Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1720 The Spread of Cats and Cognitive Bias

Three days had passed since the Emperor jumped off the assault transport ship, carrying a heavy linen travel bag in one hand and a shield in the other. The basalt desert they were in would later be known as the Black Desert of the Levant. The ancient dormant volcano crater, covered with black basalt, had not yet been completely ground into gravel by the wind and sand, and was covered with dense acacia trees.

This land was once inhabited by a group of people who cultivated rye. Twentieth-century archaeologists, holding rye bread baked by these people and beer-brewing remnants, referred to them as the Natu. This fertile land boasted over a hundred varieties of grains, fruits, and other edible plants. Before the expeditions, the emperor established supply depots here, which transported nuts and fruit wines to Elidu every six months. Now, these supply depots have been converted for military use, supplying cargo ships sailing from the eastern Mediterranean and along the Red Sea coast, and delivering food to the Egyptian troops on the front lines.

It's worth noting that the Natufians of the hunter-gatherer civilization often fed wild African cats to combat rat infestations, marking the first time humans domesticated such animals. Similarly, to ensure goods weren't eaten by rats, many cargo ships from the Eriduian civilization would also load a few cats onto their ships when passing through the Natufian region. When there were no rats on board, the crew would fish for the cats—some cats would even jump off the ships after reaching their destination and migrate to their ancestral home in North Africa, Egypt. This led to many Egyptian villages attempting to domesticate wild cats within a few decades, to the point that large groups of cats were kept in the temples of Eridu, with dedicated staff responsible for cleaning and providing communal cat shelters.

Inanna summoned several gazelles to carry the emperor's linen travel bag, as well as herself and Diana. The emperor himself, however, could only walk alongside the gazelles, as the gazelles couldn't carry a man in armor. At first, she was somewhat worried that they would refuse the emperor's offer once they found the immortal, but after a day, she stopped thinking about these issues and devoted herself entirely to the camping trip.

The travel bag contained a tent made of linen woven by the temple's female workers and mild steel produced by the water-powered steel mill, along with a small stove and an iron pot. Diana's backpack was filled with spices and toiletries, ensuring a very comfortable journey. The emperor never mentioned the destination again, and Inana didn't care; she only wanted to enjoy the trip. Even traveling in sparsely populated lands, the emperor and Diana lived as if they were in a palace.

When the midday temperature became too high, the emperor would stop to camp, and Dinah would bring out sweet wine prepared beforehand for the emperor and Inanna to enjoy. At night, Dinah would use cooking utensils, oil, and seasonings brought from Eridu, along with wild animals hunted by the emperor during his travels and precious desert truffles from Tifize, to cook an exceptionally delicious dinner. Furthermore, at each stop, the emperor would use a mysterious spell to create a giant wooden tub, summoning clean water from a river, heating it with burning firewood, and providing it for the three of them to bathe in together.

They could wash away the dust and sweat of their journey, and soak their lactic acid-laden muscles in warm water. Inanna, with unusual enthusiasm, invited the Emperor to enjoy pleasure with her under a sky full of stars—an experience she had never had before. There were no scented beds or incense, no ladies-in-waiting recording the proceedings in the bedroom, only the sounds of animals carried on the sea breeze and the aphrodisiac food (truffles). She could hardly suppress her burgeoning desire. Inanna leaned down to kiss Salomon, nestled against his chest, and breathed in the scent of his sweat with ecstasy.

Under the deep, dark night sky, her beautiful eyes, brighter than Venus, shone with astonishing psychic light. Her sweat-drenched skin reflected the moonlight that streamed into the acacia forest, and the cool summer night breeze carried the sweet scent of ointment.

"How long do you intend to stay in this era, dear Sky King?" Inanna's voice trembled with the power of the physical universe and the sea of ​​souls, piercing straight to the chest. "Don't try to fool me. I know your secrecy policy; you won't say anything until the very end. Before this operation, I didn't even know we were going to have to go on a camping trip! Of course, I'm not saying this camping trip was terrible, but since you started your plans, we've had fewer and fewer times to escape the Guardian Order and enjoy ourselves. If Diana hadn't been with you, I'm afraid Constantine wouldn't have agreed to this operation."

