Chapter 128
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Lying on his bed, Kael reached out and tucked a magic book he had just finished browsing back onto its original shelf through a portal.
The Kamar-Taj library contained more than just magic; it also housed many books similar to biographies.
Take the one Kael had just put back, for example.
Most of its content consisted of the author boasting about himself, interspersed with a small amount of spellcasting techniques and personal insights, making it quite a good bedtime story.
After all, this anonymous author's experiences were indeed extensive.
He had hookups in Asgard, frequented brothels in Svartalfheim, and sought favors in Nidavellir.
As for whether the reality was as the book described, Kael naturally had no way to verify it, but at least the author's writing style was excellent and very immersive.
More importantly, the author even included illustrations in the text, for which Kael had to give a thumbs up and a positive review.
It was just a pity that this masterpiece ultimately ended abruptly.
The final chapter stopped at Muspelheim, the Land of Fire.
A message left in the text said he was going somewhere to find some excitement; perhaps it was too much excitement all at once and the author kicked the bucket, as there had been no follow-up chapters for hundreds of years.
Kael could only offer a silent prayer for the creator in his heart.
Just as he was about to close his eyes and sleep, Emil called.
"BOSS, there's a new situation!"
Emil turned the camera around, aiming it at a nearby meteorite crater.
Not long ago, a meteorite had landed on Mexican soil.
However, nearby farmers discovered that what appeared in the pit was not a meteorite, but a square hammer, and no matter what means they used, they could not pull it out.
This explosive news spread instantly, piquing many people's curiosity and drawing them to the site to check it out.
It was under these circumstances that Kael had sent Emil to Mexico to keep an eye on the matter.
Initially, it was just tourists or local residents coming to join the fun, but today an official force arrived and cordoned off the crater.
"Do you need me to do anything?"
Emil asked after reporting the situation.
With his current strength, he was more than capable of dealing with this armed force, not to mention he had brought a team of company security guards modified with Kael's cybernetic implants.
These security personnel were all veterans from the military with extensive combat experience; combined with their cybernetic enhancements, every single one of them was effectively a super soldier.
Kael's relationship with General Ross was becoming increasingly close; besides various collaborations, the former also acted as the latter's financial backer, investing in and assisting his military and political career.
If General Ross didn't have only one daughter, he would have truly wanted to marry one off to Kael to become family.
Despite his age, General Ross's ambition was even more vigorous than when he was young, and he had been appearing frequently on various radio stations lately.
Those who didn't know better would think the man wanted to run for president.
Then again, it wasn't as if no one from the Ross family had ever been president; hadn't someone from the 'Fu' generation already set the example before?
Kael's sponsorship naturally came with rewards; the military files kept by Emil's group were a privilege granted by General Ross. With military backing, there was often nothing to worry about when taking action.
"No need to do anything, just keep watching."
Kael said casually.
He had no interest in that hammer which already had an owner; the reason he sent Emil there was firstly to confirm the timeline, and secondly for the soon-to-be-damaged Destroyer Armor.
Even putting aside the craftsmanship and technology contained within the Destroyer Armor, the value of the Uru Metal it was cast from alone was immeasurable.
"You're the BOSS, you call the shots."
Emil's tone was a bit helpless.
Keeping watch all day without doing anything indeed made him feel a bit restless from boredom.
He had originally thought that Kael upgrading him with an Exoskeleton Combat System and a Neural Enhancement System meant there was some big operation coming, and he had been quite looking forward to it.
As it turned out, he was just eating local tacos in the Mexican wilderness every day, staring at a hammer that no one could move.
"Once the mission is complete, I'll give you all a triple bonus when you return."
Kael's simple sentence boosted the team's morale.
"Yes! Mission guaranteed to be completed!"
Emil gave a salute to the phone.
Although following Kael lacked some of the excitement of the army, the money was truly generous.
After ending the call, Kael pulled up the covers and prepared to go back to sleep.
His donation had long since entered Kamar-Taj's public accounts.
