Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1683 Becoming the Master of Destiny

A C-17 transport plane slowly landed at Lambert-St. Louis Air Force Base in Missouri. General Hale, dressed in a blue Air Force uniform, impatiently shook off the others and rushed down the ramp, bombarding the base officers with questions.

"What do you mean by 'signal'? What exactly happened?"

Recalling the conversation at Malik Estate, General Hale nearly trembled with nervousness. She certainly had her own agenda, but the Malik family's warning filled her with dread. As an elite who had risen to the rank of Major General, she knew very well that if her allies—or rather, if they were mutually exploiting each other, and she understood this perfectly—broke their promise, she would have no power to resist. She wasn't a politician who wielded power through votes and political donations; she wanted to be a ruler, but she also understood that her ambition required matching strength.

Following her were several paratrooper squads, her elite special operations force. In the center of these squads stood a petite girl in training uniform, her eyes wide with curiosity as she surveyed her surroundings, her long, almost platinum blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. Ruby, the genetically engineered daughter of General Hale, a product of Dr. Daniel Whitehall's, or rather, Dr. Werner Reinhardt's, eugenics program that had continued from the Third Reich.

According to the agreement between the ancient families, Ruby would begin to assume the family's responsibilities. However, General Hale was unwilling to let his daughter (even though he utterly loathed this forced childbearing daughter) become the mother of the next eugenics project, or a sacrifice for climbing the social ladder through a marriage alliance with Baron Strucker's useless son.

She hoped Ruby would become a woman like Stephanie Malick, manipulating politicians or Wall Street pawns for her own benefit. General Hale knew very well that the old families of the future needed greater power, and that he, as a pawn, was outdated; he had to become a member of the old families. But before he climbed to that position, his plans for the future absolutely could not go wrong.

This base houses one of the most advanced Air Force space laboratories in the United States. She used its resources, along with 0-84 items seized from a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base, to create the device—a metallic sphere, one of the secret technologies confiscated by Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos during their arrest of Dr. Werner Reinhardt, along with another 0-84 item called the Obelisk. Driven by hatred for Dr. Daniel Whitehall, she unearthed the alien sphere from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collection and immediately began studying it. She then began dreaming, obtaining detailed blueprints in her dreams. When the device started operating, she could hardly believe it was real, because even the laboratory researchers didn't know what they were building; their task seemed to be merely activating the metallic sphere.

For some reason, she didn't report the alien metal sphere and the device to the Pentagon. After all, no one would believe she obtained the information from a dream, much less that she had accidentally used the device to contact a powerful alien alliance. Even if the White House eventually learned the device's purpose, she would still have to position herself as a link between the US government and the "alliance."

"The lab has issued a warning, sir." The officer who came to greet him also looked worried. "They can't control the situation."

As an officer whom General Hale had groomed, he knew his superior's temperament well, and he had met Ruby before. Everyone knew that General Hale was a single mother, a background that had forged her into a very resilient woman; her subordinates made no jokes about General Hale when they talked about Ruby. This was quite unusual in all similar units (referring to NATO forces), since low-ranking officers without connections who had only joined the military for financial reasons rarely showed respect for their superiors.

"They installed lead lining on the ceiling, but that still couldn't stop the equipment from emitting radiation into outer space. No radiation has been detected yet, but I've still ordered the radiation protection units at the base to surround the lab." The officer pulled out a portable Geiger counter. "If there's a nuclear leak here, we'll have to perform a cleanup, sir."

"Has a response been received?"

"A response?" The officer looked up from the folder, puzzled. "What response?"

"Nothing," General Hale mumbled vaguely.

After repeatedly confirming that there were no other abnormalities at the base, General Hale finally breathed a sigh of relief. She easily ignored everything the officer said next, such as inquiries from NASA and the Pentagon, and other documents that required her attention.

