Chapter 23: A Perfect Disguise, the Tragic Agent in Captain America's Eyes
The four words "Metal Arm" exploded in Steve's mind like a high-explosive armor-piercing shell.
The solid wood round table shook violently. Steve's right hand shot out with a gust of wind, grabbing Lynn by the collar of his trench coat. The immense force dragged Lynnand his chair forward by half a meter.
"Clang!"
Two cups of piping hot black coffee overturned, and the dark brown liquid flowed down the edge of the table, dripping onto the wooden floor. The strong, bitter burnt smell instantly overpowered the sweet scent of cinnamon.
"What exactly do you know?!" Steve lowered his voice, each word seemingly squeezed out from his back teeth. Heat radiated from his body after the sudden exertion, and his azure eyes were filled with shock, caution, and unconcealable urgency.
Lynn did not resist. He let Steve's rough hand tightly choke his neck, making it difficult for him to even breathe.
But he showed no panic at all.
Lynn sneered inwardly. He took the bait. Steve Rogers, the "Jade" with the highest moral standards in the Marvel Universe—as long as he held onto Bucky, his fatal weakness, he would obediently become the sharpest knife in his hand.
"Cough..." Lynn coughed deliberately, a touch of bleak self-mockery appearing in his eyes at the right moment. He slightly raised his chin, meeting Steve's oppressive gaze. "I told you, Captain. I'm just a low-level Agent who could be fed into a meat grinder at any moment."
Lynn's voice was very soft, yet carried a numbness born of being backed into a corner.
"That shot last night came from a water tower 1,500 meters away. It used a dum-dum bullet." Lynn's gaze shifted down to Steve's hand, where veins were bulging. "If it weren't for Wanda's magic shield... I would already be a corpse with a blown-out head. Do you think a regular logistics Agent is worth them deploying that level of assassin?"
Steve's breathing hitched, and the strength in his hand involuntarily loosened slightly.
Lynn took the opportunity to swat Steve's hand away and leisurely straightened his rumpled collar. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze piercing directly into Steve's eyes.
"Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., there is a screening mechanism called the 'Zola Algorithm'." Lynn threw out the most lethal piece of intelligence. "They use this algorithm to calculate everyone who might hinder them from establishing a 'New Order.' Then, they hand this death list to that ghost with the metal arm to execute."
Hearing the name "Zola," Steve's pupils contracted sharply. Memories from over ninety years ago surged back like a tide. That chief scientist of HYDRA, the culprit who caused Bucky to fall into the abyss!
"They call that ghost the 'Winter Soldier'." Lynndeliberately emphasized the words, his tone filled with bone-chilling coldness. "A 'tool' whose memory has been completely erased and only knows how to obey orders. Captain, do you understand the meaning of a 'tool'?"
Steve slumped back into his chair, his fists clenched tightly under the table. His knuckles cracked from the excessive force.
"No thoughts, no pain sensation, just a knife used for killing." Lynn leaned forward, hands crossed under his chin, his eyes becoming incredibly sincere and pained. "And now, they have set their sights on Wanda."
Lynn took a deep breath, as if trying hard to suppress the fear and anger in his heart.
"Wanda's power is too great. So great that those in high positions feel both fear and greed. They want to turn her into the second Winter Soldier! And I..." Lynn gave a bitter laugh and spread his hands. "I am the only bond Wandahas in this World. As long as I am alive, Wanda will not be controlled by them. Therefore, I must die."
This Oscar-worthy performance was perfect.
The information asymmetry, emotional manipulation, and moral coercion were handled perfectly by Lynn. He successfully crafted the image of a tragic hero in front of Steve—one who was coerced by power and endured humiliation to protect an out-of-control girl.
Steve looked at the young man before him. In that moment, he seemed to see himself from the past—the one in a Brooklyn alleyway, holding a trash can lid, taking a beating but refusing to back down; and he also saw Bucky, brainwashed and controlled, executing assassination missions in the snow and ice.
An irrepressible rage burned fiercely in Steve's chest.
Not at Lynn, but at that rotten S.H.I.E.L.D.!
"Captain, you could bury yourself under a glacier for seventy years to save the World. But I'm not that great." Lynn's voice lowered, carrying a hint of determined hoarseness. "I'm just a selfish ordinary person. I just want to protect that girl who was willing to risk her life for me in the ruins."
Lynn stood up and looked down at Steve.
"If protecting this bond requires me to betray the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. and become a 'rogue' in their eyes... then so be it."
Having said that, Lynn turned and left, without the slightest hesitation.
"Stop."
Steve's deep, powerful voice came from behind him.
Lynn's footsteps paused, and the moment his back was to Steve, a triumphant sneer curled at the corner of his mouth. But when he turned his head, his face still wore that tired and guarded expression.
Steve stood up, his broad shoulders blocking the morning light streaming in from the window. He strode up to Lynn, his azure eyes burning with unquestionable determination.
"You are not a rogue, Lynn." Steve looked him straight in the eye, his tone resolute. "The real cancer is those who hide in the shadows and manipulate everything. I will uncover the truth about the 'Zola Algorithm,' and I will find that killer with the metal arm."
Steve extended his right hand and patted Lynn's shoulder heavily.
"Before that, I promise, no one will be able to treat you as expendables. Not S.H.I.E.L.D., not anyone."
Lynn looked at Steve's extended hand, was silent for two seconds, and finally shook it.
"Thank you, Captain."
The invisible shield was officially formed. With Captain America, that perfect "Jade," standing at the front, if HYDRA wanted to move against him in the dark, they would have to weigh whether they could withstand Captain America's shield.
...
At the same time. Washington D.C., Triskelion.
In the top-secret control room on the seventh underground level, the air was as cold as an ice cellar.
Alexander Pierce stood before the massive holographic surveillance screen, his face so gloomy it could drip water. He stared fixedly at the surveillance footage of that Brooklyn bakery on the screen.
The footage had no sound. But he could clearly see Steve Rogers' fury when he grabbed Lynn by the collar, and the solemnity when the two shook hands afterward.
Pierce's breathing grew rapid. He tugged at his tie irritably, feeling that the expensive silk tie was like a noose, tightening around his neck bit by bit.
"Officer, Captain Rogers just left the coffee shop." Crossbones Rumlow stood to the side, his right arm still in a cast, his expression equally grim. "Should we send people to follow him?"
