Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1173 Multiple Progressions (Second Update)

Victoria Hand had already devised reasons for the SEALs' operational failure, even pre-recording fake operational communications to replace the live recordings that were supposed to be uploaded. Three assassins, posing as a pilot, a guide, and the sole surviving SEAL, would travel to Constanta, a Black Sea city in Romania, board a helicopter that had made an emergency landing, and head to their evacuation target location to meet with a CIA spy in Moldova, before returning to the United States through special channels.

This infiltration mission was conducted independently of Hydra's network of connections, and Stephanie Malick and Diana Lister were completely unaware of it. It was a top-secret mission, secretly authorized by Regent Victor von Doom and overseen entirely by Victoria Hand. This operation, inexplicably named "The Tanuki," was not the first of its kind; otherwise, the intelligence services would not have received the full support of the First Secret Group.

Although the Emperor adopted a more conciliatory approach after the First War of Expansion, countless people still attempted to flee to the West. After all, the Emperor's policies clearly indicated that the new government was not friendly towards capitalism. A large group of vested interests were forced to relinquish their rights and accumulated wealth under the Emperor's rule, and hurriedly left with their families before the Emperor's conciliatory orders were rescinded. However, many deliberately stayed, intending to obtain valuable intelligence or become prominent anti-Latvian revolutionaries before attempting to escape. In reality, most of these individuals were bait for the intelligence agencies—their tendency to defect was detected through algorithms and network surveillance, yet they unusually remained, making them highly suspicious. The intelligence agencies could then provide them with outdated information, making them believe they had obtained useful intelligence, thus encouraging them to defect to the CIA or the National Endowment for Democracy. The intelligence agencies would then collaborate with the First Class Secrets to process these "fish," using CIA agents to conduct reverse infiltration.

While not every operation is successful, as long as the initial disguise goes smoothly, the assassins, modified with Skrull bio-pharmaceuticals, can infiltrate upon arrival at their destination. They can then further infiltrate by assassinating targets and transforming themselves. The goal of this plan is to gradually replace the conservative Hydra network within the CIA, reducing the instability of acquiring CIA intelligence through monetary purchases and the presence of insiders. Those anti-Latvinian figures are irrelevant; no one truly cares about their lives.

Of course, the exact location and number of the assassins who successfully infiltrated were secrets known only to Victor von Doom and Victoria Hand. The Emperor didn't care about the specifics, only whether the mission was accomplished. The Regent's tacit instructions were essentially the Emperor's will, only they couldn't be openly known to everyone with the appropriate authority. How many secrets the Emperor held was a mystery even Victoria Hand, personally recruited by the Emperor, didn't know. She only knew about many of the Emperor's arrangements regarding the real universe, including but not limited to secret bunkers hidden at the North and South Poles. However, she knew nothing about the secrets of another dimension; that was a mad territory she couldn't delve into. Only the Royal Guard and the Regent, who had truly gained her complete trust, knew the whole truth.

For the next month or so, everything proceeded as planned.

In the Z-Pulse Forging Machine of the Immortal City, Gungnir, still enveloped in the glaring electric current while submerged in transformer oil, was gradually regaining its metallic luster, its spear shaft resembling that of worn-out wood. The Immortal City had even experienced a power crisis during this month, as the Brotherhood of the Shield's nuclear power plant and Wakanda's upgrades to it couldn't sustain the plasma forging furnace for extended periods. All the maintenance servitude machines required for the furnace needed to be replaced daily. Meanwhile, far away in Asgard, Odin and Frigga struggled to suppress the crumbling seal enveloping the entire dying planet, spending their final moments together, hoping that Thor in Asgard would awaken soon.

In a meditation room at Kamar-Taj headquarters, Sherlock Holmes lay on a hospital bed, his brainwaves, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation closely monitored. Numerous sorcerers cast spells to protect his soul from the terrifying waves of the Sea of ​​Souls, lest it be abducted by the deformed limbs that appeared out of nowhere. Technical support from the bio-genetic laboratory of the Immortal City also arrived in Kamar-Taj, conducting genetic sampling on Sherlock Holmes and everyone in Kamar-Taj except the Sorcerer Supreme, using technology to identify any physical mutations. Sherlock Holmes, in particular, underwent daily DNA scans to confirm that his mental journey had not negatively impacted his body and consciousness.

Such an order could not be carried out without the Sorcerer Supreme's approval. Even Mordo considered it excessive, despite his usual strictness. Such rigid military-style management was clearly inconsistent with Kamar-Taj's style as a school of thought. However, the Sorcerer Supreme told Mordo that from now on, everything in Kamar-Taj would be formalized under Salomon's orders. The past instances of rebellious sorcerers escaping with spellbooks would not happen again. Kamar-Taj would integrate all schools of thought on Earth, jointly establishing guidelines for the use of magical power and thresholds for knowledge transmission, preventing intelligent beings like Dormammu from becoming the chosen ones of the outer dimensions and posing a significant threat to the real world.

Even Mordo was speechless. He was directly sent by the Sorcerer Supreme to the New York Sanctum to oversee the recruitment of Stephen Strange, the next candidate for the Sorcerer Supreme. Stephen Strange, who was about to be forced by the bank to reclaim his penthouse apartment in Manhattan's wealthy district, sought out another patient who had previously received treatment at Kamar-Taj, Jonathan Penburn, on the recommendation of a Kamar-Taj sorcerer's secular informant and a rehabilitation therapist (this expense was quite expensive, and if he refused the therapist provided by the insurance company, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars).

This patient once had the opportunity to study at Kamar-Taj, but was sent back to secular society due to a lack of talent. Fortunately, no drug dealer in New York City dares to sell him drugs now, which allows the despondent Stephen Strange to still have the sanity to find a purpose and avoid dying on the streets from drug overdose like other homeless people.

If it were the Stephen Strange of the past, hearing that patient's story, he would have laughed at the man's foolishness. But now, all the neuroscientists he knew opposed his increasingly radical surgical plans and treatment theories. No surgeon was willing to perform a seemingly impossible operation for someone else's theories, including a doctor he contacted named Etienne, who specialized in tissue reconstruction. A Tokyo company offering stem cell culture for tissue repair also refused to go because he lacked the funds. The Stephen Strange of the past was arrogant and made no good impression on others, so even his idea of ​​using personal connections for treatment failed.

Those hands represented all of Stephen Strange's pride, all the achievements he had gained from years of hard work in medical school. Now the bank had issued a foreclosure notice, and he had already sold his piano, watch, and car to pay for medical and rehabilitation expenses. In his quest to keep everything he owned, Stephen Strange had gradually descended into madness, resorting to dangerous treatments.

This includes spending what little money they have left to try so-called religious and spiritual therapies.

Stephen Strange knew this behavior was as absurd as those obese white women in red states who, after watching evangelical sermons on television, would call the show claiming the TV host and evangelical pastor on the other end had cured their asthma, chest tightness, arrhythmia, herpes, and glaucoma. He certainly didn't believe it at first, until he saw the patient's previous medical records through connections—damage to the C7 and C8 nerve roots leading to complete spinal cord injury, paralysis below the chest, and partial paralysis of the hands—yet Jonathan Penburn was running and jumping around in front of him, even playing basketball, which utterly overturned all modern medical concepts.

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(End of this chapter)