The violation of withholding files, the Stability Maintenance Office Director's cross-dimensional...
The emptiness outside the window is Eternity, deathly stillness.
Lynn's fingertips stopped on the smooth tabletop.
The rhythmic tapping, a sound that signified complete control, abruptly stopped.
Absolute silence returned to the office, so quiet that the deep hum of the large life support system deep within the building's structure, like the breathing of an ancient Beast, could be heard.
The cold, emotionless text on the Private Terminal acted like an invisible pair of pliers, tightly gripping the air.
S-rank confidential document cabinet No. 07.
Unauthorized remote photocopying.
Target Attachment: Assistance Investigation Notice - Coordinates Appendix - Asgard Bifrost.
Lynn didn't move, and didn't even look away from the window.
He simply stood there quietly, as if admiring an unchanging landscape painting. But his brain was already working at a speed far exceeding that of any ultra-high-performance computing server.
The timing was three minutes ago. It was exactly after the meeting ended, Hela left the meeting room before returning to the headquarters of the Stability Maintenance Office.
The location is an S-rank confidential document cabinet. Physically located in the zero-isolation zone of the data center, it can be remotely accessed and encrypted by the head of the department with the Highest Access Privileges, who is in their own office. The Director the Stability Maintenance Office happens to have this privilege.
The act of copying without authorization means that this operation bypassed the Liaison Office's normal reporting process and constitutes unauthorized access.
Hela was excessively calm.
Hela, who didn't mention the "Assistance Investigation Notice" at all during the meeting.
It turns out, she wasn't indifferent.
She simply concealed all the turmoil beneath the frozen surface of the sea. Her silence during the meeting bought her the crucial time advantage.
Lynn slowly turned around, walked behind the desk, and sat down.
He did not attempt to contact Hela.
A department head who has resorted to "unauthorized" methods has inevitably cut off all possible channels of communication that could lead to tracking and admonishment. At this point, any form of call will only result in a busy signal.
He accessed the highest-level monitoring interface within the Management Committee.
Retrieve the video recordings of the area where S-rank confidential document cabinet 07 is located.
On the screen, the image remained stable, everything appeared normal. The cold robotic arm hovered silently, its standby indicator light flashing regularly.
This is normal.
The Director of the Stability Maintenance Office has the authority to generate a compliant, looping video to cover up the actual situation during operations. This is to prevent core secrets from being spied on by monitoring personnel with lower-level authority when they are accessed by the top leader.
This is a "blind spot" set up for the purpose of maintaining secrecy.
Now, this blind spot is being used against him, the Director of the Management Committee.
Lynn turned off the video feed and instead accessed the internal energy usage and personnel dispatch logs of the Stability Maintenance Office.
Lines of data flashed by rapidly.
Three minutes ago, an independent hangar under the jurisdiction of the Stability Maintenance Office, codenamed "Night Owl," recorded an output with extremely high energy consumption.
Output target: Phantom-class undead assault ship, "Nibelung".
This warship is Hela's personal vessel, possessing top-tier stealth capabilities and a single warp drive. It is not part of the regular combat force and reports directly to the Director the Stability Maintenance Office. Its activation does not require approval from the combat command center.
Lynn's fingertips lightly traced across the control panel.
He connected to the internal monitoring system of the "Night Owl" hangar.
The screen was completely empty.
The warship, entirely black with hull lines like deadly blades, was no longer in the dock. Only the massive mounting frame remained, still bearing the faint blue arcs of escaping energy.
Lynn leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
He didn't even need to look at the navigation log.
He knew that the coordinates she had illegally copied were the destination of her journey.
She tore up the Confidentiality Agreement.
Take action.
Having just forced the Living Tribunal to back down using rules and procedures, the head of his core department delivered a silent slap in the face in the most unconventional way.
She was going to find that answer.
Searching for that "Phantom" in Asgard who shielded her from the Gungnir and turned to ashes in her arms.
This is an open strategy.
Hela had calculated it correctly; he dared not, and could not, openly stop him.
Once he orders the interception of the "Nibelung," it would be tantamount to announcing to the entire Negative Zone that an irreconcilable internal conflict has broken out between the Director of the Management Committee and the Director the Stability Maintenance Office. If not handled properly, it could escalate into an armed standoff.
The external crisis that has just subsided can instantly transform into an internal turmoil capable of tearing the entire Negative Zone apart.
What will Wanda think? What will Gwen Stacy think? What will those forces that have just submitted and are still observing think?
This political entity, which has just defeated a higher -Dimension enemy by relying on "unity" and "rules," will become a joke due to infighting at the highest level.
Therefore, Hela was certain that he could only watch.
Lynn opened his eyes, his gaze devoid of any emotion, only a mechanical calm remained.
He took another Data Pad from the encrypted drawer.
That was a technical backup of the fabricated data regarding "D-78 Emotional Dump" that Wanda had previously submitted. Among them were several energy models that Wanda had marked with red circles, which she believed "lacked soul weight."
One of them, the decay curve of the energy spectrum, closely matches the coordinates of the Bifrost in Asgard.
Lynn's finger hovered over the report.
A moment later, he locked the Data Pad back into the drawer.
He did not inform Wanda.
Sending a Chaos Witch on the verge of losing control to intercept a Goddess of Death determined to find the truth?
That's not the solution.
That's because they felt the destruction of Negative Zone was too slow.
Lynn stood up and walked back to the French windows.
He gazed out the window at the void, as if he could pierce through the endless darkness and see the lone black warship tearing through space, heading towards a predetermined past.
External crises can be contained by the dam of the system.
But the source of the internal flood that breaches the dam lies in people's hearts.
The Internal Communicator on the table suddenly rang.
It's Gwen Stacy.
"Director, the Stability Maintenance Office just submitted an application." Gwen Stacy's voice sounded somewhat confused. "Director Hela has applied for 72 hours of leave, the reason being... to handle the 'technical upgrade of legacy equipment' issue within the Stability Maintenance Office."
"Who signed off on the report?" Lynn asked calmly.
"No signature was required. It was automatically filed by the system... This falls under the authority of the Director of the Stability Maintenance Office; it's a first-level priority, so execute it first, then report it."
A cold, unnoticed smirk escaped Lynn's lips.
They even prepared such a thorough excuse.
"Understood," he said.
After hanging up, the office fell silent once again.
Lynn knew that a new storm had already left the harbor.
This time, however, he was no longer the chess player who could hide behind the rules and strategize from behind the scenes.
He himself is the eye of the storm.
He was even more curious to know what Hela would discover when Hela arrived at those coordinates, faced with empty ruins, or... faced with traces left by the system that she couldn't understand.
And what will you bring back?