Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 421 The Reformation (Second Update)

"I've read your paper, and it's quite well-written. It might even get an impact factor in a Nature sub-journal."

"Damn it, how come everyone's seen my first draft of the paper?" Salomon thought for a moment and realized how his paper had gotten out. It was understandable that Athena had seen it, given her connections within Merton College. Jane Foster had also seen it; to be precise, Salomon's paper was written under her guidance, and his college tutors were the second to see it. Even Nick Fury seeing it was understandable; after all, if S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence analysis department didn't have that capability, they'd be better off going out on field missions.

If Stark could see it, then either Stark knew his college tutor, or he had Jarvis hack into Oxford University's servers or even his poorly protected personal computer used for writing papers, or perhaps all three.

"This is a very serious crime, Stark."

Faced with Salomon's accusations, Stark simply shrugged. "I guarantee that information won't leak out," he said innocently. "I used to be a student, and I know how many imaginative papers have been rejected; I was one of them myself. You should know how Stark Industries recruits its talent. If you join Stark Industries, I can give you a good position."

"Stark Industries wants thermonuclear astrophysicists?" Salomon was quite curious. It was understandable for Stark Industries to recruit people in thermal engineering, electrical engineering, metallurgy, and communications, but recruiting people in astronomy was something the sorcerer couldn't quite understand.

Thermonuclear astrophysics is a tertiary discipline, and also a highly complex and highly differentiated one.

The primary discipline is physics, and thermonuclear astrophysics branched off from the secondary discipline of astrophysics. Further subdivisions include solar physics, solar system physics, stellar physics, and so on. Professor Jane Foster taught Salomon high-energy astrophysics and space physics, tertiary disciplines derived from astrophysics, and even dabbled in radio astronomy. Now, in the process of researching wormholes, Jane Foster's scope has broadened considerably; Darcy has long since surrendered, and only Salomon and Dr. Sulveig can keep up with her research pace.

If Darcy hadn't begged Salomon to cast a spell on her that would enhance her intelligence, she probably wouldn't have been able to write her graduation thesis.

"I'm not limiting my sights to Earth. A few months ago, I launched a satellite that aims to see farther and clearer than the Hubble Telescope. Haven't you seen it on Twitter? I clearly announced this, and Stark Industries' stock started to surge."

Stark said this quite naturally, "We've already experienced two alien invasions, and who knows if there won't be a third. I need to guide people to look to the universe, instead of constantly panicking about aliens jumping out from under their beds—at least that's what the White House officials I've spoken to think. They believe their weapons can kill every alien. But I know that's impossible; those weapons would cause far more damage than an alien invasion. Humanity can only make significant progress in technology by going out and communicating with alien races willing to coexist peacefully."

"You mean, you want to expand your Iron Legion?" Salomon looked at the Iron Man suits in the cabinet and the parts he had just disassembled. "A surgically precise combat system, while maintaining uninterrupted fire support. Is this how you want to deal with an alien invasion with minimal losses? You want to use the Iron Legion to pose a threat to aliens?"

"Bingo!" Stark snapped his fingers. "In my opinion, super soldiers are going down the wrong path. Artificial intelligence is the future. Training a super soldier is extremely difficult, while the Omnic Legion can replicate them. Your armor... believe me, an AI-controlled Iron Legion is the best. Alchemy is hundreds of years outdated. You should return to science."

Salomon didn't refute him, because he himself was using artificial intelligence to solve problems, but mocking his alchemical skills was out of the question. Now possessing a quarter of an aether particle, Salomon's progress in alchemy was rapid, greatly aided by Paracelsus's theoretical guidance.

"Oh dear, you finally realize you're the one holding Jarvis back?" Salomon said with a laugh. "Without you, I think Jarvis could unleash even greater combat power. No matter how good your protective measures are, you can't withstand 12G. And Jarvis would have to go to great lengths to keep the air conditioning running so you wouldn't be overwhelmed by your own body odor."

"I'm already practicing! And I don't smell bad at all!"

"Practice what?"

"I've hired a coach for close combat training," Stark said, gesturing to the Wing Chun wooden dummy in the corner. "And I've started writing an algorithm to deal with close combat, inputting various fighting techniques and using the algorithm to predict and counterattack based on punching and striking positions. In short, I'm the one who created the Iron Man suit."

Stark's hasty attempt to demonstrate his worth was utterly ridiculous, and he immediately realized his mistake after making those remarks. He waved the burritos brought to him by the robot Little Daddy, who only had one mechanical arm, in front of Salomon, then stuffed them all into his mouth, regardless of whether he could eat them or not.

Dumbbell poked Stark with its robotic arm. Its programming instructed it to deliver food to two people instead of one, and Stark's behavior threw it into a kind of logical confusion.

"Don't bother Dad, you idiot! I'm going to tear you apart and sell you to Africans," he mumbled, pointing. "We're finished! We're not friends anymore."

"Whatever you want."

"Alright. The breakup is over, we're back to work."

----------

"Cough cough."

"Speak up. Didn't we agree to communicate by letter? Has something happened to Damon? Did that little nun abandon him? Just kill him. I care about his sister." Salomon looked impatiently out onto the street, completely ignoring the expression on the face of the person standing opposite him. Anyone would be unhappy to be stopped at their doorstep on their way home from grocery shopping, especially when the person is a drunkard from another country.

"It has nothing to do with Damon. That nun was also excommunicated because she was pregnant." Father Morru pulled a silver-white dove from the pocket of his tattered leather coat. This dove was Salomon's magical artifact, a gift he gave to Morru as a way to maintain a distance from the church, not to have clergy visit him. Salomon saw biscuit crumbs on the silver dove, which made him roll his eyes.

Clearly, Mordo took this as a token rather than a hint.

"The Pope wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury about you," Moru said in a low voice. Although Elizabeth I had reconciled the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, divisions still existed within the Church, especially within the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, Moru did not come to Salomon in a grand manner, and he was even very careful when speaking.

He patted the silver dove, causing the mirror to reappear.

"About me?" Salomon's interest was piqued; he didn't mind hearing what Moru had to say.

“Pope Francis wants to invite you to the Vatican, or if that’s not possible, Westminster will do, since you’re studying the James translation.” Moru seemed a little nervous; he avoided Salomon’s eyes. “Just attend one Mass, whether it’s in the Vatican or London,” he said. “Treat it like a banquet.”

Since that Mass that produced the "miracle," Mauru gained immense support within the Church. The clergy who attended the Mass, especially the cardinals, even took pride in the wound on their abdomen, calling it a stigmata, and they became staunch supporters of Mauru.

Moru knew Salomon's aversion to the Church, and he knew that the Church's future survival space would become increasingly smaller, especially after the successive alien invasions. Although some fanatics believed that the aliens' arrival was God's punishment, and even regarded the aliens as angels, those fanatics were of no use to the Church.

To win the future, Salomon, this "saint," was indispensable; he was even to guide the Church through a transformation no less significant than the Protestant Reformation. And to gain the support of those stubborn clergy, Maurois needed Salomon to display the characteristics of a "saint" during Mass. He believed that simply by attending Mass, Salomon's stigmas would spontaneously manifest miracles.

The Roman Catholic Church needed to survive, and Salomon was the best candidate.

Moru wanted Salomon to become pope directly in the future.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)