The Rules' Backlash for Breaking Protocol, the Mutants Management Committee's Work

Jean Grey took a step forward.

This step clearly separated her from Hela, Wanda, and Gwen Stacy behind her in terms of position.

She is the presiding judge.

This thought slightly calmed the eagerness in Qin's heart that had arisen from vying for credit, replacing it with a calm and determined resolve.

She knew very well that the capture was just the physical work, the interrogation was the real technical challenge. Getting the prisoner to talk and extracting what he had inside would be the most significant achievement on her record.

She has to take it down.

This was not only to clear her name of any previous transgressions in Sokovia, but also to prove to the person on the Throne that the Mutants Management Committee, in Jean Grey's hands, would always be the most efficient and effective tool for solving core problems.

Hela crossed her arms, a barely perceptible sneer playing on her lips, waiting to see what would happen. She didn't believe that a prisoner of this caliber wouldn't have any means of resistance.

Wanda seemed somewhat nervous, her gaze shifting between Qin and the prisoner. She both hoped Qin would succeed so she could quickly ascertain the enemy's details, and secretly hoped she would make a mistake.

Gwen Stacy didn't speak, but stood quietly to the side, like a pure observer, watching the subtle expressions on everyone's faces.

"I suggest that the Department of Technology conduct a physiological scan of him before the interrogation begins and establish a physical isolation model, just in case."

Wanda finally spoke up; it was partly a procedure, and partly a test.

Qin did not turn around, her voice filled with undeniable confidence.

"No need. Physical restrictions are meaningless to someone like him. Leave it to me."

She was clearly defining the boundaries of her business and refusing anyone interference in her project.

Having said that, Qin ignored the undercurrents behind her and focused all her attention on the prisoner on the ground.

Dark Gold Phoenix Force, like mercury spilling onto the ground, flowed silently from Qin's eyes. It did not transform into raging flames, but instead condensed into countless spiritual Probe, thousands of times finer than a hair, almost invisible.

This is the most skillful work.

Instead of brute forcefully breaking down the door, the most skilled locksmith uses Probe carefully probe the lock cylinder, feeling every part of its internal structure, and then copies the key without triggering an alarm.

The Probe gently pierced the Time Guard Captain's cerebral cortex.

The first layer, surface consciousness, is chaotic, filled with fear and bewilderment about the Negative Zone.

Qin easily bypassed it.

The second layer is working memory. This includes instructions, objectives, and action Contingency Plan related to this "pruning" task.

These things are useful, but not the core. Qin made a mark and continued downwards.

The third layer is the long-term memory area. It contains his entire experience as a TVA Agent, the Timeline that were cut off, and the "Variant" that were erased.

Qin's heart skipped a beat. She knew that the most crucial thing lay in the deepest part of this ocean of memories.

Without the slightest hesitation, she lowered her mental Probe to its full depth, aiming for the darkest area.

Just then...

A sudden change occurred.

The guard captain on the ground, whose eyes had been tightly closed, suddenly opened them. His eyeballs had no pupils, only a swirling, deathly white light indicating a data error.

At the same time, an extremely complex orange symbol suddenly lit up on his forehead.

The symbol resembled a paradoxical collection of countless intertwined Möbius Strip, exuding an absolutely cold, destructive aura that rejected all logic and all prying.

TVA Underlying Logic Restriction.

Qin let out a muffled groan.

She felt as if her countless mental Probe had simultaneously crashed into a wall constructed of contradictory concepts such as "time does not exist" and "time is omnipresent."

An indescribable, chaotic Temporal Turbulence back through her Mind Link.

That wasn't an energy Impact, but rather information pollution.

In an instant, countless "selves" flooded into Jean's Mental World. One second she was interrogating someone, the next she was back on the lawn of Xavier's School of Thought, and the next she appeared in a previously unseen universe reduced to ashes.

Past, present, and future—countless possible and impossible scenarios, like a burst dam, breached the bulwark of her Mental World.

"Well..."

Qin let out a painful groan, her face instantly turning deathly pale, and she staggered back two steps.

A trickle of blood slowly flowed from her nostril.

The Dark Gold Phoenix Force surrounding her began to flicker violently, becoming extremely unstable, as if they might go out at any moment.

The captain of the guard on the ground, after the symbol on his forehead lit up to its fullest, convulsed violently a few times, then went completely limp, the White Light in his eyes dimming and turning into a deathly gray.

Brain death.

The restrictions destroyed all intelligence, but also took away the last bit of value this prisoner possessed.

Inside the main hall, the atmosphere froze instantly.

Hela's cold smile froze. She had anticipated something bad would happen, but she hadn't expected the backlash to be so severe.

Wanda and Gwen Stacy's faces were filled with horror.

Jean Grey, Skyfather-level powerhouse and the host of the Phoenix Force, suffered such a great loss in a single encounter.

Their gazes, without prior agreement, all turned to the Throne.

Lynn remained seated, one hand supporting her chin, her posture unchanged.

A very faint hint of displeasure flashed in his calm eyes.

It wasn't because the interrogation failed, nor because of the loss of a prisoner.

Rather, it was Qin's improper operation that disrupted his rhythm. This hasty and reckless approach is an extremely unprofessional act.

He looked at the rickety piano, and at the Time Paradox spreading like a virus in her Psychic Network. He knew that if he didn't act soon, even if this head of the Mutants Management Committee didn't die, her mental essence would be permanently damaged.

A defective tool is worthless.

Lynn slowly extended her other hand.

There was no dazzling light, nor any terrifying energy fluctuations.

He simply gestured vaguely towards the direction of the zither, as if to grasp it.

An imperceptible will descended.

It neither fought against the chaotic Temporal Turbulence nor repaired the damaged Psychic Network of the zither.

It simply issued a very basic command.

"Stop."

It was as if the pause button had been pressed.

The Time Paradox that raged wildly in Qin's Mental World, enough to plunge any living being into Eternity chaos, came to an abrupt and inexplicable end.

They didn't disappear; they were simply frozen in place, like a still, bizarre oil painting.

Lynn's eyes seemed to dim slightly compared to before, a dimness that was barely perceptible.

Suppressing this level of rule backlash was not without its costs for him.

The pressure on Qin suddenly vanished, and she could no longer hold on. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath, her back soaked in cold sweat.

She was saved.

But what followed was a fear and shame even stronger than the physical trauma.

She messed up.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a well-deserved achievement was turned into an accident that required the leader's personal intervention to salvage.

This was a serious workplace injury.

It's not just her personal issue, but the entire Mutants Management Committee's issue.

Hela, Wanda, and Gwen Stacy watched this scene in silence. They felt no schadenfreude, only a chilling sense of alarm.

Any violation of regulations will have consequences.

Lynn's actions made his bottom line clear to them once again. He would protect his own people and safeguard their lives, but this protection was itself a deeper form of warning.

The main hall was deathly silent.

Qin knelt on the ground, her head bowed in shame, not daring to meet the gaze of the Throne.

Just as her consciousness was about to fade due to exhaustion, a strong will to survive and unwillingness to give up drove her to use her last bit of Psychic Power to forcibly extract the only clear and terrifying image she had captured before losing consciousness from that frozen, chaotic paradoxical information.

That was a report.

A report she glimpsed in a fleeting moment when her mental Probe touched the deepest part of the other person's memory.

A faint, almost nonexistent Psychic Fluctuation shot out from between her brows, flying precisely towards the Bone Throne.

After doing all this, Qin could no longer hold on, her vision went black, and she completely fainted.