Chapter 117: Overheating and Breaking Down, Harvesting the Bounty Through the Glass
Lin Nuo held his whiskey glass, his movements pausing in mid-air.
The man's gaze fell on Wanda, carrying an undisguised appraisal.
That black silk nightgown was thin to the point of cruelty, with a few thin straps hanging on her shoulders, making her look even paler and more fragile.
Wanda stood in place, her hands tightly wrapped around herself, her breathing rhythm even becoming chaotic.
She could even hear her heart beating like a drum.
Lin Nuo took a long stride and slowly stood up, his tone full of the righteous arrogance of a refined scoundrel.
"The size is a perfect fit."
He set the glass on the tabletop, his voice low.
"Since you've changed your clothes, let's go see that useless brother of yours who is lying in a pile of money."
"Coincidentally, I also want to verify the effectiveness of the nano-serum."
Upon hearing this, the color instantly drained from Wanda's face.
Her toes gripped the wool carpet tightly, her head shaking like a rattle, and she took two steps back, her back pressing against the cold wall.
"I won't go!"
Wearing this outfit, let alone going out, she felt humiliated to the extreme even just taking one more step in the room.
If Pietro were to see her like this, following this tyrant, it would be crueler than killing her outright.
Lin Nuo's expression did not flicker in the slightest.
"That's not up to you."
He took a large step forward, his tall figure looming over her.
That powerful sense of oppression fell like a blanket, almost making it impossible for Wanda to breathe.
Lin Nuo reached out and grabbed her wrist; the force was not heavy, but it was enough to make it impossible for her to break free.
"Walk."
Wanda was dragged along, stumbling a step, and could only bite her lip tightly, holding back the moisture in her eyes.
She wanted to resist.
But the moment she thought of Pietro still lying in the nano-pod, all her struggles were cut off as if by an invisible hand.
She could only follow at Lin Nuo's side in humiliation, walking through the corridor of the temporary Star Umbrella Base.
The cold lights along the way fell on her pale face, reflecting an indescribable tremor.
This place had long been designated as an absolutely private restricted area, and there were no guards in the corridor.
But the fear of being seen at any moment still made Wanda tremble all over.
Her eyes were clouded with moisture, like a small beast driven to a dead end.
In the high-end medical room on the bottom floor, the heavy alloy doors slid open to the sides.
The cool-toned light source made the place look cold and oppressive.
Densely packed data monitoring instruments were arranged all around, ticking away as they recorded various values.
In the most prominent position in the center stood a fully transparent tempered glass repair pod.
The pod was filled with a high-concentration, pale green nutrient solution.
Pietro was covered in tubes and lines, floating quietly inside.
Lin Nuo brought Wanda to the glass.
He raised his hand to press on Wanda's shoulder, forcing her to stand still in front of the repair pod.
The cold glass was within reach.
Wanda subconsciously wanted to retreat, but was firmly held by Lin Nuo's hand.
"Lift your head."
Lin Nuo's voice came from behind her, low and devoid of temperature.
"Look inside properly."
"The effects of the nano-serum are about to reach their peak."
Wanda's eyes were full of anxiety and panic.
She was forced to look at Pietro in the pod through the transparent barrier.
The bubbles in the pod began to surge and churn faster.
The waves on the heart rate monitor jumped faster and faster.
Finally, Pietro's eyelids, soaking in the nutrient solution, trembled slightly.
After a few slight twitches, he struggled to open his eyes.
In the initial stage of waking up, Pietro's consciousness was still a bit blurred, and his field of vision was filled with double images refracted by the liquid.
But when his gaze passed through the green nutrient solution and the transparent glass, and completely focused on that scene outside, his sanity shattered instantly.
That was his sister, whom he relied on for survival.
The Wanda who, once in the HYDRA laboratory, would never bow her head even after suffering inhuman torture, and who had sworn to drag the enemy down with her.
At this moment, she was wearing a thin black nightgown, standing pale and disheveled beside that tycoon man.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling, as if her pride had been completely broken by someone.
And Lin Nuo stood behind her, his posture relaxed, his eyes cold.
That was not the posture of a protector.
That was a dominator displaying his trophy.
Even more cruelly, Lin Nuo raised his eyes and met Pietro's gaze through the glass.
There was no anger in that gaze, nor was there any wariness.
Only the pity and mockery of a superior looking down at an ant.
This was a total trampling of Pietro's dignity as a brother and as a man!
