Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 1724 (Chapter 1720) Psychic Reaction

Limited by the population density and construction techniques of the time, after this battle, the once-large village within the Kree territory was reduced to only a few houses built of reeds and mud bricks, which could be used as cover by the Inhumans. The owners of these houses were responsible for cooperating with the Inhumans, providing them with slaves to serve as experimental subjects. As a result, the other agricultural villagers from the predynastic period were much wealthier, even possessing large numbers of slaves to cultivate the land and iron weapons.

After the war began, the mud-brick houses where the slave owners and their families lived became hiding places and shelters for the Inhumans. The slave owners who had enslaved other mortals became food for the Hydras, while those slaves who could only sleep in reed houses chose to escape when they realized the situation was dire. When two explosive bombs shattered the body of an Inhuman who looked no different from a human, they also shattered the relatively sturdy outer wall of the mud-brick house. The empty bodies of the slave owner and his family lay in the center of the mud-brick house, blood still clinging to their bones. Their smooth skulls opened mockingly, and their empty eye sockets stared at the two sides that had smashed the simple house.

Sparks floating in the air ignited the roof in the blink of an eye, and bundles of burnt reeds fell down, burying the dead in flames. But neither side in the war cared about these skeletons. Hammurabi didn't care about the lives of these slave owners. To the Inhumans, these humans were merely food for the Hydra and materials to satisfy their masters' experimental needs. The Kree cared even less about these "slaves of slaves."

The number of mud-brick houses that could be used as cover was dwindling. With the support of the fire support group's flares, the outer fire support group could even see the golden armor of the Praetorian Guard gleaming amidst the burning ruins under the blinding white light. Hammurabi was moving so fast that the eyes of ordinary soldiers could only see a blurry golden afterimage.

The outer fire support teams continued firing relentlessly at the Inhumans attempting to break through the encirclement. Their firing rate increased, but they couldn't stop the approaching Inhumans. The fire support teams fired mortars according to pre-arranged firing data and then retreated at top speed. The Inhumans who weren't blown to pieces luckily reached the outer fire support teams, only to step on landmines brought by the fire support teams and be blasted away by the high-speed shockwaves, flames, and metal fragments.

Despite having relatively sufficient firepower, the outer fire support group still failed to complete the mission of blocking the Inhumans.

A bizarrely shaped, elongated-faced Inhuman charged at the forefront, her large, pure white eyes blazing. She was incredibly fast and needed no weapons; neither the shockwaves of explosions nor bullets could reach her. Facing the expeditionary soldiers who drew daggers and longswords and charged at her, she simply raised her hand, and the trained soldiers were sent flying into the air, then crushed into a sphere of steel and flesh. Although she dared not face the Royal Guard, upon seeing that her opponents were merely mortals, the Inhuman, who had previously lost her courage, once again erupted with astonishing malice.

Another Inhuman, twice the height of an average human, charged into the defensive line under her cover and engaged in close combat with the expeditionary force. He even stormed into the mortar position of the fire support group, causing huge casualties.

Hammurabi had no time to help the outer fire support group.

The moment his spear pierced the upper body of the Inhuman before him, another Inhuman, identical in appearance, appeared out of thin air, rushing forward to grab his leg armor. At the same time, a layer of rock-like hardening appeared on his armor, as if he were being stared at by the legendary Medusa—Hammurabi immediately turned and threw a punch. A long, narrow skull exploded beneath his fist, the remaining jawbone flying several meters, limbs twisted. This Inhuman died without pain, not even realizing his impending death—it took the Royal Guard nearly a minute to find and kill the dozen or so bodies of this Inhuman whose ability was to replicate himself from behind each cover. In a battlefield where Inhuman survival time was measured in seconds, this Inhuman had bought enough time.

"Your Excellency Protector!" The guard recognized the young woman's voice. He had previously assessed the stability of her psychic powers. Only after receiving this certification could this temple priestess share power with the emperor and then leave the temple to join Inanna's accompanying priestly team. "I observed a strong psychic reaction at your location."

"An Inhuman psionicist." Hammurabi dodged a bolt of lightning that pierced the air. His power armor told him the surrounding temperature was dropping rapidly, and he could smell the ozone emanating from the psionic lightning. In response, he fired several shells in the direction of the lightning. But he didn't hear the explosion of the mass reaction warheads; instead, as if they were submerged in water, the shells splashed through the air, creating nauseating, oily ripples.

"This psionic reaction is much stronger; it's not something a psionicist could produce." The priest said urgently, "Your Honor, I suspect Hydra is up to something."

