Chapter 148: The Dark Council of the Marvel World
1943 was destined to be an extraordinary year.
The Nazi organization Hydra launched its frenzied offensive, striking fiercely at Allied forces across Europe.
With the front lines stretched dangerously thin and casualties mounting, conscription became an unavoidable reality.
Recruiting offices sprang up across America.
Because of Hydra's advanced weaponry powered by the Tesseract, the number of deaths and property losses in this World War II timeline were nearly three times greater than they should have been!
Pain and fear became the most direct experiences of almost every adult man during that dark time.
Perhaps some of them went to the battlefield with dreams of glory, or genuinely wanted to defend their country, but you couldn't deny that they were also terrified of dying.
Not everyone was eager to give their life, take up arms, and face enemy fire to defend freedom.
But the pace of conscription was relentless and unstoppable.
Another small-scale battle occurred: Hydra forces and the 107th Infantry Regiment clashed in a brief but brutal skirmish. This was a common occurrence—these types of engagements happened frequently.
The notoriously ruthless Hydra once again defeated the 107th Regiment decisively.
Hundreds died and hundreds more were wounded.
To the media, it was just another casualty report, occupying some minor space in the newspapers.
To the military brass, it was another infuriating defeat, yet they remained powerless to effectively retaliate against Hydra's superior technology.
But this time, everything was different.
A small-scale battle between two forces would normally attract little attention beyond military strategists, but this skirmish unexpectedly captured everyone's focus.
An organization called the Dark Council had quietly emerged onto the world stage.
That day, the 107th suffered devastating casualties, and the ruined encampment was filled with agonized cries.
Some soldiers had lost limbs to explosions, others were bleeding out from shrapnel wounds. They should have been grateful that Hydra's Tesseract-powered weapons had malfunctioned during the battle—otherwise, they wouldn't have survived long enough to be wounded. A direct hit from those energy weapons would have vaporized them into blue ash.
Then a little girl holding a black cat appeared.
Dressed in a black nun's habit, standing barely four and a half feet tall, she approached the devastated camp with calm, measured steps.
Reinforcements hadn't arrived yet, and the medics were completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties.
Too many wounded were still groaning in agony on the bloodstained ground.
The little girl's arrival went largely unnoticed at first; no one seemed to register the young nun's presence.
In peacetime, a soldier with a rifle and a cocky attitude might have approached, deliberately trying to frighten the child, barking "Get out of here! This is a military zone!" just to derive cruel amusement from scaring a kid.
But now, no one paid attention—the sentries who should have been guarding the perimeter had been killed in the initial assault.
Looking at the dead and dying, the little girl showed no fear, her face expressionless. The black kitten in her arms was equally calm.
"Life is with you," she said softly, approaching a soldier whose eardrums had been ruptured by a grenade blast. She gently set down the black kitten and placed her hands over her chest in prayer.
Although the wounded soldier was deaf, people in despair rarely reject faith—they desperately seek solace in it.
The soldier also placed his hands over his chest, showing respect to the young nun despite his confusion.
A few seconds later, the young nun produced a small chalice that had been tied to her waist with a simple cord.
As she held the cup in her left hand and extended her right hand over the rim, a small stream of crystalline water suddenly flowed from her palm into the vessel.
This miraculous scene was quickly noticed by the wounded soldiers who had been silently watching nearby, their eyes widening in disbelief.
The little nun raised the chalice to the soldier, gesturing for him to drink.
Although he couldn't hear her words, the soldier mouthed "thank you," then took the cup with trembling hands and drank deeply.
A second later, his eyes widened in shock.
He touched his ears, feeling a slight tingling sensation.
Then... he could hear again.
The sound of wind rustling through debris, the cries of his wounded comrades, his own ragged breathing...
He had regained his hearing completely!
Instantly, the soldier understood that the person who had restored his hearing and even made his injuries vanish was the miraculous little nun standing before him!
He dropped to his knees reverently, head bowed, and carefully returned the chalice.
The surrounding soldiers watched with bewilderment, not understanding why their comrade was acting this way, but over the next hour, one soldier after another performed the exact same gesture—
Kneeling on the bloodstained ground, offering their devout faith to the little nun.
A soldier pierced through the abdomen by shrapnel had the metal fragments painstakingly removed by an exhausted medic. He should have bled to death from the trauma, but instead, after drinking the holy water from the chalice offered by the nun, his wounds sealed themselves and healed instantly!
Soldiers with severed limbs were also rapidly healed. While the holy water was miraculous, it couldn't regenerate lost appendages, but no one complained about this limitation—being alive and stable was miracle enough.
Under gentle questioning from several soldiers, the slightly nervous nun finally revealed that she served an organization called the Dark Council and was a candidate for sainthood within their order.
Everything fell into place with that revelation.
And just like that, the Dark Council suddenly appeared in the Marvel universe.
Hydra Headquarters
Red Skull laughed triumphantly, his crimson skull-face twisted in savage glee. "This so-called Dark Council definitely possesses secrets of the gods! Send our agents to find them immediately! I want this power!"
U.S. Military Command
"Holy water that can heal battlefield wounds instantly? Find this Dark Council immediately! I don't care what it costs—acquire this holy water for our troops!"
The war against Hydra didn't stop, but it seemed that a significant portion of global intelligence resources were suddenly being redirected to search for information about the mysterious Dark Council.
However, what they could find was destined to be frustratingly scarce.
Having just completed her mission, Matilda, guided by Princess the black cat, quickly arrived at the rendezvous point she'd arranged with Jake, who was already waiting for her.
As soon as she opened her mouth, the little girl couldn't help boasting, though her pride was mixed with exasperation. "I can't believe they're calling this the Holy Grail!" Matilda removed her nun's headscarf with an annoyed expression. "Maybe I should actually give it a proper name."
What she held in her hand was actually just a polished alloy cup from the 21st century—nothing sacred about it at all.
"They're even calling the healing spray 'holy water,' but even diluted twenty times, its effects are still incredibly powerful," Jake observed.
"Our plan is almost complete now," he continued, taking the so-called 'Holy Grail' from Matilda and placing it carefully in the center of the room.
A complex ritual circle had been carefully drawn on the bottom of the cup sometime earlier—purely for theatrical effect.
"They say we won't see Spider-Man for another seventy years," Matilda said with clear disappointment. "Are we really going to wait that long? By then I'll be ancient!"
"I'm working on finding a way to skip forward through time," Jake offered as slight consolation, then added, "Don't you want to leave your mark on this world? This is how legends are born."
"The mysterious Dark Council," the little girl murmured with a mischievous smile. This so-called Dark Council had originally been nothing more than something she'd doodled in her notebook during a boring afternoon, but Jake had unexpectedly developed it into a genuine organization spanning multiple universes.
"They're almost here. We should go, Matilda."
The little girl nodded reluctantly, tugging on Jake's sleeve. Princess climbed gracefully onto Jake's shoulder.
The next second, all three of them vanished without a trace.
A dozen minutes later, a heavily armed military unit stormed into the building, weapons ready—but all that remained in the room was a mysterious ritual circle drawn on the floor and the legendary 'Holy Grail' resting at its center.
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