Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 670 The Moral Debate Between Reason and Sensibility (Part 1) (First Update)

"Captain, someone is trying to breach Stark Industries' flight system."

"Can you keep them out?" Captain Rogers asked anxiously. Ever since the landing instructions from the USS Punishment airship a few minutes ago, an ominous premonition had filled his heart. The impatience of the flight tower controllers and the rapid-fire cannons constantly tracking the Quinjet fighters indicated their hostile attitude. He was certain that the intrusion into the flight system was the work of the Immortal City; if Vision hadn't discovered it in time, they would very likely have stolen some information.

"I can do it. Should we take retaliatory measures?"

"No, absolutely not." The captain shook his head. "The action team must not carry weapons, and we must not show any hostility."

"But I don't think they'll be lenient with us, Captain," Falcon said. "They might lock us up too."

"They didn't need to do this. If they wanted our lives, any mage could do it silently. I've seen magical curses; ordinary people have absolutely no chance against mages." Captain Rogers watched as the pilot hovered the Quinjet in front of the takeoff ramp on the Sky Carrier's deck, then slowly maneuvered it inward. He could vaguely make out the original appearance of this Sky Carrier, but after the Immortal City's extensive modifications, its aircraft capacity had been reduced to the point where it could hardly be called an "aircraft carrier." He had never seen a Sky Carrier with its flight deck enclosed by armor and rapid-fire cannons mounted on the armor plates; it was practically a Sky Battleship.

"That sounds like there's a story behind it," Falcon said.

"We'll talk about it next time." As the plane landed, the rear cabin door slowly opened. Captain Rogers picked up his shield and walked at the front of the group. Although he couldn't show hostility, that didn't mean he wasn't prepared. The Immortal City's attitude was as expected. Leading them was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with short, gray-white hair, along with a girl wielding a chainsaw sword, wearing black power armor and a helmet. But Captain Rogers still hadn't expected to face a heavily armed assault team in power armor the moment he stepped off the plane—he'd seen these girls unleash their firepower in Sokovia; it was firepower meant for heavy vehicles. If he'd had a team like that on the battlefield back then, it might have been able to decide the outcome of a small battle.

They weren't guarding against the ordinary people in the special operations team, nor against me and Falcon, but against Vision!

Captain Rogers instantly assessed the situation. At his request, the special operations team surrendered their weapons, and Falcon surrendered its wings. But just when he thought the process was over, the girls in power armor and the arcane mage produced shackles, attempting to detain the agents. "What are you doing?" Captain Rogers shouted. "Haven't we given them enough trust?"

"This has nothing to do with trust. We need to examine whether their hearts have been corrupted by evil, including yours." Kasirius looked up at the soaking wet Captain Rogers. "Since you've placed your trust in us, I can tell you that forty ordinary people driven mad have already been executed on the three Sky Carriers. Their souls have long been crushed, and their bodies no longer carry their own will. No one can change their worship of evil gods. We cannot rule out the possibility that some of the agents who came with you are like that, but I can promise you that Kamar-Taj will show them mercy before they incur an unpayable debt to the human race."

"This isn't mercy, this is atrocity." Vision grabbed Kasiris's arm, stopping him from walking towards the agents. The atmosphere tensed instantly. The heavy weapons team immediately placed their fingers on triggers, heavy bombs and plasma weapons poised to fire. At the same time, the leading Sorority member activated the low-speed mode of her chainsaw sword, ready to strike at any moment. "I don't understand," Vision said calmly, ignoring the threats. "Why don't you try to help them?"

“Not everyone possesses your Mind Stone, robot.” Kasirius withdrew his hand, and Vision did not stop him. “Even the Mind Stone is difficult to completely change a person’s mind, especially when the user is a robot.”

"I cannot allow you to do this," Vision said dryly. "Humanity needs to progress, but that doesn't mean all costs are justified. What you're doing is unreasonable and goes against the spirit of science. You've never even tried treatment. You should make a decision after effective observation, and the worst outcome should be sending him to a mental hospital, not brutally executing him. What you're doing is no different from a medieval bloodletting butcher, full of barbarity and conjecture."

"I see!" The arcane mage chuckled. Before anyone could react, Kasirius suddenly lunged forward, throwing a straight punch at Vision's head. Vision instinctively blurred his body, but the shield, crackling with orange-red sparks, slammed into his blurred head, instantly solidifying his previously blurred form and taking the full brunt of the blow. The dull thud was like a heavy hammer slamming into everyone's eardrums. Captain Rogers and Falcon watched in astonishment as Vision was knocked onto the deck and lay there stiff as a board.

Kasirius acted quickly, binding Vision with a binding spell.

"You're right, we are the butchers, the butchers who protect humanity. We'll stop at nothing, even trampling on morality, to ensure the survival of our race. That's the bottom line of Kamar-Taj, a bottom line you superhero gamers can't comprehend." He looked up at Captain Rogers and Falcon. "You haven't witnessed the horrors of cult worship, so what right do you have to make such judgments? But I can give you a reference point: this massive earthquake. Its source was an ordinary cultist two hundred years ago, now the murderer of hundreds and thousands of innocent people. If he had succeeded, we would have faced hundreds of thousands, even millions, of casualties, and his fall was solely due to hearing the name of a cult. I certainly don't have the right to execute those who have gone mad, but I also don't have the right to let them live. This is the cruel truth of this world; we must have blood on our hands to ensure the innocent are not harmed by cults. Because of this responsibility, generations of sorcerers have sacrificed themselves, using their flesh and souls to protect you."

Captain Rogers fell silent. He genuinely didn't know how to refute such arguments; it wasn't something he was good at. "I understand the sacrifice," he finally said after a long pause, "but that doesn't mean what you did was right."

“I have never said this is right, nor have I ever taken pride in it.” Kasirius laughed. “Salomon is looking for alternatives to this method so that mages can one day be free from this bloodshed. Although I don’t think he will succeed, I still support him.”

Falcon seemed to only then react. His eyes widened, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. He was so astonished that he ignored Kasirius's shocking words and the chainsaw sword buzzing against Captain Rogers's neck. This was utterly unbelievable even to the veterans recruited by the Avengers. They had witnessed the abilities of these superheroes and the power Vision displayed during training. Just a day ago, they would never have imagined that someone could so easily take down Vision.

"Is Vision dead?"

“This robot is just temporarily shut down, like a phone in sleep mode,” Kasirius said slowly. In his understanding, this robot was a phone with the Mind Stone embedded in it. He subtly curled his fingers—he had tried to pry off the Mind Stone, but he had failed unless he disassembled the robot altogether. “There’s more than one Infinity Stone in the world. As a high-ranking deacon of Kamar-Taj, I know what the Infinity Stones are, and I know how to use them. Besides, it’s a machine, isn’t it?” he said. “Don’t worry, as long as these agents aren’t corrupted, they won’t lose a single hair. Are we going to stand here and continue this philosophical debate? Since you want to talk things out, I’ll take you to someone who can talk to you.”

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(End of this chapter)