Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1261 Retrieval Mission (First Update)

Entering the Koboi Belt is extremely dangerous. Most celestial bodies here move rapidly along the ecliptic plane of the solar system. Even a rock the size of a fist can easily pierce the thick armor plates of a Sky Battleship. Because of this, the Sky Battleship has to activate its ion shield, derived from Wakanda technology and imitated and improved by the Immortal City, causing all asteroids hurtling towards it to deflect off the shield's surface. Although the spacecraft slows down after passing through the portal, standing by the observation window on the bridge, one can still see the intense heat and light generated by the friction between rocks, ice, and the shield through the thick armored glass. If it weren't for the vacuum environment preventing sound transmission, the sound of these collisions might sound like a barrage of bullets. This is one of the few instances of light in the Koboi Belt.

The accompanying astronomers, relying on the differences in Koboi Belt planetary observation data before and after the start of the war, guided the sky battleship to this location. The anomalous asteroid that had exhibited the blast phenomenon was tens of thousands of kilometers away, and it wasn't recorded on any star charts. Radar data also indicated that the dark asteroid retained a large amount of unusual heat, making it exceptionally conspicuous among the Koboi Belt asteroids. However, the radar still couldn't find the Emperor's trail because the area was filled with chaotic residual radiation noise. Asteroids that should have been orbiting in the ecliptic plane had all deviated from their original orbits, and the chain collisions caused numerous asteroids to travel at extremely high speeds, drastically increasing the pressure on the sky battleship's shields.

Suddenly, everyone on the bridge felt as if it were daytime, as if a star had risen not far from the bow. A beam of scorching metal swept past less than ten kilometers above the bridge, shattering numerous asteroids still in orbit and swarms of extradimensional creatures hurtling towards the sky battleship. Huge plumes of smoke and lava sprayed everywhere, enveloping the sky battleship in starlight. Those standing at the observation windows of the bridge were fortunate enough to witness the scale of the long, scorching metal beam—a massive, blazing sword even larger than the sky battleship itself. Although warnings about the ship's surface heat continued to blare from the command post, no one except the mortal soldiers felt alarmed or worried, for it meant they had found their target. The light quickly faded, disappearing again into the cold mist of the Kobo region, but all the approaching threats had been instantly cleared, leaving only the shaken people on the bridge.

Not far away, a huge corpse was curled up among several asteroids.

Blood congealed into microplanetary fragments, then steamed due to supernatural forces. The colossal corpse was covered in frost, its charred, multicolored wings still burning like torches soaked in oil. The sky battleship slowly passed in the shadow of the corpse's wings; any single scale was larger than this, humanity's largest voidcraft to date. Extreme colossal fear swept through the minds of all mortals on the bridge, forcing the Royal Guard to order the closure of most of the protective armor plating outside the observation windows to prevent the mortals from acting irrationally out of excessive fear.

"Open the hangar and launch the transmission beacon," Constantine immediately ordered. "Send out escort fighters."

"Received. Executing the airlock procedure. The hangar is initiating decompression protocols." A mortal officer's face was ashen. Although she couldn't completely overcome her megalophobia, she could at least overcome her fear of the Imperial Guard. "Pilots ready. Electromagnetic catapults one and two ready. Safety protocols achieved, energy storage protocols achieved. Ready to disembark at any time."

"Launch," the Imperial Guard commanded.

A missile was launched from the missile launcher at the bow, followed closely by two Eagle-class assault transport craft, which were launched from the hangar by electromagnetic catapults. The missile traveled at an extremely slow speed and lost its fairing when it was hundreds of kilometers away from the Sky Battleship. Like launching a satellite, the transmission beacon originally encased in the warhead was separated, and several small thrusters that had been added later began to fire frequently to adjust their attitude. Although neither of the two gunboats were Void Fighters, they relied on their powerful firepower to take on the task of destroying the micro-planets and extradimensional creatures around the transmission beacon and protecting the integrity of the device.

Several more rockets were launched from the bow missile bay. The armor-piercing high-explosive warheads of these rockets had all been removed and replaced with automatic radio transmitters to serve as beacons for future space navigation. Like the transmission beacons, these automatic beacons were equipped with thrusters. The Martian foundry technician, watching the data on the control panel, was so excited that his prosthetic arm twitched wildly. He controlled these beacons, guiding them towards several asteroids and then anchoring them to their surfaces. A few hours later, the Skysword space station would receive the message. If the alien fleet were to enter the communication network formed by these beacons, the entire Latvinia would receive a warning.

"When he told me that he wanted to replace magic with technology, I never imagined he would do it," the Sorcerer Supreme shrugged. "Although I have seen fragments of the future, it was just one of many possibilities. I never thought he would push human technological creations into the Koboai Belt."

"Ahem, Your Excellency, I think we should..."

The Sorcerer Supreme stepped down from the observation window of the bridge and immediately saw what Tita was worried about. "I know, he's alright. I promise to return your master to you intact." The Sorcerer Supreme patted the shoulder of the Martian foundry technician who was distracted by completing the automatic beacon landing procedure. The metallic echo of his hand surprised even the Sorcerer Supreme. "Initiate standard transmission protocol, transmission frequency ███-██-█, activate resonance mode, receiver DEC-2115041-N."

The young Martian technician looked up, his goggles flashing green. He stared in astonishment at the Sorcerer Supreme, unable to comprehend how someone without bionic modifications could utter a coded, compressed language that only Martian technicians could understand. He began to suspect that the voice had been implanted directly into his brain, a suspicion that, once it began, could not be stopped.

"Hurry up," the Sorcerer Supreme said irritably. "If your Martian Foundry is still focused on its own mission and doesn't care about his life or death, I'll go and twist your master's head off. Hurry up, unless you want to become a servant."

When Viktor von Dum received the long-transferred message from the Koboj Belt, several hours had passed since the recovery operation began. He let out a long sigh of relief, sent a few brief messages to the Ministry of the Interior, and then rose to greet the returning flight formation from Cuba. Although it felt very strange, the Emperor had to appear before the Latvian state media and couldn't show anything amiss. As a figure who could suppress the entire NATO and give the Yugoslav Federation a breather, every little detail about the Emperor would be endlessly analyzed and magnified. Tens of thousands of analytical teams would analyze his gait, expression, and emotions, digging for any possible weakness.

Since the speech, even the US government-controlled media, busy dealing with hurricanes and tsunamis, began to spread rumors such as the emperor being ill. They claimed that the emperor stayed in Cuba during the disaster to receive Cuban medical care. Regent Viktor von Doom of Latvia had no idea how the analysis teams belonging to the CIA and NSA could glean so much information from a mannequin's face, but that was irrelevant. The emperor's information security procedures wouldn't allow any irrelevant information to leak out, and he had to ensure the mannequin appeared healthy and strong.

“We need the Royal Guard,” Diana Lister said. “Everyone can see the difference between knights and the Royal Guard, and it would certainly raise suspicion if the Emperor didn’t have the Royal Guard by his side.”

"I'm sure the Emperor has his own guards, but not here," Viktor von Doom said, ordering his secretary to arrange transportation. He added with a slightly mocking tone, "Don't worry, let them be suspicious. By the time they figure out what's going on, we'll have already accomplished our task."

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(End of this chapter)