Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1563 The Lunar War (Seventy-Five)

When the deck collapsed, even the First and Second Combat Groups, composed of genetically modified warriors and ordinary Void combat troops assembled by the Emperor, were thrown into chaos within a short time. Numerous armored vehicles, ammunition carriers, mobile radar detection vehicles, and short-range artillery pieces fell into the steel cracks of the deck, sparks and smoke emanating from the ulcer-like wounds. This crack was located precisely on the cutting edge of the encirclement network constructed by the human army, swallowing the relatively dense short-range artillery positions—including heavy mortars, assault tanks, and other wheeled and tracked armored vehicles—into the bottomless abyss in the narrow terrain. This caused immense difficulties for command and control, resulting in massive casualties and a rapid breakdown of the command chain. In less than a minute, the entire battlefield was completely divided. Unaffected units were temporarily unable to receive intelligence from higher command, while those suffering losses due to the collapsed deck began their own rescue efforts.

Black Bolt blinked his dry eyes.

He had now reached another front. As usual, he held off the human army, using his abilities to destroy several armored vehicles and genetically modified soldiers forged from steel. Then, his subordinates delivered a speech, calling on the Inhumans present to set aside their clan prejudices and unite against the enemy. The mission went smoothly; almost nothing could stop Black Bolt's advance, neither building wreckage nor heavy armored vehicles. Just as he was about to speak again, a violent shaking and a distant explosion disrupted his plans. Several genetically modified soldiers, firmly strapped to the deck, seized the opportunity to open fire, killing several members of Black Bolt's royal guard. Shrapnel also wounded Black Bolt in the back, forcing the royal guard to remove him from the battlefield.

"This was an accident, Your Majesty." The Centaur clan psionicist had survived the earlier firefight. Whether it was luck or misfortune, the genetically modified warriors seemed to have halted their pursuit, as if this force was strategically no different from the Inhuman civilians, not worth investing any more effort in. Although somewhat puzzled by the genetically modified warriors' actions, now was not the time to ponder these questions. "The human army also suffered considerable losses..." It looked around, lowering its voice as the fighting gradually resumed on the battlefield, "...I heard the human troops communicating about their losses. This was not part of their plan."

Black Bolt nodded, offering little further comment.

There's a reason why this Centaurus clan psionicist was kept hidden.

Simply being able to read and understand all the world's writing systems and languages ​​isn't enough to qualify it as a high-level secret agent. The most crucial element is its method of understanding writing and language. Unlike others who study characters and pronunciation, it directly comprehends the meaning of others, akin to mind reading but ranking higher on the Genetic Council's ability assessment list. Its working principle is almost prophetic, and only a few powerful psychic abilities and prophets can remain unaffected by this ability. Black Bolt brought this psionic individual along to provide ample battlefield information. After all, few in the world possess this ability to capture real-time battlefield information, allowing it to provide crucial guidance to this special squad composed of the Royal Guard and clan allied forces.

Despite the pain in his back, Black Bolt issued orders to the royal guards around him.

Although heartbroken by the Inhuman casualties, he made a choice that most of those present believed was correct: to dispatch all trained armed forces to breach the human army's encirclement, penetrating deep into the enemy's rear to disrupt their logistics and command. The most crucial task—destroying the enemy command post—required personnel Black Bolt had brought with him: Inhumans from the Earth's Inhuman settlement, "Afterlife," possessing teleportation and vibrational abilities. If Agent Daisy Jensen of S.H.I.E.L.D. were here, she would have recognized Gordon, an Inhuman with flat-eyed sockets, who had appeared alongside her mother, Jia Ying, multiple times, interfering with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s missions and causing them considerable trouble.

Now that the human army's offensive momentum has been thwarted, Black Bolt believes he can move forward with his next plan.