"Mmph!"
Pietro opened his mouth wide to roar, but could only spit out a large string of silent bubbles from his throat.
He struggled frantically in the nutrient solution, trying to pull out the monitoring lines on his body.
He clenched his fists and beat the tempered glass in front of him desperately.
The dull thudding sound transmitted through the water, but it couldn't shake the special material in the slightest.
Seeing her brother inside with eyes splitting and acting like a madman, Wanda's heart ached to the extreme.
That string called pride finally snapped completely.
Tears fell down in torrents.
"Don't..."
"Tell him to stop looking."
Her voice was thick with crying, she shook her head desperately, wanting to back away from the glass.
But Lin Nuo just held her shoulder, keeping her in place.
His tone was as cold as a knife.
"What are you hiding from?"
"Isn't this the person you care about most?"
"Then let him see with his own eyes what you have sacrificed to save him."
These words were heart-piercing.
Wanda trembled all over, her face pale to the point of being almost transparent.
Pietro struggled even more frantically in the pod.
His knuckles slammed against the glass, vibrating with one dull sound after another.
But no matter how hard he tried, that transparent barrier remained unmoved.
He was clearly awake.
He was clearly only a layer of glass away from Wanda.
But he couldn't do anything.
Lin Nuo leaned down slightly, his voice falling beside Wanda's ear.
"Look closely at your brother's expression now."
"Isn't it wonderful?"
"The speed he prides himself on is nothing in the face of true power."
"He can only be like an ornamental fish trapped in an aquarium, watching helplessly as he fails to protect anyone!"
Wanda closed her eyes, tears falling continuously.
She dared not look at Pietro again.
But even with her eyes closed, her brother's bloodshot eyes still stabbed at her heart like knives.
"Let him go..."
Her voice trembled, almost sinking into the dust.
"I beg you."
Lin Nuo looked down at her, his eyes devoid of any pity.
"Beg me?"
Wanda clenched her palms tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh.
She knew she had no bargaining chips left.
Pietro's life, Pietro's dignity, and even the last pitiful future of the siblings were all held in this man's hands.
She finally spoke with a trembling voice.
"As long as you let him go, I will listen to anything you say."
The medical room was so quiet that only the ticking of the operating instruments remained.
Pietro froze inside the glass pod.
The next second, he seemed to be completely shattered by these words, the anger in his eyes turning into deeper despair.
He shook his head desperately, spitting out bubbles, as if silently screaming for her not to do it.
But Wanda did not open her eyes.
She dared not look.
She was afraid that if she saw Pietro's expression, she would completely break down.
Lin Nuo finally smiled.
The smile was faint, but sharp enough to make one's heart run cold.
"Good girl."
He raised his hand and unhurriedly adjusted the shoulder strap that had slipped down for Wanda.
The movement was not gentle, but it carried a coldness that declared ownership.
Pietro watched this scene, his eyes scarlet.
His nails scratched against the inner wall of the glass with a harsh sound.
Fresh blood seeped from his fingertips, merging into the green nutrient solution, turning into a strand of bleak blood mist.
Powerless.
An extreme sense of powerlessness completely swallowed him.
He had once thought that he had awakened god-like speed, that he could topple the tycoons and protect his sister.
He had even fantasized about one day taking Wanda to live in the most peaceful place in the World.
But now, in the face of absolute power and resources, he couldn't even break a layer of glass.
The ability he prided himself on had become a pathetic joke in this dimension-crushing suppression.
The pride that sustained him in living was completely crushed into nothing.
Just at the same second that Pietro's psychological defenses collapsed completely, a long-lost mechanical vibration sounded crisply deep in Lin Nuo's mind.
[Ding! The system has detected that the target character Quicksilver is experiencing extreme despair and psychological collapse!]
[Ultimate Possession achievement triggered: Face-to-face extreme pressure critical hit achieved!]
[System is operating... Stealing luck, Quicksilver's core endurance and extreme speed genes are being perfectly synchronized proportionally!]
Chapter 118: Cutting Off Oxygen Before Her Eyes, the Scarlet Witch Offers a Kiss Through Tears.
The system prompt faded deep within his mind.
Lin Nuo slowly pulled back half an inch, releasing Wanda's lips, which had been bullied into a deep crimson.
The girl gasped for air, her body going limp in the man's arms, the corners of her eyes flushed a deep red.
Lin Nuo wrapped his arm around her and strode forward, half-carrying, half-dragging her to the complex control console nearby.
