Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1389 Agent Coulson's Worries (Part 2)

Howard Stark left a rich technological legacy for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; the notes S.H.I.E.L.D. gave to Tony Stark were just one box in the Beacon base. After Agent Coulson took over Nick Fury's vibranium box, Leopold Fitz naturally became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research department, possessing a wealth of information about Howard Stark's technology and operating principles, such as the WeChat sonic bomb—although Leopold Fitz didn't see all of Howard Stark's technological legacies and science fiction, some of the information he accessed could still be helpful to Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223's work. Gemma Simmons seemed to sense the Martian sage's urgency; she spoke to Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 outside the cell through the bulletproof glass, "What we need is communication. Science needs communication, you and us."

"I will not reveal the secrets of Mars to you unless you set foot on the red sand yourselves."

Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223 stood up. Although immersed in the world of technology, she wasn't foolish enough to reveal her secrets to S.H.I.E.L.D. "All of Howard Stark's research in this base will belong to me. My research team can get the job done even without you." She raised her silver arm, now replaced by metal and machinery. A square, silver-rimmed black box was held between her three long, mechanical fingers. A thin metal rod extended from the silver mechanical arm, connecting to the inside of the arm. Leopold Fitz saw the lens at the end of the metal rod and immediately recognized it as the probe of a laser cutter.

"Nick Fury hid S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets inside a vibranium shell, thinking that way no one could access the data inside. Fools who don't understand the mysteries of technology have reason to have such naive ideas, but you certainly don't," Epsilon-Rodney-Ray223 said. "Although I don't yet have the authority to dissect this technological creation using Xenomorph technology, I will be granted temporary access by the Commander of the Guard to begin researching and analyzing this item in order to decipher Howard Stark's technological legacy."

Constantine stood silently in the control room. Soldiers from the First Class Regiment took turns guarding the personnel inside, and even Rangers joined in to prevent anyone from deliberately sabotaging the electronic equipment. Not long had it been since Alfonso McKenzie's team escaped, and Daisy Jensen's group's Quinjet hadn't flown very far. They were flying in different directions, but Melinda May told Constantine that none of the five Quinjets that had left base would respond to calls from the base.

Unless Constantine could send five aircraft from the continental United States to track the planes along the routes displayed in the control room, it would be impossible to determine which plane Alfonso McKenzie and his crew were on, let alone bring them back. Indeed, Constantine's orders to control room to contact the Quinjet fighters received no response; all Quinjet pilots refused to communicate with Beacon Base.

The Quinjet wouldn't receive orders from Beacon Base until the highest-ranking officer on board made a decision and the aircraft landed at its destination. When the ground crew relayed this message in a trembling voice to Sergeant Ronald of the First Class Regiment, who then relayed it to the Commander of the Guard, everyone awaited the Guard's decision. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents believed the Guard would kill one or two people and then order the ground crew to continue trying. The First Class Regiment sergeant, however, believed the Commander of the Guard would send orbital fighters to track the Quinjet, just as in similar missions in the past. Aircraft carriers and orbital satellites were perfectly capable of tracking the Quinjet from the continental United States, even if it were stealthy.

Constantine couldn't send the Eraser fighters directly to hunt down the Quinjet; such an engagement and intrusion would inevitably have extremely strong political repercussions. The Commander of the Guard could only use satellites and sea-based radar to track the Quinjet and ensure that the flight path displayed in the control room was accurate. Melinda May seemed to think this would completely eliminate Alfonso McKenzie and his group, but she underestimated the intruders' technological capabilities.

"The Quinjet's electronic systems are easily fooled. The keys and GPS tracking used by the control console force the Quinjet to receive and transmit data. As long as it can receive data, it can be hacked. The pilot would never dare to turn off the transponder," Epsilon-Rodney-Ray 223, who passed through the control room every five minutes, leaned close to Constantine and suggested, "If we can breach the Wind 5's firewall, we can breach the Quinjet's firewall. I can also forcibly close the Quinjet's side doors and cargo doors until we're willing to open them."

