American Comics: Wanda Died So Tragically That She Tore the Universe Apart for Me
Chapter 1: A Suicide Mission for a Low-Level S.H.I.E.L.D.Agent
Washington D.C., S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion Headquarters.
In the logistics office, the air was filled with the dull, mixed scent of cheap coffee and printer ink.
Lynn held his mug, preparing to start his standard routine of slacking off while on the clock.
"Lynn, Pierce's office, now."
A gravelly voice interrupted his comfort.
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, the Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Strike Team, was staring at Lynn with his hawk-like eyes.
He knocked his metal-prosthetic-wrapped fist against the doorframe, making a dull thud.
The gazes of the other Agents in the office instantly converged on him, carrying undisguised pity.
Being personally summoned by Crossbones was usually not a good thing.
Especially for a level-three logistics Agent like Lynn, who had a clean file, an ordinary background, and no one to rely on.
"Understood, Officer."
Lynn put down his coffee cup, squeezing out a standard, flawless corporate drone smile on his face.
But inside, he was complaining wildly.
"Damn it, here we go again."
As a low-level cannon fodder planted by HYDRA in S.H.I.E.L.D., he knew all too well what this "private conversation" meant.
It was either going to some godforsaken place to die, or taking the fall for some big shot and then vanishing from the face of the earth.
Having transmigrated into this high-mortality Marvel Universe for three years, Lynn lived every day like he was walking a tightrope.
He carefully played the role of a mediocre, slick, and occasionally slightly clumsy logistics staff member.
His goal was only one: to survive.
Until yesterday, when his cheat finally arrived.
[Die-Hard Simulator bound.]
[This simulator is designed to help the host obtain power in desperate situations and reverse fate.]
Lynn chanted silently in his heart, and a pale blue panel that only he could see unfolded before his eyes.
This was his confidence.
Following Crossbones into the elevator, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.
"This mission is simple," Crossbones said, his scarred face devoid of any expression. "Go to Sokovia and recover some HYDRA assets."
Lynn's pupils constricted slightly.
Sokovia.
Age of Ultron.
Maintaining a submissive appearance on the surface, he asked in a low voice: "Officer, I'm just logistics. This kind of field mission, isn't it..."
"That's an order, Agent." Crossbones interrupted him, his tone cold. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is short-handed right now. You just need to follow the team and load the items onto the plane."
Lies.
Lynn knew it clearly in his heart.
This wasn't recovering assets at all; this was going to feed Ultron.
Crossbones, or rather Alexander Pierce behind him, was using this chaos to purge those "their own people" in S.H.I.E.L.D. whom they didn't trust or who had lost their utility.
And he, Lynn, was clearly on this purge list.
The elevator doors opened; they had arrived at Pierce's office.
This high-ranking official of the World Security Council, one of the contemporary leaders of HYDRA, was standing in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking all of Washington.
"Agent Lynn," Pierce turned around, revealing a kind smile. "Rumlow should have told you everything, right? This mission is very important to S.H.I.E.L.D. I've read your file—loyal, reliable. I think highly of you."
Empty promises, manipulation, typical leadership rhetoric.
Lynn felt no waves in his heart; he even wanted to laugh.
He stood at attention and saluted, his voice loud and clear: "I guarantee the mission will be completed, Officer!"
Acting, who couldn't do that?
Pierce nodded with satisfaction and waved, signaling they could leave.
From beginning to end, he never looked at Lynn properly.
An ant that could be crushed at any time was not worth his time.
Returning to his workstation, Lynn began to pack his things.
The surrounding colleagues cast sympathetic glances, but no one dared to say a word.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lynn saw that his direct supervisor had even started cleaning his desk, preparing to welcome a newcomer.
"It's truly terrifyingly realistic."
Lynn mocked himself in his heart, while his consciousness sank into the simulator in his mind.
[Die-Hard Simulator]
[Core mechanism: Select a female character with a tragic fate and enter the simulated time-space.]
[Mission objective: In the simulated time-space, achieve the most extreme, tragic, and unforgettable ending by "dying for her".]
[Mission reward: Based on the ending evaluation, extract the character's abilities, bloodline, equipment, or related technology.]
[Side effect: After the simulation ends, the target character will 100% inherit the memories and emotions from the simulated time-space.]
Lynn's gaze swept over the side effect line, and his heartbeat accelerated slightly.
Inherit memories and emotions?
This was interesting.
He had originally thought this was just a simple virtual game for grinding rewards, but now it seemed things were more complex than he imagined, and... more exciting.
[Please select the target for this simulation.]
[List of selectable targets is generating...]
[1. Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)]
[Tragedy node: Battle of Sokovia, twin brother QuicksilverPietro died under Ultron's gunfire, becoming an indelible pain and inner demon for the rest of her life, eventually leading to the loss of control over Chaos Magic.]
[2. Gwen Stacy (Ghost Spider)]
[Tragedy node: Battle of the Clock Tower at Oscorp, thrown from a great height by Green Goblin Norman Osborn; her boyfriend Spider-Man Peter Parker failed to save her, and she died with hatred.]
[3. Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow)]
[Tragedy node: Vormir, sacrificed herself by falling off a cliff to exchange for the Soul Stone.]
...
A series of familiar names and their tragic fates were listed on the panel.
Lynn's eyes did not hesitate at all, locking directly onto the first name.
Wanda Maximoff.
Scarlet Witch.
One of the top combatants in the Marvel Universe, the wielder of Chaos Magic, a bug-level existence who could modify reality with a single thought.
And he was about to head to Sokovia.
It was truly a godsend.
"Crossbones wants me to die in Sokovia, so I'll die once for him to see."
A cold arc curled up on the corner of Lynn's mouth.
He was going to use this suicidal mission to complete his first simulation and obtain enough initial power to protect himself.
[Selected simulation target: Wanda Maximoff.]
[Simulation scenario: Battle of Sokovia.]
[Loading simulated time-space... 10%... 50%... 90%...]
"Lynn, assemble! The plane is taking off soon!"
Crossbones' impatient urging sounded at the door.
Lynn picked up his tactical backpack and took one last look at this office where he had stayed for three years.
From today on, that submissive logistics Agent was dead.
[100%! Simulated time-space loaded!]
[Wish you... a pleasant death.]
Before Lynn's eyes, the World was instantly swallowed by white light.
Chapter 2: Simulation Initiated, The Ruins of Sokovia
"Boom—!"
A violent explosion detonated right beside his ears, and a scorching blast wave, mixed with dust and rubble, slammed hard into Lynn's back.
He stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.
The scene before him was a city in ruins that looked like hell itself.
The sky was obscured by a slowly rising city, and countless hideous robots descended like rain, wantonly spewing deadly blue lasers.
The screams of civilians, the sounds of collapsing buildings, and the roar of firearms intertwined into a symphony of doomsday.
This was Sokovia.
[Simulation timeline initiated.]
[Identity: S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 3 Field Agent.]
[Main Quest: Die for Wanda Maximoff.]
[Quest Hint: The value of death depends on the depth of the Mark it leaves in the target's heart. An unremarkable death cannot earn a high rating.]
A pale blue system panel flashed across Lynn's retinas.
He took a deep breath of air mixed with the smell of gunpowder, forcing himself to calm down.
He was just an ordinary person now, wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D.standard combat uniform, holding a standard service rifle.
On this Skyfather-level battlefield, he wasn't even cannon fodder; he was just a speck of dust that could be crushed at any moment.
"Hey! Newbie! Don't just stand there, find cover!"
A blood-covered veteran Agent roared at him, then dragged him behind a broken wall.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Several lasers instantly pierced the spot where Lynn had just been standing, leaving scorching holes in the ground.
"Thanks," Lynn said, panting heavily.
"If you want to live, stick close to us!" the veteran Agentyelled while changing his magazine. "Our mission is to cover the civilians' evacuation; don't go provoking those tin cans!"
Lynn nodded, but his gaze went past the cover, rapidly searching the chaotic battlefield.
He was looking for someone.
Soon, in the ruins of a relatively open square, he saw that blinding crimson.
Wanda Maximoff.
She was hovering in mid-air, her hands surging with crimson energy, tearing Ultron robots rushing toward civilians into pieces.
Her face was filled with exhaustion and anger, and every time she cast a spell, it was accompanied by heavy panting.
Not far from her, a silver-white blur was shuttling across the battlefield at high speed, kicking up gusts of air.
Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff.
Found him!
Lynn's heart began to beat violently.
He knew that the key plot point was about to arrive.
