Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 206 Solution (Second Update!)

"I told you the coordinates, I told you the location of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s command center." Nick Fury took a deep breath, feeling his anger rise from his feet to the top of his head. The engines of the Helicarrier vibrated, this most incredible vehicle in human history, a miracle of human science! Nick Fury hoped Salomon would treat this ship with seriousness, not fucking sit at the conference table with a plate in hand!

The plate also had his mother's roasted crispy onion slices and beef drenched in sauce!

Nick Fury hadn't eaten all day; he had no appetite and couldn't eat. The World Security Council's questioning was giving him a headache. He was certain that Salomon, that little bastard, knew about it, otherwise he wouldn't have brought lunch here—he was definitely here to annoy him. But Salomon's attire made his curses swallowed back down like a ruminating cow—why was a wizard wearing silver armor? Why was he carrying a sword? I need wizards, not knights! Longswords are useless! I need knowledge!

"You're very curious." Salomon casually cut the beef on his plate. His steel claw gloves, which resembled dragon scales, were incredibly flexible and did not hinder the movement of his fingers in the slightest. This armor was not Athena's training armor, but rather the Sorcerer Supreme's private collection. There were only a handful of armors in the world that did not interfere with spell interaction.

This beef was fresh out of the pot; it was his lunch. Before this, he had been busy for quite some time preparing lunch for everyone. "Why?" the sorcerer muttered to himself. "Why use a cumbersome longsword and armor? Where's your magic? You must be thinking that, Nick Fury, I know what you're thinking."

"I asked you here to do me a favor, using your knowledge and magic. You can joke around all you want on the phone, but here, I want you to be serious, you little rascal." Nick Fury sighed. "Tony Stark and Captain Rogers are already on their mission, and they'll come back with valuable information, at least I hope so. You need a lot of information, so I brought Dr. Bruce Banner, who's sitting right across from you. You definitely know him; he's the Hulk (Dr. Bruce Banner chuckled awkwardly). If you need anything, Agent Romanoff and Agent Coulson can help you, but they're not here right now… I want to ask you, will this affect the relationship between Asgard and Earth? What should we do with Loki? Why did Loki take the Tesseract? What's his intention?"

"Hmm, my cooking is as good as ever." Salomon licked his lips. After a moment's thought, deleting information Nick Fury couldn't possibly know, he gave an answer. "Loki is a traitor, a traitor to Asgard," he said, "but secular governments have no right to judge. Even if Loki is a traitor, he was once a prince of Asgard, and Asgardian law cannot allow a bunch of bandits to judge a runaway prince."

Nick Fury endured Salomon's belittling and continued listening.

“But I have it.” The sorcerer patted his longsword. “This sword symbolizes the kingship of the earth. When I wield this sword, I can cut off Loki’s head. After that, I will return Loki’s body to Asgard, and the Allfather will accept the outcome—unfortunately, I can’t skin him to make a belt; that would be a fine magical material. Dr. Banner, would you like some beef? This armor is too tight; I can’t eat that much.”

Dr. Bruce Banner quickly shook his head. Beheading and skinning were too terrifying. Was this a knight who had run away from the Middle Ages?

"You mean, the Asgardians won't care about Loki?"

"No, the Allfathers will. Asgard must resolve this before Kamar-Taj makes a move, or I have the authority to execute him, do you understand? He went to another lord's land and stirred up trouble, so there are only two outcomes for him—either he pays a ransom, or his head is sent back."

"Asgard will send someone? Who, Thor?"

"Hmm, only he has the authority to negotiate on behalf of the Father of Gods. So he must hurry, or I will make my move."

"What if the final outcome is the second one? What will Asgard do after that?"

“There’s nothing we can do. The Father of the Gods is a king, and the life of an adopted son who isn’t the heir is still within acceptable limits. Unless the other heir is sentenced to death—of course, if Thor dies in battle, nothing will happen; warriors are prepared to die.” The sorcerer sniffed; he always had a stuffy nose after eating, and he couldn’t figure out why. “Where can I wash the dishes?” he asked. “I don’t want to see dirty dishes.”

"I have one more question," Nick Fury finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Why did you bring lunch here to eat?"

"Because you rushed me too much." The sorcerer unhesitatingly shifted the blame. "I need to eat it after I finish making lunch, right? Beef doesn't taste good when it gets cold."

