A faint smell of ozone filled the bedroom, and weak moonlight slanted through the shattered window frame onto the floor.
Wanda slept soundly. Her cheek pressed against Lynn's chest, her warm breath falling rhythmically against his collarbone. Even in her sleep, her hands still clutched his shirt so tightly that the fabric bunched up, revealing a possessiveness obsessive to the bone.
Lynn leaned against the headboard, his eyes clear, without the slightest trace of sleepiness.
He waited patiently for forty minutes. Only after his Spider-Sense confirmed that there were no hidden agents or listening devices within five kilometers did he reach out and, extremely slowly, peel Wanda's fingers away one by one.
He even held his breath throughout the process. Any slightly heavier breath could wake this yandere witch, who could tear the Earth in half at any moment.
He carefully tucked a pillow carrying his body heat into Wanda's arms. Only after watching her unconsciously tighten her arms around it did Lynn silently slip out of bed.
Barefoot, he stepped through the mess covering the floor and walked to the metal workbench in the corner of the living room.
He opened the bottom drawer and took out a specially modified tactical terminal.
He powered it on. The blue glow of the screen illuminated Lynn's expressionless face.
He fished the solid-black Level Seven Clearance Card Pierce had given him from his pocket, held it between two fingers, and slid it precisely into the reader slot on the terminal's side.
"Beep."
An almost imperceptible electronic tone sounded. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s giant eagle emblem appeared on the screen, followed by a dual retinal and fingerprint authentication prompt.
Lynn's fingers hovered over the keyboard, then began tapping rapidly as though he were playing a piano. Instead of following the standard authentication procedure, he brought up the underlying command prompt and entered a long, extraordinarily complex string of gibberish.
Pierce thought a Level Seven Clearance Card was an irresistible prize, one that could bind Lynn firmly to Hydra's war machine and let them command the witch.
But he had no idea that Lynn was not merely a transmigrator familiar with the plot, but a monster whose physique had been enhanced by the system and whose brain possessed computing power comparable to a supercomputer.
Spider-Sense granted him more than foresight of mortal danger; it also gave him terrifyingly precise microscopic perception. In the underground Abyss Hangar beneath the Triskelion, every frequency of Pierce's muscle twitches, every angle of his eye movements, and even every tiny hesitation as he typed at the main console had been captured precisely by Lynn's brain and reverse-engineered.
"Click."
Lynn struck the Enter key hard.
The eagle emblem on the screen twisted violently, its wings falling away as it transformed into a hideous skull composed of green characters.
Hydra's dark web had opened its doors to him completely.
Without any hesitation, Lynn typed [Project Insight] into the search bar.
Data poured down like floodwater bursting through a dam.
Internal schematics of three next-generation Helicarriers, orbital parameters of synchronous satellites, charging efficiency of heavy beam weapons...
Lynn scanned ten lines at a glance, reading through top-secret information sufficient to trigger a world war. His heartbeat did not fluctuate at all, and his gaze finally settled on a hidden subfolder named "Zola Algorithm."
Cracking the folder took him three full minutes.
The instant the progress bar reached the end, the screen flashed, and densely packed names in red flooded the entire display like a waterfall.
This was Hydra's ultimate trump card. By analyzing everyone's bank records, medical histories, voting preferences, and even call records, it calculated in advance which targets might obstruct Hydra's future rule. Then the three airborne Helicarriers would lock onto those targets from space and launch millions of precision-guided weapons within a minute, physically erasing them completely.
Lynn scrolled the mouse wheel.
Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange...
Every one of those superheroes from the original story appeared on this death list, without exception.
A cold smile curled Lynn's lips. That old bastard Pierce certainly had a large appetite, imagining he could use a few lousy ships to fight the destiny of the entire Marvel Universe.
He tapped the keyboard and entered his own name into the search box: Lynn (Lynn).
He needed to confirm exactly where Pierce had placed him on his chessboard, and just how much murderous intent lay beneath the overt recruitment and preferential allocation of resources.
"Ding."
Search complete.
The millions of names on the screen vanished instantly, leaving only a single red file.
Lynn's eyes fell on the ID photo in the upper-right corner of the file, and his typing fingers abruptly stopped.
In the threat-level field beside the photograph, instead of a conventional numerical classification, there was a shocking string of scarlet text:
[Threat level: Omega (uncontrollable variable)]
And at the very bottom, the [Disposition] field bore Alexander Pierce's electronic signature and highest authorization code.
The content consisted of only two brief words.
