Even as the funeral was still underway, a major event occurred on the other side of the Atlantic.
The White House spokesperson suddenly held a press conference to brief the media on what had happened to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet and the extent of the losses. Although the statement concealed most of the truth, the spokesperson nevertheless claimed the Department of Defense had identified the attackers using information recovered from the black boxes, and asserted that the brave sailors fought to the very end, perfectly embodying patriotism. The Vice President, who was about to run in the upcoming election, then stepped onto the lawn to condemn the attackers and, quoting Bush, declared that such acts were outright terrorism.
The Vice President first invited the families of Navy officers (including women and children) to come forward, offering them thanks and condolences. He then displayed a medal and the list of sailors for the cameras, once again calling the carrier's sailors heroic patriots. Next, the President spoke, reading out the names of a series of countries including Hungary and announcing corresponding sanctions against them— including but not limited to raising tariffs, restricting imports and exports, seizing overseas assets, and more—until those countries proved they had no connection to the attack. Two countries Washington disliked most suddenly found themselves slapped with over a thousand new sanctions, with more apparently on the way.
Meanwhile, Latveria's Regent, Victor von Doom, appeared in Serbia. Seemingly in response to the White House's sanctions, he loudly proclaimed that the U.S. carrier strike groups were feeble, and that destroying three such groups had taken less than half an hour without the use of weapons of mass destruction. He declared that Latveria would share with any willing partner the technology and intelligence obtained from the three nuclear-powered carriers, including not only data stored in military satellites but also the backroom dealings of many Democratic and Republican politicians.
In addition, there were detailed materials on all human experiments conducted by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa, including but not limited to using animals to spread viruses and modifying viral genomes to target ethnic genetic defects. The table of contents and appendices alone filled several high-capacity hard drives.
"This is not a show of force, but total annihilation." His voice, carried by a throat emitter and microphones, was broadcast to the entire world. He stated that Latveria would begin a systematic campaign against U.S. communications satellites. "Enjoy your final days; soon you'll be living the way people did during World War II. Latveria will not be deterred by the threat of nuclear war, because we have the ability to drop nuclear weapons on the heads of anyone who seeks to use the world and humanity to feed their greed. No matter where you hide, we will drag you one by one out of your safe rooms and cut off your heads."
Mycroft Holmes suddenly noticed a slight tremor in the hand holding his phone.
He had known nothing of this—neither the White House's decisions nor Latveria's. He quickly realized this was a contest of a new era: a struggle between extremely powerful personal force and weapons of mass destruction, a convulsion that would reshape the global order. Mycroft did not dare tell anyone that he knew Solomon, knew his identity. He even considered leaving the funeral at once, going home to destroy every scrap of paper that mentioned Solomon, fearing an immediate reprisal if Solomon discovered his identity had been exposed.
But he calmed down quickly.
After a few seconds, surrounded by whispering, he sat on a pew and reached a conclusion.
First, he rapidly assessed Solomon's personal capabilities, mobility, and resolve, and determined that if Solomon wished to carry out a rapid, one-man decapitation strike, few in this world could stop him. By delivering the fastest, most devastating blows to magnates who controlled oil, finance, and high technology, even the White House would be forced to consider the catastrophic economic regression that would follow. Although the White House, as the plutocrats' mouthpiece, would be only too happy to see their masters dead, it would also mean the attacker had the ability to storm the White House and kill everyone inside. Scorched-earth tactics and strategic depth were meaningless because the opponent was just one man. If either side refused to back down, the organizational structure of the United States would be completely destroyed, and no one could guarantee that, before its demise, it wouldn't madly press the missile launch button and drag all of humanity down with it.
For the moment, the White House had no idea that the opponent's force-projection capabilities resembled Asgard's, and dismissed Latveria's announcement as a joke. Although the other side had already demonstrated formidable combat power, the number of U.S. carrier strike groups was greater than imagined. After the speech on the White House lawn, the Pentagon's budget ballooned; the military-industrial complex was preparing for a grand feast. Politicians ordered their campaign teams to craft new speeches, painting themselves as hardline leaders against terrorism to win votes and prestige. No one could stop their rush to make money. They didn't care whether the nation would still exist afterward.
He recalled a meeting years earlier at 10 Downing Street with MI5 and MI6 on how to defend against Asgardian decapitation tactics. The conclusions were not encouraging. Based on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s feedback, Asgardians possessed ultra-long-range, precise mass troop deployment. If Asgard wished to rule the Earth, they would not need to occupy a single town to destroy a nation's organizational structure. Moreover, the so-called Rainbow Bridge very likely functioned as a planet-killing weapon. Given the vast technological gap, the best solution was surrender—become Asgard's vassal—and thus preserve both the economy and the ruling class's power.
After that, the workshop turned to how to handle public sentiment after announcing surrender, how to soften the economic impact of paying Asgard a tithe, how to incite popular protests against Asgardian rule, and whether Asgard had the capacity to quell colonial uprisings, and so on. The agenda was extensive; every department offered its views. As far as Mycroft knew, other nations held similar meetings, striving to gather intelligence on Asgard and judge the suzerain's governing style.
Mycroft's idea at the time had been to encourage the peoples of other countries to storm their government offices and await the Asgardians' reaction. If Asgard preferred to keep its colonies even at the cost of a massacre (a thing that had happened before—both in Europe and in Asgard), then Britain would continue to pay the tithe obediently. If Asgard proved helpless in the face of popular protest, Britain could seize the chance to become the standard-bearer of "human independence," claiming that mantle to coerce other countries into offering support.
In short, they lacked the courage to resist, but had ample gall to profit under the banner of resistance. These ideas were all well and good, but impossible to realize—mere fantasies. According to S.H.I.E.L.D., Heimdall could see what they were doing at any given moment; no scheme could escape his gaze. After that, the direct deployment of Asgardian troops was even more unstoppable, and thus, Mycroft concluded such contingency plans were only good for daydreaming. Let the Americans handle the unpleasant business.
Mycroft knew American bureaucrats well: the number of chins is inversely proportional to competence and directly proportional to stupidity. Perhaps this was a universal trait among politicians worldwide. Even if they learned the facts, they would remain unmoved—or act with even greater impunity. The fearless ignorant, making choices from reckless foolishness, were likely to enrage that man, with catastrophic consequences.
So far, only a few had foreseen this. Mycroft felt he had glimpsed the catastrophe to come, and saw the world inevitably veering onto another path. With the Requiem rising, he let out a long sigh and pondered how to break the deadlock. He found that every plan he could produce in a short time inevitably had major flaws, the kind that could backfire and trigger another disaster. "This must be the most eventful funeral I've ever attended," he muttered under his breath, and reluctantly sent a text message: "I've done what I should. Stop pestering me."
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