Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1588 The Lunar War (100)

"This is a very vivid example of idealism."

"My lord?"

Constantine looked at the Emperor's face, but being a step behind, he could only see long black hair bound by a golden laurel wreath. Then, he saw every battle unfold on the battlefield of Attilan Fortress: Inhuman civilians weeping over their families amidst the falling flames; mortal soldiers in black Void combat suits gritting their teeth, cursing under their breath as they changed magazines on their laser rifles. He saw the Emperor place his hand on the shoulders of the Inhuman civilians, soothing their fear; he saw the Emperor reach out and pick up a dropped laser battery from a mortal soldier, placing it in the latter's hand.

The commander of the Imperial Guards had become accustomed to the emperor's practice, and sometimes verbal communication was actually an inefficient way of communicating.

This is a state similar to sleepwalking, where the external time does not flow at the same rate as the material universe's time.

Constantine's vision stretched downwards, revealing black flames burning on the deck. Following the Emperor's footsteps, the malevolent entities from the Aetherial Dimension vanished into steam. He saw a priestess in a blood-red robe, her beautiful face etched with mysterious symbols, raising a miniature spark plug (actually a nuclear fuel rod) from the Starfortress's secondary energy source, addressing a horde of severely genetically mutated impoverished people.

The Commander of the Guard listened expressionlessly to Priestess Ferrier's declaration to the mutants, feeling nothing in particular, for these cultists were merely secondary targets on the extermination list—yet he noticed something amiss—on the dimly lit lower deck, besides the nuclear fuel rods in the priestess's hands providing light, other unseen lights illuminated the pilgrimage group. The Commander knew they were now existing between the dimensions of reality and illusion, surveying every corner of Attilan from a perspective transcending time and space. The Emperor had brought starlight for illumination, but this couldn't explain why he heard the priestess speaking in another language. It was the language of the legendary Tower of Babel, that incomprehensible language whispering threateningly in the Commander's ear, but Constantine only found the voice irritating.

"These cultists want to pass through the portal into the Aetheric Dimension," Constantine judged based on his knowledge. He realized that if he followed the cultists, they could find the portal's exact location. "Would this affect our strategic objectives?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the Emperor replied. "In any case, the impact of these cultists may extend a thousand years into the future. They are not important; what matters is the operating logic of this organization. You should have read the development histories of various sects within the Kree Empire and be able to recognize the original ideology of this sect."

Constantine was not surprised that the emperor could see things a thousand years into the future.

"Things are different now."

"Yes," the Emperor sighed thoughtfully. "You can see the development history of idealist cults, which is virtually identical to that of Earth. These cultists rewrote mythology with their own life experiences; they worship nuclear fuel rods, genetic engineering, and the Kree. They don't know what lies behind the portals; in their mythology, the Kree Empire is the divine kingdom behind the portals."

He went ahead, and Constantine continued to follow in his footsteps.

Instead of showing the Commander of the Royal Guard the location of the portal, He guided him to something else. Constantine saw a pair of black wings unfurled in the narrow passage, and two similar inhuman faces emitting a terrifying laugh beneath layers of steel ruins—it was Black Bolt Blackcard Burtgan and Maximus, or more precisely, it was what had once been Black Bolt Blackcard Burtgan and Maximus. Constantine discovered that etheric energy was reshaping their bodies, healing their wounds, and enhancing their power.

"Demon hosts." When Constantine reopened his eyes, he heard the Emperor say, "They may still retain their souls, but the outcome of this soul-binding ritual requires detailed examination to determine. I am pessimistic about whether they still possess self-awareness."

Constantine astutely realized the similarities between Black Bolt Blackcard Burt and Maximus's physical transformations under the influence of etheric energy. They had completely shed their human forms, a fact of paramount importance in mysticism—ethereal beings, extradimensional spiritual entities, demons, angels—whatever one calls these spiritual entities, it cannot change the fact that they are merely concepts, lacking true life. This imitation of appearance could be categorized as idol magic, something Constantine had studied under the Emperor and deeply understood the dangers of such magic.

"You dispersed the energy projected from the etheric plane into the material universe?" the Commander of the Guards deduced. He glanced at Jia Ying, still in the command vehicle, wondering if this Inhuman with a lower degree of genetic mutation was also part of the plan. "Is altering Blackcard Burt's and Maximus's etheric beings the same concept?"

"They are too greedy. In this game, they can't wait to acquire more pieces. Chaos and self-division are the norm after the waves surged in the Aetheric plane. They cannot control themselves because they are chaotic concepts themselves. If we take a long-term view, we can see that the human race is a link in this cosmic entropy game, and we only have one chance to escape the game and become players. Let them consume themselves; we don't have much time, and we need to spend it on more important things." The Emperor didn't continue, but a dozen seconds later, the responses from Mage Hamil and Lieutenant Nelson came through the communication channel.

"The rapid strike force is ready, Your Majesty. We are now awaiting a report from Commander Aparisha," said Lieutenant Nelson. "I have dispatched two transport planes from the Steel Dome. Commander Aparisha will join us in approximately fifteen minutes."

"You won't be taking our research results away!"

"Fire!"

"Back off!"

The legion sergeant stared grimly at the shattered black iron incubation chamber.

The culprit who unleashed these monsters had his upper body shattered by a bomb, but the awakening process couldn't be stopped by the death of the Inhuman researcher. The Fifth Knight Squad, wielding boarding shields, used the heavy metal and deflection fields to desperately repel the attacks of the deformed creatures. Compared to the ethereal entities outside the research facility, each shot from the genetically modified warriors created the intended wounds on these creatures' bodies. However, just as Soferon, a senior researcher at the Immortal City's genetic biology laboratory, had imagined, with access to a vast number of genetic samples and genetic engineering technology, the Inhumans had created creatures beyond human comprehension.

Some enormous, asexual humanoid beings were even taller and stronger than the genetically modified warriors, but their near-absent intelligence and the deliberate rage incited by their mechanical implants made these creatures, used to guard the laboratory, increasingly difficult to deal with. Even though the genetically modified warriors could kill one in seconds, no one knew exactly how many monsters these inhuman researchers, who were conducting unscrupulous research, had created.

"These are Alpha Primitives." Senior researcher Soferon smeared the bloodstains splattered on the outside of his spacesuit into the rapid detection equipment. As a researcher who participated in the entire Attilan campaign, he provided considerable assistance to command, such as identifying the strange, mutated creatures on the lower decks of Attilan. "To be precise, they are some upgraded version of the Alpha Primitives; they also possess human genetic material."

His words further enraged the genetically modified warriors.

"What blasphemy!"

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(End of this chapter)