The mandatory circuit breaker of the Confidentiality Regulations, discipline in the Director's office
The air in the office seemed to solidify at that moment.
Wanda's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, her fingertips crackling with barely perceptible Scarlet lightning. Hela did not draw her sword, but the light around her was dimmed by her hand resting on the hilt.
The heads of the two core departments of the Management Committee thus formed a silent standoff in the Director's Office over a document in Lynn's hand.
Gwen Stacy stood to the side, saying nothing, but her fingers tightened slightly around the Data Pad.
Lynn's gaze remained fixed on the yellowed paper report. He didn't look at Wanda, nor at Hela. His fingers lightly traced the dark coordinates.
Sokovia.
The Clock Tower in New York.
Asgard Bifrost
Each place name was like a needle, pricking the nerve endings of his body.
He slowly closed the file.
Then, he raised his hand and did something no one expected.
He slammed the documents in his hand heavily onto the table.
"Bang!"
A dull, loud thud.
The sound contained no energy; it was purely a physical impact, yet it was like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere in the office.
The Scarlet lightning at Wanda's fingertips went out.
The shadows surrounding Hela receded back into her body.
Both of them looked at Lynn with some surprise.
Lynn ignored their expressions. He pressed down on an inconspicuous groove on the edge of his desk, his face expressionless.
"Activate the ' Bastion ' protocol." His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear.
As soon as he finished speaking, the smooth, mirror-like Alloy Wall beside him silently slid open, revealing a square safe with a precise structure and covered in silver lines. The safe door had no keyhole, only a deep slot for inserting the contents.
This is the highest level of physical security facility of the Management Committee, Class-A Confidentiality Circuit-Breaking Mechanism. Once activated, the stored files will be wrapped in layers of Liquid Nitrogen and lead-mercury alloy at Absolute Zero. Unless the Director, the Liaison Office, and the Stability Maintenance Office have the Highest Access Privileges to unlock it simultaneously, any attempt to forcibly open it will trigger the internal physical circuit breaker, turning the files and storage media into Fundamental Particles.
Lynn stood up, picked up the "Assistance Investigation Notice," and steadily slipped it into the slot.
The safe emitted a slight mechanical whirring sound as the slot closed.
That deadly document, capable of igniting Shura Field and even overturning the entire Negative Zone, vanished from the three people's sight on a physical level.
After doing all this, Lynn sat back down in her chair.
He didn't speak immediately, but simply interlaced his fingers and placed them on the table, his gaze calmly sweeping over Wanda and Hela in turn.
The office was deathly silent.
"Technology Minister, Director the Stability Maintenance Office."
He finally spoke, his voice devoid of any emotion, merely addressing them by their titles.
"Your behavior just now has disappointed me greatly."
This statement, though simple, carries more weight than any harsh rebuke.
Wanda's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Lynn's next words cut her off.
"In the Director's Office, they openly confronted each other over a document whose classification level had not yet been finalized, even allowing their own power to fluctuate."
Lynn spoke slowly, each word hitting the key points.
"What is this? This is disorganization and lack of Discipline!"
Where is your sense of departmental honor? Where is your sense of the bigger picture?
He leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharpening.
"The Rule Envoy has barely left, and the eyes of the Living Tribunal are still hanging over our heads. You two, as core leaders of the Management Committee, are already itching to stage a full-blown brawl here?"
"Do you think we haven't had enough trouble already, and you want to personally deliver even more direct evidence to the other side?"
"Or do you believe that individual curiosity and emotions can override the collective safety of the entire Management Committee?"
His words, though devoid of a single vulgarity, were utterly piercing.
Instead of mediating their personal grievances, he stood on the absolute high ground of "organizational Discipline" and "political security" and gave them a cold and harsh Discipline reprimand for their "dereliction of duty."
The Scarlet light in Wanda's eyes dimmed completely, and she lowered her head like a subordinate who had done something wrong.
Hela's face also turned extremely pale; she pursed her lips tightly and remained silent.
They could destroy stars with their power and distort reality with their will, but at this moment, within the tight bureaucratic system built by Lynn, they were stripped of all their extraordinary identities and reduced to two "unruly" department heads.
Lynn was their leader.
"This matter is very serious." Lynn leaned back in his chair, his tone softening somewhat, but the content becoming even harsher. "It fully exposes the huge problems in the ideological understanding of some of our core cadres. They are severely parochial and lack a sense of the overall situation."
He picked up the Internal Communicator from the table.
"Director Gwen Stacy."
"Yes, Director," Gwen Stacy replied immediately.
"You stay," Lynn instructed, then put down the Communicator and turned his gaze back to Wanda and Hela. "Both of you, return to your respective departments immediately and write a profound self-criticism of no less than three thousand words regarding this serious violation of confidentiality Discipline and work rules."
"Put it on my desk before you leave work today."
"Now, get out."
The last three words are beyond reproach.
Hela gave Lynn a deep look, her eyes filled with complex emotions—resentment and anger—but in the end, she turned and walked silently toward the door.
Wanda followed behind her, and just as they were about to walk out the door, she couldn't help but turn back and ask softly.
"That document... the energy in the attachment..."
"Get out." Lynn interrupted her, his voice remaining calm.
Wanda stiffened for a moment, but ultimately closed the office door silently.
Only Lynn and Gwen Stacy remained in the office.
Gwen Stacy walked to the desk, looked at the safe that had been completely integrated into the wall, and lowered her voice.
"Director, the crisis has only been temporarily suppressed."
"I know." Lynn picked up the now-cold teacup and took a sip.
"They've both confirmed the energy aura in that report. Especially Minister Wanda," Gwen Stacy said with a hint of worry, "Sokovia, the New York Clock Tower... these place names are too special to her. The seeds of suspicion have been sown."
Lynn put down his teacup, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
He looked at the empty desktop and knew in his heart that this was just the beginning.
Using bureaucratic means to suppress it is ultimately just a stopgap measure.
When those "tombstones" buried in different universes are unearthed one by one, will the dam he built with the system still be able to withstand the raging flood that is capable of tearing everything apart?