Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1279 An Indefensible Fate (First Update)

Stephen Strange wanted to use the pretext of discussing Mordo's gunshot wound with the Emperor to seek advanced medical assistance, but ultimately, he never brought it up. Kamar-Taj wasn't an isolated place; there was internet access and news, and he knew who the Emperor was and what earth-shattering things he had done (like causing the US stock market to crash). However, none of this prevented him from seeking help. He wouldn't have come to Kamar-Taj if he hadn't abandoned all his pride. For specific reasons, driven by a simple sense of justice and social morality, Stephen Strange decided to never discuss medical aid again.

Wakanda presented a highly advanced image to the world, but not everyone could enjoy its benefits. No one would agree to Stephen Strange's proposal because he was nothing, and no one would pay for his unearned gains. The newly established Latvinia took over the healthcare from many hospitals that had failed in their market-driven transformation, caring for the poor who couldn't afford medical care. The government gave Wakanda IOUs to purchase medical equipment and medicines, and Wakanda helped Latvinia reform its healthcare system and integrate its hospital infrastructure. However, many people in even worse circumstances than him were still struggling for their lives.

Originally, this expenditure was not budgeted in Latvia's newly established healthcare system, but the emperor, an idealist, persuaded the regent to pilot the policy in the poorest Albania. While clearing out slums to build heavy industry and destroying religious sites to build schools, a huge sum of money was paid to cover the salaries of Wakanda's dispatched doctors and the wear and tear on medical equipment.

For former officials and gangsters who had exploited Albanians, money in Swiss banks was not safe. Latvinia had ways to get it out, even if it was converted into commercial investment—that's what artificial intelligence does. However, only a minority could truly access fully advanced healthcare, because the healthcare system had to cater to everyone, especially the growing number of Albanians who were leaving religion for industry. The Latvinian government used methods more radical than Hoxha, who had once ruled Albania, because the emperor believed that morality should return to simple justice, unity should return to pure ideals, and diligence should be for creating one's own future, not for rigid rules and ancient dogmas that confined production and life. Therefore, superstition and gangsters were treated the same.

After banishing headscarves, imposing dietary restrictions, imposing daily rituals that disrupted production, and implementing extremely unsanitary food safety procedures, and after completely destroying the bricks and stones that built the temple with cannons, molten metal, and explosives, Latvinia brought in steel industries, oil refineries, large-scale state-run biochemical farms, specialty textile mills, cash crops, secular schools, and specialized hospitals as alternatives. These workers and farmers needed comprehensive medical care to ensure they could continue working for the rest of their lives.

Only in Kamar-Taj was Stephen Strange nothing. Even outside, when he was penniless and unable to pay his loans, people were still willing to pay for his knowledge; if he had set aside his pride, his past papers could have landed him a visiting professorship at some prestigious medical school. But in this secluded Himalayan academy shrouded in countless magical spells, he was merely a dull apprentice and a troublesome brat, possessing only a remarkable talent and memory that led him to grope aimlessly through a sea of ​​books, searching for anything that might heal him.

If Stephen Strange wanted a full cure, his treatment would cost as much as treating all the seriously ill patients in a small rural hospital, or exhausting the medical insurance funds of ten highly skilled heavy industry workers. Unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life with hands fitted with flexible alloy braces and artificial neural links, and have to pay for maintenance and replacement parts for the rest of his life, it would be cheaper. Stephen Strange himself knew which was more important: saving those people from the brink of death or treating a neurosurgeon's crippled hands. He couldn't possibly ask the Emperor to forgo paying for a cancer patient's targeted therapy in exchange for a single surgery; his conscience wouldn't allow him to do so.

"Don't get yourself into any more trouble." The Emperor put away his pistol, causing Stephen Strange to breathe a long sigh of relief. "Breaking the Kamar-Taj rules—or, to put it simply, the security regulations—you really can die. You could very well be scraped off the wall piece by piece, your brain might just pop open your skull and come out. You're incredibly lucky to be alive. Mordo's goal is to keep all the apprentices alive, so his strictness is understandable."

"Stop threatening me. You've threatened me so many times already," Stephen Strange said angrily. "When have I ever failed to learn my lesson?"

"I'm not threatening you. I'm just telling you what the consequences of recklessness will be." The emperor glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his expression meaningful. "Historically, others have done the same thing as you, and they died, but you're still alive. I'm curious, if I had shot you in the head just now, what would your supporters have thought? Would that bullet, which I've repeatedly examined and predicted, have been a dud? I think the real decision is still in my hands, understand?"

"Are you threatening me again? Isn't there any other way to learn in this damn place?" Stephen Strange was completely unaware that the Emperor's last words weren't directed at him, but at the extradimensional being who sheltered him. "Couldn't you just point out which book teaches healing magic? I heard Mordo say you know healing magic, that you can heal gunshot wounds. Just tell me which book has it, and I'll learn it myself—I promise I won't break any safety regulations, I can even have someone supervise me, if only that person is available."

"There is no magic in this world that can cure you, Stephen. Even if you could learn it, you couldn't use it on yourself until you truly understand what magic and the outer dimensions are." The former surgeon detected a hint of sorrow in the emperor's tone, a feeling similar to when he heard other doctors announce the remaining lifespan of their patients, which instantly panicked him. "You have never been the master of your own destiny. In order to bring you here, the destiny behind the veil gave you the opportunity to attend medical school, a healthy body, a talent for surgery, and a mercenary nature. All of this was to give you enough money to buy a sports car, to make you arrogant enough to cause a car accident. What you thought was talent was just the prelude to destiny demanding its bill."

The Emperor sighed. "I know this is absurd, but reality is even more absurd. Everyone who comes here from the outside world has their own destiny. Some, like you, are driven to desperation, while others are sent to mental hospitals because of their extraordinary talent. No one here has ever had a destiny of their own, and our Kamar-Taj is here to prevent this from happening again, to allow every human being to become the master of their own destiny."

Stephen Strange had initially intended to say he was only there to heal his hand, but now he was no longer as poor and hungry as he had been on the streets of Kathmandu. With his stomach full and his pride restored, he couldn't bring himself to say such a selfish thing. "And what about Jonathan Bourne?" he asked, referring to the man who had guided him here, subtly reminding the Emperor that he didn't actually want to shoulder this responsibility. "Was he also ordained by fate?"

"Have you ever considered that the reason he was injured, the reason he was able to find Kamar-Taj, and the reason the Sorcerer Supreme healed him, was so that at some point he could tell you that Kamar-Taj exists in this world, and then guide you here?"

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(End of this chapter)