Chapter 11: Touching the Reverse Scale, Scarlet Killing Intent Tears Agents Apart
High above the Adirondack Mountains, the night wind was like a blade.
The wreckage of the cabin was ground into powder in mid-air by violent energy.
Wanda hovered in the snowy night sky, her eyes completely swallowed by a deep, rich scarlet.
Her fair nostrils twitched slightly, catching a faint, sickly sweet scent in the air.
It was the residue of a high-concentration nerve gas.
"Bugs..."
She looked down at her empty palms, where the temperature that once belonged to Lynn had already dissipated.
The panic of having her beloved forcibly taken away instantly transformed into a murderous intent that would incinerate everything.
"Give my Lynn back to me!"
Boom! A ring of dark red vapor cones exploded in mid-air, and Wanda transformed into a scarlet meteor, tearing straight through the clouds following the faint trail left in the air.
...
Inside the quinjet.
Crossbones Brock took off his tactical gloves, pulled a bottle of ice water from the nearby refrigerator, unscrewed it, and took two gulps.
The ice-cold liquid flowed down his throat, suppressing the secret panic deep in his heart.
He kicked Lynn, who was wrapped tightly in an insulated restraint suit at his feet, and a cruel grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Is this it? That old man Fury is really losing his touch, actually treating this piece of trash like a treasure."
Two fully armed HYDRA Agents stood to the side, their gun barrels still aimed fixedly at Lynn's head, not relaxing in the slightest.
In the cockpit, the pilot stared at the radar screen, fingers tapping rapidly on the control panel.
Alexander Pierce's deep voice came over the communication channel: "Brock, confirm the target's status. The medical team at Base 13 is ready. As soon as you land, implant the neural control chip immediately. The Witch is ours."
"Don't worry, Officer. The dose of gas he inhaled is enough to put an elephant to sleep for three days."
Crossbones crushed the empty water bottle and tossed it into the corner of the cabin. "Once the chip is implanted, I will personally break his legs and make him kneel before you like a dog..."
Before he could finish his sentence, "Beep, beep, beep, beep—"
A piercing, highest-level alarm blared throughout the cabin, and red warning lights flashed frantically, illuminating everyone's faces with a deathly pallor.
"What's going on?!" Crossbones whipped out the sidearm from his thigh and shouted sharply.
"Officer! The radar shows a high-energy signature approaching from behind! Speed... Mach 3! Mach 4! It's still climbing!" The pilot's voice changed from extreme terror. "The thermal imaging system is overloaded! That's not a missile, that's a... person!"
Crossbones' pupils constricted, and his heart skipped a beat.
He lunged almost instinctively toward the bulletproof glass window at the back of the cabin.
In the pitch-black night sky, a streak of dark red light, like a blade cutting through the night, was closing the distance at a terrifying speed that completely defied the laws of physics.
"Evasive maneuvers! Deploy all flares! Charge the main cannon!" Crossbones roared hoarsely, cold sweat soaking through his tactical vest.
Too late.
Boom!
The entire quinjet tilted violently, and a deafening sound of metal tearing came from the right wing.
The two standing Agents were thrown directly, slamming heavily against the cabin wall.
Lynn, lying on the floor, slid along the incline to the corner of the cabin.
He still kept his eyes closed, and not even the rhythm of his breathing had changed in the slightest.
But hidden by the restraint suit, his fingertips tapped gently against the side of his thigh.
It's here.
The special alloy hatch at the rear of the cabin began to cave inward, emitting a piercing, mournful screech.
Five clear fingerprints were branded forcefully into the ten-centimeter-thick bulletproof armor.
Bang!
The multi-ton hatch was completely torn apart and sent flying as if it were made of paper.
The sub-zero wind, mixed with ice and snow, poured wildly into the cabin, making it impossible to open one's eyes.
Blocking the hatch was that chilling figure.
Wanda hovered in mid-air, the gale pulling at her long hair.
Dense Chaos Magic, like materialized plasma, churned and boiled around her.
In those scarlet eyes, there was not a trace of human emotion, only pure desire for destruction.
"Fire! Fire!" Crossbones roared hysterically, pulling the trigger with all his might.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Dense armor-piercing rounds spat out from the barrels, only to stop dead half a meter from Wanda.
The bullets spun at high speed in mid-air, creating blinding sparks, but could not advance even an inch.
Wanda tilted her head slightly, her gaze passing over Crossbones and landing on Lynn, who was locked tightly in the restraint suit in the corner, wearing an electric shock collar around his neck.
At that moment, the air inside the cabin solidified completely.
"You..." Wanda's voice was as light as a sigh, yet it clearly entered everyone's eardrums, carrying a chilling tremor, "How dare you... touch him with such filthy things?"
Swoosh!
The hundreds of bullets hovering in mid-air instantly reversed, reflecting back at ten times the speed they had arrived.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
The two HYDRA Agents who had just scrambled to their feet didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were instantly riddled with holes, pinned bloodily against the cabin wall.
Warm blood splattered onto Crossbones' face, and the strong scent of blood permeated the cabin.
Wanda didn't even glance at the two corpses.
She raised her right hand and clenched her five fingers into a fist in the air.
"Argh!" The two pilots in the cockpit let out a shrill, miserable scream.
The dark red energy pierced through the bulletproof glass and drilled directly into their seven orifices.
Two dull explosions rang out, and the glass in the cockpit was instantly coated in a layer of scarlet.
The out-of-control quinjet began to plummet toward the ground.
Wanda just waved her left hand casually, and the entire multi-ton jet was forcefully held in mid-air by an invisible force, completely defying the laws of gravity.
Crossbones' legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the floor.
His proud combat skills and the elite training of HYDRAwere simply a joke in the face of such unreasonable, god-like power.
Wanda floated slowly into the cabin.
With every step she took closer, the high-pressure bandages on Crossbones burst an inch, his wounds reopened, and blood stained his tactical suit red.
"Don't... don't kill me..." Broken syllables squeezed from Crossbones' throat as he tried to shuffle backward.
Wanda walked up to him and looked down at him from above.
The scarlet energy transformed into an invisible giant hand, gripping Crossbones' neck tightly and lifting him off the ground inch by inch.
"Which foot did you use to kick him just now?" Wandatilted her head, her eyes filled with extreme cruelty and morbidity.
Snap!
No answer was needed.
Crossbones' right knee folded backward at an extremely bizarre angle, white bone shards piercing directly through his tactical pants as blood gushed out.
"Ahhh!" Crossbones let out a wail that didn't sound human, his features twisted together from extreme pain.
The communicator fell to the floor, and Pierce's anxious shouting came from it: "Brock! Report the situation! What happened?!"
Wanda's gaze fell on the communicator, and she crushed it into powder with a light tap of her toe.
She looked back at Crossbones, who was rolling his eyes from suffocation and excruciating pain, and began to close her right hand inch by inch.
Crossbones' cervical vertebrae emitted a cracking sound under the unbearable pressure, his eyeballs bloodshot and bulging, his tongue lolling out.