Using his teleportation abilities and the battlefield information he had gathered, Black Bolt was confident he could destroy the human army's heavy artillery positions as quickly as possible, and then destroy the enemy command center before the human army could react. According to the description of the Centaurus Clan psyker, a near-intuitive feeling pointed him in the right direction. Black Bolt didn't have time to consider the credibility of this information; he had no choice—and as it turned out, his gamble paid off—with Locktooth and Gordon's relay teleportation, he could teleport several combat squads at once. When he arrived at the first location, he found himself facing one of the vehicle-mounted howitzer positions.

The Inhuman soldiers, still disoriented from the teleportation, had no time to assess the damage. The human soldiers, startled by the sudden appearance of the enemy, reacted quickly, but Black Bolt was even faster. Before the human soldiers could aim all their weapons at the enemy, Black Bolt spoke. He uttered a single word that destroyed the heavy mortars and the soldiers attempting to fire at them. This did not save the Inhuman soldiers' lives. No matter how powerful Black Bolt was, he could not withstand the lasers on his own. Seizing a mere second, the soldiers trained by the Royal Guard still unleashed the laser weapons at maximum power, firing at the Inhuman soldiers who had not yet dispersed.

The scorching beam of light instantly burned through flesh and blood, the acrid smell of burning flesh filling the air. Black Bolt resisted the urge to turn around; the pungent odor assaulted his nostrils, making his throat feel greasy. He had to open his mouth again, uttering another word that represented death. The other Inhuman soldiers, either relieved of the discomfort from the teleportation or deeply traumatized by the death of their comrades, finally fulfilled their duties. Black Bolt was glad he didn't have to speak again; his mouth was filled with the sweet, metallic taste of blood.

Each time he used his ability, he should have suffered far more damage than those who died from it. He felt his teeth and throat bleeding from the vibrations caused by his ability. However, he couldn't cough, not even to clear his throat. Any sound that escaped his throat would disrupt the external environment.

The Centaur clan psionicist pointed to another location, and Black Bolt nodded, waving to summon the Inhuman soldiers who were planting bombs in the mortar ammunition boxes. Twenty seconds after the next teleportation ended, a violent explosion once again shook the human army's encirclement. This wasn't an isolated incident; many encirclement positions had already suffered significant losses due to landslides, and now the deck's support structure was further damaged, causing large sections of deck to collapse, adding fuel to the already chaotic rescue and encirclement efforts.

Compared to Black Bolt's team, Locktooth's situation was not so easy.

Although the Centaurus Clan psionicists continuously provided coordinates and instructions through the communication system, Attilan lacked a suitable communicator for Locktooth's large head, so all information had to be relayed. Delayed information and slow movements meant that each time Locktooth arrived at the mission location, it would find the human army already prepared—Black Bolt's squad moved incredibly fast, and the attacked human army reacted like startled animals, quickly shifting their short-range artillery positions—every time Locktooth teleported the Inhuman army, it would find several guns already pointed at them. Fortunately, the squad Black Bolt assigned to it was powerful enough; each member was an offensive ability user trained by the royal family, a rare breed among the commoner clans of Attilan.

Locktooth, its long tongue lolling out, seemed to want a few minutes of rest; its mind was completely disconnected from the chaotic battlefield. Locktooth was in a terrible mood. Its favorite friend, Crystal, was currently lying in the hospital, and it had failed to protect Crystal, nor had it stopped Maximus from escaping. In its silly, big head, it worried that its food for tonight would be canceled under the pretext of punishment, and Locktooth really didn't want to go hungry.

Just as several people fell in front of it, a laser beam grazed its foot at an angle.

The pain jolted it awake.

It opened its massive jaws and bit off the upper half of the human soldier in front of it, who was riddled with bullets. It even chewed up the laser pistol along with the human bones and swallowed it. The other Inhuman soldiers grabbed its fur with disgust, seemingly trying to get away from the dog's mouth, which was still dripping with blood and bits of flesh. Or perhaps they saw the Hound's hungry eyes scanning the room and were worried that it might bite one of them at any moment.

"The artillery here is all small stuff."

