Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1404 (Two Chapters Combined)

In fact, Constantine could see the source of his troubles without Coulson even needing to explain.

The operational logic of this mission is unlike any other mission Coulson's team has experienced since the Hydra rebellion. Back then, they discovered or faced threats themselves, and they resolved them for the sake of their comrades. They could see the objective and knew who they were fighting for. But this time, they can't see the objective. The mission they received comes from the Emperor and the Imperial Guard, and it even puts one of the most important members of S.H.I.E.L.D. in opposition to the bonds they've built together. Unless they are on a mission, none of the agents know any details—orders are issued, orders are received, and orders are executed, without questioning, without any open communication—this is the old operating model of S.H.I.E.L.D., the model that Agent Coulson rejected. He had sworn to his team to make S.H.I.E.L.D. a true S.H.I.E.L.D., not a cold, ruthless intelligence agency.

"You want to be a vigilante, not a secret agent, because you don't want to take responsibility." There wasn't a suitable chair for Constantine in the room, and he preferred to stand, looking down at the troubled Agent Coulson, creating a sharp, oppressive aura in their conversation, much like the spear in his hand. "If you want to be a vigilante, go fight crime on the streets and leave the task of saving the world to the professionals. Because professionals know how to reduce casualties and are held accountable for it; vigilantes don't. Vigilantes can disregard all rules and regulations and do what they want."

"This is to uphold S.H.I.E.L.D.'s justice," Agent Coulson retorted without hesitation. "S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury was too large and too bloated. Back then, S.H.I.E.L.D. did a lot of shady things, which is why Hydra had a place to parasitize them. We don't even know if those things were necessary evils for S.H.I.E.L.D., or crimes committed by Hydra to satisfy their own selfish desires. I don't know, I can't tell, but that won't happen again. We must do the right thing. There are no secrets in S.H.I.E.L.D. now."

"Procedural justice versus substantive justice: an age-old problem in modern law, a balance between humanity and order."

"I'm so glad you understand."

"Not everyone who undergoes genetic modification is Steve Rogers."

Constantine said, "

"I'm warning you, don't talk about my idol like that."

Agent Coulson shrugged and chuckled. He knew Constantine was referring to Steve Rogers's level of education. Although Steve Rogers was his idol, he had to admit Constantine was right; it was a common joke among Captain America fans, and there were even numerous fan works based on it. However, Constantine didn't care about such things at all, nor did he know they existed.

"I didn't expect you to joke like that. Didn't genetic modification remove all your human emotions?"

Constantine nodded expressionlessly. "Yes. Every member of the Royal Guard possesses an immense wealth of knowledge, and we continue to learn. If you'd like, I could recite the entire Merchant of Venice from memory; that's the ability he gave us—a perfect, and constantly evolving individual. So, not everyone who undergoes genetic modification is Steve Rogers; we are far superior."

Agent Coulson's smile vanished, as cold as snow beside a furnace. He shrugged sheepishly. "Alright, I know you're not kidding. Now, back to the point, I don't know where Agent May is, what they're planning to do, or whether the agents on the mission list will suffer fatal or maimed injuries..."

"This is your mission, Agent Coulson." Constantine glanced around. Enoch had already left for a more secluded room. To this day, Agent Coulson, or rather S.H.I.E.L.D., still hadn't figured out the complex structure of the Beacon Base. All the known rooms and paths came from data provided by that Cold War-era computer. Even using the electrical system, it was difficult to navigate all the rooms in the Beacon Base, as many rooms used independent power supply systems.

"I hope Enoch has taken safe refuge," the guard said. "And I also don't want you to know his current location."

Agent Coulson lowered his head; he had no intention of telling the Imperial Guard what Enoch had shown him.

He didn't say anything.

Constantine lowered his head, his expression remaining unchanged.

"Very good." He then turned and walked towards the blast door, pressing the keypad. The Rangers and Martian technicians had overhauled the security system to prevent it from being controlled by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the main control room. He didn't hesitate to expose Agent Coulson's lie. "Tell Enoch to stay there and not leave. I'll arrange for armed personnel to protect its evacuation."

"What are you going to do?" Agent Coulson asked. "And, show Enoch some respect. 'He,' not 'it,' he's an intelligent being. Intelligent beings deserve our respect..."

Constantine did not answer.

His route wasn't entirely back under the control of the First Class Regiment, but as he passed by, all the SHIELD field agents laid down their weapons, not only because of his height and equipment, but also because of the sheer violence he displayed in the control room. Constantine, however, didn't even bother to glance at the rioting agents. He arrived at a lift door, spoke something through the intercom built into his power armor, and then the lift door, whose control panel had been smashed, slowly opened.

Several laser weapons and grenade launchers were aimed at the elevator door. A Martian technician in a red robe stood behind all the soldiers of the First Class Regiment, his metal appendages on his back flailing menacingly, seemingly ready to launch an attack on the intruders with plasma cutters at any moment. Constantine was very satisfied with their vigilance; even after he issued a notice according to regulations, the First Class Regiment adhered to wartime principles and refused to lay down their weapons.

"Sir!"

The soldiers of the First Secret Regiment, responsible for guarding the warehouse, saluted Constantine immediately upon seeing him.

The warehouse that once housed dangerous materials has been transformed. Besides the items previously numbered and sorted by S.H.I.E.L.D. and neatly arranged on shelves, some items selected by the Royal Guard are now stored and guarded separately. The most conspicuous items are three rectangular boulders stored in a bulletproof, airtight glass case—the first is a muddy black, capable of liquefying at a specific vibration frequency and teleporting people to a specific location; the second is snow-white with three red stripes painted with an unknown pigment in the center, which will liquefy at a specific time and teleport people to a specific time; the third is a gray boulder with concentric rings on its surface. Its purpose is unknown, and even Enoch cannot fully explain it, but its shape suggests a similar origin to the first two boulders, making it necessary to take it to the research department for testing.

