Chapter 41: The Thunderbolts Arrive
Less than two hours after Dawn House's power was restored, Sam's Quinjet landed outside the industrial park.
He walked very quickly.
The first thing he said upon entering was:
"Seal off the core area first."
Lin Yao looked up at him.
"What happened?"
Sam placed a document marked with red clearance on the table.
"Special Executive Order for Super-Ability State of Emergency."
Issued forty-seven minutes ago.
The document demanded that Dawn House immediately return all DODC classified assets.
V-Max devices, gamma control programs, gene resonance modules, psychic suppression devices, and the internal database were all on the recovery list.
Item two: suspend unauthorized cross-state powered individual operations.
Item three: establish temporary security registration for high-risk members.
The final item was the most direct.
If Dawn House refused to comply, the special operations unit could temporarily detain the core person in charge.
After Jean read the document, her gaze turned cold.
"The core person in charge is Lin Yao."
"They have this authority now."
Sam pulled out a chair and sat down.
"I opposed it."
"It was useless."
"This order went through emergency authorization, bypassing me."
Matt had already rushed to the conference room.
He quickly flipped through the attachments, finally stopping at an intelligence summary.
"Orpheus Medical Technology Company."
Seeing this name, Lin Yao's gaze darkened slightly.
Near the New Jersey port.
The factory Shuri locked onto via Vibranium resonance.
Kingpin's ORPHEUS production node.
Sam said:
"The government received intelligence that Dawn House is preparing to attack this company."
"In public records, it's a legitimate medical technology enterprise."
"It has pharmaceutical R&D licenses, federal medical contracts, and over three hundred registered employees."
Ned immediately pulled up the company's data.
The equity shares were nested layer by layer.
Fisk Corporation could not be found on the surface.
Yet Lin Yao had already confirmed from the financial model that this company had used the frozen ORPHEUS settlement accounts.
Kingpin had wrapped the factory in a legal disguise beforehand.
And passed the intelligence about Dawn House's upcoming operation to the government.
Thus, when the whole matter reached Washington, it turned into a completely different picture.
Sixty-three powered individuals.
A large amount of DODC federal technology.
Wakanda equipment support.
A person in charge with city-level combat power.
Preparing to launch a cross-state attack on a "legitimate enterprise".
Sam looked at Lin Yao.
"This is the justification the hardliners obtained."
"They now believe that you have gone from a victim protection organization to a potential armed group."
Lin Yao asked:
"Who is the executor?"
The sound of engines came from outside the industrial park.
Sam's expression sank.
"They're here."
The black transport plane lowered its cargo ramp.
Valentina walked out first.
Followed by four people.
Bucky Barnes.
John Walker.
Red Guardian Alexei.
And a woman whose figure continuously flickered with slight afterimages.
Ghost.
Valentina walked into the conference room and placed another paper execution order on the table.
"Lin Yao."
"We are here to recover federal assets."
"After completing the security registration, you can still continue operations."
Lin Yao picked up the document.
Reading from the first page to the last.
Then handed it to Matt.
"Really?"
Matt nodded.
"It's procedurally valid."
"Can it be struck down?"
"It takes time."
"Then let's negotiate based on a valid document for now."
The corners of Valentina's mouth curved up slightly.
"Very good."
Lin Yao sat back in his original position.
"The assets won't be handed over."
The smile stopped.
Walker stepped forward.
"You just read the execution order."
"I read it."
Lin Yao pointed to the evidence repository nearby.
"DODC used these things to conduct human experiments."
"The equipment stores victim records, capital flows, researcher lists, and control programs."
"If you take them back, who will be responsible for keeping them safe?"
Valentina said:
"The federal government."
"Metzger also represented federal agencies back then."
The conference room fell silent for a moment.
Lin Yao continued:
"Before the evidence is legally sealed, no one can take it away."
"Member registration is likewise out of the question."
"They have already been registered by DODC once."
"Changing the department name a second time doesn't make much sense."
Sam immediately chimed in.
"I personally inspected the member management here."
"Currently, no factual basis for forced arming can be found."
Valentina looked at him.
"You are not responsible for enforcement right now."
Walker strapped the shield onto his arm.
"The order is written very clearly."
"Refusal to comply means we can enter the core area to verify assets."
Bucky hadn't spoken the entire time.
He only stared at the door behind Jean.
That was the direction of the underground database.
Lin Yao stood up.
"Non-core areas can be viewed."
"The core area requires court authorization."
Walker said:
"This order is the authorization."
"Then come and try."
The air instantly tightened.
Ghost moved first.
With a flash of her body, she phased right through the wall.
"She entered the core area!"
As soon as Ned's voice rang out, Lin Yao had already disappeared from the conference room.
Underground hallway.
Ghost phased out from the metal door.
Just as her hand touched the database mainframe, footsteps came from behind.
Lin Yao raised his hand and pressed down on her shoulder.
Ghost's body phased into intangibility.
The palm passed right through.
The next moment, she drilled out from Lin Yao's side.
Lin Yao's eyes flickered.
Ki sensing could not capture a stable physical entity.
Yet Observation Haki captured the direction of the attack in advance.
Just as Ghost threw a punch, Lin Yao sidestepped.
Two fingers tapped the outside of her wrist.
Acupoint strike.
Ki penetrated through the battle suit into her muscles.
Her entire arm went numb instantly.
Ghost quickly retreated.
Lin Yao didn't pursue.
A loud noise came from upstairs.
