Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 853 Artificial Souls and the Next War (First Update)

Salomon tried to keep himself busy so he wouldn't think about the sacrifice of the Sisterhood androids.

He adored Catherine, the lively homunculus. Her personality programming seemed to have a slight malfunction; she always appeared cheerful, only to do some hilariously foolish things. Even though he considered Catherine, with whom he had a close relationship, like a daughter, he couldn't show the obvious sadness that the sorority girls did. He could only fill this void with work, studies, and the next war.

He was naturally aware of Catherine's performance in the Battle of Finnbowent. As a soul born from his soul and the Philosopher's Stone, Catherine was inherently influenced by the Stigmata. Even if Catherine's body died, her artificial soul would roam the Sea of ​​Souls, beside his soul projection. He himself had experimented and could communicate with Catherine using necromancy, and could also summon her using the fourth-circle spell [Spirit Guardian]. However, the duration of Catherine's stay, and even the strength of her spirit, were related to the timing and scale of the Stigmata activation; under normal circumstances, he could not keep her in the real world indefinitely.

He made this attempt because his previous attempt to activate the backup body prepared for Catherine had failed; Catherine's soul couldn't be pulled back by the spells on the backup body. This didn't align with his original plan; he hadn't anticipated that his soul would have such a strong attraction to the android. Without activating the Stigmata, the only way to keep Catherine's soul there for an extended period was to use the Philosopher's Stone.

He has already given the fragment of the aether to Tita, to be used as one of the Sisterhood's ultimate weapons. Tita has taken over the alchemical body that was originally intended to be Catherine's backup body and sealed it in the Sisterhood's secret chamber as the vessel for Catherine's voluntary descent into the real world.

He also told Tita the results of the experiment without reservation. Currently, only a small number of high-ranking members of the Sisterhood know how to activate the magic on the Philosopher's Stone to summon Catherine. The Sisterhood also needed some reassurance, and Salomon agreed to Tita's request for reinforcements, scaling up the recruitment process by an order of magnitude. Although this would come at a considerable cost, Salomon didn't mind, not only because he had great tolerance for androids, but also because cracking down on the Clinton family's human trafficking route from Europe to the east coast of North America perfectly aligned with the Immortal City's next phase of strategy.

Using a sky battleship to fight human trafficking gangs and mercenaries is a waste of talent.

However, before Tita leads the team off, Victoria Hand will conduct a counter-espionage course for the Sisterhood's commanders.

As more and more people are recruited into Immortal City, spies will inevitably attempt to infiltrate the organization. Even among the girls rescued by the Sorority, spies may be among them. Therefore, every department must begin preparing for counter-espionage. Currently, Immortal City's primary counter-espionage target is the CIA. Langley headquarters is unaware of the true identity of its adversary, but based on Immortal City's operational patterns, it can be deduced that this is a long-term mission targeting drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan to the United States and human trafficking routes from Europe to the United States. To uncover the truth, to cover up evidence, and to avenge the attack on Langley headquarters, the CIA is highly likely to send agents posing as victims to infiltrate Immortal City.

The excuse is that this organization is connected to Hydra, and this kind of excuse works everywhere these days.

But the CIA certainly didn't expect that the Immortal City was actually connected to Hydra, and in a very close way.

Salomon could use Gideon Malik and the secret society to which the Malik family belonged to make CIA intelligence transparent one-way, much like Hydra did to S.H.I.E.L.D. Furthermore, given that the CIA has spent much of its time in recent years spreading rumors and bribing dissident groups, its combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the CIA during the Cold War. Therefore, this was a training exercise that ended without serious harm. However, no one else knew this. Apart from Victoria Hand, both the Sorority and the research department believed that a spy had indeed infiltrated the Immortal City.

Salomon wanted to put them on high alert, to prevent any real problems from arising. The Immortal City wasn't some makeshift operation; it was a warlord possessing weapons of mass destruction. The consequences of espionage would be unimaginable. Relying solely on the Imperial Guard to conduct security checks on everything around Salomon wasn't enough; everything needed to be formalized, including establishing relatively stringent counter-espionage procedures and requiring everyone to follow them. The next step was to ask Natasha Romanov if she had the time; Salomon needed her help to build a counter-espionage system, while also cooperating with the Imperial Guard.

The Wakanda people agreed to this approach after some initial opposition.

Princess Shuri, using her authority, obtained most of the information about the Finnbowent campaign. She witnessed firsthand the role of the Immortal City and the enemy they were about to face, after which she no longer objected to Salomon's militaristic ambitions. This science-loving Wakandan princess began to seek another path, searching for information about the Black Panther God, Bastet, through the myths and legends of Wakandan and surrounding tribes. She had no idea what that little black cat that liked to wander near the Ministry of the Interior building and vomit milk actually was.

"Don't pursue those things, Shuri," Salomon kindly advised the Wakandan princess. "This is not the path you should take."

"You want me to give up the truth before me? That's impossible, Salomon. I'm a scientist; I need to understand things I don't understand."

"Science and magic both lead to the same place, and the excessive pursuit of knowledge is not without danger," Salomon said calmly. "If you complete the laser cannon you are developing, then even seemingly powerful extradimensional beings will be unable to reach such power. If one is not enough, then ten, a hundred. This is the power of technology, and it is the path that the Venerable One and I advocate. Magic is merely a shortcut for a special group of people, not the standard answer. Those who walk this path will encounter many risks that they would not encounter on the other path. If you cannot withstand the risks, then I will have to kill you, just like the arcane apprentice who died in Kamar-Taj. Prepare yourself, for we are about to face the next war."

Su Rui raised an eyebrow. "When? We just went through a terrible battle; the entire mountain collapsed!"

"I don't know, it depends on the Immortal City's preparations. But allow me to remind you, the enemy's technology far surpasses that of ordinary human societies on Earth, and they are extremely organized. Every high-ranking member is highly capable and knowledgeable. We can't achieve our goals solely through decapitation strikes; we must accomplish our mission through occupation and conquest. Even though I despise those bastards, I must acknowledge their expertise in genetic science. Throughout the war, neither the environment nor the quality of our troops will be on our side. This will be the most troublesome enemy we've ever encountered."

"I see you've assigned us a low-gravity environment test. On which asteroid are our enemies located?"

"On the moon, Shuri," Salomon laughed. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Although some of the aliens still have human forms, most of the Inhumans have lost their human form due to genetic mutations. I can show you some divination magic through a mirror, and you'll know what those Inhumans are really like."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)