Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 621 The trump card prepared for years (Second update)

He left the barn before the Avengers' plane arrived, passing through the portal right under Nick Fury's nose. The other side of the portal was pitch black; no matter how much Nick Fury peered inside, he couldn't make out any shape, as if it were a place that could devour all light. "What are you going to do?" the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. asked. "Do you still want to get some sleep?"

Salomon ignored him.

Although Salomon hadn't contacted the Maximov siblings since they left the castle, he continued to monitor Sokovia through the boy's eyes and spy satellites. To slow Ultron's acquisition of the nuclear code, the two AIs within the Immortal City were put to use, with Stephanie, after receiving orders, inviting two people she hadn't previously interacted with much. The AI ​​created by Mr. Finch had detected Ultron's infiltration of the internet. When Stephanie invited them to join the fight against the evil AI, Mr. Finch quickly agreed, and Ms. Groves, accompanied by the witch's drinking buddy Samon Shaw, arrived in Rome and then reached the Immortal City via a secret elevator.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe you have already reviewed the data." Salomon shook Harold Finch's hand and nodded to Ms. Groves. "I need your help to find a way to completely solve artificial intelligence within the Internet—a true solution, one that leaves no trace of code. The Immortal City will meet all your needs, even if you want to work outside the atmosphere right now."

"I've seen that part of the code. If the artificial intelligence shown in the data is that powerful, I'm afraid that machine wouldn't be able to compete with it at all," Mr. Finch said with a serious expression. "Even that machine was tailor-made to solve the problem, and its intelligence level is nowhere near that of the artificial intelligence that possesses that code, because that code has the ability to 'perceive'... I don't know who developed such a chaotic algorithm, but it's certainly not something that current humans can do. And your storage technology..."

“You’re right, this is indeed not code that humans can develop right now.” Salomon gestured to the group of workers in the server room, where a marble eagle on the floor was obscured by mountains of computers and cables. “They’re responsible for finding out why that artificial intelligence is trying to destroy humanity, and I believe those reasons are hidden deep within that raw code. Your job is more difficult… Stop it, Mr. Finch, Ms. Groves, call in the Immortal City’s satellites and prevent it from obtaining the nuclear bomb codes. You’ll receive technical support from Wakanda. Shuri, please explain your Wakanda computers to our guests; they’re not quite used to high technology yet.”

"I saw you assembling your combat personnel," Ms. ROOT said with an interested smile. She pointed to her hearing aid in her ear. "It told me everything. You've done a lot of preparation, including preparations for our failure."

"Yes, I won't place my hopes on a few individuals, including you and that machine." Salomon turned to look at the Sisterhood and the mortal army walking towards the three sky carriers. A holographic projection display beside him showed the Immortal City's global troop movements, including several candidates who had undergone brain-computer interface-based knowledge transfer. The Sisterhood's combat roster and assignments, live-fire training results, close-combat performance, the mortal army's past experiences, the types of battles they had participated in, their weaponry, and the commanders' personalities—everything was displayed on the constantly scrolling screen, awaiting the arcane mage's processing.

Salomon always prepares for the worst. His destructive power will be unleashed when all is lost; a massive wave of radiation will annihilate everything in Sokovia, including Ultron's wireless network—after all, Ultron is an artificial intelligence, and he needs the internet to function. Judging from the types of satellites it controls, Ultron clearly understands its weaknesses. As for the indoctrinated candidates, their task is even more arduous. Tita will send the Sisterhood to accompany them, boarding the ships Salomon has prepared for them should the situation worsen.

It's not an atmospheric aircraft carrier, but something much larger.

“We need someone to sound the alarm for humanity, just like during the Battle of New York, but we must ensure that this warning doesn't destroy humanity's fragile civilization,” the arcane mage said to Stephanie beside him. No one could hear their conversation. “Our goal is the same as Ultron's: to urge humanity to progress. But striking the right balance is extremely difficult. We must be prepared for countless possibilities, including a protracted war. No one can guarantee that Ultron won't leave himself a backup plan; if that's the case, we'll have to use even more radical contingency plans.”

"I've prepared all the contingency plans." Stephanie was both excited and a little scared. "Do we really have to use that kind of power? If we show that kind of power, we'll immediately become the enemy of all nations."

"Then let them come." Salomon's eyes were extremely cold. "Although I have not yet inherited the throne, that does not prevent me from obtaining my own fiefdom first."

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"Teacher." A magical communication from Wanda abruptly interrupted Salomon's work. He had been working continuously for over twelve hours, tirelessly mobilizing logistical resources to prepare for the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario was war—a war between humans and machine races, a war between him and the secular government; the contingency plans alone numbered over three hundred pages. Wanda's message pulled Salomon from the pile of papers. She showed him a blurry image—a telepathic communication containing a mix of emotions: fear, regret, and pain.

"We've caused irreversible consequences, that gem..." Her voice was muffled, as if coming from the deep seabed, and Salomon could only try his best to hear it. "Help us, Ultron doesn't just want to destroy the Avengers, it wants more."

"Where are you?" Salomon asked back. However, Wanda still didn't reply after a long time. It wasn't until Salomon was almost impatient that Wanda used magic to send another message. At the same time, Stephanie also came to the office with the Avengers' internal communications intercepted by the Immortal City—Stark Industries no longer had Jarvis for network defense, and the Samaritans had gone to great lengths to hack into Tony Stark's satellite and access the Avengers' communication system.

"Ultron is in South Korea. You can see from Twitter that the Avengers and robots were fighting in Seoul," Stephanie said. "Our information resources have been focused on sifting through code and preventing Ultron from obtaining the nuclear bomb's codes. We haven't been able to find out where Ultron's current body is. Should we shift our investigation focus and let the Samaritan take over the machine's work?"

"No need, the Samaritan has other work to do." Salomon pulled up the Avengers' communications and clicked play. He asked Stephanie to leave the office temporarily, then took out the silver key hanging around his neck, closed his eyes, and began to calculate all the possibilities. He would confirm one last time whether the Mind Stone and Vision were absolute time points.

It took a long time before Stephanie was allowed to enter the office again.

"Activate the mechatronic body in underground warehouse X-111." Salomon's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked extremely exhausted. "We need that thing."

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(End of this chapter)