"Follow him to go die?!" Pierce turned his head sharply, his eyes looking as if he wanted to eat someone. "That is Captain America! Do you think your subordinates can evade his counter-surveillance?"
Pierce turned his gaze back to the screen.
Panic. An unprecedented panic, gnawing at his sanity like a venomous snake.
Lynn, that madman, that variable who could fool even a polygraph and held a nuclear bomb in his hands—what exactly did he say to Steve?
Steve had just obtained the tampered "Insight Project" fragments last night and went to contact Lynn first thing this morning. This was definitely not a coincidence!
"He is flipping the table..." Pierce muttered to himself, a fine layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead. "He never intended to cooperate with us. He is using Rogers, trying to drag HYDRA completely into the sunlight!"
This must not be allowed to happen.
The Insight Project was still twenty-four hours away from full activation. Once Steve made a big scene, that old dog Nick Fury would never sit idly by.
Just as Pierce's brain was racing, thinking about how to break the deadlock.
The image on the surveillance screen underwent a strange change.
Lynn, who had been preparing to leave his seat, stopped. He picked up the half-finished cup of cold coffee on the table and slowly turned his head.
He did not look at the pedestrians on the street, nor did he look at the waiter in the shop.
He raised his head, his gaze crossing dozens of kilometers of physical distance, through the cold surveillance camera, precisely meeting Pierce's line of sight.
Pierce's heart skipped a beat.
In the footage, a blatant mockery curled at the corner of Lynn's mouth. He raised the coffee cup and made an extremely arrogant "toast" gesture toward the surveillance camera.
Immediately after, Lynn's lips moved silently.
As a top-tier Agent, Pierce was proficient in lip-reading in multiple languages. He stared intently at Lynn's lip movements, piecing those syllables together in his mind.
——"Checkmate, Pierce."
Boom!
A chill shot up Pierce's spine to the back of his head. He stepped back suddenly, knocking over the metal chair behind him.
Lynn knew he was watching! Lynn was deliberately dragging Steve into the water, doing it for him to see!
"Officer?" Rumlow was startled by Pierce's loss of composure and hurried forward to support him.
"Get away!" Pierce shoved Rumlow aside, his eyes bloodshot from extreme fear and rage. He lunged at the console, flipped open the red safety cover, and pressed that top-level black button.
"Wake the asset!" Pierce roared frantically into the communicator, his voice hoarse and distorted. "Have the Winter Soldier de-frosted immediately! Get me Steve Rogers and that Lynn..."
Before Pierce could finish his sentence, the red alarm lights in the control room began to flash crazily without warning.
The ear-piercing siren tore through the silence of the seventh underground level.
"Officer!" A technician pointed at the main screen in horror. "The underlying firewall of the Insight Project... has been breached by unknown code!"
Chapter 24: The Winter Soldier Deployed, Pierce's Extreme Pressure
On the seventh basement level of the Triskelion, the shrill red alarm sounded as if it would tear one's eardrums apart.
On the main control screen, scarlet code cascaded down like a waterfall; the progress bar representing the core data of the Insight Project was being forcibly tampered with by an extremely domineering unknown program.
"Pull the main power! Cut it physically!" Pierce slapped aside a sweat-drenched technician, rushed to the console himself, grabbed a fire axe, smashed the glass cover, and hacked through the thick fiber optic cable with a single blow.
Sparks flew, the entire floor plunged into darkness, and a few seconds later, the pale light of the backup power supply barely flickered on.
Pierce threw away the dulled axe and panted heavily. His expensive silk tie was twisted out of shape, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat. He stared fixedly at the now-black monitor; Lynn's final defiant smile, raising a glass through the screen, felt like a barbed wire tightening around his heart.
He had been played.
From the very beginning, that low-level Agent had been playing HYDRA for fools! Not only had he swindled the highest clearance, he had even backhanded a knife into the heart of the Insight Project!
"Officer, the asset is in position." Crossbones Rumlowstepped quickly out of the shadows, his plaster-cast right arm still trembling slightly.
Pierce didn't waste words, his face grim as he strode toward the top-secret cryo-chamber at the deepest part of the corridor.
The heavy metal hatch opened slowly, and the freezing white mist of liquid nitrogen rolled out, instantly dropping the room's temperature to the freezing point.
As the ice mist dissipated, Bucky Barnes opened his eyes. They were pupils devoid of any human emotion, remaining only with absolute obedience. He sat up slowly, and his silver metal left arm emitted a low-frequency mechanical hum as the gears engaged.
Pierce walked up to him, looking down condescendingly at HYDRA's most perfect weapon.
"Your mission has changed." Pierce gritted his teeth, every word dripping with extreme venom. "Go to Brooklyn. Find that Agent named Lynn. Don't go for a headshot; shoot through his limbs and disable his mobility!"
A mad gambler's gleam flickered in Pierce's eyes: "I want to see where the limit of the defense of that Witch named 'Weapon' truly lies! I want to expose his pride and joy—his trump card—to the light of day!"
The Winter Soldier did not respond, merely nodding mechanically. He picked up the heavy sniper rifle placed to the side and, like a soulless ghost, turned and vanished into the darkness.
...
Meanwhile, in the Brooklyn district.
The cold wind of early autumn blew in from the Hudson River, sweeping up dead leaves from the ground. Lynncarried a brown paper bag, walking easily through two blocks. The bag emitted the sweet scent of cinnamon and the charred aroma of baking, dispelling the surrounding chill.
A playful arc hung at the corner of Lynn's mouth.
There had been no 1,500-meter sniper shot last night. That was just a lie he'd fabricated on the spot to stir trouble for Steve Rogers, using magic to blast a crater in a water tower.
In this World full of fatalism and crisis, Steve was the purest, most perfect "jade." As long as he dangled the bait of the "Zola Algorithm" and the "metal arm," this jade would, because of that unbreakable bond, unhesitatingly stand in the way of HYDRA's open attacks and hidden arrows for him.
Intelligence asymmetry is always a more effective killing machine than magic.
Did Pierce think he was controlling the chessboard? No, from the moment Lynn activated the simulator, HYDRAwas destined to become nothing more than stepping stones for him.
Lynn stopped, looked up at the dilapidated apartment building not far away, and pushed open the iron door of the safe house.