The alarm lights on the console pulsed with a rhythmic red glow, casting a flickering light on Wanda's pale face.
Lin Nuo released her waist, his long, bony fingers tapping twice on the metal panel before finally resting on a rotating valve marked with a blue bubble icon.
"Baby, do you know what this is?"
His voice was gentle, devoid of any cruelty, and even carried a hint of languid casualness.
Wanda's body trembled, her hands wringing together helplessly, her gaze following the man's long finger.
"The oxygen supply system for this 200 million U.S. dollar nano-pod operates independently."
Lin Nuo's fingertips brushed against the metal knob, and he casually turned it a half-notch to the left.
"Every bit of oxygen that flows into it is a lifeline I bestow upon him."
As the valve turned, the fine oxygen bubbles in the green nutrient solution inside the transparent glass pod began to visibly diminish.
Pietro, inside the pod, was already on the verge of a breakdown, and the sudden drop in oxygen supply caused an immediate reaction.
He clutched his throat in pain, his chest heaving violently, releasing a chaotic stream of bubbles from his mouth, his eyes, previously flushed red, rolling back from lack of oxygen.
Wanda was so terrified that her blood ran cold.
With bare feet on the cold floor, she took a step forward and gripped Lin Nuo's sturdy arm tightly.
"What are you doing?"
"Stop it!"
The girl's voice was thick with tears, and her black silk strap slipped down with her movement, exposing a large expanse of snow-white skin to the cold light.
Lin Nuo remained unmoved.
He even used his free hand to hook the slipped strap and pull it back onto her rounded shoulder.
His fingertips pressed heavily into the hollow of the girl's collarbone.
"Begging me to stop?"
Lin Nuo chuckled, the heat from his vibrating chest transferring through the paper-thin fabric, causing Wandato stiffen.
"When you signed the contract earlier, it was written clearly in black and white."
"Your life, his life—they are all private assets of the Star Umbrella."
Lin Nuo pinched her delicate chin, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze.
"Yet, even now, you don't seem to have realized your status as a piece of private property."
Tears welled up in Wanda's eyes and rolled down, splashing onto the back of Lin Nuo's hand.
"I've already agreed to stay..."
"I've signed the contract, and I've changed into the clothes you requested."
"What else do you want from me?"
She cried like a fragile porcelain doll, every word permeated with the sense of brokenness that comes after one's dignity has been shattered.
Lin Nuo's long fingers grazed her tender cheek, wiping away the tearstains.
"Changing clothes is just the most basic form of obedience."
Lin Nuo's voice grew lower, carrying a seductive warmth.
"A true piece of private property shouldn't just wait for the Master to give orders; it should learn to actively please."
The man's fingers rested on the oxygen control valve again and turned it another half-notch to the left.
The console emitted a piercing warning buzzer.
Inside the pod, Pietro had stopped pounding on the glass, his body beginning to twitch uncontrollably.
He clawed at his throat, his fingernails leaving bloody scratches on his neck, his face turning a horrifying shade of purple-red.
"Your brother has decent lung capacity."
Lin Nuo lowered his head, his breath brushing against Wanda's ear.
"But at this concentration, he can only hold on for two more minutes at most."
"After two minutes, the nano-repair pod will become an expensive, high-end coffin."
"And all of this depends on your performance right now."
Wanda felt numb all over, her ears ringing with a constant roar.
The tyrant's demand was so blunt that she felt ashamed to the point of suffocation.
Actively please him?
She had never experienced anything like this.
Especially not at such a life-or-death moment where her brother was about to suffocate, and in front of her brother, to cater to a demon!
"I don't know how..."
"I really don't know what to do..."
Wanda kept shrinking back, her back pressing against the edge of the hard control console, with nowhere left to retreat.
"You don't?"
"Then watch him die."
Lin Nuo's tone was steady, without even a hint of urgency.
That unhurried demeanor was more torturous than any harsh interrogation.
He wanted to personally shatter the last line of psychological defense of this red-haired Witch, making her completely dependent on him mentally.
Inside the glass pod, Pietro's struggles grew weaker and weaker, his pupils beginning to dilate.
At this moment, Wanda's psychological defenses completely collapsed.
She compromised. Completely and utterly compromised.
In front of this tyrant who held the power of life and death, she couldn't even find the qualification to resist.
"Don't turn it anymore..."
"I'll do it."
"I'm willing to do anything..."