"I must be careful to reveal any information, and try to avoid history deviating from my knowledge, because I don't know which known histories were created by my plans. All experiments must be limited, only in this way can we avoid altering history and causing massive entropy increases, attracting the attention of outer dimensions." Salomon looked up at the starry sky above, capturing the light of an ancient star millions of light-years away, traversing the vast universe, and finally settling in his eyes. "The enemy is hiding among these starlight, waiting for us to conquer them. But they have noticed me, and if they find me, all conquests will become sea foam, disappearing in the sunlight."

"So, will you stay here indefinitely?"

"No, this plain offers me limited options."

Inanna blinked but said nothing.

Salomon looked down into Inanna's eyes as if she were someone else. Starlight from millions of light-years away shimmered in his eyes, intertwining with his psychic power. As beings deeply integrated with the outer dimension and the material universe, their very existence was enough to alter reality and shake the laws of physics. Normally, both he and Inanna suppressed their power, fearing irreversible damage to the people of Elidu. Despite this, the number of new psychics in Elidu continued to rise, a situation inconsistent with the gradual decline of the psychic surge.

After the gods returned to their inner planet, the psychic surge on Earth gradually subsided. However, humans, influenced by psychic energy and blessed with divine gifts, began to awaken on a large scale. The increasing number of psychics and the abuse of psychic magic have severely impacted the barrier between the real world and outer dimensions, further leading to a vicious cycle of increasing psychics.

To address the ever-increasing number of psionicists in the city of Elidu, the Emperor and Inanna began their work decades ago. In the Emperor's future plans, temple priests would be deeply involved in his and Inanna's experiments creating psionic entities in outer dimensions—all psionicists in Elidu, categorized by gender, would become temple priests. The Emperor would teach all psionicists how to recognize outer dimensions and the psionic entities within them, control their own power, and attempt to command these "evil spirits."

The priestesses and priestesses received different educations; the priestesses wielded the power of fire and lightning, while the priestesses, taught by Inanna, possessed the magic to control desire, fertility, and war. It wasn't until he wrote his plan on the parchment that Salomon realized he was following a predetermined historical trajectory.

Perhaps in the future, the temple priests will use the knowledge they gained from him to expand outwards, constantly absorbing members, and, due to the loss of history and knowledge, will eventually revere his experimental creations as sacred objects and deities. Long before the journey to the Himalayas, the Emperor realized that the origins of the Light Sages and Shadow Witches were likely related to him. The Eye of the World, regarded as a deity and treasure by these two organizations, was very likely a product of this recent plan—the current stage of the plan is to create an extradimensional entity. The next stage is to combine the extradimensional entity with the physical body of the material plane, recreating the process by which this planet created him—he doesn't know when he lost control of the temple priests, but as the creator of history, he cannot change this reality; otherwise, the massive entropy increase caused by the disturbance of human reason would cause the deities in the extradimensional world to notice him immediately, and the ultimate purpose of time travel would completely lose its meaning.

Salomon wasn't worried about the temple priest slipping out of control, as this body had resolved this problem before reaching adulthood, and he believed he could easily overcome any remaining issues with his sword. What truly perplexed him was Inanna's role in this process. Reviewing his memories of Inanna's sphere of influence, he was certain that she would travel with him across the planet after this project concluded.

When did Inanna disappear, and why did she look exactly like Bayonetta?

Is Bayonetta a derivative of Inanna or a possession of her?

Could the disturbance of the soul cause problems for Bayonetta, who is eight thousand years in the future?

Did he descend into this era a million years ago because of a connection between his soul and Bayonetta's or Inanna's? The only certainty is that Bayonetta also possesses Inanna's essence—a mark left by the soul of an intelligent being in an outer dimension. Otherwise, it's inexplicable why he was initially drawn to Bayonetta. Or perhaps he was first attracted to Bayonetta, leading him to descend into this era where Inanna, connected to Bayonetta, exists?