The room was dimly lit, the heavy blackout curtains drawn tight, letting in not a sliver of sunlight.
Before Lynn could even change his shoes, a heatwave mixed with the scent of roses rushed toward him. A scorching, soft body pounced into his arms like a leopard, the immense impact forcing Lynn to take a half-step back, his back slamming hard against the door panel.
Wanda wrapped her legs directly around Lynn's waist, her arms locking tightly around his neck. She buried her face in the crook of Lynn's neck, greedily and morbidly inhaling his scent.
"Fifty-four minutes." Wanda's voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed, extreme madness and anxiety. "You were out of my sight for a full fifty-four minutes. Lynn... I almost crushed every living person on that street."
Scarlet Chaos Particles danced restlessly in the dim air, brushing against Lynn's cheek and bringing a faint, stinging sensation of electric current. Had Lynn returned even one second later, this Witch, in her extreme yandere state, would absolutely have fulfilled her promise to destroy the World.
Lynn supported her thighs with one hand, while his other hand retrieved a still-steaming cinnamon roll from the paper bag, precisely stuffing it into Wanda's mouth to block whatever dangerous, morbid remarks she might have made next.
"There were too many people in line, my dear." Lynn's voice was so tender it was practically dripping, his thumb gently stroking the back of Wanda's neck as if soothing a lioness about to go on a rampage. "I promised you that I would never leave your side."
The sweet cinnamon flavor spread in her mouth; Wandachewed mechanically, and the destructive violence in her eyes faded slightly. She tightened her arms, pressed her face against Lynn's chest, listened to the steady heartbeat, and let out a very faint, satisfied sigh.
Just at this moment, which was so heartwarming it was almost terrifying.
Deep in Lynn's mind, the nerve belonging to his Top-tier Spider-Sense suddenly erupted in a sharp, unprecedented roar, as if struck by high-voltage electricity!
The hairs on his back stood on end instantly, and a fine shiver rippled across his skin.
This was not the fake probing of last night.
This was true, lethal killing intent, carrying extreme destructive power!
...
1,200 meters away, on the top floor of the abandoned Clock Tower.
The gale swept up gravel from the concrete floor, striking the cold walls. The Winter Soldier, like a lifeless statue, lay prone on the edge of the vantage point. His cold mechanical left arm steadily supported the barrel of the Barrett heavy sniper rifle, while the rough finger pad of his right hand was already pressed against the cold trigger.
The crosshairs pierced through the dust in the air, precisely aimed at the thin gap in the safe house's curtain.
Through the high-magnification scope, Lynn was standing with his back to the window, holding that chestnut-haired woman tightly.
The crosshairs were locked firmly onto Lynn's right shoulder blade. According to the ballistic calculations, as soon as he pulled the trigger, this specialized armor-piercing round would tear through the wall in a fraction of a second, instantly shattering the target's clavicle, severing his nerves, and leaving him completely crippled.
"Target confirmed." The Winter Soldier whispered, his voice devoid of any inflection.
He pressed the trigger without hesitation.
However, in the microsecond before the firing pin was about to strike.
Through the scope, the Winter Soldier saw a bizarre sight that caused even this perfect killing machine to pause for a fraction of a second.
The young man, who had originally been facing away from the window and could not possibly have detected a crisis a kilometer away, suddenly tilted his head slightly.
Lynn's gaze seemed to Pierce through the 1,200 meters of physical distance, stabbing straight into the center of the scope's crosshairs. He looked in the direction of the sniper rifle, the corners of his mouth curling into an extremely mocking sneer.
Immediately after, Lynn silently mouthed something at the lens.
"Shoot, you trash."
The Winter Soldier's pupils constricted sharply, and his finger pulled the trigger hard!
Chapter 25: Lethal Snipe, The Absolute Defense of Chaos Magic
"Bang—!"
The dull gunshot was instantly torn apart by the cold wind high above New York.
A special 12.7mm caliber depleted uranium armor-piercing bullet exited the barrel, as the muzzle spat out a half-meter-long orange-red flame.
With terrifying kinetic energy exceeding twice the speed of sound, the bullet plowed a visible white airflow channel through the air.
A distance of 1,200 meters took less than two seconds for this killing machine.
Washington, seventh underground floor, surveillance room. Pierce gripped his coffee cup tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
He stared at the screen, a manic anticipation flickering in his eyes, waiting for the scene where that arrogant Agentwould bleed on the spot.
...
Brooklyn, inside the safe house.
Lynn didn't even blink an eyelid.
Deep in his mind, his Top-tier Spider-Sense frantically sounded the highest-level red alert, and the muscles on his back instinctively tightened into a slab of iron.
But he forcefully suppressed his body's urge to dodge, even deliberately adjusting his posture to expose his back more perfectly to the window's line of fire.
Dodge? Why would he dodge?
He had gone to great lengths, even risking the danger of provoking Pierce to taunt him, just waiting for this bullet.
"Lynn?" Wanda noticed the strange stiffness in his muscles.
She looked up, a bit of frosting from a cinnamon roll still on her lips, her eyes filled with a trace of confusion.
"It's nothing, my dear." Lynn smiled, raised his hand, and naturally wiped the frosting from the corner of her lips with his thumb.
At the exact microsecond his fingertip touched Wanda's soft lips.
"Crack!"
The thick bulletproof glass couldn't even cause the slightest obstruction, instantly shattering into a sky full of crystalline debris.
A sharp whistling sound, accompanied by the biting cold wind, poured frantically into the room.
The armor-piercing bullet, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, crossed a thousand meters, heading straight for Lynn's right shoulder blade!
This Impact, capable of overturning a light armored vehicle, came to an abrupt halt less than three centimeters from Lynn's back.
There was no explosion, no splattering of blood.
Only a layer of crimson energy, so dense it was almost dripping blood, erupted from Wanda's body without warning, turning into an absolute Wall of Sighs, protecting Lynn firmly within it.
The high-speed rotating warhead struck the barrier of Chaos Magic, producing an extremely harsh metallic scraping sound.
The intense friction between kinetic energy and magicinstantly generated ultra-high heat, and the depleted uranium warhead softened and melted at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A few drops of dark yellow metallic liquid slid down the crimson barrier, dripping onto the floor and burning a few charred holes.
The pungent smell of gunpowder, mixed with the scent of burnt wood, instantly masked the sweet aroma of cinnamon.