The girl cried as she gave in, her normally crisp voice softening into a puddle of water, revealing a bottomless surrender.
She reached out with trembling hands and climbed onto Lin Nuo's broad shoulders.
Her fingernails dug into the expensive, high-fashion shirt fabric out of nervousness.
She slowly applied force to her feet, her slender legs trembling on the floor.
She stood on her tiptoes.
Under the cold light, she was like a lamb sacrificed to a deity, closing her eyes—filled with humiliation and despair—and offered her tear-stained red lips.
The moment their lips touched, the desire in Lin Nuo's eyes suddenly darkened.
He didn't immediately deepen the kiss, instead letting the girl approach in a clumsy and stiff manner.
It was too clumsy. She even accidentally bumped her teeth against his lower lip.
But this awkwardness served as the sharpest catalyst.
"Is that all you've got?"
Lin Nuo's low, hoarse, and heated voice spilled out between their lips.
He didn't give Wanda any chance to retreat; his bony palm clamped onto the back of her fragile neck, while his other hand wrapped around her slender waist, pulling her entire body forcefully into his embrace.
Wanda let out a short gasp.
The next second, the man's presence completely overwhelmed her.
It wasn't a gentle kiss, but a demanding one filled with punishment, more like an unreserved declaration of possession.
Wanda was forced to endure this pressure, shivering, most of her weight hanging on the man.
That black silk nightgown with its minimal fabric was already in disarray from the tugging.
Lin Nuo's scorching palm pressed against her lower back, confining her firmly in his arms through the thin fabric.
Her tears continued to flow, splashing onto the side of Lin Nuo's face.
Her heart, torn between resistance and the instinct to survive, was being ripped apart.
But her brother's pained, dying appearance was right beside her; she had no way out.
"Mmph..." A suppressed, broken sound spilled from the girl's throat.
She had almost forgotten where she was and didn't dare to look at her brother, who was still rolling his eyes back from oxygen deprivation nearby.
Her arms stiffly wrapped around Lin Nuo's neck, and in fear and despair, she clumsily responded to the demon who had taken everything from her.
Sensing that the person in his arms had shifted from forced endurance to active compliance, Lin Nuo finally released her with satisfaction.
Wanda fell back to the floor, her legs so weak she could barely stand, and could only lean in a disheveled state against the man's sturdy embrace.
She gasped for air, her chest heaving violently.
Her cheeks were flushed red as blood, and even her neck was stained with an embarrassed crimson.
"Your performance is barely passable."
Lin Nuo's long finger pinched her burning earlobe, his tone returning to its languid state.
He reached out and casually turned the blue control valve, restoring the oxygen supply to its maximum level.
A large amount of green bubbles rushed back into the medical pod.
Pietro, who had been on the verge of passing out, began to cough violently under the stimulation of the concentrated oxygen, then pressed against the glass, watching helplessly as his sister collapsed into someone else's arms.
His eyes were filled with breakdown and despair.
Lin Nuo didn't care at all about the reaction of that trash in the pod.
He held Wanda's slender waist, but his gaze pierced through the void, landing on the holographic system interface that only he could see.
Following that extreme tug-of-war that had broken through her bottom line, the golden progress bar on the interface was skyrocketing at a terrifying speed.
[Progress settling... Target's psychological defenses have completely collapsed!]
[Host's interception progress has jumped significantly; Chaos Magic source extraction is ready!]
Lin Nuo watched the flickering light, his large palm gently grazing the edge of Wanda's leg.
He lowered his head, his thin lips brushing against the girl's sensitive neck.
"Little wildcat, I told you so."
The man's chuckle was filled with wicked satisfaction.
"You have even better ways to please me."
Chapter 119: Wanda Breaks Down, Intercepting Chaos to Alter Reality
Inside the top-floor suite of the Star Umbrella Base.
The temperature was set quite high, and the air was filled with a faint scent of cedar, intertwined with the aroma of expensive red wine.
Lin Nuo placed the exhausted girl in his arms onto the large, soft bed.
The pure white silk duvet served as a backdrop, making the black camisole nightgown on Wanda appear strikingly sharp.
She had exhausted all her strength during the mental oppression just now and was currently in a deep sleep, yet her brows remained tightly furrowed.
Even though her consciousness was unclear, her body still curled up uneasily.
She mumbled vaguely in her mouth.
"Don't pull the tubes..."
"I'll be obedient..."
"Don't hurt Pietro..."