The shadow of death had completely enveloped him.
Just at the moment when Crossbones' head was about to be crushed like a watermelon, in the corner, Lynn's eyelashes trembled slightly inside the restraint suit.
A very faint grunt came from his throat.
This grunt was so light it was almost inaudible, yet it was like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the madness deep in Wanda's eyes.
She turned her head abruptly, and the movement of her hand paused suddenly.
Crossbones slammed heavily onto the floor, vomiting blood in large mouthfuls like a dying dog.
Wanda no longer cared about this HYDRA scum; she lunged toward Lynn as if teleporting, her hands trembling as she tore at the insulated restraint suit.
Lynn slowly opened his eyes, meeting those bloodshot green eyes.
His chapped lips parted slightly, uttering a sentence that made Crossbones feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
Chapter 12: An Oscar-Worthy Rescue, Lynn's "Protection" of HYDRA
Fierce winds poured wildly through the torn gap in the cabin. The negative twenty-degree airflow, mixed with ice and snow, stung like knife cuts against one's face. The thick scent of blood, mixed with the pungent odor of aviation fuel, churned violently within the narrow cabin.
"Let him go, Wanda. The blood of such trash is not worthy of splashing onto you."
Lynn's voice was extremely weak, carrying a hint of perfectly timed trembling, yet it clearly reached Wanda's eardrums amidst the deafening roar of the wind.
This sentence was like an absolute command.
The violent crimson in Wanda's eyes, capable of warping space, instantly froze. The dark red energy boiling around her suddenly receded like a retreating tide. Immediately after, she relaxed the five fingers of her right hand.
Thud!
Crossbones Brock fell heavily onto the metal floor from mid-air like a puddle of mud. He clutched his neck, which had been pinched into five deep purple bruises, greedily gasping for the cold air. His throat made hoarse, wheezing sounds like a broken bellows, coughing up large chunks of bloody visceral matter.
Wanda didn't even spare a glance at this HYDRA ace Agent. The killing intent in her eyes was completely replaced by extreme panic and heartache, and she threw herself beside Lynn as if teleporting.
"Lynn..."
Her fair hands erupted with rich red light, and she grabbed the specially made high-voltage insulating restraint suit without hesitation. Under the erosion of Chaos Magic, the thick insulating material became as fragile as withered leaves, instantly turning into dust.
The electric shock suppression collar around Lynn's neck sensed the damage and was about to release a high-voltage current strong enough to stun an elephant. However, before the blue light could even shine, a ball of crimson energy directly enveloped and crushed it, leaving not even a trace of metal residue.
The moment the restraints were removed, Lynn fell into Wanda's arms. He imperceptibly adjusted his angle, pressing most of his body weight onto Wanda, creating a posture of extreme weakness, as if he could only survive by relying on her.
"You're hurt... They hurt you, didn't they?" Wanda's voice was thick with tears, her trembling hands cupping Lynn's pale cheeks. Her cold fingertips, stained with blood from when she killed just moments ago, brushed against Lynn's cheek, leaving a striking red mark.
Lynn raised his hand and covered the back of Wanda's hand. Enduring the freezing cold of the cabin, he softly comforted her in a tone so gentle it could drown a person: "I'm fine. As long as I open my eyes and see you, I'm not afraid of anything."
This love confession hit the most fragile soft spot of the yandere exactly.
Wanda's tears fell in large drops into the crook of Lynn's neck. She buried her head deep in Lynn's chest, like a stray cat that had finally found its Master, greedily absorbing the warmth and scent from Lynn's body. That World-destroying pressure vanished in this moment.
In a corner not far away, Crossbones lay in a pool of blood, his broken right leg bent backward at an eerie angle. Bone shards had pierced through the skin, and blood spread across the cold floor.
His vision blurry, he watched the scene before him, a chill rising in his heart that was a hundred times more intense than his broken leg.
That monster, who just a moment ago was like a World-ending demon god, tearing apart a fighter jet with its bare hands and killing two elite Agents with a single glance, was now acting like a little girl who had made a mistake, snuggling in the arms of that low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agentseeking comfort!
Just then, Lynn, through Wanda's hanging hair, locked his gaze coldly onto Crossbones' face over her shoulder.
It was a gaze without any temperature. No anger, no fear, not even reverence for life. Only aloofness from high above, like a chess player looking down at a broken piece that still had some use.
Crossbones shuddered violently, his breathing even stalling.
As a HYDRA elite, he had carried out countless assassinations and faced all kinds of life-and-death situations. But at this moment, he suddenly understood the subtext behind Lynn's gaze.
Lynn was not a prey kidnapped by HYDRA at all! This attack, the crash of this jet, and even the Witch's rampage were all within this man's calculations! He intentionally let his guard down to be captured just to make the Witch go berserk, using her hands to beat HYDRA, while simultaneously saving his own dog life at the last moment, letting him go back to deliver a message to Pierce!
This low-level Agent, whom everyone considered a piece of trash, was the true Master holding the leash of that monster!
"The wind is too strong, Wanda." Lynn patted Wanda's back, interrupting Crossbones' collapsing thoughts, "Take me down, it's cold here."
"Okay, let's go." Wanda nodded obediently, immediately pulling her arms in to carry Lynn horizontally.
Hum—!
The dark red Chaos Magic instantly expanded, enveloping the entire broken quinjet. The tens-of-tons heavy steel beast paused eerily in mid-air, completely defying the laws of physics, and then landed smoothly like a feather on the desolate interstate highway below.
Bang.
The moment the jet's landing gear touched the ground, in the darkness not far away, blinding high beams tore through the night like sharp swords.
Six black S.H.I.E.L.D. armored SUVs roared with engine noise, braking sharply on the perimeter of the jet wreckage. Car doors opened one after another, and Agent Coulsonrushed out of the car with a team of fully armed rapid response Agents.
They raised their assault rifles, aiming at the torn gap in the cabin. But if one looked closely, the fingers of every Agentholding their guns were trembling uncontrollably.
They had just witnessed in the car the terrifying scene of this jet being forcibly stopped in mid-air by an invisible giant hand. That was the divine power completely beyond the cognition of human technology.
Clack, clack, clack.
Heavy, slow footsteps emerged from the shadows of the cabin.
Wanda held Lynn's hand and slowly walked down from the jet wreckage. The crimson halo that had not yet completely dissipated still lingered around her, and those deep green eyes once again showed cold and highly aggressive killing intent when scanning the S.H.I.E.L.D.Agents.
With just one glance, Coulson felt as if his chest had been hit by a heavy hammer, and even breathing became extremely difficult.
"Put down your guns, Agent Coulson."
Lynn spoke at the right moment. His voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of calm confidence that controlled the overall situation.
Coulson swallowed, suppressing the palpitation in his heart, and immediately made a tactical gesture. All the Agents, as if granted amnesty, uniformly lowered their muzzles.
