A piercing buzz echoed wildly in the depths of Lynn's mind.
It was the newly integrated Top-tier Spider-Sense issuing its highest-level death warning. Lynn leaned against the back of the sofa, his body utterly relaxed. Even the fingers resting around Wanda's shoulder did not tremble, but his pupils shrank to pinpoints in the dim light.
Fifty meters away, an irregular, ghostly blue rift tore through the night.
Gwen Stacy leaned halfway out of the dimensional rift. Her Ghost-Spider suit, originally a blend of pure white and bright pink, was now covered in large patches of dried, dark red blood. Her mask was pulled halfway down, exposing her bloodless face. Her eyes were fixed on Lynn through the window, their whites covered in frightening red veins, revealing a reckless madness and sickly greed.
Lynn did not look away, meeting those eyes through the bulletproof glass.
He knew all too well what lay hidden in those eyes.
Just then, accompanied by the system's cold notification tone, a pale blue screen projected onto his retinas and began playing the simulation instance's final settlement footage.
[Generating the target's final behavioral logic...]
On the screen, fierce winds still raged through the Clock Tower's central shaft. The instant Lynn plunged into the abyss, Gwen, suspended in midair, let out a beastlike, agonized howl. At that moment, the girl who always tried to hide her inner stress behind sunshine and playfulness had her soul shatter completely.
In the footage, Green Goblin dove on his glider, laughing wildly, ready to savor his prey's desperate death.
But Gwen did not cry. She jerked her head up, and nothing remained in her eyes but pure killing intent that would destroy everything.
"You... killed him."
The words scraped out of Gwen's throat in an utterly hoarse voice. The next second, the jammed shooter on her wrist was forcibly reset by the exertion of her severely contorted muscles. Countless strands of tough white webbing shot out like a violent rainstorm, aimed not at the walls, but directly at the rapidly spinning engine of Green Goblin's glider.
Boom! The engine exploded.
Riding the explosion's shock wave, Gwen lunged straight onto Green Goblin like a crazed white ghost. She abandoned every flashy fighting technique and used the most primitive, most brutal method, winding webbing around his neck again and again and pulling it tight into his flesh. Amid the hair-raising sounds of shattering bones, Green Goblin was strangled to death against an enormous gear before he could even scream, his blood spraying all over Gwen.
Then she stumbled and leaped down to the bottom of the abyss.
Amid the ruins in the pouring rain, Gwen knelt in the mud, clutching Lynn's mangled, cold corpse. She neither called for help nor shed tears, only rubbed her cheek repeatedly against his face, which had lost its warmth, a chilling smile curling at her lips.
"It's all right... I'll fix you... I'll find you..."
[Target's corruption level: 100%.] [Obsessive guardian-type yandere personality awakened.] [Emotional bond value has exceeded the multiversal threshold.] [Instance rating: SSS.] [Rewards issued: Top-tier Spider-Sense (activated), Superhuman Flexibility Physique (integration beginning).]
The instant the system screen dissipated, an intense burning sensation erupted along Lynn's spine.
The Superhuman Flexibility Physique was forcibly reshaping his muscle fibers and bone density. It felt as though high-voltage electricity had been sent through tens of millions of nerve endings, and the excruciating pain instantly tightened Lynn's jaw.
He could not make a sound.
Wanda had her cheek pressed against his chest, breathing steadily. If he showed any sign of struggling in pain, this already extremely sensitive chaos witch would absolutely go berserk in an instant, grinding every living thing within ten li to dust.
Lynn forcibly swallowed the bloody taste rising in his throat, using his newly acquired top-tier bodily control to suppress his muscle spasms. Sweat slid down his temples and dripped onto the sofa's soft leather.
In just five seconds, the reshaping was complete.
Lynn flexed his fingers slightly, his knuckles giving extremely faint cracks. He could feel that his body had become like liquid metal, possessing both terrifying explosive power and the ability to contort to extremes that defied human anatomy. Combined with his Top-tier Spider-Sense, he could now stroll leisurely through dense machine-gun fire even with his eyes closed.
This was precisely the trump card he would use to stay alive in the coming romantic battleground.
Whew... Lynn let out a long breath inwardly and looked outside again.
The ghostly blue arcs along the dimensional rift's edges were gradually weakening. The portable dimension-travel watch on Gwen's wrist was spitting blackened sparks. Clearly, this crude device seized from another universe had been completely ruined after a single forced crossing.
She could not go back.
Gwen ignored the ruined watch. Stepping over dead branches scattered across the ground, she approached the safe house one step at a time. Her movements were exceptionally light, without a single footstep, like a true ghost.
The distance closed to twenty meters.
Through the glass, Lynn could even make out the torn fibers of Gwen's suit and the still-wet tear tracks at the corners of her eyes.
Gwen stopped.
