Marvel Magic Case Files

Stephanie was nervous, even though she was prepared for this moment.

Gideon Malik had already driven to the Capitol to prepare for his work. The super-soldier and military exoskeleton projects wouldn't primarily benefit the military, but rather the propaganda department. Now the entire nation knew that Captain America, Steve Rogers, was a wanted man for refusing to sign the Sokovia Accords, and the US government desperately needed a new "Bond Boy," even if this "Bond Boy" couldn't wield that shield. Gideon Malik's plan was to collaborate with the US government and the Advanced Threat Control Office (ATCU) to create a modified subject capable of obeying orders, while simultaneously using it as a Pentagon special operations testing ground to study the special operations effectiveness of super-soldiers.

The Malik family has already selected a highly capable and experienced intelligence officer as commander. Gideon Malik has an even more important task: to integrate the combat systems provided by Stephanie Malik into NATO's automated command and control system. This is something Congress is happy to see, as it saves a significant amount of money and allows more people to line their own pockets. Some might find it absurd that such a private armed force could be integrated into the US military's combat system, but in fact, the security forces responsible for transporting nuclear fuel for the US Department of Energy are also private armed forces, as was the Blackwater company that fought the Iraq War. It's not surprising that a semi-militarized organization comprised of biotech and prosthetic companies, under the command of the US government and used for global security and responding to advanced threats, could be integrated into the US military's command system.

Moreover, this Advanced Threat Control Bureau collaborates with numerous biological research institutes (mostly companies acquired by Dr. Whitehall), has launched many patents, and conducted numerous FDA-approved charitable projects, such as neonatal care hospitals. More importantly, these companies possess technologies similar to life-extending surgeries, making life, which money cannot buy, readily available. For the sake of life, old-timers like Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Rockefeller are willing to offer assistance, especially since the effectiveness of this therapy has been proven. Furthermore, Gideon Malik is well aware that these financial elites are fond of engaging in mysterious ancient societies. After all, having acquired immeasurable, meaningless power and money, immortality, wisdom, and heaven become their most desired things. The Hydra establishment is a prime example of such an ancient religious society, and this is also the means by which the Hydra establishment continues to this day and expands its influence.

Long before the establishment of the United States, the Hydra establishment in Europe had already infiltrated the Freemason system, using a branch of this conspiracy theorist as a disguise—an organization called Leviathan. Only social elites within Leviathan who passed tests and held a certain social standing could be guided to another layer of the Hydra establishment, through "ancient portals," to access "ancient wisdom" and embrace human evolution, thus expanding their influence among the wealthy. Besides Leviathan, there were also organizations like the Illuminati in Bavaria, whose system copied Freemasonry, which were also targets of the Hydra establishment. However, unlike some organizations that worship witchcraft, the Hydra establishment did not engage in superstition; they genuinely possessed "ancient portals" and "ancient wisdom," but the vast majority of those who entered the "ancient portals" became food for the "ancient wisdom." This whole affair is truly darkly humorous.

When Stephanie presented the Emperor with the Hydra establishment's files, this humor often pleased him; after all, the "ancient wisdom" was now locked away in a tank, devoid of any mystery. However, the Hydra establishment still managed to cause quite a stir using this Leviathan. In the Immortal City, there was an agent named Dottie, who was said to have undergone modifications, maintained her youth, and had once clashed with Peggy Carter. She left London only after Peggy Carter's death, and was subsequently captured by the Malik family and handed over to the Emperor.

When Hydra's main forces were still in England, they activated the portal through resonance. It is said that more than a decade ago, a symbology professor named Robert Langdon almost discovered Hydra's hidden method of opening the "ancient portal" and its location. After that incident, the black portal boulder was contained and guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D., which was still under Hydra's control at the time, to prevent other unrelated personnel from touching it.

To some extent, World War II can be considered to have been caused by the Hydra establishment, even if that was only one of the more important causes among countless others. American financial groups such as Morgan, General Motors, Rockefeller, and Ford, through the "Davis Plan," provided loans to Germany via the Swiss Clearing Bank, allowing Germany to repay the war reparations from the Treaty of Versailles. American private capital profited by controlling German assets in this way. The Hydra establishment, in order to control assets such as the German telephone network, Fokker-Wolf aircraft, Opel cars, and Deutsche Bank, supported the Hydra Youngsters, ensuring that if Germany could not repay the war reparations from Versailles, it could repay the loans to private capital. The pawn chosen by the Hydra Youngsters was an Austrian art student who had failed his college entrance exams.