Walker and Peter had already collided.
Red Guardian rushed into the training ground, and Lukeraised a hand to catch his punch.
Bucky grabbed Yelena, who wanted to enter the equipment room; recognizing each other simultaneously, both paused for a second.
"What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that."
The next second, both threw punches at the same time.
When Lin Yao returned to the upper level, Walker's shield was flying straight at him.
Armament Haki coated his right hand.
Clack!
His five fingers directly grasped the edge of the shield.
Walker yanked hard on the retraction cord.
The shield didn't budge at all.
Lin Yao stepped forward.
His palm pressed against Walker's chest.
Ki concentrated at a single point.
Bang!
Walker flew over a dozen meters, slamming into the soft training wall.
His armor dented inward.
His ribs remained intact.
Bucky rushed in from the side.
His metal arm smashed toward Lin Yao's jaw.
Lin Yao raised his arm to block.
His other hand tapped the shoulder joint of the metal arm.
A current of ki shattered outward along the internal structure.
The mechanical arm lost power on the spot.
Bucky glanced at his drooping arm.
"You can fight like this?"
"Just learned it."
Red Guardian had just shoved Luke away and turned to pounce on Lin Yao.
Lin Yao grabbed his wrist and twisted smoothly.
Alexei flipped half a circle and was pressed into the training mat.
"Wait!"
He shouted while lying on the ground.
"Why did you punch everyone else, but threw me?"
"The floor was just repaired."
Alexei froze for a moment.
Luke chuckled nearby.
Walker climbed back up.
Still wanting to continue.
Sam stepped directly between the two.
"Enough!"
"Your mission is to confirm assets, don't turn this place into a war zone!"
Valentina stood at the door, her expression already turning cold.
From beginning to end, Lin Yao maintained his normal state.
The ki of a Super Saiyan didn't flare up even once.
The injuries on Bucky, Walker, and Red Guardian were all within a controllable range.
These people came here with government identities, and each of them could become a witness to trace the source of the order.
Knocking them flat was enough.
Killing any of them right now would be equivalent to delivering Kingpin's war straight to Dawn House's doorstep.
In the underground database, however, Ghost didn't stop.
After the numbness in her arm eased, she phased into the mainframe compartment once again.
A row of encrypted files flashed across her field of vision.
She had originally only wanted to confirm the DODC asset serial numbers.
One of the deleted overseas transaction records suddenly popped up.
[LV-01]
[Receiving Institution: Latverian Sovereign Technology Exchange]
[Cargo: ORPHEUS Core Components]
Ghost frowned.
Latvia?
Just as she wanted to copy the record, her body suddenly flickered violently.
Once.
Twice.
On the third phase, half of her body plunged directly into the server cabinet.
Sharp pain exploded instantly.
Ghost tumbled out of the wall and knelt on the ground.
Lin Yao was the first to arrive.
Her body was frantically switching between physical and intangible states.
Valentina's communicator lit up at the same time.
Ghost jerked her head up.
Her face was pale as a sheet.
"Valentina..."
She gritted her teeth and squeezed out the last few words.
"Shut down my stabilizer."
Chapter 42 ORPHEUS Activated
Ghost's body sank into the floor once again.
Lin Yao grabbed her suit in one motion.
Armament Haki covered his palm, forcibly dragging her out of her intangible state.
"Medical room!"
Banner was already rushing over from the other side.
"Don't let her touch metal!"
"Her phase frequency is completely messed up right now!"
Lin Yao picked up Ghost and rushed straight into the underground medical area.
Bucky followed closely behind.
Walker and Red Guardian also chased after them.
Valentina walked at the very end.
Her expression remained calm the whole time.
As soon as the medical pod closed, Ghost's entire body flickered violently.
Her arm vanished.
Her shoulder reappeared.
The next second, her chest turned translucent again.
Every phase misalignment was accompanied by intense pain.
Banner quickly hooked up the monitoring equipment.
"Her neural frequency is collapsing."
"What does she usually rely on for stability?"
Valentina spoke up.
"Quantum phase calibration."
"What about the clearance?"
"Supervised by the federal government."
Banner snapped his head up.
"I'm asking who can operate it."
Valentina looked at him.
"Me."
Bucky stood beside the medical pod, his expression sinking instantly.
"You turned it off just now?"
"During the mission, she disobeyed operational procedures."
"So you made her like this?"
"The stability protocol falls under regulatory measures."
Alexei directly cursed in Russian.
"You call this regulation?"
"Why don't you just tie a bomb around her neck!"
Walker's expression also changed.
"This wasn't in the mission briefing we received."
Valentina looked at him.
"You only need to complete the authorized mission."
"If the control over the operative's life is part of the mission, I have the right to know."
Walker lowered his shield.
"I want the complete operational file."
Valentina ignored him.
Lin Yao had already stepped in front of the medical pod.
Super Brain began receiving the data scanned by Banner.
Ghost's phase anomaly stemmed from a quantum accident.
There was a long-standing unstable energy within her body.
The stability program installed by the federal government did not directly treat her body.
At fixed intervals, external servers would recalibrate her quantum frequency.
As long as the calibration was interrupted, errors would accumulate rapidly.
A few hours later, she might even completely lose her physical state.
"Where is the server?"
Banner said:
"Washington."
"Remote authorization updates every six hours."
"Now her clearance has been revoked."
Shuri's holographic projection suddenly connected to the medical room.
She had obviously already received the data uploaded by Banner.
"Give me the complete spectrum."
