Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1601 The Lunar War (113)

Regent Victor von Doom nodded; he didn't have much faith in those so-called superheroes either. Even if these ordinary people possessed extraordinary intelligence and pure justice, they were too influenced by other factors to wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to saving the human race. He called the so-called superheroes a "mob," not to belittle them, but to simply and clearly illustrate the relationship between superheroes and human society.

As someone who personally experienced the forefront of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, Victor von Doom had also read Alan Moore's *Watchmen* comic book series—after all, the secluded environment of Kamar-Taj offered very little entertainment—but he did not compare Doctor Manhattan in the comics to the Emperor. Even though Doctor Manhattan's power in the comics was as great as the Emperor's, the Emperor's heart was far more resolute and noble than Doctor Manhattan's. In his eyes, Doctor Manhattan was still a mortal, a so-called "mob," a slave to fate.

This is not simply about using cruelty and violation of current human moral standards as a panacea, but because some things must be done. Even if those who are saved do not express gratitude, their survival is still everything the Emperor fought for. His only reward is for people to follow his plans and for the human race to become strong, prosperous, and stable. Regardless of whether Attilan stands with the human race in the war against the Dark Order, and regardless of whether Attilan launches Terrigen missiles to pollute the Earth's environment, as long as the Inhumans exist, the dangerous psionic gene mutations implanted by the Kree will spread like a virus, only at different speeds.

The spread of psionic genes will have extremely serious consequences. Kamar-Taj cannot control all potential psionics; some will inevitably slip through the net and hear the whispers behind the veil, brewing a terrible catastrophe. This will be the price of temporary mercy; many more will perish because of the whispers behind the veil and the weak-willed psionics. If Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, or anyone else knew that a subhuman race, separated from humanity thousands of years ago and now possessing a large number of dangerous psionic gene mutations, lived on the moon, and that their leader could suppress their desire for Earth, they would never have launched a war like the Emperor and Regent to completely eliminate the unavoidable potential danger. The result of such mercy would be even more deaths, while they could satisfy themselves with a sense of universal morality.

This is what the emperor told the regent: destroying one world is the only way to save another.

Some might be unable to press the bomb button due to guilt, and the Emperor, though experiencing similar hesitation, knew he would ultimately press it and make his choice. Therefore, he ignored his inner struggle and chose this decision no one else dared to take—he knew it was a limited form of justice, a justice unique to humanity, which for other alien civilizations meant oppression, exploitation, and slaughter. But in the Emperor's view, for humanity to discuss equality across the entire galaxy after reaching a certain level of development was tantamount to placing its own neck on the guillotine of aliens—mercy for the weak was merely weakness; only the mercy of the strong brought peace. If he wanted humanity to become strong, he would inevitably have to pluck the crown over the corpses of countless aliens.

According to Regent Victor von Doom, although the Emperor, like Dr. Manhattan, had seen all the possibilities of time, the Emperor would not succumb to fate's arrangement, but rather create his own destiny and that of humanity before the inevitable end arrived. It was an opportunity, an opportunity worth sacrificing everything for, an opportunity that blind and short-sighted people could neither understand nor see.

You'd never guess what questions those diplomats were asking. I know you're not interested in reading their thoughts, but if you're curious, I can pick a few to tell you.

The phantom of Regent Victor von Doom sat down in a high-backed chair to the side.

Although it meant nothing, it gave him a sense of comfort. This wooden chair, which once belonged to the Vladimir family and stood alongside the emperor's throne, now belonged to the emperor, who preferred the white marble throne, which suited his physique better when he was in armor, thanks to the change of power.

Some people are speculating privately whether your eyes emit heat vision. Others are asking if you can fly and whether you need to sunbathe; still others are considering the damage you would cause if you clashed with Thor, the most powerful Avenger, and the possible outcome. You know this banquet couldn't be kept completely secret. The first thing these diplomats did upon returning to the embassy was check for listening devices and then report back home. Our checks were thorough; they didn't even have a chance to use iris cameras. They couldn't take anything away except what they could see with their own eyes.

You can tell them that my eyes can emit heat, I can fly, and I don't need to bask in the sun.

[You know very well that they are broadcasting their fear of you to the world. They fear you are an uncontrollable superman. Superman is real, they want to say it, they want to project the fear from the comics into the real world because they know you will destroy them. They will stop at nothing to gather information about you, and Countess Karkov is clearly a weak link in this chain; I don't believe her loyalty is impeccable. The same goes for Natasha Romanov. When a decaying tool is still usable, it's best to prepare another for replacement.]

The phantom of the regent rose from his high-backed chair, as light as dust.

[The short-sighted masses across Europe and even North America, lacking comprehensive education and collective consciousness, will rise up against you through their incitement. In such a situation, populism is the only path available to Europe and North America, meaning we will have to spend more resources, including time, to integrate this region. Therefore, a war in Greece cannot begin now; that would trigger World War III, and we cannot withstand a full-scale attack from European countries in a very short time.]

The emperor remained silent, his arms still resting on the armrests.

Regent Victor von Doom nodded.

The world needs to think about a question.

When an individual has the power to overthrow the system to achieve absolute personal justice, how should the world respond to them? If an emperor can, to a certain extent, change objective reality through subjective initiative, should the world's governments consider their attitude towards the world? How can ordinary people accept actions that contradict universal worldviews and can even be described as absolutely rational?

