Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1564, Chapter 1560: The Lunar War (Seventy-Six)

The Afterlife maintains minimal communication with Attilan, a secret known only to the Attilan royal family, as the plan to establish the Afterlife originated from their clandestine schemes. In fact, the Afterlife, the settlement of the Inhumans on Earth, was a plan proposed by the Attilan royal family many years ago. While the Centaurus Clan, the Ghost Clan, the Villain Clan, the Chimerian Clan, and the Bird Clan were confined to Attilan Fortress, vying for power, the Attilan royal family turned their attention to their ancestral home planet, Earth.

Due to the physical similarity between Earth humans and the commoner clans, the Attilan royal family believed that the commoner clans could be integrated into Earth's human society, or even that all Earth humans could be transformed into Inhumans. This is also the reason why the original Terrigen interstellar missiles were designed. Even though the initial purpose of these missiles was for void warfare, the Inhuman-designed Terrigen compound warheads could infiltrate large amounts of Terrigen material into Earth's ecosystem, silently causing genetic mutations in humans.

If this plan succeeds, the Inhumans will no longer be confined to Attilan Fortress, which would be a magnificent feat for the entire Inhuman race. At that time, the Attilan royal family had just exiled the Hive, the Inhumans' genetically engineered Inhuman control organism, which was the totem of the Hydra's original worship. The Attilan royal family held the most primal homesickness for Earth, and the first few generations did not want to live under the steel dome for eternity, painting the sky with the color of the ever-present night.

The former king of Attilan knew this idea would certainly be opposed by other clans. Even though they were all products of the Kree Empire's genetic engineering, the other clans had been involved in the wars longer and harbored a deeper aversion to humans. They also did not want to disrupt the political balance between clans. Therefore, the Attilan royal family had to use other arguments to persuade the other clans to agree to build the Terrigen interstellar missile. Before that, they needed to cultivate a representative for the Inhumans on Earth and establish a base—this base would be the future afterlife.

The Emperor once gave Black Bolt a vision.

The communication between kings was unknown to others.

In that vision, Black Bolt saw Jia Ying. Even without knowing what the person in charge of the next generation looked like, Black Bolt could discern the connection between the next generation and Attilan Castle from the omnipresent Attilan royal crest. Furthermore, the excavated Kree corpse and the reconnaissance ship near it indicated that the human monarch knew the secrets of the Inhumans' origins. In addition, he saw things that the human monarch shouldn't have known.

Black Bolt witnessed firsthand the Attilan kings' gathering of the royal family to discuss establishing a base on Earth, and the scene of the first royals secretly departing for Earth, leaving their homeland behind. He saw even details not found in the classified documents he could only access after becoming King of Attilan. As if traveling back in time, Black Bolt experienced every historical event before the establishment of the afterlife in meticulous detail, understanding why the Emperor, from a human perspective, wanted to completely destroy the Inhumans, and why the Attilan kings were so attached to Earth.

Because that is the homeland that humans yearn for, and it was also the homeland of the Inhumans.

Life is old there older than the trees

Life there outlives trees

Younger than the mountains

And as young as a mountain range.

blowing like a breeze

Like a gentle breeze, it drifts away.

Country roads take me home

The road to my hometown, take me home.

To the place I belong

I'm back in the home I've been longing for.

West Virginia

West Virginia

Mountain momma

Mother of the Mountains

Take me home country roads

Take me home, the road to my hometown.

The Emperor shared a human song with Black Bolt that the latter had never heard before.

Even though Black Bolt had never heard of West Virginia, nor knew what mountains, trees, or a gentle breeze were, he could imagine his Inhuman ancestors living on Earth, feeling the warmth of sunlight filtering through the atmosphere onto their faces. Even though he had never experienced that feeling, tears still streamed down his cheeks, as if someone had clenched his heart and squeezed it tightly. He harbored no resentment towards the human emperors, because those who determined the continuation of their races all shared the view that survival was neither good nor evil. All living beings in the universe had only one purpose: survival, and the sole responsibility of rulers was to serve, nothing more, just like him and the human emperors.