After being elected, the art student explicitly refused to repay war reparations. However, foreign investment, which had been interrupted during the Weimar Republic, miraculously resumed. Britain and France also refused to repay their debts to the United States, filling the pockets of American private capital. Uncle Sam's ideas—such as Ford's book "The International Jew: The Most Urgent Problem in the World"—were translated into German and, along with economic resources and technology, were given to the failed art student. Time magazine hailed the failed art student as Germany's savior. Mainstream American culture, including racism and extreme nationalism, flourished in Germany. The initial appeasement policy was merely a means for the interest group represented by Chamberlain to continue doing business. This interest group was not afraid of war; as long as the art student waged war against the Soviet Union to combat communism, these interest groups could obtain more orders. Therefore, the prime minister confidently waved a piece of toilet paper and made a promise to the people.

Ultimately, the outbreak of the Western Front was merely a result of the uncontrolled expansion of ambition among art students who had been fostered during the economic colonization process and who were practicing their speeches in front of a mirror in their basements. After all, no one would willingly live as a puppet forever.

Such facts are enough to shatter the beliefs held by Steve Rogers, America's most powerful patriot.

Nick Fury argues that the Emperor's explanation to Steve Rogers about the wars the US waged after World War II wouldn't easily change the latter's mind. Little did he know that the Emperor was revealing to Rogers the true culprits who started World War II, culprits who are still alive and well and could potentially instigate another world war for their own selfish desires. All of Rogers' struggles are meaningless; Captain America is ultimately a puppet, manipulated by those who controlled the failed art student. He's merely a tool against an out-of-control system. The Emperor believes that Rogers' resilience in not going insane upon learning this fact is remarkable; outright betrayal would have been the mildest form of protest.

"Did you think I wouldn't be able to get back in time?"

"I'm so sorry, my lord." Stephanie lowered her head and blinked her dry eyes. "I took it upon myself to handle this matter."

"No, you did very well. I couldn't get back in time, and what's standing here now is just an alchemical avatar used to house the psionic projection. You and your father secured many benefits for me, and you obeyed my highest orders. Such loyalty deserves reward, not punishment. Obedience will be rewarded."

The gilded figure extended a hand, indistinguishable from an ordinary person's, and placed it on Stephanie's shoulder. She felt the warmth of his palm seep through her sweater into her body. He was wearing the same clothes he had arrived in, his expression as relaxed as ever. His tall, imposing frame tightened the black suit jacket fastened with only one button, his marble-sculpted features sharply cutting through the sunlight, his thick, long black hair held in place by a dazzling golden laurel wreath. This was the true appearance of an emperor, an allure beyond words, like the greatest work of art combining gold, marble, and obsidian.

Despite witnessing the emperor working tirelessly for days on end, annotating documents at his desk, even waking all department heads for meetings in the middle of the night, and then providing psychological counseling to a prisoner in the Immortal City, it didn't change the fact that there are only twenty-four hours in a day. But if the emperor could use his alchemical body and perform different tasks simultaneously under different identities, then for him, a day would be equivalent to the number of alchemical bodies multiplied by 24 hours. Now she finally understood why the emperor could maintain two different identities at the same time: a young entrepreneur and a political leader. But she still didn't understand how a person could process so much information simultaneously without going insane.

"Resolve that matter as soon as possible; I need the coordinates of the alien in the Kuiper Belt."

He sat on the single sofa specially prepared for him in the study, a look of annoyance on his face.

Stephanie believed she could understand the Emperor's boredom.

He operates on another level, now trapped in a complex political environment, unable to fully dedicate his energy to truly effective work. While human governments are still scheming against each other, the Emperor has already set his sights on dealing with the alien threat. The Emperor's secret pact with Mars, the establishment of the Immortal City, the attack on the lunar colony, and so on, are all situations that the current human government is unwilling to face, or even refuses to face. A large number of war machines that should have been used to conquer the human world are being used against alien monsters. In some ways, the current Emperor is more benevolent and courageous than most politicians in the world.

A powerful impulse led her to swear for the thousandth time that she would remain loyal to this worthy monarch.