"Can you stop it?" Hammurabi turned to dodge the arm of a clearly mutated Inhuman, his Guard Spear piercing upwards, easily severing the Kree-modified muscles and bones. He could smell the inhuman stench of burning flesh and the terror emanating from the Inhuman's pores before his death. He had reason to believe the Kree had provided the Inhumans with combat hormones, like the battle potion favored by some Kree military nobles, only a degraded version—the Kree's biotechnology was highly advanced, but their wisdom could never match that of the Emperor, and their precious combat potions could not elevate the slave soldiers' strength to the level of the Praetorian Guard—in Hammurabi's eyes, the Inhuman's punch was as slow as an insect in tree sap. The Praetorian's fist slammed into the Inhuman's throat, the modified muscles and high-density bones crumbling like dried biscuits.

"I can't, sir, I'm so sorry..."

The priestess's voice grew increasingly muffled. She coughed a few times with difficulty, as if she were submerged in the ocean under immense pressure, her voice punctuated by faint sobs. The guards could hear the churning of blood in her throat; the physical pain was almost unbearable for the woman—she was injured, and badly, likely from external bleeding—Hammurabi thought. Emergency aid should be administered; two milliliters of a stimulant should be injected, the maximum dose a mortal body could withstand. At least until she underwent pneumothorax surgery, it would keep her heart beating.

"The psionic reactions here are getting stronger and stronger, and the veil between reality and illusion is thinning because of the blood sacrifice. My fire support team's position is under attack, and I'm doing everything I can to hold off the Inhumans' attack."

"Thank you for reminding me, Priest."

Gunfire and explosions once again filled the communication channels. Hammurabi crushed the mutated corpses of the Inhumans beneath his armored boots; these severely mutated Inhumans were considered the best slave soldiers by the Kree—the Kree experiments were rife with randomness. They couldn't comprehend the Celestials' impact on Earth's ecosystem, and could only induce a few Inhumans with specific traits. These Inhumans would become the ruling class of Attila the Moon in the future.

"Sir?" came the voice of the expeditionary force squad leader over the communication channel.

"Where is the military priestess? I need her to monitor the psionic responses here."

Hammurabi pulled the trigger, blasting the Inhumans hiding behind the bunker, along with the mud-brick wall, to smithereens. The Inhumans no longer dared to openly attack the expeditionary soldiers; his current task was to kill them all and find the body the Hydra was inhabiting. According to the Emperor's theory, whatever choice he made now, the Hydra would live on until the Emperor himself killed it thousands of years later. This was its predetermined fate.

"She's dead, sir." At the same time, the squad leader wiped his short sword clean and sheathed it again. Before him lay a massive skeleton, covered in charred flesh and remnants of fabric, its grotesque shape identical to that of the Inhuman who had stormed the fire support position. Beside this skeleton lay an Inhuman woman with her throat slit; her head and abdomen were mangled from dozens of bullets, even fragments of her spine lay scattered on the ground with her blood, and her four inhuman eyes had been gouged out one by one by the expeditionary force with daggers. The powerful temple priest had taken this Inhuman's soul, giving the expeditionary force time to kill another Inhuman.

"Five minutes ago, she helped us kill the Inhumans who attacked us, but she still fell victim to the attack," the squad leader said gravely. The messenger responsible for carrying the radio had been killed, and the fire support team had suffered extremely heavy casualties. Every soldier was trained by the Imperial Guard under the Emperor's orders, and the skills each soldier possessed were incredibly valuable in this era. The sacrifice of any soldier meant that a massive amount of resources invested by the Emperor had been washed away into the sea. "It's a pity we couldn't provide her with more help."

Hammurabi looked up, gazing at the supernatural mist created by the lingering power of the Inhumans above the village, where invisible ghosts wandered the dark night. Each time a mortal or Inhuman died, they would cheer from behind the thin veil. In this age of fading mystery, the veil between reality and illusion was still easier to pierce than after year zero. Hammurabi speculated that the Inhuman psychic might have suffered a backlash from an outer dimension.

Such occurrences are not uncommon. Even after years of division, the Inhumans, residing in the Blue Zone of the future Moon, still couldn't overcome this problem at Fortress Attila. Hammurabi knew very well that if the Hydra's primary host wasn't found, the slaughter would continue, and the phantom behind the veil would consume the blood sacrifice and enter this world. He couldn't stop it; he could only fight against it.

"I understand," said the guard. "Thank you for reminding me."

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The emperor, mounted on horseback, stood on a barren, gentle slope, watching the sun gradually sink below the shimmering Nile River in the distance. It was the flood season, and the overflowing Nile Delta, carrying fertile silt, swept across the vast plains. Behind the emperor, a cavalry force, currently the most powerful in the world, remained silent. This cavalry rode original Arabian horses, carefully selected and bred through selective breeding; these brave and elegant steeds possessed extraordinary endurance and unparalleled loyalty.

The emperor equipped the cavalry with weapons suitable for two different combat modes: lever rifles for high-speed movement, similar to the mounted archery skills of nomadic peoples, which used continuous firepower to crush the enemy's vanguard; and spears and longswords, similar to medieval European armored cavalry, which crushed the enemy's defenses like a hammer hitting an anvil.