Just as American society in the *Watchmen* comics held Dr. Manhattan in a godlike aura, in many parts of Europe (even the Nordic countries with large influxes of Middle Eastern immigrants), the emperor was seen as a demon because he did not act as the people expected. His harsh methods of destroying churches and eradicating religion were called "the Antichrist" by many. However, this label only circulated among the Puritans of North American television evangelicals because the Yugoslav Federation was in Southern Europe, not North America.

Before the emperor's arrival at the UN headquarters in New York, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believed that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was responsible for its debts. However, after the emperor's ascent to the UN Security Council and his sword-wielding act of cutting down a mural painted by Per Krogh, IMF representatives reversed their stance and began discussing reconstruction loans with Regent Viktor von Dum, promising to extend the terms of previous debts again to ensure that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's credit rating would not be downgraded.

The Regent argued that objective facts could be altered through the Emperor's actions. Therefore, He was considering how to compensate for the shortcomings of objective reality through His own actions, ensuring the future of the Yugoslav Federation met His set targets, rather than whether He needed to continue the plan. It was merely that the charlatans of the North American television evangelical sect, displaying madness and performing miracles to amass wealth, posed no need for the Regent or Emperor to worry about the impact of their incitement. In fact, in some instances, the European populace (primarily Germanic) privately worshipped the Emperor's glory and power—the plan would proceed as scheduled. The massive computational model was constantly calculating and revising, adapting to reality and making analyses. The computational model running in the Emperor's mind required far more computing power than all the computers in the world combined. Even Viktor von Dum dared not claim to understand every detail; all he knew was what the Emperor had written on paper—a grand framework, conclusions drawn from trillions of simulations and calculations.

The regent left the throne room, leaving the emperor there.

Apart from the silent, motionless guards, as still as statues, not a breath of air stirred by His movements or breathing, as if He had become one with the white marble. Only when the dazzling lights of the banquet were extinguished, and the beautiful morning light crossed the Stara and Dinara mountains, shimmering in the sunlight over the forest of crystal glass and reinforced concrete, did the Emperor on the white marble throne open his eyes and look at the spots of light that streamed through the rose windows onto the vast antelope carpet of the throne room.

"My lord?"

The emperor shook his head. "You want to know why I returned to Earth instead of overseeing the entire campaign from Attilan?"

"Yes." Amon stepped forward and stood beside the emperor's throne. "You have every reason to remain in Attilan rather than engage in diplomacy on Earth. The final stages of the Attilan campaign are more important than demonstrating the Inhuman mutants to mortals."

"I need an excuse to return to Earth, Amon. An excuse that can fool Kamar-Taj. Now, apart from those dimensional veterans and the arcane mages we took, no one in Kamar-Taj or headquarters can be trusted until we find out what really happened there."

"Is it Lady Athena?"

"She's injured." The emperor closed his eyes, recalling what he had seen.

He wasn't idle on this throne. Besides his usual model deductions and algorithm optimizations, He also met with Athena. However, she was in poor condition. From her smooth, rounded shoulders to her muscular waist and hips, a gruesome wound almost cleaved her back, blood obscuring her former radiant beauty. In fact, one of the reasons He rushed back to Earth was to retrieve Athena from the churning Yarlung Tsangpo River and return her to her apartment in New York—that night, many people in the area saw a golden meteor fall from the sky into the valley—He spent almost the entire night exorcising the curse that had bound her, cleansing her body, healing her ailment, and repairing her wounds. Upon waking, Athena drank heavily and took many medicines before telling the Emperor what she had seen.

"Because of my recklessness, I went to Kamar-Taj without armor." Even as Salomon used magic to wash her long, golden hair as she sat naked on the bed, Athena's face remained filled with rage. Her cheeks were flushed with agitation. "Karmar-Taj headquarters was sealed off. I tried to break in to see the Sorcerer Supreme, but tens of thousands of spells protecting Kamar-Taj erupted simultaneously, injuring me. It was just an accident!"

He did not answer.

"Your intuition is right." After venting her emotions, Athena seemed to have regained her original wisdom. "Something terrible has happened at Kamar-Taj. To be precise, something terrible has happened to the Sorcerer Supreme. I can't even be sure of the fate of the sorcerers inside."

"They're still alive, at least the dungeon is safe, and the guards I stationed there are still alive."

Athena turned her head, glancing at her nominal adopted son out of the corner of her eye. She could glean a great deal of confidential information from just that one sentence, but now was not the time to concern herself with such matters. "What do you plan to do?" she asked. "Can you break the protective spell on Kamar-Taj?"

"That's equivalent to figuring out the trajectory of every atom in every star in the Milky Way," He said. "I can do it, and I'm doing it. I've been doing this work since the moment I saved you."

"You don't have authority over the Kamar-Taj defense system?"

"Ultimate authority still rests with the Sorcerer Supreme."

"What on earth happened!" Athena whispered, feeling light bubbles slide down her long hair and disappear in specks of light. "Don't tell me your prophecy didn't see anything! I won't get hurt by someone else's prophecy. You owe me a debt now; you have to tell me what kind of prophecy you saw!"

"I saw that the Venerable Master was injured."

"The Venerable Master is frequently injured!"

"This time is different. The Sorcerer Supreme shielded Attilan from the most dangerous moment."

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(End of this chapter)