The probe at Manhattan's watch shop, the Stability Maintenance Office's violent demolition

The meeting ended unhappily.

Within the Negative Zone, the air around the Bone Throne returned to deathly stillness. Lynn remained motionless, his gaze fixed on a point in the void, as if examining an invisible chessboard.

After Gwen Stacy and Qin disappeared, Hela stood there for a moment.

Her face was covered with a layer of frost.

The meeting just now was a humiliation for her. The establishment of the Task Force, and the division of subsequent clues and the right to verify them, were tantamount to completely marginalizing the Stability Maintenance Office under her supervision.

The Stability Maintenance Office is Lynn's sharpest weapon, in charge of physical conquest and deterrence.

But now, this knife has been told that it can only be drawn after the Liaison Office and the Management Committee, those two abstract departments, finish writing their reports.

Hela could not tolerate this passive situation.

She needed a victory, a clean, decisive, and undeniable victory, to prove to Lynn and everyone else that absolute power is always the most effective way to solve problems.

She needs to regain the initiative that belongs to the Stability Maintenance Office.

The clue Gwen Stacy provided— the Clock Shop in Manhattan —was the best starting point.

Hela turned and took a step, disappearing from the Throne Hall and returning to her jurisdiction as the "Asgard Stability Affairs Office".

This is a formidable Bastion constructed from the Death Force, where countless Undead Soldiers stand like statues, their cold soul fires burning silently in the gaps of their armor.

"Retrieve the case file for 'Project-001'." Hela's voice echoed in the hall, devoid of any emotion.

On the Obsidian table in front of her, all the information about the Manhattan Clock Shop immediately appeared: an old black-and-white photograph, a few lines of simple address information, and a mark that Gwen Stacy had marked indicating the presence of abnormal energy residue.

Hela's gaze lingered on the words "joint exploration recommended" for a second, a cold, utterly contemptuous smile curling at the corner of her lips.

joint?

That's a program only the weak need.

"This matter is classified as a 'physical clearance operation of a high-risk target,'" Hela's voice was firm and decisive, "Which falls within the scope of our department's independent operational authority."

She's just going through the motions, a process only for herself to see.

"Order, First Undead Assault Squad, deploy immediately. Mission objective: ' Old John's Watch Shop ' on Tenth Avenue, Manhattan."

"Operation Requirements: Forcibly physically dismantle the target building, eliminate all living and non-living entities inside, and bring back all remains without fail."

As soon as she finished speaking, a squad of taller Undead Soldiers, their armor engraved with intricate death Runes, emerged from the depths of the hall. They moved silently, yet each step seemed capable of shattering souls.

This is Hela's most elite force, each member possessing the power to easily tear apart a modern army.

Using them to deal with a small Clock Shop is like using a siege cannon to swat a fly.

But what Hela wanted was precisely this undeniable, overwhelming effect.

She wanted Jyn and Gwen Stacy to understand that while they were still debating the wording of a report, she had physically eliminated the problem itself.

A dark spatial rift tore open in front of the assault team, revealing a dark back alley in Manhattan.

Hela sat enthroned on her Throne, the Obsidian table in front of her transformed into a real-time monitoring screen, clearly displaying the scene outside the Clock Shop.

She wanted to witness this victory, which was a foregone conclusion, with her own eyes.

The undead assault team silently slipped through the crack and appeared in the back alley. The captain made a simple tactical hand signal, and the entire squad immediately assumed combat formation and surrounded the seemingly inconspicuous Clock Shop.

The shop door is an old wooden structure with a "Temporarily Closed" sign hanging on it, covered in dust.

Without the slightest hesitation, the captain raised his foot, covered in black armor, and kicked the shop door hard.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the wooden door and its frame exploded inwards, scattering wood chips everywhere.

Almost at the same time, a very faint "click" sound, like the meshing of clock gears, rang out in the store.

The commando team filed in.

Hela leaned slightly forward in front of the screen.

However, the anticipated devastating destruction did not occur.

The Undead Soldiers at the forefront, the moment he stepped into the store, felt as if his body had been erased by an invisible eraser.

There was no explosion, no sound, and not even a violent fluctuation of energy.

The soldier, along with his heavy armor and battle axe, vanished into thin air. He was wiped clean from head to toe, as if he had never existed in this world.

The soldier following behind paused, and the soul fire in his empty eye sockets flickered violently.

In that instant, a sphere the size of a fist, emitting a soft orange glow, slowly rose from beneath the counter inside the store.

The sphere of light expands outward.

It moves slowly, like a soap bubble being blown in gradually.

The second Undead Soldiers attempted to raise the shield, but as the orange aura touched the edge, the shield, forged from the Underworld Cold Iron, vanished like Phantom. Next came its arm, its body, and finally its entire being.

It remained completely silent.

The orange sphere of light steadily expanded, devouring everything that entered its range. The undead assault team, these killing machines that could wreak havoc on the battlefield, were now like a swarm of moths drawn to a candle flame.

They were erased, restored, and completely removed from the Timeline.

Hela abruptly stood up from her Throne.

The contempt and arrogance in her eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by utter shock and disbelief.

On the screen, her elite troops were wiped out in less than three seconds.

The Clock Shop returned to normal after the orange sphere of light shrank and disappeared. Even the broken door frame and wooden door were perfectly restored to their original positions, as if the loud noise had been just an illusion.

Everything returned to the state it was in before the commando team arrived.

Only a faint trace of Mutant Power, not belonging to this universe, remained in the air, proving that what had just happened was not an illusion.

Physical attacks are not even worth mentioning when facing the opponent.

This is a form of dimensional Dimensionality-Reduction Strike at the rule level.

"Report... Director." A voice, crackling with static and extreme confusion, came through the Communicator. It was the Observer stationed outside the spatial rift. "Target... no abnormalities. Our... First Assault Team... signal... completely lost."

Hela's face instantly turned ashen.

She waved her hand to turn off the surveillance camera.

The operation failed.

In the most thorough and humiliating way.

Not only did she fail to achieve the first merit, but she also suffered heavy losses and exposed her own ignorance of the enemy's tactics.

She could almost imagine whose desk this report, which testified to her recklessness and incompetence, was now on.

What will inevitably follow is an accountability investigation targeting her and the Stability Maintenance Office.

Would that woman named Wanda let go of this golden opportunity to kick someone when they're down?