Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1438 A Summoning from the Space Station (Second Update)

Upon hearing that the Emperor wanted to see him, Gideon Malik instantly straightened his back, his previous slumped, wrinkled old dog-like posture on the sofa vanishing instantly. He knew his woman wouldn't return to America from that "land of dreams" without a reason, and the antique brandy he'd just drunk hadn't been free. Gideon Malik had only met the Emperor twice in total: once at Malik Estate, and the other at the Malik family ancestral home in the Alps, the birthplace of the European Hydra. Each time, the oppressive feeling the Emperor exerted on him took a long time to dissipate.

He had always believed that facing such a powerful soul would be detrimental to his health; his aging mind would be reduced to ashes under the starlight's brilliance. After the meeting, he would need a psychiatrist and a long period of recuperation—a mental trauma that even life-extending surgery could not heal. But when the summons came, he had no choice but to take it seriously, for he now had a master, and all Hydra had a master they could not disobey.

"Does our master want me to hide something?"

Gideon Malik was alluding to something, but he habitually remained vague.

Stephanie sighed; this would be the Malik family's main task in North America for the foreseeable future.

The possibility of concealing a carrier strike group was extremely slim, and the possibility of replenishing its crew without leaving a trace was almost nonexistent. Fortunately, the Seventh Fleet did not conduct flight training at the time, so there was no need to add pilots. Even so, the workload would be considerable, and for the foreseeable future, the Malik family and other conservative Hydra families would have to devote themselves entirely to this task.

"We can't go to war with the United States unprepared, and His main focus is currently on outer space, so He wants to discuss with you what to do after taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. and the CIA, and the potential difficulties." Stephanie couldn't help but sigh again. "The outcome of this election is a foregone conclusion, and He wants you to be prepared as soon as possible so that the new president doesn't discover any problems."

Gideon Malik poured some wine into another glass and handed it to Stephanie.

“Now you are His Chief of the Interior, and I will speak to you in another capacity.” He pondered for a moment, his eyes fixed on the white marble angel statue beside the drawing room door leading to the garden. Bathed in the orange light, the beautiful marble statue was stained with the crimson hue of the setting sun. The angel statue was a decoration personally chosen by his wife to revitalize the century-old Malik family manor. However, Gideon Malik saw the blood of the Malik family splattered on the statue. “What does he want me to do?” he asked in a low voice. “I have already deployed many agents for this matter, taken away, imprisoned, and executed many innocent people, including many who were curious… This is a far-reaching conspiracy, and I have done what I promised. He cannot ask for more.”

"He can, Father, He can ask for a lot." Stephanie found the brandy she was drinking tasteless. In that plan, the Malik family would take complete control of the CIA and Homeland Security's information security systems, handing over data from the Homeland Security's chip manufacturing division to the Emperor's technicians, fundamentally preventing incidents similar to the "Iran arms sale" from happening again, and also preventing the new president or any future intelligence chief from seeing that intelligence.

"This could very well expose me," Gideon Malik said, "unless General Hale takes control of the entire Pentagon and comes up with a weapons development plan that no one can refuse."

“No, Father.” Stephanie shook her head. “Although I don’t know why, the Guardian Order assured me that this wouldn’t happen. I trust the Guardian Order’s competence.”

“He should focus his attention on Earth, not outer space,” Gideon Malik said, his face contorted with rage. He felt as if he were facing a greedy beast, the Malik family’s interests built entirely on its disdain, for that beast’s true enemy was another beast vying for territory. “The Tesseract has been taken by the Asgardians, and the Chitauri invasion will not happen again. This is the opinion of many in Congress, and of many professionals. Many members of Congress consider His claims of an alien fleet to be utter nonsense. No NASA scientist can definitively say whether the objects they observe are alien fleets. Moreover, a civilization capable of faster-than-light travel has no reason to resist.”

His statement represented the views of many members of Congress.

Compared to unrealistic resistance, what they needed to consider was how to secure a position in the new world commensurate with their current status. They would provide whatever the alien rulers needed, thus minimizing casualties—Stephanie knew how difficult it was to persuade her father, and she also understood the Emperor's unwavering resolve to fight the aliens; anyone who stood in his way would be his enemy. After sharing her understanding of her father with the Regent, she received the invitation from the space station. She believed the Emperor could definitely persuade her father, but before that, she wanted him to be mentally prepared for what he might see. She was only allowed to view the document after the Feathered Serpent incident had been resolved.

Before this, she had no idea why the emperor wanted to send the legion to the South American rainforest. It was that information that made her realize the upper limit of the emperor's abilities. She had to persuade her father to completely bet all of the Malik family's resources on the emperor.

"The aliens are much closer to us than we imagine. The Chitauri are merely a bio-engineered army that can be used at will by the alien fleet, and their production cost is extremely low." Stephanie shook her head, not revealing her source, but Gideon Malik could guess with his toes that this was the Emperor's rhetoric. "The arrival of the aliens will completely change the political landscape of the entire Earth. We must prepare in advance to seize the opportunity. Soon, He will go to the Kobo Belt to wage war against the aliens entrenched there. When He places His spoils in orbit, He will become the undisputed master of this planet, and we must control all the industries He needs. The Malik family's previous inaction on the food trade has already greatly displeased Him; we must reaffirm our stance."

"The Koboi Belt?" Gideon Malik raised an eyebrow in disbelief. As a veteran Ivy League elite from the last century, Gideon Malik didn't study the politically correct subjects that rely on bonus points and repetitive nonsense to graduate from at today's Ivy League schools, such as African American Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and Sociology. Instead, he studied extremely difficult STEM fields. Although he hadn't published any high-impact academic papers or had any particularly dazzling academic achievements, he possessed the most basic scientific knowledge. "Do you know how far the Koboi Belt is? Voyager 1 hasn't even left the Koboi Belt yet, and that's after 35 years of flight."

“I know he’s been there. In fact, he’s roamed the galaxy, visited many places.” Stephanie Malik solemnly produced a badge, then held it close to the briefcase she’d brought back to the manor. A faintly glowing circuit appeared on the badge, and a lancet extended from its back. Stephanie pressed her finger against the lancet, allowing the badge to read genetic code. “I will authorize the temporary declassification of a file containing the true cause of the massive global earthquake and extreme weather events of several months ago, as well as the voyage records of three sky carriers and sky battleships. The contents of this information are not to be disclosed or leaked in any form.”

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(End of this chapter)