"An underground city?" Nick Fury raised an eyebrow, surveying the towering rocky dome with his remaining eye.
Through the Brotherhood of the Shield's supremely refined mystical arts, the rocky dome had been engraved with a dazzling star map driven by precision machinery and synchronized with the stars in real time. Beneath the starry sky stood magnificent Gothic buildings, visible to Nick Fury and the other S.W.O.R.D. prisoners as they were escorted out of the station. The largest structures in the underground city were the Ministry of Internal Affairs building, the Sisterhood convent, and the Tower of Kings, while their associated complexes occupied a quarter of the entire city. As they gazed up at this underground city unlike anything in history, the high-speed vacuum freight train behind them continued unloading and loading cargo and personnel, delivering raw materials for ammunition and weapon production to the surrounding complexes.
"This city was originally meant to be yours, but you disappointed me." Salomon removed Nick Fury's handcuffs while ordering the agents to escort the other S.W.O.R.D. prisoners to the dungeons. "Its former owners were called the Brotherhood of the Shield, the predecessor of S.H.I.E.L.D. Howard Stark was once a member of that organization, along with Isaac Newton, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Zhang Heng, and other sages without equal in history." The Arcanist extended a hand, gesturing for Nick Fury to walk down the steps with him. "They decided to establish an organization that would rely on their wisdom to protect humanity and guide it toward a bright future."
"What happened?"
"They failed." At that moment, Salomon gave no indication that he had orchestrated a massacre just hours earlier. He now seemed exceptionally mild, even somewhat easy to bully, like a shy young university professor. Numerous administrative staff dressed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs' red-and-black