Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 659 Prisoners of the Sky Carrier (Second Update)

Agent Victoria Hand took the prescribed medication required for high-intensity work, a protocol established by Wakanda's medical experts at Princess Shuri's request to prevent staff from collapsing under the near-non-stop work environment of the Immortal City. She also took an alchemical potion from the Sisterhood to prevent her brain from becoming overworked and ensure she could make sound decisions. She rested for only three hours before hurriedly getting up, washing, and sitting at her desk to begin work—after Kasirius carried Tony Stark out of the Mirror Dimension, Agent Hand had sent the Avengers a update on Stark's condition to reassure them, but at the same time, she was also preparing for war with the Avengers. As commander, she was obligated to maintain balance, but the authority granted to her by Salomon also allowed her to make any preparations to protect the Immortal City. This was a minor matter; alien and extradimensional threats were her primary concerns.

The air carriers stationed between Britain and the European continent have completed their mission and begun their patrol, expected to rendezvous with the HMS Retribution in four hours to jointly carry out their final task. Both air carriers also have experienced agents on board, and their interrogation procedures… to put it bluntly, involve torture and any non-lethal physical punishment, enough to force those mortal cultists to speak. The Immortal City has no concept of human rights, which is its most criticized aspect. Salomon has received protests from Princess Shuri more than once, but these protests have been formally ignored. The intelligence integration department compared and analyzed the confessions of the cultists arrested on the three air carriers, compiling a relatively credible intelligence report. This report is now on Agent Victoria Hand's holographic projection desk, requiring her to review it page by page. She now utterly despises the Immortal City's tradition of relying on paper-based offices, but Salomon believes it prevents information theft, so the intelligence department has adopted this approach. As it turned out, this approach was very effective; the Immortal City lost almost no important data during the Ultron incident.

"Compared to the Starry Sky Wisdom Order that Kamar-Taj wiped out, the Church of Kolonzon is much smaller," Kasirios reassured him. "Moreover, Salomon has already captured their main fighting force. His confessions, combined with the information obtained earlier, are enough to piece together a rough picture. There's no need for further investigation. As long as Salomon finds the spellbook and executes all those who know the truth, the remaining people have no ability to cause any disturbance."

Agent Hand's glasses reflected the blinding light of the lamp, and she rendered Kasirius speechless with a single sentence. "If Kamar-Taj had done all the work back then, I wouldn't have had to do this," she said without looking up. "Now, don't bother me while I'm working. I'm cleaning up the mess from a mission Kamar-Taj did over two hundred years ago."

"May I take a bottle of wine?"

"As long as you can guarantee that you stay alert while carrying out the mission."

"I promise." Kasirius took a bottle of brandy from the liquor cabinet and left the office without saying goodbye. The internal structure of this modified Sky Carrier was unlike any known aircraft carrier. To make room for ammunition depots, massive cannons, vehicle launchers, and missile launchers, many unnecessary compartments that would be present on a typical aircraft carrier were scaled down. For near-perpetual flight, the engine room was doubled in size, and cooling pipes were spread throughout the entire ship. The large-scale automation also reduced the number of crew members, freeing up more space for facilities. This ship was more like a Sky Battleship than a Sky Carrier. Even with the limited space, some compartments were still retained, such as the prison—this was the second time Tony Stark had been imprisoned. The first time was in Afghanistan, but compared to the terrible conditions there, his treatment on the Sky Carrier was much better. Apart from the extremely unpalatable pasta, he had nothing to complain about. He was convinced that Salomon would release him sooner or later; imprisoning him was just a signal to the Avengers.

Tony Stark had no idea where his Iron Man suit was. If he were in the command center, he would find that the lion that should have been lying there was gone. Malbus, as the Fifth Primal Primal, was not only skilled in healing arts but also had considerable knowledge of mechanical technology. Although many of the technologies in Stark's Iron Man suit weren't cutting-edge, the design principles hidden within the armor were worth studying. Malbus was open to all kinds of mechanical technology, even mortal combat armor had its merits, which greatly helped him in designing power armor for Salomon and the Custodian Guard, and in improving the Sisterhood's power armor.

After all, there's not much place in the Abyss where high technology can be used. Malbus, however, built an entire automated city using his robust steam technology and difference engines. Such technological capabilities are rare in the entire universe, and it is precisely for this reason that Salomon sought him out to manage the Martian foundry.

Kasirius walked up to the transparent reinforced glass and waved the bottle of liquor in his hand at Stark, who had just woken up.

Although they had fought, Tony Stark didn't hold a grudge, his heart overflowing with curiosity, leaving no room for other emotions. He rarely witnessed a sorcerer at full power; the first time he saw magic was when Salomon cast it. However, Salomon wasn't very powerful then, barely managing to withstand the minimum output power of the Destroyer armor. Their encounter in Sokovia ended badly, and Stark had no chance to witness magic much further. Salomon had already written spells for dealing with high-tech gadgets in his spellbook, making them available for qualified arcane mages to learn; this was why Kasirius was able to win so quickly. Stark simply couldn't understand why his Iron Man suit had suddenly malfunctioned, its weapon systems instantly collapsing.

After racking his brains all night, he finally found the reason based on his memory.

Magic, that damned magic. Now he had the time to calm down and study magic properly; he had to find a way to deal with it, no matter what.

Kasirius knew Tony Stark's true purpose, but he didn't care at all. If one couldn't understand spellbooks and couldn't refine life force to extract magic, then the only way to obtain magic was to find a Sovereign. But magical entities weren't so easy to find; they all had their own standards. If Stark were a candidate for any magical entity, he would have already been guided onto the path of arcane arts, and then executed by Kamar-Taj for losing his reverence for the mystical and recklessly using magic, causing disaster.

As long as magic, the Avengers, Kamar-Taj, and the Immortal City weren't mentioned, these two middle-aged men of similar age would have many things in common. However, that was impossible—"How many people did you execute today?" Even though Tony Stark was still sleepy, he fired first, "And how many people unfortunately overheard your little secrets today?"

“You should know we don’t kill innocent people indiscriminately.” Kasirius poured two glasses of brandy and then carried them onto a tray into the tempered glass cell. “If we were that kind of people, you would be dead already, Stark,” he said. “But Agent Hand isn’t going to drag this out any longer. If Jia Ying doesn’t tell the truth, she will be executed by the Immortal City’s agents.”

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(End of this chapter)