The Special Consultant's Unexpected Disruption, the Resurfacing of the Red Room's Old Files

The air in the conference room felt as if it had been sucked out.

The Red-Headed Document had just been verbally announced by the Director and Director Gwen Stacy, still smelled of freshly printed ink, was placed in front of Hela and Wanda.

"Special Investigation Group for Historical Legacy Energy"

The decision was made by three people: two team leaders, one supervisor, and a unanimous vote.

A perfect closed loop, an unsolvable deadlock.

Hela's fingertips lightly traced the edge of the document, leaving no mark, yet the cold touch spread across the table. Wanda leaned back in her chair, her Scarlet eyes slightly lowered, seemingly engrossed in some word on the document.

The other heads of the secondary departments had already quietly pulled their teacups back in, wishing they could shrink into their chairs as well.

Lynn sat calmly in the main seat.

He had just used an impeccable procedure to turn an internal storm that was directed at him into a predictable, protracted, and ineffective departmental wrangling.

He needs time.

Just as he was about to speak, say a few polite words, and announce the adjournment of the meeting, there was another knock on the heavy door of the conference room.

Three light, rhythmic taps.

She is his secretary.

The secretary quickly walked up behind the Liaison Office Chief, Gwen Stacy, leaned down and whispered a few words, then handed her an encrypted Data Pad with a lit screen.

There seemed to be fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

Gwen Stacy took the Data Pad, glanced at it, and her previously steady breathing paused slightly.

She looked up at Lynn, her eyes revealing something new.

This subtle change did not escape the eyes of Hela and Wanda.

The atmosphere in the meeting room, which had just begun to ease, instantly froze again.

"Director." Gwen Stacy stood up, walked quickly to Lynn's side, and presented him with the Data Pad.

Lynn took it.

The Data Pad was a little cool, and the light from the screen reflected on his face, making his expression unreadable.

The title of the official letter was very formal, but also jarring.

Notification Regarding the Urgent Investigation into Abnormal Energy Fluctuations in the E-616 Abandoned Timeline.

Issuing Authority: Cross-Dimension Coordination Office.

Issued by: Special Advisor, Ravonna Renslayer.

Lynn's gaze moved down the title.

The report was concise. TVA's time monitors detected an unusually strong residual energy fluctuation on an Earth Timeline coordinate that had long been cut off and marked as "abandoned" by the authorities.

The fluctuation characteristics are highly consistent with the "S-01 Unknown Sample" previously submitted by the Management Committee to TVA for filing, in terms of the underlying algorithm structure.

The attached document included the specific coordinates of that Abandoned Timeline.

A place name.

"Red Room"

Lynn's hand gripping the Data Pad tightened silently at the knuckles.

He had just extinguished one fire when Ravonna set another on fire for him. This specially appointed consultant, eager to gain a foothold in the Negative Zone and prove her worth, handed him the sharpest knife with her most professional attitude.

"Director, is this a new situation?"

Hela's voice rang out, devoid of any emotion, like Scalpel cutting through skin.

Her gaze had shifted from Lynn's face to the Data Pad.

Wanda also raised her eyes, and Lynn's figure was reflected in her Scarlet pupils.

Lynn did not answer immediately.

He slowly moved the Data Pad away from his eyes and handed it to Gwen Stacy beside him.

"Director Gwen Stacy, you're the supervisor of the investigation team, responsible for overseeing the process." His voice was calm. "Please review this Assistance Investigation Notice."

This is the program.

The program he created himself.

Gwen Stacy took the Data Pad and saw the place name again. Her face was even paler than before.

She knew very well that this report was like a boulder that had precisely struck the dam that Lynn had just built.

"Team Leader Hela, Team Leader Wanda," Gwen Stacy took a deep breath and turned to the two heads of the investigation team, "Advisor Ravonna from the Coordination Office has submitted an urgent Assistance Investigation Notice, which is directly related to our team's work."

Her words were perfectly flawless.

Hela didn't speak, she simply extended her hand.

Wanda also stood up and stepped forward.

Gwen Stacy couldn't refuse. According to regulations, the two team leaders had the highest priority right to know all relevant intelligence.

The Data Pad was handed to Hela and Wanda.

Two heads came together.

This was the first time today that they had shared a document so "peacefully".

"The Red Room..."

Wanda murmured the name softly, a hint of confusion in her voice.

Hela's gaze was fixed on the line that read "highly compatible in energy characteristics".

Sokovia.

Asgard.

Now, there's another Red Room.

Different times, different places, yet the same incomprehensible energy, belonging to another world.

And, the same kind of magnificent performance that ends with "death".

Inside the conference room, the heads of the secondary departments sensed an extremely dangerous atmosphere. They stood up simultaneously and silently retreated to a corner of the conference room, as if that were the only safe zone.

The tense standoff between Hela and Wanda disappeared.

Instead, a more terrifying tacit understanding has emerged.

They found the third "crime scene".

The newly formed investigation team, which should have been mired in endless internal strife, found itself with its first, and absolutely irresistible, common investigation target the very first minute it was established.

Hela slowly raised her head.

Wanda also raised her head.

Their gazes, like two precise rays, passed over the small screen and simultaneously landed on the man in the main seat.

One of them was the ancient ice of the far north, carrying a chilling sense of judgment.

The other is Scarlet Nebula in the primordial Chaos, surging with a desire for exploration and possession.

The Shura Field, which had just been forcibly suppressed by bureaucratic procedures, has escalated completely due to a Assistance Investigation Notice from TVA.