Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 968 Extradimensional Hazard Event (Second Update)

This file contains detailed records. Stephanie used to read it as bedtime reading because the author of the file was Salomon. Salomon infiltrated a gathering—this family had once belonged to the Methodist deacons of that small town. Fifty years later, the main characters at this family gathering were the elderly children of several Methodist deacons, one of whom had an intertwined fate with that pastor and had even been the pastor's patient. The stories Salomon recorded were all heard from him, and the file was written in the first person by this person, detailing the "premonitions" that person saw each time the aftereffects of his condition flared up.

Under the influence of alcohol and hypnosis, the man spoke without reservation. Salomon wasn't involved in the mission, but he was tasked with the post-mission investigation. He was only sixteen at the time, and he personally documented this tumultuous fate. The magic book that drove the former Methodist priest to madness was eventually found, but many years later, at an astonishing cost, involving a host of vampires and worm-men, and even a giant monster.

The book is called "The Secret of Worms".

At the end of the file, it records the final experiment of a former Methodist minister named Dan Jacobs: the resurrection of a woman brain-dead due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (prions). The record indicates that Dan Jacobs succeeded; he successfully summoned lightning and resurrected the poor woman who had been brain-dead for fifteen minutes. However, the resurrected being was not the patient named Mary Fay, but rather the unborn behind the veil—it lifted the veil, entered the real world through the dead woman's body, and allowed Dan Jacobs to see his deceased wife and son. As one of those who witnessed the resurrection experiment, a nurse named Jenny fled home, murdered her friend (the protagonist's first love), and then committed suicide.

This outcome is the same for many people who have undergone treatment.

A patient with muscular dystrophy committed suicide after being admitted to a mental hospital, his last words being, "I can see dead people." Patricia Farmingale, a cataract patient who rubbed salt into her eyes, smothered her father with a pillow and then shot her husband and herself in the head. Emil Klein, suffering from pica, shot his wife and son before setting himself on fire. Alice Adams, a cancer patient who, after being cured, killed three passersby with an AR-15 rifle before committing suicide with a revolver… Reverend Dan Jacobs's itinerant missionary work cured hundreds of people, all of whom subsequently committed some horrific act. These incidents did not occur simultaneously but were buried among tens of thousands of cases across the United States, completely unnoticed. They were completely unaware when they did these things, just as they had been when they engaged in self-harm. They could not bear the aftereffects of the treatment; the human brain cannot comprehend the horror and chaos behind the veil of reality, and madness is the mildest consequence.

This is a problem that all spellcasters must face, but ordinary people don't know how to protect themselves, and if they are to learn how to protect themselves, they must confront madness. It's a vicious cycle with no solution.

Jamie, the 53-year-old hippie and former drug addict and son of a Methodist deacon, eventually accepted Kamar-Taj's protection and entered the mental hospital run by Kamar-Taj. He was the last conscious survivor treated by Dan Jacobs, and also a witness to the Undead entering the real world. His brother, who was Dan Jacobs' first therapeutic subject in his youth, was also sent to a mental hospital by the police because he unconsciously wanted to kill his live-in boyfriend.

Jamie refused to forget, and in exchange, he promised never to speak of these things again for the rest of his life. He relinquished his inheritance, donating his entire multi-million dollar fortune to Kamar-Taj.

This incident occurred during the slaying of the burrowing worms that caused the massive earthquake on the East Coast in the Immortal City. The death of Reverend Dan Jacobs marked the end of the investigation into the book *The Secret of the Worm*, and signified the complete eradication of the extradimensional pollution caused by the book from Earth. The arcane mages of Kamar-Taj personally killed the blind fool. This file was listed as a key reference in the Royal Guard's mission intelligence index; the Kamar-Taj mages meticulously analyzed the behavioral patterns of scientists affected by extradimensional pollution, using this as the basis for the Royal Guard's deductions.

Stephanie had been informed that the consequences of the grimoire the Praetorian Guard was investigating would be far more severe than those of *The Secret of the Worm*, and therefore the Immortal City and Kamar-Taj would fully cooperate—even though Stephanie didn't understand, she complied nonetheless. If Ludwig Prin's *The Secret of the Worm* was "the most dangerous book ever written by mankind," then the *Dark Book* the Praetorian Guard was investigating was "the most dangerous book ever written in the universe by the gods themselves," its consequences far more devastating than the once-in-a-century earthquake on the East Coast and the suicides—it was the embodiment of the malice in the hearts of all intelligent beings in the universe, a manifestation of chaos, cruelty, and evil. And many more of these terrifying things lay scattered throughout the world, unbound.

Robbie Reyes forced his swollen eyes open, then gasped. Bright sunlight streamed through the glass, forcing him to close his eyes and turn away. He felt as if he'd had a terrible hangover and taken a lot of illicit drugs, leaving his mind foggy. Through his blurry vision, he saw the three men in front of him, vaguely recognizing them. They seemed very happy to see him awake; the smallest of them even reached out and touched his face.

That hand was very cold.

"Robbie, wake up," Gabe's voice rang in his ear.

Memories flooded back like a rising tide, nearly drowning him. Robbie Reyes froze, the familiar touch on his back reminding him where he was. He was in his house, in his room, the small figure was his brother Gabe Reyes, and he was lying on his hard bed. Robbie Reyes sat up abruptly, rubbing his eyes. His blurry vision cleared, revealing two other figures—Daisy Jensen and Wanda Maximov, two uninvited guests. They stood before him, their expressions hesitant, as if they wanted to say something.

But Robbie's anger flared up even faster because they were there.

"I'm awake, Gabe." He looked up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, surprised to find his limbs weak and his stomach cramping. He noticed he was wearing his tattered black motorcycle jacket, but his shoes and socks were gone. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I didn't invite you here. Gabe, you shouldn't have let strangers into your house."

"Robbie, they're the ones who brought you back," Gabe said in a low voice. "You have a fever, and you're very sick."

"I'm all better now. Gabe, I want to talk to them," Robbie said firmly, but he reeked of a foul odor and looked utterly lacking in parental authority. Gabe Reyes glanced at Daisy Jensen and Wanda Maximov, then nodded and wheeled himself out of the room.

"Remember to eat lunch," Gabe said irritably. "You haven't eaten in a while. And wash the sheets, you're filthy."

“I’ll be right there,” Robbie Reyes said. After Gabe left, he immediately jumped out of bed and shakily stood up. He refused the other two’s help, supporting himself on the bedside table as he faced the two women. “Tell me your purpose,” his voice hoarse from dehydration, “what do you want me to do for you to leave and stop disturbing our lives?”

Daisy Jensen was about to say something, but Wanda spoke first. "I'm afraid not, Robbie Reyes," she said. "You're in big trouble now."

"What trouble do you have that you want to make bigger?"

"The energy lab." Wanda pretended not to hear Robbie Reyes's sarcasm. "We need to find out where the stuff from the energy lab went. And I also have you and me to make a pact with the vengeful spirit possessing you. I think you remember the auto repair shop incident; that was the result of you losing control. If you continue like this, Gabe will get hurt sooner or later. If you don't help, it won't just be Gabe who gets hurt."

Please vote for me.

(End of this chapter)