-[Eliminate immediately].
The blue light of the screen fell across Lynn's face. Looking at those words, he curled his lips into a mocking smile.
That old fox Pierce gave me level seven clearance on the surface, but secretly sharpened his butcher's knife long ago. Does he really think all of S.H.I.E.L.D. is his "vessel" to manipulate as he pleases? He wants to eliminate a disobedient "rogue ninja" like me? In a universe where gods fly everywhere and that purple sweet-potato freak could unleash the Snap at any moment, trying to rule fate with a few lousy ships is simply laughable.
Lynn's fingers became blurs over the keyboard. He brought up the Zola Algorithm's core database. The terrifying computing power granted by the system made his brain operate as fast as a supercomputer, and those complex encryption protocols might as well not have existed in his eyes.
Rows of progress bars appeared on the screen.
"Charging progress: 78%. Estimated time to firing threshold: thirty-six hours."
Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly. In the original plot, Project Insight had never launched this quickly. It seemed the scarlet storm Wanda had unleashed above the Triskelion had utterly shattered Pierce's sense of security, forcing these sewer rats to overturn the table ahead of schedule.
"You want to play big? I'll play along."
Lynn entered an extremely well-hidden backdoor code. It was like a perfect "Substitution Technique": once Pierce wanted to open fire, Lynn could use this redundant data at any moment to replace the actual fire-control commands, making the main guns aimed at the ground explode in their barrels the instant they fired.
As he pulled out the solid-black Level Seven Clearance Card, Lynn's Spider-Sense suddenly delivered an extremely faint prickling sensation.
It felt like an exceedingly fine needle was pressed firmly against the back of his neck.
Lynn lowered his head, his sharp gaze sweeping the card's edges. He closed his eyes. His Chaos Magic Affinity Physique brought his perception of his surroundings down to a microscopic level. Within the card's inner laminate, he detected an extremely faint fluctuation in an electromagnetic frequency band.
"A military-grade miniature tracker and pulse listening device." Lynn sneered.
He did not crush it. In intelligence warfare, destroying an enemy's surveillance device was an inferior move. Using the enemy's eyes to feed them false intelligence was the highest level of play.
The Triskelion, underground Abyss Hangar.
Dazzling searchlights shone on the enormous Helicarrier's hull, reflecting a cold metallic sheen.
Pierce stood on a raised platform, looking down at this killing machine that was about to change the world. On his chessboard, he considered himself the absolute player, treating everyone as pawns he could discard at any time. But he did not understand at all what the "king" truly deserving of reverence and protection was.
"Sir," Crossbones Rumlow said as he strode onto the platform. His left arm was still wrapped in thick bandages, the price of being caught by the aftershocks of Wanda's magic. "Word from the armory is that three hundred kilograms of high-purity vibranium have been loaded onto the truck. Together with the advanced tactical equipment previously allocated to him, these resources would be enough to equip an entire special operations battalion!"
Rumlow clenched his back teeth, his eyes filled with hostility. "Are we just going to let some bottom-rung agent extort us?"
Pierce turned around. There was no emotional fluctuation on his wrinkled face, only a politician's characteristic ruthlessness. "Rumlow, did that witch scare you out of your wits? All you see is the vibranium, not the value behind him."
"But he's completely beyond our control!"
"No one can truly control a god-level monster." Pierce walked to the console and brought up a holographic projection. "But as long as the monster has an attachment, the cord of that attachment is our remote control."
The projection showed Lynn's somewhat weary face. Beneath his photograph were the large scarlet words "Eliminate immediately."
"The Zola Algorithm has already flagged him as an Omega-level variable. That clearance card contains a tracker I personally implanted." Pierce's voice echoed through the cavernous hangar, carrying an appalling chill. "In thirty-six hours, Project Insight begins. When the Helicarriers ascend, the coordinates for the first main-gun shot will be his safe house."
Rumlow froze for a moment. "You intend to eliminate the witch along with him?"
"If she cannot serve me, she must be destroyed completely." Pierce gave him a cold glance. "Notify Barnes to enter the highest state of combat readiness. Keep that agent's location locked down around the clock. The moment the witch moves more than a hundred meters away from him, or the Helicarriers finish charging, execute the decapitation strike immediately."
"Understood. Hail Hydra." Rumlow stood at attention, cruel pleasure flashing in his eyes.
The safe house on the outskirts of New York.
Lynn casually tossed the clearance card onto the living room coffee table, ensuring that the listening device could clearly pick up the room's ambient sounds.
