Miss Minutes' warning, He Who Remains' gaze
Orange Holographic Projection light flickered in the dilapidated Courtroom, accompanied by the hissing sound of an old-fashioned projector running.
Miss Minutes's anthropomorphic cartoonish smiling face floated in mid-air, her sweet Southern United States accent echoing amidst the mess, every word pointing directly to Lynn's "fake death" hoax.
The lingering smell of Ozone and the strong stench of blood in the air froze at that moment.
Lynn leaned against the edge of the Control Console, his finger muscles taut instinctively. He didn't look at the expressions of the four women beside him; his brain was working frantically at an overload. Once these four Yandere in their extreme, obsessive states realized they were being played for fools, the delicate balance they had just maintained would instantly collapse, and he wouldn't even need the Multiverse to reject him; he would be torn to shreds on the spot.
However, the expected anger was not directed at him.
"Who gave you permission to... speak to him in that tone?"
Wanda's voice was as soft as a breeze, yet it carried a chilling coldness capable of freezing the soul. She slowly straightened up, her dark red trench coat fluttering even without wind. Blood seeped again from the blood vessels at the corners of her eyes, which had just burst from overdrawing her magic power, and her unfocused Scarlet eyes were fixed on the Holographic Projection in mid-air.
Chaos Magic compressed rapidly in her palm, emitting a piercing crackling sound. In Wanda's distorted mind, Lynn lied to her? That was just a little quirky thing between them. But this damned clock that appeared out of nowhere dared to threaten her man right in front of her? Damn it.
"A mere, lowly electronic ghost dares to point fingers at my prey?" Hela scoffed, her Night Sky Sword slicing through the ground in a blinding flash. A ghostly green Death Force, as if alive, crawled along the blade. She slightly raised her chin, revealing the undisguised domineering presence of the Queen of Asgard. "Lynn's life is mine. Even if he's acting, he's acting for me. Who do you think you are?"
Gwen Stacy didn't speak, but silently pulled up her mask, and a dazzling Bio-Electricity erupted from the surface of her black and white battle suit. Female Venom was even more direct; her massive black body lunged forward, and her barbed tentacles lashed out at the Holographic Projection Device.
"Bang!"
The hard alloy instrument was shattered by the tentacles, but Miss Minutes's image only flickered for a moment before reassembling on the other side.
"Oh dear, these ladies have such fiery tempers," Miss Minutes maintained her saccharine smile, her electronic eyes darting around. "But even if you smash me a hundred times, it won't change the fact. Mr. Lynn, are you really planning to keep hiding behind these poor ladies forever?"
"Hide?"
Lynn finally spoke.
He raised his hand and gently pressed it against Wanda's shoulder, which was about to unleash Destruction Ray. The burning sensation of Chaos Particles rubbing together was felt at his fingertips. Then, in a very low voice, he made a tactical gesture to Gwen Stacy that only the two of them understood, successfully calming the group of killing gods who were about to go berserk.
Lynn straightened up. The facade of weakness that seemed on the verge of collapse was completely stripped away, replaced by an absolute rationality and sharpness that sent chills down one's spine.
He had just obtained four top-tier Cosmic Energy for free, and his physical strength and Mental Barrier had reached an extremely terrifying threshold. Lynn stared directly at the cartoonish smiling face, a malicious smile curving his lips.
"Stop with your cheap tricks of sowing discord." Lynn's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a calm confidence that indicated he controlled the situation. "If your master—that old man sitting in the castle at the End of Time —were really interested in watching a show, he wouldn't have sent a low-level AI like you to deliver a message."
Miss Minutes's smile froze for a moment, and a few unstable specks of snow appeared at the edge of the Holographic Image.
"Let me guess, he must be having a terrible headache right now?" Lynn strode forward, stepping over the shards of glass, and approached the projection. "I've already altered the Underlying Logic of TVA. Your proud ' No-Magic Rule ' are as fragile as paper in front of these four women."