Although this cavalry force numbered only two to three thousand men, their superior tactics and equipment allowed them to contend with all enemies of the era. Apart from the Kree, neither of the cavalry's two combat modes could easily breach Kree bases, even with fire support.

The Kree research center was not simply a scientific research building. The Kree, who occupied Lower Egypt, had frequently encountered psionic beasts roaming the North African wilderness, creatures remnants of the divine era. Therefore, they built numerous defensive structures here. The alloy walls and the electromagnetic barrier covering the entire facility completely halted the cavalry's advance. Under the blinding light of the flares, everyone could see the shells fired by the fire support team exploding helplessly into clouds of black smoke and sparks on the curved barrier.

At the top of the watchtower, a blue-skinned Kree coldly observed the thousand-strong cavalry force on the distant hillside. Clearly, the Kree did not believe this force could breach the defenses, even though it displayed weaponry far exceeding the technological level of their time.

"Hammurabi has found the Hydra's host, my lord," the guard standing beside Pegasus whispered. "There are also psionic reactions there, just like in Attilan."

The emperor nodded and drew the holy sword from its sheath.

Night fell, and a soft light slowly illuminated the hillside, a stark contrast to the blinding magnesium flashes that descended with the current. The Kree on the watchtower watched in horror, unable to comprehend why humans, who should have been using primitive, live ammunition, suddenly possessed such high energy readings. Electromagnetic deflection shields could resist physical momentum and impede objects, but they were utterly incapable of withstanding this stellar energy.

"Soldiers, do not let these aliens leave this planet alive!" The Emperor grabbed the reins, raised his holy sword, and shouted to his soldiers. He was the first to charge down the hillside, and one by one, the cavalrymen raised their lances fitted with explosives, following behind the Emperor toward the distant Kree buildings—long-standing trust made them choose to follow without hesitation—they saw the holy sword in the Emperor's divine hand unleash golden flames, whipping up a fiery storm in the night sky. As the cavalry's iron hooves continued forward, the pure light emanating from the holy sword was like a hot wind sweeping across the entire wasteland.

With the Emperor as their spearhead, the cavalry charged towards the Kree research base like an arrow soaring through the sky. The tips of the arrows released heat that scorched rocks and carbonized vegetation, yet the cavalrymen, standing inches from this fiery storm, remained unharmed. They witnessed firsthand how the electromagnetic shields, having withstood hundreds of mortar shells, shattered like foam on a beach; the Kree's accustomed high concentrations of oxygen immediately leaked out; the meadows beneath their horses' hooves burned fiercely; and massive warships, stretching for kilometers, lay immobile before them.

They seemed to be charging through hell.

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"You think you can win, slave?"

"I don't need to win."

Hydra's host, or more accurately, a half-host, pointed to the nauseating, oily sheen of the mist in the sky, within which was a pure white human body radiating numerous white filaments. This bizarre sight terrified the surviving mortal soldiers, but Hammurabi, having witnessed many extradimensional anomalies, knew this was a harbinger of demons arriving in the material plane.

Hydra, writhing on the ground with half its internal organs exposed, grinned at the guards, "I bought time for my lords, and I succeeded."

"The price is violating a psionic taboo; you and your master have no idea what power you are using."

These Inhuman psionicists struggled to control their powers. Even in future Attila, many unstable Inhuman psionicists were used as living bombs to attack genetically modified warriors. Hammurabi suspected that these mortals possessed psionic talent before undergoing modification, and the Kree's rampant Terrigen genetic modification increased the instability of Inhuman psionicists. To this day, the only Inhuman psionicist he had ever seen who could consistently exert their power was Princess Crystal of Attila.

"You cannot comprehend the power possessed by the advanced races who have mastered the mysteries of the universe. To be their slave is more honorable than to be a primitive intelligent being on this backward and ignorant rock."

Hammurabi no longer intended to waste any more time on the Hydra.

The Hydra was a complete slave, a slave without free thought. Even after the Kree left Earth, it would continue to rule over what it considered "inferior beings" in the same way the Kree treated mortals, and even other Inhumans. Even if it were overthrown by other Inhumans and exiled to another planet, the Hydra would only see other intelligent beings as food. He simply fired two shots at the Hydra, then ordered the surviving mortal soldiers to set the remains ablaze with Molotov cocktails.

"Tell the fire support team to evacuate from here as soon as possible." Hammurabi lowered his head and said to the mortal soldiers in front of him, "You don't need to participate in the upcoming battle; that's an enemy you can't fight. Everyone, take the wounded and evacuate towards the main force. There, logistics and medical units will provide you with assistance."

“But, sir,” the soldier named Casper grinned, “we survived the last war.”

Sometimes, the courage, or rather the ignorance, of ordinary people can surprise Hammurabi.

(End of this chapter)