Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1664, Chapter 1660

The island was bathed in night, moonlight streaming through rows of floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a silvery glow on all the furniture and marble floors. Laura Crawford, wrapped in a blanket, lay dozing on the sofa, the extinguished flames leaving only ashes. Bayonetta and Joan of Arc, each draped in a blanket, leaned casually against the middle of the sofa, a cold sea breeze brushing against their naked bodies through the rocks, moonlight, and glass. A holographic projector sat in the center of the long white marble table, its controlled photons creating constantly flashing blocks of color in the hall, until the homeowner clutched three glasses of spirits filled with ice, breaking the rhythmic balance between the changing light and color blocks.

"The whole of Houston is under lockdown now. I can imagine Rosa's expression. Didn't they buy a villa in Houston, planning to enjoy the beach and cocktails every day?" Joan of Arc took the glass, her face full of schadenfreude. Baldr had been mentally manipulating her for five hundred years; it was impossible for her not to harbor resentment. Even if the current Baldr was the Baldr of five hundred years ago, a witch's anger was irrational. The former emperor didn't understand this, so the witches often met with him in the arena in the Immortal City, reserved for the Guardian Order. "Are you sure this will cause NASA to miss the signal reception window?"

"This was a safety net; the satellite used to receive information has been destroyed. If we lived in North America, we might still be able to see the burning light of the satellite as it crashed into the atmosphere. It's a pity, I was hoping to see a decent meteor shower."

He sat between the two witches, taking a sip of strong liquor. The pink hue of desire still lingered on their skin, and they lay sprawled on him, their long, strong legs swaying in the air. They still radiated a moist heat, and the alluring sweet scent of alchemical ointment still filled the air. He thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of caressing their hot, moist skin and beautiful muscles.

"The Sky Carrier has now set sail and is heading to Neptune. The Void Engine will increase acceleration to an astonishing level, and I am worried about whether the acceleration buffer hibernation pods installed inside the Sky Carrier can meet the needs of the mortal crew."

His concerns were not unfounded. While the Sky Carrier was within the planetary gravitational pull, the Void Engines shouldn't have been operating at maximum power. However, to reach Neptune as quickly as possible for the gravity slingshot maneuver, the acceleration generated by the Void Engines would be astonishing. The Royal Guard and the Battle Sisters (androids) took turns on duty in acceleration hibernation pods to ensure the crew's physical and mental health wasn't harmed before escaping Earth's gravity well. After the gravity slingshot phase, the crew would reawaken and begin their mission. Until then, the Sky Carrier would operate according to its established procedures, and blurry images could be captured by telescopes on Earth.

"I hope the hibernation pod has passed testing. I know what kind of stuff those Martians produce; there's practically no user experience to speak of. Equipment testing on Mars can't be completely trusted. Those people have almost forgotten that ordinary humans don't have that many cybernetic bodies." Bayonetta had used weapons made on Mars before. Weapons specifically designed for genetically modified warriors in power armor are completely unsuitable for ordinary humans. The witch couldn't even grip the handle of the bomb gun, and she disliked the intense nuclear radiation from Martian weapons. She gestured with her chin to the image projected on the holographic projector. "The Department of Homeland Security has dispatched an action team and bomb disposal experts to the Houston command center. With Tony Stark's help, your bomb tactic will soon be ineffective."

"Whether or not the bomb is activated is not under our control, Ceresia. Tony Stark's nervousness is not without reason. In the pursuit of leaving no trace, intelligence agencies inevitably lose some power. The fact is, if that person wants to press the button and destroy the Houston command center, there's nothing we can do."

He pointed to the progress bar below the dense information projected holographically. Other images, including aerial shots from a local television news helicopter, showed the National Guard surrounding the Houston command center and imposing citywide traffic control to apprehend the terrorist's accomplice who had brought the bomb into the center. Simultaneously, large numbers of armed military and police personnel began clearing the city, and all criminal organizations suffered significant damage at the same time.

