Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1272 Crisis and Opportunity (Second Update)

For prisoners, life incarcerated is but a fleeting moment. Even those prisoners who are still alive to some extent have all their activities suspended by restrictive measures.

There is no more metabolism, no more breathing, no more thought. Even the glimmer of light at the edge of the soul is frozen in a moment, like a creature encased in amber, gradually becoming clearer under the erosion of time. Each generation of the Sorcerer Supreme adds more prisoners to this dungeon, from the tablets of Agamotto that sealed demons, to the Holy Grail that Merlin kept here, from the Great Old Ones and Outer God avatars arrested by the Sorcerer Supreme, to the key to the abyss of the universe that the Emperor placed here.

Sometimes the emperor would also find interesting things among these prisoners (or rather, collections), such as four-legged, round land sharks and half-flesh, half-silicon-based alien creatures that came to Earth. The former were imprisoned rather lightly, and the guards trained the former to be hunting dogs, while the latter, who had been defeated by Agamotto and disarmed and had lost most of its functions, was hard-wired with a holographic projection screen and a unique password input device, using it as a tool for production and recording.

The parchment records the emperor received originated from this process. After being subdued, the alien silicon-based being's humanoid plastic alloy arm was fixed in a quill-holding posture, and then it compiled and recorded the information on the parchment by interpreting the code of the Watchers. However, the data spirit of this half-flesh, half-silicon being was not completely annihilated. Sometimes, at the end of the standard format of the parchment records, this data ghost would ramble on with its own opinions that no one would ever accept.

The guardians, who had lost their sight and hearing since infancy, would never pay attention to it, yet it continued to talk incessantly. The arrival of the emperor and the royal guards excited this half-flesh, half-silicon creature even more, especially the royal guards who were fully armored and looked more like robots than humans. Some incomprehensible silicon-based emotion prompted the core processor of this android to open its heart.

"Hello, immortals from Cygnus," the Emperor replied casually. As if hearing this voice, parchment covered in writing cascaded down the machine like a waterfall. The pages were filled with the absurd ideas of the silicon-based ghost, many still possessing a humor incomprehensible to ordinary people, as if this creature wanted to tell jokes. "Disassemble this thing, thoroughly clean its data storage chip, sanctify all components, and then replace the Watchers' equipment with specialized equipment. These monitors, launched onto our planet like probes, are truly annoying."

The Emperor gave orders to his jailers and tribunes. This space required extensive modifications to accommodate future needs, and it was essential to relocate the Immortal City's bio-genetic laboratory to a safer location away from the Wakandans' ever-growing curiosity. "Send Nick Fury back to America. I want him to hand over the immortals from the Beacon Base to me... That fool, how much longer does he think he can keep this from me? Let's go, let's step through the stone gate and see the last prisoners. Those Void creatures definitely know something."

Even though the Quetzalcoatl awakening incident has been resolved, the three factions under the Emperor's command—Karmar-Taj, the Immortal City, and Latvinia—remain busy. Troubles in the material universe and the outer dimensions still require specialized personnel. Years of construction and coordination have finally enabled these three factions to operate together. Latvinia's rescue teams, in addition to regular medical personnel and emergency supplies, include genetically modified warriors, genetic alchemists from the bio-genetic laboratory, soldiers from the First Secret Service, and arcane mages—all carrying out the Emperor's various orders.

However, the emperor, as the ruler, had to constantly face the next threat.

It wasn't Ragnarok in Asgard; the outcome of that catastrophe was already decided through a complex web of power struggles. It wasn't the Black Order's fleet invasion; even if the Dark Tyrant Thanos were incredibly fast, he wouldn't have reached the Orion Arm's solar system, where humanity thrives, so quickly. It wasn't the street adventures of so-called superheroes in tight suits; Kingpin, still subservient to the Emperor, is further expanding his empire with Latvinia's support, extending his reach into the Western legal system from the bottom up, collaborating with Latvinia's spies. If superhero comics existed in this world, the biggest villain in Western superhero comics would be the Emperor himself. It wasn't even about General Hale's clandestine connections with the Kree. The Kree lacked the ambition and capability for a large-scale invasion of the solar system. The hawkish Ronan the Accuser had completely lost power, and the Kree Empire's martial spirit was gradually transforming into fertile ground for the indulgence of bankers and politicians. The sporadic Kree incursions onto Earth would be no match for any well-trained and well-equipped Latvinian soldier.

These were not threats, even though they paled in comparison to the answers the Emperor was about to receive. The Emperor wanted to know the cause of the current Sorcerer Supreme's death—the Sorcerer Supreme, who had guarded the material universe for over a thousand years, chose to depart through death, a decision that involved considerable behind-the-scenes maneuvering. The Emperor knew how difficult it had been for the current Sorcerer Supreme to seize such an opportunity to obtain a soul, even if that opportunity represented a crisis.

The eternal game of power between extradimensional beings has many participants, and the Emperor knows that an avatar of one of them is currently imprisoned in the dungeon. He believes that the mischievous fellow will offer some information, a mix of truth and falsehood, to try and deceive him. Even knowing he will only receive lies, the Emperor has no choice but to do so, because the timeline fragments revealed by the Cosmic Cauldron offer little information; to this day, he still knows very little about the details of that catastrophe. He only knows that extradimensional beings awakened in the future timeline have crossed timelines, intending to establish a bloody reign starting from the past. He also knows that he will stop that monster, at the cost of traveling back in time to the beginning of human civilization to defeat it.

This was the opportunity that allowed him to travel through time.

Laura Crawford's work unearthed his actions hidden throughout human history for thousands of years, but the history before that remains shrouded in mystery. History becomes stories, stories become legends, legends become myths, and myths passed down orally are deliberately embellished with various fantasies that deviate from the truth to achieve their own purposes. After countless years, even the wisest archaeologists cannot completely unravel the mysteries and reconstruct the historical facts. Add to this the complex time jumps and chaotic timeline logic, and everything must be experienced firsthand by the Emperor to uncover the truth. Laura Crawford's work only alleviated the Emperor's doubts to a certain extent; many more mysteries remain buried beneath the desert of time, and even the Emperor's repeated excavations of the Akashic Records only yielded fragmentary information.

He is a saint of the Kit City Prophet's faith, Huhunap, the corn god of South American mythology. He fought against the world-ending flood in Mesopotamia and throughout the world. He also has many other identities and secrets that he is unaware of in his present life. The Sorcerer Supreme's departure from the material universe is not only a crisis, but also an opportunity for him to clarify his actions in the past timeline.

"You know what I want to ask." After a long preparation, the Emperor brought the two artifacts to a hidden location in the dungeon. The Imperial Guards brought in an automated weapon platform, placing the pre-programmed automatons and the artifacts together. The Emperor deactivated the stasis device, looked at the woman in a cheongsam holding a fan before him, and raised the silver key in his hand. Extradimensional light burned in his eyes, and for a moment, his image possessed an inhuman grandeur and magnificence. "I want an answer. You can choose whether to answer or not. Regardless of your cooperation, you cannot leave here."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)