Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 276 Post-War Ruins (First Update! Please Vote!)

"We spent our days climbing through the ruins, trying to find something useful from the war-torn buildings."

Maya Hansen endured the noise of the diesel generator, writing in her diary under the dim light. It was her habit. Writing in her diary, recording her daily discoveries, only this time she wasn't in a laboratory late at night or a hotel room, but rather writing furiously in a deep, dark ruin.

Two buildings collapsed on top of each other in front of her desk, with unidentified machines and mummified human corpses scattered everywhere. Maya Hansen picked out a relatively intact skull from the pile of corpses and placed it on the table as her only companion in the darkness—along with her pen holder.

Her new boss took her on a tour of this underground city of Rome, but only in safe areas. According to her new boss, this place used to be called the Immortal City, one of the greatest cities in human history. However, it was once the site of a civil war caused by ideologies, conspiracies, and betrayals, and the organization has now been destroyed in history.

"This place not only has many advanced technological products, but also many exquisite works of art. In those collapsed buildings, I found many silver armors covered with patterns. Although most of them were twisted and deformed, with an ancient style and a strong Renaissance influence, I was still able to discern the level of material technology contained in these armors."

Maya Hansen paused, leaving a few extra ink stains in her notebook. She ignored them and continued, "This city, like my new boss, is full of mysteries. If I hadn't just come back from the dead, I would have been terrified by the silence. I freed the corpses from their armor and piled them aside, then searched for necessities—including this table and this plush chair I'm using now. I suspect these things are centuries old; they couldn't have survived this long if it weren't so dry. Also, I have to thank my current boss; he used magic to blow everything that could be blown away, mostly dust, otherwise I would have drowned in it first."

Now, I have collected a pile of mechanical parts that is at least ten inches high, five or six desiccated corpses (some limbs cannot be pieced together), twelve silver helmets with long backs of heads, twenty-four shoulder armors with silver patterns, a complete tea set, a bag of glass shards, half a street lamp (it looks like it was melted and cut in half), and countless gears of various sizes and colors. But the most numerous are the weapons, ranging from individual combat firearms to giant field artillery, all exquisitely crafted. They stand with a very elegant air in the dark ruins, like silent gentlemen.

I want to know who created these things, and why they destroyed this place. I'm curious; I saw enormous footprints here that weren't human, and technological creations far ahead of their time. I've never seen any record of this city in any book, just as I've never seen a proven alchemical formula in any book—not in code, not with pictures, and certainly not with occult analysis, but with clear and straightforward formulas. I suspect that the UFOs Kenneth Arnold witnessed might have been invented by the people who built this city, because existing evidence suggests that aliens don't travel in UFOs.

She sniffed and smelled the dust in the air, along with a faint burnt smell, as if the ghosts left over from past wars were lingering in the air.

"What choice do I have? I've just experienced the most significant turning point of my life—I thought the same thing when the Extremis virus was invented, but I believe this is the most significant turning point yet—magic, high technology, everything awaits my discovery. There's so much I don't know; I've only just begun to uncover a corner of this world's truth and I'm already dizzy with awe. I can't imagine what else awaits me. I'm looking forward to it. Although this place is still desolate, I hope I can find what I want from those ruins—something powerful enough to shake the entire world."

Also, I want to thank my new boss. He didn't forget about me here, and although he won't give me a raise for flattering him, I'm still grateful. Not just because he saved my life, but more importantly, because of his generosity. He shared his knowledge with me, telling me that there's more than one kind of alien in this world, and that he's willing to provide any non-human experimental subjects. Salomon Damonette, the knight from the Battle of New York, told me this himself. But this no longer surprises me; I've received far too many surprises today. I could tell he was somewhat displeased with my expression, and I could only manage a weak attempt to recreate the look he expected, which only made him angrier.

Fortunately, he didn't hire me on a whim. He brought me a diesel generator, pens and ink, a bunch of introductory alchemy books, all written by himself. Most importantly, a light bulb and a bunch of wires, plenty of food and water. I didn't complain about him leaving me in this place; in fact, I thought it was quiet enough that no one would bother me, not even my new boss—he needed to go to school himself. This was the most interesting thing that happened to me today: my new boss was a minor!

"Age is something I can't control, Miss Hansen." Salomon gently placed a television set and a signal receiver next to Maya Hansen. He fiddled with it for a while before finally getting it working, but the television signal was still intermittent, which was quite annoying.

"I had no idea you had this bad habit of peeking into other people's diaries," Maya Hansen said with a laugh. "How's it going outside? I feel like I've been here all day."

"Actually, only a few hours have passed. I should have brought you a clock or a laptop, otherwise you'll lose your sense of time here. I'll go buy one later. There's another possibility: this isn't the first time travel event to occur here. You might have fallen into some kind of state before, which was only broken after I became the observer." Salomon sat down on the half-sofas next to him. "Alright, enough talk. Just watch, the television should be able to tell you the information..."

"You're about to offer your opinion again."

"That's right. In fact, if it were just the US president being assassinated by terrorists, the US wouldn't be in such chaos. But the problem is, this happened after an alien invasion, and the US government has already proven its incompetence. This incident has amplified that situation," the sorcerer said. "Humans are creatures that need enemies to live peacefully. This enemy could be a racist, an LGBT opponent, whatever the enemy, these enemies only exist online. However, aliens and terrorists are not among them, so they are afraid because they have finally discovered that their so-called democratic government can do nothing, and those enemies could really kill them. However, they cannot find an enemy, and their barren minds cannot make them realize that the source of their panic is the elite class—that's why they spontaneously protest, because that's the only thing they know, because humans don't become smarter with the development of civilization."

"How's Stark?" Maya Hansen was used to Salomon's nonsense.

"Excellent." The sorcerer blinked, then stretched his legs on the half-sofa. "Don't forget, you need to change your identity. You've said goodbye to your past friends and family, and all your ties with the secular world have been severed. In a sense, you're already dead. The name Maya Hansen will be mentioned at a party and then forgotten after you sober up."

"I think you're very pessimistic about the world, boss."

"The more I know, the more pessimistic I become about the world. Every day, humanity teeters on the brink of destruction. A werewolf, an incurable magical disease, could destroy human civilization, just like a zombie virus. I hope you don't create something like that; it's too terrible."

"You have some misconceptions about virology," she said. "I can't create a zombie virus."

"That's not necessarily true." The sorcerer sighed. "You've even created something like the Extremis Virus, what else is impossible? In this universe, anything is possible. Don't be surprised; this world always manages to give you a shock—I know this all too well. Don't look at me like that. I can't tell you what happened; you just need to know that I've had face-to-face contact with deities. Have I piqued your curiosity even more? Keep working, madam; you'll encounter these things someday."

"Okay, I have one more question."

"What?"

"Why are you wearing this?" Maya Hansen pointed with her pen at the Shroud of Relic on Salomon's body. "Is this your wizarding attire?"

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(End of this chapter)