A sweet reward, tamed anew at the breakfast table

Click.

The soft click of the latch opening echoed through the quiet morning corridor.

Lynn pressed down on the brass doorknob and pushed the door open. The four rapid, intertwined breaths in the corridor instantly stopped the moment the door opened.

The air was deathly still.

Lynn stood in the doorway, surveying the corridor from his elevated position. The morning sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the corridor, illuminating the dust particles suspended in the air.

Wanda was huddled on the rug by the door. Hearing the noise, she tried to stand up, but because she had been sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest all night, her legs were already severely congested and numb. She swayed and fell flat on her knees onto the rug.

She didn't stand up, but knelt at Lynn's feet in an extremely humble posture. Her dark red leather jacket was wrinkled, her eyeshadow was completely smudged from last night's tears, and her eyes were swollen and red. She tilted her head back, and her Scarlet eyes held no trace of the arrogance of Skyfather-level powerhouse, only extreme panic of gain and loss.

Susan leaned against the opposite wall. Hearing the door open, she stiffened abruptly, her head slamming heavily against the wall with a thud, but she didn't dare to even flinch. Her proud Invisible Force Field vanished completely, her hands clenched tightly together, her nails even digging into the skin on the back of her hands, drawing tiny beads of blood.

Gwen Stacy tumbled off the Load-Bearing Beam of the ceiling, landing lightly two meters away like a startled cat. She pulled down her white hood, revealing a haggard face and lips bitten until they were pale.

Natasha stood on the outermost edge. She placed the High-Frequency Vibration Gun at her feet, clasped her hands in front of her lower abdomen, and lowered her head, adopting the posture of a prisoner awaiting judgment.

Four top-tier combatants, capable of erasing Manhattan from the map in half an hour, now resembled four stray dogs abandoned by their owner in the rainy night.

Lynn did not speak.

He didn't even glance at them, but strode forward, stepping over the still-uncollected shards of glass, heading straight for the open kitchen. The soft sound of his leather shoes crunching on the glass was the only noise in the hall.

The four women froze on the spot. A few seconds later, Wanda was the first to react. She scrambled to her feet and followed Lynn closely. Susan, Gwen Stacy, Natasha followed immediately after her.

They followed closely, yet with remarkable tacit understanding, they maintained an absolutely safe distance of one and a half meters from Lynn. They dared not get too close and annoy him, nor dared to fall behind even half a step.

Lynn walked to the marble Kitchen Island and pressed the start button on the fully automatic coffee machine.

The machine emitted a low hum. The bitter aroma of freshly ground coffee beans quickly filled the air, forcefully dispelling the lingering smell of gunpowder and faint traces of blood from the previous night.

Lynn opened the cupboard and took out four pure white ceramic mugs, which she placed in a row on the marble countertop. Steaming black coffee was poured into the mugs one by one, and white steam rose up.

He picked up his own glass, leaned against the edge of the counter, and gently blew on the grease floating on the surface.

"I drank it." Lynn's voice was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger.

These two simple words, falling into the ears of the four women, were more effective than any magical command.

Wanda was the first to rush forward, holding the leftmost mug with both hands. The scalding hot ceramic cup made her fingertips turn red, but she didn't even flinch. She tilted her head back and poured the freshly extracted black coffee, which was close to 90 degrees Celsius, directly down her throat.

Susan followed closely behind. Her hand trembled violently as she held the cup, the scalding liquid burning down her esophagus and into her stomach, bringing tears to her eyes, but she managed not to cough once.

Gwen Stacy and Natasha also picked up their glasses and gulped them down in one go.

The four empty glasses were carefully placed back on the marble countertop, making four very soft clinking sounds.

Lynn looked at them. The burning sensation in their stomachs brought a little color back to their faces, but the fear in their eyes remained undiminished.

It's almost done.

Extreme pressure can only destroy rationality. To truly control these crazy women, you must drop a lifeline into their deepest despair.

Lynn put down his cup and looked at Wanda's red and swollen eyes. He raised his hand and gently brushed the black eyeshadow that had smudged at the corner of Wanda's eye with his fingertips. The movement was not gentle and even had a rough, friction-like feel to it.

Wanda shuddered violently.

"Go wash your face." Lynn looked at her, his tone finally no longer as icy as it had been the night before. "Change out of these dirty clothes."

Wanda's breath caught in her throat. She stared intently into Lynn's eyes, trying to find a trace of disgust. There was none. In those deep black eyes, there was only a condescending calm.

"This is a one-time exception," Lynn uttered.

These four simple words were like a bolt of lightning that cleaved through the polar night, instantly shattering the despair of that long night outside the corridor.

Wanda's tears flowed uncontrollably. No longer caring about maintaining a safe distance, she threw herself into Lynn's arms, her hands tightly gripping his waist. She buried her face in Lynn's chest, the fear she had suppressed all night turning into violent sobs.

