Forced lockdown of physical ports, and the Stability Maintenance Office director's compliance
When the Communications Officer rushed into the conference room, he brought with him a gust of wind from outside, carrying with it the lingering echoes of alarms and panic.
Lynn's hand, holding the teacup, stopped steadily in mid-air.
The water in the cup rippled slightly at the sound of that piercing alarm.
He didn't look at the dejected Communications Officer; his gaze remained fixed on the conference table, as if studying the grain of the wood.
"What's the panic?"
Lynn spoke, his voice steady and soft, yet it stopped the Communications Officer's trembling sobs.
"To be more specific, which department issued the alert, what level, and what was the reason?"
A series of questions, utterly devoid of emotion, as if checking a form.
The Communications Officer, panting heavily, struggled to coherent his words: "Director... it's... it's C-7, E-12, G-9... all external physical ports issued the highest-level 'physical isolation' alarm at the same time!"
He added incoherently, "The monitoring station's report says that... there are unidentified external forces carrying out... a forced engineering blockade of our port facilities!"
"Engineering blockade?"
Lynn put down his teacup, the bottom of which made a soft sound as it touched the table.
He looked at Wanda.
The Scarlet energy flashed briefly in the eyes of the Director the Technology Integration Department. She nodded silently, confirming the technical facts.
It's not an attack, it's a blockade.
The other side clearly did not want to start a war directly, but wanted to cut off all physical connections between the Negative Zone and the outside world, cut off supplies, create internal panic, and subdue the enemy without fighting.
Good tactic.
The murderous aura emanating from Hela had become almost tangible. In the space behind her, the war drums of the Undead Legion could be faintly heard beating.
"Authorize me," her voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, "I'll handle it."
"Handle?" Lynn turned to her, his eyes calm. "Comrade Hela, your current role is the First Special Commissioner for Emergency Response, Stability Maintenance, and External Risk Management. Tell me, according to the Management Committee's regulations, how should you 'handle' this?"
Hela was taken aback.
She stared at Lynn, as if trying to read something from his face. But on that face, there was only the unyielding calm befitting a leader.
She fell silent. She was used to solving problems with absolute force, but now, Lynn was asking her for "rules."
"Director," Gwen Stacy, who had been silent until now, spoke up, offering a convenient way out, "According to Article 12 of Chapter 3 of the ' Infrastructure Protection Regulations in the Negative Zone Special Administrative Region ' promulgated by the Management Committee last year, any act of altering, blocking, or damaging Class A or higher public infrastructure in the Special Zone without application and approval can be classified as a 'crime of seriously endangering public safety'."
Her voice was clear and crisp, like a precise Scalpel, instantly dissecting the core of the problem.
"As the authorized law enforcement department under the regulations, the Stability Maintenance Office has the right to stop such behavior, take coercive measures against the parties involved, seize the tools used in the crime on the spot, detain relevant personnel, and transfer them to the Management Committee's Discipline Inspection Department for further investigation."
After Gwen Stacy finished speaking, she fell silent, handing the conversation back to Lynn.
In the conference room, everyone's eyes were on Hela.
Hela slowly straightened her back.
She looked at Lynn, and the murderous intent and doubt in her eyes were gradually replaced by a new, cold realization.
She understood.
"I understand." Hela stood up, the metal plates on her armor rubbing against each other, making a soft, crackling sound.
"I, the Director the Emergency Stability Maintenance Office Negative Zone Management Committee, will now, in accordance with the ' Infrastructure Protection Regulations,' launch law enforcement action against the criminal suspects who illegally damaged our public facilities."
She spoke each word deliberately, each word carrying an official, unquestionable weight.
She turned towards the doorway, her voice regaining its Goddess of Death majesty. "Pass on my orders: Stability Maintenance Office Law Enforcement Corps, Level One mobilization. Target: C-7 Physical Portal. Operation codename: ' Sweep '."
"Wait a minute," Lynn said.
Hela stopped and looked back at him.
Lynn retrieved a document from Gwen Stacy's terminal and authorized it to be printed.
A Red-Headed Document bearing the bright red seal of the Management Committee slowly emerged from the printing terminal.