Lynn raised his hand and pointed to the huge Dimension rift on the Courtroom, from which Scarlet and eerie green light was seeping outwards.
"The Sacred Timeline is cracking. The four of them forcibly crossed Dimension to arrive here, bringing with them the primordial power of their respective universes. The time Loom should be about to overload and explode by now, right?" Lynn's eyes were sharp as knives, directly piercing through the weakness that the higher-dimensional beings were trying to conceal. "If we aren't removed immediately, the Variant of the Multiverse will swarm out like locusts and devour his dilapidated castle until nothing is left."
Miss Minutes's smile vanished completely. Her sweet southern accent was replaced by a cold, inorganic, synthesized voice, and the gravity in the entire Courtroom suddenly increased dozens of times.
"You are an extremely dangerous variable, Lynn." The mechanical voice echoed in the space, carrying the arrogance and murderous intent of a higher-dimensional being. "The He Who Remains controls everything. Even if you possess the power to destroy TVA, he can erase the entire universe at this coordinate from the Timeline at any time, like erasing a piece of chalk from a blackboard."
Along with the warning, the surrounding air began to turn an eerie purple. That was TVA's ultimate Pruning Law, attempting to bypass Lynn's altered code and directly annihilate them on a physical level.
"Erase?"
Lynn laughed, a laugh that was extremely arrogant, even bordering on madness.
He abruptly grabbed Wanda's wrist with his other hand, and with an almost natural motion, wrapped his arm around Hela's waist. The two women stiffened slightly, then unleashed an energy surge ten times more terrifying than before.
"You can try!" Lynn, enduring the increased gravity, stared intently at the screen. "Let's see if your Erasure Protocol is faster, or if Chaos Magic and the Death Force can tear apart the time Loom faster!"
"Boom--!"
Wanda's Scarlet Particles and Hela's Death Energy soared into the sky, directly piercing the ceiling of the Courtroom. Gwen Stacy's Bio-Electric Field and Female Venom's black slime followed closely behind, the four forces intertwining to form an energy beam that pierced through the heavens and earth, slamming heavily into the dome of TVA headquarters.
A piercing alarm blared throughout the Time Variance Authority, and red warning lights flashed wildly. Countless time branches sprouted rampantly on the light screen like uncontrolled weeds.
Miss Minutes's image began to distort violently, emitting a series of piercing blinding sounds. The He Who Remains finally realized that he was not facing a Variant that he could manipulate at will, but a madman who led four world-destroying beasts and acted completely unpredictably.
"Stop!" Miss Minutes's electronic voice carried an undisguised hint of panic. "If the Timeline completely collapses, your universe will face invasions from countless Variant! This will do you no good!"
Lynn looked at the warning red box flashing wildly on the screen and knew the time was right.
He has completely seized the initiative in this cross-space battle.
"Finally willing to speak properly?" Lynn raised his hand and snapped his the Snap.
Although Wanda and the others were filled with murderous intent, they forcibly suppressed their continued energy output the moment Lynn touched them. They were like four Sword of Damocles hanging over TVA's head, ready to fall at any moment.
"Let's make a deal." Lynn leaned forward, his hands gripping the broken Control Console, exuding an imposing aura. "I can take these four lunatics... these four beautiful ladies and leave this place, restoring your fragile, Sacred Timeline to normal. I can even guarantee that I won't actively interfere with your script for a very long time."
Miss Minutes's electronic eyes flashed rapidly, seemingly performing massive data calculations.
What do you want?
Lynn's eyes darkened considerably. He knew very well that the reason he was targeted by TVA and even faced judgment from the Ancient One was because of the system within him and these cross- Dimension bonds, which were as conspicuous as searchlights in the dark.
He must obtain that item in order to completely conceal himself from the sight of all the Deity in the ensuing Shura Field.
"What I want is simple." Lynn leaned closer to the Holographic Projection, uttering each word carefully the bargaining chip that would send chills down the spines of the He Who Remains, "I want that device in your Main Control Room, the one used to shield against detection by Deity from the Multiverse..."