Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1366 Work Efficiency (Second Update)

Constantine wasn't that concerned about the lighthouse base.

That was only a minor part of the latter half of the mission. Even though the mission required him to bring Agent Phil Coulson to meet the Emperor, it wasn't that important now that the Life-Model Decoy project had been captured. Reaching the Lighthouse base by heavy trucks alone would take some time. The advance team from Wind One would be the first armed personnel to enter the Lighthouse base. Only after the Second Combat Team had secured the Lighthouse base and the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel could Constantine's First Combat Team arrive.

The Emperor once confessed to Constantine that in the early stages of his career, most of the resources, information, and technology he needed came from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. Even if it wasn't the S.H.I.E.L.D. reorganized by Howard Stark after World War II, it was still the Brotherhood of the Shield, the spiritual origin of S.H.I.E.L.D. From the Immortal City to the three Sky Helicopters, this was the case. Even the genetic alchemy and power armor used by the Royal Guard had some designs derived from the Brotherhood of the Shield's designs from thousands of years ago. Therefore, everything the Emperor started from can be linked to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Constantine believed that the Emperor had given him this mission because he needed to acquire something crucial from the Lighthouse Base. It certainly wasn't the Dark Book the Emperor had been searching for; otherwise, the Emperor would have already come to the Lighthouse Base himself, bringing a large number of genetically modified warriors, ready for a direct confrontation. Constantine was certain that what the Emperor wanted was of lower priority than Aida, the AI ​​who had read the Dark Book. As for what that thing was or how large it was, he knew nothing; Constantine only had a number to guide him through the Lighthouse Base's warehouse.

This was also the only information the Guardian Order's intelligence department obtained from Nick Fury.

When Epsilon-Rodney-Ray223 informed him of the information infiltration of the Beacon Base, Constantine's face, hidden behind his helmet, remained expressionless. There was no praise, no reaction; he simply nodded and blinked to lower the volume of his communication with Epsilon-Rodney-Ray223, to avoid interfering with his escort. Unexpectedly, however, the Martian Sage, after completing her mission, didn't chatter as much as before. Instead, she remained silent in the macrocosm, as if the SHIELD Beacon Base database contained information that might interest her or Mars.

The cybersecurity department at the Lighthouse base continues to struggle, trying to remove the intruder's tentacles from the system.

Their resistance did have an effect, but not a significant one. The real impact came from the Cold War-era cybersecurity system at Beacon Base. Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223 couldn't fully implant the virus into Beacon Base's outdated operating system. The computers, still using CRT screens, couldn't even run any modern programs smoothly—an insurmountable hardware problem that even the most advanced Martian information technology couldn't overcome. Therefore, the information she obtained was extremely limited—even Agent Coulson wasn't fully familiar with Beacon Base's contents; many unknowns remained. Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223's program could only reside on the computers used by the cybersecurity department, searching through Agent Coulson's team's modern modifications to Beacon Base for any information already processed by Agent Coulson.

Due to the cooperation agreement between Mars and the Emperor, Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 could only submit one document.

The documents contained item descriptions, photos, and serial numbers, but the numbering of many items was disjointed, as Agent Coulson only documented what he could make sense of. Constantine reviewed the documents sent by Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223 while comparing them with the serial numbers in his hand—Lighthouse Base possessed sonic and shockwave weapons designed by Howard Stark; a prototype WeChat computer operating using a micro-differential engine and algorithm replacement parts; extremely thin metal wires stored in a safe bearing the Brotherhood of the Shield insignia (but Agent Coulson believed it was the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia), presumably used as neural probes; bizarre mannequins that looked like 1980s window display models but were incredibly detailed, with rubber muscles beneath the plastic skin, and so on.

What interested Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223 most was an original design of the recoil engine.

Although Howard Stark was limited by the technology of the time and unable to create a true recoil vector engine, his design ideas continued from the Brotherhood of the Shield to Mars. This is a highly collectible manuscript, and Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223 explicitly told Constantine that he wanted to obtain it as a collectible to reward her for her "outstanding performance" in this operation and for a promotion.

Constantine stated that this was not the time to discuss rewards.

When the Wind-Sweep No. 1 landed in the safe zone a hundred meters outside the lighthouse base, the First Combat Squadron had already received the message. The lighthouse base was named as such because there really was a lighthouse there. Nearly a century after the Puritans colonized New England, this lighthouse was built by the local colonists to guide white fishermen on Lake Ontario. However, for various reasons, this lighthouse built on the shore was eventually abandoned. It was later bought by an unknown buyer, renovated, and became a little-known tourist attraction that locals didn't bother to visit and tourists thought was too far away; even the local schools didn't bother mentioning it.

From the outside, the Beacon Base doesn't appear to have any passageways for large numbers of armed personnel. However, after years of construction, maintenance, and repairs by S.H.I.E.L.D., the Beacon Base does indeed have a fast passageway for large vehicles; otherwise, the supplies piled up in the underground warehouses simply couldn't be transported in. The Martian mechanical soldiers, led by Alpha-Bronze II, the commander of the Rangers, landed near the hidden passageway. Then, leading all the armed personnel of the Second Operations Squadron (excluding the five mechanical soldiers guarding Dr. Horton Radcliffe), they propelled their fully mechanized legs at a speed unattainable by ordinary people (including the First Classified Regiment), rapidly heading towards the air-raid shelter sealed off by layers of rusty, thick iron doors beneath the nearby hills.

Alpha-Bronze 2, the leader of the Rangers, melted the outermost layer of steel in the bunker with his first shot, dozens of meters away. By the time the soldiers from the First Classified Regiment carrying thermoelectric weapons arrived, these Martian mechs had already penetrated dozens of meters deep into the bunker. There were no lights inside the bunker, except for the searchlights from the First Classified Regiment's full-environmental protective suits and the illumination attachments on the Rangers' shoulders; the entire bunker remained shrouded in darkness. "These generators are dead, and there's no smell of electricity in the air," Alpha-Bronze 2 seemed still willing to speak to the First Classified Regiment sergeant, but he was unwilling to stop or slow down. "We can advance quickly; we don't need to worry about encountering any traps."

"We must cooperate in the operation!" The sergeant from the First Secret Regiment said, his voice laced with suppressed anger.

The fully enclosed protective suit prevented Alpha-Bronze 2 from seeing his expression, but he didn't care about the sergeant's emotions.

The Martian soldiers' self-centered behavior during the attack on Dr. Horton Radcliffe's residence infuriated the sergeant. Fortunately, the tactical objective was ultimately achieved, and some additional damage and disturbances that might have alerted the enemy could be temporarily disregarded.

"Yes, we must cooperate in this operation," Alpha-Bronze 2 replied confidently in a synthesized voice. "I obey the authority of Mars, and you obey the authority of the Emperor. The Emperor is the nominal master of Mars, so I will do my best to ensure that your forces can cooperate with our operations, even if it means a decrease in combat efficiency of more than 50 percent."

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(End of this chapter)