Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1283 The Hostage (First Update)

"The USS George H.W. Bush encountered a storm at sea during independent takeoff and landing training?" Nick Fury glanced at the television news in the shop window, curling his lip in disdain. The earthquake, tsunami, and massive storm brought not only numerous human tragedies but also much more filth. Nick Fury knew how expensive the Pentagon's hush money was, but to curb the near-out-of-election inflation, the outgoing president had originally intended to pass the matter on to the next president. Now, under pressure from his party's major donors, the Federal Reserve, and the impending disaster relief bill, he had to submit a bill to save Wall Street—just like after 9/11, the stock market, which served as a reservoir for most of the over-issued dollars, nearly collapsed. If the media learned that the USS George H.W. Bush had been sunk by a foreign military, then the military-industrial complex built on maritime hegemony and the financial hegemony attached to it would all be finished.

A secret reconciliation with Latvia was imperative. The aircraft carrier wreckage had to be retrieved and secretly destroyed, a task that could only be carried out by the Homeland Security Agency (under the Department of Defense) and the CIA (under the federal government). The secrecy surrounding this matter was on par with that of Kennedy's death; no future president would dare to declassify it. Coincidentally, Latvia was also willing to reconcile, as the Latvian regency needed time to resolve internal conflicts, digest the annexed territory, and restore its economy and productivity.

"I'm here, Agent Hill," Nick Fury said. "Any updates?"

"If your boss hasn't shown up in Latvia and Oxford for several days, does that count as new information?" Agent Hill's tone was full of frustration. "The Guardians have a secret operation, a detailed plan for the transfer of an aircraft carrier and an admiral. This is supposed to be your job, Fury, don't make me do everything."

"I have something to do."

"Stop making excuses!" Agent Hill was genuinely worried now. However, her past training and work experience calmed her down. She held up her phone, calculating the time it took for the signal to be tracked. The Guardians' intelligence unit, with its extremely high level of secrecy, was riddled with signal jammers and detectors. She could only make calls near this silo, yet the signal from this phone could still be detected and heard by the intelligence department. "You have no secrets left, Fury! You think I can't keep an eye on you now? I just saw on camera that you bought fries five minutes ago. The receipt shows you added chopped onions and mayonnaise, and you got $1.2 in change, which you then gave to the cashier as a tip. The Guardians' surveillance system uses tools far more powerful than the CIA's Dumbo project. They also have tampering tools even more effective than the CIA's secret Marble anti-forensics tools. Even if you use standard infiltration procedures, they'll find you!"

"I'm not defecting, don't be nervous." Nick Fury seemed amused. "I'm on another mission."

"What mission?"

"Your intelligence level isn't high enough. Don't forget, I'm still an intelligence officer; I've seen all that stuff." Nick Fury resorted to his old tactic. "But thank you for the information, even if it's not very useful. I know what risk you're taking by making this call, but I still request that you delete all traces of me. The mission we're about to undertake must be kept secret."

"I understand, good luck." Agent Maria Hill nodded and hung up the phone. "Is that enough?" she asked fearlessly, facing the dark muzzle of the gun in front of her. The muzzle wasn't a bottomless hole; the light from the shaft revealed a precisely cut, transparent crystal inside. The muzzle alloy, repeatedly burned by lasers, still emitted the unique odor of heated metal oxides. It was a rifle-shaped laser weapon, equipped with a portable power source and energy lines. Its output power could instantly burn through a human wearing ceramic body armor and a lightly armored vehicle with homogeneous steel armor plates at medium range. The person holding this pistol was also a heavily armed soldier. Maria Hill believed that this soldier, with his polymer armor and mechanical exoskeleton alone, was enough to take on a squad of Navy SEALs, not to mention they had an aircraft carrier on standby at sea.

"I suppose you've had enough time to install a backdoor on Nick Fury's phone?"

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Agent Hill." The soldier reached out and took the phone, but didn't lower the laser rifle in his other hand. He was a soldier trained by the Royal Guard, his cybernetic implants and equipment being the best among all mortal soldiers, all designed to ensure the safe operation of the Royal Guard's intelligence exchange, logistical support, and other non-combat matters. Although nominally a soldier, he actually possessed a higher level of military authority than almost all Latvian officers. "Now you're arrested for violating confidentiality regulations, Agent Maria Hill, and you'll be facing interrogation by the Royal Guard. You want it this way, don't you? After all, only then will Congress and Nick Fury continue to trust you, and we need them to continue trusting you. Your next mission, Hilary Clinton, we need to manipulate the election results."

“Excellent, continue monitoring. Nick Fury has too many secrets; Skysword isn't the biggest one. The Guardians must maintain control of the entire operation,” Supiluliumas said. Although underground, the Martian Foundry had urgently deployed signal repeaters in this operational area to maintain communication with headquarters. “Focus on intelligence regarding Agent Coulson,” he instructed the Guardians' intelligence officers and sergeant officers, while monitoring Laura Crawford and Wanda Maximoff's discussion of the relief on the Silver Stone Gate. “Keep a close eye on him; this is when he's most relaxed. Following this lead, we can find those SHIELD agents who aren't on the list, perhaps including the Skrulls we're looking for. Also, find intelligence on Agent Coulson and General Hale…”

Supiluliumus switched to another line, the other end of which connected the Praetorian Guard Commander Constantine, Tribune Hammurabi, and the Emperor. This was a communication system exclusive to the Praetorian Guard, equipped with dedicated orbital relay satellites, chip factories, communication algorithms, and ground servers to ensure communication security. He was still wearing his helmet, so even those very close couldn't hear a single word he spoke. Even the technicians at the Martian foundry couldn't penetrate the Praetorian Guard's powerful powered armor's formidable firewall, as it utilized numerous forbidden information technologies.

"Voice message, Guardian Order intelligence archive, category Zeta, permissions Crimson... Search keywords: General Hale, Ruby, hostage, Agent Coulson. Text: I suggest Gideon Malik meet with General Hale. It's time for General Hale's daughter, Ruby, to become a real hostage. I know the monarch has some psychological issues with minors, but Ruby is really important. We must understand all of General Hale's foolish actions; that's one of the few ways we can get intelligence on the Kree Empire. Arrange for the First Secret Service or assassins to enter the United States, arrange for orbital probes to detect extraterrestrial objects, arrange for rapid strike forces."

As Constantine, commander of the Imperial Guard, pulled a halberd from the ribs of an extremist, he received a message from Supiluliumas in the information center. While gesturing for his knights to continue clearing out the Albanian separatist terrorists along the coast who were colluding with Middle Eastern refugees, he used his mind to direct the powered armored vehicle system to open the document. He had come here because he had received intelligence indicating that special forces were mixed among the refugees, intending to enter Latvia by small boat alongside Syrian refugees.

The coastline was illuminated like daytime by the searchlights of several ground-attack aircraft. The smugglers transporting refugees, along with their boats, were all sent into the sea by missiles and machine gun fire. The extremists in their small rowboats were killed on the spot by the troops stationed on the coast and the knights. The Imperial Guard didn't need prisoners; some European special forces soldiers couldn't provide much intelligence. If there were survivors, the only option was to eliminate them in the mines, not in court. "Approved," he briefly approved Supilulius's application. "You'll handle this. You're the intelligence officer, Supilulius."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)