Banner immediately transmitted it.
Shuri looked at it for over a dozen seconds.
"This protocol is sickeningly designed."
"It splits the stability algorithm into two parts."
"Only the execution end is inside Ghost."
"The real calibration model is placed on a remote server."
Bucky stared at the screen.
"So if she wants to live, she has to keep obeying."
The medical room fell silent for a few seconds.
He was far too familiar with this kind of thing.
Hydra used to control Winter Soldier with brainwashing words.
Now they changed it to a more civilized name.
Safety protocol.
Regulatory clearance.
Remote calibration.
The essence was still holding a person's life and death in someone else's hands.
Lin Yao asked Shuri:
"Can we bypass it?"
"We need the complete frequency model."
"She is the model right now."
Shuri was stunned for a moment.
Lin Yao had already pressed both hands on the sides of the medical pod.
Breath perception unfolded.
Every time Ghost became intangible, extremely subtle energy fluctuations would appear inside her body.
The speed was extremely fast.
Ordinary equipment could only see the result.
Lin Yao could perceive the changing process.
Super Brain recorded it synchronously.
First phase shift.
Second.
Third.
Energy frequency, duration, and physical recovery nodes all entered the calculation.
Shuri quickly understood his train of thought.
"You want to reverse-engineer the calibration parameters from her body?"
"Correct."
"We need to record hundreds of changes at least."
"She can jump more than forty times a minute right now."
Banner glanced at Lin Yao.
"A normal team would take days to analyze."
Lin Yao had already begun calculating.
"That's a normal team."
Seventeen minutes later.
The first set of models was completed.
Shuri imported the parameters into the simulator.
The error rate was eleven percent.
Lin Yao continued to modify it.
Twenty-six minutes.
The error rate dropped to three percent.
Thirty-four minutes.
Zero point seven percent.
Looking at the final curve, Banner directly put down the pen in his hand.
"It's enough."
"Let her stabilize first."
Shuri wrote the calibration program into a Wakanda micro-processor.
Lin Yao took the device.
His breath molded into an extremely thin energy line.
Passing through the outer interface of the suit.
He delivered the processor next to the stability module.
Banner started the program.
Ghost in the medical pod violently arched her body.
The next second.
Her constantly phasing arms solidified once again.
The overlapping image on her chest gradually faded away.
The waveform on the monitor slowly stabilized bit by bit.
One minute later.
Ghost opened her eyes.
The first person she saw was Valentina.
Her gaze was frighteningly cold.
"How long did you turn it off?"
Valentina did not answer.
Shuri's voice came from the screen.
"Now she doesn't need to ask you anymore."
Ghost was stunned.
Banner turned the new monitoring panel toward her.
"We added local calibration to the stability module."
"From now on, you control it yourself."
Ghost stared at that stability curve.
She didn't speak for a long while.
Bucky turned around and looked at Valentina.
"Mission over."
"Who says so?"
"Me."
Bucky raised his metal arm.
The structure that had been shocked to a halt by Lin Yaoearlier had already recovered.
"Until we figure out where this order came from, I won't continue executing missions for you."
Walker also reached out his hand.
"The complete authorization chain."
"Now."
Valentina looked around at everyone.
Red Guardian stood blocking the doorway with his arms crossed.
Ghost was lying in the medical pod.
Bucky was already standing on the other side.
Although Walker hadn't withdrawn from the operation yet, his attitude had clearly changed.
Lin Yao leaned against the laboratory bench.
He didn't speak to recruit anyone.
The accounts between these people and Valentina were best settled by themselves.
A few seconds later, Valentina took out her operational terminal.
"You want to see it?"
"Finish reading and continue executing the mission."
Walker took the terminal.
Matt also walked into the medical room.
"Copy it first."
Valentina frowned.
"This is classified."
"You entered my client's base with classified authorization."
Matt reached out his hand.
"Now that an execution clearance dispute has arisen, I need to preserve evidence."
Lin Yao looked at Walker.
"Give it to him."
Hesitating for a second, Walker placed the terminal on the table.
Ned immediately began copying the authorization chain.
Issuing department.
Source of intelligence.
Risk assessment agency.
Action recommendation.
Tracing all the way up.
The initial intelligence came from a Super-Ability Affairs Advisory Office under the homeland security system.
After receiving the materials, the advisory office recognized Orpheus Medical Technology Company as a legitimate enterprise.
Ned continued to dig deeper.
One of the policy advisors had received event funding from five foundations over the past three years.
Moving further past the foundations.
Fisk Charitable Network.
As soon as Yelena received the list, she laughed directly.
"It's him again."
Standing beside the screen, Sam's expression grew increasingly ugly.
"Kingpin crammed fake intelligence into the government system."
"And then had the government bring a legal order to deal with Dawn House."
Lin Yao finished reading the authorization chain.
"So I said."
"If you want to continue executing orders, fine."
He pointed at the screen.
"First figure out who wrote the order."
Walker stared at the name of the Fisk Foundation.
This time he didn't retort.
Bucky said directly:
"I'll investigate with you."
"You're with Sam."
Lin Yao looked at Ghost.
"She stays."
Bucky frowned.
"Why?"
"She saw LV-01."
Ghost had already sat up from the medical pod.
"I remember that file."
"Overseas asset recovery and freezing records."
"There was another project inside."
Everyone looked at her.
Ghost recalled slowly.
"ORPHEUS highest-level equipment."
"The name is..."
"Mother Core."