Time, at this moment, came to a complete standstill.
Lynn turned his head slightly, looking at the bullet that was close at hand, now squeezed into an iron disc, a flash of extreme coldness appearing deep in his eyes.
Pierce, you finally stepped into the grave I dug for you.
"Plop."
The half-eaten cinnamon roll in Wanda's hand fell to the ground.
She stared blankly at the bullet hovering behind Lynn, her gaze shifting upward bit by bit, looking at Lynn's hair ruffled by the wild wind, and the pool of still-smoking molten metal on the floor.
Just a little bit.
Just three centimeters.
If she hadn't instinctively released her magic just now, if her reaction had been even a tenth of a second slower...
The man who had blocked the sky full of lasers with his back in the ruins of Sokovia, dying in her arms covered in blood, would have been robbed of his life once again right before her eyes!
"No... No!!"
A piercing scream squeezed out of Wanda's throat.
This scream did not sound human, but more like an ancient beast that had been pushed to the brink and had its absolute taboo touched.
Boom!
The violent Chaos Magic, like a broken levee, swept crazily in all directions with her as the center.
The gravity field of the entire safe house collapsed instantly.
The sofa, coffee table, refrigerator, and even the wall clock all lost their gravity and floated in mid-air.
Then, under the strangulation of the crimson particles, they turned into dust without a sound.
"Wanda..." Lynn deliberately pretended to be knocked back by the Impact, clutching his chest, and called out with a pale face.
He knew too well that the current Wanda needed an outlet.
"Who did this..." Wanda slowly turned her head.
Her originally clear eyes were now completely filled with crimson energy, with not a trace of the whites of her eyes visible.
Dense killing intent condensed into tangible red mist, swirling around her.
She stared fixedly at the hole in the window.
"Who allowed you... to point this filthy thing at him?!"
Before the words faded, Wanda suddenly raised her right hand. Her five fingers spread out, her palm aimed at the void outside the window.
Chaos Magic followed the residual trajectory of the bullet, surging backward with a violent posture that exceeded the speed of light!
...
1,200 meters away, on the top floor of the Clock Tower.
The Winter Soldier, through his high-magnification scope, took in everything that happened in the safe house.
When he saw that special armor-piercing bullet stopped in mid-air by a layer of red light, the underlying logic of this emotionless killing machine's brain experienced a rare stutter.
This completely exceeded the tactical cognition that HYDRA had instilled in him.
Immediately after, he saw that woman in red turn her head.
Across a distance of over a thousand meters, through layers of buildings, the Winter Soldier felt himself locked on by a pair of eyes belonging to the God of Death.
An unprecedented sense of crisis pierced through the suppression of the brainwashing program, heading straight for his nerve center.
Retreat!
The Winter Soldier decisively abandoned the sniper rifle, not even bothering to grab the spare magazine.
He braced his hand against the concrete railing, his mechanical left arm exerting force, preparing to leap directly from the dozen-story-high Clock Tower to retreat.
However, he had just taken half a step.
The surrounding air suddenly became incomparably viscous.
The wild wind stopped howling, and the flying dust solidified in mid-air.
The Winter Soldier looked down in astonishment, discovering that his body was floating uncontrollably.
A layer of crimson energy, like tangible chains, tightly bound his limbs, torso, and even that indestructible silver mechanical left arm.
"Click, click, click..."
A harsh sound of metal breaking rang out.
The Winter Soldier's pride-and-joy mechanical arm began to deform severely under the squeezing of that crimson energy.
Sparks flew, the internal servo motors emitted an unbearable wail, and the titanium alloy armor peeled off piece by piece.
He suddenly raised his head.
In the air 1,200 meters away, a crimson storm was rapidly taking shape.
Wanda had already smashed through the apartment wall and was floating in mid-air.
Her long hair danced wildly like snakes, and she faced the direction of the Clock Tower from afar, slowly closing her five fingers.
"Anyone who touches him... must die!"
The whisper filled with the desire for destruction crossed a thousand meters and exploded clearly in the Winter Soldier's ear.
The concrete structure on the top floor of the Clock Towerbegan to collapse on a large scale, and huge stones were crushed by an invisible giant hand.
The Winter Soldier felt his internal organs being squeezed bit by bit, and his sternum made a crisp sound as if it were about to break.
In the surveillance room, Pierce watched the Winter Soldier suspended in mid-air, completely unable to fight back, on the screen, and his legs suddenly went weak, causing him to collapse into his chair.
His ultimate weapon, which he was so proud of, was not even as good as a bug in front of this Witch!
"Officer... the asset's heart rate is dropping rapidly, and the pressure on the bones has reached a critical value!"
The technician shouted in horror, fingers tapping frantically on the keyboard, but to no avail.
Pierce's face was ashen, and cold sweat soaked his shirt.
He finally understood what that taunting smile of Lynn's while raising his glass meant.
Lynn was not afraid of assassination at all.
He was using his own life as bait to force out this mad dog that would bite at any moment, and then let this deity named Wanda, right in front of HYDRA, crush this dog into meat paste bit by bit!
Just at the moment when the Winter Soldier's cervical spine was about to be completely snapped and the entire Clock Tower was about to be razed to the ground by Chaos Magic.
A warm palm suddenly reached out from behind and grabbed Wanda's wrist that was casting the magic.
Ignoring the violent magical turbulence around him, Lynn forcibly pulled Wanda into his embrace.
Chapter 26: Spare His Life, Lynn's Precise Calculation Regarding the Winter Soldier
A gale tore at the tattered curtains, and the clouds above the entire Brooklyn district were churned into a massive scarlet vortex. The air was thick with the pungent smell of ozone and the charred scent of carbonized wood. Wandahovered in mid-air, her long hair whipped high by the violent energy currents. Deep within her pupils danced a brutality capable of destroying everything, and her five fingers closed in the air like iron pincers.
Twelve hundred meters away, the sound of twisting metal atop the Clock Tower traveled clearly back to the safe house, carried by the resonance of magic. The Winter Soldier's titanium-alloy left arm was being crushed bit by bit by an invisible, immense force, with sparks and hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere.
If Wanda's fingers tightened even half an inch more, HYDRA's most perfect weapon would be thoroughly ground into a pulp of flesh mixed with metal shards.
He cannot die.
