Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 660 This is War (First Update)

"Who gave Salomon the right to decide humanity's attitude towards aliens? Didn't he consider that this would push potential allies into the enemy camp? Doesn't he have any strategic vision, understanding that this behavior will create many enemies for the entire human race?" Stark put down his glass and licked his lips. He hated the glaring LED lights overhead, which never went out; he guessed it was an independently operating power system. He had nothing better to do than sit there lost in thought. "This drink is quite good. Is it from your collection? Give me some more ice... Think of Asgard, they're our allies. Why can't we establish the same relationship with alien races as we have with Asgard? Kasirius, you can't let Salomon run rampant any longer. He needs to be disciplined, or he'll bring Earth an insurmountable enemy sooner or later."

“Asgard wasn’t always humanity’s ally.” Kasirius took a nonchalant sip of his brandy. He loved Salomon’s collection of spirits; their tastes were identical, and it was hard to say whether this wasn’t influenced by his visits to the No Doors bar when Salomon was young. He held out his finger, and two small ice cubes fell into Stark’s glass through the tempered glass. “You should be glad you don’t have to pay taxes to Asgard, Tony Stark. I believe Salomon has told you that, so how could you be so naive as to think that alien races would necessarily be so friendly?”

"I know that story, and I say it because we have the ability to fight aliens."

"A single Chitauri vanguard nearly wiped you all out; that hardly qualifies as a victory."

The mocking expression on Karios's face displeased him.

"Where were you then?" he countered.

"Salomon is helping you, while the other arcane mages are either cleaning up the mess caused by the portal's opening or continuing their own missions. That portal has made a mess of both the inner and outer planes, with more chaotic interdimensional creatures than flies on rotting flesh. Moreover, the portal has caused atmospheric spillover, and we need to find a way to get druids to solve the problem," Kasirius said. "The Chitauri pirates are also a thorny issue for interstellar civilizations; the Battle of New York was just a small reconnaissance force for the Chitauri. Humanity's nuclear weapons are indeed useful, but they're not so effective against enemies outside the atmosphere. Humanity currently lacks the capability to deal with enemies outside the atmosphere. And by enemies, I also mean the Inhumans."

"Are you so sure that Inhumans are humanity's enemies?"

"The Inhumans are war slaves genetically modified by aliens, Stark. The Kree tapped into human potential and then added their own genetic research to create the Inhumans. The Inhumans who remain on Earth are just a small branch of them. I know what you're trying to say—you people always think the universe is peaceful—but the keynote of this universe is survival, not freedom. Humanity cannot afford to lose any war. Kamar-Taj will do anything for humanity's survival, to prevent humanity from becoming slaves. Salomon did a good job, impeccably, because he eliminated all possible threats."

"Look at you, so obsessed with your responsibilities, capable of anything to uphold your mission. For you, as long as the goal is righteous, the means and actions are unimportant. You are not killing, but upholding the fate of humanity; torture and interrogation are for the sake of maintaining human civilization. How noble, possessing such a broad vision, naturally ignoring the fate of the individual. Don't you know that the entire civilization is made up of individuals?"

"Thank you for your praise," Cassirios said calmly, as if Stark's sarcasm was nothing more than a breeze. "We know that, and that's why we will sacrifice ourselves when necessary to atone for our sins."

"You guys are a bunch of lunatics! I simply cannot understand you martyrs!"

Stark handed over the glass and watched Kasirius's departing figure.

After confirming that no one was around, he turned away, pretending to continue resting, while his hand, hidden under the blanket, tapped the sensors implanted under his skin. Stark had learned from the Extremis incident and was always prepared to be captured. Therefore, he added many new functions to his sensors, including basic radio signals to transmit information without a network.

He slowly typed out the command in Morse code, the recipient being Friday at Stark Industries. After receiving the message, Friday relayed it to the Avengers base. Simultaneously, Friday also prepared Stark Industries' rockets, ready to launch at any moment towards the Immortal City's airship, and delivered Tony Stark's stockpiled Iron Man suits.

"How long do you think this intelligence will hold them off?" Kasirius asked. Victoria Hand glanced up at him, then continued working on her documents. She already knew about Tony Stark's hidden sensors; she'd found out during the interrogation. But she'd been cautious and hadn't immediately dug them out, and sure enough, they came in handy later. This plan was devised by Agent Hand and Salomon during a conference call, using the Punisher as bait to reveal some intelligence to Stark, thus buying time for the main mission.

“One day will be enough. The monarch said he'll resolve this in a day.” On the map displayed on the holographic projection table, dark clouds still gathered along the Maine coast, and a red dot representing Salomon's location flashed incessantly. Kasirius had also communicated with Salomon, their conversation mainly focusing on the types of monsters summoned by the vampires and the methods used to combat them within the Kamar-Taj Library. “He will call in support from the Sky Carriers for a fire strike,” Agent Hand said. Salomon's initial goal in developing the Immortal City was to reduce casualties in Kamar-Taj. He disliked wasting the lives of the arcane mages, believing they should sacrifice themselves on more difficult battlefields. “The engineers are currently debugging the weapon systems; this is the first time the Sky Carriers have activated all their firepower systems.”

"Aren't you going to use magic to deal with them?" Wanda sniffed. Even though she had cleaned her mouth, the sour smell of vomit still kept rising up, making her nose sting, which greatly annoyed the witch.

“No, mages will only provide support and deal with vampires. Against that enormous monster, I'll try out gunpowder and electromagnetic weapons.” Salomon drove his beat-up car, its doors taped shut, slowly along the highway. He had used magic to construct a crystal bridge to cross the collapsed road. “I don’t like individual heroism, because it leaves behind the corpses of collectivism,” he said. “Very few people in this world can solve problems independently, so I’m giving this battlefield to ordinary humans, letting them show me the value of the human race.”

"This will cause ordinary people to die on the battlefield."

“Yes, I know. Wizards die too. Can you weigh which is more important?” the wizard said. “I gave them weapons, taught them how to solve problems, and provided them with the necessary conditions. Their mission and duty are the same as the wizards': to use their lives to eliminate threats to humanity. Don’t discuss this with me anymore, Wanda. This is war!”

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(End of this chapter)