"I was wrong... I'll never lose my temper again..." Wanda cried uncontrollably, her Chaos Magic flowing docilely within her like stagnant water. "Don't send me away... please..."

Lynn didn't push her away. He raised his hand and gently stroked Wanda's messy long hair. The touch of his fingertips through her hair was gentle and condescending.

Seeing this, Susan's tense back, which had been taut all night, instantly went limp. She braced herself against the marble countertop, gasping for breath, tears streaming down her face as they fell onto the marble's texture. She knew she had escaped. Lynn hadn't taken away her right to stay here.

"Go prepare breakfast." Lynn's gaze passed over Wanda's head and landed on Susan. "Miss Storm, I expect your cooking skills to be better than your teamwork."

Although it was meant as a warning, Susan heard it like heavenly music. The fact that Lynn was willing to eat her cooking proved that she still had value.

"Yes! I'll get right on it!" Susan hastily wiped away her tears, forgetting even to use her Invisible Force Field, and hurriedly ran towards the double-door the Fridge in her high heels, as humble as a newly hired maid.

Gwen Stacy crouched down beside the Kitchen Island, cautiously reaching out to grab the seam of Lynn's suit trousers. She tilted her head back, tears streaming down her innocent face, and rubbed against Lynn's leg like a kitten begging for food.

"Uncle..." Gwen Stacy's voice trembled softly, "From now on, I'll only be your shadow... If you don't let me move, I absolutely won't draw my sword."

Lynn glanced down at her, then reached out his free left hand and gently squeezed Gwen Stacy's nape. Gwen Stacy squinted her eyes, let out a very soft whimper, and obediently buried her head beside Lynn's knees.

Natasha stood at the very back. Unlike the other three women, she didn't rush over for physical contact, but instead let out a long sigh. Her combat uniform, already soaked with cold sweat, clung to her back, feeling icy cold.

She knew Lynn's methods all too well.

Extreme pressure is applied to completely shatter their self-esteem, and then the smallest favor is used to rebuild their emotional attachment. This kind of imperial scheming is a thousand times more terrifying than the brainwashing in the Red Room. But what's most terrifying is that even though Natasha saw through all of this, she still felt extremely fortunate and grateful.

Because Lynn didn't abandon her.

In this monster- Shura Field, being abandoned means losing your only reason for living.

Lynn patted Wanda on the back, signaling her to let go. Wanda reluctantly took a half step back, the panic in her eyes fading, replaced by a more morbid, almost overflowing obsession.

A slap followed by a sweet treat.

Lynn looked at the four women, now revitalized, and sneered inwardly. Last night's internal strife, which nearly brought the building down, had, after a night of intense work, completely transformed into a deeper dependence on him.

They no longer fight each other for the title of "the only one." Their bottom line has now shrunk to "as long as I can stay by his side."

The crisis is over.

Ten minutes later, Susan used a precise Force Field to sweep all the broken glass in the hall into the trash can. The dining table was laden with a sumptuous spread of fried eggs, bacon, and toast.

Lynn sat in the head seat, slowly and methodically cutting the bacon on his plate.

Four women sat on either side of the long table. No one spoke; even the clinking of cutlery against plates was deliberately minimized. Every now and then, they would look up and steal glances at Lynn with eyes that desperately craved attention.

Lynn swallowed the last bite of toast and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

The restructuring is complete; now it's time to extract their remaining value.

Natasha keenly noticed Lynn putting down his napkin. She immediately put down her knife and fork, stood up, and quickly walked to Lynn's side.

This is the perfect opportunity for her to demonstrate her value Intelligence Officer.

"Boss." Natasha's voice was very low, filled with absolute respect. She took a black metal cube from her tactical pocket.

It was a military-grade encrypted data disk. The edges showed obvious signs of burning, and the surface was stained with dried soil and dark red blood.

"What is this?" Lynn leaned back in his chair, not reaching out to take it.

"Rescued from the ruins of Stryker's Underground Base." Natasha held the data disk in both hands and handed it to Lynn. "When Wanda destroyed the base, I forcibly locked the Physical Isolation Chamber of the Base Mainframe and used Micro Drone to dig out this Core Storage Device."

Upon hearing the words "Wanda destroyed the base," Wanda, sitting on the left, stiffened slightly and glanced nervously at Lynn. Seeing that Lynn showed no signs of anger, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Stryker is nothing but Fury's dog." Lynn tapped his fingertips on the table. "What good stuff could be on a dead dog's hard drive?"

"No, boss." Natasha's eyes sharpened. "Stryker has been lying low in the Pentagon for over a decade; he holds the military's most critical secrets. This data disk contains not only the Sentinels ' Source Code..."

Natasha paused, swallowed, and lowered her voice even further.

"And then there's the X-Gene Core Sample Database, which Stryker spent his entire life collecting worldwide."

Lynn's fingers, which were tapping the table, suddenly stopped.

A dangerous glint flashed in his deep black eyes.