Within a tenth of a second, Lynn's brain arrived at the most rational judgment. Bucky Barnes was the only bait capable of tugging at the nerve in Steve Rogers known as "Bond." If Bucky died here, Steve's Fury toward HYDRA would lose its sharpest spearhead, and Lynn's subsequent plan to use others to do his dirty work would be greatly compromised.
But facing a Skyfather-level Witch who was in a state of absolute rampage, with a mind filled only with the desire to tear apart the vermin who had harmed her man, any stern order or reasoning would only be counterproductive. When dealing with a yandere, the only weapon was her own twisted, extreme love.
Ignoring the magical turbulence that was sufficient to tear an ordinary person apart, Lynn forced himself to take a step forward and grabbed the wrist Wanda was using to cast her spell.
"Lynn?" Wanda's movements paused for a microsecond. She tilted her head slightly, the corner of her eye still lingering with intense killing intent.
Lynn did not speak. He secretly mobilized the Chaos Magic Affinity he had only recently fused with, forcibly reversing a thread of energy flow. A real, sharp pain immediately surged through his internal organs; he let out a muffled groan, bit his tongue until it bled, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Immediately after, he withdrew all support from his legs, and his tall frame, like a marionette whose strings had been cut, fell straight toward Wanda.
"Don't mind him..." Lynn buried his head in the crook of Wanda's neck, his voice so weak it seemed it would scatter with a breeze, yet his hands gripped her red leather jacket so tightly his knuckles turned pale. "Don't let go of me... Wanda, I'm so cold."
This sentence was more lethal than any magic.
The rolling scarlet storm in the depths of Wanda's eyes collapsed instantly the moment it touched the blood at the corner of Lynn's mouth.
"Lynn!"
Whatever HYDRA assassin, whatever vermin twelve hundred meters away—at this moment, they were all cast to the back of her mind. Wanda let out a panicked wail and reached out to hold onto Lynn's sliding body with a death grip.
The sky-filling scarlet light receded instantly like an ebbing tide. The gale stopped abruptly, and the rubble and debris of furniture suspended in mid-air lost their support, clattering down onto the messy floor.
Twelve hundred meters away.
The Winter Soldier, having lost the magical restraint, slammed heavily onto the concrete floor of the Clock Tower from mid-air. He gasped for air, his lungs making a ragged sound like a bellows. That expensive mechanical left arm was completely twisted and deformed, with several broken cables exposed, occasionally bursting with dim blue electric sparks.
Without any hesitation, this killing machine relied on instinct to scramble over the railing and vanish into the dark alleyway below, leaving behind only a Barrett sniper rifle with a bent barrel.
Washington, the seventh basement level of the Triskelion.
The high-heat energy reaction on the surveillance screen finally subsided. Pierce slumped into his leather chair, his shirt completely soaked through with cold sweat, clinging tightly to his back.
The technician swallowed hard, his voice trembling: "Officer... the asset's vital signs have stabilized, he... he escaped. That Witch has stopped."
Pierce did not speak. He stared fixedly at the blurry image captured by satellite on the main screen.
In the image, that red-clad Witch possessing World-destroying power was currently kneeling on the floor of the ruined safe house. Like a fragile girl who had lost her entire World, she held that low-level Agent tightly in her arms; the red energy was no longer violent, but had transformed into an extremely gentle halo, seeping bit by bit into the man's body.
This scene made Pierce feel more terrified than when the Witch had crushed the Helicarrier with her bare hands just moments before.
He had always assumed that Lynn was just lucky and had mastered some kind of code or prop that could barely pacify the Witch. The HYDRA high command had even simulated that as long as Lynn was killed, the Witch would become ownerless and could be brainwashed and controlled again. But now, Pierce's understanding was completely shattered.
That Agent named Lynn was not some keeper holding a leash. He was the Witch's anchor, the only switch between her sanity and madness! With just one weak gesture, he could make a god about to destroy half of New Yorkinstantly retract its fangs and obediently turn into a cat wagging its tail.
"Monsters... both of them are monsters." Pierce's lips trembled, and for the first time, genuine fear was revealed in his eyes.
Not only had he failed to probe the Witch's bottom line, but he had also exposed HYDRA's killing intent to Lynn. Even worse, Bucky had not died, and once Steve Rogersfollowed this lead and investigated further...
Brooklyn, safe house.
"Lynn, look at me, don't close your eyes!" Wanda's hands cupped Lynn's cheeks, her voice thick with a crying tone.
She mobilized the purest Chaos magic within her, carefully navigating through Lynn's limbs and bones, trying to find the "internal injuries" that didn't exist. When she sensed a faint energy counter-flow within Lynn's body, she could no longer hold back her tears, which fell in large drops onto Lynn's side profile.
"It's all my fault... I didn't control my energy just now and hurt you." Wanda pressed her forehead against Lynn's, her cold fingertips stroking the blood at the corner of his mouth, her eyes filled with suffocating paranoia. "I shouldn't have left your side for even half a step... I should have hidden you away, hidden you in a place where no one could find you, with only the two of us..."
Listening to this extremely dangerous yandere remark, Lynn sighed inwardly, but on the surface, he revealed an extremely gentle smile.
He raised his hand and gently stroked Wanda's chestnut-colored long hair.
"Silly girl, I'm fine, aren't I?" Lynn's voice carried a perfectly measured huskiness, every word striking precisely at the softest nerve in Wanda. "As long as you are by my side, I fear nothing. Just a moment ago, I thought you were going to fight again, and I was afraid you would get hurt, so I..."
"I'm not going! I'm not going anywhere!" Wandaimmediately interrupted him, her arms tightening again, as if she wanted to knead Lynn into her own bones and blood. "I only want you."
Feeling the hot, delicate body in his arms gradually relax, Lynn lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing the cold calculation deep within his pupils.
Well done.
Not only had he saved Bucky's life and taken the opportunity to strike a blow at Pierce, but he had also used the chance to deepen Wanda's dependence on him. This sniper attack from a thousand meters away had been utilized by him to the extreme.
Lynn patted Wanda's back, and using the motion of standing up, his gaze crossed the broken window and looked toward Washington.
Pierce, do you think these are the only surprises for tonight? Calculating the time, Steve should have already received that "special gift." Given Captain America's sense of justice and capability for action, the countdown to HYDRA's doomsday was about to begin.
