Stephanie could not help dozing off under the crushing workload. Salomon and Victor von Doom spent the entire night, pen and parchment in one hand, whiskey and an ice bucket in the other, determining solutions to every possible problem Latveria might face in the future. Stephanie remembered that, before she finally fell asleep, the parchments piled on the table had only reached her chest. When the cold blast from the air conditioner and the thick scent of cigars woke her, the parchments covered in comprehensive plans had already blocked Victor von Doom's iron-gray face from view. All she could see was the monarch's crown of black, curly hair, gleaming beneath the lights like a field of obsidian.
Salomon and Doom's communication was not limited to words. Most of it took place through the mind, because it was more efficient. This method resembled the data packets Malphas used to communicate with technicians on Mars, except magical data packets carried far more information and traveled faster.
In just one night, Stephanie witnessed Salomon's astonishing efficiency once again.
From establishing the creditworthiness of City of Immortals currency to countering the financial offensives of European and American nations; from breaking industrial raw-material embargoes to determining the future direction of high-end industry; from explaining matters to ordinary citizens to recruiting local militias and handling their subsequent training and education—every issue had been written onto parchment, accompanied by a precise and workable solution. Once the contents were sorted, bound into volumes, and distributed to all administrative personnel preparing to support Latveria, they would become working manuals guiding Latveria's future liberation. Once those parchments bore Victor von Doom's signature, it would signify that Latveria would become a subordinate administrative institution of the City of Immortals.
This was not a war that could end quickly.
Because the City