If the Malik family's intelligence is accurate, then the best news is that no thousands of aliens armed with high-tech weapons have arrived at the base. With her accumulated connections, she can easily gloss over the incident—this base has a crucial mission: to analyze the secret technologies held by S.H.I.E.L.D. In the process, she has gained substantial financial and political resources, as many laboratories and military-industrial complexes want data from this lab. The politicians and military officers supported by these corporations have naturally become her temporary allies—she can explain everything that happened here under the pretext of analyzing secret technologies, even a nuclear leak. She can guarantee that the research project she leads won't go wrong, provided that no thousands of aliens break in and kill everyone.

"Take me inside, my team will take over security for the lab."

General Hale turned her head and hesitated for a moment. She knew she had to do this; she needed to let Ruby begin to access her secrets. She had to wake the girl from her unrealistic fantasies and tell her that only her own strength was truly reliable. This was something she had learned firsthand; she had understood this principle when she faced Dr. Whitehall. If she possessed the blood of those ancient families, she could have easily refused Dr. Whitehall's demands.

"Come in with me, Ruby."

The girl nodded without saying anything.

She was clad in a tight-fitting black combat suit, a large-caliber pistol tucked under her arm, and a rather ornate folding hunting knife and a hand crossbow with complex mechanical mechanisms hanging at her waist. Compared to the special operations team around her, her equipment seemed impractical, yet she exuded considerable confidence. This confidence was not blind. Even during her training, she was capable of engaging in close combat with at least three adult men, and after receiving the gifts from the emperor, her reaction speed and strength surpassed those of ordinary humans. General Hale was completely unaware of the so-called gifts; she simply assumed the pistol and hunting knife were gifts. Perhaps in some places there was a tradition of gifting weapons to girls approaching adulthood, and the tyrant might have made such a gesture to win her over.

The dock area of ​​Hell's Kitchen had been completely cleared out. All the gangs that usually inhabited the area had been purged days in advance, and containers used for smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and arms dealing had been moved elsewhere. Stephanie Malik would never have wanted to deal with a black glove like Wilson Fisk if it weren't for ensuring a smooth handover of goods. She was, of course, unaware that her demands had led to the removal of over fifty corpses from Hell's Kitchen in just a few days, and even if she had known, she wouldn't have cared—she hadn't personally intervened, nor had she told this East Coast mob boss who he worked for; she had simply sent the mayor's secretary to relay the message, which prompted the New York Police Department (including corrupt officers in Hell's Kitchen) to begin operations. It would have been impossible to completely clear out the gangs in the dock area by the NYPD or SWAT alone, as many of these gangs were essentially black gloves for high-ranking New York State officials. Only a small-time figure like Wilson Fisk, also a gangster, could clear the dock area while preventing escalation and avoiding numerous unexpected obstacles.

"Is the location confirmed?"

She crossed her arms, frowning, as several heavy, massive, three-meter-long, metallic gray coffins were loaded into the Quinjet, almost filling the entire cabin. Stephanie Malik knew exactly what those coffins contained: the pinnacle of bio-technology. Compared to them, Captain America's unruly super-soldier was utterly outdated. Even if these bio-weapons weren't as powerful as the Emperor's genetically modified soldiers, she was confident she could use them to challenge the Hulk.

"Lambert-St. Louis Air Force Base, Missouri," the secretary replied. As a housekeeper who had served the Malik family for generations, the middle-aged woman wasn't surprised by the heavily armed troops before her. She wouldn't have left Washington if the Malik family hadn't placed such importance on this operation. After checking the securing of the cargo, she examined its condition and the readings on the metal coffins according to the instructions. "If these weapons are really as powerful as the manuals claim, then this operation seems a bit overkill," she remarked sarcastically, her suspicions about the Malik family's change of allegiance remaining unfounded. "Gideon has persuaded the Department of Defense to arrange an inspection of the base, which Brigadier General Tabbot will participate in; he has different opinions about General Hale."

"Tabot?" Stephanie Malik asked. "That S.H.I.E.L.D. hunter?"

"They only arrested small fry; they didn't find any of our people." The secretary rolled her eyes.