"Agent... Lynn." Coulson's gaze swept back and forth between Lynn and Wanda, his tone cautious as never before, "The Director sent us to rendezvous with you. Seeing you safe, we breathed a sigh of relief."
Lynn nodded slightly, without saying a word of nonsense, just tightening his grip on Wanda's hand, gently rubbing her palm with his fingertips, soothing her emotions that could run wild at any moment.
Meanwhile, far away at the Triskelion in Washington. Inside the Director's office on the top floor, Nick Fury's only remaining eye stared fixedly at the real-time satellite monitoring screen that occupied the entire wall. The black coffee beside him had long since gone cold, but Fury was completely unaware.
"Pierce, that self-righteous idiot!" Fury cursed through gritted teeth in his heart.
HYDRA's greed almost turned the entire East Coast into ruins. If Lynn hadn't spoken up just now to stop it, that rampaging Witch would definitely have ground that jet and everyone inside into pulp, and might even have killed her way directly to Washington!
But what made Fury feel a chill in his bone marrow was the terrifying deterrent power Lynn displayed.
One sentence. Just one sentence was enough to make a Skyfather-level combatant, who was on the verge of losing control and capable of tearing apart a helicarrier with bare hands, instantly retract its fangs and become like a docile pet.
This young man, who had always been rated by S.H.I.E.L.D.as a "Level 3 Logistics Agent" with an unremarkable resume, was not holding any weapon at all, but a detonator that could destroy the World at any time!
Fury took a deep breath of cold air and pressed the encrypted communication key on the desk: "Coulson, invite Agent Lynn and that lady back to headquarters. Remember, use the highest level of courtesy. Do not do anything that would cause them to misunderstand."
After cutting off the communication, Fury tiredly rubbed his eyebrows. He knew that the upcoming confrontation would determine the survival of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Just as he was about to get up to arrange the meeting, his gaze inadvertently swept over a secondary screen next to his desk.
That was the S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical watch worn by Lynn, and the data was transmitted in real-time by the built-in vital sign monitor. Fury had originally wanted to see Lynn's physiological stress response when he was gassed, kidnapped by HYDRA, and faced with the Witch's rampage.
However, when he saw the incredibly steady line graph on the screen, Fury's single eye suddenly contracted to the size of a needle tip. The titanium alloy pen held between his fingers fell onto the desk with a "clatter" and rolled onto the carpet.
From the beginning of the gas attack at the cabin in the Adirondack Mountains, to having a gun pointed at his head by Crossbones, to the jet being torn apart and flesh flying inside the cabin... In a full half-hour of life-and-death crisis, Lynn's heart rate, from beginning to end, remained steadily at 65 beats per minute. Not a single acceleration, not a single fluctuation. He was not drugged at all, nor did he feel even the slightest bit of fear! All of this was within his cold, detached observation!
Chapter 13: A Confrontation in the Director's Office, the Suspicious Nick Fury
Washington, the top floor of the Triskelion.
The Director's office was unlit at 3:00 AM, with only the high-intensity shadowless lamp above the desk turned on.
The pale beam of light struck the desktop vertically, illuminating the tiny dust motes floating in the air.
Lynn leaned back in the spacious leather interrogation chair.
The scent of the previous occupant's cold sweat remained on the leather surface, mixed with the acrid, burnt smell of the poor-quality black coffee that permeated the room year-round, drilling straight into his nasal cavity.
Coulson stood expressionless at his side, pressing the last cold metal electrode patch onto Lynn's temple.
Wrists, chest, carotid artery—eight monitoring probes were connected via intricate black cables to the multi-dimensional bio-polygraph machine newly developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. on the desk.
"Officer, the equipment is connected." Coulson retreated into the shadows.
Behind the desk, Nick Fury had his hands crossed under his chin.
His only remaining eye was hidden in the backlight's darkness, staring fixedly at Lynn like a lone wolf assessing the lethality of its prey.
Silence.
Only the "beep, beep" sound of the green ripples jumping on the polygraph screen echoed in the room.
Lynn adjusted his sitting posture, letting the metal handcuffs on his wrists make a faint clinking sound.
He met Fury's highly oppressive gaze, a helpless curve pulling at the corners of his mouth: "Officer, if possible, I would like a cup of hot milk. The night wind in the Adirondack Mountains is too cold, and my stomach is still cramping."
Fury ignored this request. He pulled a file from the drawer and threw it directly onto the brightly lit desktop.
"Lynn, Level 3 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Mediocre record, shooting scores barely passing, combat training often at the bottom. In the files, the thing you do most often when encountering emergencies is looking for cover." Fury's voice was low and hoarse, carrying unquestionable authority, "But just two hours ago, you had a gun pointed at your head by a HYDRA traitor and were involved in a supernatural attack that could tear a helicarrier apart with bare hands."
Fury roughly opened the file, pointing at the impossibly steady line graph on it, his single eye instantly shooting out cold light: "During a thirty-minute life-and-death crisis, your heart rate remained stable at sixty-five beats per minute from start to finish. No fluctuations, no stress response, not even adrenaline secretion was active."
He leaned forward abruptly, supporting himself on the desk, his huge shadow instantly enveloping Lynn: "A regular Agent, in that kind of hell, has a heartbeat steadier than a dead man's. Lynn, what exactly are you?"
Lynn lowered his eyes, looking at the heart rate chart.
The old fox was indeed sharp.
However, this was all within his expectations. The "Chaos Magic Affinity" granted by the system had long since reshaped his nervous system at the genetic level.
As long as he didn't want to, even if a nuclear bomb were strapped to his back, his physiological signs wouldn't show the slightest flaw.
"Officer, do you believe in parallel dimensions?" Lynn didn't answer directly, but instead threw out an irrelevant question.
Fury frowned, not taking the bait. The green ripples on the polygraph screen remained steady.
Lynn sighed softly, a touch of appropriate exhaustion and vicissitudes in his tone: "Starting three months ago, I have been having an extremely realistic recurring dream every night. In the dream, I am not in this World, but in various bizarre dimensions. But no matter how the scene changes, there is only one ending in the dream."
He raised his head, looking straight into Fury's single eye, absolute, real pain emerging from the depths of his pupils: "I am dying for that woman named Wanda."
Coulson moved his feet slightly in the shadows, his breathing noticeably heavier.
"In the ruins of Sokovia, I pushed others away and blocked thirty armor-piercing rounds from a quinjet with my back. When the bullets shredded my lung lobes, the suffocating feeling of blood foam clogging my trachea—I still remember it clearly."
Lynn's voice was very soft, yet carried a bone-chilling vividness.
"On the Clock Tower in New York, to save people, I cut the spider silk and fell from hundreds of meters high. The sound of the wind tearing at my eardrums, the sound of my bones shattering on the concrete, echoed in my mind for a whole week."
"And being pierced through the heart by a long spear, being burned to ashes by Fire..."
Every time Lynn spoke, the polygraph needle drew a smooth straight line on the paper tape.
The green light stayed on.
There was no reaction indicating a lie.
