Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 586 Golden-Armored Imperial Guards (First Update)

The assault transport slowly descended onto the exquisitely paved plaza of red, black, and white marble in front of the Chamber of Souls. Jacob smiled as he stepped out from behind the lowered hydraulic hatch. He looked at the bullet holes and corpses strewn across the ground and sighed quietly, unnoticed by anyone. These soldiers of the Undead Legion had protected him and his followers many times before, but due to his mistake, their souls had been devoured by the [Divine Source]. Immortality burns the soul and mind; without the mind, there is no humanity. It can be said that the tragedies of Kit City over the past thousand years stemmed from this. From the moment the Undead Legion blasted open the iceberg with Greek fire, resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, Jacob's plan to build his dream of an earthly divine kingdom came to an end.

However, the Divine Source wasn't the greatest secret hidden within Kit City, nor was its function solely to sustain his and the Undead Legion's lives. That was merely a means, not an end. Everything, including himself, existed for a single purpose. "As you can see, I'm still somewhat sentimental," Jacob said with a smile. He wasn't surprised that Salomon had noticed his emotions; he knew Salomon's abilities. "I think this is fate's gift; they can finally be free. Death gives meaning to life; I only understood this after dying once myself."

"If my guidance was to have you disappear from the tomb after your resurrection, and then suddenly reappear before the first person who comes to visit you..."

"Then you really weren't wrong, it was all under your guidance." Jacob shrugged. "A surprising sense of morbid humor meeting a not-so-devout country bumpkin. My lord, your sense of humor goes far beyond this."

"Looks like I've kept my sense of humor well." Salomon stepped out from the combat squad and stood beside Jacob. The smell of gunpowder lingered in the air; even the fierce blizzard on the mountaintop couldn't completely remove all the ash and acrid odor. They stood side by side at the edge of the plaza, below which lay a bottomless abyss. They gazed eastward at the snow-covered mountains, watching the sunlight spill across the winding ridges, illuminating the dark valleys. The permafrost and glaciers, untouched for millennia, shimmered in the brilliant sunlight like a diamond necklace draped across the earth. No matter what stories unfolded in the world, those glaciers stood there, constantly growing, melting, and regrowing. Whether in death or life, only the glaciers remained eternal.

"This is a beautiful sight," the sorcerer sighed. "Have you made up your mind?"

“Yes, my lord, the completion of this task will be my death. A thousand years of waiting have led to this day, and I have no reason to hesitate,” Jacob said with a smile. “Sophia understands my actions; she is my daughter. Now that you have given her a new mission, she will continue to serve you, just as I did in the past. I am sorry that I cannot tell you everything about the past; those things must ultimately be experienced by you in the future.”

The Divine Source is kept in the very center of the Soul Chamber's main hall. It's a crystal that constantly emits a blinding light, which Jacob has wrapped in a special cloth to try and prevent the energy of the replica of the Philosopher's Stone from leaking out. "I need someone to open this floor beneath," Jacob said, pointing to the marble floor with a cross-shaped pattern where the Divine Source is placed. "The truly important thing is hidden below. Perhaps the craftsmen who built this place knew that I had built a secret chamber beneath the Soul Chamber, but they either died at the hands of the Mongols or the Trinity, or in the avalanches and floods caused by the Undead Legion. So even the Undead Legion doesn't know the true purpose of the Divine Source."

Following Jacob's instructions, the arriving engineering team quickly set up lifting equipment and used lasers to cut open a circular stone dome with a diameter of 40 feet. The project took the team several hours. As it was completed, the countless expansion bolts and steel cables driven into the marble floor groaned painfully, the diesel-powered motors roared, and the makeshift cranes trembled slightly. The work was progressing so slowly that some more Undead Legion soldiers respawned around the Divine Source, but fortunately, there were no casualties. The dutiful androids eliminated any unfortunate respawns, preventing anyone from touching the Divine Source.

As Salomon chanted the spell, the marble became much lighter.

The construction team quickly moved the stone cover aside and then directed the drone to fly down into the dark cave entrance. After a preliminary reconnaissance, there was no danger below. Salomon nodded to Jacob and then jumped down cleanly.

He never imagined that his future self would give his present self such a great gift.

According to Stephanie's later accounts, Salomon acquired thousands of high-tech hard drives from the Lost City. Analysis by the technology department revealed that many of these drives contained technological templates related to the construction of spaceships and genetic experiments. In addition, there were plans for building ecological bases and automated factories, which conveniently filled the gaps in the Martian foundry technology project.

However, none of these are the most important.

Laura Crawford finally saw what the golden-armored angel she had been longing for was.

It was a giant lying in a high-tech coffin, a massive halberd standing beside it. Various pipes, indistinguishable to Laura, connected to his armor and his body. In the darkness, the computer beside the golden giant operated at minimal power, its deep blue screen displaying an impeccably calm electrical waveform. Even with Laura's rudimentary medical knowledge, she could decipher the meaning of the displayed values ​​and indicators: heart rate, blood pressure, hormone levels, blood circulation, muscle condition, transplanted organ status, and so on. Among these were many unfamiliar terms, seemingly neologisms from ancient Latin. Even in the complete darkness, Laura could sense the giant's unparalleled power; it seemed he might awaken at any moment, take up arms, and attack anyone.

But that's almost impossible now, at least not at present.

A gaping, blood-soaked gash across his abdomen sliced ​​through the ornate golden armor. The aura of death hung over his face, and the long robe beneath the crimson armor was stained with dried blood. This wound was claiming his life, but the coffin, a fusion of high technology and sorcery, had halted death's advance. The golden armor was riddled with bullet holes and scratches; the inlaid rubies were shattered; the massive shoulder armor was severely deformed; the eagle soaring and roaring on the breastplate was severed in two; and the exquisitely carved, contemplative figures on the knee guards were smeared with blood.

Most of the energy from the Divine Source was used to heal him. Although a thousand years had passed, the wound was still horribly severe. Even after a thousand years, those standing nearby could still hear his dying roar, as if the flames and smoke of war were rushing towards them.

Salomon gazed sorrowfully at the person lying within. A connection to his soul and genes told him he recognized the man, and he recognized the armor. It was a product of the advanced technology of the dwarves and the Immortal City, a combination of many cutting-edge techniques. The Immortal City's basement vault held a hundred such suits of armor crafted from Uru, adamantite, and vibranium. He couldn't fathom the horrific battle this warrior had endured. Judging from his soul and genes, he had survived a project still underway in the biological laboratory—Maya Hansen, using Salomon's knowledge of life, would employ technological means and the unspeakable secrets of genetic alchemy to create an incredibly loyal army of genetically modified warriors to serve as Salomon's personal guard.

The initial quota is set at 100 people, with no upper limit for subsequent expansion.

The Immortal City's production capacity is still insufficient to support too many Royal Guards, after all, Salomon has given all his advanced technology to this army.

“He has awoke before, when my followers were unable to hold off the Trinity’s pursuers. For some reason, no one warned him, and no one could communicate with him, but he always managed to awaken in times of crisis.” Jacob stood beside the high-tech coffin and said in a deep voice, “He single-handedly killed thousands of pursuers and then returned to this coffin to slumber. To conceal his origins, I told my followers that a golden angel protected us. In a sense, that is true.”

"Where?"

"You handed him over to me in Byzantium, my lord."

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(End of this chapter)