"Hurry up. I don't want anyone parachuting midway; that would mean we lose our key personnel entirely." Constantine nodded. At least until the Rangers had loaded all the critical items into the Wind One, Epsilon-Rodney-Radium 223 still had time for a cyber offensive. Enoch, as a prisoner, stood silently to the side, seemingly indifferent to the means necessary to gather the mission personnel. "I'll bring in a Pegasus-class assault transport still on standby in low orbit, just like the one we brought here." The Commander of the Guard looked at the Immortal. "You'll come with me, Enoch. My lord wishes to see you."

Enoch nodded. "I know who your master is, and I'd like to meet him too."

Constantine stared into the emotionless eyes of the android and finally agreed with Enoch, his grip on the Spear of the Guardian loosening slightly. In fact, Enoch, who had been stationed at the Beacon Base for so long, wasn't entirely unaware of the outside world. During the Chitauri invasion and the Dark Elf invasion, the Emperor's past identity had consistently appeared and been involved in key events, enough to make Enoch pay attention. Moreover, the power the Emperor displayed was a power that Enoch's race had deeply studied and ultimately abandoned; the existence and symbols of Kamar-Taj were embodied in the robes of the then-Emperor of Salomon. Enoch would definitely include the Emperor in his observation list. However, within S.H.I.E.L.D., only Nick Fury and Natasha Romanoff knew where to find him. Even within the highly secretive Beacon Base, Enoch still couldn't track down the Emperor.

Agent Coulson glanced down at his phone. The untagged text message clearly indicated which airport to go to catch his flight, which safe house to retrieve the cash and fake identity, and which used car dealership to pick up the completed used car. This was a message from the Precision Double, the person or organization that controlled it. Coulson was genuinely envious of this efficiency, even feeling as if he were still on a mission at the old S.H.I.E.L.D.

When he received the message, he had already squeezed onto a Los Angeles bus. It wasn't rush hour, so the bus offered him some space to sit down and catch his breath, while also escaping the Google employees who were excitedly filming the bizarre "natural phenomenon." He was now seeing the footage on his phone. The terrain and other natural conditions of the San Fernando community didn't allow for fire tornadoes; there weren't any massive forest fires to heat the air. This strange phenomenon would soon attract attention, and Jeffrey Mays' S.H.I.E.L.D. would be investigating soon. Agent Coulson just wanted to leave Los Angeles and return to Beacon Base as quickly as possible.

The Emperor's actions clearly told him that whether Robbie Reyes was willing to hand over the Dark Book was irrelevant; what mattered was keeping him away from Beacon Base. Now, he only wanted to contact Beacon Base and Melinda May to find out what kind of predicament Beacon Base and S.H.I.E.L.D. were facing. He spent the entire day trying to contact Melinda May or any other agent indirectly, but he couldn't reach anyone, not even the Wind One, which was supposed to be on patrol. This gave Agent Coulson an ominous feeling; he thought the situation might be worse than he anticipated.

However, the instigator paid no heed to Agent Coulson's concerns, as he was intently attacking the fried bacon on his plate. Like all juvenile males—or perhaps not all—Salomon always managed to cause trouble when he didn't want to eat breakfast. For example, he had constructed a defensive line on his plate with crispy fried bacon, where loyal and brave brine pea soldiers were defending against the fearsome invaders, while the wrinkled, repulsive giant tomatoes fried in olive oil posed a constant threat of breaching the defenses and devouring the mayonnaise and broccoli commanders behind the bacon trench.

Milia sat on his lap, the two of them each holding a set of cutlery, engaging in a playful battle on their plates, making childish sounds like "whoosh—" and "thump—". Jeanne, head down, ate her breakfast, refusing to comment on the behavior. Only Bayonetta rolled her eyes every few seconds, expressing her displeasure at Salomon's excessive pampering. However, she didn't stop this childish game, because every time the Broccoli Commander died, Salomon would dip him in sauce and stuff him into Milia's mouth, and the girl never objected, even enjoying it.