Because what Lynn said was the absolute truth. These were all deaths he had personally experienced in the "Die-Hard Simulator."
The pain of having his soul torn apart was something the system had restored for him 100%. He didn't need to act at all; he just needed to pull up the memory and read it.
Fury's expression changed completely. He stared fixedly at the glaring green light, the suspicion in his single eye almost overflowing.
"You mean, you died ten thousand times for that terrifying Witch in your dreams?" Fury gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed through his teeth, "So that's why she acts like a lunatic clinging to you when she sees you in reality? So that's why your heartbeat didn't fluctuate when you had a gun pointed at your head?"
"Officer, if you had already been killed in countless cruel ways in your dreams, would you be afraid of a few small pistols pointed at you in reality?" Lynn smiled bitterly and leaned back into the chair, "I thought it was just a hallucination caused by mental weakness. Until today, that woman who should have only existed in my dreams stood alive in front of me and tore apart a fighter jet for me."
A perfect dimensionality reduction strike using information asymmetry.
The existence of magic and dimensions was a complete knowledge blind spot for S.H.I.E.L.D., which at this stage only believed in technology and mutations. Lynn packaged the "awakening of the heroine's memories" caused by the system's side effects as a soul intersection between dimensions.
Nine parts truth, one part lie. This was the most brilliant kind of lie.
Fury fell silent.
He turned to look at Coulson, who shook his head slightly, indicating that the polygraph was working perfectly and had not been subjected to any electromagnetic or mental interference.
"Agent Lynn." Fury sat back in his chair, his fingers tapping a dull rhythm on the desk, tap, tap, tap. "Your story is fascinating. But S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't believe in fairy tales. I only see an extremely dangerous variable that could flatten Washington at any moment."
"Officer, Wanda is not a variable; she is just a girl who lacks a sense of security." Lynn's tone was sincere, even carrying a hint of a subordinate's request to a superior, "As long as I am by her side, she is safe. But if anyone tries to separate us, or shoots at me..."
Lynn paused, his eyes turning cold, his voice dropping: "Like that guy called Crossbones today. Officer, if I hadn't stopped her at the time, do you think the Triskelion would still exist now?"
This sentence hit Fury's weak spot directly.
The muscles at the corner of Fury's eye twitched fiercely. He of course knew that Lynn was threatening him, but this was a threat he had to swallow. The Skyfather-levelcombat power displayed by that Witch was simply not something conventional weapons could handle.
Lynn was the only chain that could tether that monster right now.
"You can keep your secrets, Lynn." Fury slammed the file shut, his single eye staring coldly at him, "I will arrange a top-level independent safe house for you. No one will bother you. But remember, if that woman loses control again, even if I have to use a nuclear bomb, I will wipe you both off the Earth."
"Understood, Officer. Thank you for your generosity."
Lynn stood up and pulled off the electrode patches on his body. The moment the metal buckles were undone, he sneered in his heart.
Nuclear bomb? By the time Wanda fully mastered Chaos Magic, a nuclear bomb wouldn't even count as a big firework in her eyes.
"Coulson, take him to the lounge. Arrange the transfer early tomorrow morning." Fury waved his hand, turned his chair, and looked at the night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window with his back to them, speaking no more.
Lynn followed Coulson out of the Director's office.
The lights in the corridor were a bit dim. Coulson walked in front, saying nothing, the atmosphere depressingly abnormal.
Just as they were about to reach the elevator, in the shadows at the end of the corridor, suddenly came the sound of leather shoes stepping on the polished marble floor.
Tap, tap, tap.
The rhythm was unhurried, revealing the composure of someone who had long been in a high position.
An old man wearing a high-end custom suit with a full head of silver hair walked out of the shadows.
His face carried a gentle smile, his gaze passing over Coulson and landing precisely on Lynn.
Coulson stopped immediately and bowed respectfully: "Secretary Pierce."
Alexander Pierce, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., current senior Secretary of the World Security Council. At the same time, he was also the supreme leader of HYDRAlurking within S.H.I.E.L.D.
A trace of imperceptible mockery flashed in the depths of Lynn's eyes.
The fish has taken the bait.
Pierce walked to Lynn, his deep eyes looking him up and down, as if looking at a peerless treasure.
"Agent Lynn, you were frightened tonight." Pierce's voice was gentle and full of elder's concern, "Fury is always so unfeeling; he only treats you as a dangerous bomb, but fails to see your true value."
Pierce waved his hand, signaling Coulson to step back.
Coulson hesitated for a moment, but under Pierce's rank suppression, he could only retreat to the corner ten meters away.
Only Lynn and Pierce were left in the corridor.
Pierce took a black magnetic card from the inner pocket of his suit, clamped it between two fingers, and slowly handed it to Lynn. The edges of the magnetic card shimmered with a cold metallic luster in the dim light.
"What Fury can't give you, I can." Pierce stared into Lynn's eyes, his voice lowered, but carrying a fatal temptation, "For example, the absolute authority of a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. For example... the power to make that girl belong to you forever."
Lynn looked at the black card representing the core power of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top brass and did not reach out immediately.
He raised his head, meeting Pierce's ambitious gaze, a meaningful arc hooking at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, the smile on Pierce's face deepened, and he was just about to say that classic recruitment line.
Just then, Lynn suddenly took a step forward, leaned into Pierce's ear, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, gently spat out four words.
Chapter 14: Pierce's Invitation, Stepping into the HYDRANest
"Insight Project."
Four syllables, extremely soft, extremely brief, yet they were like a micro high-explosive armor-piercing shell, detonating precisely deep within Alexander Pierce's eardrums.
Pierce's fingers, which were holding the black card, paused abruptly.
The gentle smile on his face instantly froze within his muscle fibers, and the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes twitched violently from extreme shock.
The breeze from the hallway's thermostat-controlled air conditioning blew past, but it could not disperse the temperature that had suddenly dropped to freezing point between the two.
In just half a second, this old fox, who had been climbing the ranks of international politics for decades, covered up his loss of composure.
The glint of murderous intent in his eyes, sharp enough to mince a person, flashed by, replaced by an even more intense greed and interest.
"It seems Fury's assessment of you is outrageously wrong."
Pierce flipped his wrist, and the black magnetic card slid into his cuff.
He took a deep look at Lynn, turned around, and walked toward the depths of the hallway, "Follow me. We need to find somewhere else to talk."
Lynn did not hesitate; with one hand in his trouser pocket, he stepped forward to follow.
He knew that this door leading to the HYDRA nest had already been kicked wide open by him.
The two took Pierce's exclusive encrypted elevator, heading all the way down, passing through the complex underground structure of the Triskelion, and finally stopped at a hidden space on the negative fifteenth floor.
The elevator doors slid open to both sides, and a mellow scent of Cuban cigar tobacco mixed with the malty aroma of aged whiskey rushed toward them.
This was a completely enclosed office without windows, and the thick, handmade wool carpet swallowed all sounds of footsteps.
Medieval oil paintings hung on the walls, and the dark red leather sofa in the corner exuded an aura of luxury.