That sense of fragility, crushed by fear from the inside out, made the entire room seem to be covered in a heavy shadow.
Lin Nuo pressed one knee against the edge of the bed, his tall physique casting a shadow full of oppression, completely enveloping her.
His long, distinct fingers reached out, pausing nonchalantly on Wanda's pale cheek.
Dried tear stains still remained at the corners of the girl's eyes.
Lin Nuo lowered his gaze to look at her, his tone low and languid.
"Baby, the assessment just now only counts as a passing grade."
"I haven't taught you the real rules yet."
"Stay obediently in my territory from now on; there will be plenty of time for you to learn how to submit."
Just as his fingertips paused on the side of the girl's neck, a grand, mechanical prompt tone, exclusive to the [Forgiveness-Colored Great Love System], sounded on time deep within his mind.
That sound was more pleasant than any top-tier symphony in the World.
In front of Lin Nuo's line of sight, a holographic light screen that only he could see popped out.
The golden progress bar, which had previously been stagnant, now shot up like it was riding a Rocket, soaring at a shocking speed and directly crashing through the max-level marker.
[Ding! Detected that the target character "Wanda Maximoff" has had her psychological defenses completely collapse and has thoroughly lost the will to resist!]
[Face-to-face pressure critical strike condition met! The target has been firmly controlled by the host!]
[System Evaluation: S-Rank Absolute Control achievement triggered!]
Lin Nuo looked at the system panel in front of him, his large hand nonchalantly pinching Wanda's burning earlobe.
In this system's judgment logic, there was no need to go to the crudest step.
That kind of so-called conquest achieved purely by relying on force was only the lowest form of play.
Like today, using capital, life and death, and family affection as chips, roasting the target over a fire.
Letting her personally abandon her last bit of pride in front of the brother she cares about most, and take the initiative to lower her head and beg for mercy.
This kind of thorough penetration from spirit to will brought system rewards far greater than monotonous physical suppression.
[Target core luck has been anchored, intercepting the Red-Haired Witch main storyline completion!]
[Critical Strike Roulette is opening!]
In the void, a huge roulette wheel emitting blinding golden light slowly emerged, then began to rotate at high speed.
Lin Nuo took a deep breath of the air mixed with the scent of cedar and red wine, staring at the rapidly spinning roulette with great interest.
The densely packed reward items on it were all god-level authorities capable of triggering bloody storms across the entire Marvel Multiverse.
There were starship fleet blueprints capable of tearing space apart with bare hands.
There was full-version Infinity Stones resonance permission.
And there was the Quantum Realm ultimate key capable of tampering with timelines.
The speed of the roulette began to slow down gradually.
The golden pointer jumped repeatedly on the edges of various enviable areas, pulling the anticipation to its peak.
Finally, with a crisp click.
The pointer settled steadily on a gem slice pattern flickering with a scarlet shimmer and emitting a manic, oppressive aura.
The moment the red light lit up, even the system's holographic light screen distorted along with it.
[Congratulations to the host! Triggered super critical strike grand prize!]
[Successfully intercepted single-Universe-level energy: Perfect-level Chaos Magic source!]
[Synchronously unlocked "Reality Alteration" core authority!]
[Energy infusion ready, beginning fusion!]
As soon as the system's voice fell, a pure energy so vast it couldn't be explained by common sense poured directly into Lin Nuo's limbs and bones from the void space.
With this level of power entering the body, any ordinary superhero, even if they didn't die, would have all their nerve endings torn apart by the violent magic energy.
But Lin Nuo was completely different.
He had long since fused the perfect golden ratio of the prime Hulk's rage genes, as well as the Asgardian Divine Constitution that came with high-level damage immunity resistance.
These two god-level foundations acted as the most perfect containers at this moment.
They forcefully suppressed the scarlet energy that attempted to run wild, and in a tyrannical manner, stripped, absorbed, and assimilated it.
There were no bulging veins, nor the excruciating pain of meridians being stretched and torn.
What Lin Nuo felt was a thorough ascension in dimension.
It was even more of a dimensionality-reduction strike on the level of perception.
He closed his eyes.
All the physical rules around him were completely deconstructed in his mind.
He could clearly "see" the tiny molecules drifting in the air.
He could see how many invisible silk fiber threads were interwoven to form the silk nightgown on Wanda's body.
Even, as long as he extended his perception, he could capture the process of every snowflake condensing in the clouds high above Sokovia, hundreds of meters away.