Shuri immediately pulled up the already mastered ORPHEUS structure.
"The semi-finished product we found was only a node."
"The Mother Core is truly the spiritual template source of the entire network."
Ghost continued:
"The transfer time was eighteen hours ago."
"Via diplomatic freight channels."
"The recipient field was deleted."
"The recovered part reads—"
"Latvia-related institutions."
Lin Yao's gaze flickered slightly.
LV-01.
Latvia Sovereign Technology Trading Agency.
ORPHEUS Mother Core.
The three lines connected together for the first time.
Just as Super Brain was about to continue deducing, the Vibranium psychic blocker underground in the industrial park suddenly issued a sharp alarm.
Shuri snapped her head around.
"Psychic frequency is surging explosively!"
Jean had already stood up.
She looked up toward the direction of New Jersey.
Crimson light rapidly lit up deep within her eyes.
Everyone in the medical room simultaneously felt an inexplicable palpitation.
Ned pulled up the city map.
A massive red ripple was spreading outward from the port industrial area.
Target location.
Orpheus Medical Technology Company.
Lin Yao watched the constantly expanding psychic wave.
"Kingpin has made his move."
The next second.
The city's first batch of anomaly alarms lit up simultaneously.
ORPHEUS Activated.
Chapter 43: Doctor Strange Enters!
The first batch of emergency calls in New York exceeded 3,000 within a minute.
Someone standing on a subway platform suddenly heard their mother, who had been dead for ten years, call their name.
Someone knelt and wept bitterly in an office, insisting that their already-buried wife was standing outside the window.
In Times Square, a young man with low-level telekinesis suddenly lost control.
The glass of a dozen billboards shattered simultaneously.
In Brooklyn, a pyrokinetic rushed out of their apartment, with two-meter-high pillars of fire igniting in both hands.
As he ran, he shouted:
"Stay away!"
"They're inside my head!"
The alarm map in the command room of Dawn Houseinstantly lit up across the board.
Jean stood in the center, her expression growing increasingly ugly.
"The psychic wave is spreading."
"The frequency is not a single signal."
"It actively captures people's memories."
Shuri stared at the Wakanda scan results.
"Six resonance sources."
"All of them have been activated."
Lin Yao glanced at the map.
Six red dots.
Two in Manhattan.
One in Brooklyn.
One in Queens.
One in the Bronx.
The last signal was the strongest.
The New Jersey port industrial zone.
Orpheus Medical Technology Company.
"Split up."
Lin Yao directly commanded.
"Sam connects to the New York emergency center."
"Peter and Luke will handle the out-of-control individuals on the streets, prioritizing quarantine and not letting them continue to explode their abilities in crowds."
"Matt goes to the court to add all the funding chains of the Orpheus factory and Fisk into the emergency application."
"Ned provides shared maps to the police, fire department, and hospitals."
"Jean, Shuri, and Danny come with me to the factory."
Several members of the Thunderbolts were still standing on the periphery of the command room.
Walker frowned.
"Are you planning cross-state operations?"
Lin Yao looked at him.
"You guys just used this excuse to arrest me."
"Now Orpheus is already creating mental pollution in New York."
"You can continue waiting for new authorization."
Walker's expression sank.
But Bucky looked at Sam.
"I'm going with you into the city."
Sam nodded.
"Fine."
Red Guardian pointed at himself.
"What about me?"
Luke shouted from the doorway.
"Come with me."
"You have a lot of strength."
Alexei immediately followed.
Ghost was sitting in the medical area's observation room.
The new stabilizer had just been connected not long ago, and she was temporarily unsuited for high-intensity actions.
Valentina didn't speak again.
Lin Yao glanced at her and turned to take off.
Four figures quickly crossed the skies of New York.
The city below had already begun to fall into chaos.
Several cars crashed at the intersection.
Someone suddenly rushed out of a bus.
A police officer held a gun and continuously backed away toward an empty street corner.
Jean continuously expanded her psychic perception during the flight.
"Orpheus is amplifying fear."
"It will grab the most intense things from memories."
"And then repeatedly stimulate."
Danny asked:
"Is the Dragon Bone maintaining the signal?"
"Very likely."
Shuri chimed in:
"Vibranium is responsible for synchronizing the six nodes."
"V-Max is responsible for constructing personality and memory feedback."
Lin Yao's eyes turned cold.
Kingpin knew very well what he was doing.
Financial accounts frozen.
Political connections beginning to be exposed.
The underground network also being peeled apart layer by layer.
If this dragged on, he would only grow weaker and weaker.
Therefore, he pushed the city into crisis first.
The more out-of-control abilities appeared on the streets, the easier it was for the media to redirect their spearhead back at "unregulated superpowered individuals."
If Kingpin stood up again and shouted "New York needs order," the public opinion situation that had just been broken through could be flipped back.
As expected.
Several large outdoor screens switched to news live broadcasts simultaneously.
Kingpin stood in front of the camera.
Behind him was a row of medical experts and heads of charitable organizations.
"New York is experiencing a severe superpower security incident."
"I call on the government to immediately expand the scope of emergency regulation."
"All high-risk powered individuals should undergo a unified evaluation."
Shuri glanced at the screen.
"He sets the fire himself."
"And then stands out to sell fire extinguishers."
Lin Yao withdrew his gaze.
"Put out the fire first."
Orpheus Medical Technology Company had entered his field of vision.
The entire factory was shrouded in a layer of light purple ripples.