The Attilan Inhumans didn't recognize the squad mortars, but the indirect fire short-range squad artillery was simple to operate, and the few among them with metal-manipulating abilities easily figured it out. They didn't know the mortars' firing range, but the vast stretches of ruins they saw from their position filled them with rage. However, before they could even begin planting the explosives, they saw several eyes staring at them from a dark corner through a breach in the deck not far away—the Inhuman soldiers instinctively aimed their weapons at those eyes and pulled the triggers without hesitation—and then, several burly figures rushed out. These creatures, wearing plastic caps and with vacant faces, were not enemies, but Alpha primitive laborers from the lower deck. These laborers were very strange, with odd symbols painted on their faces and bodies. Just as the Inhuman soldiers were about to stop, shouting at these beings who couldn't be considered intelligent to halt, the Alpha primitives rushed forward, grabbed the Inhuman soldiers, and dragged them into the deck breach.

The dog with the buck teeth was startled when it saw it.

The air suddenly exploded, and the Locktooth Dog leaped into the air, vanishing without a trace. The next second, the air expanded again, and the Locktooth Dog teleported back. This time, it charged forward, gently biting several Inhuman soldiers it hadn't had time to take with it, before disappearing again, completely ignoring the unplanted explosives.

It had seen Alpha Cultists before, but those Alpha Cultists were all obedient and dull creatures, following any command without question. This time, however, the Locktooth Dog finally witnessed just how terrifying an out-of-control Alpha Cultist could be. Regardless of whether the Inhuman soldiers possessed offensive abilities or were armed, the Alpha Cultist's hormone-enhanced, unnatural muscles tore the Inhuman soldiers' limbs apart alive. Terrifying screams echoed from the cracks in the deck, fading into the distance and disappearing completely.

This scene is terrifying.

It was just a pet dog and couldn't possibly withstand such a terrifying scene.

Black Bolt felt a gentle bump on his shoulder from something enormous. When the teleportation mist cleared, he smelled a familiar scent. Locktooth looked at him with teary eyes, spitting out several Inhuman soldiers covered in drool. It nuzzled Black Bolt, who had just returned to the Gene Council hall, then lay down, listening to the wounded soldiers' fragmented account of their ordeal—Black Bolt glared at Locktooth lying on the ground—if Locktooth had been diligent, it could have alerted command and summoned other squads to resolve the situation.

"Gordon, I'd like to ask you and Locktooth to switch jobs," Black Bolt said, looking at the exhausted Inhuman beside him. "You will lead another strike team, and Locktooth can take care of my teleportation."

Gordon, the eyeless Inhuman, nodded.

Whenever Black Bolt mentions the human army, his face blazes with hatred. If Black Bolt hadn't restrained him during the previous operation, Gordon would have surely forgotten his own importance and personally killed those human soldiers. "I'll do anything to kill humans," he tells Black Bolt. "I was told that the human army's flag bears the emblem of a raptor from Earth. My sister, mother, and lover died at their hands, and I must avenge them."

Black Bolt knew that the sister, mother, and lover Gordon mentioned were the same person.

He wasn't unaware of the Inhuman settlements on Earth that existed in the afterlife, but when he last received news of the afterlife, he learned that all the Inhumans there had been killed by humans. It wasn't until Gordon, following an ancient pact, teleported into a return pod and activated the reentry switch, allowing the Kree Empire's rescue pod to send him back to Attiland, that the Attiland royal family learned of the suffering the Inhumans on Earth had endured. The kind-hearted Crystal wept uncontrollably upon hearing the news—however, Black Bolt couldn't tell the other royals that the mind reader's account differed somewhat from Gordon's—in fact, the Inhumans and humans in the afterlife weren't without opportunities for cooperation, but the immortal Inhuman named Jiaying harbored other intentions. Black Bolt had met the human king; he knew that the one who took Jiaying away was that human king. It could be said that the attack on Attiland today might be partly due to Jiaying.

Today was incredibly busy, so busy I was completely overwhelmed and had no motivation to update. I also slept even less.

(End of this chapter)