Hel's hand appeared exceptionally white even in the darkness, a kind of white that leaves a mark on the retina at a single glance.
She withdrew her hand, and the detached corpse turned into a pile of black ash, fluttering in the air before falling to the ground.
"The memory revealed some information; she originally came here for some 'prenatal check-up,' but during the process, Atlan's own army suddenly charged in, slaughtering everyone."
Su Ming leaned on the overturned equipment nearby, smoking, with two red dots flickering in the darkness.
"Were there any signs before the incident?"
"No, or even if there were signs, this woman wouldn't have known." Hel folded her arms and stood quietly in place.
Su Ming pondered briefly, then turned and walked toward the center of the room: "Read a few more, gather the intelligence together, and I'll probe the environment."
Inhumans in Marvel are considered a new force; they appeared relatively late in the comics, originally intended as biological weapons by the Kree People.
Millions of years ago, during the first Kree-Skrull War, the Kree People discovered Earth, identifying that the genes of a species named Homo sapiens carried endless possibilities.
So, Kree scientists used various methods to abduct a portion of Earth's population for experimentation, setting up the 'Blue Zone' on the far side of the Moon as a large-scale, comprehensive experiment base.
The experiment was very successful; they altered this portion of Earthlings' genetic sequence, creating a new race that could serve as weapons, activated through crystals from a distant extinguished planet, turning latent superpowers into active ones.
When Inhumans with modified genes reproduced among themselves, it further proved the success of the experiment as the modifications remained hereditary, and the genes stayed stable.
However, just as they were about to send the experiment report back to Krim Star, the war ended.
The Skrulls were completely defeated, but meanwhile, a coup occurred within the Kree, deposing the Queen Kree and installing Supreme Wisdom as the de facto ruler.
Supreme Wisdom issued a final ultimatum: all Kree People in the universe must return to the mother planet to demonstrate loyalty and abandon everything immediately!
Thus, the Kree investigation corps in the Blue Zone had to evacuate, needing to destroy the test subjects before departure.
Unfortunately, hustle often leads to mistakes, even for the Kree.
An error in data calculation resulted in five Inhumans that were supposed to be killed being overlooked.
They hid away; trapped on the Moon after the Kree's departure, they were forced to become self-sufficient to survive, forming a new social structure.
The Kree left behind a large number of buildings and a swathe of advanced technology, and the Inhumans spent time cultivating fields while gradually deciphering this technology.
Thousands of years later, accompanied by population growth, an abundance of technology was replicated; a segment of the Blue Zone was detached and turned into a Floating City capable of close-range space travel, returning to Earth.
However, a problem arose; although Inhumans appeared human-like, innumerable generations of propagation on the Moon had left them unable to integrate into human society.
Humans seemed incredibly ignorant in their eyes, lacking culture, language, and possessing nothing.
Therefore, after a meeting and discussion, they decided to live quietly on Earth without contacting any surface life, practicing so-called isolationism.
At that time, the most advanced civilization on Earth wasn't humans but Atlantis; faced with a strong empire flourishing in both technology and magic, the Inhumans wisely chose not to descend.
Atlantis was very tolerant at the time; how could merely one city compare to the dominating Atlantis on Earth? It was merely seen as a potted plant.
Thus, more thousands of years passed, until Atlantis's magic research went awry; Warlocks tried to communicate beyond the Cosmos and contact the Transcendent Divine Race for power.
How could the Celestial Gods Group, the creators of Earth creatures, tolerate this?
Having painstakingly conducted experiments to shape humans, Atlanteans, flowers, and all sorts of creatures, now these experiments wanted to change researchers?
One member of the Celestial Gods Group struck the Earth.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, extreme cold, and various calamities instantaneously annihilated Atlantis.
The original Pangu Continent split into today's seven continents, with vast volumes of seawater flooding into crevices, forming today's oceans, and Earth became what it looks like now.
Atlantis never recovered from this; the super empire with hundreds of billions in population transformed into underwater beings numbering only in the tens of thousands, with Warlocks mostly dead except for those who became independent as the Blood Race.
The Celestial Gods Group did not eliminate them entirely; the great flood was merely a small lesson for the experiments, and after physical means, they placed a curse on Atlantis, preventing them from ever leaving the sea.
And thus, would they try to escape?
The cosmic-level curse meant small tricks like trying to use a bathtub to hold seawater to bypass the curse were ineffective; water separated from the ocean failed.
Unless they interbred like Namor with humans to extend time living on land away from the sea, but for Atlanteans, breeding with humans was nearly akin to mixing with gorillas.
The primitive image of humans consuming raw meat left a deep impression, naturally categorized as beasts, which explains Namor's twisted character and initial rejection by the Undersea People.
Thus, a civilization starting to explore the cosmos was pushed back to the Stone Era, or more precisely, the Coral Tool Era.
Surviving Inhumans floating across the sky in Atlan were terrified by this calamity, further solidifying their resolution for isolationism for a million years without wavering; Inhuman technology came from the Kree, whose technology originated from the Celestial Gods Group, whom they absolutely couldn't provoke.