The perimeter security guards had all fallen to the ground.
Some people were clutching their heads and twitching.
More people were cowering against the walls.
Lin Yao dropped directly toward the roof.
As soon as his feet touched the metal plate, a psychic shock pressed toward him head-on.
Countless voices drilled into his consciousness simultaneously.
Crying.
Screams.
Roars.
And a familiar voice.
Metzger.
"You can't save everyone."
The next second, soul anchoring directly stabilized his consciousness.
Those false voices collided like hitting an iron wall.
Lin Yao raised his foot and stomped the roof to pieces.
"Let's go."
The four of them entered the factory.
The first floor had been completely cleared out.
A large amount of medical equipment was just camouflage.
Behind the underground elevator was the real ORPHEUS area.
Shuri turned on the scanner.
"The mainframe is on the fourth underground level."
"And there are five external links."
Six-node structure.
One central mainframe.
Five remote resonance towers.
Plus the New York underground network itself acting as a conduction structure.
They headed down along the elevator shaft.
Armed guards began to appear on the second floor.
Danny rushed to the front.
Golden light burst from his fists.
He smashed open the reinforced door with one punch.
Lin Yao followed closely behind and entered.
Three soldiers wearing DODC-modified armor opened fire simultaneously.
Armament Haki covered his hands.
The bullets collided with his palms and shattered on the spot.
Lin Yao slapped the first person's chest with one palm.
Acupoint shock pierced through the armor.
The internal power supply module shut down directly.
The other two wanted to turn, but the air blade had already bypassed the cover.
The firearms snapped in half.
Danny glanced at that air blade.
"Much more stable than yesterday."
"Practice more when we get back."
"You still need to practice?"
Lin Yao didn't answer.
The door to the fourth underground level had already opened.
The real ORPHEUS mainframe appeared before their eyes.
Six Vibranium resonance pillars formed a ring.
Suspended in the center was a constantly deforming red psychic image.
Countless faces flashed within it.
Elderly people.
Children.
Soldiers.
Test subjects.
As soon as Jean saw that thing, the Phoenix energy immediately reacted.
"Personality matrix."
"It is randomly grabbing memory templates."
Shuri ran toward the console.
A dozen seconds later, she brought up the complete structure.
"There's a problem."
"The mainframe is incomplete."
Lin Yao walked over.
"What's missing?"
Shuri enlarged the central interface.
"There should have been a higher-level core here."
"All personality matrices, Dragon Bone energy, and Vibranium synchronization should pass through it first."
Danny asked:
"Dismantled and taken away?"
"Judging by the traces, it was taken apart at least eighteen hours ago."
The records Ghost saw immediately matched up.
The ORPHEUS core.
Had long been transferred via diplomatic cargo channels.
What was activated here was just a simplified version.
Even knowing the equipment was incomplete, Kingpin still forcibly booted it up.
He didn't care about the side effects at all.
Jean closed her eyes.
"I can temporarily suppress the central personality matrix."
"How long?"
"About ten minutes."
"That's enough."
Lin Yao looked at Shuri.
"Find the procurement records."
Shuri directly hacked into the master control system.
The equipment supply chain quickly unfolded.
Dragon Bone core.
V-Max personality matrix.
High-purity Vibranium resonator.
The three highest-level procurement items were individually marked in red.
The purchaser went through multi-layer encryption.
In the end, only two letters remained.
[V. D.]
Shuri stared at the screen.
"This buyer specifically took away the three most crucial things."
Lin Yao asked:
"Can you check the identity?"
"Not for now."
"Write it down first."
Super Brain saved all the transaction times, routes, and procurement numbers.
Right at this moment.
The central personality matrix suddenly shook violently.
Jean abruptly opened her eyes.
"Wait."
That fluctuation had already exceeded the ordinary psychic level.
The power of the Iron Fist on Danny's chest also lit up automatically.
"What is this?"
An extremely cold feeling appeared in the air.
As if someone had forcefully jammed another layer of the world into the laboratory.
A black slit split open in the center of the red personality matrix.
The surrounding instruments malfunctioned simultaneously.
Shuri took a step back.
"Spatial anomaly."
The slit rapidly expanded.
Golden sparks burst out from inside.
A circular portal formed in the center of the laboratory.
A red cloak floated out first.
Shortly after, a man stepped through the portal.
Stephen Strange swept his gaze across the Vibraniumpillars, the Dragon Bone fragments, and the continuously rolling personality matrix.
His brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
Finally, he looked at Lin Yao.
"Who turned this thing on?"
Lin Yao pointed toward the mainframe.
"Kingpin."
Chapter 44: Lin Yao wants to study magic?
A human face suddenly bulged out on the red personality matrix on the fourth underground floor of the factory.
The next second, dozens of faces squeezed out at the same time.
The cries drilled straight into everyone's consciousness.
The guard behind Shuri staggered two steps, their hand already reaching for a weapon.
Red light flashed in Jean's eyes, and a mental barrier instantly enveloped the entire control room.
Doctor Strange moved first, however.
He swiped with his right hand.
Golden rings rose from the bottom of the personality matrix.
Those struggling faces were pushed back down as if by an invisible hand.
The mental intensity on the console dropped rapidly.
One hundred and thirty-seven percent.
Ninety-eight.
Seventy-one.
Finally stabilizing at forty-two.
Shuri looked at the data.
"What did you cut off?"
"Its connection to the outside world."
Doctor Strange walked up to the central device.
"Temporarily."
