Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1721 Titans and Food

"The Eternals are merely farmers in the fields of the gods, and the Abnormals are just special seeds of wheat in those fields. Whether you are Eternals, Abnormals, or humans, you are all just food for the gods. The only reason you are still alive is because the field of the human race has not yet matured."

The emperor casually revealed the truth, completely disregarding whether Icarus could accept it.

The scorching sunlight couldn't penetrate the thick linen hood, so Inanna couldn't see the Eternals' expressions, but she could guess that Icarus was just as unable to accept this fact as she was. None of the immortals, the eternal beings, including the demigods walking the earth and the immortals created by the gods, could accept the fact that they were merely food in the eyes of the gods—whether out of pride or honor, Icarus instinctively denied it—after the emperor finished speaking, the dry air of the arid black desert rapidly heated up, as if some powerful force had broken free of its restraints, piercing through the air around Icarus and rushing towards the emperor.

The gods feed on the souls of intelligent beings and use stars as their nests to hatch new individuals.

Of the many Celestial experimental sites in the universe, only a handful remain today. Even the blue-skinned Kree who formed the Kree Empire were merely byproducts left behind after the Celestials harvested their experimental subjects. Their genetic potential was far inferior to that of the first generation of experimental species created by the Celestials on Hala (the Kree Empire's home planet), namely the Kree Eternals.

Using genetic templates from local intelligent beings, and the souls and bodies of countless local intelligent beings, the Celestials forged the Eternals and the Aberrants. The Eternals maintained the experimental field, while the Aberrants observed the degree of genetic mutation, selecting suitable templates as modification samples. This was the process the Celestials followed for each intelligent race that became an experimental subject. When the time was right, the Celestials would come to the experimental field to harvest the crops, devouring all the souls of the intelligent beings on the entire planet, leaving only the remnants without potential, like the Kree and the Shi'ar now.

Earth is currently the only planet capable of defying the gods.

The earth deities born from this planet gathered together to rebel against the gods who were trying to maintain the experimental field. This forced the gods to pay more attention to the eternal race on Earth, as they had never encountered experimental subjects capable of resisting. The emperor's use of the gods' concealment of the fact that the Earth's ecosystem had been contaminated by the gods proved that the gods did not trust the eternal race at all. They thought they were loyal servants, but they did not know that they had already been placed on the dinner table.

Icarus desperately wanted to punch the bastard in front of him, but he knew perfectly well that he was no match for the Emperor. In what he perceived as the third and fourth Advents, the Eternals had sided with the Celestials in an attempt to stop the conflict—an act unacceptable to either side of the war. During that war, he, as a relatively rational Eternal individual, had interacted with the Emperor. He understood that the Emperor didn't fully consider the Eternals as part of the concept of humanity, but neither did he harbor hostility; they were merely a group of mindless tools, beings worthy of pity. Icarus didn't understand where the Emperor's compassion came from, or why anyone would pity the Eternals, who possessed endless life and immense power.

"I'll verify if what you're saying is true, and then we can talk about other things," Icarus said through gritted teeth. He couldn't deny that he was beginning to accept this so-called truth, because the Celestials never discussed the purpose of their experiments, as if their only interest was observing intelligent species and conducting interference experiments. No Eternal had ever considered why the Celestials did this, as if the Celestials were born to be the saviors of this dark universe, their sole purpose being to protect all intelligent beings in this universe and their experimental grounds.

This is completely illogical, Icarus thought.

Why have we never realized it? Is it because the gods don't want us to realize it?

Planets are the hunting grounds of the gods, and stars are their cradle. The Eternals consider themselves the protectors of humanity, but in the eyes of the gods, the Eternals are merely protecting farmers whom they consider their private property—this humiliation is driving him mad. As an Eternal warrior responsible for battle, Icarus has always prided himself on being an honorable soldier, and the truth the emperor is telling him now is undoubtedly a blow to his honor.

In the past, if any of his kin had done such a thing, it would have meant Icarus would have launched a duel to the death, but now he was unable to vent his anger at all.

"Your capacity for acceptance is far greater than that of your kind, Icarus. Most of the Eternals cannot accept the blinding sunlight of truth; they can only retreat into dark, corrupt caves, where they will eventually drown in the mire of lies. When the gods return to devour our flesh and souls, they will not resist. They will only bury their heads in the sand and accept the fate bestowed upon them by the Creator."

Despite having once been hostile to the Eternals, the Emperor was well aware that the Eternals would become increasingly important in the course of history. Especially after the Earth Gods returned to the inner layers of the planet and slumbered in the collective unconscious of the human species, the Eternals might be the only beings with the power and organization to combat large-scale catastrophic events.

"You also have your own kind who are able to remain rational, such as Arzus who went to Uranus to create the Titans, and Cronus who became the King of the Eternals. It is because of your faith in the gods that they have not made it public."

The emperor's hand remained on the hilt of his sword. He spoke of many harsh truths, but he did not want to provoke conflict. After all, Icarus held one of the greatest secrets of the Earth Eternals, and he could only get what he wanted from Icarus. "I've always been curious why the Earth Eternals, having stayed in the solar system for nearly a million years, never considered going to other parts of the universe to see the other experimental sites of the gods."

"This is the mission the gods have given us: to protect them and the Earth. We cannot stray too far from this solar system," Icarus said dryly, his face grim. He sighed, pulled back his hood, and his long, pure gold hair was exposed to the Levantine sunlight. In this environment where malnutrition was widespread among humans, such a tall and robust individual was easily mistaken for a deity. "Enlil, or Anu, I don't know your name now, but you know I have no hostility towards you." He blinked wearily. "I have always protected the human villages here and eliminated the wandering hybrids nearby. I even met your royal guard on Crete a while ago; he fought alongside me against the giants."