Just as Lynn was preparing to carry Wanda back to the bedroom to completely end tonight's farce.
Washington, S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
Nick Fury, having just returned to the Director's office from the underground hangar, stared fixedly at the encrypted communicator on the desk.
On the communicator, a string of code sent through a top-level encrypted channel was flashing continuously. This was a single-line contact method he had set up ten years ago; besides himself, only one person knew of this channel's existence.
Fury pressed the decryption key, and a short line of text popped up. [Fury, I have discovered the underlying logic of the Zola Algorithm. The goal of the Insight Project is not Terrorists, but everyone who might threaten HYDRA. On the list are Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and... that Agentnamed Lynn. — — Steve Rogers.]
Fury's only remaining eye contracted sharply into a pinprick.
How did Captain America obtain top-secret data that even he, as Director, could not access? And why would Lynn be on the list? How could that low-level Agent who controlled the Witch and had just been making a deal with Pierce be on HYDRA's kill list?
Fury suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold creep up his back. He realized he had been wrong about one thing from the very beginning.
Lynn was not some pawn of HYDRA, nor was he a trouble for S.H.I.E.L.D. That young man was using all the forces on the entire chessboard to weave a net for himself that would devour everything!
Just as Fury was preparing to contact Captain Americaimmediately, the office door was kicked open without warning.
"Officer," Crossbones Rumlow, leading a team of fully armed special operations soldiers with their muzzles pointed directly at Fury behind the desk, wore a cold, sinister smile on his face. "Minister Pierce invites you to the seventh basement level for a cup of coffee."
Fury's finger hovered above the communicator; looking at the pitch-black gun barrels, he discovered another thing that shattered his perception.
The Insight Project had been launched ahead of schedule.
Chapter 27: Captain America's Fury, Uncovering the Tip of the HYDRA Iceberg
The night wind was like a knife, carrying the damp, cold moisture of the Hudson River, slashing fiercely across the top of the Clock Tower in Brooklyn.
Steve Rogers vaulted nimbly over the half-collapsed concrete railing, his combat boots crunching against the debris-strewn floor with a faint, grating sound. The air still held the pungent, heavy scent of ozone, mixed with the acrid smell of scorched metal from an overheated gun barrel.
He lowered his head, his gaze instantly locking onto the Barrett sniper rifle discarded on the concrete floor.
The barrel was severely twisted like a pretzel, and the surface of the titanium alloy frame was deeply gouged with several violent indentations. Steve crouched down, his rough fingertips slowly tracing the dents, the cold touch of the metal sending a chill straight to his core.
Those were the impressions left by mechanical fingers gripping it with brute force.
"Bucky..." Steve's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, his voice terrifyingly hoarse.
The ballistic data and coordinates Lynn had sent ten minutes ago were correct. His dear friend, who had fallen into the abyss amidst the ice and snow, hadn't just survived; he had been transformed by HYDRA into a heartless "weapon" of slaughter. This suffocating sensation of being gripped by a cold, inescapable fate made Steve's chest heave, his muscles trembling with intense Fury.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. he took so much pride in had actually used his brother as a tool for seventy years!
"Slurp—"
A highly inappropriate slurping sound suddenly came through the encrypted communicator, shattering the deathly silence of the Clock Tower.
Steve pressed his hand sharply against his earpiece, lowering his voice: "Lynn?"
"It's the middle of the night, I've burned too many brain cells; gotta replenish with a bowl of seafood ramen." Lynn's voice was laced with laziness, and the sound of bubbling broth could even be heard in the background. "Captain, have you seen enough of the scene? That mechanical arm is probably better maintained than your shield."
Steve stood up, the night wind whipping his jacket with a snapping sound: "You knew he was there all along. You used yourself as bait just to force me to come here?"
"Don't make me out to be so noble, Captain." Lynn bit off a noodle, his tone turning abruptly cold. "I'm just a low-level Agent who could be used as cannon fodder at any moment. That shot just now missed my back by only three centimeters. If it weren't for the girl in my arms blocking that bullet, you'd be here to collect my corpse right now."
Lynn paused, precisely delivering a lethal piece of intelligence: "HYDRA brainwashed Sergeant Barnes into a weapon without pain, and I just want to protect the 'jade' in my arms. We are both fighting for our bonds, only your bond is currently pointing a gun at your head."
Steve clenched his fists, his leather gloves emitting a dull creaking sound: "I've already figured out the underlying logic of the Zola Algorithm. But I don't understand, who has enough authority to bypass Fury and launch the Insight Project?"
"Still haven't seen through it, Captain?" Lynn put down his instant noodle fork, casting his gaze toward Washingtonacross half of New York City, a mocking curl at the corner of his mouth. "The S.H.I.E.L.D. tree has long since rotted to the roots. Those colleagues who greet you every day are all 'rogue ninjas' lurking in the shadows. And that Alexander Pierce who sits in the highest seat and talks to you about peace every day is the head of the HYDRAsnake."
Steve's pupils constricted sharply.
"Your justice, your principles, your 'ninja way' that refuses to compromise..." Lynn's voice was like a devil's whisper, every word piercing the heart, "In Pierce's eyes, they are nothing more than obstacles to be erased at any time. The Insight Project's purge list includes not just you, Tony Stark, but also me."
The call ended abruptly and cleanly.
Steve stood at the edge of the Clock Tower, overlooking the brightly lit city. Fury surged through his veins like magma. He reached back and drew his Vibranium shield; the weight of the metal helped his brain regain absolute rationality.
He had to find Fury immediately and personally cut down this poisonous tree.
Meanwhile, in Washington, seven levels beneath the Triskelion.
Nick Fury sat behind his large desk, his one remaining eye locked onto Crossbones, who had kicked the door open and stormed in.
Six fully armed tactical team members fanned out in a tactical formation, their dark gun barrels instantly sealing off every blind spot in the room. The white light of their tactical flashlights was blinding.
"Officer, Minister Pierce invites you for a cup of coffee." Rumlow's mouth curled into a cold arc, his finger already resting on the trigger.
Fury didn't move; his hands lay flat on the desktop, his fingertips tapping gently against the solid wood.
"Rumlow, I remember your tactical shooting class, I even personally graded you as excellent." Fury's voice was steady, without a ripple of emotion.
"Times have changed, Director. Hail HYDRA." Rumlowsneered and took a step forward, preparing to seize him directly.
