...conditions.
Lorna's teeth bit into her lower lip, almost drawing blood. She wasn't stupid; good things didn't just fall from the sky, especially not into the office of a man like this.
"Conditions?"
Lynt smiled. It wasn't a businessman's smile, but a butcher's seeing a prime cut of pork belly.
He slowly extended a finger.
"First, lifetime employment. Your abilities, your actions, all your waking hours, belong to 'Apex Amplification'—this company."
He leaned forward slightly, his hot breath snaking into Lorna's ear, his voice low and sticky, with a magnetic quality that made one's scalp tingle.
"And second..."
"You belong to me."
"You're dreaming!"
Lorna was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her fur bristling, and she roared back without thinking.
"Oh really?"
Lynt instantly dropped all expression, his handsome face turning like a block of ancient ice. The temperature in the office seemed to drop by more than ten degrees.
His gaze shifted from Lorna's face, stabbing like a knife at Magneto, his voice not loud, but it made the old Magneto's temples throb.
"Eric."
Lynt didn't even use a respectful title.
"Give her a lesson."
"Tell her what 'non-performing asset disposal' means."
"Snap!"
He snapped his fingers.
The enormous floor-to-ceiling window in the office instantly transformed from transparent to a pitch-black screen.
"Sizzle—Aowaoaoao—!"
Piercing electric crackles and desperate screams erupted simultaneously!
On the screen, Sabretooth Victor was like a salted fish hung up, his entire body wrapped in a blue-white electric net.
Each time the current flashed, his muscular body twitched violently, his fur standing on end, and the foam he spat out carried a burnt smell.
In another scene, Toad Man was chased all over the floor by a contraption resembling a robotic vacuum cleaner.
As soon as his tongue stretched out to stick to the ceiling, a laser precisely burned the tip of it, making him roll on the floor, clutching his mouth in pain.
The most miserable was Red Devil. He was confined in a glass box filled with sticky, transparent gel.
Each time he teleported, he would "plop" into the gel, making it hard to even move, let alone run. He looked like a fly trapped in amber.
The scene was, for a moment, quite harmonious, filled with the warm atmosphere of corporate culture building.
Lorna's eyelids twitched, and her stomach churned.
Which of these wasn't a notorious figure in the Mutant community?
Now they were all living teaching aids for new employee training!
"Those... robots..." Lorna's voice was dry like sandpaper.
"Oh, new office supplies purchased by the procurement department, still in the break-in period," Lynt explained lightly. "Incidentally, they're also giving our colleagues in the 'Strategic Armament and Risk Avoidance Department' a free full-body electrotherapy to relax their muscles and bones."
He walked back behind his desk, sitting down like an emperor, his fingers interlaced, propping up his chin.
"Miss Lorna Dane, now, I'll ask again."
"Do you want to be one of those 'office supplies' screaming on the screen, or do you want to be... the one who presses the switch?"
The office was deathly quiet.
Magneto closed his eyes in pain.
He knew that from the moment Lynt revealed these things, he had lost. His daughter no longer had any choice.
Raven leaned against the wall with interest, her scarlet tongue lightly tracing her lips.
Another one.
This green-haired girl was much more feisty than the red-haired Agent before. She looked like she had some bite.
She was very curious how Lynt, this monster in human skin, planned to tame this disobedient, electrically charged little wildcat.
Lorna's chest heaved violently. She looked at the unlucky ones on the screen, then at her father, whose face was ashen and who remained silent. Finally, her gaze returned to the man sitting on the throne.
Anger, unwillingness, humiliation... and a hint of something she herself was unwilling to admit: a curiosity about that absolute control.
Finally, she was like a punctured balloon, all her thorns and arrogance deflated.
"I..." Her throat was dry. "How do I know you're not just making empty promises?"
"Very good, we've upgraded from negotiating terms to asset verification," Lynt nodded approvingly. "This is an essential quality for a smart employee."
"To demonstrate our company's robust strength, and incidentally, as my personal 'Excellent Family Member Special Allowance' to Director Eric..."
He stood up, walked step by step to Lorna, looked down at her, and a smile bloomed on his face, a smile capable of making an Angel fall.
"I've decided to offer you a... free trial lesson worth one hundred million U.S. dollars."
"Now, follow me."
He turned and walked towards an inconspicuous secret door on the wall.
Lorna bit her teeth tightly, glanced at her father, whose face was ashen, and finally stomped her foot, following him.
She wanted to see what this bastard was really up to!
The door closed behind them.
Raven then glided to Magneto's side, her voice like cold silk.
"Keep your precious daughter in line, Eric."
"Remember, in this castle, there is always only one queen."
The elevator leading underground was astonishingly fast and silent.
Lorna crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a stance ready for a fight at any moment, but her green eyes couldn't help but dart around.
The elevator was cast as a single piece, not even a screw visible.
Stark Industries couldn't even produce this technology!
"Ding."
The door opened.
The sight before Lorna made her breath catch.
It wasn't a laboratory, nor was it an interrogation room. It was a ridiculously large circular space, with a realistic starry sky as its dome, where nebulae could be seen slowly flowing.
"My private amplification chamber." Lynt pointed to the floating, very expensive-looking bed in the center of the room. "Get on."
"You wish!" Lorna backed away warily.
"Don't force my hand, the trial lesson time is precious." Lynt lost his patience, and with a flash, he was in front of her.
Lorna felt an irresistible force, and the next second, her world spun as he scooped her up in a perfect princess carry!
"Bastard! Put me down!"
Lorna's face flushed crimson instantly, and she struggled with both hands and feet, but Lynt's arms were like cast iron, unmoving.
"Don't you want to experience what your sister Wanda feels?"
Lynt's voice sounded in her ear, like a devil's whisper.
"That child is now my loyal customer, with a hundred percent return rate."
Lorna's struggles ceased instantly.
Wanda... the sister even her father found troublesome, whose power was even more prone to losing control than her own... he also...
Seeing the little wildcat in his arms instantly become docile, Lynt smiled with satisfaction and directly tossed her onto the floating bed.
The mattress was soft, absorbing most of the force, but the humiliation of being treated like an object made Lorna's face instantly flush red.
[Five hundred words are omitted here, which cannot be detailed but are absolutely an improper process of matcha dynamics and pure physical posture one-on-one cooperative teaching...]