Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 604 The First Candidate (First Update)

The boy slowly walked into the dark training field. The rough linen clinging to his thin chest rubbed against his skin with each step, causing a stinging sensation. What bothered him even more was the cold wind in the field; it sent shivers down his spine as it blew over his freshly shaved stubble. The smooth, icy marble floor beneath his feet mercilessly robbed him of his remaining warmth, leaving his toes numb. Only the sound of his footsteps echoed in the training field, crisp and lonely, like his own heartbeat.

He was chosen from among his people to participate in a ceremony that only he could attend.

For this ceremony, he had to undergo extremely rigorous study, encountering subjects he had never studied before: politics, military affairs, geography, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. His initial learning gradually became apparent. Unlike the other boys in the tribe who loved to jump and play, he was more interested in listening to stories from the prophet than in snowballs, bows and arrows, or daggers. The prophet often told him stories of the tragic death of the 10th-century Byzantine emperor John I Tsimishes, and of Basil II, known as the Butcher of Bulgaria. Tonight, Chief Sofia, the prophet's daughter, dragged him from his not-too-warm, not-too-soft bed and brought him here, letting him go in alone. Then, Sofia left alone, ignoring the puzzled boy.

Even though he didn't understand, he gritted his teeth and did as he was told.

He repeatedly experienced the fear mixed with cold, chewing and swallowing it repeatedly on his tongue. In that short distance, he thought a lot, yet also seemed to think of nothing at all; he was simply walking forward mechanically, as if something ahead was attracting him.

A light shone in the dark training ground, instantly dispelling all the chill. After a brief moment of surprise, the boy perked up. He squinted, looking towards the light, and saw a blurry figure standing in the center of the training ground. "Good evening, descendant of Theodora," the figure said to him in a very gentle tone. "From this day forward, you will begin your real training."

"What kind of training?" the boy asked.

This refers to an indescribable feeling; he believes that the knowledge he has acquired is currently insufficient to describe this sense of destiny.

"The most rigorous training in the world, child." The light gradually dimmed, and the boy could finally see the person within it. It was a tall man with long, curly black hair, his features as perfect as a sculpted ancient Greek statue. With a gentle smile, he said to the boy, "But I believe you can endure this training. Look, that's your armor and weapon; you will become someone worthy of that armor in the future."

The boy quickly glanced in the direction the man was pointing.

"That's too tall," the boy said nervously. "I can't grow as tall as a room!"

"We'll find a way." The man smiled and stepped forward, placing his large hand on the boy's head. Like a warm breath, the boy felt all his weariness vanish with the arrival of the warm night. "This will be a long service. You will face pressures that are difficult for the human mind to bear, but you can endure them. I assure you, you will be able to wear this armor, stand beside me against enemies unimaginable to humankind, or command the world's largest fleet, ordering cannons to destroy those repulsive monsters."

"Why me?" The boy looked up at him with his clear blue eyes.

The man's expression seemed to turn somewhat awkward. The sanctity that should have been there was ruined by his own upturned lips; he looked like he might burst out laughing at any moment, yet also somewhat embarrassed. Only then did the boy realize that the man wasn't old enough to need a beard; he was still very young and very strong. But the boy still couldn't look directly into the man's shining eyes, eyes that seemed to want to dig up all his past little secrets. For example, how he would secretly eat in the middle of the night, and how in Siberia, when he couldn't sleep at night, he would run to the edge of the village and throw stones into the well.

He was worried that this man would find out about these shameful things.

He was trembling.

"Because you're the perfect fit." The man raised an eyebrow cheerfully. "This isn't nonsense, it's just a coincidence. I was looking for the right person, and then you appeared, that's all."

No one knew why the boy with surgical scars kept following Salomon, nor why he carried a dagger and a pistol. An uninformed observer would surely be shocked and angered by the boy's surgical marks. But for the boy himself, although dozens more surgeries awaited him, the changes brought about by just the first phase of surgery, lasting several days, were already incredibly satisfying.

It felt like a long dream.

He grew taller, his brain worked faster, and his reactions became quicker. His appetite increased, and his previously skinny limbs began to grow muscles, enabling him to use a short bow to hit things he couldn't before. He was no longer a skinny bookworm; everything was moving in a positive direction.

The surgery for this boy was custom-designed, and Maya Hansen worked tirelessly for a month to prepare, only to move on to the next phase of the work after a short rest. With a ready-made template, the process proceeded quickly. The boy carried all the current advancements of the biological laboratory, including gene editing of the Extremis virus, alien genetic engineering, and biochemical implants, technologies spanning numerous medical fields and powerful alchemy. As he grew, the surgeries continued, and the boy underwent daily checkups to ensure the implants and genetic engineering would not cause any side effects.

This process continues until the final goal is achieved, which is the final form of the Golden Armored Guard. But that's just a template; Maya Hansen modifies the modification plan for each different subject. Therefore, this boy's final form is slightly different from that of the Golden Armored Guard.

After the first phase, the boy will undergo Salomon's mind-altering magic and brain-computer interface-based mental and chemical adjustments to make him a superhuman on a psychological level as well. This is an extremely difficult and lengthy process. Modern science's research on the brain is still in its infancy. Even though the Immortal City has invested in many laboratories and received technology from the future, the boy still has to stay in a cultivation chamber during the adjustments to prevent significant fluctuations in his physiological characteristics during the mental adjustments.

"What did you do to this child?" Natasha Romanov looked at the boy with a questioning gaze.

Although she declined Salomon's invitation, driven by emotion, she would still come to the Immortal City to see if Salomon actually carried out that inhumane plan. While she didn't see the hell she had envisioned, the surgical scars on the boy's body were indelible. If she knew the boy had grown twenty centimeters in a week, she might jump out of her skin in shock.

The boy obediently ate his chocolate cake, completely ignoring the conversation between the female spy and Salomon; his headphones wouldn't allow him to hear anything else. After psychological adjustment and the implant surgery, his senses had become overly acute, and he was currently in the process of adjusting. Normally, this boy should be out in the forest for wilderness survival training, not sitting here eating cake.

However, Natasha Romanov's arrival interrupted this process.

Salomon spread his hands nonchalantly. "Some things just have to be done, Natasha."

Please vote! This chapter is too long, so I'll cut it out and add it to the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)