The moment he took that step, Fury's left hand flipped over sharply.
Rumlow instinctively dodged, thinking the other man was drawing a weapon, only to realize it was a harmless feint! Fury hadn't drawn a weapon at all; instead, he slammed his hand onto a hidden red button on the edge of the underside of the desk.
"Hum—"
An extremely piercing, high-frequency infrasonic wave instantly exploded within the sealed office, followed immediately by the four emergency lights on the ceiling erupting with a blinding, ghastly white light.
"Argh!" The tactical team members screamed, covering their eyes, blood seeping from their eardrums due to the shock.
This tactical blinding maneuver, comparable to a substitution jutsu, bought Fury a critical three seconds.
He kicked the leather chair away, his body springing up like a cheetah. He grabbed the encrypted hard drive from the table and threw his body through the floor-to-ceiling panoramic window behind him. The wind instantly rushed into the room, and Fury deployed a micro-glider in mid-air, falling into the boundless night of Washington like a kite with a broken string.
"Fire! Don't let him get away!" Rumlow struggled against the double vision, pulling the trigger frantically. Bullets shattered the glass debris, but he didn't even catch a shadow of Fury.
On the streets of Brooklyn.
Steve straddled his heavy motorcycle and kicked down the starter lever. The V8 engine erupted in a wild roar, and the exhaust pipe spewed out a cloud of choking blue smoke.
He leaned forward, preparing to ride straight onto the cross-sea bridge and charge toward the Triskelion.
Just then, his encrypted communicator emitted a rapid, urgent red alarm.
Steve pressed the answer button, and Natasha's extremely heavy and weak breathing came through the wind.
"Steve... don't go back to headquarters!" Natasha's voice was filled with unprecedented anxiety, even mixed with stifled groans of pain.
"Natasha? Are you hurt? Where is Fury!" Steve slammed on the brakes, the tires leaving a long black skid mark on the asphalt, and the acrid smell of burnt rubber instantly filled the air.
"Fury... has been assassinated." Natasha gritted her teeth; in the background, the sound of intense automatic rifle fire could be heard. "It was a man wearing a metal mask! Listen, Pierce just initiated a network-wide broadcast..."
Before Natasha could finish, the large LED billboard above the street suddenly flickered, and the normal commercial advertisement was forcibly cut off.
Alexander Pierce's stern and sorrowful face appeared on the screen.
"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, Director Nick Fury has been the victim of a terrorist attack and his current status is unknown." Pierce's voice echoed throughout the block via loudspeakers. "Investigation has confirmed that the mastermind behind this attack is Steve Rogers and the rogue Agent Lynn."
Steve looked up sharply, seeing the highest-level red wanted poster with himself and Lynn side by side on the screen, his brain buzzing.
"Effective immediately, all authority for Steve Rogers and Lynn is revoked. Any Agent who spots the targets is authorized to kill on sight." Pierce's gaze pierced through the screen, seemingly staring fixedly at Steve on the street corner.
The veins on the back of Steve's hand gripping the handlebars bulged. Just as he was about to turn his bike around to support Natasha, he suddenly noticed a micro-tracker flashing with a red light that had appeared under his motorcycle's dashboard at some unknown point!
At the end of the street, three armored SUVs had ghost-like blocked his retreat, their blinding high beams instantly engulfing him.
The car door opened, and a mechanical left arm, reflecting the cold moonlight, slowly reached out from the vehicle.
Chapter 28: Pierce's Panic, The Insight Project Forced to Launch Early
Blinding high beams tore through the night in Brooklyn. Three heavy armored vehicles formed a fan shape, sealing the intersection tightly. The smell of burning rubber from tires gripping the asphalt, mixed with the damp, cold Water vapor from the Hudson River, drilled straight into Steve's nose.
Car doors pushed open, and heavy combat boots stepped onto the ground.
The man wearing a metal half-face mask walked out of the halo of light, his titanium alloy left arm refracting a cold Arclight under the glare. He made no unnecessary movements, raising a modified grenade launcher with one hand, the muzzle pointing straight at Steve's chest.
Steve's hand gripping the handlebars had bulging veins; he stared fixedly at those eyes devoid of any ripples.
No killing intent, no emotion, only the mechanical sense of executing a program. Lynn's words echoed in his ears like a curse—HYDRA had brainwashed Bucky into a weapon without pain.
"Bang!"
The grenade whistled out, trailing a reddish-orange plume.
Steve didn't take it head-on. He kicked the heavy motorcycle over with a violent shove, using the force to roll backward to the side. The violent shockwave of the explosion overturned trash cans at the street corner, and debris struck the Vibranium shield, emitting a dense, muffled thud.
The Fire light reflected red on Steve's face. He knew now was definitely not the time to fight Bucky to the death. This was a meat grinder set up by HYDRA; if he got dragged down here, Washington would be completely finished.
"Bucky, I won't fight you." Steve lowered his center of gravity, his right arm exerting sudden force.
The Vibranium shield transformed into a silver bolt of lightning, but instead of smashing toward the Winter Soldier, it precisely severed the high-voltage cable diagonally above. The thick cable, carrying ghostly blue sparks, slammed into the armored convoy, and several special operations soldiers who had just poked their heads out were instantly struck by the high voltage, twitching and collapsing to the ground in screams.
The Winter Soldier's metal left arm jerked up to block the splashing sparks, about to pull the trigger again.
"Boom!" The fuel tank of the motorcycle Steve had just kicked over was hit by a stray bullet, erupting into a giant fireball. Thick black smoke instantly engulfed the entire street corner.
By the time the Winter Soldier dissipated the smoke and rushed to the center of the explosion, nothing remained but burning parts on the ground, not even a ghost. Steve had already used the Fire escape to disappear into the intricate sewer network.
...
Washington, the seventh basement level of the Triskelion.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of engine oil and burning insulation rubber. Pierce stood before the massive main control screen, his hands pressing hard against the console, his nails almost carving Marks into the metal panel.
"Report, Officer! Target Number One (Steve) has broken out of the encirclement, whereabouts unknown!"
"Report! The positioning signal for Target Number Two (Fury) has completely disappeared, and no bodies were found along the route!"
The successive war reports made Pierce's breathing rapid, but his greatest fear lay elsewhere.