"His Majesty."

Black Bolt waved his hand, indicating that he was alright. The doctor standing behind him quickly stitched up the wound and cleaned up the blood.

"This is definitely not because of the surgery."

He pointed to the tears in his eyes and made a not-so-small joke. His complex sign language flashed rapidly, as if he didn't want anyone to see his emotions, much less that he was becoming increasingly prone to hallucinations lately—in the Inhumans' mythological system, a blend of primitive human totem worship and Kree mythology, there was a concept called dreams, a parallel dimension beyond the material world. In the Inhuman context, losing focus was called being trapped in a dream—according to scientific archaeology and reconstruction, the Attirans also knew that dreams were actually a dimension beyond the material universe, composed of all emotions and souls; psychic power and genetic mutations were related to the energy of this dimension.

In the mouths of some cosmic civilizations, this energy is called cosmic secret energy.

"Continue the mission. We must defend our homeland," he said. "Clawtooth, Gordon, continue our mission. I will accompany you."

Gordon nodded, gritting his teeth in agreement.

"Your Majesty," Dr. Richard pushed up his glasses, as if he couldn't breathe without them. His ability was similar to that of Queen Linda, Black Bolt's mother—detecting and purifying toxic substances. For the King of Attilan, this ability was more useful than any medical system, since even within the Attilan royal family, political assassinations were not uncommon. "That shrapnel was only millimeters from your spine. If you still wish to go to the battlefield, I suggest you wear protective gear. I don't want to undergo neurosurgery, nor do I have the time for it."

Black Bolt smiled and shook his head.

Fortress Attilan is not without powered armor; the Kree Empire's combat suits themselves offer decent protection, and industrial protective suits can be modified for use as battlefield powered armor. However, for the Inhumans who need to fully utilize their abilities, such clothing is actually an obstacle. Furthermore, the complicated donning process and the lack of wartime necessity have prevented anyone from proposing the use of industrial protective suits to replace battlefield ones; doing so now is certainly too late.

"Send out an engineering and maintenance team to restore the power network as soon as possible," Black Bolt instructed his subordinates.

The human army had not completely cut off all energy supplies to the settlements; some areas with independent power sources still maintained power. Now, with the deck collapsed, the energy networks of many independent generators were disrupted, leaving only a handful of places still lit. Black Bolt ordered a light control order; all areas must remain dark until the generators and energy networks are restored, otherwise the few places with light will certainly be attacked by the enemy.

His judgment proved to be extremely wise, something the Inhumans, who had long forgotten their war experience, could not comprehend at all.

The deck collapse and the teleportation strike team failed to destroy all of the human army's fire support positions. The human king's preparations were far too thorough. Black Bolt didn't even think his actions would have much effect; he was merely trying to divert the enemy's attention.

Following the blackout, several shells landed on the Gene Council's plaza, and machine guns and various artillery pieces began unleashing fire in that direction. The trail of tracer rounds in the darkness formed a blinding red line, killing over a dozen civilians trying to hide inside the Gene Council or receive medical aid in the plaza, as well as a royal physician who came to their aid. Without the blackout, the casualties from this shelling would have been far more severe. Fortunately, the human army seemed unaware of the location's importance, and several capable Inhumans used their psionic powers to create a protective barrier, preventing further losses.

While Black Bolt found the losses difficult to accept, he had to admit that the human army had reacted quickly, and that such low casualties were extremely fortunate. The medical positions had begun to shift. Black Bolt relinquished the Genesis Council's lounge as a medical facility, leaving only a few Royal Guards to maintain order. The rest of the combat personnel were dispatched to the equally chaotic front lines to reinforce and organize civilian armed forces for a counterattack.

When Black Bolt resumed his teleportation strikes, searching for the human army's artillery and logistical positions with the help of the psionic prophecy, he found his mission was no longer as easy as before. After a period of turmoil, the human army seemed to be building a new defensive line, and Black Bolt saw several engineering teams clearing large piles of scrap metal from the deck and erecting scaffolding.