He had to reach the correct position before that "moment" arrived.
"I see more civilians trapped over there; I'm going to provide support!"
Lynn shouted to the veteran Agent beside him, and without waiting for a response, he bolted out from cover and rushed toward where Wanda was.
"Madman! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" The veteran Agent's angry curse was drowned out by the sound of explosions.
Trying to get myself killed?
That's right, I am here to die.
Lynn answered in his heart.
But he had to die with value.
He moved through the ruins like an agile cheetah.
Before crossing over, he was just an ordinary corporate slave. But these three years of training in S.H.I.E.L.D.(HYDRA) were not in vain; his physical fitness and tactical evasion abilities were already far beyond those of an ordinary person.
[Warning! High-energy reaction detected approaching!]
The system's warning sounded in his mind.
Lynn suddenly dove and rolled forward.
"Boom!"
The spot where he had just been was instantly vaporized by a thick laser beam.
It was one of Ultron's elite robots.
Lynn didn't even look, continuing his mad dash without turning his head.
He had only one goal: the center of the square where the tragedy was about to unfold.
He observed the entire battlefield from a god's-eye view.
Captain America was directing the evacuation, Iron Manwas fighting Ultron in the air, and Thor and Hulk were clearing out large swaths of minions.
Everything was exactly the same as in the movie.
And that quinjet circling in the air had already been seized by Ultron.
Its cold machine gun had already begun to turn slowly.
In the square, Hawkeye Barton was holding a little boy who had been separated from his parents, trying to find cover.
Quicksilver noticed them.
And Wanda, because of the continuous use of her abilities, experienced a momentary lapse in focus and was entangled by several Ultron robots, unable to spare any attention.
Now is the time!
Lynn's pupils contracted to the limit.
He saw Quicksilver had turned into a silver bolt of lightning, rushing toward Hawkeye.
He also saw the quinjet's pitch-black machine gun, where muzzle flashes had already begun to flicker.
He could even read the scream in her heart through Wanda's face, which had instantly turned deathly pale and filled with despair.
"Pietro!!!"
Wanda's scream rang through the sky.
But it was too late.
The speed of bullets is, after all, faster than sound.
However, at that critical moment.
A black shadow, faster and more determined than Quicksilver's lightning, suddenly shot out from the ruins!
It was Lynn!
He poured all the strength he had trained over these three years into his legs, his muscles emitting groans of being overloaded.
His speed, at this moment, exceeded the limits of a mortal!
"Get out of the way!"
Lynn used all his strength to let out a roar, slamming hard into Quicksilver, who had just run in front of Hawkeye and was preparing to block the bullets with his body.
"Bang!"
Quicksilver was sent flying by this immense force, falling to the ground with a look of astonishment.
And Lynn took his original position.
He turned around, using his own back to face the impenetrable metal storm descending from the sky.
He even had the leisure to flash a smile at Wanda, who was not far away, her face full of shock and despair.
Goodbye.
Or rather, hello, Wanda.
The next second.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—!"
Countless large-caliber armor-piercing bullets instantly pierced through his body.
Flesh, bone, and internal organs tore open countless hideous wounds on his back.
Immediately after, the quinjet's fully charged main cannon laser arrived as well.
A scorching blue beam of light shot precisely into his back, piercing through his entire chest.
Lynn's body trembled violently, his life force draining away rapidly like a bursting flood.
The World in his eyes began to blur.
But he still used his last bit of strength to straighten his spine, refusing to fall.
With the flesh and blood of a mortal, he held up a barrier of absolute safety for Hawkeye, for that child, and for Quicksilver.
Until the hail of bullets ceased and the laser dissipated.
Only then did Lynn's body sway slowly, collapsing toward the ground like a severed log.
A pair of soft hands caught him.
Crimson energy instantly swept across the entire square, and all the Ultron robots were turned into dust in an instant.
Lynn lifted his head with difficulty, and what came into view was Wanda's tear-stained face, beautiful enough to break one's heart.
Chapter 3: Chaos Out of Control, Scarlet Storm
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
High above the ruins of Sokovia, all the clamor had faded away.
Lynn lay in the arms of Wanda, able to clearly feel her body trembling violently.
Warm tears fell onto his cheeks, mixing with the blood that kept gushing from him.
In his chest was a massive, gaping hole that went straight through, the edges still charred by laser burns.
His body was riddled with countless bullet holes, like a broken ragdoll.
His vitality was draining away by the second.
"Why... why..."
Wanda's voice was hoarse and broken, filled with a thick, inseparable pain and confusion.
She did not know this man.
She did not even know his name.
Yet, it was this complete stranger who, in the most desperate moment, traded his own life to save her brother's.
That unwavering determination, that calm smile in the face of death, was branded deep into her soul like a red-hot iron.
"Cough... cough..."
Lynn opened his mouth, and every breath was accompanied by blood and fragments of his internal organs gushing out.
He wanted to say something.
At a moment like this, a heartfelt confession or a philosophical last word would undoubtedly push the "performance effect" of this death to the max.
But he could not do it.
His vocal cords and lungs had been completely destroyed.
He could only use his last ounce of strength to raise his blood-stained hand and gently touch Wanda's cheek.
He wanted to wipe away her tears.
This simple action, however, exhausted his remaining life.
Lynn's hand fell limply, and the light in his eyes faded completely.
He was dead.
He had breathed his last in the arms of the Scarlet Witch.
[Simulation mission complete.]
[Calculating ending evaluation...]
[Evaluation in progress...]
[Target character emotional imprint depth: Extremely deep.]
[Cause of death: Extremely tragic.]
[Performance effect: Perfect.]
[Overall evaluation: SSS-Rank — Undying Love!]
[Congratulations to the host for achieving the epic achievement: Mortal body, rivaling the gods.]
In Lynn's consciousness space, a series of system notifications were flooding the screen.
But in Wanda's World, only dead silence remained.
She held Lynn's gradually cooling corpse blankly, as if she were a soulless statue.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
"No..."
A whisper like a dream escaped her lips.
"No!!!"
The next moment, a scream that shook the heavens and earth, filled with endless grief and rage, erupted!
"Aaaaaah——!!!"
Boom!!!
A scarlet energy, indescribable in words and thousands of times more powerful than before, exploded from her as the center!
That was not magic.
That was the rules themselves.
It was the most primordial power of the Universe, known as "Chaos"!
A scarlet energy storm shot into the sky, instantly tearing through the clouds.
The entire floating city of Sokovia was like a fragile sandcastle in the face of this power.
Countless rampaging Ultron robots, along with their indestructible Vibranium bodies, were instantly erased at the molecular level the moment they touched the scarlet energy, annihilated into their most basic particles.
The earth groaned, and space twisted.
Visible scarlet cracks spread through the air.
Reality was being forcibly rewritten!
"My god... what is that?!"
On the distant battlefield, Tony Stark stared at the energy readings on his armor's display, which had instantly gone off the charts, and let out an exclamation of disbelief.
"Thor! Hulk! Everyone! Evacuate that area immediately!" Captain America Steve Rogers' voice rang out anxiously over the communication channel, "That power... it's disintegrating everything!"
Quicksilver Pietro climbed up from the ground, staring blankly at his sister in the center of the storm.
He could feel the sorrow and destruction contained within that power.
And the source of it all was merely the death of that stranger.
In the center of the storm, Wanda's eyes were scarlet, her tears long since evaporated.
She held Lynn's corpse and slowly floated into mid-air.
"No one... is going to take you... away from me."
She whispered neurotically, as scarlet Chaos Magic began to flood into Lynn's body, attempting to reshape his shattered flesh and reverse his death.
However, Lynn's soul had already dissipated.
Her actions were destined to be in vain.
This futility only made her more insane.
[Congratulations to the host for receiving the SSS-Rank evaluation reward!]
[Reward 1: Extract target character core ability — Chaos Magic (Primary)!]
[Reward 2: Extract target character physique — Chaos Energy Affinity (Growable)!]
[Reward 3: Extract special item — Wanda's Protection (When you suffer a fatal threat, there is a 30% chance to trigger a cross-dimensional projection of Wanda to protect you, lasting 10 seconds).]
[Simulation ended, consciousness returning.]
Lynn's consciousness, amidst the system notifications, gradually detached from this simulated space that had fallen into madness because of him.
...
Reality.
Aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet.
Lynn snapped his eyes open, gasping violently.
He looked down at his hands and touched his chest.
Unharmed.
But inside his body, there was now a warm and violent power, flowing through his veins like surging magma.
