Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 996 Absolutely Cold-Blooded Logic (Second Update)

"I need soldiers," Viktor von Doom stated bluntly, without mincing words, "veterans with unwavering will and rich combat experience. I need you to select a team whose members can rotate, regardless of their background, but they must meet the aforementioned characteristics. Whether they come from impoverished backgrounds or wealthy landowning families, they must have a deep understanding of the Immortal City's ideals. I need this team to be able to impart their experience and explain the ideals to the soldiers in the camp who have just come out of training when they return from the front lines to recuperate. This matter requires your approval."

Viktor von Doom was clearly somewhat averse to the constraints of his authority, but his deliberate exercise of his regent status as the Immortal City was not without reason. He was currently the Commander-in-Chief of the Latvian Army, and emphasizing his regency before the ideology of the Immortal City took root would only create a sense of division. Once ideological unity was achieved, the Immortal City and Latvian would become one, inseparable. However, this was still too early and too advanced for the current Latvian population; most of the propaganda work would still have to be carried out by the Immortal City's personnel—as the "Unified Truth" and the education programs for soldiers and civilians began to progress, the narrow nationalist perspective would be replaced by a relatively less narrow humanism, and Viktor von Doom believed this process would accelerate.

He also hoped this goal could be achieved as soon as possible, to prevent Salomon from running out of patience and resorting to violence to force its way through. Even if this cause would inevitably result in bloodshed, he hoped that the blood of the Latvians would be shed less. Even if their ideals were the same, if Salomon's future was enslaved by that ideal, then Victor von Doom could retain a little bit of personal ambition.

Sophia did not immediately agree, but instead removed her peaked cap and placed it on the long table made by the refugee artisans. However, she did not remove the overcoat symbolizing her status as a military officer of the Immortal City, thus making her stance clear. "Can't the preachers do it?" she asked. "Our Lord has sent so many preachers; haven't they done their job?"

"The speakers are not soldiers, and moreover, they don't have much battlefield experience to pass on. The current chief speaker, George, is good at counterinsurgency warfare rather than large-scale positional warfare. His experience can only be passed on to special operations teams. Soldiers find it hard to see them as one of their own. It will be too late for these soldiers in the training camp to receive education from the political commissar once they are on the battlefield."

Sofia nodded, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "I know the new recruit casualty rate is high, but it's still within the Immortal City's control. The compensation distributed within the camps isn't enough to cause inflation. The Immortal City and our Lord are doing everything they can to support the civilians of Latvinia. As long as the plan proceeds as scheduled, the people of Latvinia will become prosperous."

Having grown up in a resource-scarce region, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the supply of goods in Siberia worsened. Even as the daughter of the prophet of the Lost City, she had to hunt to feed everyone. Therefore, she knew how vital food was to the Latvians. Before her departure, the Ministry of the Interior had explained to her in detail the economic measures implemented by the Immortal City in its base. If inflation occurred, the hard-working refugees would starve again, something the Immortal City would absolutely not allow to happen.

But Victor von Doom waved his hand. "I know all this, and I know how much effort the Immortal City has put into this economic system, but what I care about isn't this system that's already running and performing well, but the population," he said. "Latvinia doesn't have a large population to begin with. While the Immortal City's bulletproof armor provides decent protection, our strategic objectives are simply too vast. We have too few soldiers. Whether protecting villages or attacking castles, we'll always face a situation of fighting against overwhelming odds. And Latvinia's terrain isn't suitable for heavy armored forces. If this continues, we'll eventually be overwhelmed by the enemy's sheer numbers."

"Aren't there women in the camp?" Sophia said calmly. The ideology promoted by the Immortal City is extremely aggressive and expansionist. If you peel away the meager humanitarian concern and the facade of caring for the vulnerable and liberating productivity, you will find that what is hidden inside is an extremely cold logic—no matter how much blood is shed or how heavy the price is paid, humanity must break free from the limitations of gravity and head towards the stars. All the technological research and development of the Immortal City is for building ships to sail into the stars, and these ships need fuel to operate. Regardless of their status, all humans must sacrifice themselves for the future of the human race. Those who have no value must become laborers, even if they are made into machine servants.

No one is an exception, not even Salomon, who wrote this book, nor Kamar-Taj, who educated people. This is why Latvinia must be completely liberated, and Wakanda, lacking in expansionism and aggression, must perish.

"Organize healthy women for training and form an all-female army. Even if they are destined not to have powered armor like the sorority, at least they will have taken up guns and cannons." Sofia's tone was very natural, as if human lives were just numbers to her, but her tightly pursed lips betrayed her true thoughts. Even so, she said those words firmly without any regret.

Before his death, the prophet Jacob had a private conversation with her. In the conversation, he spoke of Salomon pointing to the dark night sky above the Byzantine palace and telling him about his ideals. Jacob was so moved by this magnificent vision that he trembled. He accepted the task and has preserved this ideal and gift for thousands of years, gathering believers in the name of faith and waiting for the war that transcends time to end.

After learning the truth about faith, Sofia was trapped in a whirlpool of thoughts for a time.

She couldn't understand Jacob's ideas until she witnessed firsthand the preparations Salomon made for this ideal, saw the prophecies of the future, and read the books designated by Salomon. Only then did she call upon her people to become the most steadfast supporters of the "United Truth." This was because it was the best means and program to unify non-blood-related communities of interest (the human race) and to use their expansionism and aggression to save the human race.

Even if the future is dark and cruel, even if everyone can only survive by eating tree bark, the human race must continue and fight on. For survival, for the survival of the species, even becoming beasts is acceptable. Only by solving the problem of life and death, achieving technological leaps and developing productivity, and occupying a dominant position in the ecosystem of all intelligent species in the Milky Way, can the truly free and equal future described in *The Unified Truth* be realized—but there will certainly be those who cannot accept such a cruel reality, or who are too foolish to believe they can obtain privileges and escape unscathed, thus ensuring that the path of *The Unified Truth* is fraught with carnage.

The person who executes this plan needs ample foresight, profound knowledge, strong execution ability, unparalleled courage in the face of despair, unwavering determination, the most thorough altruism, and a soul and body that will never age. There can only be one such person, and Sophia clearly sees that there can only be one candidate to execute this plan; in Jacob's words, that person's pseudonym is "The Emperor."

The person standing before her now is the "emperor's" chosen representative.

"The ideals in 'Unified Truth' require everyone's effort to achieve, even women must shed blood, without exception. Pull them out of handicrafts, make them pay the price for their own future and that of their descendants. As long as they want to save themselves, Our Lord will help them," she said. "As a military discipline officer, I also need to remind you of something else: those prisoners of war with heinous crimes will not be executed; the Ministry of Military Affairs and military courts will handle the rest. If you've seen the inventory of supplies sent to the Immortal City today, you'll find a lot of bio-modification materials and electronic components. We need labor here, and servants are the best solution. You need to get the Latvians familiar with the presence of servants as soon as possible. Anyway, they're already used to the presence of psionicists, and servants aren't too difficult to obtain."

Viktor von Doom pondered for a moment, then finally sighed and nodded helplessly.

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)