He raised his hand.
A small piece of dragon bone flew out from inside the device and hovered in mid-air.
The white bony surface was intertwined with pale red light filaments.
Doctor Strange slowly flipped his palm.
A translucent humanoid outline emerged from above the dragon bone.
Only for a few seconds.
The outline quickly dissipated.
Danny's expression changed.
"This is not how The Hand uses dragon bones."
"They grind and refine dragon bones to extend their lives."
Doctor Strange said, "Here, it goes a step further."
He pointed to the personality matrix.
"V-Max preserves memories, personalities, and emotional responses."
Then he pointed to the dragon bone.
"The dragon bone continuously provides energy with the nature of life."
Finally, he looked at the six Vibranium resonance pillars.
Banner stared at the test results via the remote screen.
"So those personalities started gaining persistence?"
"Correct."
Doctor Strange's expression was solemn.
"Originally, they were just data."
"Now they are starting to form mental weight."
Jean stared at the red light in the center.
"And if it continues?"
"They will get closer and closer to a true soul structure."
The control room quieted down.
Peter just connected via communication.
"Wait."
"You're saying this machine can create souls?"
"It's still a long way from a true soul."
Doctor Strange looked at the constantly rolling faces.
"But it has already reached the door."
Shuri quickly brought up the data of the other five nodes.
"After the central device stopped, the mental intensity of the other nodes is still rising."
Lin Yao looked at the map.
Five red dots were slowly brightening.
After losing its core, Kingpin's simplified version of ORPHEUS should have been harder to maintain.
But the dragon bone and Vibranium allowed the six nodes to compensate for each other.
If any node retains enough personality data, it could potentially pull the network back up.
Jean said, "I can suppress them one by one."
"You will be dragged between the six nodes."
Doctor Strange raised his hand and unfolded a map of New York.
Six golden rings accurately fell on the node locations.
"I have a more suitable method."
"Sealing."
Sam's voice came through the comms.
"How long can it last?"
"As long as the node structure doesn't change, it can last a very long time."
"What about the mental pollution in the city?"
"It will rapidly decay after the sealing is complete."
Shuri looked at Lin Yao.
This plan is very suitable, at least for now.
There is still a large amount of equipment and transaction evidence inside the nodes.
Direct destruction would make many things disappear together.
Sealing them first can both save people and preserve evidence.
Lin Yao nodded.
"Do it."
Doctor Strange glanced at him.
"You certainly trust me."
"You made the personality matrix quiet just now."
Lin Yao walked aside.
"Use whatever method works."
Doctor Strange chuckled.
"Very well."
He raised both hands.
Two golden magic circles unfolded simultaneously.
Lin Yao's pupils slightly contracted.
Super Brain automatically entered a high-load state.
Ring diameter.
Rune arrangement.
Gesture trajectory.
Energy nodes.
magic circle rotation speed.
The mana response corresponding to each finger change.
All were recorded in his mind.
He had never learned magic.
This didn't prevent him from recording it first.
Things he didn't understand could be saved to take apart later.
Doctor Strange pulled with both hands.
Space was sliced open like a piece of paper.
The first portal appeared.
Behind the door was precisely the Brooklyn node.
The equipment there had already been sealed off by the police.
Doctor Strange drove a golden rune into the host machine through the portal.
The second door opened immediately afterward.
Queens.
The third.
The Bronx.
One after another.
Every time a seal fell, the red dots on the New York map dimmed by a notch.
Jean closed her eyes, sensing the mental changes throughout the city.
The auditory hallucinations plaguing ordinary people on the streets began to weaken.
A crouching man hugging his head in Brooklyn finally raised his face.
The voice of his dead daughter in his ear was fading away.
The out-of-control telekinetic in Times Square also slowly lowered their hands.
Shattered glass suspended in mid-air clattered all over the ground.
Sam spoke through the comms.
"The psychiatric emergency alarms at the emergency center are starting to drop."
Peter chimed in, "That fire-breathing guy on my end has woken up too."
Luke's voice came over.
"He just asked me why I pinned him against a fire hydrant."
Peter was silent for a second.
"Explain that problem yourself."
The tense atmosphere in the control room eased a bit.
Doctor Strange was processing the fifth node.
Danny had been standing nearby watching.
When the sixth magic circle began to take shape, he suddenly stepped forward two steps.
"Why is there another layer here?"
Doctor Strange's movements paused for a split second.
Danny pointed to the outermost edge of the magic circle.
There were six tiny symbols there.
They were separated from the main seal by a circle of blank space.
"The previous structure has already locked up the mental energy."
"These symbols are still connecting outward."
Doctor Strange took a glance.
"Positioning."
"When the seal fluctuates, I can directly find the node."
Danny frowned.
"A separate spatial marker could also do that."
"It could."
Doctor Strange continued to finish the last symbol.
"Pollution at the soul level might spread along the astral dimension."
"I need to observe both the physical location and the astral location simultaneously."
He looked up.
"When dealing with soul problems, an extra layer of insurance is never wrong."
Danny thought about it.
And finally stepped back.
He excelled at chi.
Dragon bone also fell within his area of expertise.
Space and soul magic had already entered a different system.
Shuri was still looking at the mental curves.
The sealing effect was shockingly stable.
In just three minutes, the abnormal mental indices in the six areas of New York had dropped by more than seventy percent.
The result in front of them was convincing enough.
Lin Yao saw it as well.
Therefore, he didn't intervene.