The Martian technician came here to conduct preliminary research. He cut a rectangular sample from the gray boulder, sealed it, and sent it back to Latveria. The sample will then be divided into several pieces for different tests to determine the environment in which the boulder was formed, its composition, and so on, in order to find out where in the universe it came from.

At this moment, Melinda May was focused on seizing control of the Lighthouse base, completely unaware that the Royal Guard's true concern wasn't the Lighthouse base itself, but rather the three massive stones in the warehouse. These three stones were the real reason for the Royal Guard's attack on the Lighthouse base; otherwise, they would have already evacuated the agents on the mission list, conducted pre-battle training (whether they wanted to or not), and then stuffed them all inside after the stones melted. Constantine believed Enoch would like this plan because it involved the fewest complications and didn't require revealing too much information or providing too much assistance to the test subjects (referring to Coulson's agent team).

But Constantine knew that the emperor would never allow a mission to achieve only one objective.

Whenever the Emperor planned and arranged things, he would often link several missions spanning many years together, using one mission to influence another. Constantine knew that Agent Coulson's current plan was definitely connected to the Kree Star Fortress that Cobleey was currently leading, and also to General Hale and her daughter Ruby. The Emperor wanted to obtain everything through a single mission, which would inevitably require the full cooperation of all departments and organizations under his command, even those carrying out tasks that ordinary people could not understand.

This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. Constantine had done "wet work" for the emperor more than once, orchestrating the purges of local tycoons or warlords who had tried to protect their wealth by surrendering during the Balkan unification wars and subsequently resisted the emperor's policies. The country under Marshal Tito had suffered from numerous similar problems, and the emperor wouldn't allow the same issues to plague him, nor would the regent.

Constantine, leading the First Secret Service and other guards, carried out many missions that were difficult for ordinary people to understand, but without exception, they all achieved their objectives. The logic behind these missions often required extensive research to unravel. For example, when stowaways appeared on a cargo ship passing through the Suez Canal, local police forcibly detained and inspected the ship to apprehend them. This caused some food ingredients to be delayed in reaching the Balkans, forcing a certain individual to change their breakfast on their way to work, adding 20 meters to their journey. Unfortunately, they then fell into a manhole that had been moved due to construction. Meanwhile, the warning signs and fences had been taken home the night before by a drunkard with a sudden whim.

Through meticulous planning based on big data calculations and a combination of various random events, the plan ensures that certain people will die at the right time, leaving no trace afterward. To ordinary people, this appears to be a sudden, random event, a complete coincidence. Even those who want to investigate would categorize it as an accident, because the plan orchestrated by the accidental death of the mastermind can only fail.

However, this action was only taken after numerous negotiations had failed. The emperor wouldn't waste the power of the Royal Guard on assassinating a few key figures. A more common practice was to send assassins, using the corpses of enemies as a deterrent—human beings are the sum of their social relationships, and the most gruesome death at the heart of those relationships has the greatest deterrent effect. It was an execution, not an assassination. Assassinations require secrecy, while executions must be carried out openly. Everyone knew the emperor had ordered it, but no one had direct evidence, and that was enough. The Balkans didn't require much of the emperor's attention; he merely needed an arsenal and a source of soldiers. The Balkans were a tool for achieving his ideals, not the ultimate goal.

Perhaps the regent and the emperor had disagreements on this matter, but as far as Constantine knew, such disagreements could be resolved in a long, drunken conversation between the emperor and the regent, and would not affect anything. Following that drunken meeting, the autonomy that many of the previously surrendered nations should have possessed was revoked. The emperor would not allow those sparsely populated, militarily capable, but meek and subservient in resisting foreign enemies to escape his control.

The enthusiasm displayed by the Balkan states during the Third Reich's invasion was a dark chapter in their history. The emperor was keenly interested in this hidden extremist ideology and intended to harness it for his own purposes. Furthermore, before the emperor launched the war, most Balkan states were mired in government corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency. If anyone in the world could change this situation, it would only be the emperor and regent, as they wouldn't care how many officials would die from reforms. Moreover, with so many threats facing humanity, to save prison space and administrative costs, throwing corrupt officials who should have been imprisoned into incinerators seemed like a viable option.

It was truly only to save prison space and administrative costs, a fact the emperor himself admitted to Constantine. Some might accuse the emperor of cruelty for this, but Constantine did not see the point in maintaining the hypocritical facade of a so-called civilized society, especially for those who could set the rules. The democratic society described by Plato in "The Republic" was far too inefficient, even worse than a tyrannical society.

"Begin the escort mission," Constantine said. "Take all items on the list and board in twenty minutes. Leave Zephyr One here; SHIELD agents need to use that aircraft. Also, expedite Zephyr One's vacuum tightness testing to ensure it remains airtight beyond the asteroid belt."

Enoch precisely informed Constantine of the liquefaction time of the second megalith—the rectangular one with three red stripes—down to the microsecond. Constantine used an atomic clock for calibration to ensure his mission wouldn't miss an opportunity. Meanwhile, Enoch also told Constantine that the Zephyr One needed to be modified for void travel to ensure it possessed this capability, as it would still be used by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents seventy years from now, and its performance would determine the mission's success or failure.

(End of this chapter)