"Minister!" A senior technician was sweating profusely, hands typing frantically on the keyboard, his voice trembling uncontrollably, "The firewall has been completely breached! An unknown Trojan has been implanted in the underlying code of the Insight Project's fire control system! If we fire according to the original plan, the main cannons of the three helicarriers will explode in the chamber first!"
Pierce grabbed the technician by the collar, lifting him half-up: "What did you say? How could the algorithms left by Dr. Zola be cracked?!"
"The other party has the highest level seven authorization! And the computing power is terrifyingly high!" The technician swallowed, pulling up a stream of data that was scrambling wildly, "He left a signature Mark in our system..."
A highly arrogant smiley face icon popped up in the center of the screen, with a line of small text attached: [Thank you for the authorization card, Minister Pierce, the resources have been received. — Lynn]
Pierce stumbled back two steps, as if struck in the chest by a heavy hammer.
He understood everything now. That low-level Agent was never some unlucky guy held hostage by the Witch; from the very beginning, Lynn had been playing him for a fool! Those three hundred kilograms of Vibranium, that level seven authorization card, were all a trap set by Lynn to infiltrate the core network of S.H.I.E.L.D.!
This man could not only hold the chains of that world-destroying Witch with a few words but could also see through the trump card HYDRA had spent seventy years managing while laughing and chatting.
"Monster... He is a monster through and through." Piercestared at Lynn's wanted poster on the screen, his back already soaked with cold sweat. He knew that once Stevemade the list public, once Fury rallied the remaining loyal Agents to counterattack, or worse—Lynn simply let go of the Witch's leash.
HYDRA would be completely finished.
"There is no way out." Pierce pulled out his sidearm and held it directly against the technician's temple, his eyes revealing the madness of a desperate situation, "Switch to manual mode! Cut off all external network connections! Order the three helicarriers to launch immediately!"
"But Minister, the anti-gravity engines are only seventy percent charged; forcing a launch now will damage..."
"Launch! Now!" Pierce roared, the muzzle pressing hard, "As long as the helicarriers enter low Earth orbit and the fire control system switches to physical locking, we can blast that Agent and his Witch into slag!"
The technician tremblingly entered the highest execution command.
The surface of the Potomac River outside the Triskelionsuddenly began to boil violently. Huge bubbles rolled and burst, and the piercing roar of machinery approached from afar. Three immense steel behemoths tore through the Water curtain and slowly rose. The ghostly blue flames of the anti-gravity engines illuminated the night sky of Washington as bright as day, and amidst the steaming Water vapor, the massive cannon barrels refracted a chilling luster.
The weapon of world destruction was forced to show its fangs early.
...
The outskirts of New York, Brooklyn safe house.
The heating in the room was turned up high, and the aroma of freshly baked butter cookies floated in the air.
Lynn leaned against the soft fabric sofa, holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. He watched the green nodes representing the HYDRA internal network on his laptop screen extinguishing one by one.
"Did you cut the physical connection? Pierce, you lack composure even more than I imagined." A mocking arc curled at the corner of Lynn's mouth.
The stress response of a villain in extreme panic was completely within his calculations. Only when a dog is pushed to the edge will it jump over a wall. Only by letting these three helicarriers launch would Steve and Falcon have room to maneuver, and could this cancer called S.H.I.E.L.D. be completely excised.
"Lynn."
A pair of fair arms wrapped around his neck from behind. Wanda was wearing an oversized knit sweater, her chin resting gently on his shoulder. She followed Lynn's gaze toward the window.
Although separated by hundreds of kilometers, as a Skyfather-level magic controller, Wanda's perception of energy was extremely acute. The gentleness in her eyes faded instantly, and a scarlet shimmer quietly gathered deep in her pupils.
"There are some very annoying things flying in the sky." Wanda's voice became cold, and red Chaos Particles were already leaping at her fingertips, "They carry very strong killing intent; they are coming for you."
Lynn put down the coffee cup, reached back to hold Wanda's wrist, and gently pulled her to his front, letting her sit on his lap.
"Don't worry about those pieces of scrap metal, honey." Lynn reached out to pinch Wanda's cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the cookie crumbs from the corner of her mouth, his tone extremely gentle, "Just a bunch of rats hiding in the gutter, forced out to die in the light. They can't hurt me."
"No one can hurt you." Wanda grabbed Lynn's lapels tightly, her eyes filled with suffocating paranoia and possessiveness, "If they dare to fire, I will crush those three piles of scrap metal into iron balls and stuff them into that person named Pierce's mouth."
Listening to this highly visual yandere statement, Lynnsecretly laughed in his heart. He didn't doubt that Wandahad this ability; after all, in the simulation of his previous life, she could even tear Ultron's Vibranium body apart with her bare hands.
But he didn't need Wanda to take action now.
It would take at least three hours for the three helicarriers to go from launch to reaching the predetermined orbit at 30,000 feet, and then to complete manual fire control locking.
The outside world had already turned into a mess; S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, and the Avengers were about to engage in a life-and-death struggle this night. And Lynn, who was at the very center of the eye of the storm, welcomed a precious three-hour vacuum period.
No one could disturb him at this time.
Lynn gently patted Wanda's back, soothing her restless magic energy. He slowly closed his eyes, and his consciousness instantly sank deep into his mind.
A system panel emitting a ghostly blue light unfolded before his eyes.
[Host's current status: Chaos Magic Affinity(Incomplete)]
[Simulation cooldown: Ended]
[Start the next 'Undying Love' simulation?]
Lynn didn't hesitate. In the extremely dangerous Marvel Universe, only by accumulating more and more trump cards could he survive among this group of yandere heroines who might go berserk at any moment.
"Start simulation." Lynn muttered in his heart.
[Please select a simulation target.]
The wanted poster that flashed by outside the Clock Tower flashed through Lynn's mind, as well as the agile figure swinging with spider silk in the New York night sky. Although Chaos Magic was powerful, Wanda's possessiveness was too strong; he needed sharper perception and more flexible survival methods to deal with the Shuraba that might break out next.
"Target selected — Gwen Stacy."
[Target locked.]
[Loading simulation space-time... Current node: New YorkClock Tower decisive battle.]
[Wish you a fitting death.]
Lynn opened his eyes, and he could no longer hear Wanda's breathing. Replacing it was the extremely violent high-altitude cold wind, and the piercing, crazy laughter of the Green Goblin.