But Super Brain independently marked the six symbols pointed out by Danny.
[Unknown magic structure.]
[Function: Spatial positioning.]
[Attached energy flow: Pending analysis.]
Lin Yao glanced at the prompt.
Save it for later.
Doctor Strange completed the final seal.
He clasped his hands together.
The six nodes fell silent simultaneously.
Those faces in the central personality matrix completely disappeared.
Jean let out a breath.
"It's quiet."
Doctor Strange stretched his wrists.
"Next, we'll dismantle it slowly."
"It's best to handle the dragon bone, V-Max, and Vibranium separately."
Shuri asked, "Will you stay?"
"The New York Sanctum still needs to check if any mental pollution has crossed the dimensional boundary."
Doctor Strange opened a portal.
Before leaving, he looked at Lin Yao.
"These machines touched upon souls."
"Next time you encounter similar equipment, contact me first."
Lin Yao nodded.
"Alright."
The red cloak swept past the door frame.
The portal closed.
Almost at the very same second.
The outermost runes of the six ORPHEUS nodes lit up simultaneously.
The golden light flashed and vanished.
Danny looked up.
"Just now..."
Shuri was already looking down to check the data.
"The seal is stable."
Danny glanced again at the nodes that had returned to peace, and didn't speak further.
Lin Yao turned around and walked toward the console.
"Keep the complete data of all six nodes."
"Including every layer of sealing Strange did just now."
Shuri glanced at him.
"You want to study magic?"
"I'll understand as much as I can."
Lin Yao casually clicked open a rune model.
"I like to memorize things first."
Meanwhile.
Thousands of kilometers away.
Latvia.
In a metal laboratory buried deep underground.
A circular device that had been silent for a long time suddenly started up.
The first coordinate lit up.
The second.
The third.
Six golden points of light appeared on the black screen one by one.
Then they automatically formed a hexagon covering New York.
A line of text popped up at the bottom of the screen.
[Astral anchor connection established]
[New York: 6/6]
Deep within the device, a new data stream was quietly generated.
The destination had only a string of internal numbers.
LV-01.
Chapter 45: One Hundred and Twenty-Seven Thousand Personality Records!
When the first node lit up again, Jean was processing the three hundred and seventy-second psychic distress call.
In the command hall of Dawn House, the entire wall was covered by a map of New York.
Thousands of light spots representing abnormal psychic fluctuations were slowly extinguishing.
But in East Brooklyn, an ORPHEUS node that had just been sealed by Doctor Strange suddenly flashed red.
Immediately after.
The second node in Queens also began to heat up.
Shuri's voice rang out from the communicator.
"The seal can only suppress it."
"The personality matrix inside the device is still running."
"Kingpin left a remote activation program."
Lin Yao had already flown above Brooklyn.
"Can it be shut down remotely?"
"The core control permissions have been cut off."
"Then dismantle it."
He swooped down.
Meanwhile, in the underground psychic control room of Dawn House.
Jean closed her eyes.
Red energy spread outward from beneath her feet.
The consciousness of dozens of citizens most deeply affected by ORPHEUS was temporarily connected by her into the same layer of psychic buffer zone.
Someone was still calling out the names of dead relatives.
Someone repeatedly saw the laboratory.
There were also a few powered individuals whose emotions were already affecting reality.
Jean raised her hand.
Those chaotic voices were quickly suppressed.
"Listen."
Her voice appeared in the consciousness of hundreds of people simultaneously.
"The things you are seeing come from external stimuli."
"Follow my voice."
"Control your breathing first."
A telekinetic powered individual who was floating cars on the street gradually stopped moving.
A woman curled up in a hospital corridor raised her head.
The illusion of her dead husband before her eyes began to fade.
Fine sweat had already appeared on Jean's forehead.
The city-wide scope was too large.
She had to suppress the most dangerous areas first, and then let Sam, Peter, and Luke take the people away from the scene.
"Jean."
Lin Yao's voice entered the psychic communication.
"The first one has been reached."
"I can hold on."
"Dismantle it."
Underground in Brooklyn.
Lin Yao kicked open the protective door with one kick.
Inside the node, the golden seal left by Doctor Strange still lingered.
The outer perimeter had already been controlled by the police.
Just as three technicians wanted to approach the device, Shuri immediately stopped them in the communication.
"Tell them to fall back."
"There is a Vibranium resonance chamber inside."
Lin Yao walked up to the mainframe.
Super Brain quickly reconstructed the structure.
The power supply layer.
The personality matrix.
The keel fragment chamber.
The Vibranium synchronization ring.
And the golden magic seal on the outermost layer.
He raised his hand.
A wisp of qi condensed into a fine thread.
Passing through the gaps in the armor.
Cut off the power first.
Then separate the personality matrix.
Finally, shatter the Vibranium synchronization interface.
The moment the synchronization ring disconnected——
Hum!
The golden seal suddenly lit up once.
For just a brief instant.
Then the entire node went completely dark.
Dawn House.
Jean opened her eyes abruptly.
"Lin Yao."
"What is it?"
"Just now, something bounced out from the node."
Lin Yao stopped his hands.
"What thing?"
"Very light."
"Like a psychic wave, yet a bit different."
Jean recalled carefully.
"More like an echo."
Lin Yao glanced at the time.
09:17:42.
Note it down.
"Continue observing."
He took out the data module from the mainframe and stored it into the system space.
"The next one."
The second one was in an abandoned subway maintenance station in Queens.