This was Chaos Magic!
He had succeeded!
He was no longer the cannon fodder waiting to be slaughtered!
Lynn suppressed his inner ecstasy and scanned the cabin.
Crossbones and his strike team members were leaning against the cabin walls, resting with their eyes closed; no one noticed his abnormality.
The plane was flying at high speed through the clouds, heading straight for Sokovia.
Everything was exactly the same as it was before he entered the simulation.
However, just then.
"Warning! Warning! Unknown high-dimensional energy reaction detected!"
"Energy source... above headquarters!"
A pilot's terrified scream suddenly rang out from the plane's cockpit.
Lynn's heart skipped a beat as he lunged to the porthole and looked down.
He saw that above the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion headquarters in Washington D.C., a massive scarlet storm vortex was forming out of thin air!
The color, shape, and even the destructive aura contained within that storm were exactly the same as the Chaos Magic he had seen erupt when Wanda lost control in the simulated space!
"System... didn't you say that only the target character would inherit the memories?" Lynn roared in his mind.
[That is correct, host.]
[But you seem to have underestimated just how terrifying the obsession and rage of a Skyfather-level potential individual can be after witnessing the brutal death of their beloved.]
[The Wanda Maximoff of the real World is already on the verge of a mental breakdown the moment she received the simulated memories.]
Lynn's face turned pale instantly.
He looked at the scarlet storm enveloping the entire headquarters, and a terrifying thought surged into his mind.
That crazy Witch who had just sworn to destroy everything while holding his corpse in the simulation...
She had come for him!
Chapter 4: The Witch's Despair, the Scarlet Storm Descends on Reality
Sokovia, a secret HYDRA Base hundreds of meters underground.
Cold, ghostly blue light shone onto the reinforced glass cell. Wanda Maximoff curled up in the corner, her hands hugging her knees. She had originally just been a volunteer who willingly accepted the Mind Stone experiment, but just a second ago, a memory so vast it was enough to tear her soul apart smashed into her mind without warning.
Boom!
That was the roar of autocannons.
She smelled the pungent scent of gunpowder and felt the warmth of hot blood splattering on her cheek. She saw clearly the man wearing the S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform shielding her from the hail of bullets with his broad back. The image of his chest being pierced by lasers was like a red-hot steel needle, stabbing fiercely into her optic nerves.
"Goodbye. Or rather, hello, Wanda."
The man's smile froze in her mind.
"No..." Wanda clutched her chest, a tearing, twisting pain shooting through her heart. That pain was too real—so real that it surpassed all the days and nights she had spent in this cold cell. The thread of fate, that bond, had been forcibly connected by that man with his bloody life, only to be cruelly severed in an instant.
"Lynn..." She spoke that name, carved deeply into her heart in her memory, and tears streamed from her eyes.
"Subject Two is showing abnormal brainwave fluctuations! Energy readings are skyrocketing exponentially!" In the monitoring room, a researcher stared at the bright red curve on the screen, his voice cracking.
Baron Strucker slammed the door open, his single eye fixed on the girl behind the one-way glass: "Activate the sedative gas! Now!"
It was too late.
Wanda slowly raised her head. Her once clear eyes were now completely consumed by an endless scarlet. Extreme despair underwent a qualitative change at this moment, transforming into a morbid and violent possessiveness.
The special alloy shackles on her wrists were gripped by some invisible giant hand, instantly twisting and snapping. Sharp metal shards sliced through her wrists, but she didn't notice. Because physical pain was not even one ten-thousandth of the pain of her soul being torn apart.
"No one... is allowed to take him away from me."
Boom!
Scarlet Chaos Magic erupted from her body like a volcanic explosion. The special reinforced glass didn't last even a millisecond, turning directly into dust. The violent energy storm swept through the entire underground Base; those precision instruments and fully armed HYDRA Agents, the moment they touched the scarlet mist, were completely erased at the molecular level before they could even scream.
In the face of this power that transcended the rules, so-called technological defenses were like paper.
Wanda hovered in mid-air, her body wrapped in scarlet tentacles that looked substantial. She closed her eyes and, amidst the complex information of the Multiverse, accurately captured that faint yet familiar fluctuation—it was the "Chaos Magic Affinity" that had just awakened in Lynn.
"Found you."
She reached out with pale fingers and tore fiercely at the void in front of her. Space was ripped open like a curtain, creating a massive rift, the other end pointing directly at Washington D.C.
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., above the S.H.I.E.L.D.Triskelion.
"Steady the control stick! Push the engines to the max!" Inside the cockpit of the quinjet, ear-piercing red alarm lights flashed wildly. The violent airflow caused the entire jet to bump violently like a leaf in a gale.
"Officer, external air pressure is abnormal! Radar is completely down! A high-dimensional energy is locking down this airspace!" The pilot shouted desperately over the communication channel.
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, was thrown to the floor by a violent jolt. He scrambled up, pulled out his sidearm, and looked out the porthole with a terrified gaze: "What the hell! What on earth is that?!"
Lynn gripped his seatbelt tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands. On the surface, he pretended to be as panicked as the other Agents, but inside, he was complaining wildly.
"System, you call this 'awakened memory'? This woman's obsession is even more rabid than those Anbu chasing rogue ninjas! She's tearing through space to kill me!"
The Chaos Magic Affinity he had just acquired was resonating strongly with the sky-covering scarlet storm outside the window. His blood was boiling, and his muscles ached from tension. Lynn knew very well that the destructive killing intent brewing in the center of that storm was all for him.
His original plan was to slack off at S.H.I.E.L.D., using information asymmetry to slowly develop. But now, this Skyfather-level yandere Witch had flipped the chessboard.
This has blown up; he only wanted to scam some rewards, and now he had become the yandere's only bond.
"Must make an emergency landing immediately! The wings are about to disintegrate!" The pilot roared, yanking the control stick.
The jet, trailing black smoke and caught in the scarlet storm, smashed crookedly onto the helipad on the top floor of the Triskelion.
On the top floor of the building, the Director's office. Nick Fury stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, his only remaining eye narrowed into a dangerous slit. The gale whipped up gravel, slamming against the bulletproof glass with a crackle. The sky was dyed a suffocating blood color, and the oppressive feeling made even this King of Agents, who had seen all kinds of storms, feel a tightness in his chest.
His ultimate mastermind brain was racing. A Mutant? Alien invasion? Or a god from some ancient dimension? If this power went out of control, never mind S.H.I.E.L.D., the entire East Coast would be wiped off the map within three minutes.
"Director, energy readings have exceeded the detector's limit!" Agent Hill walked in quickly, her face pale. "This is not any known weather weapon; it... it's like some kind of living energy entity!"
Fury tightened his grip on the hem of his black trench coat and reached for the pager at his waist, his final trump card. But he held back; his intuition told him this storm had a specific target.
"Sound the Level 10 alarm immediately! Activate all anti-aircraft firepower! Notify the underground bunker, prepare to transfer core data!" Fury ordered through gritted teeth.
"Yes!"
The piercing air-raid siren instantly rang through the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Countless heavy autocannons hidden inside the building rose up, their pitch-black barrels aiming in unison at the eye of the storm in the sky.
Bang! With a loud crash, the smoking quinjet smashed heavily onto the helipad, sliding dozens of meters before barely stopping, plowing a deep charred mark into the ground.
The cabin door was kicked open violently. Crossbones, holding his rifle, covered his squad members as they stumbled out of the cabin. Lynn was mixed in the crowd; the moment he stepped onto the helipad, an extremely scorching airflow hit his face, making it painful to even breathe.
He looked up. In the center of the storm, the space rift completely stabilized. A stunningly beautiful figure wearing a dark red trench coat floated slowly out of the rift. Her eyes burned with a pure scarlet light, like a god of destruction descending upon the mortal world.
"Fire! Fire!" Crossbones, in extreme terror, roared at the top of his lungs.
Hundreds of heavy autocannons surrounding them, along with the rifles in the Agents' hands, fired simultaneously. A dense rain of bullets formed an impenetrable net of fire, attempting to tear the woman in mid-air to shreds.
However, Wanda didn't even glance at them. She just tilted her head slightly.
Hum—! A circle of scarlet energy ripples spread out from her as the center. Those bullets, capable of penetrating armor, instantly froze ten meters away from her. Then, like sand drained of moisture, they turned into iron dust that fell in a rustling shower.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s proud defense system, in the face of this Chaos power, didn't even make a sound.
