Reshaping the rules of the Baxter Building: strength decided everything
The leather shoes made a dull thud as they stepped onto the alloy floor of the top floor of the Baxter Building.
Lynn stepped through the dark blue portal into the Negative Zone, a wave of cold air mixed with the distinctive industrial odor of Manhattan hitting her. Hela followed closely behind, her high-heeled boots clicking crisply on the polished floor.
The Goddess of Death, who had just been brought back from the New Mexico desert, quickly scanned her surroundings with her narrow eyes: the futuristic Holographic Projection, the operating Supercomputer Matrix, and the dripping espresso machine in the corner.
"This is the palace you were talking about?" Hela frowned in disgust, letting out a cold snort. "It reeks of cheap engine oil and the sweat of mortals."
Her gaze passed over the Holographic Projection platform and landed squarely on Natasha was standing in the shadows.
Natasha, dressed in a tight-fitting black combat suit, held a tablet displaying the coordinates of the X-Men Blackbird. Facing the gaze of Universal-level Deity, the top agent's muscles tensed instantly, but her back remained ramrod straight, without taking a single step back.
"A lowly mortal without even divine power." Hela raised her sharp chin, a wisp of black Death Energy swirling between her fingertips, her tone extremely arrogant. "Why don't you kneel before the Eldest Princess of Asgard?"
The temperature in the air dropped sharply.
Natasha didn't look at Hela, but instead turned her gaze to Lynn. She knew her place very well; in this monster-filled Shura Field, her only protection was Lynn's favor and her own worth.
"Not only will she not kneel before you, she will also monitor your every move."
Before Lynn could speak, Susan stepped out of the portal, her face cold. Pressing her throbbing ribs, she suddenly unleashed a transparent Molecular Force Field, shielding Natasha behind her. "Hela, drop your Underworld act. This is my territory, every floorboard is connected to Negative Zone bombs. If you dare emit even a drop of that foul black gas again, I'll blast you back into outer space."
"You think you can take me?" Hela scoffed, the afterimage of the Night Sky Sword frantically gathering in her palm.
"And me too!" Wanda slammed into the floor like a Scarlet meteor, the violent Chaos Particles instantly igniting the air in the entire top-floor hall. She glared at Hela, veins bulging at the corners of her eyes from extreme jealousy. "If you dare look at Lynn's people like that again, I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Gwen Stacy hung upside down from the alloy beam in the ceiling like a ghost, her dagger, tempered with high-voltage Bioelectricity, silently aimed at Hela's nape.
Five people.
Five women, each possessing devastating combat power and harboring an extremely morbid possessiveness towards Lynn, have created a deadly situation in this rooftop hall of less than 300 square meters, a situation that could explode in Manhattan at any moment.
Red Chaos Magic, transparent Invisible Force Field, black Death Force, blue Bioelectricity. Four completely different energies clashed wildly in the air, the pungent smell of Ozone mixed with the various perfumes worn by women, making people's heads throb.
Lynn stood at the very center of the storm.
He didn't rush to stop him, but instead slowly walked to the bar and picked up the cup of black coffee that had already gone cold. The bitter liquid slid down his throat, clearing his mind, which had been somewhat agitated by the various energies he had been Impact.
Raising Gu (a type of poisonous insect).
This was the only word that came to Lynn's mind. These women were like deadly blades, sharp, lethal, and extremely xenophobic. If he didn't put the strongest shackles on them and set the cruelest rules, these crazy women would eventually tear Baxter Building and himself to pieces.
"Bang!"
Without warning, Lynn raised his hand and slammed the Ceramic Coffee Cup in his hand onto the Holographic Projection table.
Broken porcelain shards mixed with brown coffee splashed everywhere, and a few drops of scalding liquid splattered on Hela's cheek, making a soft "hiss" sound.
The argument stopped abruptly.
Four pairs of eyes simultaneously focused on Lynn.
Lynn slowly turned around, his deep eyes devoid of any warmth. He didn't use any Mutant Power, but the tyrannical aura he exuded, emanating from the simulator filled with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, was like an invisible mountain, crashing heavily onto the backs of every woman.
"Have you had enough?" Lynn's voice was soft, yet it carried a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
Hela opened her mouth, just about to maintain her Deity pride, when Lynn suddenly stepped in front of her.
Lynn reached out his right hand and grabbed Hela by the back of the neck, forcibly pressing her proud face against the Holographic Projection platform. Hela instinctively tried to struggle, but the black Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic that instantly erupted from Lynn's body pinned her Death Energy to the spot.
"I just said in New Mexico, don't let me hear the word 'Queen' again." Lynn whispered fiercely in Hela's ear, "Do you really think that just because you have the title of Goddess of Death, you can bully me here?"
Hela's pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing became rapid. Far from feeling humiliated, she felt a sickly flush rise in her eyes from the overwhelming sensation of being crushed by absolute power.