"Decision on Authorizing the Emergency Stability Maintenance Office to Handle Illegal Construction Activities at C-7 Portal in Accordance with the Law".
Lynn picked up the document and handed it to Hela instead of Gwen Stacy.
"Comrade Gwen Stacy, as the Director of the Liaison Office, you accompanied us throughout the entire process, responsible for securing evidence and ensuring that our law enforcement actions were procedurally flawless."
"Yes." Gwen Stacy took the document and quickly followed Hela.
C-7 Physical Portal.
Outside the massive, ring-shaped alloy tunnel, all was deathly silent.
Several agents dressed in standard TVA combat uniforms were skillfully installing one silver-gray device after another onto the energy nodes of the passage.
Once activated, these devices will physically sever the entire port.
The captain glanced at the terminal on his wrist, which displayed the progress of the blockade.
"Speed up, we only have five minutes," he commanded coldly.
Just then, one of his teammates suddenly put down his tools and pointed ahead in alarm.
The captain frowned and turned around.
In the darkness of the void, squads of Undead Guard, clad in jet-black armor and with eerie green flames burning in their eye sockets, silently appeared, forming an impenetrable encirclement that completely trapped them.
Leading the group was a tall woman dressed in black military uniform.
The TVA captain felt a chill run down his spine, but remained calm. He stepped forward and announced loudly, "We are the Enforcement Team of the Time Variance Authority, on official duty. Unauthorized personnel, stand back immediately!"
Hela ignored him, coldly watching the sealing devices that were about to be installed.
Gwen Stacy, who was standing next to her, stepped forward, opened her handheld device, and showed the screen to the TVA captain.
"According to Article 12 of Chapter 3 of the Negative Zone Special Administrative Region Infrastructure Protection Regulations, your actions constitute a crime of 'seriously endangering public safety'."
Gwen Stacy's voice resonated clearly throughout the space through the amplification equipment.
"On behalf of the Negative Zone Management Committee, I hereby formally notify you to immediately cease all infringing activities, lay down your tools, and cooperate with the investigation on the spot."
The TVA captain laughed, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Regulations? We at TVA are the regulations!" He waved his hand arrogantly. "Take them down! Those who resist, cut them on the spot!"
The agents behind him immediately raised the Time Stick in their hands.
However, the scene they had envisioned—the other person being frozen and erased by the Power of Time —did not occur.
Hela simply raised her hand.
An invisible, absolute authority originating from death instantly enveloped the entire area.
The light on the Time Stick in the hands of all the TVA agents dimmed rapidly, turning into useless pieces of scrap metal.
The smile on TVA's captain's face froze.
"Now," Hela's voice was devoid of any warmth, "I hereby announce the arrest of you all on charges of obstructing official business and violently resisting law enforcement."
She waved her hand gently.
The Undead Guard surged forward like a tide, without the clash of swords or the explosion of energy.
They used standard energy shackles to precisely lock the hands of each TVA agent, removing all their equipment with practiced ease, as if they had rehearsed countless times.
The TVA captain struggled, roaring, "You can't do this! You're declaring war on TVA!"
Hela walked up to him and looked down at him.
She didn't say anything, but simply took a freshly printed seal from Gwen Stacy's hand.
The label reads, "[Evidence temporarily seized by the Stability Maintenance Office Negative Zone Management Committee]".
She personally affixed the seal to the forehead of the TVA captain.
After doing all this, she slowly spoke, her tone laced with a cruel, playful tone. "We're not declaring war. We're just... legally cleaning up the trash."
No sooner had she finished speaking than an urgent message from Lynn came through Hela's Encrypted Communicator.
Just one sentence.
"Hela, retreat immediately! They've overturned the second table!"
Almost simultaneously, the entire Negative Zone was enveloped by an ineffable will from a higher level.
All alarm systems failed at that instant.
On the Central Holographic Display of the White Bone Hall, the twelve-hour countdown hourglass instantly reached zero.
A line of cold, golden characters, carrying the implication of Final Judgment, slowly appeared.
The "Omnidirectional Pruning Order" has been activated.