Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1292 Aspirations and Understanding (Second Update)

The alloy blast-proof door closed again. Stephanie Malik ignored Ruby's pitiful look before she returned to the bedroom and forced the girl to go back to bed. She turned the handle, pushed out eight heavy bolts, and locked them, firmly sealing Ruby inside the bedroom. Even a normal dose of TNT wouldn't be able to penetrate the door or the reinforced concrete wall next to it. The keypad control next to the blast-proof door had been carefully disassembled. A black data cable connected to the device in Amon's hand, and a large amount of data and symbols scrolled across the palm-sized screen.

Amon stared intently at the computer in his hands until a fluorescent green icon flashed before he unplugged the data cable and stored the device in his pouch. "Backdoor software successfully implanted. Overriding privileges obtained, runtime logs modified. Now we can access every conversation between General Hale and Ruby," Amon said. "Furthermore, we've implanted backdoor programs into all the information in this base. But if the soldiers here don't shut up, all our cover-ups will be meaningless."

“They’ll shut up. There’s no need to use force. That’s why I came with you,” Stephanie Malik said cheerfully. “Deception and threats are Hydra’s forte. Sometimes force can’t solve everything. A little venomous lie is the fastest way to resolve problems. That’s Hydra’s strength.”

"So that's why you lied to Ruby, deceived her, and made her accept the mission?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Stephanie looked up at Amon's serious face. She couldn't understand why the Royal Guard was expressing dissatisfaction—to be precise, she had no idea why they were dissatisfied; in her view, the mission had been completed well. "If I don't lie, I can't solidify Ruby's beliefs. Without those beliefs, she won't accept orders, and if she doesn't accept orders, she might die at your hands. Once she completes the mission, the outcome will be positive, and the lie will become reality. At that point, discussing whether it was deception or not will be meaningless, because everyone will get what they want. Even your master..." She tried to read the Royal Guard's expression from his helmet, but she couldn't discern anything. "Your master also uses lies as a weapon. I've never seen anyone lie so flawlessly; you could even say it's an honor to be deceived by him. He won't reveal any information to those who are worthless, unlike me, who mixes in trivial lies with the truth—that's too much of a luxury for him."

Amon seemed to detect resentment in Stephanie's words.

“That’s not it, Stephanie.” The Royal Guard pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, “If the monarch chooses to lie or conceal, it must be because some information is too important or too dangerous for unauthorized personnel to know. I can say this because the Royal Guard knows all the truths hidden beneath the fog the monarch has woven. Those things are definitely not insignificant lies, but information that determines life and death; merely knowing them means danger. If given a choice, our lord would certainly not choose this method.”

"What's the difference?"

"You can tell Ruby the truth, Stephanie. We have many options and don't need to cover it up with irrelevant lies. Whether Ruby accepts the mission or not is her fate, and I am the one who executes that fate—I was still thinking about the monarch's intentions on the plane, but now I understand—I believe my lord would agree to any contingency plan I take in this situation, which is an acceptable scenario of killing everyone here. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent me here to speak with Ruby face to face."

Stephanie Malik shook her head.

In her eyes, the Royal Guard, though physically powerful, was overly reliant on the power of honor and oaths—a naive mindset. However, she was unaware that many modified assassins were actually under the Royal Guard's control. Throughout Latvinia and the Immortal City, only Victor von Doom possessed such authority. The Royal Guard didn't care about lies and assassinations; they even trusted and relied on the advantages created by such power. This was a gray area inaccessible to the Ministry of the Interior. The Emperor had stripped the administrative departments of all paramilitary power, forbidding any uncontrolled weapon from appearing outside the military.

What Amon disliked was Stephanie's casual use of the Malik family's reputation as collateral, coupled with some trivial lies. This was undoubtedly a dismissive work ethic, unnecessarily eroding the Emperor's credibility and casting doubt on the Guard's loyalty to the Malik family, thus placing them under increased scrutiny. "Just as you believe he sent you here for this purpose, my actions might simply be using lies to advance the mission," Stephanie said nonchalantly. "Now, can you be sure what his true intentions are? Do you think I need to go in now and tell her that her mother won't have a good ending?"

The Royal Guard sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't understand why Stephanie was so obtuse, or if the Emperor had gone too far in his thinking, making his grand visions and thought processes incomprehensible to ordinary people. Only the Royal Guard and the Regent could grasp a fraction of the iceberg of his vast mind. Amon was unwilling to say anything more. Stephanie Malik and the Malik family were still useful to the Emperor, and he couldn't simply and crudely eliminate them. However, this didn't mean the Royal Guard wouldn't prepare contingency plans for potential betrayal by the Malik family. Amon believed that such a plan should be given higher priority on Commander Constantine's desk, placed at the forefront of all Hydra families, on par with the Lister family. "Handle all the details carefully, leave no trace. I will accompany you to negotiate with those soldiers to ensure your safety is not threatened."

The emperor snapped his fingers, and Constantine, his face ashen, shook his head.

The Commander of the Guard was forcibly kept at the Oxfordshire Manor. Plates of meat and vegetables were laid out on the table before him, which he chewed and swallowed expressionlessly, as if they were protein cubes and nutritional pastes, before mechanically picking up the next dish and continuing the process. This food wasn't the source of Constantine's bad mood, as the Emperor was also eating heartily in front of him. What truly upset him was the mission details sent by Amon from North Florida. Amon had explained the situation in great detail, even attaching video footage.

The Royal Guard didn't take the soldiers at the base seriously. Instead, it was Stephanie Malik's attitude that alarmed the Royal Guard Commander. Her stance represented a shift in the Malik family's mindset, and also reflected the internal climate of the conservative Hydra. The Royal Guard Commander had always distrusted Hydra, knowing they were driven by self-interest. Even if not as greedy as the radical Hydra, as a family parasitized by capital, the core objective of the conservative Hydra was still capital accumulation—although, after the exposure of the radical Hydra, capital accumulation temporarily took a backseat to survival. Now that the storm was passing, even though Gideon Malik had previously used force to unify the conservative families, the existing rifts wouldn't be healed. It now seemed that the hyperinflation created by the Emperor in America couldn't fully satisfy those beasts. Many potential threats had foreshadowed this, and the conservative Hydra, as the most mercenary group, would inevitably need even greater profits to satisfy them.

Hydra cannot be trusted unless you become Hydra yourself.

“The Lister family can be trusted, the Malik family is a second priority,” Constantine said. “We must carry out a thorough, manual purge, leaving only one heir for each of the conservative Hydra families. If there is no heir under 18, create one through genetic engineering. All heirs must receive personal instruction from Latvinia, just like Diana Lister. This is the only way to ensure the true submission of all Hydra families.”

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(End of this chapter)