Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1210 (First Update)

A white sheep leisurely strolled across the meadow, pulling a small sled carrying a gray shorthair cat. Every few steps, it would stop to nibble on the meticulously manicured lawn. The girl, who was holding the sheep's reins and dressed in an exquisite Lolita-style dress, walked and stopped at the same time, sometimes excitedly directing the little sheep to nibble on the colorful wildflowers cultivated by the manor's mistress and the android butler, or ordering the gray shorthair cat on the sled to catch a small insect that kept jumping around in the grass.

A group of two animals and a human girl set off from the glass greenhouse like a lawnmower, heading towards the wide forest lawn, leaving behind broken wildflowers, uneven grass, and sled tracks. The perpetrators had completely forgotten the punishment they had received the last time they did this. This negligence also allowed their followers to easily find the girl's trail without needing any other means.

"My little rascal, what are you planning to do to make Bayoneta angry this time?"

"Papa!" The girl heard the familiar voice behind her, turned around, dropped the reins, and crashed into his arms like a cannonball. Salomon skillfully used his arm to deflect the impact, scooping the girl up and placing her on his shoulder. "Chocolate!" Milia shouted happily, "Mommy won't let me have any!"

"I'm sure you've finished your share for today, you little rascal. Let me see your teeth..." Salomon carefully examined the girl's teeth in the twilight, making sure she had brushed them on time as the witch had instructed and hadn't sneaked a sweet before bed. Satisfied, he then held her close. "You can have another piece, but don't tell Bayonetta it was from me, understand?"

Milia nodded vigorously. Leaning on Salomon's shoulder, she pointed to the guards following behind and asked, "Who are these?"

"This is Amun, like Hammurabi, he is a member of the Praetorian Guard." Salomon was somewhat surprised.

The three-meter-tall guard nodded politely, having already changed into a new red cloak as instructed, washing away the bloodstains from his power armor. Amon was still wearing his eagle helmet. Since all the guards' helmets were identical, and Milia lacked the ability to distinguish their ranks by the embossed designs and shoulder armor, her ability to recognize that the person following Salomon was not Hammurabi was quite remarkable.

Salomon carefully examined the black collar around Milia's neck, confirming that the ghostly green circuitry on it was still functioning. The chip on the collar, upon contact, sent a report to Salomon's data terminal detailing Milia's physiological data and blood drug levels. This psionic technology from the Dark Book possessed a strong tendency towards corruption; therefore, even the Martian Foundry dared not use it lightly before undergoing purification verification. Only Salomon, through his own abilities, could purify and bless it, removing its extra-dimensional energy tendencies, and then create a production template that could safely operate and produce.

He took the data panel from Amon and glanced at the data in the report. Salomon had taken a lot of mental potions when he was young to ensure that his talent would not cause disastrous consequences. Now Milia had also taken a lot, but in much smaller doses and in fewer varieties, and most of them were family potions prepared by witches.

Milia's talent was truly astonishing. Although she hadn't yet reached Salomon's level as a child, for a regular spellcaster, such talent was enough to attract the attention of indescribable, terrifying beings vying for this soul that shone so brightly in the outer dimension. He clearly remembered how popular his own soul was. Milia's soul power, exposed before it fully matured, had attracted terrifying beings who, even Milia's grandfather and father Marduk, were utterly powerless against it. He waved his hand, sending the Shadowhound spirit hiding in the shadows back to its own world, and took over Milia's protection himself.

These spirits are the reason why that silly goat is so obedient; these shadow hounds have, to some extent, taken over the work of the sheepdogs. Besides the sheep, the livestock being herded also include the bear cubs that have been released back into the manor forest, to prevent the rapidly growing hamsters from eating all the small animals on the manor.

"Are you planning to continue strolling around, or come back to the manor with me?" He raised an eyebrow. "There's orange jelly there, and your sister Wanda is here too." Milia chose the latter without hesitation, but she didn't forget the sheep and Cheshire Cat who were standing there dumbfounded. As she was being carried away, she still waved back, beckoning the Cheshire Cat and the sheep to follow.

However, not everywhere was filled with the warmth of family. Back in New York, Eliza and her team were tense. Air Force security forces, Homeland Security agents, and FBI agents were all crammed into a small office, waiting for their superiors to reach a decision in the spacious conference room next door. Tony Stark and his fiancée were in that conference room, arguing with Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House about acceptable course of action, while outside the FBI office, a group of media, drawn by the stench of decay, had gathered.

Somehow, by the afternoon, almost every media outlet in the United States had received an anonymous submission containing a first-person video and a letter detailing the incident. Eliza, who had participated in the operation, easily identified the person in the video as the deceased Navy SEAL, and the person filming was highly likely a genetically modified soldier from Latvinia. Although the FBI later deleted the video and letter circulating online and warned all media outlets against publishing related news without authorization, the speed of information dissemination in the internet age far exceeded the FBI's processing capacity. It wasn't until Congress intervened that the amount of information circulating online, both true and false, gradually decreased.

However, the impact of those news stories won't disappear so easily.

Everyone now wants to know if Tony Stark can guarantee his safety, whether public authorities need to enact legislation to protect the safety of "special talents" like Tony Stark during wartime, and whether such legislation would infringe on individual rights and become a tool to harm individual freedom. But Eliza keenly realizes that the conversation in that office is definitely not that simple; the real issue has absolutely nothing to do with any nonsense about freedom. Otherwise, the Air Force security forces, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI wouldn't be gathered together instead of vying for the authority to investigate the case.

"This isn't a discussion, this is an interrogation!" Pepper Potts pointed out the underlying message of the FBI's New York office chief without hesitation. "We've already told the officers that their goal is simply to make you suspect Tony, nothing more. We're not unharmed; Tony's arm needs treatment!"

"To my knowledge, the top floor of Avengers Tower has an extremely advanced intelligent furniture system," the FBI agent said, sitting at the other end of the conference table, pen and documents in hand, continuing his relentless questioning. "Then please explain to us why Stark Industries' artificial intelligence wasn't activated at the time, and why Mr. Stark wasn't able to put on his Iron Man suit?"

"I told you, it's because they forcibly shut down the Stark Industries building's energy and systems," Pepper Potts said, annoyed by the questioning. "No video or audio equipment can operate without power."

"That's right, they've already said it. I protest against unreasonable suspicion and prejudice." Colonel Rhodes, representing the U.S. Air Force, stood alongside the Air Force Security Forces representative. For the U.S. Air Force, Tony Stark was an extremely important partner—although Stark Industries had closed its weapons division, it still produced advanced equipment such as servers and radar. They wouldn't allow Tony Stark to suspend its cooperative relationship with the U.S. Air Force because of this.

"The FBI has requested a search of Stark Industries' AI facility on Friday, and we have obtained a search warrant from the court. In the meantime, we require Mr. Stark to remain in the residence arranged for him by the FBI to ensure his personal safety."

"Absolutely impossible!" Colonel Rhodes hurriedly said, "Friday carries top-secret defense intelligence; the district court has no jurisdiction to search it!"

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(End of this chapter)