"Who gave Solomon the right to decide humanity's stance toward alien life on our behalf? Has he not considered that such actions might drive potential allies into the enemy camp? Does he not have even a shred of strategic vision to realize that this behavior will only add more enemies for the entire human race?" Stark set down his glass and licked his lips. He loathed the blindingly bright LED lights above his head—never once did they go out. He guessed the cell had its own independent power system. With nothing else to do, he was left alone with his thoughts. "This brandy's not bad. From your personal stash? Get me some ice... Think about Asgard. They're our allies. Why can't we build that kind of relationship with other alien civilizations? Kaecilius, you people can't keep letting Solomon run unchecked. He needs someone to rein him in, or sooner or later, he's going to bring an unstoppable enemy down on Earth."
"Asgard wasn't humanity's ally from the beginning," Kaecilius said calmly, sipping his brandy. He liked Solomon's liquor collection—they had the same taste in spirits. It was hard to say whether that was due to years of influence, back when he used to take a young Solomon around the hidden bars of the Forbidden City. With a wave of his fingers, two ice cubes dropped into Stark's glass through the reinforced glass wall. "You should be grateful you don't pay taxes to Asgard, Tony Stark. I'm sure Solomon already told you that. So why are you so naïve to think that aliens are inherently friendly?"
"I know that story. I'm saying this because we have the power to resist extraterrestrial threats."
"A single vanguard unit from the Chitauri almost wiped you all out. That doesn't qualify as victory."
Kaecilius's mocking tone irritated him.
"And where were you at the time?" Stark snapped back.
"Solomon was helping you. The other arcanists were handling the dimensional fallout caused by the portal. That mess tore the boundary between planes to shreds—extra-dimensional entities swarmed through like flies on rotting meat. The portal also triggered atmospheric bleeding—we had to bring in druids to stabilize the biosphere," Kaecilius said. "The Chitauri are a known interstellar nuisance. The Battle of New York was merely a scouting operation. Sure, humanity's nukes worked, but only just. Against enemies outside the atmosphere, they're next to useless. And yes, the Inhumans are among those threats."
"You're sure the Inhumans are humanity's enemies?"
"Inhumans are genetically engineered war slaves, Stark. The Kree unlocked human potential and mixed in their own genetic enhancements to create them. The Inhumans on Earth are just a small splinter of a much larger project. I know what you're going to say—you always assume the universe is peaceful. But the truth is: the universe is about survival, not freedom. Humanity can't afford to lose a single war. Kamar-Taj will do anything to prevent our enslavement. Solomon is doing exactly what must be done—he is above reproach because he's eliminating every possible threat."
"Look at you. Obsessed with your so-called responsibility. You'll do anything to protect your so-called mission. To you, as long as the goal is righteous, the means don't matter. You're not torturing people—you're 'preserving civilization.' You're not killing—you're 'securing the future of humanity.' How noble. What a grand perspective. So grand, in fact, that you've forgotten civilization is made up of individuals."
"Thank you for the compliment," Kaecilius replied without emotion, as if Stark's sarcasm had been nothing more than a passing breeze. "We know. That's why we're willing to sacrifice ourselves if necessary, to repay the debt of our sins."
"You're all insane. Martyrs, the lot of you. I can't even begin to understand this madness."
Stark handed back the glass, watching Kaecilius walk away.
Once he was sure no one was watching, Stark turned over in his bunk and pretended to go back to sleep. His hand, hidden beneath the blanket, tapped rhythmically against the subdermal sensor implanted in his arm. After the Extremis Virus incident, Stark had prepared himself for the possibility of capture. He had upgraded his sensors with new functions, including basic radio signal transmission—enough to send information even without an internet connection.
Using Morse code, he slowly transmitted a command. The recipient: Friday, the AI in Stark Tower. Upon receiving the signal, Friday forwarded it to the Avengers' base. At the same time, she prepared a Stark Industries rocket, ready to launch toward the Immortal City's sky aircraft carrier. Onboard: one of Tony Stark's reserve Iron Man suits.
"How long do you think that intel will buy us?" Kaecilius asked.
Agent Victoria Hand looked up, then returned to her work without a word. She had known all along about the sensor Stark had hidden. It had been detected during the intake scan. But she'd deliberately left it alone—just as she and Solomon had agreed during a secured call. The plan was simple: use the Punisher as bait, leak partial information to Stark, and buy time for the real mission.
"One day is enough. The Monarch said he'll resolve the issue in one day." On the holographic map projected across her desk, the clouds hovering over the coast of Maine were still thickening. A flashing red dot marked Solomon's location. Kaecilius had also spoken with Solomon recently—their discussion centered on the types of monsters summoned by vampires, and the countermeasures listed in Kamar-Taj's library. "He'll call in air support from the sky carriers. Full firepower deployment," Hand said. Solomon's original vision for the Immortal City was to reduce casualties among arcanists. He didn't believe in sacrificing their lives needlessly. Arcanists, he felt, should perish only on the most impossible battlefields. "The engineers are calibrating the weapon systems now. This will be the first time the sky aircraft carrier activates its entire arsenal."
"You're not going to deal with them using magic?" Wanda asked, sniffling. Though she had rinsed her mouth, the acrid taste of vomit still lingered, irritating her nose and making her miserable.
"No. The arcanists will assist—and handle the vampires. But against that thing, I want to test the effectiveness of gunpowder and electromagnetic weaponry," Solomon replied as he drove the beat-up car—its door held shut with duct tape—along the highway. He conjured a crystal bridge with magic to cross a collapsed stretch of road. "I don't believe in lone heroes. Heroism stands atop the corpses of collective sacrifice," he said. "Few people can solve problems alone. That's why I'm giving this battlefield to ordinary humans, so they can prove the worth of our species to me."
"That means regular people are going to die out there."
"Yes. I know. Arcanists die too. Can you weigh one against the other?" the arcanist said. "I gave them weapons. I told them how to solve the problem. I provided the conditions. Their duty is the same as ours: to put their lives on the line to stop threats to humanity. Don't argue with me about this, Wanda. This is war!"
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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