Wong was very efficient; he had replaced Kael's room with high-end furniture that same day, and as for the remaining money, it was all used to upgrade Kamar-Taj's other infrastructure, as the broadband here was getting a bit old.
He also secretly bought himself the latest iPhone.
Wong wasn't as old-fashioned as he looked; at most, he just looked a bit old, but in private he was actually quite trendy and listened to pop music.
Waking up the next day, Kael began a new day of classes.
You could think of Kamar-Taj as a private university.
There were various subjects and fixed daily classes taught by various sorcerers.
Of course, if you had enough talent, it wasn't impossible to try self-study.
Kael had the ability, but he didn't do that.
Those older sorcerers might, due to talent or other reasons, be unable to support themselves in going very far on the path of magic, but the spellcasting experience accumulated over time and through their experiences was very much worth Kael's study and reference.
The teacher in charge of the practical combat class this morning was Kaecilius.
A man with a somewhat gloomy facial expression and temperament.
He was also a disciple of the Ancient One, exceptionally talented and highly favored; he had just recently returned from a mission monitoring dimensional fluctuations.
Although he didn't seem like an easy person to get along with, he held considerable prestige among the sorcerers and had many followers; after all, his past achievements were right there.
The main task of Kamar-Taj sorcerers, besides monitoring dimensional space, was to resist demon invasions into reality, which were highly dangerous.
Seeing him standing on the podium, the apprentices' pressure instantly maxed out; their breathing slowed down unconsciously, and they put on looks of intense focus, fearing they would be noticed and called up to the stage.
However, today Kaecilius seemed a bit out of sorts; his attention wasn't on the class, and as soon as the time was up, he dismissed the class hastily.
Watching Kaecilius's departing back, Kael caught a scent of corrupt, evil energy.
Since the Rune Power had modified his body, his various sensory abilities had also been enhanced, especially his keen sense of smell for the aura of energy.
Kaecilius had clearly come into contact with power from another dimension, and his body had suffered some pollution.
And this kind of pollution clearly carried a strong sense of subjective malice.
It was quietly hiding within Kaecilius's mind, attempting to lure him into corruption step by step.
This kind of situation happened frequently among the sorcerer community.
Because even a single passage of text might contain unpredictable mental pollution.
Even the magic used by sorcerers contained a certain amount of pollution, because this power inherently did not belong to them; this was actually one of the costs of magic.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
The Ancient One appeared quietly by Kael's side, her gaze withdrawing from Kaecilius's figure.
As someone who had spent years reaping the benefits of various Dimensional Lords, she was incredibly sensitive to the auras of these "creditors," not to mention that the entire Kamar-Taj was under her control.
The Ancient One had naturally noticed Kaecilius's condition immediately.
"Teacher, aren't you going to do anything?"
Kael asked.
"It's no use. I can erase the dark power, but I cannot erase the darkness in his heart."
The Ancient One said flatly.
In her long life, she had long since become numb to such matters.
It wasn't that the Ancient One was unwilling to give her disciple a hand, but rather that doing so was meaningless.
Half of a Kamar-Taj sorcerer's life is spent fighting the darkness within their own hearts; the temptations they face are beyond ordinary imagination, as those extra-dimensional entities truly possess the ability to grant your wishes.
Hearing this, Kael shrugged casually and stopped speaking.
Since the Ancient One, as the teacher, had put it that way, what other opinion could he have?
And according to Kaecilius's desire for eternal life, he would eventually get what he wanted; it was something to be congratulated, wasn't it?
Kael put on his Sling Ring, traced a circle with his index finger, and left Kamar-Taj.
Tonight, Helen Cho had invited him to see the latest romance movie, and he couldn't miss that; judging by the private message she sent, the lady was wearing stockings under her pants today.
That was pretty great.
Although he had no previous dating experience, it seemed women were born knowing how to pique the interest of the opposite sex... Mexico, County Hospital on the outskirts of Puente Antiguo.