The entire helipad fell into a desperate oppression. Crossbones and the others' breathing stopped completely; their hands holding the guns trembled uncontrollably, and their knees went weak, forced to kneel on the ground by that substantial pressure.
Wanda slowly lowered her head. Those eyes, filled with a desire for destruction and morbid paranoia, passed through the layers of kneeling people and locked accurately and unmistakably onto Lynn, who was standing at the very back, pretending to be unsteady from the wind pressure.
The corners of her mouth curled into a beautiful yet crazy arc. Her voice was not loud, but it carried a coldness that crushed everything, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present.
"Whoever touches him, dies."
Chapter 5: Level 10 Alert, That Terrifying Witch Has Arrived
"Whoever touches him, dies."
The voice was not loud, but it carried an unreasonable, rule-bending penetrative power, like a heavy hammer slamming hard against the eardrums of everyone on the tarmac.
The surrounding air pressure dropped to an extreme low in that instant, and the air became thick and scorching.
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, slammed both knees heavily onto the charred concrete ground.
The hard ground shattered his kneecaps directly, and the excruciating pain completely twisted his weathered face.
He opened his mouth to roar, but his throat felt like it was being tightly gripped by invisible iron pincers, and he could only emit a wheezing "hissing" sound.
Not just him, but the dozens of heavily armed special forces members around him were now all like mollusks drained of their backbones, kneeling on the ground in an extremely humiliating posture.
The Gauss rifles and heavy machine guns in their hands had all turned into useless iron powder on the ground the moment they touched that scarlet energy.
Lynn was mixed in among several other Agents who were also pressed down, his head bowed low, his hands gripping the ground tightly, panting heavily.
He had to pretend to be in a miserable state, as if about to be crushed by this pressure.
But in reality, the "Chaos Energy Affinity Physique" inside his body was pulsing with excitement.
Those scarlet particles drifting in the air, capable of tearing a mortal body apart, were slipping through his pores into his body, turning into a gentle, warm current that nourished his limbs and bones.
This feeling of getting free energy was great, but Lynncouldn't laugh at all right now.
He glanced at the sky from the corner of his eye.
That stunningly beautiful woman wearing a dark red trench coat was floating quietly in mid-air.
A violent energy storm roared behind her, and on that exquisite face, there was no human pity or reason, only a kind of extreme, paranoid madness and desire for destruction.
"This crazy woman's state is not right..." Lynn gritted his teeth, his brain racing, "The impact of the memory awakening is too strong; her mind is already on the verge of complete loss of control. If I stand up to identify myself now, there's a good chance she'll use Chaos Magic to weld me directly onto her body, making me a conjoined twin forever."
Must stay low. At least wait until this World-destroying morning grumpiness is vented.
In mid-air, Wanda did not land immediately. A flash of extreme impatience crossed her eyes.
The surrounding harsh alarm sounds, and this huge and ugly building beneath her feet, were all interfering with her gaze fixed on that man.
She didn't like having anything blocking the view between her and Lynn.
Nothing at all.
Wanda slowly raised that pale, slender hand, her five fingers slightly spread, and gently pressed down towards the iconic Triskelion in front of her.
Boom!!!
There was no explosion of fire, only the terrifying roar of matter being forcibly deconstructed.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters' special reinforced steel outer walls and blast-proof glass, claimed to be able to withstand tactical nuclear strikes, disintegrated instantly the moment they touched the scarlet ripples, like fallen leaves swept up by a gale!
Thousands of tons of building debris were forcibly crushed and stripped away by an unreasonable giant force. Large swathes of walls slammed into the Potomac River with a shrill whistling sound, kicking up turbid water columns dozens of meters high.
With just a casual downward pressing motion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s absolute defense, which it prided itself on, was ripped open, leaving a huge gap over a hundred meters long.
The entire building was like a skinned giant beast, exposing its intricate internal pipes and the terrified, scurrying crowds.
...
Top floor of the building, Director's office.
The glaring red alarm lights spun crazily, casting an unpredictable light and shadow on Nick Fury's black face.
The high-strength floor beneath his feet was shaking violently, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the walls, and dust fell in flurries.
"Officer! The perimeter defense network has completely collapsed! The physical interception system has failed entirely!"
Agent Hill gripped the edge of the console tightly, her nails scraping a harsh sound against the metal panel, her voice carrying undisguised trembling, "The target's energy reading... has already exceeded the data we recorded for Thor's arrival in New Mexico by three hundred times! The instruments are about to burn out!"
Fury's only remaining eye stared fixedly at the surveillance screen.
On the screen, that woman floating in the scarlet storm looked like a god of destruction descended upon the World.
She didn't even use any weapons; merely the natural overflow of her energy had turned the S.H.I.E.L.D.headquarters into a ruin.
Fury took a deep breath and slammed his fist onto the red button in the very center of the console.
Woo— woo— woo—!!!
A high-frequency, ear-piercing Level 10 alarm sound instantly drowned out the roar of the collapsing building, resounding throughout all of Washington D.C.
This was the second time such a level of alarm had been sounded since S.H.I.E.L.D. was established. The last time was when Captain Marvel faced the orbital bombardment of the Kree fleet.
"Initiate the final protocol. Have all non-combat personnel immediately enter the anti-nuclear bunker three hundred meters underground."
Fury gritted his back teeth, each word sounding like it was squeezed out from between his teeth, "Connect to the World Security Council; tell those politicians that what we are facing... is an extinction-level crisis."
"Director, should we fight back? There are still three micro bunker-buster missiles in the underground arsenal..."
Agent Hill asked with a pale face.
"Use missiles to hit a monster that can rip space apart with its bare hands? Are you worried we're not dying fast enough?!"
Fury barked, cutting her off, cold sweat beeping on his forehead, "Pass the order down: no armed personnel are to fire! Do not make any provocative actions! This woman has a clear target; before we figure out exactly what she wants, no one is allowed to act rashly!"
...
On the tarmac.
The gale, mixed with building debris and high-heat air currents, whipped across people's faces painfully.
Crossbones raised his head with difficulty; his forehead had been cut by debris, and blood flowed down his brow bone into his eyes, dyeing his vision a bloody red.
As HYDRA's ace operations Captain, what kind of carnage hadn't he seen? He had once fought hand-to-hand with Captain America, and had remained unflinching in the midst of a hail of bullets.
But at this moment, his perception was completely crushed.
Tactics? Firepower? Numerical advantage?
In front of this woman, these things didn't even count as a joke.
This was a pure dimensional strike, the kind of powerlessness that originates from the depths of one's genes when a mortal faces a god.
Crossbones' hands trembled as he tried his best to reach for the backup communicator at his waist.
He had to get the intelligence to Pierce, telling him that an incomprehensible monster had appeared here and that the Insight Project might be in big trouble.
Just at the moment his fingers touched the casing of the communicator.
Wanda in mid-air moved.
The scarlet storm behind her suddenly contracted inward, turning into a tangible dark red cape.
She was barefoot with pale feet, stepping on the void, walking toward the tarmac step by step.
With every step she took, the air beneath her feet rippled with visible scarlet waves.
Crossbones' pupils shrank, his heart pounding wildly.
He thought his tiny action of trying to call for reinforcements had angered this god.
Extreme fear instantly shattered his psychological defenses, and he desperately tried to raise his hands in surrender: "Don't... don't kill me... we have no hostility..."
However, Wanda didn't even spare him half a glance.
She stepped onto the charred and scorching ground, the hem of her dark red trench coat brushing against Crossbones' cheek, bringing a hair-raising shiver.
She passed by Crossbones, who was kneeling at the very front.
She passed by those elite special forces members who were trembling all over with fear and even wetting their pants.
In Crossbones' extremely terrified, confused, and shocked gaze, this terrifying Witch who had overturned the S.H.I.E.L.D. building with one blow and brought a Level 10 extinction-level pressure, actually walked straight to the very edge of the line.
There, there was only one low-level Agent wearing a Level 3 logistics uniform, who was usually timid and subservient in the agency, responsible for moving equipment.
Wanda stopped.
The violent scarlet energy around her instantly quieted down at this moment, just like a docile pet seeing its Master.
Crossbones widened his eyes, his eyeballs almost popping out.
He watched helplessly as that high and mighty demon god of destruction, who could crush special reinforced steel with a casual hand, slowly bent down.
She reached out that pale, slender hand, her fingertips trembling slightly, hovering at the edge of that low-level Agent Lynn's cheek, seemingly wanting to touch, yet afraid that all of this was just an illusion that would shatter at a touch.