In his eyes, this World was no longer an indestructible material entity.
Instead, it had become a canvas that could be painted on at will.
It had also become a pile of code that could be arbitrarily deleted, modified, or replaced by his own will.
Gravity. Temperature. Material form.
These physical common sense rules that had bound humanity for thousands of years were, in the eyes of the current Lin Nuo, nothing more than ridiculous false propositions.
"Is this the authority to alter reality?"
Lin Nuo slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his profound pupils, a trace of pure scarlet halo faded away, returning to the gentle and refined look behind his gold-rimmed glasses.
His current strength had long since departed from the boring category of so-called "superheroes" or "supervillains."
Those guys in the Avengers wearing tights and flying around everywhere?
Or perhaps, those HYDRA members hiding in the shadows, claiming to control the whole situation?
In front of the current Lin Nuo, they didn't even qualify to be cannon fodder.
If he wanted to crush them, Lin Nuo didn't even need to swing his fist.
With just a single thought, he could erase the traces of their existence from the physical level.
The four words "World Overlord," tonight, finally had a truly concrete meaning.
Lin Nuo stood up, strode with his long legs to the bar counter nearby.
There sat the half-finished glass of whiskey he had been drinking earlier, amber liquid still clinging to the glass walls.
Lin Nuo put one hand in his suit pocket and reached out with the other.
His slender, fair index finger tapped casually at the glass.
A trace of subtle dark red halo flowed at his fingertip.
The next second, the whiskey glass on the bar, along with the liquid inside, had its basic molecular arrangement structure forcibly scattered by a force that defied all reason.
A miracle that violated the law of conservation of matter was unfolding before his eyes.
The transparent glass was gone.
Replacing it was a delicate, dripping red rose.
There were even a few drops of transparent dew hanging on the petals.
From hard object to plant. From dead matter to life. Crossing boundaries, doing as one pleases.
Lin Nuo picked up the rose that had been transformed from whiskey.
The thorns on the stem had been erased the moment it formed, leaving only the soft touch belonging to the flower in his hand.
He walked back to the bedside.
The red-haired girl on the big bed didn't know what terrible thing she had dreamed of; her thin brows were knitted together, and her eyelids trembled uneasily.
A very light whimper spilled from her mouth.
Subsequently, Wanda slowly opened those eyes misted with water vapor.
Her vision gradually became clear from blurry.
The first thing she saw was the tyrant who had pulled her out of the abyss, only to personally push her into another cage.
Lin Nuo sat on the edge of the bed.
He held the scarlet rose, gently sliding it down along Wanda's bridge of the nose with the soft edge of the petals.
The petals brushed past her pale lips, finally stopping at the side of her neck.
The cold touch made Wanda stiffen all over.
She instinctively recoiled, wanting to distance herself from the man.
But as soon as she moved, she realized she had nowhere to escape.
Everything in this room—the lights, temperature, door locks, air, and even the life and death of her brother—was all in Lin Nuo's hands.
"Awake?"
Lin Nuo's tone was lazy as he tucked the rose into the girl's messy red hair.
The next second, he reached out to clasp her shoulders, pressing her back to sit against the headboard.
His movements were not rushed, yet they carried an irresistible force.
Wanda's face turned pale, her fingertips gripping the corner of the quilt tightly.
Lin Nuo leaned in close.
His warm breath fell on the side of her ear, his voice low as if it were a verdict.
"Since you've rested enough, I'll take you to see something interesting."
Chapter 120: A Snap of the Fingers, Nukes Turn into Red Roses in a Second
A dark red glimmer of energy lit up beneath their feet.
The surrounding air twisted and distorted.
The next second, the two of them bypassed hundreds of meters of physical barriers and appeared out of thin air inside the core control room of the deepest underground military factory in Sokovia.
The temperature inside the control room was extremely low, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of machine oil and gunpowder.
Piercing alarms frantically assaulted their eardrums, and the red warning lights on the walls flashed incessantly, illuminating this vast underground space like a slaughterhouse.
In front of the control console.
Baron Strucker laughed like a madman.
His face was covered in dust, his monocle had long since shattered, his right eye was bloodshot, and his hands were pressed firmly onto that red final detonation button.
"It's too late!"
"It's all too late!"
Strucker looked insane, staring at Lin Nuo and Wanda who had suddenly appeared before him, his eyes filled with a sickly, fanatical desire to take others down with him.