Long before Stephanie Malik was born, she had helped Gideon Malik with a lot of work. Even the decision made by several World Security Council members to drop tactical nuclear bombs on New York during the Battle of New York was facilitated by her through private teleconferences, and she also fought for the Malik family's interests when the White House questioned her.

Although that incident led to the Emperor's personal visit, the Malik family had already received numerous benefits beforehand. Otherwise, Gideon Malik wouldn't have agreed to bear the consequences of the World Security Council's ambition to expand its external threats and enhance its own political standing through S.H.I.E.L.D. Although she herself had no political standing, she never took General Tabot, a figure used by the Pentagon and the White House for show, seriously.

"Gideon will send someone to the base," the secretary said. "Using Brigadier General Tabot's name, at least the base tower won't prevent our landing. By the time he arrives, we'll have everything sorted out. But I still have to ask, Stephanie… even your mother would ask this here… are you really determined to offer up all your loyalty?"

A special operations team burst through the laboratory door and escorted General Hale and Ruby inside.

At the heart of the laboratory stood that machine. Invisible rays emanated from its tower-like tip, and the overwhelming smell of ozone and the researchers in their heavy protective suits delivered bad news to General Hale: they couldn't stop it. The malfunctioning machine resembled a silver-white metal pyramid, its layers of thick cables like giant, black pythons clinging to the structure. Azure and orange-red currents occasionally emanated from its metal surface, scorching the insulation and other components.

"We've already turned off the power!"

They watched in panic as the airborne rescue team, wearing gas masks, stormed into the lab, ousted all the researchers, and began setting up equipment bearing the S.H.I.E.L.D. badge—equipment they'd never seen before. The lab director brandished a Geiger counter like a bomb, as if he could command everyone with it. Then he mentioned a name that sent chills down their spines.

"But that thing keeps operating on its own, like a cosmic cube! We don't know if this will trigger another alien invasion, we have to destroy it!" the lab director screamed. "We have absolutely no idea what this thing is for!"

The Pentagon obtained much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data, including the "Phase Two" project led by Dr. Sullivan before the Battle of New York—the Tesseract experiment. That experiment, too, involved equipment that operated on its own and couldn't be stopped, ultimately leading to the arrival of an alien prince and humanity's first experience with an alien invasion. Although Dr. Sullivan, a titan of academia, didn't suffer any punishment, he heard that Dr. Sullivan had gone mad and run naked around Stonehenge; he didn't want to suffer the same fate.

If it weren't for the high salaries and strict access control here, he and his research team would have run away long ago.

"Shut up, I'm making the decisions here!" General Hale reprimanded the lab director without hesitation. Although she wasn't entirely confident herself, she remained remarkably calm, completely oblivious to Ruby standing at the back of the line looking at her phone.

"Airborne squad! No one is to enter until I give you the order to do so."

The airborne rescue team signaled to General Hale that the base's armed forces had surrounded the laboratory and taken control of all the researchers, as per her orders. She had brought her elite troops precisely for this purpose. If it were merely to defend against an alien attack, she could have relied on the base's military; however, she couldn't let anyone else know the secret of that device. She needed an absolutely obedient army. These researchers absolutely could not leave work early today, or even leave the military base; after all, these guys had little sense of secrecy. If it weren't for military discipline, confidentiality agreements, and the strangeness of this device, they would definitely have posted about the situation on social media.

"Now, everyone leave the lab. Ruby, except you."

"What's this?" Ruby asked after everyone else had left the lab. She nervously touched the folding hunting knife at her waist. She was quite certain this was what the Malik family women wanted; her mother's attitude clearly showed she didn't want anyone else to know its true purpose. "Only you know what this is, right?"

"The chance to become the master of your own destiny." General Hale took a deep breath and, under Ruby's surprised gaze, walked through the increasingly dense lightning towards the device. "Come with me, Ruby. Remember, always be polite, but not overly polite."

(End of this chapter)