A Little Gift

The City of Immortals had grown quietly, like a monster beneath the bed in the dead of night, endlessly making damp, wheezing noises. Natasha Romanoff had never imagined it would become what it was now. She had thought it was an underground organization, an armed group, an emerging financial conglomerate. But when she lifted the covers, she found a government department underneath. When Victoria Hand's harsh laws were enacted, they met resistance from Wakanda. But after the Intelligence Department deliberately allowed local warlords to enter the controlled zone and loot it, every opposing voice fell silent.

The City of Immortals brought an order of iron and blood to Africa's war-torn regions—through measures including, but not limited to, curfews, sterilization injections for large families, labor reform, flogging, and execution by shooting for criminals according to their offenses, compulsory education for children, compulsory training for workers, and the eradication of illiteracy and infectious diseases. Many Social Justice Warriors and Virgin Marys would find this unacceptable, but Agent Romanoff understood that Salomon's methods were the most effective.

Under the pressure of survival, there was no room for human rights.

What the Arcanist had done in Africa was essentially charity. After all, the goods produced by local handicraft workshops had no market at all. Aside from the portion absorbed by Wakanda, Salomon had paid for everything else himself. There were even African handicrafts on Mars. Yet he had not suffered a complete loss, because before the light-mining facilities were fully constructed, the vast quantities of minerals needed by Mars Foundry had all come from Africa. On top of that, there were simply too many war orphans in the region. Transporting people to Mars and selecting soldiers had nearly worked an Internal Affairs Department official to death.

"Why haven't you conquered the world yet?" She