Her World-destroying, terrifying aura was gone, replaced by something that was an extreme, repressed... grievance and pathological attachment?
Crossbones' brain completely crashed.
This woman who ripped through space to descend and plunged all of S.H.I.E.L.D. into despair... was actually specifically looking for the low-level worker they in HYDRA were ready to use as cannon fodder at any time?!
Lynn kept his head down, looking at that small hand close at hand, wreathed in faint Chaos Magic, smelling the familiar, faint rose fragrance drifting in the air, his mouth twitching imperceptibly.
He knew that his plan to slack off and work in Marvel was completely ruined.
Chapter 6: Whoever Touches Him Dies, The Crushing Power of Chaos Magic
Dark red energy particles drifted in the air like snow without temperature.
Wanda's pale, slender fingers were less than a centimeter away from Lynn's cheek. The cool sensation from her fingertips penetrated the scorching air around them and landed clearly in Lynn's perception.
Lynn kept his head lowered, his shoulders trembling violently. He played the part of a low-level Agent terrified to death in the face of a world-destroying deity with vivid realism. Cold sweat from his temples dripped in large drops onto the charred concrete ground, his pupils dilated, and even his breathing carried extreme terror.
But beneath that trembling exterior, Lynn's brain was operating with unprecedented calmness.
"This woman's mental state is already at the breaking point." Lynn felt the rich scent of roses in the air, mixed with the pungent smell of gunpowder—the concrete manifestation of Wanda's overflowing Chaos Magic. "I absolutely cannot reveal that I possess power now, nor can I show any resistance. Go along with her, I must go along with her."
He secretly mobilized the newly acquired "Chaos Energy Affinity Physique," silently absorbing and assimilating the violent magic particles trying to tear his skin, protecting his heart and meridians.
The surrounding air was deathly oppressive.
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, knelt not far away, his shattered kneecaps digging into his flesh, causing his whole body to spasm in pain. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at this bizarre scene, his brain completely unable to process the current information.
Why would a terrifying entity that could tear through space and destroy the S.H.I.E.L.D. building in one blow show such... near-subservient attachment to a level three logistics Agent who didn't even have field qualifications?
"Mon... Monster..."
In the silence, a distorted roar suddenly exploded.
It was a HYDRA commando behind Crossbones. Under the absolute pressure that had lasted for several minutes, the spirit of this battle-hardened elite Agent had completely snapped. Reason was crushed by fear, and the instinct for survival twisted into a frantic desire to attack.
He suddenly pulled a backup large-caliber pistol from his tactical boot, his eyes rolling back, roaring like a Beast, aiming the muzzle at the dark red back three meters away.
"Go to hell! Die!!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three consecutive piercing gunshots broke the deathly silence of the tarmac.
Crossbones' eyes were wide with fury, his heart instantly sinking into an ice cave: "Idiot! Stop!"
It was too late.
The moment the bullets left the barrel, Wanda's fingers, which had been hovering beside Lynn's cheek, suddenly paused.
She didn't turn around. She didn't even move her shoulders.
But Lynn clearly saw that the trace of sickly tenderness that had just emerged in Wanda's eyes was instantly swallowed by endless crimson killing intent.
"Who allowed you to—"
Wanda's voice was as light as a sigh, yet it carried the rules of dimensions that brooked no defiance.
Hum!
Three bullets capable of piercing light armor, half a meter from Wanda's back, seemed to hit an invisible wall of sighs and instantly froze in mid-air. The bullet heads turned red from intense friction but could not advance even a fraction of an inch.
Following that, Wanda slowly turned her head.
Those eyes, composed purely of crimson energy, coldly scanned the Agent who had fired the shot.
Crack!
Without any warning, the Agent's right arm holding the gun suddenly snapped backward at a bizarre angle that defied human anatomy. Before the scream could escape his throat, the dark red Chaos Magic had already wrapped around his body like a viper.
"Making noise within my line of sight." Wanda looked down at him as if looking at a disgusting reptile. "You, deserve to die."
She clenched her five fingers tightly.
Splat—!
A hair-raising muffled sound echoed. That fully armed, over two-hundred-pound brute, along with the firearm in his hand and the bulletproof vest on his body, was forcibly compressed inward in mid-air by a terrifying, immense force!
Bones shattered, metal twisted. In just half a second, a living person was forcibly kneaded into a sphere of flesh and metal only the size of a basketball!
Thick blood exploded radially, turning into a rain of blood that smashed into the surroundings.
A few drops of hot blood splattered toward Lynn's direction.
Wanda frowned, and the hem of her dark red trench coat moved without wind. A crimson barrier instantly rose in front of Lynn, blocking the filthy bloodstains three meters away, not letting a single drop of blood dirty Lynn's cheap S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform.
Thud.
The ball of flesh hit the ground and rolled in front of Crossbones.
Crossbones looked at the indescribable object in front of him that was still oozing blood, his stomach churning, extreme fear making him forget even how to breathe. He finally understood that the phrase "Whoever touches him, dies" from earlier was not a threat at all.
That was a law of physics set by this woman.
"Get lost." Wanda spat out the two words coldly.
Boom!
Violent Chaos Magic centered on her, transforming into a substantial tsunami of energy that swept outward.
Crossbones and the remaining dozens of Agents were like trash in a gale, sent flying by this power without any ability to resist. They smashed heavily into ruins and aircraft wreckage dozens of meters away, bones broken and tendons snapped, vomiting blood, and not one of them could get up again.
The entire central area of the tarmac was forcibly cleared into an absolute vacuum zone with a diameter of fifty meters.
No noise, no threats, no eyesore bugs.
Only her, and her Lynn.
Wanda turned around, the energy cape behind her slowly retracting. That world-destroying pressure dissipated like an ebbing tide, and she walked toward Lynn again, her steps actually a bit unsteady, as if the demon god who had casually crushed an Agent just now was just an illusion.
She walked to Lynn and slowly crouched down.
Lynn remained in a slumped position on the ground, gasping for air, his eyes perfectly revealing a hint of "terror and bewilderment."
"You... who are you..." Lynn's voice was dry, and he asked this line while trembling.
Hearing this, Wanda's body suddenly stiffened.
Tears welled up from her crimson eye sockets without warning, sliding down her pale cheeks and landing on the back of Lynn's hand. The tears were terrifyingly hot.
"You don't remember me... It's okay, it's okay." Wanda's voice carried heartbreaking grievance; she was like a little girl who had finally found a match in a blizzard, trembling as she reached out her hands. "It's enough that I remember you. You've come back to life... My Lynn, you've really come back to life."
She could no longer restrain the madness and attachment in her heart, and she lunged forward, pulling Lynn tightly into her embrace.
Lynn only felt a surge of dark red energy instantly envelop him. Wanda's arms were tightened extremely hard, as if she wanted to knead his entire person into her own bones and blood, never to be separated again.
The rich scent of roses instantly stole all his breathing space.
"This time, no one can take you away from me. No one!"
Wanda buried her face in the crook of Lynn's neck, murmuring pathologically. As her emotions fluctuated, the surrounding Chaos Magic spontaneously formed a dark red spherical barrier, completely isolating the two from the outside world.
Inside the barrier, the air pressure began to soar crazily.
Lynn's face turned bright red instantly. He realized that because of extreme insecurity, Wanda was unconsciously shrinking the magical defensive circle. That Chaos energy, capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion, was pressing tightly against his chest.
"Cough... Let... Let go..."
Lynn tried to struggle, but his hands were locked tightly by Wanda, and he couldn't move at all. The oxygen in his lungs was quickly drained, and his vision began to darken.
System, damn you!
Lynn cursed inwardly.
I didn't die in the HYDRA purge, didn't die under Ultron's gunfire, and now I'm actually going to be suffocated to death by this yandere Witch with love?!
Chapter 7: Deadly Reunion, Breath Locked by a Yandere
Wanda's embrace tightened.
A dull sound of bones being compressed emanated from Lynn's chest.
The dark red energy, like solid amber, stacked layer by layer, sealing the two of them completely within this narrow spherical barrier.
The oxygen in his lungs was rapidly drained, and black spots began to appear at the edges of his vision.
Lynn knew that if he didn't take action, he would truly become the first transmigrator in the Marvel Universe to be choked to death by a heroine's love.
But he couldn't push her away.
Facing a Skyfather-level yandere on the verge of a mental breakdown and suffering from extreme insecurity, any hint of resistance would be infinitely magnified, eventually triggering her nerves to destroy everything.
