Unauthorized intervention in the energy fluctuations, the Special Envoy forces her way in
The alarms blared across the three underground levels.
The red light swirled and shone on the door of Laboratory Seven. Two guards stood against the wall outside, their hands on their Communicator, neither daring to make the first call.
The regulations are completely incompatible. If an S-rank laboratory exceeds its energy limits, it must be reported immediately; the Minister of the Department of Technology, among others, has the highest authority to handle the matter. These two documents, placed side by side, form an unsolvable deadlock.
The knot wasn't untied, but the door opened first.
It wasn't opened from the inside.
An invisible force from the outside in forced open the two alloy gates, creating a crack. The hinges creaked, and the Runes on the insulating layer dimmed one by one.
Before the guard could even raise the Communicator to his mouth, he slumped to the ground. He wasn't injured; he was just asleep.
Jean Grey walked in through the crack in the door.
She walked slowly, her heels tapping on the ground, the sound blending into the siren and somehow drowning it out.
"Minister Wanda," she stopped in front of the lab bench, "The laboratory's energy levels are three times the limit. The guards dared not report it. According to Article 11 of the ' High-Risk Entity Control Measures,' the Special Envoy has the right to overstep his authority and intervene."
Wanda did not look back.
She sat at the front of the array, the Scarlet around her not yet fully dissipated, and forty-one Chip trembled gently on the Decryption Array. The bottom-level directory floated on the light screen, the small print of the titles flashing.
"Get out," Wanda said.
"The energy reading is still rising." Qin's gaze passed over her and landed on the light screen. "Minister, you can't control it alone. I'll help you control it."
I said, get out.
The Scarlet magic crept along the ground, reaching Jean's feet before stopping. It wasn't that Wanda showed mercy; rather, three feet around Jean was enveloped in an invisible net of Psychic Power. The magic clashed against it, hissing, and neither could penetrate the other's territory.
Instead of retreating, Qin took another step closer.
"That line of the table of contents," she said, staring at the screen, "Let me take a look."
"Core secrets of the Department of Technology." Wanda finally turned around, her eyes frighteningly red. "The Special Envoy's authority doesn't extend to this light screen."
"Top secret?" Jean chuckled softly. "So secret that it would set off alarms across the entire third basement level? So secret that it would alert the person on the top floor of the Stability Maintenance Office? Wanda, do you think my three feet of Psychic Power is just for show? -- That wisp of something you just resonated out, half of the White Bone Hall could smell it."
Wanda's fingers tightened.
The Residual Echo that dissipated was indeed caused by her loss of control. She couldn't deny that.
"So what if I smelled it?" She stood up, blocking the Decryption Array. "What happens in the lab is none of the business of outsiders. Special Envoy Qin broke in today and took down my guards; the Inspection Office will settle accounts with you for that."
"The Inspection Office?" Qin tilted her head. "Natasha's Inspection Office. Right now, she's probably watching this room like a spectator. Believe it or not, the moment I walked in, she set up her Recording Board."
That was a very accurate remark. Wanda's gaze darkened.
Qin wanted this sinking moment. She took another half step forward, her Psychic Power probing into the Scarlet layer, towards the Decryption Array, towards the floating catalog on the light screen.
"Get out of the way," she said. "That thing concerns Lynn. Can you hold onto it all by yourself?"
"You don't even deserve to mention him."
As soon as the four words were spoken, the Scarlet magic surged forth.
Wanda laughed in fury. She had suffered enough these past few days—the old grudge of her faked death, the six years that had been erased, and that one glance back in the lingering Residual Echo. Each and every one of these things was stuck in her chest, with nowhere to vent, when Qin barged in, demanding to take what she had risked her life for.
The magic surged like a tide, crashing against that layer of Psychic Power.
Qin Butui. Golden psychic power surged from her body and met the attack head-on. The two forces collided in the cramped laboratory. There was no sound, only the light screen flashing wildly, and the instrument readings soaring to red.
Both of them were careful; neither of them actually went all out.
Magic suppressed by three parts, while mental power countered by three parts; for every inch the mental power advanced, the magic power twisted back an inch. In the midst of this struggle, the walls of the laboratory began to crumble, and the Runes on the isolation layer flickered unpredictably.
"Are you crazy?" Qin gritted her teeth. "If we do it here, the Chip won't be able to withstand it."
"Get out, Chip will be able to withstand it." Wanda's voice was icy cold. "Things from the Ministry of Department of Technology, they belong to the Department of Technology in their inception, and they'll break down within the Department of Technology."
"What a mess this Ministry of Department of Technology thing is." Qin's mental focus tightened even more. "When did the Sokovia affair become your family's private property?"
This statement revealed the truth.
Wanda's magic suddenly faltered, then surged even more fiercely. Instead of retreating, Jean advanced, and the two forces intertwined, tightening more and more until the air in the center of the laboratory began to distort.
The Decryption Array was the first to be affected.
Forty-one Chip throbbed violently on the array, their outer shells peeling away piece by piece. The Source Code of the Chip in the center was repeatedly squeezed by two forces, causing the Data Stream on the light screen to become chaotic. The text of the newly surfaced underlying directory began to tremble and blur.
A soft sound.
A fine crack appeared on the surface of the Chip.
Then came the second, and the third. Cracks spread along the surface of the array, like fissures appearing on ice.
Wanda's pupils contracted slightly.
"Stop using your strength," she shouted.
"You go first." Qin's forehead was covered in sweat, but her mental focus remained unwavering.
Neither side was willing to retreat first. The one who retreated first would not only lose this battle, but would also have to watch helplessly as the other side retrieved the remaining data. The two forces were locked in mid-air, the cracks in the Chip deepened one by one, and the underlying data teetered on the brink of collapse.
The alarm outside the door changed its tone.
The warning signal went from exceeding energy limits to indicating damage to physical evidence. The red light turned into a blinding white, and the alarms grew increasingly urgent.
At the end of the corridor, the sound of orderly footsteps could be heard.
No rush, no slowness, step by step, we stepped into the intervals between the alarm sounds.
Qin and Wanda simultaneously recognized whose footsteps they were hearing. The two forces locked in a fierce struggle paused in unison.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the Main Circuit Breaker on the roof of the laboratory was pulled down from the outside with a "click".