The true answer remains unknown. The outer dimension itself transcends common sense, and things influenced by it cannot be understood using the logic of human cognition. Counterintuitive and illogical thinking is the norm in the outer dimension. The relationship between Inanna and Bayonetta is different from what he imagined. Many questions remain unanswered, but he has eight thousand years to slowly explore the answers. Time has given him room for error; he is no longer as anxious as he was in the 21st century.

"You must come with me. We'll travel the world." Salomon raised his hand and stroked Inanna's long hair. He had already planned their journey; their final stop on Earth would be the Himalayas. After Agamotto completed his mission and ascended to become one of the Vishanti, he would lay the first foundation stone and lay the first brick there, fulfilling the task his destiny had entrusted to him. "Once the war here is over, we'll go to another continent. Perhaps future generations will call us by different names. Our destinies are intertwined; the mortal concept of time will not be able to measure the length of our time together."

Several gazelles, defying their instincts, slowly followed the humans on Inanna's orders. The Emperor trudged through the devastating Levantine Desert along the Mediterranean coast, finally stopping in front of a stone house that looked completely out of place for a local. "The owner isn't home. We can wait," Salomon said. "It's said that the Kree's research base on Uranus has been taken over by these immortals. After losing the closest hyperspace route in the solar system, the Kree's journey here has been extremely long. It's fair to say that without these immortals, it would be an impossible task for us to fight the Kree with only 2000 men."

"So, we should thank them?" Inanna raised an eyebrow, asking with interest. She knew the Emperor didn't like these people, and this sudden praise meant he would do something cruel. "You said before that these immortals were created by the Celestials from tens of thousands of humans, and that their essence is the same as ours."

"We are the natural combination of the Sea of ​​Souls and the Material Universe. They are part of the samples used by the Celestials to test the possibilities of the human gene. Another part, as a variant of the experiment, is hidden and does not share the glory with their brethren. This self-proclaimed eternal race is both the test subjects and servants. They possess the technology and knowledge given by the Celestials and regard themselves as gods."

“My people and I don’t see it that way. In fact, that’s the reason for the first split. We believed we shouldn’t interfere with humanity, but Uranus and his followers didn’t, so they went to that planet—I heard you named that hidden planet—and now we’ve reintegrated its descendants, at least some of the newborn Eternals who share our beliefs.” A figure in a grey linen cloak stood before the stone hut, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. “Furthermore, our relationship with the Aberrants isn’t as friendly as you say. The wars we waged and the sacrifices we made to protect humanity are beyond your imagination.” Clearly, the Emperor’s words greatly displeased him. He retorted curtly, “We are not entirely servants of the gods; we possess free will.”

"The commands written deep within our genetic code cannot be defied. When the gods descend, you cannot defy their commands, but I can raise my sword against them. That is the difference between us."

"Although I didn't participate in that war, I saw your image in the gods' archives. I know what you did; your hands are stained with the blood of my people. Odin, that butcher, didn't even amount to one percent of what you did." The man glared fiercely at the emperor. "Two years ago, your messenger gave me your letter. I don't think you came here to say such trivial things."

"Tell me, where is Knoros's son, Alas?" the Emperor asked. "I've heard he plans to use the Celestials' technology and equipment to mass-produce Eternals and expand your race."

“Look up, at the moon next to that largest planet,” the man said. “I opposed creating that kind of derivative, so they accepted most of the Uranian Eternals. By the way, I don’t think Alas’s experiment was successful; he only created a degraded version of the Eternals, whom Alas named Titans, like the creatures that walked this land before Homo erectus. If things had continued according to Alas’s plan, the Eternals would have multiplied on Earth like the Deviants, faster than rabbits.”

"Who are you?" Inanna jumped off the gazelle and curiously examined the man. He looked exhausted and hadn't taken care of his appearance at all; the only distinguishable feature was the blond hair extending from under his hood. "You're the Immortal?"