He turned and entered the bathroom, opened the faucet, and let cold water rush noisily into the sink.
Looking at his uninjured face in the mirror, Lynn knew that sweet words alone were not enough to completely control a yandere. He had to make her feel pain, make her feel that what she cherished was being cruelly destroyed by the outside world. This self-injury ploy was a "feint" aimed straight at a yandere's soul.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and deliberately withdrew the barrier suppressing the Chaos Magic inside his body.
"Hiss-"
Freed of its restraints, the violent energy instantly rampaged through his meridians. Lynn grunted, veins bulging across his forehead as beads of cold sweat slid down his cheeks. It felt as though countless minuscule blades were slicing wildly inside his blood vessels.
Enduring the excruciating pain, he deliberately guided this backlash energy toward the surface of his skin. At the same time, he bit hard into the tip of his tongue, letting a faint taste of blood spread through his mouth.
Soon, shocking bruises and purplish-red streaks of blood appeared across his neck, collarbones, and chest. These marks looked as though he had suffered some kind of high-voltage electrocution, or cruel torture inflicted while forcibly suppressing some terrifying power.
Only by being ruthless to myself can I survive this battlefield.
Once I've dealt with this Hydra lot, perhaps I should take Wanda away for a few peaceful days of ordinary life. I hear a place called Ichiraku Ramen recently opened in Hell's Kitchen. Or we could have a meal at BBQ Q. Either would be better than staying in this snake pit full of schemes.
Lynn panted heavily, bracing both hands against the sink and mussing his hair into a complete mess. He looked at the man in the mirror, weary-eyed and covered in injuries, radiating a fragility that seemed ready to shatter at any moment, and curled his lips in satisfaction.
Award-winning acting, ready.
He dragged his heavy footsteps out of the bathroom, deliberately making them sound unsteady and weak.
As he reached the bedside, the smell of turbulent ozone still lingered in the air. Wanda, who had been sleeping soundly with the pillow clutched in her arms, suddenly fluttered her eyelashes.
Her dark green eyes snapped open in the dim room. Almost in the same second, violent scarlet energy swept through the entire bedroom like an enraged tsunami.
"Lynn!"
Wanda's voice carried a trace of panic from waking abruptly. But when her gaze, aided by the moonlight, fixed on Lynn's pale face and the shocking bruises on his neck, that panic instantly turned into a brutality cold enough to freeze the soul.
"Who did this?"
Wanda sprang out of bed without even putting on shoes. Scarlet energy tendrils instantly wrapped around Lynn's waist and yanked him into her arms.
Her trembling fingers stroked the injuries on Lynn's neck. The moment her fingertips touched them, Lynn obligingly sucked in a sharp breath and shrank back slightly.
That tiny movement completely snapped the last thread of Wanda's reason.
The red light in her eyes grew so thick it almost seemed to drip blood. The surrounding air gave off piercing explosive cracks under the extreme magical fluctuations. The wooden bedside table began breaking apart inch by inch under the invisible pressure, turning to powder.
"Tell me, who hurt you?!"
Her voice was shrill and distorted, carrying world-destroying pressure. "Was it that redheaded woman from earlier? Or that one-eyed black bastard? I'll crush their bones inch by inch!"
Lynn leaned into her shoulder, coughed weakly twice, and swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva. In an extremely hoarse voice filled with helplessness and restrained suffering, he whispered, "It's all right, Wanda... Our 'bond' isn't something they can sever. This is just the price I have to pay... to protect you, to keep them from taking you away as a monster."
Those words were like a spark landing precisely in a barrel packed with explosives.
The scarlet in Wanda's eyes instantly erupted.
Boom-!
Without warning, a huge scarlet fissure tore open in the night sky outside the window. Violent Chaos Magic shot into the clouds, and the power grid of all New York City suffered a terrifying three-second blackout.
"They dared touch you..." Wanda held Lynn tightly, her voice as soft as a murmur, yet filled with hair-raising madness. "Then I'll make the whole world join you in the grave."
At that very moment, inside the clearance card Lynn had tossed onto the living room table, the miniature listening device faithfully transmitted the magic's eardrum-shattering detonations and every single word of Wanda's world-destroying declaration back to the Triskelion.
Far away in the underground hangar, Pierce watched the energy monitor on the screen instantly shoot off the scale, his face turning as white as paper.
He stared fixedly at the mass of scarlet data representing the witch's power, cold sweat soaking his back. He had no idea what kind of world-ending nightmare he had just awakened.
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