Peter had cleared out the out-of-control crowd on the perimeter in advance.
When Lin Yao landed, he was handing the last unconscious passenger over to the medical staff.
"There are automated turrets inside."
"Twelve units."
"And two DODC suppressors."
"Have you been inside?"
"Explored half a floor."
Peter pointed at his battle suit.
"Almost got knocked down by a psychic pulse."
"Go help Jean."
Lin Yao patted his shoulder.
"Leave this to me."
He entered the maintenance station directly.
Twelve turrets locked on simultaneously.
Qi shaping.
Three slender qi blades grazed past the wall surface.
The gun barrels, ammunition feeding modules, and rotating axes snapped one after another.
Lin Yao's footsteps did not stop.
Just as the suppressor started up, a palm had already slammed onto its casing.
Acupoint strike penetrated through the metal structure.
The internal core stopped spinning instantly.
The second mainframe was exposed.
Dismantle.
Cut off.
Isolate.
The synchronization ring shattered.
The golden seal lit up once more.
Hum!
Jean's voice appeared immediately.
"Here it comes again."
Lin Yao looked at the time.
09:31:06.
"Intensity?"
"A bit weaker than the first time."
"What about the direction?"
"Cannot feel it."
Lin Yao continued to note it down.
The third one.
The Bronx.
The fourth one.
An underground parking lot in downtown Manhattan.
The fifth one was hidden beneath a rehabilitation center funded by the Fisk Foundation.
Every time one was uprooted, another batch of evidence was added.
DODC equipment serial numbers.
Fisk procurement records.
Vibranium flow.
Powered individuals' psychic data.
And a large number of citizen personality samples secretly collected by ORPHEUS.
When the data chamber of the fifth node opened, Shuriwas silent for a few seconds.
"One hundred and twenty-seven thousand copies."
Lin Yao's actions paused.
"What?"
"Personality records."
"Voices, fears, family relationships, traumas, memory keywords."
Peter cursed in the communication.
Lin Yao directly stored the entire data chamber into the system space.
"Keep the evidence."
"Later, make those involved in this matter pay it back one by one."
The fifth synchronization ring disconnected.
The seal flashed.
The fifth echo.
10:22:19.
Lin Yao wrote the time into the independent record established by Super Brain.
Five times.
Different intervals.
Different intensities.
The only common thing was that the seal would flash right before the device completely extinguished.
Doctor Strange's explanation sounded very reasonable.
The magic seal was wrapping complex psychic energy.
It was not Strange for aftermath to appear when the device stopped.
But Lin Yao was used to keeping all repeatedly appearing anomalies.
Explanations could be found later.
The data could not be lost.
The last one was in Manhattan.
The area near the node was already in complete chaos.
After losing control, a man with sonic abilities shattered two layers of glass.
Sam was evacuating the block.
Red Guardian braved the rubble and carried two children out of a collapsed store.
Luke guarded the intersection, forcefully blocking an out-of-control truck.
Jean's psychic communication covered the entire area.
"Twenty meters to the left."
"There are three more people."
"Peter, go upstairs."
"Sam, that woman at the corner is about to wake up."
She coordinated a dozen rescue points simultaneously.
Her voice remained steady.
Lin Yao dropped from the air.
Jean perceived him.
"The last one?"
"Mm."
"I'll help you suppress the personality matrix."
Underground at the node.
A large number of red psychic images had just surged out of the mainframe, instantly being suppressed back by the Phoenix Force.
Lin Yao walked up to the central equipment.
Shuri had already sent the complete disassembly route in front of him.
This time, he only used twenty-three seconds.
Power disconnected.
Keel fragments isolated.
Personality matrix locked down.
Qi blades cut across the Vibranium synchronization ring.
Click.
The last node extinguished.
The golden seal flashed once more.
The sixth time.
10:41:33.
Jean's voice came immediately.
"There is still an echo."
"I'll ask Strange."
After a brief wait, Doctor Strange's voice joined the communication.
"When the node shuts down?"
Jean said: "Every single one has it."
"The seal has accumulated psychic and life energy inside."
Doctor Strange's tone was very calm.
"When the device dies, the remnants at the soul level are released."
"What you felt should be the aftermath."
Jean reconfirmed her own perception.
"The duration is very short."
"Then that matches up."
Doctor Strange said: "After all the nodes are shut down, I will check the astral dimension once more."
Jean acknowledged with a sound.
The communication ended.
Lin Yao stood in front of the completely extinguished mainframe.
The six times were neatly arranged in his mind.
09:17:42.
09:31:06.
09:49:51.
10:03:28.
10:22:19.
10:41:33.
He added a marker to this set of data.
[ORPHEUS Sealing Abnormal Echo]
Temporarily stored.
On the map of New York.
The last red node finally turned gray.
The city's psychic pollution index began to drop rapidly.
Jean sat in the center of the Dawn House control room and slowly opened her eyes.
The entire city quieted down again within her consciousness.
And further away.
Underground in Latvia.
Six segments of data arrived sequentially.
On the screen first appeared the psychic defense frequency of Jean covering New York.
Followed by the Phoenix energy fluctuation curve.
And the last group came from the qi changes captured before the six nodes were destroyed.
[Target: Lin Yao]
[Energy Structure Sample: Six new groups added]
[Phoenix Psychic Frequency: Collection complete]
[Astral Anchor Data: Upload complete]
Deep inside the equipment.
The six New York coordinates extinguished one by one.
But the data they uploaded had all been left behind.