The night wind surged violently through the helicopter's cabin door, whipping the hem of Lynn's suit.
He leaned against the leather seat, toying with the black card that represented Hydra's core authority. His fingertip brushed the dark metallic patterns along its edges, and the faintest mocking smile tugged at his lips.
"Sir, estimated arrival at the designated coordinates in fifteen minutes," the pilot reported through his headset, his tone filled with undisguised awe.
A high-ranking agent whom Secretary Pierce had personally ordered cleared was certainly not someone a mere pilot could afford to cross.
"Maintain speed," Lynn replied casually.
He slid the black card into the reader slot at the bottom of his tactical tablet.
"Beep-access confirmed. Level seven."
The screen lit up, its cold blue glow illuminating Lynn's utterly cold eyes. Without wasting a second, he went straight into the database of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top-secret logistics arsenal.
Hydra had spent decades hiding beneath S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vast canopy, sucking its blood and amassing astonishing reserves.
Lynn's fingers flew across the virtual keyboard. He needed resources. Although the chaos magic affinity physique rewarded by the system was powerful, flesh and blood still had its limits. To survive the killing fields ahead, he had to build tactical equipment capable of perfectly containing and conducting chaos energy.
And on the entire planet, only one metal met that requirement-vibranium.
"High-purity raw vibranium, three hundred kilograms."
"Microscopic Particle Forge, class-A requisition."
"Next-Generation Energy Conduction Circuit Schematics..."
Without the slightest restraint, Lynn swept S.H.I.E.L.D.'s finest, most closely guarded treasures onto his requisition list. But he knew perfectly well that old fox Pierce was watching his every move behind the scenes.
To dispel a politician's suspicions, he had to show them what they wanted to see.
Lynn sneered, shifted his fingertips, and added several extremely unusual components to the bottom of the list.
"High-Frequency Electromagnetic Restraint Generator."
"Mutants Suppression Collar Schematics discarded by the Weapon X Program."
Submit. Enter.
At the same time, fifteen floors beneath the Triskelion.
Pierce sat behind his mahogany desk, studying the requisition list updating live on his screen. With a cigar clenched between his teeth, he exhaled a thick cloud of bluish-gray smoke.
"Sir." The aide standing beside him stared at the immensely valuable list in disbelief. "Three hundred kilograms of vibranium? That's almost a third of our current stock! Are we really approving this much in strategic resources for a low-level agent?"
Pierce leaned back in his chair, a trace of contemptuous amusement flashing in his eyes.
"What do you know?" He tapped the ash from his cigar and pointed at the two restraint devices at the bottom of the screen. "Look at what he's asking for. Suppression collars, electromagnetic restraints... The witch's power has scared this kid out of his wits."
The aide paused. "He wants to control that woman?"
"Greed is a good thing. As long as he wants to be the one holding the leash, he's my most loyal dog." Pierce snorted. "If he wants to build a cage, we'll give him the best steel. As long as we hold the key, that monster capable of tearing apart a Helicarrier will be Hydra's strongest weapon."
Pierce pressed Enter.
"Approve his requisition. Give him free rein."
Inside the helicopter.
A green approval notification lit up on the tablet. Lynn pulled out the magnetic card and tossed the tablet aside.
Free loot secured.
Those rats hiding in the sewers had no idea what a terrifying weapon of destruction would be forged from the vibranium they had handed over themselves.
Just as Lynn was about to close his eyes and rest.
Bzzzt-
It felt as though a high-voltage arc had struck the back of his head. His top-tier Spider-Sense screamed wildly, every nerve transmitting signals of extreme danger to his brain!
The free-floating energy particles in the air began rubbing violently against one another, and a pungent smell of ozone forced its way into the cabin.
This was no natural phenomenon.
This was an anomaly caused by highly concentrated magical particles running wild!
And it was coming from his safe house!
Lynn's expression darkened abruptly. The obsessively possessive witch's territorial instincts had been triggered. Someone had touched the dragon's forbidden scale.
"Land!" Lynn tore off his headset and growled at the pilot.
"Sir, we're still two kilometers from the target, and there's no helipad here..."
"I said, land!"
Under the pressure of Lynn's icy killing intent, the helicopter was forced to descend. While it was still over ten meters above the ground, Lynn pulled open the cabin door and leaped into the dark night sky.
The wind howled in his ears.
The instant his feet touched the ground, his superhuman flexibility physique perfectly dissipated the tremendous impact. Like a weightless black panther, he slipped silently into the safe house's yard under cover of darkness.
The second-floor bedroom window had already been shredded by violent energy, and even its metal frame had been twisted into a corkscrew.
The heavy smell of blood mingled with static electricity, stinging Lynn's skin.
Keeping close to the wall, he looked up.
The sight inside the room was enough to give any S.H.I.E.L.D. agent nightmares for the rest of their life.
Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s sharpest blade, was pinned against the ceiling, a mass of scarlet energy tentacles locked tightly around her throat.
The combat skills and infiltration experience she took such pride in were not even worth calling a joke before Skyfather-level power. Natasha's face had turned from red to a horrifying purplish blue. Her legs kicked weakly in midair, and her eyes were bloodshot and bulging from extreme suffocation.
And in the center of the room.
Wanda floated in midair, her dark red hair whipping wildly as though alive. Pure scarlet had swallowed her deep green eyes. There was not a trace of reason in them, only killing intent so extreme it was pathological.
"Who gave you permission to approach his territory?"
Wanda's voice was bone-chilling, carrying the weight of an unquestionable judgment.
As her words fell, the scarlet tentacles around Natasha's neck abruptly tightened.
Crack, crack-
Her cervical vertebrae gave a dangerous series of sharp cracks.
Lynn's mind raced. Fury's bottom line could not be crossed. Natasha could not die yet. If Black Widow died here, S.H.I.E.L.D. would turn against him completely, and the balance he had painstakingly maintained, along with the resources he had just extorted, would go down the drain in an instant.
More importantly, he could not let Wanda become a complete lunatic who knew nothing but slaughter.
Lynn drew a deep breath and kicked the battered bedroom door open.
Bang!
The crash of the wooden door splintering into pieces forcibly broke through the nearly solid killing intent filling the room.
"Let her go, Wanda."
Lynn's voice was not loud, but it carried a steadiness that allowed no refusal.
Wanda whipped her head around as she hovered in midair. The instant she saw Lynn, a crack appeared in the frenzy in her eyes, and delighted surprise had only just begun to surface.
But a moment later, when she followed Lynn's gaze and saw that he was staring at the red-haired woman suspended in midair, with her voluptuous figure and skintight combat suit.
The delighted surprise on Wanda's face froze instantly.
Her scarlet eyes fixed on Lynn. Rather than subsiding, the savagery in them abruptly surged to a terrifying peak, driven by an overwhelming sense of danger at another woman's invasion of her territory.
"You're not allowed to look at her!"
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