Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 574 We Still Have Time (First Update)

Sofia tugged at her father's gray coat, behaving like a naive little girl.

She tried to pull Jacob up from the dusty, ancient stone. The girl, so fierce when she first met Laura, was now in tears. She was the object of admiration for all the young men in the village, a strong warrior leading her people in battle against outsiders, yet now she could do nothing; even the most accurate arrows couldn't solve the problem. She kept questioning herself, wondering if she had neglected her father too much—she thought him an invincible prophet who, for over a thousand years, had used his wisdom to guide his people out of hardship, but no one knew the weariness buried deep within his soul. The Divine Source could heal his body, but it couldn't mend his soul; the unexpected death of his wife had carved a deep, unhealable wound into his already broken mind.

"I'm truly exhausted. I'm just an ordinary person." Jacob lowered his head, pale sunlight streaming through a small hole at the top of the observation tower, isolating him and Salomon in the desolate building. "Even if you've bestowed upon me more knowledge, my mind remains mortal. You cannot ask more of me, my lord. My mission is complete, and the damned curse you placed upon me should end."

Sophia stepped back, drew her longbow, and aimed the arrow at Salomon. Tears blurred her vision as she looked at the sorcerer, until the next blink, Catherine's longsword was against her neck. The homunculus's face hardened as he placed his finger on the activation button; with a mere press, the young, taut neck and beautiful red hair would be severed and shredded into a pool of blood and flesh by sharp serrations. But Salomon and Jacob ignored the conflict around them; they looked each other in the eye.

"This is our first meeting, but I will see you again in the future," Salomon said with a smile. "Only then will I be the one who remembers everything, and I'm sure my future self will laugh at you."

"You did indeed do that." Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, a smile creeping onto his face and lingering in the wrinkles around his eyes.

“I think we both need some time.” Salomon bent down and gently pressed Jacob’s shoulder. A thousand years of waiting is an immense burden for any mortal, even the Sorcerer Supreme could not bear such pain. This pain is devoid of flowers, sunlight, and all that is beautiful and fresh; one can only listen to the endless wails of one’s own soul slowly decaying, and endure the torment of nightmares repeatedly in the darkest night. Time becomes confused in memory, sometimes making it impossible to distinguish between memory and reality. “I know what immortality feels like, but now is not the time.” Salomon sighed. He thought of the Venerable One. “Jacob, you still have some time. I think the reason my future self told you you would have a daughter was so that you could enjoy more family time. This is important; it’s the only thing we can have in this desolate universe and dark future.”

"I'm sorry, you'll have to face that future alone," Jacob said.

"It's alright, I've been prepared since birth. What's your decision?"

"Time is a cycle, isn't it? The choices I've made won't change."

“At least not now, Jacob,” Salomon said. “You still have time to write greeting cards, drink, and do extreme sports. You still have time until this job is done. How about we wipe out the Holy Trinity here first?”

“You keep your word, my lord.” Jacob sprang to his feet, relaxed and cheerful, as if he had become the young man Salomon had met in the future. “The reason I brought you here is because this is the path to the Lost City. Everything you want is there. The engineers who built it made a map, and this observation tower is where they reviewed the construction process. You need to find the imaging instruments they left behind to obtain the map of the Lost City. I don’t know exactly what you’ve kept for yourself, but I’m sure you have your own plans.”

"See? I told you we still had work to finish. Did you think I wouldn't tell you this if I promised you?"

“Anyway, you could find it on your own, couldn’t you?” Jacob smiled and shook his head. “Sophia, we should entertain our guest. Let the lads enjoy the food he brought; we need a celebration!”

"You're not planning to commit suicide?" Sophia asked, her round eyes wide open.

"Don't be silly, I'm an immortal prophet."

Salomon looked at Laura Crawford. "You don't need to push yourself too hard this time, my dear archaeologist," Salomon said. "You can explore patiently and won't miss a single detail. I assure you, you will know everything you want to know."

"Does this include the gifts you kept for yourself?"

"Hmm, that's impossible." Salomon raised an eyebrow, imagining what his future self would leave for his present self. This idea was similar to making a wish; he now knew what he needed, and his future self would try his best to prepare it for his past self. It sounded somewhat comical, but it was indeed the case.

All carrier-based aircraft had already taken off, but to minimize damage to the terrain, the Sisterhood could only rely on the firepower of the assault transport ships themselves, along with airdropped combat teams, to clear out the mercenaries hiding deep in the mountains. Ordinary bullets simply couldn't penetrate the girls' armor, and Kevlar body armor and ceramic armor plates couldn't withstand .50 caliber explosive bullets. Combined with the strafing fire from the machine guns mounted below the Sky Carrier, all resistance was plowed away in an instant. Constantine, the leader of Trinity, did try to fight back, but after the Sky Carrier's massive cannon fire that triggered an avalanche and caused the ship to list slightly, no one insisted on not surrendering.

Although the Sky Carrier's first combat opponent consisted of only a few armed helicopters, the problems it exposed urgently needed to be addressed by the engineers of the Immortal City. Currently, there are still a host of military-related ideas awaiting implementation within the Immortal City, and Salomon has decided to slow them down and allow them to thoroughly examine past mistakes.

On the battlefield, there is no room for error; a mistake means death.

He did not stay in Siberia for long.

After confirming that almost all of the Trinity mercenaries had been wiped out, Salomon returned to the Immortal City aboard a sky carrier, leaving behind an elite squadron of the Sorority, several assault transport ships, and ample supplies to ensure the girls would bring back what he wanted. Of course, Phoenix remained the most important force, bearing the responsibility for overseeing the entire operation.

Laura toured the miraculous city beneath Rome with great interest, then followed Salomon into the prison: here lay her stepmother and Constantine, the leader of the Holy Trinity. Salomon was determined to extract information about the Trinity from them. Anna, Laura's stepmother, appeared very depressed after her capture, and the medical staff of the Immortal City informed Salomon that Anna's condition was not optimistic. Constantine initially exhibited symptoms of mania, but soon became engrossed in prayer.

"Sounds like an Oxford University student society. I'm pretty sure Trinity's headquarters are in England, and most of its members studied at Oxford." Salomon waved his hand, his expression seemingly sarcastic. It was hard for ordinary people to imagine the psychological shock he had just experienced. Even if they knew, they could only admire his exceptionally strong mental fortitude. "I can smell the stupidity on those incessantly talking charlatans from the theology department. I'm a physics student, after all."

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(End of this chapter)