Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1263 A Tumultuous Time (First Update)

Once all the dressings were applied to his wounds, the Emperor did not don his power armor again after the replacement armor plates were put on. Instead, he donned a grey military uniform adorned with the Order of the Golden Eagle, concealing the bloodstains beneath his neat attire. Dressed properly, he walked towards the bridge, surrounded by the Imperial Guard. Aside from the androids, the Imperial Guard, and some soldiers from the First Secret Regiment, no one on the Sky Battleship would have guessed that such a strong and tall man was injured.

The soldiers and officers who work on the Sky Battleships are almost all veterans who have followed the Emperor and Regent since the Immortal City era and the Latvinia Liberation War. These people are idealistic and extremely loyal, and are willing to accept strict military discipline and rigorous training. Even when the Emperor felt the unbearable low temperature on the bridge, these soldiers still carried out their tasks in an orderly manner. Even the mortal soldiers wearing void environment combat suits still stood guard at their posts.

Tita delightedly invited the Emperor to sit in the captain's seat, so they could admire through the armored glass observation window how the Sky Battleship used its unparalleled firepower to destroy the corpses left behind by the extradimensional creatures. The Sisterhood's chief commander deliberately squeezed past Constantine, pushing the Imperial Guard back to ensure she could see the main guns firing alongside the Emperor.

The main gun on this ship shares the same technological origin as the weapon being tested at the Martian Foundry. However, the Sky Battleship doesn't use vibranium to manufacture certain parts, so the main gun remains enormous. Each firing requires a heat-resistant armor plate to replace the fuel cell and maintenance pipelines. Upgrading this main gun is already underway; once the Martian Foundry's weapons testing department compiles the data and makes final modifications, the Sky Battleship will possess a more efficient weapon.

After the souls of extradimensional beings are expelled, the remnants left behind in the material universe will continuously shrink, evaporate, and eventually disappear without a trace under the laws of physics. However, the remains left by Quetzalcoatl were simply too enormous. No one knows whether the dust clouds and super-temperatures in the galactic halo slowed down the disappearance of the remains to some extent, because these out-of-control extradimensional energies were extremely chaotic, and no physical rules applied to them. The serpent-men corpses that floated past the portholes suddenly warmed up, softened, and their flesh abnormally multiplied into huge pustules, which were frozen stiff by the cold of the void before they could take shape; a nest of enormous, multicolored venomous snakes crawled out from between their scales, twisted their bodies strangely in the void, and then spontaneously combusted and died in the blink of an eye.

Gunships and fighter jets that flew out of the hangar unleashed all their firepower on the remains of Quetzalcoatl.

Blinding flashes of light erupted one after another in the dim galactic halo. Massive amounts of scales and flesh were separated from the body by the impact of the explosions, then evaporated into nothingness in the void. The main guns of the sky battleship, with the help of Martian technicians, had their parameters adjusted and fired at the deep, fleshy trench blasted by the bunker-buster bombs on the gunboat. Accompanied by ruby-red light of hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, the guns shot out from the stern and crashed into the remains of the extradimensional creature. Massive amounts of steam gushed out from the gaps in the scales beside the wound, and frozen blood boiled in nonexistent blood vessels, mixing with the surrounding galactic dust before finally cooling down again after a long time.

After the first launch, the Martian technicians immediately began maintenance work, some replacing melted coils, others replacing burnt-out fuel cells. The space carrier had enough parts for the main guns to fire twenty times; each full-power shot could penetrate the Earth's crust, releasing flames from the mantle into the world. For a behemoth like the Feathered Serpent's remains, a single shot from the main guns could only shatter the bones, annihilate the flesh, and divide the remains in two, before continuing to slowly destroy them with massive firepower.

The Emperor sat in the captain's seat, listening to Tita's expert commands, remaining silent except for limited exchanges with the Royal Guard. The Sorcerer Supreme had already returned to Earth; the current tasks were not worth his continued presence. The extradimensional anomalies caused by Quetzalcoatl and the magical schools that had rebelled due to the Emperor's strict laws were the matters that Kamar-Taj needed to address now.

The Emperor secretly issued orders to his royal guards: they must conduct psychological and hypnotic tests on all crew members of the sky battleship after the mission. This mission was a severe test of the mortal mind; even if they possessed the courage to sail towards the Kobo Belt, what they saw could still corrupt their brains. If necessary, their memories must be obscured and erased to prevent these precious and loyal talents from sacrificing in vain.

Stephanie Malik ordered her secretary to take the documents and leave the office with her. The entourage of Interior Ministry officials, escorted by black-armored guards, methodically entered the underground tunnels to board a train bound for the military airfield near the capital of Latvian. Victor von Doom would be waiting there for the officials to arrive; together they would welcome the Emperor back from Cuba. Only Stephanie Malik knew the situation with Kobo's entourage; even considering communication delays, the Emperor should be aboard a sky battleship heading towards Earth and landing in Latvian by now.

"That was his original plan, Ms. Malik," Victor von Doom said calmly. He removed his mask and glanced at the officials behind Stephanie Malik. Those officials, already distanced from the Hydra's daughter by the Black Armor Guards, couldn't possibly hear what they were saying. This situation, with almost the entire Black Armor Guards and the First Secret Service mobilized, was deliberately arranged by him, because the Emperor was truly not in Latvinia.

While many experts at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security speculated about the Latvian Emperor's capabilities, all think tanks were certain that Latvian territory could not completely defend against a U.S. nuclear bombing. Viktor von Dum, having reached this conclusion, agreed. He believed that the Emperor alone could not completely defend against a potential U.S. nuclear attack, therefore bluffing was crucial, as all politicians feared the Emperor's retaliation—this was Latvian's most powerful weapon at present.

"There is still a lot of work to be done there, such as installing automatic beacons and radar as an early warning system in case of an alien fleet's arrival."

Seemingly in a good mood, Stephanie Malik's tone was slightly raised, "So when is he coming back?"

"I don't know either. I don't think a few beacons can detect an alien fleet that might attack from any direction, but he still insists on doing it this way." Compared to the Hydra's daughter's optimism, Victor von Doom, who knew more information, even lost his initial good mood. Unless one saw the size of that alien fleet with their own eyes, everyone would think that the so-called alien fleet wouldn't be much more serious than the Chitauri invasion of Manhattan in 2012. They would think that sufficient firepower and troops could annihilate it. Even Stephanie Malik thought so. However, Victor von Doom knew the power of the Dark Tyrant. Even if they killed Thanos, the endless alien fleet would still drain all resistance forces on Earth, turning the resources that could have been used to leave the solar system into war reserves.

Even if they win the final victory, Earth's resources will likely be squandered, which is definitely not what the emperor wants to see.

"Although our intelligence network has tracked the Dark Order's movements, no one can guarantee that the fleet won't suddenly change course in the galactic halo. There aren't many nations willing to believe in the alien fleet, and even fewer capable of cooperating with us. We can only do our best to protect Latveria." Victor von Doom shook his head, unwilling to discuss the topic further, at least not in this context. He put his mask back on, reverting to his cold, iron-masked persona. As the wind howled, his heavy green robe billowed like a banner. "Stand with me. I'll wear the mask. Don't distract me. The Emperor must not show any weakness."

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(End of this chapter)