To all the women present, this woman's melodious voice sounded utterly ordinary, without the slightest distinguishing feature.
Even to the ladies who enjoyed music, it was not particularly pleasant.
Yet to every man, it sounded incomparably enchanting, seeping little by little into their hearts and stirring their emotions with its song.
Only a few wealthy businessmen with stronger wills sensed that something was wrong.
But this gentle invasion, subtle as spring rain, still made them unconsciously sink into that tender, perfect voice.
A handful of people were more sharp-willed and noticed the abnormality, but their minds still wandered unconsciously on the brink of enchantment.
"Call the police! There's something wrong with this woman."
Among them, a vigorous middle-aged man in a crisp suit struggled as he spoke to his wife beside him.
Not long after saying that, he too became immersed in Lorelei's seductive singing.
His wife, seeing the strange crowd around her, finally realized what was happening.
While Lorelei was still singing, she hurriedly pulled out her phone and called the police.
But before she could say more than a few words, Ward punched her unconscious.
Looking at the already connected phone in his hand, Ward viciously ended the call.
He walked over to Lorelei and said quietly, "Someone called the police. S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably notice something is wrong soon."
Lorelei finally closed her lips and glanced at Ward.
Lorelei's face was flushed now, with a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, and her chest rose and fell much more heavily.
That song had evidently taken quite a toll on Lorelei.
But the effects were plain to see. Every man in the hall stared at Lorelei in fascination, ignoring their partners no matter how they called out to them.
Lorelei stepped back onto the stage. "Make them all shut up. I don't want any other women here speaking!"
The moment she said that, the hundred wealthy businessmen around her seemed to suddenly awaken from a beautiful dream.
Then they immediately turned on the partners who had once been closest to them, wrapping both hands around their necks.
With the men using all their strength, the women could not resist. One after another, they were strangled unconscious or to death.
Fortunately, most of them only strangled their partners unconscious. After all, they had not forgotten their past and still retained all their memories.
So once the partners in their arms fainted and stopped resisting, they casually threw them onto the floor.
Only a very few wealthy businessmen who had already intended to kill their partners took the opportunity to do so with their own hands.
Thus, only the nearly hundred rich and powerful men remained in the entire hall.
Then, after Lorelei made contact with them one by one, the two hundred guards stationed outside the hall were also brought under her control.
They directly opened the hotel armory and equipped themselves with the reserve firearms.
The tycoons in the hall also began using their resources to gather funds. Before long, large quantities of combat supplies were delivered to the hotel and distributed among all the guards.
Lorelei did not remain idle afterward, continuing to use her powers to control most of the men in the hotel.
Most of the women, caught unprepared, were locked in the hall by the men, and all their communication devices were taken away.
A hundred wealthy figures from all over began jointly pressuring the Governor of California and other officials.
Under false intelligence and forceful demands, police departments across half of California dispatched officers to search various companies.
Enticed by money, gangs of all sizes connected to these wealthy men also began causing trouble near Caesars Palace Hotel, creating chaos.
Within just a few hours, half of California had descended into disorder. Pedestrians hurried home to seek shelter, as though such a sight was nothing unusual.
Caesars Palace Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in downtown California, had unexpectedly become the most chaotic area in the state.
The guards who should have been protecting Caesar Hotel had all hidden inside the hotel, ignoring the thugs smashing and looting as they pleased.
Biker gang members and police could be seen everywhere. There were far fewer pedestrians on the streets, but many people unrelated to the matter, harboring ill intentions and hoping to loot amid the chaos, had also come out.
By the time S.H.I.E.L.D. and the others arrived downtown, the entire area around the city center was already a complete mess.
"Lorelei has begun manipulating the chaos!"
Sif looked at the disorder around them and spoke with a trace of resentment at the corner of her mouth, seemingly recalling the chaos Lorelei had caused six hundred years ago.
"But it can still be controlled!"
Coulson looked over the turmoil around them, immediately contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters for reinforcements, and began assigning more personnel to control the rioters nearby.
The organization also immediately reorganized the disrupted police system, reassigning officers who had been scattered everywhere by the chaotic orders.
Most of the disorderly police forces were redirected to the area around Caesar Hotel to rapidly restore order.
In less than an hour, all the surrounding chaos had been completely quelled.
Fitz stood beside Coulson with a tablet in hand. "According to satellite surveillance and every nearby camera, no one has entered or left Caesar Hotel during this time."
"But according to the records, a large amount of weapons and equipment was delivered to the hotel three hours ago, including forty kilograms of explosives."
Sif's expression was equally grave. "If Lorelei is really inside, I'm afraid everyone in there has already been controlled by her."
Coulson looked at the grand entrance of Caesar Hotel. "If she really is inside, then that's fine. What I'm afraid of is... Ms. Sif, May, take the active female agents and prepare to infiltrate. Remember, your only target is Lorelei."
"The remaining outer personnel should prepare to break in. They must have laid an ambush inside already. This will be a hard fight."
"But remember to use tranquilizer rounds only. There are thirty wealthy men inside with assets exceeding five hundred million dollars, including two super-rich men worth over ten billion."
"Move out!!"
At Coulson's command, the well-equipped S.H.I.E.L.D. Combat Squad behind him began infiltrating Caesar Hotel.
At the same time, a large number of police officers surrounded the entire hotel to prevent anyone from breaking out.
The massive deployment had been arranged, but Coulson returned to the car and called Fitz over to his side.
"Fitz, investigate all nearby flight records and city flights from the past six hours. See whether there are any suspicious individuals."
"Sir, do you think Lorelei has already left? Then why are we attacking this place?" Fitz began operating his tablet.
"The best possible outcome is that Lorelei is in the hotel, personally commanding the people under her control."
"But with Ward by her side, changing her outdated way of thinking, that possibility is unlikely." Coulson fell silent as well.