Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1335 The Schemer (Part 1)

He lied; people are still dying today.

Even if it wasn't a direct order, it was a life taken in his name and with his tacit approval.

Death was silent and inconspicuous. There was no loud machine gun fire, no buzzing of monomolecular chainsaw blades, only the faint gunshots muffled by silencers and laser beams that burned through skin, muscle, and bone in an instant. Multiple operations were conducted simultaneously, targeting bureaucrats, arms dealers, intelligence brokers, human traffickers, and CIA informants—the targets would not possess only one identity; the aforementioned identities were merely one among many. How these individuals were viewed depended entirely on how the system established by the emperor viewed them.

This was a counterintelligence operation, designed to eliminate the untrustworthy and sever certain chains of interest, making way for reliable individuals. Perhaps Viktor von Dum intended to use a court of law, but the Emperor had no patience to let those charges drag on for years, nor to give the enemy time to react. The swift action disrupted many plans surrounding the nascent nation; countless lists, sums of money, weapons, emails, transaction records—vital evidence—were stained with blood before their owners could even throw them into the shredder. Some were planning notorious attacks, not large-scale military invasions, but rather infiltrating the border to create panic with explosives.

In the face of a precarious international situation, the origins of soldiers and weapons are extremely easy to identify.

These things would inevitably provide clues for the investigation, and even if it were a deliberate frame-up, it would require an extremely complex process. The more complex the process, the more people would be involved, and the more compelling evidence would be left behind. In contrast, highly threatening, inexpensive, and difficult-to-trace chemicals are the best choice; the only clue would be someone with knowledge of explosives manufacturing. These are all personnel who can be discarded; even if clues lead to them, it wouldn't affect the profits of the others sitting on expensive sofas dividing the spoils.

However, the more troublesome attacks come from text, which is also the most profitable.

Instigating riots, protests, and marches; turning officers and officials with intelligence over to defect; fabricating false documents and accounts as evidence; money flowing through the internet for seconds, then being transferred to the target's account under legitimate pretexts—in various forms, such as charitable donations, sponsorships, or exorbitant royalties, which can be legitimately taxed to avoid suspicion, or cash found in one's mailbox rolled up with newspapers, almost impossible to trace except for the serial numbers. The enemy will not know who they are fighting; the plump inflatable fish on the surface of the water are merely disposable puppets; trying to fish a whale from the seabed with a fishing rod is utterly impossible.

Therefore, Regent Victor von Doom used torpedoes.

He was particularly concerned about the progress of an action team.

Compared to other First Secret Regiment squads, this team was clearly lagging behind, but the Regent had no intention of urging them or contacting the squad officers directly. He knew that all the mission steps were already clearly etched into the soldiers' minds; they would take action as naturally as walking, eating, drinking, and sleeping. It's not only enemies who employ unseen methods; Viktor von Doom remains a deadly foe even without direct force.

In late 2014, the three largest affiliates of the Dutch Trade Union Confederation—the Union of Dutch Workers (representing Dutch workers), the Construction and Timber Union (representing the Dutch construction and timber industry), and Abvakabo (representing Dutch public sector and postal workers)—were dissolved and merged into the federation. This event inspired the Regent, who reviewed the list of former affiliates of the Dutch Trade Union Confederation and ultimately established his course of action.

First, train drivers and ticket sellers decided to strike, believing their work was too monotonous, which would have a significant impact on the entire Netherlands. Next, container workers in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, went on strike, inevitably affecting logistics efficiency. Management was unaware of the strike demands, as these workers had already done so back in January to avoid layoffs before 2020. Jan Cremers, editor at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS), believes this is due to the previous negotiations failing to achieve satisfactory results for both sides. Meanwhile, the Dutch trade union federation warned Shell that if it did not meet its demand for a 1% pay rise in the first year and a 1.25% raise in the second year, the Pernis refinery would be closed.

Due to the influence of certain key decisions and the transfer of benefits, climate activism and animal rights activism have gained significantly more seats in the Dutch House of Representatives than expected. Parties such as the Dutch Animal Party, the Dutch Green Party, GroenLinks, and D66 had already been in contact with an environmental organization a year ago, with lobbyists and money being presented to them regarding the concept of sustainable agriculture. Following this, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) issued a report inspired by a warning from an American scholar. The institute claimed that only direct action could stop the severe destructive impact of nitrogen on Dutch soils, and that farmers were responsible for 46% of the country's nitrogen emissions, primarily from cow manure produced by livestock farming.

D66 Member of Parliament Tjeerd de Groot had obtained a photocopy of the report before it was released. When the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) issued the official report, the MP immediately proposed a new policy to halve the number of livestock in the Netherlands by 2017. The farmers' activist group, the Farmers' Defence Force, immediately issued a statement of resistance and condemned the 200 animal rights activists occupying a pig farm in Bokster, North Brabant, claiming they had sown fear among livestock farmers.

Unable to travel by train, the farmers were inclined to drive tractors to The Hague to protest.

Traffic was completely blocked for over a thousand kilometers as the Peasants' Defence Force chose the Binnenhof complex in the heart of The Hague, Netherlands, as their protest site. This complex is where the Dutch Parliament's two houses, the Ministry of General Affairs, and the Prime Minister meet, along with The Hague's train station and other locations. During these protests, a leader of the Peasants' Defence Force threatened civil war, claiming the government's use of the army was a "cowardly retreat behind a wall of intimidation and violence." Soldiers were hired to block streets to prevent the protests from escalating. The following morning, before setting out, the peasants prepared free breakfasts for The Hague residents and used tractors to dump used paper inside government buildings.

Everyone was happy, except for the public administration, because a large number of Molotov cocktails had inexplicably appeared among the protesters. An inconspicuous van avoided the protesters, driving along a quiet side street in the bustling city. The people inside were not panicked by the scene; they knew that these disturbances would only result in the entire city being littered with garbage, and perhaps some burning car wrecks, though they couldn't see the black smoke from burning tires right now.

Coupled with the sudden power outage, The Hague was plunged into complete chaos.

The United Nations Detention Center (UNDU) is a UN-run prison, part of The Hague Prison, located in Scheveningen, one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands. The prison has 73 staff members, 50 of whom are support staff and psychologists. The prison walls are 5 meters high and reinforced with impenetrable barbed wire and caltrops; access to the visiting area requires passing through more than a dozen gates. To date, no prisoner has escaped. The prison is situated in a modern seaside resort adjacent to the city center, boasting long beaches, a promenade, a marina, and a lighthouse. It's very close to The Hague, a short drive from the city center to the coast for a perfect beach vacation. However, this is now impossible. Public transport has completely ground to a halt, and traffic to the outskirts of the Netherlands is jammed with farmers and tractors. A strike by container workers at the port has begun to spread, as even the fishing port has been attacked by radical animal rights activists.

The prisoners here are well aware that they have no place to go outside of prison.

No one has ever dared to storm the UN detention center because it was used to hold war criminals charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including Slobodan Milosevic and Radovaan Karadžić, who were found dead in their cell on March 11, 2006. Convicted Yugoslav war criminals were not imprisoned here, but were transferred to prisons outside the Netherlands.

No one has ever dared to attack UN facilities, except for one man who dared to ride into the Security Council.

War criminals must be tried in his court.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)