enduring the shrill alarm, and then carefully chose his words. "Broadly speaking, your actions perfectly fit the market's definition of a superhero, because you're acting not for yourself but for the masses." After saying this, he unsurprisingly received a stern critical look from the monarch. "I know your definition of a superhero; it's just a market-driven concept. Hero worship is human instinct, and superheroes are just a concept created by market operations to fill the gap in hero worship among Americans who lack historical context."

Hammurabi found the atmosphere with the monarch to be far more relaxed than when Commander Constantine was with him. Now, Commander Constantine was leading the First Legion, constantly on missions; otherwise, Hammurabi was certain he would have witnessed awkward exchanges between Constantine and the monarch. He couldn't describe what those scenes were like; even the monarch's jokes couldn't amuse Constantine—all the Praetorian Guard were perfectly rational beings, but that didn't mean they lacked human emotions; it was just that the highest form of these emotions was a lifelong dedication to the monarch's cause. Constantine, however, was unusually cold. Nevertheless, the Praetorian Guard commander accepted the monarch's gift: a jigsaw puzzle he'd bought at the supermarket.

Hammurabi could only suspect that this might be due to differences in genetic alchemy. After all, each member of the Praetorian Guard possessed a unique modification process, and Constantine was superior to his peers in every aspect; in the arena, only Hammurabi could fight Constantine for over two hundred hours without being defeated. "I still want Darth Vader, and I want a voice unit on his breathing grille," the Emperor of Latvia suddenly said, surrounded by the holographic projection of the data center. "That would be very interesting!"

Without a word, Hammurabi walked to the cockpit. "Okay, Tony Stark has landed in Germany! We should get going, we must get going, we definitely will get going, let's get going now!" The civilians living near the capital of Latveria watched as the black and gold heavy assault transport ship swayed and circled in the air a few times before shooting straight into the sky, trailing a plume of black smoke.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)