Thor had a big fight with the hospital staff, but unfortunately, it ended in a crushing defeat; he entered the failure cutscene, tied to a bed for the night, while the doctor changing his clothes took the opportunity to touch him all over.
After all, the God of Thunder's physique had even received Zeus's seal of approval.
Such a robust young man was even more desirable than a sexy beauty.
Thor finally managed to break free from the restraints, but just as he escaped from the hospital, he was knocked unconscious again by the same vehicle.
The driver was none other than Jane Foster, who had come looking for Thor.
She had seen the image of a certain God of Thunder while observing the mutated image data from last night, and in order to explore the connection, she had returned to the hospital.
And thus, a similar scene occurred.
Subsequently, Jane took Thor back to her home and changed him into her ex-boyfriend's clothes.
After spending some time together, Thor accidentally learned news of Mjolnir while dining.
So he prepared to head over there in a grand manner.
However, at this point in time, the crater had already been cordoned off by S.H.I.E.L.D. forces.
Thor could only sneak into the newly built base under the cover of night, but his stealth skills were far inferior to Kael's, and he was quickly discovered by the guards inside.
Although he had lost the power of the God of Thunder, Thor's physical fitness and combat skills were not something ordinary people could compare to.
He literally fought his way through the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and reached Mjolnir's side.
This was also because the base commander, Coulson, had no intention of killing anyone; otherwise, Hawkeye would have already been drawing his bow to shoot from high above.
In the distance from the pit, Emil was recording everything with a high-definition camera, preparing to send it to his BOSS later.
The Optical Camouflage cybernetic implants he was equipped with were enough to keep him hidden right under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose.
Although Emil didn't come from a professional agent background, the generational gap between his equipment and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s was too large, plus he had the assistance of the AI four seasons treasure, creating a near-total dominance in this type of mission.
Just as Thor broke through layers of obstacles and finally reached Mjolnir's side, he discovered to his sorrow that he had lost the qualification to lift it.
However, his sorrow did not last long before the arriving agents took him into custody.
Seeing this, Emil put down the camera; he had thought he might see something entertaining, but that was it?
"four seasons treasure, how is the network intrusion work going?"
"daemon implantation in progress, estimated three minutes remaining."
four seasons treasure replied.
Before Tony joined the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s level in the field of artificial intelligence could only be described as mediocre; they hadn't even fully understood artificial stupidity yet.
This was actually the normal level for major nations.
Moreover, this base was only temporarily set up by S.H.I.E.L.D., so its network defense capabilities were quite limited.
Well, even if it were S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, it wouldn't be able to withstand the combined effect of artificial intelligence and daemon viruses.
One must know that the daemon viruses from the Cyberpunk world were more than one era ahead of the Marvel Universe.
Information intelligence was the specialized field of the Cyberpunk world.
Even if it were j.a.r.v.i.s., he would have to shudder violently in the face of the intrusion daemon customized by Kael.
Hearing this, Emil finally retreated to their temporary camp and lifted the Optical Camouflage curtain used for concealment at the entrance; this partially hollowed-out mountain had already become a small combat room.
After four seasons treasure's successful intrusion, with the help of the daemon, the Netrunner in the combat team copied all the intelligence and information collected by S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The BOSS will definitely be very interested in these!"
The Netrunner said with a smile, as if he could already see his bonus beckoning to him.
Following the right person was indeed very important.
Working in the army before, he couldn't save any money all year round; now, the bonus from working for Kael for one year was enough for him to buy an apartment in the city with cash.
"A hammer that can't be lifted? This world is becoming harder and harder to understand."
A team member muttered nearby.
As former first-line special operations personnel for the military, they could most feel the changes in the world; the frequency of mysterious events was clearly on an upward trend.
This was not friendly to ordinary people at all.
But looking at the Neural Links on their necks, the combat cybernetics that compensated for their missing limbs, and the invisible internal circulation cybernetics in their bodies, it seemed they couldn't be associated with ordinary people either.
Thinking about it that way, then it was fine.
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