The night sky over Washington, D.C. was torn wide open.
The waters of the Potomac River churned violently as three colossal steel beasts broke through the curtain of water, forcing their way into the sky amid a piercing mechanical roar. The blue exhaust of their Antigravity Engines lit the heavy clouds a deathly white, while fierce winds drove icy rain hard against the Triskelion's glass walls.
"Full-spectrum barrage jamming is active! Sir, we've completely lost contact with the outside world!" In the command room, the technician's voice trembled with barely suppressed panic.
Alexander Pierce stared fixedly at the three slowly ascending blips on the radar screen, his eyes bloodshot. Like a gambler who had lost every chip, he had staked everything he had left, including his life, on these three Helicarriers that had yet to finish charging.
Once the Helicarriers reached near-Earth orbit at thirty thousand feet, their physical fire-control systems could lock onto that safe house in Brooklyn. He would use the highest-yield plasma main cannons to erase that damned agent and that world-destroying witch from the face of the Earth.
"Speed up the charging. Kill anyone who gets in the way." Pierce gritted his teeth, forcing the words out between them.
Meanwhile, at an abandoned container terminal dozens of kilometers away, a drenched Steve Rogers kicked open a rusty iron door. He panted heavily, a stray bullet having torn a long gash through the shoulder of his jacket. Inside, Natasha, clutching a wound in her abdomen, and Sam Wilson, the "Falcon," who had just put on his mechanical wings, stood ready.
"Fury's coordinates have disappeared, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal network is completely locked down." Natasha's face was pale, a bloodstained USB drive held between her fingers. "Pierce has gone mad. He launched Project Insight ahead of schedule."
Steve tightened his grip on his scarred Vibranium Shield, rain dripping down his resolute jawline. Lynn's taunt in the café resurfaced in his mind-"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a tree that rotted down to its roots long ago. Those executives are nothing but a pack of rogue ninja cloaked in righteousness."
"We still have three hours." Steve abruptly raised his head, his gaze blazing. "Bring them down before they reach their designated orbit."
The storm outside had already spiraled toward an abyss beyond recovery.
Yet inside that safe house on the outskirts of Brooklyn, New York, it was an entirely different scene.
The dim floor lamp radiated warmth, and the air carried the sweet aroma of butter cookies and the faint bitterness of freshly ground coffee.
Lynn reclined on the soft fabric sofa, his legs crossed. Like a deeply insecure cat, Wanda curled her entire body into his arms. She wore that oversized, chunky-knit sweater, her cheek pressed tightly against his chest as she listened to his steady, powerful heartbeat.
"It's so noisy outside." Wanda frowned slightly, her fingertip unconsciously tracing circles on Lynn's shirtfront. Even hundreds of kilometers away, she could sense the hostility emanating from those ascending steel monsters.
A trace of scarlet chaos particles quietly swirled in her eyes, carrying a suffocating urge to destroy.
"Shh." Lynn threaded his slender fingers through Wanda's long auburn hair, gently massaging her scalp with his fingertips, his movements as soft as though he were soothing a fragile work of art.
"They're just a pack of rats that can't survive in the light." Lynn's low, resonant voice carried a strange, calming power. "I set things up so they'd go bite Captain America. Tonight, no one can disturb us."
He lifted the coffee beside him and took a sip. Its warm bitterness slid down his throat, keeping his mind perfectly clear.
Wanda tilted her head up. The madness in her eyes instantly turned into an unhealthy obsession when her gaze met Lynn's. She leaned closer, greedily breathing in his scent at the crook of his neck.
"You promised me, Lynn." Her voice was as soft as a sigh, yet her arms locked around his waist like iron bands. "You'll never leave me. If anyone tries to take you away from me... I'll crush their bones, inch by inch."
As she finished speaking, a visible surge of scarlet energy spread like a tide, silently seeping into the walls and floor. Within seconds, a Chaos Barrier offering absolute defense had completely sealed off the safe house.
Never mind a blast from a plasma main cannon-even if a tactical nuclear bomb struck, this barrier could keep them completely unharmed.