"Sit."
Pierce walked to the mahogany bar, picked up a crystal decanter, and poured two glasses of amber whiskey.
Lynn unceremoniously sank into the sofa, crossing his legs.
His gaze swept across the surroundings, and his keen Spider-Sense instantly outlined the structure of the room—at least four automatic machine guns were hidden in the wall interlayers, and the ceiling was densely covered with infrared scanning sensors.
This was an absolutely enclosed killing cage.
Pierce walked over holding two glasses and handed one to Lynn.
Then he sat on the sofa opposite and lit a cigar.
Blue-gray smoke rose between the two.
"Now, tell me."
Pierce exhaled a smoke ring, his gaze locked onto Lynn like a hawk, "How did you know this name? That blind man Fury, even Coulson hasn't revealed a single word."
Lynn took the glass, his fingers gently swirling it.
Ice cubes struck the glass walls, making a crisp clinking sound.
He lowered his head and took a sip; the spicy liquor slid down his throat, bringing a wave of burning sensation.
"Mr. Secretary, your understanding of power is too narrow."
Lynn leaned back against the sofa, the corners of his mouth curling into a playful arc, "When your significant other possesses the power to warp reality and tear dimensions apart, those highest-level firewalls that S.H.I.E.L.D. prides itself on are no different from a layer of window paper in her perception."
He half-truthfully attributed the source of the intelligence to Wanda's Chaos Magic.
Pierce's fingers holding the cigar tightened abruptly.
The Witch's power can actually read digital information directly?
The value of this monster is ten times more terrifying than he had expected!
"Very good. Fury always thinks he can control everything, but he doesn't know that the true gods have already descended."
Pierce stood up, walked to Lynn, and spread his arms like a fanatical preacher, "Lynn, this World is sick. Fury's method of just patching things together can't save humanity. We need absolute order. And you, and that lady, are the cornerstones of building a new order!"
Pierce's speaking speed began to accelerate, his voice filled with highly inflammatory seduction: "As long as you make her pledge loyalty to me... pledge loyalty to us. I guarantee you, a permanent seat on the Security Council, the highest authority of S.H.I.E.L.D., and even control over the entire North American theater, will all be yours."
Empty promises.
Lynn sneered in his heart.
This kind of politician's trick is too clumsy even to fool a three-year-old child.
But on the surface, he cooperatively restrained his playfulness, and a glint of greed, as if struck by power, appeared in his eyes at the right time.
He put down the glass, leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and looked straight into Pierce's eyes.
"Sounds very tempting, Secretary."
Lynn's voice was very low, revealing a ruthless, desperado-like edge, "But I'm a person who never believes in ethereal empty checks. A pie drawn on paper can't fill my stomach."
Pierce raised his eyebrows slightly; far from being angry, he instead revealed a satisfied smile.
I don't fear your greed; I only fear you having no desires.
As long as there is desire, you are a dog that can be leashed.
"What do you want?"
Pierce sat back on the sofa with a condescending, charitable posture.
"Absolute clearance of a Level 7 Agent, right now."
Lynn held up one finger, his tone unquestionable, "In addition, I need authority to mobilize S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret armory, as well as a batch of top-grade Vibraniumequipment."
Pierce's expression darkened: "What do you want Vibranium for?"
"Mr. Secretary, to soothe a giant dragon that could go berserk at any moment and tear even a helicarrier to shreds, one needs some sturdy chains."
Lynn spread his hands, revealing an expression of taking it for granted, "She is extremely lacking in a sense of security right now, and I must build our new home into an absolutely safe fortress. Otherwise, if she wakes up in the middle of the night one day and feels unhappy, and happens to wipe Washington off the map, I won't be able to stop her."
Naked extortion!
Pierce clenched his back teeth.
But he took one look at Lynn's fearless face, then thought of Crossbones's broken leg bones and that quinjet twisted into a pretzel, and ultimately suppressed the anger in his heart.
Trading a few resources for control over the Witch—this deal is worth it.
"Your appetite is huge, Lynn. But I like ambitious young people."
Pierce took out the black magnetic card again from his inner pocket, held it between his fingers, and handed it to Lynn, "This is my sub-card, possessing clearance second only to the Director. The things you want will be delivered to your designated location before sunset tomorrow."
Lynn reached out, his fingertips just touching the edge of the cold magnetic card.
At this very moment, a cold, mechanical synthesized voice suddenly sounded deep in his mind.
[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully intervened in the core Marvel event 'The Fall of HYDRA'.]
[Special achievement mission triggered: 'The Snake Swallows the Elephant'.]
[Mission Requirements: Utilize HYDRA's resources to complete the ultimate bond with the heroine 'Wanda Maximoff', and completely take over HYDRA's secret assets.]
Lynn's fingers holding the magnetic card tightened slightly, and an extremely strange dark glint flashed in his eyes.
He raised his head and flashed a smile at Pierce that was so brilliant it made one's hair stand on end.
"Pleasure doing business, Mr. Secretary. For... our new order."
Pierce looked at this smiling low-level Agent in front of him, and suddenly, for no reason, a chill rose in his heart.
He kept feeling that what he had just handed over wasn't a clearance card, but a guillotine blade placed against his own neck.
Lynn tucked the black card into his pocket, stood up, and straightened his collar.
"Then, I'll be heading back. Wanda is still waiting for me."
He turned and walked toward the elevator, "Oh, right, Secretary. Remember to remind those blind subordinates of yours not to try and approach our safe house again."
The elevator door slowly closed, blocking Pierce's line of sight.
Inside the elevator car, the smile on Lynn's face vanished instantly, replaced by absolute coldness and calculation.
"System, open the S.H.I.E.L.D. intranet data interface."
Lynn issued the command in his mind, his fingers quickly rubbing the black card in his pocket, "Let me see just how many good things this group of rats hiding in the gutters has stashed away."
He wasn't just going to fleece HYDRA; he was going to strip them skin and bone, turning it all into the nutrients for his own foothold in this Universe.
And at this moment, in that temporarily requisitioned HYDRA safe house on the outskirts of New York.
Wanda was sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees, her deep green eyes churning with violent scarlet energy.
She stared fixedly at the spare communicator belonging to Lynn on the coffee table, her fingernails nearly digging into the flesh of her palms.
"He has been gone for too long… Those worms, do they want to take him away from me again?"
Scarlet magical fluctuations spread along the floor, the wallpaper on the walls began to peel, and the glass windows emitted an unbearable creaking sound.
Just at the moment when this house was about to be completely crushed by the Chaos Magic, a faint sound of something breaking through the air suddenly rang out in the night outside the window.
A white spider silk silently stuck to the windowsill of the second-floor bedroom.
The hunter lurking in the shadows could finally no longer restrain itself.
The second before the elevator door was about to close, Lynn caught the fleeting coldness in Pierce's eyes.
The elevator car door closed completely.
Just as Lynn was about to press the button leading to the surface, the metal floor beneath his feet suddenly sank.