Meanwhile, a large group of Alpha Primitives burst forth from the collapsed deck. These genetically engineered creatures seemed to possess some kind of intelligence, running rampant on the other side of the rift within the Inhuman defense zone, dragging any Inhumans who couldn't resist into the rift. The genetically modified warriors also noticed this, but they didn't care whether those blocking their way were Alpha Primitives or Inhumans. They showed no mercy to any creature in their path, their chainsaws and explosive guns continuing to be used.

Dozens of broadcast-equipped hover drones deployed by the human army slowly flew through the city.

The synthesized Inhuman language repeatedly uttered the same phrase: anyone in the city wielding a weapon and intending to resist would be killed; only the commoner clans, whose physical mutations were minimal, would survive. If a commoner clan could capture soldiers from other clans and bring them to surrender, they would be treated as prisoners of war, as the Inhumans originated from the human race and were forced to leave their homeland due to the atrocities of the Kree Empire. The human race would welcome these lost branches of humanity with open arms.

The human army also claimed that they had breached the Chimerian clan's settlement and killed all the mutants there.

Initially, this propaganda had no effect, but the overwhelming defeat of the war left no room for those who thought otherwise, especially the Attilan royal family. As high-level mutants whose appearance was indistinguishable from most humans, if human armies valued the integrity of the human form, then the Attilan royal family was the most likely to survive. Therefore, this propaganda broadcast was not intended for the common people, but for the Attilan royal family, whose guards were tasked with setting up frontline defensive positions.

Black Bolt knew that the Emperor's claims were true. As a king, he had at least the basic trust in the promises of another king, let alone a human emperor who told him everything truthfully in the illusion and was willing to give the Inhumans of Attilan a dignified death.

Within the entire Star Fortress of Attilan, the only entity of value to the human race in terms of unity is the Attilan royal family.

Only the Attilan royal family and commoner clans, who still remember the origins of the Inhumans, are able to stand with humanity against the Dark Order. Other clans, such as the Centaurus Clan and the Ghost Clan, would never extend a helping hand to humans who look completely different from themselves; they might even side with the Dark Order in exchange for a chance to survive on Earth. After all, no one wants to spend their entire life in Attilan Fortress. The reason other clan courts agreed to the construction of the Terrigen Star Missile was because they planned to load their own mutant materials into the warheads to cause large-scale genetic mutations on Earth, increasing their own population. They were unaware that the Attilan royal family had already taken the first step and established a base on Earth.

"I invite you to witness the destruction of the kingdom you yearn for." The Emperor, accompanied by his royal guards, watched the prisoner disembark from the assault transport ship. The prisoner's identity wasn't particularly important, but her unique circumstances meant the Emperor would inevitably study her. "I'm sorry, you'll have to live in the cabins of the Sky Carrier for the time being," the Emperor said. The prisoner, dressed in an indoor spacesuit, glared fiercely at the Emperor, but soon had to look away, blinking hard to avoid burning her eyes with the light. "This is to fulfill my promise. I promised you I would destroy the Inhumans, and therefore you must be present as a witness."

"Is this Attilan?" Jia Ying said in Chinese. "It doesn't look very good."

The emperor seemed amused by her words. "Don't expect a group of slaves who stole their masters' assets to develop any glorious civilization. The Inhumans have been liberated physically, but not mentally. Especially when they see the human race, they think they can become the masters of the human race."

"So you wanted me alive until now just so I could see this?" Jia Ying stared at the collapsing buildings and the raging fire in the darkness. "Just to satisfy your desire for revenge?"

"No, I just wanted to tell you that without your and the help from the afterlife, I wouldn't have put the attack on Attilan on the agenda so quickly." The Emperor turned to Constantine. "According to the plan, now it's time to find that thing."

"Yes, my lord." Constantine nodded. "We have found an interstellar missile."

"Perhaps you once harbored the idea of ​​the Inhumans ruling humanity," the Emperor nodded, looking at Jia Ying, "but I can only tell you that this is the root cause of the Inhumans' destruction."

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(End of this chapter)