"You could turn them over to the law."
Faced with such a naive statement from Lara, Solomon could only respond with an adorably helpless look. Orders like Trinity that had survived into modern times were without exception financial conglomerates formed through capitalist aristocratic alliances, much like the Knights Hospitaller. Only those religious groups that operated like corporations could endure—excluding arrogant examples like the Knights Templar. Without funding from conglomerates—or rather, without being a conglomerate themselves—no faith-based order could afford armed helicopters. Not even the Roman Church could manage that. At least not on the surface. Solomon, however, knew how sharp the Roman Church's hidden blades could be.
As for that damnable Moru, he seemed to have developed some prophetic abilities. Solomon received an email from him shortly after returning to Earth. Of course, as always, Solomon, who loathed the Church, simply ignored it, letting Father Moru's carefully worded message go completely to waste.
Solomon was fairly certain that the helicopters shot down by the Immortal City in Siberia were most likely modified Apaches purchased by the UK from the USA. In a few days, news of a military training crash involving those helicopters would appear at the very bottom of the red box on the Prime Minister's desk. A diligent and honest Permanent Undersecretary would most considerately bring up the unpleasant report while the Prime Minister was swamped with work, drunk, or groggy at 3 a.m.—just to ensure his right to know. It was practically a given. Senior civil servants would do their utmost to earn their inflation-indexed pensions, peerages, cricket tickets, opera seats, and to honor every cocktail party they had ever attended.
Solomon politely declined Lara's request.
After assuring her that he would not take the lives of the two prisoners, he sent the ever-curious Lara Croft back to the temporary workstation in Siberia. The Immortal City itself was a great underground metropolis brimming with artifacts and historical relics, from ancient Egyptian items to modern scientific wonders. Lara wandered the museum that Solomon had organized and was so enthralled by her discoveries that she nearly forgot about the Lost City in Siberia.
There was still plenty of work to do there. The engineering teams Solomon had left behind were overwhelmed—burning bodies, rebuilding homes. Although Jacob intended for Sophia to lead their people in joining the Immortal City, there were still many steps before that transition could happen. The first was education. Jacob could only teach his people survival skills, philosophy, and theology—nothing more. Most villagers didn't know how to use smartphones or computers, and even basic radio communication required training.
Jacob was an exception. As a prophet hand-picked by Solomon, he possessed extraordinary learning ability, and that trait had been passed on to Sophia. She would lead her people in the future, helping them survive. Regarding Solomon's suggestion that they abandon their faith, Sophia chose to ignore it. It wasn't because she still harbored resentment toward the man who had nearly taken her father away, but from a purely practical perspective. Even though she now knew her father was not truly a prophet, the thousand-year-old faith that had rooted itself in their village was the real source of cohesion. It was what had carried her father from Byzantium to Siberia.
Even if that faith was completely false—even if Sophia were completely ignorant—she would never give up that power.
Solomon made no comment. He believed that, with proper scientific education, they would eventually see how childish and foolish those beliefs were. Science and reason were the mainstream of progress in the Immortal City. All religious faith was seen as ignorance and superstition—that was the tone Solomon had set for the entire organization. After returning to the Immortal City, he sought out the utterly swamped Stephanie and gave her a gentle hug—while also checking her physical and mental condition.
As expected, Stephanie was in excellent health. The heavy workload hadn't broken her, and her mental state was very stable. As for the talent issue that Solomon had worried about, Stephanie showed no signs of any problems. He told her he had taken the liberty of arranging a reinforcement surgery to delay aging. It was a result of the bio-laboratory's work, promoting telomere division and DNA recombination. Combined with expensive bio-alchemical elixirs, she could regain the vitality of a twenty-year-old.
Stephanie was deeply moved—especially when Solomon revealed that he was assigning alien technology to her research division. It confirmed her belief that she held a special place in Solomon's heart. Solomon instructed her team to focus their efforts on peripheral nerve interface research, rather than the more interference-prone electrical signal amplification methods currently in use.
Solomon wouldn't stay in one place for long. He had many sites to inspect—like the underground cell holding Lorelei. She had been locked in restraints even before Solomon's departure, and no one had come to release her in the meantime. She had been left there, completely cut off—unable to see, unable to hear, accompanied only by the echo of her own thoughts. Such utter silence was a form of torture for anyone. When Solomon finally released her shackles, her first words were "F*ck me!"
Stockholm Syndrome had fully taken hold. Solomon could deploy her to Asgard at any moment.
She would become his most important spy, tied to a future grand plan.
Maya Hansen's genetic alchemy lab also required attention.
Solomon spent some time inspecting the work of the Solar Red Lind Druid Order and Maya Hansen's epigenetic experiments on historical figures. Maya had submitted reports on all the test subjects to Solomon. What he was most interested in was the batch derived from the Round Table Knights' genome. Genetic editing technology in the Immortal City had now matured, and with Solomon's terrifying knowledge, the bio-lab was venturing into domains no one on Earth had ever explored.
They couldn't recreate the Celestial-level genetic engineering of the Kree, of course. But with the release of certain alien technologies, the lab would soon receive the technical support it needed. They were certain to win a Nobel Prize—but unfortunately, these experiments could never be made public. Too many of them violated ethical norms.
The use of high-risk criminals as live test subjects alone would be enough to earn Solomon an Interpol warrant.
As for artificial intelligence research, it would make rival American intelligence agencies want to put eight bullets in Solomon's back and call it suicide. No one hated data theft across the global internet more than they did—because it was their job. But Solomon had always been meticulous in protecting his identity. To this day, no outsiders knew he had been involved in the battles of New York and London. And even if someone did, Gideon Malick of the State Department would intervene on his behalf.
To this day, Solomon still didn't know what had happened with the Malick family. In a news article he'd missed, Gideon Malick had been convalescing at home for some time.
"Good evening, my dear!" Solomon stepped into the apartment with a large bouquet of roses—only to be greeted by a flying cat and a bullet. Jeanne d'Arc had turned everything within reach into a weapon, including the Cheshire cat that had just been eating its kibble. Solomon caught the cat midair, dodged the bullet, slipped a rose into Jeanne's gun barrel, and finally placed the bouquet into Bayonetta's arms. The black-haired witch smirked and adjusted her glasses in satisfaction, as a butterfly-shaped shadow flitted happily across the wooden floor.
She immediately noticed something different about Solomon.
"Mmm~" she purred, drawing out the syllable. "Looks like you learned a lot out there, Boya."
------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!
Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
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)
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]