"Hmph..." The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know what to say. "I wanted you to go on the mission too, Salomon," he said. "Stark and Rogers are both out capturing Loki, and I think if you joined, the success rate would be much higher. I know you can make it; you have the portal."

"So what? The Sorcerer Supreme didn't send me to capture Loki. That's not my mission. And don't try the tricks you used in New Mexico last time; they won't work this time. I have clear orders." The sorcerer wagged his finger. "Right now, Loki is less important to me than this dirty plate. Tell me where I'm supposed to wash the dishes... What's so strange about that? Even the most powerful person has to eat and wash dishes."

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The people sitting at opposite ends of the table stared at each other, neither willing to speak first, the air thick with tension. A hammer and a longsword in an ornate enamel scabbard lay on the table, but neither reached for their weapons. A fight here wouldn't be good; no one wanted innocent lives lost—at least not the lives of those sitting at the table with them.

The argument stemmed from a simple matter: how to deal with Loki. Thor was deeply resentful that Salomon held the power to execute Loki, but when he reached for his hammer, he remembered the Allfather's instructions and reluctantly laid down his weapon, using his not-so-eloquent mouth as a weapon to attack his enemy. Previously, Loki had always done this, but now that Loki was a prisoner, Thor had to do it himself.

"So..." Salomon spoke first, "what conditions did the Allfather offer?"

"This is Midgard, the territory of the Allfather," said Thor. "The Nine Realms are all the territory of the Allfather."

"Mere vassal, Thor. The affairs of Earth are not for the Allfather to decide." Salomon shook his head. "If you want to talk, what you should be holding is not the hammer, but Gungnir. Only then will we be on the same side."

"My hammer is enough..."

"We should wait until we've interrogated Loki before arguing about this!" Agent Romanov couldn't help but interrupt the argument. "We don't even know Loki's purpose yet; now is not the time to argue."

"This is important. It concerns the power of Midgard and the promise of the Allfathers." Salomon touched the scabbard. He still had a smile on his face, but the muscles in his body were already poised to strike, ready to draw his sword at any moment. At the same time, his spell was ready, allowing him to appear behind Thor in an instant (Stealth Step).

"Asgard must choose a solution: pay the ransom, or get their heads back?"

"Asgard will pay the ransom," Thor glared at Salomon, "but they will also take the Tesseract, as ordered by the Allfather. As for Loki's purpose—he has a Chitauri army to conquer Earth—you may not know the Chitauri; they are a bunch of space bandits."

"The Asgardians caused this trouble, and the Asgardians will handle it," the wizard agreed. "That's why the Allfather sent you. As for the ransom, it will be determined by the damage Loki caused, and all the innocent victims will receive compensation."

"The Tesseract belongs to Earth!" Nick Fury blurted out, but no one paid him any attention.

"I accept the command of the Allfather on behalf of Kamar-Taj." The sorcerer nodded, completely disregarding Nick Fury's expression.

"Why?" the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. demanded. "You have no right to make this decision!"

"Because the Tesseract can only be guaranteed safe in Asgard. And, I happen to have the authority to make this decision. As I've said before, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't represent humanity, nor does secular government; only Kamar-Taj is the rightful ruler of Earth. You never understood this before, but now you do." Salomon stood up and extended his hand to Thor. "After this is over, the specific ransom will be negotiated by someone who goes to Asgard—but I suspect that person might be me."

"I thought you were a friend." Thor didn't reach out; he glared at Salomon and said, "You helped me in Midgard."

"Yes, but that was from Kamar-Taj's perspective, not yours. It was official business then, and it's official business now." Salomon withdrew his hand upon seeing this. Since the Asgardians refused reconciliation, there was no need for him to put on a smiling face; he knew perfectly well what would happen next.

Loki is still very important; he's the one who needs to sound the alarm.

"Now, it's your problem." Salomon sat back down and tapped the table. "The Sorcerer Supreme foresaw what was to come, so I will fight the Zitauri. What you do is up to you. I won't concern myself with Loki's goals or methods. I bring only death, including those who try to stop me."

"So what you said on the phone wasn't a joke? You'd kill the president if he stopped you?"

"Ha, congratulations, Nick Fury, you finally understand what I mean. This is the order I received: no politician should try to cause trouble. I want you to pass this message on—they'll scoff at it, of course, but when death comes their way, they'll know I'm not kidding."

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(End of this chapter)