He had to soothe her.
Lynn struggled to pull his right hand out of that suffocating embrace.
He didn't try to pry off the arms Wanda had locked around his neck, but instead, tentatively and with a slight tremor, let his hand rest on her slender back.
The moment his fingertips touched her dark red trench coat, he could feel that the body in his arms, which seemingly possessed world-destroying power, was actually trembling violently.
"Wan...da..."
Lynn squeezed broken syllables from his throat.
The voice was not loud, but it carried just the right amount of confusion, weakness, and a hint of instinctive tenderness.
The moment the name dropped, Wanda's entire body stiffened abruptly.
She lifted her head as if electrocuted, her scarlet eyes, composed purely of energy, staring fixedly at Lynn's face.
Violent possessiveness and extreme panic over the fear of loss were crazily intertwined in her eyes.
"What did you call me? You still remember me? Say it again!"
Wanda's voice became shrill and out of tune, her fingers tightening subconsciously.
Lynn coughed violently, the intense air pressure forcing a trace of real blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.
He gasped for breath, his palm gently soothing along her back, as if comforting a frightened young beast.
"Wanda... I'm here... I'm not dead..."
Seeing the blood at the corner of Lynn's mouth, the madness in Wanda's eyes was instantly replaced by immense panic.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry!"
The surrounding violent Chaos Magic suddenly receded like a tide, and the air pressure within the barrier instantly returned to normal.
Wanda scrambled to wipe the blood from the corner of Lynn's mouth, her cold fingertips trembling abnormally, smearing that glaring red all over his face.
"I can't control it... Every time I close my eyes, I see you lying in the ruins, bleeding so much, and it just wouldn't stop..."
Wanda murmured incoherently, tears falling in large drops onto Lynn's chest, "I just want to hide you away, not let anyone see you, not let anyone touch you! I'm afraid all of this is just a dream!"
Lynn took a deep breath of air mixed with the scent of gunpowder and roses, then took the opportunity to take her cold hand and press it tightly against his warm cheek.
"Can you feel it? I'm warm."
Lynn looked directly into those scarlet eyes and, using the most affectionate tone, told the most black-bellied lie, "I promised you that even if I had to crawl back from hell, I would return to your side."
This sentence accurately pierced through Wanda's final line of psychological defense.
She let out a mournful sound like a whimper and buried her head into Lynn's neck again, greedily drinking in his warmth and scent.
This time, the embrace was no longer deadly, only suffocatingly dependent.
Feeling the Witch softening in his arms, the cold sweat on Lynn's back was finally dried by the night breeze.
Extreme balancing act, life saved for now.
But this was only the beginning.
Outside the barrier, above the ruins.
Crossbones, Brock Rumlow, lay on the charred concrete ground, his shattered kneecaps digging into his flesh, the pain making cold sweat pour down.
He endured the excruciating pain, staring fixedly at the dark red energy ball dozens of meters away.
Through the translucent energy barrier, he clearly saw that terrifying Witch clinging tightly to that low-level Agent like an obedient pendant.
Crossbones' worldview was completely shattered.
A monster capable of tearing apart the S.H.I.E.L.D.headquarters building with her bare hands and casually crushing elite Agents into meat balls was actually crying like a little girl who had lost her toy in front of a Level 3 logistics Agent?
What the hell is going on here?!
At the same time, three hundred meters underground at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, in the anti-nuclear bunker command center.
The blinding red lights were flashing crazily.
Nick Fury's only remaining eye stared fixedly at the surveillance footage on the main screen, his face so gloomy that water could drip from it.
"Director, the target's energy readings are dropping rapidly and tending toward stability."
Agent Hill swallowed, pointing at the two embracing on the screen, her voice still carrying an undisguised dryness, "That Agent's identity has been verified. Lynn, twenty-two years old, Level 3 Agent in the Logistics Department, primarily responsible for the inventory and transport of field equipment. No special background, no records of any extraordinary abilities."
"No special background?"
Fury sneered, slamming his fist onto the console, "A guy who can make an extinction-level Mutant listen to his every word, and you're telling me he's just a box mover? Is the S.H.I.E.L.D. screening department just eating for free!"
In the eyes of Fury, the ultimate old schemer, such things as coincidences simply did not exist.
A low-level Agent with no presence could precisely control a terrifying entity possessing Skyfather-level combat power.
The secrets hidden behind this made Fury feel a long-lost shiver.
"Seal off the scene immediately! Without my highest directive, no one is allowed to get within ten meters of them!"
Fury gritted his teeth and ordered, "In addition, upgrade this Lynn's file to top secret. I want to know every person he has come into contact with and every word he has said in the past twenty-two years!"
He would never allow an uncontrollable nuclear bomb to remain in S.H.I.E.L.D. so brazenly.
In the suburbs of Washington, at a secret private estate.
Alexander Pierce held half a glass of scarlet Romanée-Conti and stood before a huge floor-to-ceiling window.
On his terminal screen, the encrypted footage transmitted back from Crossbones' tactical helmet was playing in real-time.
The footage froze on the scene where Wanda, in order to protect Lynn, instantly compressed that shooting Agentinto a meat ball.
Pierce felt no fear; instead, his wrinkled old face flushed with extreme excitement.
"What a perfect weapon..."
Pierce swirled his wine glass, his eyes erupting with undisguised greed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. feared this monster, but they, HYDRA, did not!
As long as there is a weakness, it can be controlled.
And this Witch, who possessed world-destroying power, her only weakness was that Agent named Lynn!
As long as Lynn was firmly held in their hands, this power capable of overturning the entire Earth would become HYDRA's sharpest butcher knife.
The Insight Project was simply not worth mentioning in the face of this power!
Pierce pressed the encrypted communicator, his voice filled with fanaticism, "Brock, at all costs, bring that Agentnamed Lynn back. Remember, I want him alive. As long as he is in our hands, that woman will be our most loyal dog."
In the center of the ruins.
Lynn, while gently patting Wanda's back, was secretly observing the situation around them.
Although he was currently just a half-baked person with Chaos Magic Affinity, this constitution made his perception far exceed that of an ordinary person.
He clearly caught the trace of calculation and greed that flashed in Crossbones' eyes, and he also guessed what the HYDRA higher-ups in the shadows were planning.
Want to use me as a bargaining chip?
A faint, imperceptible sneer curled the corners of Lynn's mouth.
He gently pushed Wanda in his arms and said in an extremely exhausted and uneasy tone, "Wanda, the people here all want to kill me... Take me away, okay? To a place where there are only the two of us."
Wanda lifted her head abruptly, killing intent instantly boiling in her scarlet eyes.
"Whoever dares to stop you, I will wipe this place along with this city off the map."
She took Lynn's hand, and the violent Chaos Magicconverged under their feet again, lifting them slowly into the air.
Just then, Crossbones, having received Pierce's death order, bit his tongue, using the excruciating pain to forcibly suppress his fear, and staggered to his feet.
"Agent Lynn!"
Crossbones endured the trembling and shouted, "The Officer orders you to return to the team immediately! Cooperate with the investigation!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the air around Wanda instantly solidified.
The dark red energy turned into tangible blades, locking onto Crossbones' throat from a distance.
With just one thought from her, this HYDRA ace Agentwould be decapitated.
But at this critical moment, Lynn backhanded and pressed tightly onto Wanda's wrist.
He turned his head to look at Crossbones, his face revealing an extremely terrified, forced, and helpless expression, like a small person completely crushed by authority.
"Don't... don't hurt him!"
Lynn's voice trembled as he begged Wanda, "If I run away, they will kill all my friends... I must go with them."
Crossbones was stunned.
He had expected this to be a hell-difficulty mission to seize someone, and had even prepared for the entire team to be wiped out.
He never expected that this Lynn would be so cowardly and actually take the initiative to return to the team!
Ecstasy instantly clouded Crossbones' mind.
He immediately waved his hand, letting the only two Agents who could still barely stand take out handcuffs and cautiously walk toward Lynn.
Wanda's eyes were red with anxiety, and she desperately wanted to stop them, but was held down tightly by Lynn's even tighter embrace.
"Trust me."
Lynn whispered in her ear, in a voice so low that only the two of them could hear.
Two HYDRA Agents approached Lynn tremblingly, took out specially made high-strength alloy handcuffs, and cuffed them toward Lynn's wrists.
Just at the moment the metal cuffs were about to close.