"I'm going out to work today, Milia." Salomon told Milia this as he stuffed all the vegetables on the plate into the girl's mouth. "Make sure no broccoli commander gets eaten by fried tomatoes today." Milia nodded emphatically. This time she understood what her adoptive father meant. She would no longer see Salomon's going out to work as abandoning her here, nor would she need Diana to comfort her with snacks, nor would she worry that the noise of the Pegasus-type assault transport ship taking off would frighten her.

Salomon looked at Bayonetta, "Go home for dinner."

Perhaps because his performance last night had pleased the witches, Bayonetta didn't get angry at him for always breaking his promises this time. "You've said this more than once, but you always work overtime until late at night," she said in a complaining tone, which even sounded like she was being coquettish. This kind of behavior was almost impossible for a witch, and when she realized what she had said, she immediately pretended to be nonchalant and fiddled with the food on her plate.

"This time I'll be staying in the Balkans, where there's only a one-hour time difference with Britain. I'm not so bad as to forget how to calculate time differences." Salomon picked up Milia, who was sitting on his lap, and handed her to the android maid standing beside him. Although she was called a maid, maids carrying explosive pistols and chainsaw swords were very common in this manor. Milia wasn't intimidated by the weapons at all; she herself often received weapon training from the witch. However, this little one probably wasn't angry anymore. In a little while, she might even cling to Bayonetta and Jeanne like before, leaving Salomon and the witch no time for intimacy.

Diana picked up the ironed suit and stood aside, ready to help her master put it on.

"I'll give you a Kimber M1911, Milia. Do you like handguns?"

"Yes!" Milia nodded excitedly, "I want a pistol!"

"This is another hobby that will land me in jail," Salomon shrugged. Choosing the lesser of two evils, Milia would become very familiar with those weapons in the future, so starting with simpler ones would be more beneficial for her familiarity with firearms and combat. Letting Milia handle ordinary live ammunition was far better than exploding bullet guns, laser guns, and plasma weapons. Those android maids were constantly trying to instill the violent culture of the Sisterhood Convent in Milia, but exposing her to those high-risk weapons now would only harm her. No one in this manor was afraid of ordinary bullets; if Milia used a gun to shoot some small animals, the manor owner would simply see it as her mischievous behavior. "When I get home today, you'll see that pistol. But you must continue learning to shoot with the witches, otherwise I won't give you the bullets, understand?"

This time it was Joan of Arc's turn to roll her eyes.

Jeanne was in charge of Milia's shooting training every time. Perhaps it was the cultural imprint of the witch race, but Jeanne didn't think there was anything wrong with a girl like Milia handling weapons, and Milia's physical development was fast enough to support her training. However, she didn't like the shooting style that Professor Salomon taught Milia—although they were all standard tactical shooting movements—the shooting posture and ability of the witch race were completely incompatible with the so-called "tactics." Crazy, gorgeous, sharp, precise, agile... all the extreme words used to describe the scene of a witch firing a gun could be used to describe the scene. Shooting a stationary target dozens of meters away with a pistol was just too boring. However, Milia only needed this kind of training. She had not yet revealed her physical talent, and safe and reliable shooting training was the tactical skill she had to learn at this stage.

As for the magical training that Joan of Arc had always wanted to undergo, Salomon completely forbade it.

At least for now, Milia cannot undergo in-depth magical training; she can only meditate and control her powers, nothing more. The instinct of living beings is to seek advantage and avoid harm, and the power emanating from Salomon is like the midday sun—a blazing beam of light capable of easily melting ice and snow. Milia's soul submitted to Salomon, subconsciously restraining her consciousness, abandoning her flamboyant nature, and suppressing the ceaseless flow of magic within her veins.

(End of this chapter)