Lynn released Hela, grabbed a tissue to wipe his hands, and his gaze swept over Wanda, Susan, Gwen Stacy, Natasha with a sharp, piercing look.
"Listen up, everyone." Lynn threw the crumpled tissue into the trash can, braced his hands on the edge of the Projection Platform, and issued the iron-fisted new rules to reshape the entire Shura Field.
"From this moment on, stop your ridiculous 'first wife' act. I don't need a vase who only knows how to be jealous, nor do I need mad dogs that tear each other apart all day long."
Lynn's fingers pounded heavily on the metal tabletop, making a dull thud.
"In my life, there is no first come, first served, no one is more noble than anyone else. Hela's Asgard blood is useless, Susan's status as the mistress of the mansion is useless, and Wanda's Chaos Magic is useless."
Wanda's face paled slightly, and she instinctively gripped the hem of her clothes.
"Here, the only rule is—strength and value." Lynn's gaze swept aggressively across each of their faces, laying bare the law of the jungle.
"Who can plunder more resources for me? Who can clear more obstacles for me? Who can neatly stack the heads of those enemies who try to spy on me on my desk?"
Lynn suddenly sat up straight and opened his arms.
"Whoever achieves this deserves to stand closest to me. Whoever achieves this will receive everything you desire."
The hall was so quiet that the only sound was the hum of the Supercomputer Matrix fans.
Lynn's words were like a poisoned dagger, precisely piercing the most sensitive nerves of these Yandere women.
Jealousy? Then turn jealousy into the driving force for involution.
Possessiveness? Then use the blood of your enemies to buy time for exclusive possession.
Hela licked her chapped lips, and the Death Energy in her eyes began to boil wildly. She turned her head, and the look in her eyes as she looked at Wanda and Susan completely changed. It was no longer a condescending disdain, but rather a gaze directed at two competitors who had to be trampled underfoot.
Wanda took a deep breath, and the Scarlet Particles at her fingertips lit up again. But this time, her killing intent was no longer directed at the interior of the building; instead, it was filled with a fanatical eagerness to prove herself.
Susan silently withdrew her Force Field, a glint of extremely rational calculation flashing in her eyes. She knew very well that in terms of individual destructive power, she was inferior to Hela and Wanda, but in terms of technological superiority and resource integration, she was invincible.
Gwen Stacy gripped the dagger tightly on the beam, while Natasha rapidly typed code on her tablet, raising the building's security level to the highest level.
Looking at the group of women whose ruthless competitive spirit had been successfully aroused, Lynn finally curled up a satisfied, cold smile.
He turned around and lightly swiped his finger across the Holographic Projection table.
A massive 3D map of Manhattan is projected into the air, and a flashing red dot is approaching the airspace above the Baxter Building at three times the speed of sound. Beside it are clear images of Charles Xavier and several X-Men.
"Now, the first order has arrived."
Lynn pulled over a leather swivel chair, sat down with an air of superiority, crossed his legs, and stared coldly at the Mutants on the screen.
"That old fox Nick Fury revealed our trump card to Xavier's School. Charles delivered himself to our doorstep with his Genes pool and Cerebro."
Lynn picked up the remaining half-cup of cold coffee and drank it all in one gulp.
"The rules have already been set." Lynn slammed his empty glass down on the table, his voice echoing in the empty hall. "Go. Let me see who among you is qualified to stay on the top floor with me tonight."
Boom!
Before the words were even finished, the air in the hall seemed to be torn apart.
Wanda transformed into a Scarlet afterimage, smashing through the shatterproof glass of the floor-to-ceiling window and soaring into the Manhattan night sky.
"You rude wild girl." Hela sneered, her figure transforming into a cloud of black mist that swept out through the broken window, instantly corroding the metal window frames into rust with Death Energy.
Without wasting words, Susan activated the Negative Zone Teleportation Matrix, disappearing from her spot to preemptively block the X-Men's escape route.
Gwen Stacy plummeted down the building's exterior wall like a white lightning bolt.
In less than three seconds, the top floor of the Baxter Building returned to calm. Only the cold wind blowing in caused the Holographic Projection to flicker slightly.
Natasha stayed put. Instead of trying to take down the enemy, she quickly took control of New York City's air raid siren system and shut down all the Surveillance Camera in the three blocks surrounding the building.
"Master." Natasha walked behind Lynn, stretched out her hands, and gently massaged Lynn's stiff shoulders, her voice tinged with a morbid infatuation, "Should I notify the military to clean up the mess?"
"No need." Lynn leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the Intelligence Officer's service.
The image of Charles's bald head flashed through his mind, and a cruel smile crept across his lips.
A covert global purge begins tonight. And these self-proclaimed saviors of Mutants, the X-Men, will become his first sacrifices in his reshaping of the universe's rules.