The banquet hall on the thirtieth floor of Vought Tower was still bustling with noise and excitement.
More than a dozen mutants had completely shed their usual restraint and fear, relaxing freely and playing to their hearts' content.
Anqi spread her wings and hovered lightly in midair. Her transparent wings fluttered gently, stirring soft breezes, free and dazzling.
Another mutant with a long tail was even more agile, hanging upside down from a chandelier on the ceiling and freely showing off his gift for agility. Laughter and conversation rose and fell throughout the hall, filling it with warmth.
Just as everyone was immersed in this rare sense of ease and belonging, the closed elevator suddenly gave a soft ding, and its doors slowly slid open to either side.
Several mutants who had been laughing turned at the sound, their eyes instantly lighting up with anticipation. They all thought more of their kind had come to join them and were filled with delight.
But the people who stepped out of the elevator were an unfamiliar man and woman in neat black suits, their bearing cold and stern.
The moment they entered the hall, their gazes swept across the noisy, disorderly scene, and their brows drew into tight frowns. Their icy presence instantly overwhelmed the lively atmosphere.
Before anyone could react, the woman spoke first. Her cold rebuke abruptly rang through the hall, drowning out every other sound.
"What is this nonsense?! Making a racket all day long-have you no sense of decorum! If outside media had walked in just now, filmed this chaos, and sensationalized it, do you know how much trouble that would cause Vought International in the press, or how great the losses would be?!"
The sharp rebuke was like a bucket of cold water dumped over their heads.