Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1518 The Lunar War (Part 30)

There is only one copy of Ultron's original code in the world. This code is recorded within the Infinity Stone known as the Mind Stone. Only intelligent beings powerful enough to communicate directly with the Mind Stone can fully transcribe and reconstruct this information. In other words, very few people on this planet are capable of performing this task. After all, not everyone can directly access the powerful extradimensional energy of the Infinity Stones, and even if they do, they may not be able to maintain their self-awareness. Even Rodan, the emperor's blacksmith, couldn't do it; it would be fatal for him.

Essentially, Ultron was a machine that had gained intelligence, in some ways no different from the psionic machine experiments conducted in the Immortal City, or the silicon-based intelligent beings wandering the Martian Data Wasteland. Both possessed unique individual intelligence and wisdom; the only difference was whether they used organic bodies. After the Sokovia incident, the Ultron remains collected by the Sisterhood accelerated the reconstruction process to some extent, assisted by AIM Pioneer Technologies, a high-tech company formerly under Hydra and also responsible for the US military's analysis of Ultron's technology. What the Emperor separated and rebuilt was not the complete Ultron; Ultron was merely the name of the source code. The reconstructed sub-projects were simply silicon-based intelligent fragments, confined to organic bodies. The genetically modified warriors' attack on Fortress Attilan was on a macro level, while the fragments of Ultron launched a micro-level war, using their powerful computing capabilities to fight for control of Attilan's outdated and poorly maintained Kree Empire information system, electron by electron.

"To be precise, this war had three battlefields."

The Emperor seemed to have given Hammurabi a break. When not personally involved in the battle, the Royal Guard would only maintain the Emperor's personal safety and ensure evacuation routes, so Hammurabi had the patience to explain to the young mage, "The first two battlefields were fought between the Attilan Inhumans and the Emperor's army. The last battlefield…" He glanced at the support team sent from Kamar-Taj. This squad had been teleported directly from the Void Fleet after the Attilan shields were bombarded, without using assault transports or shuttles—neither was suitable for arcane mages with ordinary human bodies. "Mage, the Emperor has already made his move; He awaits the opponent's attack."

Derrick went up the stairs first, and the sound of explosive gunshots came from afar, crashing into the empty rooms.

The narrow staircase was extremely slippery, having been thoroughly soaked with mutant blood by the genetically modified warriors. The skeletons did not hinder the Royal Guard's movement; after all, the mutant bones were so strong that they would crumble under their boots. On the contrary, the excessively narrow staircase seemed to be designed for the convenience of the Chimerian clan rather than other clans, making the Royal Guard, who were much taller than the mutants, feel somewhat crowded.

The further Derrick went, the more mutations he saw in the mutants killed by the genetically modified warriors compared to those he had seen before—including samples 162 and 164. Every single one of the Chimilian mutants who made it here had escaped the fate of becoming sacrifices in the bizarre ritual within the Spire's crater, but this wasn't necessarily a good thing. Derrick was certain that the Chimilian mutants chosen to enter the Upper Spire didn't appear to have many special mutations at first glance. The Chimilian clan's genetic engineering technology could also produce stable mutations, so clans other than the commoner clans possessed relatively stable epigenetic traits.

So the corpse beneath his feet, with its four pale, thin, wet, sticky, human-like limbs, must have mutated here. His main basis for this judgment was that the Chimeric mutant's clothing didn't include sleeves for the other two arms—this evidence wasn't absolute, but the two arms located on the abdomen exhibited extremely striking inhuman characteristics. Furthermore, Chimeric mutants definitely didn't have claws on their fingers, and the relatively slender clan genetic traits would never produce two arms stronger than the waist. Therefore, a rough judgment could be made—it was as if some creature was emerging from the mutant's abdomen, but it died before birth. If possible, Derrick would like to use medical equipment to scan the corpse to determine its internal skeletal structure and the location of its internal organs.

But he doesn't have much time left.

First came a deafening roar, as if an invisible giant hammer had slammed down on the settlement.

The impact swept across all the buildings, followed by a beam of intense light piercing the shadows that shrouded the city. The train vibrated against the city's skeleton, even the glass windows of the spire trembled, and the high beams of the train cast a moving tunnel of light between the tall buildings.

Derrick first stood in a round window frame that had once been inlaid with exquisite rose glass paintings, watching the long railcar fiercely rush into the city, recklessly breaking through traffic barriers and crashing straight into the station, and then strangely slowing down to a stop in a very short time, without making any friction sound of brakes or receiving any external assistance, only the huge roar that kept echoing through the city.

"GR-19." Derrick first risked making a close-range communication, "External force intrusion."

"GR-19-5 received."

"GR-19-10 received. We will allocate some personnel for interception; two people are sufficient. The mutants have not adequately defended the shield system."

"GR-19-10, this is GR-19-5. I will be sending an assault team member to support the interception mission. They will be heading to Mission Point B."

"GR-19-10 received."

Derrick shut down communications first, and the other two squads followed suit, falling silent once more. He believed the interception mission wouldn't affect the completion of the highest priority objective, and he trusted the two squad leaders' judgment. However, whether the interception mission could be completed was a question that needed consideration. He didn't know who had entered the Chimilian clan settlement at this moment; it could be the Chimilian clan coalition ahead, or it could be a task force dispatched by another clan after losing contact with the settlement. But whatever the case, he had to reach the target location as quickly as possible; there was no time for him to study the physiological characteristics of the Chimilian mutants.

Following pre-programmed instructions for the powered armor system's radar and HUD holographic projection interface, Derrick first took a path untrodden by the genetically modified soldiers. From here, he would temporarily part ways with them, heading towards a passage free of the crowded Chimilian clan mutants, towards the more mysterious and eerie parts of the wizard's spire. This didn't mean the defenses in those places would be weak; as he followed the Emperor's instructions to turn a statue in an abandoned room, input Kree symbols on a panel, and enter an open secret passage, he was immediately attacked.

A ghastly green light shot towards him like lightning, so fast that even the Imperial Guards couldn't react in time. The insects parasitizing the gray brick passage shrank instantly under the green light, their chitinous exoskeletons shrinking into dry, fragile spheres. However, just as the light was about to touch Derrickson's power armor, an almost invisible golden glow instantly repelled it, causing it to gradually weaken until only a wisp of light remained.

At that moment, Derrick immediately brandished his Guard Spear and fired a shot in the direction from which the light was coming.

(End of this chapter)