In this way, the Inhumans secluded themselves, Atlantis was sanctioned, and humans, who were once insignificant, survived the great floods and developed diverse civilizations, still under the observation of the Celestial Gods Group.
Hundreds of thousands of years passed. The next major event was Odin's rise. After acquiring the power of the Rune King, he allied with Earth's heroes to form the Ancient Avengers Alliance, defeating the Celestial Gods Group stationed on Earth, burying their bodies underground, and declaring Midgard under the rule of the Nine Realms.
But the time-traveling Ancient One intervened here, so Earth actually entered an era of human autonomy.
Later, to resist the invasion of the Alien Insect Race, the Holy Shield Brotherhood was established, which was the origin of today's SSR and Hydra.
In the following days, the Inhumans experienced several splits. A group that evolved with wings left Atlan, establishing Havenheim independently, becoming the Tenth Realm of the Nine Realms, and was eventually exiled by Odin.
Another group descended to the ground, possessing the most powerful abilities, with lifespans exceeding a thousand years, whereas ordinary Inhumans had lifespans similar to humans.
They attempted to contact humans on the surface, but things didn't go smoothly upon landing as humans of the Middle Ages couldn't distinguish between Mutants and Inhumans, considering them all monsters.
Thus, the open faction split again, with some hiding and coexisting with humans like Mutants. As long as they didn't contact the Terrigen Crystal, they were indeed indistinguishable from humans.
Another group refused to relinquish their powers and ventured underground to seek the buried Celestial God, gradually turning into various monsters whose descendants include things like Minotaurs and Two-headed Demons in today's Underworld.
Constant division and convergence led society to evolve into what it is today, which is Earth in the Marvel World.
The Surface World version, which most heroes in the future understand, is precisely this version.
There is also an Inner World version circulating in the Magic Realm about gods, demons, and the origins of many dimensions, which few know about; that's another story.
Nowadays, humanity has found its path, stepping into the vibrant modern society where technology is applied in various fields, leading to vigorous social development.
However, Atlantis has just entered the feudal society, relying on raising and herding fish, falling behind like a primitive tribe.
The Inhumans of Atlan's isolation continues to this day, and sometimes, remembering old friendships, they offer slight aids to Undersea People, like providing some medicine or food occasionally.
However, technology is not shared, particularly biotechnology, which is their fundamental livelihood.
Therefore, the society of Inhumans remains akin to the end-time survival mode of the past; their leadership group is called the 'Genetic Council', where all matters, big or small, are deliberated by these elders.
In Inhuman relations, taking care of pregnant women and children is a societal duty, so they established a 'Fetal Care Center' to gather all infants and pregnant women for centralized care.
Children are exposed to the Terrigen Crystal at birth, thereby awakening their superpowers, with the most powerful ones destined to join the Genetic Council in the future, becoming one of the new leaders.
Those with weaker awakened powers, uh, remain at the very bottom of society, as slaves.
This caste system, which relies on the strength of awakened superpowers to determine one's future, dictates lifelong class, unchanging even if one's abilities develop well later.
There is no currency concept in Atlan, only work assigned by class, each performing their duties, matching high-level productivity to a low-level societal system, forming a bizarre Utopian state.
But today, it seems that Utopia proves unrealistic after all...
The reason Su Ming checks the surroundings is that the O-shaped corpse just now gave him a hint.
All the bodies here are of adults; where are the infants? The children?
He searched under the ruins and found many cocoon-like small boxes, these empty incubators connected to a bunch of high-tech components.
The fetuses in those pregnant women's corpses were also taken; even if they looked large on the outside, the bellies were all flat upon touch.
The Atlan guards took away all the Inhuman infants.
Is this a civil war? Or a coup? More intelligence is needed to determine. However, from the suddenness of this attack, Su Ming personally leans towards the latter.
At this time, Hel was surrounded by a circle of black ash, resembling a queen on a coal pile, still with her icy demeanor.
"I checked; these deceased were all unaware, and they didn't know their children were taken," she said.
Su Ming dropped the cigarette butt, and the armor climbed onto his face, "It doesn't necessarily mean taken; telekinesis is a common ability for superhumans."
"Heh, I find Midgard quite interesting, very... complex." Hel steps forward; in the darkness, she seemed like a floating head.
"If you're tired of living in the Netherworld, you can come to Earth to live, but only you alone. I'll have the Secret Guest return Tyr to you, so you can leave him to guard the house."
Su Ming answered in a low tone as he saw the exit, which resembled an elevator.
"On second thought, it's too complicated here. If I come to Midgard, many Lords of Hell would use me as a breach, even though you're strong, your intimidation pales compared to Odin." Hel followed his steps.
"Earth has an old saying, flowers don't stay red for a hundred days, Odin is destined to die in the Twilight of the Gods, in the mouth of the wolf. If you're looking for a backup plan, you should start preparing early."
Without turning his head, Su Ming walked forward, calmly talking about destiny.
Hel squeezed a faint smile that flickered and vanished in the dark, "Provided I can see red flowers; to be frank, all the flowers I've seen are black."