Crossbones clearly saw that the low-level Agent who had been acting timid and extremely humble, in the absolute blind spot of Wanda's vision, suddenly turned his head and gave him an extremely mocking, cold, and eerie smile.
That smile was like watching a corpse putting a noose around its own neck.
Click.
The crisp sound of the handcuffs locking echoed through the ruins.
Before Crossbones could even process the meaning of that smile, he suddenly discovered that a dazzling scarlet light burst out without warning from the wrist where Lynn was cuffed.
Immediately after, an extremely violent Chaos Magicdirectly followed the metal chain of the handcuffs and, like a dam breaking, flooded into the bodies of the two Agents, and at a speed invisible to the naked eye, rushed straight along the ground toward Crossbones' feet.
Crossbones' pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needle points.
Lynn could actually control that woman's power?!
He opened his mouth to scream, but his vision had already been completely swallowed by the endless blood-red light.
Chapter 8: Settlement Rewards
The night wind was like a knife, slicing through the clouds.
Wanda was surrounded by surging dark red Chaos Magic, like a burning meteor, carrying Lynn as they sped through the night sky over northern New York.
The high-altitude air currents were completely blocked by a magic barrier, but Lynn could still feel the violent trembling coming from the slender body in his arms.
A few dozen minutes later, they landed in front of an abandoned ranger cabin deep in the Adirondack Mountains.
The wooden door was rudely pushed open by magic, kicking up a cloud of choking dust.
The room was filled with the smell of stale pine and damp mildew, and the cobwebs in the corners appeared and disappeared in the moonlight.
With a wave of Wanda's hand, the rotting wood in the fireplace instantly ignited with scarlet flames, illuminating the dim room.
She didn't bother with the dusty sofa, instead pulling Lynndown to sit directly on the carpet in front of the fireplace.
Even though they had escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D.encirclement, Wanda's hand still clutched tightly at the hem of Lynn's trench coat, her nails almost digging into his flesh.
Her eyes were bloodshot, staring fixedly at the dancing flames, while she muttered neurotically under her breath.
"They want to take you away... those bugs in black clothes, the way they look at you is so greedy..."
Wanda turned her head abruptly, crazy killing intent reigniting in her scarlet eyes. "I should have ground the whole building into dust just now! I should have torn that black man with the eye patch, and that guy whose bones you broke, into pieces!"
Lynn knew all too well how dangerous a Skyfather-levelyandere on the verge of a mental breakdown was.
She was like a pressure cooker filled with explosives; any little stimulus could trigger an extinction-level explosion.
"Wanda, look at me."
Lynn did not back down; instead, he took the initiative to reach out and cup her pale, cold cheeks in his hands.
His movements were gentle, the warmth of his palms transferring through her skin.
"I am here. No one can take me away."
Lynn looked straight into her eyes, his tone filled with thirty percent relief from surviving a disaster and seventy percent unreserved reliance. "If it weren't for you, I would have died at the hands of that man called Crossbones tonight. It was you who saved me, my Witch."
These words acted like the most precise sedative.
The scarlet light in Wanda's eyes trembled violently, then quickly faded, revealing her originally clear but exhausted green eyes.
Her back, which had been tensed to the limit, finally softened. She collapsed like an exhausted cat, burying herself in Lynn's arms, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.
"You cannot leave my sight... not even for a second."
She buried her face in Lynn's chest, greedily inhaling the scent of gunpowder and sweat on him.
"I promise."
Lynn gently stroked her silky long hair.
Having experienced the tragic parting in the simulated time and space, and then forcibly crossing dimensions to tear through S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in reality, Wanda's spirit and stamina were already long overdrawn.
She had been holding on solely by the obsession of finding her beloved.
At this moment, under the sense of security and gentle caresses Lynn had deliberately created, exhaustion surged in like a tide.
In less than ten minutes, her tightly furrowed brows gradually smoothed out, and her breathing became long and steady.
Lynn did not move immediately.
He maintained the hugging posture, waiting for a full half hour, and only after confirming that the woman in his arms had completely fallen into a deep sleep did he extremely slowly, bit by bit, withdraw his arm from her embrace.
He took off his trench coat and draped it over Wanda, then retreated into the shadows on the other side of the cabin.
The gentleness and weakness on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by absolute rationality and bottomless cunning.
"System, pull up the settlement panel."
Lynn thought silently in his mind.
A ghostly blue light screen unfolded deep within his retina, and a cold, mechanical voice sounded.
[Ding. The Sokovia simulation instance has ended.]
[Target: Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch).]
[Ending Achieved: In the encirclement of Ultron's army, you pushed Quicksilver away with a mortal body and blocked the main cannon of a fighter jet with your back. Pierced by ten thousand bullets, you breathed your last with a smile in the target's arms.]
[Rating: SSS-Rank (Undying Love).]
[Message: You used the most tragic sacrifice to carve an indelible mark deep within her soul. From now on, you are her only scale of wrath.]
Looking at this line of text, Lynn twitched the corner of his mouth.
The price was indeed high enough.
The pain of being pierced by ten thousand bullets in the simulation was one hundred percent real.
If it weren't to get the capital to survive in this Marvel Universe where gods fight, who would be willing to suffer this?
[Extracting target core ability/constitution based on SSS-Rank rating...]
[Extraction complete. Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Chaos Magic Affinity (Incomplete Version).]
Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly.
[Chaos Magic Affinity (Incomplete Version): The host's cells and bones will be reshaped by Chaos Magicenergy.]
[Effect 1 (Absolute magic Resistance): Substantially exempt from physical damage, immune to the vast majority of mental control and dimensional whispers.]
[Effect 2 (Energy Container): Grants the host the physical foundation to contain and channel Chaos Magic. You cannot create Chaos Magic out of thin air, but you can perfectly assimilate, absorb, and reflect any Chaos Magicthat comes into contact with your body.]
[Note: The acquisition of power must follow equivalent exchange. The physical reshaping process will be accompanied by the intense pain of cellular tearing; please be prepared, host.]
"No wonder I was able to reflect Wanda's energy back into Crossbones' body through the handcuffs back in the ruins."
Lynn understood in his heart.
Chapter 9: Chaos Magic Affinity
With this constitution, he was no longer a bottom-tier Agent who would shatter at the slightest touch.
Based solely on the "substantially exempt from physical damage" clause, his physical strength already approached or even surpassed that of Captain America after injecting the serum.
Not to mention the ability to be immune to mental control; this was absolutely a weapon for counter-killing when facing certain old monsters who liked to play with minds.
"Begin fusion."
Lynn did not hesitate at all and issued the command.
As soon as he finished speaking, a violent heat flow appeared out of thin air in his heart.
There was no gradual process; that heat flow instantly turned into countless burning red steel knives, violently crashing into his limbs and bones along his blood vessels!
"Ugh!"
Lynn groaned, his legs went soft, and he fell on one knee onto the dusty wooden floor.
He grabbed a dirty rag from the side, stuffed it into his mouth, and bit down hard.
Pain.
An indescribable, excruciating pain.
Muscle fibers were torn apart inch by inch by the violent energy, and then rapidly reorganized under the nourishment of Chaos Magic.
His bones made a teeth-grinding "crack" sound, and their density was increasing geometrically.
The surface of Lynn's skin uncontrollably glowed with a dark red light, and strange magic patterns appeared and disappeared under his skin, like magma surging in his blood vessels.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his shirt, dripping from his chin onto the floor in large drops.
His ten fingers dug deeply into the hard oak floor, wood chips piercing into his fingernails, but it could not cover the bone-scraping pain inside his body.
A full five minutes passed.
The dark red magic patterns under his skin finally gradually faded, and the tearing sensation receded like a tide.
Lynn spat out the rag that had been chewed to pieces, panting heavily.
He slowly stood up and moved his shoulders.
His bones made a crisp popping sound.
He looked down at his hands; the palms that were slightly rough from years of carrying field equipment were now fair and tough.
He tried to clench his fist hard, and a faint sonic boom actually came from the air.
Not only his strength, but his five senses had also been terrifyingly enhanced.
He could clearly hear the sound of leaves falling tens of meters away, and smell the scent of humus fermenting deep in the soil.
He could even vaguely perceive what terrifying rules of destruction were contained within the scarlet flame lit by Wanda in the fireplace not far away.
"Is this the World of super-powered beings?"
A flash of brilliance crossed Lynn's eyes.
With this trump card, he now had enough confidence for the upcoming game between HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D.
Did that old fox Pierce want to use him as a dog leash to control Wanda?
Then he would let HYDRA know what it meant to invite a wolf into the house.