A strong sensation of weightlessness gripped his stomach; the elevator did not ascend, but instead plummeted toward the deep underground at an extraordinary speed.
The numbers on the indicator light jumped wildly: negative twenty floors, negative thirty floors…
Lynn did not panic; he leaned against the wall of the elevator car, his fingers gently rubbing the cold black card in his pocket.
"Ding."
The elevator car came to a stop, and the metal doors slid open to both sides.
Piercing cold wind, carrying the strong smell of engine oil and ozone, forced its way into his nostrils.
This was not some underground garage, but an abyssal hangar large enough to fit several aircraft carriers.
Pierce's voice smashed down from the loudspeakers on all sides, carrying an aloof arrogance and condescension: "Agent Lynn, since you have accepted my supplementary card, I must let you see what the 'New Order' you are about to pledge allegiance to really looks like. Welcome to the true snake's nest."
Lynn stepped out of the elevator.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Dozens of industrial-grade searchlights overhead slammed on one after another, the intense light so blinding that one could not keep their eyes open.
Lynn narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing through the intense light.
Under the massive dome in front, three helicarriers as vast as mountains were lying dormant.
Countless mechanical arms waved over the armor surface, and welding torches spat out dazzling blue sparks.
And ten meters to Lynn's left, behind a row of bulletproof glass walls, stood a massive cylindrical stasis pod.
The hissing sound of liquid nitrogen spraying echoed throughout the empty hangar.
Inside the stasis pod, a man with long hair and a left arm made entirely of metal was sleeping with his eyes closed.
The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes.
Pierce was flexing his muscles.
He was using these three World-ending helicarriers capable of executing the "Insight Project," along with HYDRA's strongest assassination weapon, to issue a lethal warning to Lynn: HYDRA possesses the power to crush everything; if they give you a bone, you must wag your tail and accept it.
A trace of faint mockery flashed in Lynn's eyes.
He walked slowly to the bulletproof glass with one hand in his pocket, curled his finger, and knocked twice on the outer shell of the Winter Soldier's stasis pod.
"Clang, clang."
The crisp knocking sound seemed exceptionally jarring in the hangar.
"Mr. Secretary."
Lynn tilted his head up, grinned at the nearest surveillance camera, and revealed a malicious smile, "You have been hiding in a gutter digging for half a century, and this is the rusty scrap metal you have built?"
In the loudspeaker, Pierce's breathing clearly paused for a moment.
"You are too arrogant, Lynn."
Pierce's voice turned cold, revealing undisguised murderous intent, "Once these three helicarriers take to the sky, the locking system can eliminate twenty million threats in one minute. And this'scrap metal' in front of you can single-handedly slaughter its way through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s defenses."
Extreme pressure.
The smile on Lynn's face deepened.
He turned around, leaning his back against the Winter Soldier's stasis pod, and stared directly at the surveillance camera.
"Is that so?"
Lynn lowered his voice, his tone revealing the ruthlessness of someone with nothing to lose, "Then what if I tell you that with just one word from me, my girl can crush these three helicarriers and this building into a ball of scrap metal in one second?"
The air instantly solidified.
Lynn was gambling, gambling that Pierce could not figure out Wanda's bottom line at all.
He wanted to package himself as a madman holding a nuclear detonator, and in turn, manipulate this group of self-righteous conspirators.
Ten seconds of confrontation.
A very faint cold snort came from the loudspeaker.
"The Vibranium resources and level seven clearance you requested have been activated."
Pierce's voice regained the steadiness of a politician, but the speed of his speech was clearly faster by half a beat, "The helicopter is waiting for you at Exit 3. Go pacify your monster, and do not disappoint me."
Lynn straightened his body and adjusted the hem of his suit.
"Pleasure doing business, Officer."
He turned and walked toward the exit, his back calm and unhurried.
But in the blind spot where Pierce could not see, the corners of Lynn's mouth curled into a cold arc.
Their trump cards were revealed.
This group of vipers hiding in the dark were nothing more than blood bags waiting to be drained dry by him.
…
At the same time. Outside New York.
The night wind blew through the dense Adirondack Mountains, bringing the scent of damp soil and pine needles.
There were no lights on in the two-story safe house.
Wanda sat barefoot on the wool carpet in the living room, hugging her knees tightly.
She stared at the spare communicator belonging to Lynnon the coffee table, her deep green eyes churning with scarlet energy like boiling magma.
Two hours and seven minutes.
Lynn had been away from her for too long.
"They… are bullying him."
Wanda bit her lower lip.
A drop of fresh blood oozed out, and before it could drip onto the carpet, it was instantly evaporated into a red blood mist by the violent Chaos Magic.
Because of the high-frequency oscillation of the magic, static electricity that stung the skin was generated in the air.
The vintage wallpaper on the walls began to peel off in large areas, and the window glass emitted a sound of unbearable, fine cracking.
Whoever dared to take Lynn away from her, she would kill them all.
Just at the moment when Wanda's emotions were about to fall completely into the abyss—
In the night outside the window, a faint sound of something breaking through the air suddenly rang out.
"Hiss—"
A white polymer nanofiber cable emitting a faint glow, like a viper flicking its tongue, silently nailed itself to the windowsill of the second-floor bedroom.
The hunter lurking in the shadows could finally no longer restrain itself.
Natasha Romanoff, in an all-black tight-fitting stealth suit, hung upside down under the eaves along the nano-cable like a weightless ghost cat.
That old fox Fury never put his eggs in one basket.
Pierce was trying to win over Lynn, and Fury had also sent out the sharpest blade in his hand to test this combination listed as "Zero Taboo."
Natasha held her breath, her heart rate lowered to forty beats per minute.
She hung upside down with one hand, and with the other, she drew a high-frequency laser cutting pen from the outside of her thigh, precisely placing it against the metal latch of the window.
A faint blue light flashed, and the latch melted silently.
Natasha's eyes were cold.
She needed to confirm what state that Witch, who could tear apart a helicarrier, was in right now, and what secrets that low-level Agent Lynn, who was full of hot air, was hiding.
She exerted force from her waist, pushed open the window like a falling leaf, and nimbly flipped into the dark bedroom.
The moment her feet landed, there was not a single sound.
A perfect infiltration.
Natasha straightened up, just as she was about to activate her night-vision goggles.
At this very moment.
A suffocatingly strong smell of blood and ozone suddenly flooded into her nostrils.
The surrounding temperature dropped to freezing point within half a second, and the air became as viscous as mercury, pressing tightly against her chest.
Natasha's muscles tensed instantly, and her Agent's intuition screamed of danger.
She suddenly raised her head.
What she met head-on was not an empty room.
But a pair of scarlet eyes suspended in mid-air, burning with extreme madness and tyrannical murderous intent.
The scarlet Chaos Magic, like countless materialized tentacles, instantly cut off all of Natasha's escape routes, coldly and brutally locking onto her throat!
"Who gave you permission to approach his territory?"
In the darkness, the Witch's voice was like a judgment from hell.