So-called hybrids are actually the offspring of humans and beasts, or the former, mutated by psionic corruption. Many monsters in future myths are remnants of these hybrids. In the 21st century, when the Emperor was still a child, he knew that the first task after the establishment of Kamar-Taj was to cleanse the land of the remaining hybrids—in the future, these hybrids are the product of the interbreeding of "angels" and humans, and their fate is to be driven into the "Seventh Heaven." However, all the books describe the "Seventh Heaven" vaguely, as if no one knows whether the term is descriptive or metaphorical—the Emperor has his own guesses about this term, but he is unclear about his exact role in this history.

"No need, we're in a hurry." The emperor waved his hand behind him, signaling Inanna not to jump off the gazelle. "I'm here for another purpose."

“You don’t need my help. The Kree are just a research team here. Even without an army, you alone could kill them all,” Icarus said. “The Uranus outpost already belongs to the Eternals; they can only return to their home planet. I don’t understand why you insist on human involvement in this war. Even if your view of the Eternals is correct, protecting mortals is still our responsibility.”

"Mortals need to learn how to protect their people, the Eternals protect the lives of mortals, and I give mortals the power to protect their lives."

Icarus shrugged, offering no objection to the emperor.

"The Kree are here to replicate the Celestials' experiments on the Kree progenitor, hoping to find a way to achieve immortality. But their purpose is not just that, Icarus. The Kree Empire is using a database left behind by the Celestials to build an artificial intelligence to manage the entire Kree Empire. There is something similar on Earth, containing data from the Celestials' biological experiments." The Emperor took a step forward, almost reaching out to touch Icarus. "Azura used this to create the Titans, and as far as I know, you possess the key to that machine."

The Earth Machine is a tool used by the gods to manage the Earth's ecosystem and psionic waves.

While the latter function wouldn't be of much use to a powerful planet like Earth, which was influenced by psionic waves and gave birth to primordial gods, the former function carried out all the work methodically. One of the three main tasks assigned to the Eternals by the gods was to protect the Earth's machinery, with the aim of obtaining experimental data to improve the next planet after the gods had harvested all the souls.

"Cooperate with me, Icarus. If you don't want humanity to become food for the gods like other experimental subjects, then humanity and the Eternals must rebel." The Emperor spoke to the increasingly enraged Icarus. The spiritual energy overflowing in the air grew stronger, and the black sand on the ground gathered and tumbled in the statically charged air. Only now did Inanna once again sense the golden deity who had slaughtered the Eternals and fought against the gods for a million years. "The human race possesses the potential to ascend to immortality. Once this power is possessed, the gods will no longer be gods of the physical universe."

"I will verify your claim, Enlil!" Icarus raised his voice. "I am not afraid of you. You will not obtain the key to the Earth Machine even if you kill me here."

"I don't want to kill you, Icarus. As far as I know, Cronus has merged with the Earth Machine and become its intelligent program. The Eternals who obtain the Earth Machine will become the kings of all Eternals, and all Eternals will go to the Earth Machine upon rebirth; it has become your home. Am I right?"

"Where did you get this information from?!"

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in your little dynasty, nor am I interested in ending your eternal lives. Strategically, the Eternals aren't all my enemies." The Emperor didn't answer the question. "Although I consider the gods my enemies, it's undeniable that there's no database of human genetic experiments in the world more comprehensive than the Earth's machines. The Eternals also have access to human genetic experiment data."

The advancement of science and technology is not a linear process, but rather a multi-layered, recursive network. Manufacturing lever rifles is already the limit for Eridu—the average education level in the city has reached the limit of the average productivity of this era. A single temple simply cannot accommodate so many more educated Eridu residents. These educated residents also have a natural divide with those who haven't received education. The emperor plans to take them away after the war; otherwise, they will become the most brutal exploiters and slave owners—his current problems are far more serious than those faced by the people of Eridu. Although sweet grapes and figs can grow in the temple gardens, the emperor's biological research has made little progress; he lacks the advanced equipment to conduct experiments. Currently, Eridu cannot even manufacture semi-permeable membranes; he can only conduct some simple experiments.

In this era, the only two people capable of providing biochemical experimental equipment are the Kree and the Eternals.

The former was a research team sent to Earth to trace the biotechnology of the Celestials, while the latter was Celestial biotechnology itself, possessing biotechnology and research equipment left behind on Earth by the Celestials. The Eternals, a branch of the Eternals, used the former's legacy to create the Titans, but the Emperor wouldn't rely solely on luck in plundering the spoils after defeating the Kree; he needed a more secure approach, and the Eternals were the best choice. He obtained much information about the Eternals from Agamotto, who even claimed that the Emperor had met with them in the 21st century, though neither side knew the other's identity at that time.

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to rebel. I refuse to be a lamb to the slaughter. For this, I need the knowledge of the gods. I believe that the technology the gods used to create the Eternals can shorten my experimental process," the Emperor said. "I will ensure that the genes of the human race are not contaminated by outer dimensions or alien creatures. I will create an army capable of traversing the galaxy to kill all enemies who oppose humanity's destiny to rule the galaxy."

"Madman! What kind of madman would have such an absurd and brutal dream!" Icarus cursed. "Any kind race would reject your plan."

"Find Kronos and seek answers from your wisest leader. I believe he can discover the anomalies on this planet using the Earth Machines. No matter how foolish he may have been before, he will surely agree with my ideas once he merges with the Earth Machines. There is no possibility of peaceful coexistence between us and our enemy; any hesitation or weakness is a waste of opportunity."

"Perhaps, but Cronus isn't here." Icarus took two steps back. "Go away, you're not welcome here. I'll get my answer; I know where to find you."