Lynn took a deep breath, calming the energy fluctuations still slightly surging in his body.
He turned around, preparing to go to the sink in the cabin to wash his face.
However, just as he turned around, his movements froze abruptly.
He didn't know when, but Wanda, who had been sleeping soundly in front of the fireplace, was already standing behind him.
The distance between them was less than half a meter.
She wasn't wearing shoes, stepping barefoot on the cold wooden floor, without making a sound.
The firelight in the cabin flickered, stretching Wanda's shadow long.
She tilted her head slightly, that pair of eyes that had originally returned to clarity now replaced again by a scarlet so thick it couldn't be melted away.
She didn't speak, just slowly raised her hand, her cold fingertips tracing up along Lynn's spine, finally stopping at the back of his neck.
Lynn's muscles tensed instinctively; he could feel the Chaos Magic lingering on Wanda's fingertips vibrating at an extremely dangerous frequency.
"Lynn..."
Wanda's voice was very soft, but it carried a trace of hair-raising, pathological confusion.
She brought her nose to the side of Lynn's neck, like a leopard confirming the scent of its territory, and took a deep sniff.
"The scent on you... has changed."
Her fingers tightened abruptly, and scarlet energy instantly sealed off the space around Lynn.
"Why is there my magic aura inside your body?"
Wanda was pressed against his ear, her voice filled with extreme paranoia and danger. "What did you... do behind my back just now?"
Chapter 10: Crossbones' Death Wish, Lynn's Strategy of Borrowing a Knife
The magic fluctuation coming from the back of his neck was dense and sharp, like countless invisible poison needles, ready to Pierce his spinal cord at any moment.
Lynn did not dodge. He lowered his eyelids slightly, keeping his breathing steady, and even leaned back proactively, pressing his neck completely against those cold fingertips.
"Wanda." Lynn's voice was very low, carrying a hint of just the right amount of hoarseness and bitterness, "Don't you like it like this?"
Wanda froze, the red light lingering on her fingertips wavering slightly.
Lynn turned around, looking straight into those bloodshot, scarlet eyes. He raised his hand, taking the initiative to grasp Wanda's wrist, and pressed it against his left chest, letting her feel his steady and powerful heartbeat.
"In the ruins of Sokovia, I could only watch helplessly as you faced those monsters. I was so weak; I had to give everything just to block those bullets, and in the end, I could only die in your arms." Lynn's eyes were profound, his tone revealing a near-pathological stubbornness, "I don't want to experience that sense of powerlessness again, and I certainly don't want to hide behind you forever."
He leaned in slowly, his nose tip almost touching Wanda: "When you carried me out of S.H.I.E.L.D., those energies seeped into my skin. The process was painful, my bones were shattering, but I didn't reject it. Because by accepting it, my blood and bone marrow would be thoroughly branded with your mark."
Lynn's thumb gently caressed Wanda's pale cheek, his voice as soft as if he were casting some kind of curse: "Now, even if I walk to the ends of the Universe, you can find me by this scent. I belong to you completely, my Witch."
These words precisely pierced the most fragile line of defense of a yandere.
The scarlet in Wanda's eyes flickered violently. Her paranoid suspicion and killing intent, like ice melted by a raging fire, instantly turned into extreme ecstasy. She let out a gasp similar to a Beast's whimper and lunged into Lynn's arms, pinning him tightly against the rough wooden floor.
"Belong to me... yes, you only belong to me." Wandagreedily kissed Lynn's side neck, feeling that faint magicfluctuation that originated from the same source as her own, and she fell into extreme satisfaction.
This rollercoaster of emotional fluctuation exhausted her remaining energy. In less than a few minutes, her tensed muscles completely relaxed, and she fell into a deep sleep in Lynn's arms, her very breath tinged with a hint of sweetness.
Lynn lay on the floor, letting Wanda cling to him like a vine. His gaze was clear, and a cold arc curled up at the corner of his mouth.
Crisis averted.
Midnight, deep in the Adirondack Mountains.
Lynn's newly acquired Chaos Magic physique had all five senses fully activated. He caught the faint sound of weeds being gently crushed by tactical boots a hundred meters outside the house. Immediately after, a very faint, sweet, and fishy smell drifted into the air.
High-concentration nerve anesthetic gas.
Lynn immediately held his breath. The Chaos Magic within his body spontaneously circulated, instantly devouring and assimilating the trace amounts of toxin that had seeped into his pores. He deliberately slowed his heart rate, pretending to be in a state of deep unconsciousness.
Pierce, that old dog, really couldn't hold back anymore.
If they fought directly in the cabin, once Wanda woke up, her rampaging Chaos Magic would definitely raze everything for several kilometers to the ground. This would make too much noise; not only would it invite a full-scale counterattack from Fury, but it might even attract the attention of those mages from Kamar-Taj.
It would be better to go with the flow and penetrate deep into the heart of HYDRA. Lynn closed his eyes, quickly simulating the situation in his mind. This would not only allow him to figure out Pierce's core trump card but also provide Wanda with a perfect, righteous reason to wash HYDRA in blood.
The wooden door, lubricated with special sound-dampening liquid, was pushed open silently.
Four black shadows wearing gas masks crept into the room. Walking in the front was none other than Crossbones Brock, who still had high-pressure bandages wrapped around his chest.
Crossbones made tactical hand signals, several gun barrels locked tightly onto the two people embracing on the carpet. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his eyes beneath the mask were fixed on Wanda's face, terrified that this monster who could demolish a building with her bare hands might suddenly open her eyes.
Two HYDRA Agents put away their guns and took out a set of specially made high-voltage insulated restraint gear, approaching cautiously. They didn't dare touch Wanda, instead trying to peel away the arms she had wrapped around Lynn's waist bit by bit.
Just as the Agent's fingers touched the back of Wanda's hand, Wanda frowned slightly in her sleep and instinctively tightened her arms.
Crossbones' heart skipped a beat, and he almost pulled the trigger directly.
Lynn secretly controlled his muscles to relax completely, and following the force of the Agents' pulling, he slipped out of Wanda's embrace bit by bit, like an unconscious corpse.
The Agents quickly locked Lynn's arms with the restraint gear and fastened a suppression collar capable of releasing high-voltage electric currents around his neck.
The two men hoisted Lynn up and quickly retreated out of the door.
The moment he was lifted off the carpet, Lynn's lowered fingertips gently brushed against the cracks in the floorboards. A wisp of extremely faint dark red light silently seeped deep into the wood.
This was an "alarm clock." As long as Lynn left the cabin for more than ten kilometers, this wisp of energy fluctuation, which shared the same source, would completely dissipate.
Crossbones and his team exited the cabin, not even daring to close the door, and sprinted toward the cloaked quinjetdeep in the woods.
After roughly throwing Lynn into the cabin, the quinjet's door closed. Crossbones ripped off his gas mask, panting heavily, a look of ecstasy at having survived a disaster on his face.
"Officer, the target has been recovered." He pressed his communicator, his voice revealing unconcealable pride, "That monster inhaled an overdose of gas and is sleeping like a dead pig. We didn't disturb her."
From the other end of the communicator came Pierce's slightly excited low chuckle: "Well done, Brock. Bring him back to Secret Base Thirteen. As long as we control this man, HYDRA will have effectively possessed a god."
The quinjet's engines emitted a low roar, rising vertically, and soon merged into the deep night.
Inside the cabin, Crossbones walked over to Lynn, who had been thrown on the floor, kicked his calf hard, and grinned viciously: "Acting like a big shot in front of Fury? Aren't you in my hands now?"
Lynn kept his eyes tightly shut, swaying slightly with the bumpiness of the quinjet like a ragdoll, without any response. Only, hidden by the restraint gear, his fingers were gently tapping his thigh, one by one, following the speed of the quinjet.
Five kilometers. Eight kilometers. Ten kilometers.
Meanwhile, inside the cabin deep in the Adirondack Mountains.
The moment the distance reached the critical limit, the wisp of dark red light in the cracks of the floorboards flickered once and extinguished completely.
Wanda, who had been clinging to this scent, lost her final comfort.
Cold wind poured into the room through the open wooden door, kicking up the dust on the ground.
On the carpet, Wanda abruptly opened her eyes.
The originally clear whites of her eyes had been completely swallowed by a dense scarlet. The temperature inside the cabin instantly dropped to freezing, and the extinguished fireplace erupted with a pillar of dark red Fire that shot into the sky, blowing the roof of the entire cabin straight off.