Chapter 15: Playing Along, Demanding Core Authorization and Resources
The night wind roared into the helicopter cabin, whipping the hem of Lynn's suit.
He leaned back in the leather seat, toying with the black card that represented the core power of HYDRA. As his fingertips brushed over the dark metal patterns on the edge of the card, a faint, mocking smirk tugged at the corner of Lynn's mouth.
"Officer, we expect to arrive at the designated coordinates in fifteen minutes," the pilot reported through his headset, his tone filled with undisguised awe.
A high-level Agent who could get a direct order from Minister Pierce was not someone a mere pilot like him could afford to offend.
"Maintain speed," Lynn replied casually.
He inserted the black card into the card reader at the bottom of his tactical tablet.
"Beep—Authorization confirmed, Level 7."
The screen lit up, casting a ghostly blue glow onto Lynn's face, revealing his cold, emotionless eyes. He didn't waste a second, immediately hacking into the database of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret logistics arsenal.
HYDRA had been leeching off S.H.I.E.L.D. for decades, and the wealth they had accumulated was staggering.
Lynn's fingers tapped rapidly on the virtual keyboard. He needed resources. Although the "Chaos Magic Affinity" rewarded by the system was powerful, his mortal body had its limits. To survive in the future meat grinder, he had to craft a set of tactical gear capable of perfectly containing and conducting Chaos magic energy.
And looking across the entire Earth, only one metal could meet this requirement—Vibranium.
"Three hundred kilograms of high-purity raw Vibranium."
"Micro-particle forging station, Class A requisition."
"Next-generation energy conduction circuit blueprints..."
Lynn unceremoniously added S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most prized, top-tier assets to his requisition list. But he knew very well that the old fox Pierce was definitely watching his every move from the backend.
If he wanted to dispel a politician's suspicion, he had to show them what they wanted to see.
Lynn sneered, his fingertips dancing as he added a few extremely specific components to the end of the list.
"High-frequency electromagnetic restraint generator."
"Blueprints for the discarded Mutant restraint collars from the Weapon X program."
Submit, Enter.
At the same time, on the fifteenth floor underground of the Triskelion.
Pierce sat behind a mahogany desk, staring at the real-time synchronized material requisition form on his screen. He bit down on his cigar and exhaled a thick cloud of blue-grey smoke.
"Officer," the assistant standing nearby said, looking at the priceless list with disbelief, "Three hundred kilograms of Vibranium? That's almost a third of our current inventory! Are we really going to approve so many strategic resources for a low-level Agent?"
Pierce leaned back in his chair, a flash of disdainful amusement in his eyes.
"What do you know?" He reached out to flick the ash from his cigar, pointing at the two restraint devices at the bottom of the screen. "Look at these things he's asking for. Restraint collars, electromagnetic restraints... This kid has been scared witless by the Witch's power."
The assistant was stunned: "He wants to control that woman?"
"Greed is a good thing. As long as he wants to be the one holding the leash, he will be my most loyal dog." Piercesnorted coldly, "If he wants to build a cage, we'll give him the best steel. As long as the key to the cage is in our hands, that monster capable of tearing apart a helicarrierwill be HYDRA's strongest weapon."
Pierce pressed the Enter key.
"Approve his application. Let him do as he pleases."
Inside the helicopter cabin.
A green pop-up window indicating approval lit up on the tablet. Lynn pulled out the magnetic card and tossed the tablet aside.
Freebie secured.
These rats hiding in the gutters had no idea that the Vibranium they had personally handed over would be forged into such a terrifying weapon of mass destruction.
Just as Lynn prepared to close his eyes and rest.
"Hum—"
It felt as if the back of his head had been struck by a high-voltage arc. His Top-tier Spider-Sense screamed wildly, every nerve sending signals of extreme danger to his brain!
The free-floating energy particles in the air began to rub violently against each other, and a pungent smell of ozone forced its way into the cabin.
This was not a natural phenomenon.
This was an anomaly caused by a surge of high-concentration magic particles!
The direction—it was his safe house!
Lynn's expression darkened instantly. The yandere Witch's territorial instincts had been triggered. Someone had stepped on the dragon's reverse scale.
"Land!" Lynn ripped off his headset and growled at the pilot.
"Officer, we're still two kilometers from the target point, there's no helipad here..."
"I said, land!"
Under the pressure of Lynn's icy killing intent, the helicopter was forced to lower its altitude. When they were still a dozen meters from the ground, Lynn pulled open the cabin door and leaped into the dark night sky.
The strong wind roared in his ears.
The moment his feet touched the ground, his superhuman flexibility perfectly absorbed the massive impact. Like a weightless Black Panther, he darted silently into the courtyard of the safe house, using the cover of night.
The window of the second-floor bedroom had been completely shredded by the violent energy, even the metal window frame was twisted into a pretzel.
The thick scent of blood mixed with static electricity stung Lynn's skin.
He pressed against the wall and looked up.
The scene inside the room was enough to give any S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent nightmares for a lifetime.
Black Widow Natasha Romanoff, the sharpest blade of S.H.I.E.L.D., was currently being held against the ceiling, her neck tightly constricted by a mass of crimson energy tentacles.
Her proud combat skills and infiltration experience were not even a joke in the face of Skyfather-level power. Natasha's complexion had already turned from red to a terrifying purple-blue, her legs kicking weakly in the air, her eyes bloodshot and bulging from extreme asphyxiation.
In the center of the room.
Wanda was hovering in mid-air, her dark red hair dancing wildly as if it had a life of its own. Her deep green eyes had been swallowed by pure crimson; there was not a shred of reason in them, only an extreme, pathological killing intent.
"Who gave you permission to approach his territory?"
Wanda's voice was icy and bone-chilling, carrying an unquestionable tone of judgment.
As her words fell, the crimson tentacles wrapped around Natasha's neck tightened violently.
"Crack—"
The cervical vertebrae emitted a dangerous cracking sound.
Lynn's brain worked at high speed. He couldn't touch Fury's bottom line; Natasha couldn't die yet. If Black Widow died here, S.H.I.E.L.D. would definitely turn hostile completely, and the balance he had painstakingly maintained and the resources he had just extorted would instantly go down the drain.
More importantly, he couldn't let Wanda completely degenerate into a madwoman who only knew how to kill.
Lynn took a deep breath and kicked open the dilapidated door.
"Bang!"
The loud noise of the wooden door splintering into pieces forcibly cut through the nearly solidified killing intent in the room.
"Let her go, Wanda."
Lynn's voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable steadiness.
Wanda, hovering in mid-air, whipped her head around. The moment she saw Lynn, a crack appeared in the rage in her eyes, and a flash of pleasant surprise emerged.
But the next second, when she followed Lynn's gaze and saw him staring at the hot-bodied, tight-suited redhead in mid-air.
The surprise on Wanda's face instantly froze.
Those crimson eyes stared fixedly at Lynn. The brutality in them didn't fade; instead, due to the extreme sense of crisis from having her territory invaded by a member of the same sex, it suddenly climbed to a terrifying peak.