Her gaze passed over Lynn's face and moved downward with extreme slowness, locking onto the woman in red leather nestled in his arms, pressed tightly against his chest.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Lynn's Spider-Sense sounded another piercing alarm. He clearly saw a muscle twitch uncontrollably on Gwen's deathly pale face. A savage killing intent called "territorial violation" erupted from this Spider-Girl.
"That's mine..."
The utterly hoarse whisper, tearful yet filled with endless venom, penetrated the bulletproof glass and even the outer chaos barrier, burrowing straight into Lynn's ears.
Gwen slowly raised her right hand. The web-shooter on her wrist was already aimed at the safe house's floor-to-ceiling window.
Once she pulled the trigger, the specialized webbing would smash through the glass with several tons of impact force.
And at that very moment, something changed.
Curled in Lynn's arms, Wanda suddenly knitted her brows. She did not wake, but her Skyfather-level Chaos Magic instinctively sensed the pure malice directed at her from outside.
Humm-
A strong smell of ozone filled the air. Wanda's pale fingertips twitched unconsciously, and several wisps of scarlet chaos particles instantly slipped between her fingers like living little snakes. They wove through the air into a vast dark red net brimming with destruction, spreading straight toward Gwen outside the window.
It was the yandere witch's subconscious instinct to guard what was hers-anyone who dared covet her belongings had to die.
Cold sweat instantly soaked Lynn's back.
If Wanda's Chaos Magic struck Gwen directly, or if Gwen smashed through the glass and charged inside, these two women, who had become completely corrupted because of him, would absolutely unleash World War IV here.
This safe house could not withstand it. Neither could the entire outskirts of New York.
And as an agent still in his "weakened state," he would absolutely be caught between them and torn to pieces.
I have to stop them!
Lynn's mind raced at superhuman speed. He neither woke Wanda nor pressed any defensive alarm.
At the critical instant when Gwen was about to fire her webbing and the chaos energy was about to surge through the glass-
Lynn suddenly lowered his head and pressed his lips to Wanda's forehead with exceptional precision.
He used no force, only kissed her with extreme gentleness and reassurance, while his left hand slid down and firmly clasped the hand spilling scarlet particles, interlacing their fingers.
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
Lynn whispered beside Wanda's ear in a low, utterly gentle voice.
Those remarkably magical words instantly cut off the agitation in Wanda's subconscious. The scarlet particles about to rush outside abruptly froze, then receded like the tide, merging back into Wanda's body. Her tightly knitted brows relaxed, a satisfied curve formed at her lips, and she burrowed deeper into Lynn's arms.
With one kiss and one sentence, Lynn effortlessly defused the threat of destruction inside the house.
But the danger outside the window had only just begun.
Fifty meters away.
Gwen saw Lynn kiss the woman in red with perfect clarity.
The strand of webbing about to fire jammed inside the shooter. Gwen's pupils trembled violently as she gasped for breath, her chest heaving. She stared at Lynn's gentle profile and their tightly interlaced hands.
"Liar..."
Two trails of bloody tears slid along the edge of Gwen's mask and dripped onto the muddy grass.
"You were willing to die to save me... then you turned around and held another woman?"
Gwen's voice was completely distorted now, filled with suffocating madness. She abruptly raised her hand, no longer aiming at the glass, but pointing her web-shooter at the surveillance camera above the safe house.
Crack!
The surveillance camera shattered instantly.
Lynn sat on the sofa, watching through the glass as Gwen's retreating figure disappeared into the darkness. His Spider-Sense's alarm did not subside; instead, it grew more sustained and chilling.
He knew this obsessive Ghost-Spider had not left. She had merely hidden in the shadows, like an exceptionally patient apex hunter, staring fixedly at the house.
She would wait for the woman in red to leave. Then she would take back what belonged to her, piece by piece.
Lynn swallowed, feeling Wanda's scorching body heat in his arms, then glanced at the deep darkness outside the window.
"This balancing act really isn't a job for a human."
Just then, the Encrypted Communicator Lynn had placed on the coffee table suddenly flashed a glaring red.
A top-secret message from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal network popped up. Sender: Nick Fury.
[Agent Lynn, relocate with the target immediately. Hydra's Helicarrier is airborne. Main cannon target coordinates-your safe house.]
As Lynn read the message, an extremely dangerous cold glint flashed in his eyes.
That old bastard Pierce actually dared aim his guns here?
Didn't he know that not only was a Scarlet Witch who could tear the universe apart at any moment sleeping here, but a severely corrupted Ghost-Spider who had just crossed dimensions was also lurking outside?
Lynn tapped his fingers lightly against the sofa's armrest, an icy curve forming at his lips.
He did not reply to Fury. Instead, he reached over and cut the communicator's power.
"If you want to die, I'll grant your wish."
Before you continue