"I am Icarus, a member of the Eternals," the man said. "Standing before me is the Butcher of the Eternals, who has killed at least twenty of my people. Along with their immortal essence, they have been killed by him forever."

"I am honored to receive this title; the blood of my enemies will forever be my laurel wreath," the Emperor waved his hand. At that time, the Eternals stood with the gods, trying to convince them that the Earth's condition was good enough and attempting to prevent other forces from resisting the gods, believing the matter could be resolved peacefully. For such fools, the Emperor chose the simplest solution: utter annihilation. The Eternals he killed would not even leave behind their souls, never to be resurrected.

"You never knew the purpose of the Celestials creating the Eternals, did you? You always thought that the Celestials created you to protect humanity and this planet. Then why did the Celestials conduct the same experiments on different planets in the universe? Including the Kree, they are actually derivatives of the Celestials' experiments, just like the Titans created by your Eternals, only the technology used to create the Kree was even worse."

For the first time, Icarus did not refute the emperor's account. He stood there, frowning.

"You are a race created based on human genes, Icarus. The gods created you to demonstrate the potential of human genes. At least in the gods' plan, you will be the most perfect sample of the human race, and you will be used to fight against the real threat."

"What threat?" Icarus asked.

"First, we must address the cognitive biases. The question is quite simple: how many times have the gods actually descended to Earth?"

"Four times. The gods have put the Eternals, the Deviants, and humans to four tests. The first time, the gods created the Eternals and the Deviants. The second time, the gods unleashed the Great Cataclysm, destroying the Deviants' home. The third and fourth times were simultaneous—the war you participated in." Icarus answered without hesitation. "This is common knowledge that any Eternal knows. Each time the gods descend, they judge whether humanity should continue to exist. Our task is to maintain this world and ensure that the gods' judgment is in the best interests of humanity and this planet."

This statement is correct, except that Kamar-Taj uses the purpose of the Celestials' descents as a method for classifying the number of descents. The war up to the point Icarus mentioned is collectively referred to by the Kamar-Taj Library as the Second Descent. Apart from the First Descent, the Celestials' purpose in coming to Earth was to check the results of their experiments. Regardless of what they did, they essentially used Earth as an experimental field.

"In fact, the Celestials descended to Earth one more time than you know, long before they created you." Inanna knew what the Emperor was about to say. Thirty years ago, when she first heard the truth, she was so shocked she was almost speechless. Now, she felt a pang of pity for Icarus; she wondered if he could bear such a dark truth. "That was the true first descent. The Celestials didn't descend to conduct experiments; they descended to escape an enemy. But they failed. They died on this planet, and their corrupted blood affected the entire ecosystem, including humanity. What you perceive as the first descent is actually the second. The Celestials' initial purpose in coming to this planet was merely to retrieve the corpses of their companions."

"Do the gods have enemies in this universe? Besides, the gods don't have blood; they're purely inorganic beings." Icarus laughed. "If you keep spouting such nonsense, I won't invite you in for a beer."

"Of course, it doesn't exist in the physical universe, but the enemy doesn't only exist in the physical universe, and the gods of the physical universe are not immune to corruption and flesh. Haven't you realized it yet, Icarus? You possess power that even the gods cannot. Your soul can contact outer dimensions; you possess psychic energy, which you call cosmic mysticism. The gods used the Earth Machine, this psychic device, to quell the raging waves of the sea of ​​souls, allowing you to use this power peacefully, but whatever you call it, the essence of this power will not change."

"What does this mean?"

"Humans, intelligent beings possessing the combined power of gods and outer dimensions, have the ultimate potential to contend with outer dimensions. You are merely insects released into a field to prey on pests," the Emperor said. "The true crop is humanity, or more precisely, the psionic potential of the human race. You believe you are protecting humanity, but in reality, you are only protecting food for the gods."

I've been really into writing my Harry Potter fanfiction lately, and when my friends in the group kept urging me to update, I realized I'd written over 4000 words for this chapter but hadn't posted it yet. So I thought about it and wrote a little more.