In the manor courtyard, the Malik family's security personnel had changed out of their suits and into black combat uniforms. Neither their bulletproof vests, helmets, masks, firearms, nor armbands bore any identifying marks. Their weapons, accessories, and ammunition also lacked serial numbers. This was a Malik family private army specifically prepared for black operations. Transporting light weapons, including HK416s, as well as portable anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft missiles, into Washington was not the most difficult task. The real challenge lay in concealing this armed force and providing logistical and training support—a testament to the Malik family's social connections and secrecy. Alexander Pierce's method was to make S.H.I.E.L.D. operations teams his private army; Gideon Malik's method was to establish multiple private security companies, dispersing his private army around the world while simultaneously providing security services for himself.

Stephanie glanced down from the second-floor window, then turned apologetically to fetch the Emperor a bottle of wine, an ice bucket, and glasses before leaving the study. A dozen minutes later, she reappeared clad in power armor, a chainsaw sword and plasma pistol attached to her waist via a magnetic belt, a few strands of hair clinging to her fair, rosy neck. She looked highly motivated, her forehead beaded with sweat. Since the last small-scale operation to clear out the Skrull colony, she hadn't stopped combat training, even during her busy official duties, hoping to one day return to the battlefield.

"Agent Ruby sent a message that General Hale, upon hearing news of aliens, immediately boarded a private jet to a military base. She provided us with the precise coordinates, and we tracked the flight path of General Hale's plane using Pentagon satellites." Stephanie gripped the hilt of her sword, head held high. "The first experimental model has already boarded a Quinjet, and Malik family soldiers and I will be aboard another Quinjet. General Hale has the catalog of the first product, and she happens to be able to test the capabilities of the super soldiers and military exoskeletons. After this incident, General Hale will definitely become much more obedient." She bowed to the Emperor on his throne. "I will bring you whatever you desire, whatever it may be."

Initially, the crew members who had undergone spacewalk training at the Tianjian Space Station felt a sense of novelty and curiosity. However, the long journey gradually eroded their will. With the massive celestial bodies before their eyes and the thought of their distance from Earth, fear burned like stomach acid in their throats, searing their fragile mortal spirits. They were like colonists circumnavigating the globe during the Age of Exploration, completely unaware of whether they would see land again tomorrow, or where they would be. The mortal soldiers could only train day after day, filling their minds with training and education to temporarily forget that they were currently living on a grain of sand drifting in space.

While Tita and the other androids didn't experience this fear, the almost unchanging spacescape outside the porthole was still tedious. Their biological psychology hadn't been as meticulously modified as the Royal Guard's, so when she heard "second-priority mission" from the Royal Guard commander, she couldn't help but feel a little angry, even though she knew the Royal Guard only relayed the Emperor's orders and that her anger wasn't due to the level of secrecy.

"What is a secondary priority mission?" she asked, raising her head and clenching her fist, as if she would jump up and smash her armored fist into the face of the Royal Guard Commander if Constantine couldn't provide a satisfactory answer. A few minutes earlier, the accompanying Kamar-Taj sorcerers, through reading the regularly updated indices, had clearly indicated that the psionic fog shrouding the New Territories on Neptune's ecliptic plane was growing increasingly strong. Neither the pre-launched psionic probes nor the sorcerers' sensing rituals could penetrate the fog to see the New Territories—the sorcerer king from Kamar-Taj had taken on the main task, and he had complained more than once about the stale food on board—the Martian technological sage believed that the ship and its smaller escort vessels were not strong enough to force their way through the psionic fog. This supernatural phenomenon could very well damage the ship, destroy all external sensors, and could even lead to damage or destruction of the ship itself.

"A message just came from Earth." Constantine took out a highly classified military data storage chip. "A set of coordinates; there might be an alien fortress there. We need to go there and check it out after we complete our main mission."

"Another Attilan?" Tita coldly took the device and plugged it into the data port of the tactical command system.

"No, there might not be that many alien creatures there." The commander of the Royal Guard looked down at the android. "You seem to be in a bad mood."

"Yes, you finally noticed." Tita frowned. Suddenly, she realized that the Commander of the Royal Guard seemed to be experiencing some kind of anxiety. This kind of emotion shouldn't exist, especially among the Royal Guard. The Royal Guard only possessed duty and rationality; all humanity had been erased. She could only conclude that this was the Commander's anxiety stemming from the current absence of someone to fulfill his responsibilities, after all, the Royal Guard's duty was to protect the Emperor's safety.

"There's another piece of news."

Tita glanced at him.

"The monarch is arriving soon. Affairs on Earth will temporarily cease, and the emperor will come to this ship to command all our upcoming operations. I require priority power supply to the teleporter."