"We're currently downloading data from NASA's database, and the longer Tony Stark delays, the better. I don't want the explosion to affect the data download process, but not everything in this world goes according to my wishes."

"But you can exert influence on that person, even here."

"Yes, I can do it, but it's pointless."

"You're really strange. The Sorcerer Supreme issued a ban on all Kamar-Taj sorcerers, and you brazenly crossed it, yet now you suddenly refuse to interfere." Bayonetta raised an eyebrow with interest, ignoring the hand that was wandering around under the blanket, even though it pleased her quite a bit. "Why? You have no reason not to influence that poor guy, so why don't you? Or is it that non-interference maximizes your benefits? I think that's the only reason."

“No, it’s just because I don’t care,” he said. “That’s all, no other reason. Instead, you should be concerned about Milia’s life. She suddenly decided she wanted to go on an adventure with me. I bet it’s because Laura told her so many exciting adventure stories. Milia is learning to read very quickly, and reading too many adventure novels has given her a perverse interest in rooftops; she’s always thinking about jumping out of the windows.”

"And then you agreed?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with strapping a girl under ten years old to her chest and jumping from a height of 10,000 meters."

Joan of Arc believed that there was a problem with Miriam's upbringing; he had been talking too much to a child who knew nothing.

If an ordinary human were the educator, Milia's thoughts wouldn't change much. However, he is the most powerful psychic individual "naturally conceived" among all intelligent life on this planet, among this race, and even in the entire galaxy. His very existence affects the natural environment, and if he so chooses, his words will naturally form a meme that influences his audience. He didn't want to do this, but he had to use suggestion on Milia's mind to control her uncontrollable psychic power. If he didn't, everyone and everything that interacted with Milia would be harmed, and ferocious beasts from another dimension would enter the real world through Milia herself.

In the process of giving suggestions, Milia herself was also affected.

Perhaps for a girl who had witnessed a bound witch, Milia's mind, like her body, was prematurely mature. She had already learned how to use a paper map to locate herself in the wild and how to call for standard artillery support. But an ordinary girl of her age would never be interested in dry, boring archaeological records—not the written accounts of 19th-century art dealers plundering artifacts in the Middle East, Egypt, and Asia, but the logs of true adventurers exploring uncharted territories. The Croft family's tradition of exploration stemmed from the European exploration boom of the late 19th century. Similarly, Milia shouldn't have known about certain extreme sports she had never experienced before; it was his interest, yet it appeared within Milia's sphere of understanding through the hints he exerted in his language. Just as ancient psionicists gained knowledge while acquiring psionic energy from non-material dimensions such as "outer dimensions," "heaven," "hell," and "the Tao," so too did Milia, who received psionic energy from him.

This is an extremely long, intricate, meticulous, and powerful ritual.

His psychic powers continuously and meticulously modified and reshaped Milia's cerebral cortex, granting her a powerful resistance to malice from other dimensions. Simultaneously, it propelled her body and mind forward at breakneck speed on the path of human evolution. Compared to ordinary humans, her thoughts might be even more "inhuman," but this was merely a minor side effect of the ritual. Few in this world possess the knowledge and ability to perform such rituals. In the archives of the Guardian Order, the psychic modifications Milia underwent were remarkably similar to those received by Victoria Hand, except that due to the urgency of the situation, Victoria Hand's brain could only undergo a small and brutal psychic reshaping.

Even so, the latter now possesses an intuition that is almost prophetic compared to ordinary people.

In his plan with Regent Victor von Doom, the ritual applied to Victoria Hand and Milia, after being practiced and modified, will play a significant role in the future. After all, the boundaries of communication and transportation are the boundaries of a nation's territory. If humanity wants to become the master of the entire galaxy, it must solve the problem of communication and transportation, and this ritual is one of the solutions, matching the Emperor's "Ragnarok Project" that he is currently undertaking.

"I hope you bring a parachute. At least you need to let Milia know that parachutes exist, instead of just jumping out of the window with a parasol." Bayonetta looked up and ruffled his hair from bottom to top. "She's done this more than once when you're not home."

(End of this chapter)