"Of course, my little witch." Lynn lowered his head and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Under this onslaught of tenderness, the scarlet in Wanda's eyes finally began to fade. Days of mental strain and overdrawn magic had left her exhausted. Listening to Lynn's steady heartbeat, her breathing gradually evened out, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Once he confirmed that Wanda was sound asleep, the tender curve of Lynn's lips instantly vanished, replaced by utter composure and an unfathomable depth.
He gently moved Wanda's head onto a sofa cushion, then sat up straight.
The situation outside had erupted exactly according to his script, with Hydra and Captain America tearing at each other like dogs. He had bought himself an extraordinarily valuable three-hour window.
But Lynn knew perfectly well that this was not enough.
Although Wanda's Chaos Magic delivered an overwhelming, Skyfather-level advantage, this piece of "jade" was far too uncontrollable. If this obsessively possessive witch discovered any sign of "betrayal" from him, that power capable of tearing apart a Helicarrier could turn back on him at any moment.
Before the romantic battlefield erupted completely, he had to hone his own "vessel" to perfection and accumulate enough trump cards to protect himself.
System, Lynn said coldly in his mind.
A blue screen of light instantly unfolded across his retinas, driving away the room's warm glow.
[Host's current status: Chaos Magic Affinity Physique (incomplete)] [Simulation cooldown: ended] [Start the next "Till Death Do Us Part" simulation?]
Lynn's gaze swept rapidly across the screen. He needed an ability that could warn him of extreme danger in advance, along with a physique capable of sustaining intense physical confrontations. His shortcomings on the magical side had already been addressed. Now, he needed the ultimate in physical evasion.
That briefing that had flashed past at the edge of a wanted notice crossed his mind, along with the nimble figure in a black-and-white suit swinging through New York's night sky on webs.
Target selected-Gwen Stacy, Lynn silently said.
[Target locked.] [Loading simulation spacetime...] [Warning: this simulation's entry point is a high-risk conflict zone. Host's initial identity: S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent.] [Current scenario: New York Clock Tower showdown.] [May your death be worthwhile.]
Bzzzt-!
Lynn felt a violent wrenching deep inside his brain. The safe house's dim light, the bitterness of coffee, and even the faint rose fragrance on Wanda were brutally stripped away in that instant.
In their place came savage, frigid winds high above the ground, slashing across his cheeks like icy blades.
"Keh-heh-heh-heh-!"
A burst of piercing, deranged laughter stabbed into his eardrums like steel needles.
Lynn's eyes snapped open.
There was no warm sofa, no barrier of absolute defense.
He found himself standing on the edge of an enormous Clock Tower hundreds of meters high. Fierce winds snapped his agent's trench coat around him. The concrete edge beneath his feet was badly fractured; one careless move would send him plunging into the abyss.
The pungent smell of ozone and the scorched stench of burning engine oil rushed into his nostrils.
Less than ten meters directly ahead of him, the Clock Tower's enormous gears spun wildly, producing a deafening metallic grinding.
Above those deadly gears, Gwen Stacy, wearing her Ghost-Spider suit, had been cornered. Several slashes marred her suit, blood staining its white fabric, and her chest heaved rapidly.
In midair, Green Goblin stood on his Goblin Glider, raising a Pumpkin Bomb that flashed with a deadly red light, his eyes filled with cruel mockery.
"Look at this poor little spider! Today's the day you die!" Green Goblin laughed wildly, his arm muscles suddenly bulging as he hurled the bomb with vicious force.
Gwen's web-shooters had jammed. She watched in despair as the bomb grew larger before her eyes, the bottomless shaft of the Clock Tower behind her.
Lynn narrowed his eyes.
No Chaos Magic, no vibranium arsenal. Right now, he had nothing but a slightly stronger-than-average mortal body.
The system had given him an utterly hellish start.
Yet a look of intense excitement curved Lynn's lips.
"Looks like I'll have to go big."
Lynn's muscles instantly tensed, his gaze locking onto Gwen in midair.
At the very instant before the Pumpkin Bomb exploded, he kicked hard off the shattered railing, using a blind spot in the shadows to execute an extremely well-concealed feint. Like a hunting leopard, he leaped without hesitation into that deadly abyss!
No parachute. No superpowers.
With this mortal body, he would force Ghost-Spider's certain death into a different outcome!
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