"You are not allowed to look at her!"
Chapter 16: Wanda's Possessiveness, I Won't Allow You to Look at Others
A violent energy storm raged within the cramped bedroom.
The solid wood nightstand was instantly torn apart by a brutal stream of particles, with wood splinters shooting in all directions like bullets, embedding themselves deep into the walls.
The pungent scent of ozone, mixed with the smell of charred flesh from Natasha's burns, violently assaulted Lynn's nostrils.
"You are not allowed to look at her!"
Wanda's shrill voice wavered slightly from extreme jealousy.
Her deep green pupils had been swallowed by pure crimson, and the tear mole at the corner of her eye appeared bewitching and insane under the reflection of the red light.
With her scream, the crimson tentacles wrapped around Natasha's neck tightened abruptly.
"Click—"
The sound of cervical vertebrae grinding under unbearable pressure was exceptionally piercing amidst the chaos.
The skills of an ace Agent that Natasha took pride in were reduced to a complete joke in the face of this rule-level power.
Her feet kicked desperately in mid-air, her trachea was severely compressed, and the oxygen in her lungs was being squeezed out bit by bit.
Large black spots began to emerge at the edges of her vision, and Natasha struggled to reach for the tactical knife on the outside of her thigh.
It was a blade forged from special aviation steel.
However, the moment her fingertips touched the hilt, a dark red energy spread along the scabbard.
"Hiss!"
The hard steel turned into scalding molten iron within a tenth of a second, burning straight through her tight-fitting combat suit and branding a horrifying charred patch onto her fair thigh.
Natasha couldn't even scream; the intense pain caused her pupils to begin dilating.
This was the power of a Skyfather-level.
Under an absolute dimensionality reduction strike, the struggle of a Level 10 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't even count as the protest of an ant.
Lynn stood by the shattered door frame, his brain running frantically like an overclocked processor.
That old fox Fury, of all the people he could have sent, he had to send a hot-bodied female Agent to sneak into the safe house at night!
Trying to reason with a Witch in a yandere state with an excessively high sense of territoriality was no different from sticking one's head into a meat grinder.
He couldn't speak up to plead for mercy; the moment he uttered a single word attempting to protect Natasha, this red-haired woman would turn into flying chunks of meat in the next second.
He could not retreat, could not hesitate, and even more so, could not look away.
Lynn took a deep breath, his leather shoes crunching over the broken glass covering the floor with a crisp sound.
He did not look at the dying Natasha in mid-air, but instead locked his gaze firmly onto Wanda's face, which was twisted with anger.
One step, two steps.
Lynn walked directly into the radiation zone of the Chaos Magic.
The manic energy particles acted like countless miniature scalpels, crazily cutting into his suit and skin.
But the moment the energy was about to slice through his epidermis, his newly fused "Chaos Magic Affinity" quietly activated.
Those crimson particles, which were enough to shred an ordinary person, became strangely docile the instant they touched Lynn's body, merely causing a searing, stinging sensation.
"Don't come over!"
Wanda watched Lynn approach, a flash of panic crossing her eyes.
She was afraid her out-of-control power would hurt Lynn, but her inner possessiveness would not let her release the tentacles strangling Natasha.
"Close your eyes! I won't allow you to have another woman in your eyes! She came here to take you away!"
"If I close my eyes, I won't be able to see you."
Lynn's voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable steadiness.
He ignored the surging red light around him and walked straight up to Wanda.
The distance between them was so close that they could hear each other's breathing.
Wanda was stunned.
Her crimson eyes flickered violently; killing intent, grievance, paranoia, and extreme attachment were frantically intertwined in the depths of her gaze.
Lynn didn't give her time to think.
He reached out with both hands and held Wanda's cheeks without hesitation.
The moment his palms touched her skin, Wandashuddered violently.
The surrounding violent energy storm showed a visible pause.
"Listen, Wanda."
Lynn lowered his head slightly, his nose almost touching hers, his tone extremely gentle yet laced with a domineering sense of control.
"This kind of rat hiding in the sewer to peek isn't worth dirtying your hands."
He gently caressed the tear mole at the corner of Wanda's eye with his thumb, his gaze so focused that it seemed the entire Universe held only the woman before him.
"Besides, you have her hanging in mid-air, blocking my view of you. This makes me very unhappy."
This sentence was like the most precise sedative, instantly shattering all of Wanda's defenses.
The crimson in her eyes receded like a tide, revealing her deep green eyes once again.
Her eye sockets turned red instantly, and large tears fell without warning, splashing onto the back of Lynn's hand, shockingly hot.
"I... I was just afraid she would take you away..."
Wanda's voice was choked with sobs, like a little girl who had done something wrong but was extremely lacking in a sense of security.
She threw herself into Lynn's arms, her hands clutching Lynn's waist so tightly that the force was almost enough to break Lynn's ribs.
"No one can take me away from you."
Lynn hugged her back, his broad palms gently patting her back.
As Wanda's emotions calmed, the Chaos Magic in mid-air dissipated instantly.
"Bang!"
Natasha, having lost her restraint, slammed heavily onto the floor covered in wood splinters and broken glass.
She curled up in pain, covering her neck, which was covered in purple-blue bruises, with both hands, greedily sucking the turbid air into her lungs, and erupted into a fit of heart-wrenching, violent coughing.
Lynn embraced Wanda, his body perfectly blocking the view between Wanda and Natasha.
He turned his head slightly, and with the corner of his eye, glanced coldly at the Black Widow on the floor.
"Get out."
Lynn's voice was icy and bone-chilling, carrying undisguised disgust and killing intent.
Natasha endured the pain of her nearly fractured cervical spine and struggled to climb up from the floor.
She had executed countless near-death missions, but this was the first time she had been so close to death, so close that she could even smell the sulfur of hell.
This low-level Agent named Lynn was not some unlucky guy held hostage by a Witch at all.
He was a wolf in sheep's clothing, using a few lighthearted words of love to perfectly manipulate a monster capable of destroying Earth!
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assessment was completely wrong!
Pierce's calculations were also completely wrong!
Clutching her neck, Natasha staggered backward, preparing to vault out of the broken window to escape.
Just as she was about to leap out the window, moonlight pierced through the clouds and slanted into the room.
Natasha's gaze inadvertently swept over Lynn's left hand, which was hanging by his side, facing away from Wanda.
That hand was rapidly curling its fingers and tapping against the suit fabric on the outside of his thigh with an extremely hidden yet perfectly standard frequency.
Two taps with the index finger, one with the middle finger, and the thumb tucked inward.
Natasha's pupils constricted suddenly.
That was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s highest-level top-secret tactical sign language, a code known only to core Agents of Level 7 and above.
The meaning of that sequence of hand signs was: [Target is under control, notify Fury, stand down.]
Natasha's breathing stopped completely.
She looked in shock at the back of the man who was embracing the world-destroying Witch, and her mind exploded.
Who on Earth was he?!