"No matter how you found your way here, and no matter how fierce the firepower of the Star Umbrella Group is, you all have to go to hell with me!"
"There are three tactical nuclear warheads buried beneath this!"
"In ten seconds, the entire snow-capped mountain will be vaporized, not even leaving ashes behind!"
The countdown on the alarm displayed a despair-inducing red light.
Hearing the word "nuclear bomb," Wanda's mind buzzed, and it instantly went blank.
She knew all too well the insane bottom line of HYDRA.
"We're going to die..."
The girl's voice was thick with nasal tones, and she was too terrified to even have the strength to step back.
At this life-or-death moment, she instinctively made the most genuine reaction.
She didn't care about any shame, wrapping her hands tightly around Lin Nuo's lean waist, her whole body like a frightened koala, desperately squeezing herself into the man's scorching chest.
The thin-as-a-cicada's-wing silk pressed against the fabric of Lin Nuo's high-end suit, bringing a slight tremor.
Lin Nuo not only lacked any panic of a dying man, but instead chuckled in a low voice.
The man's large palm followed suit and clasped her lower back, holding her firmly in his arms.
"Baby, is that all you've got?"
Lin Nuo's chest vibrated, his thin lips close to her reddened earlobe, his voice low.
"They're just a few oversized firecrackers, and they scared you like this?"
Wanda's waist and back went limp, she was panting heavily, and the corners of her eyes were extremely red.
"Run..."
"Those are nuclear bombs, they really kill people..."
She whimpered softly, tears falling against her will.
"Run?"
Lin Nuo's tone was languid, his long fingers picking up the strap that had slipped from her shoulder and placing it back onto her snow-white shoulder.
"In the dictionary of the Star Umbrella Group, those two words do not exist."
There were three seconds left on the countdown.
Strucker laughed louder and louder, even closing his eyes, preparing to welcome that all-consuming fire.
Lin Nuo, however, just carelessly raised his right hand.
His long, fair fingers snapped crisply in mid-air.
"Snap."
This crisp sound, which should have been drowned out by the piercing alarms, eerily overpowered all other noises.
Immediately after, a stream of scarlet energy, pure to the extreme and unreasonably tyrannical, swept out in a ring from Lin Nuo as the center towards the entire control room.
This energy did not destroy any buildings, but it violently altered the underlying logic of matter in this space.
The countdown reached zero.
There was no earth-shattering roar.
No blinding nuclear flash.
Nor was there a high-temperature heat wave capable of melting steel.
The control room fell into an eerie silence.
Strucker opened his eyes in astonishment.
In his field of vision, that huge metal detonation platform was undergoing a disintegration that defied common sense.
Those heavy special steels, complex detonation capacitors, and the warheads buried deep underground loaded with enriched uranium, all disappeared in the blink of an eye as the dark red halo swept over them.
Replacing them were thousands of fresh, delicate red rose petals.
The underground military factory, which originally exuded an aura of death, had turned into a grand flower room.
Petals danced all over the sky.
They drifted out from the cracks in the metal pipes, poured out from the console's monitors, falling all over the floor, and even landing on Strucker's head and shoulders.
The extreme killing machine had turned into extreme romantic waste.
Strucker's lips trembled, his legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the floor covered in rose petals.
"How is this possible..."
"I clearly pressed the detonation button..."
He grabbed a large handful of red petals with both hands.
The petals still had a moist, dew-like touch.
He rubbed them desperately, trying to turn them back into the original metal wires, but there was nothing in his palms except for the crushed red juice.
This scene completely shattered his perception.
Turning nuclear bombs into roses?
This was no longer in the realm of what science could explain.
This was the authority that only a Creator could possess!
"You... what kind of monster are you!"
Strucker looked up at the man in the suit in the distance, who was holding the girl with one hand, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
Lin Nuo had one hand in his pocket, not even bothering to spare an extra glance for this loser.
"Old man, times have changed."
"That pyramid scheme organization of yours that keeps talking about cutting off one head and growing two, in my eyes, doesn't even count as a makeshift operation."
"I'm not killing you because stepping on an ant really doesn't give me any sense of accomplishment."
Lin Nuo's tone was calm.
Yet precisely this indifferent arrogance was more torturous than any vicious curse.
Strucker watched helplessly as his life's work, the ultimate weapon he was so proud of, turned into a pile of scattered flowers in the time it took for this young man to snap his fingers.
Anger, fear, and despair intertwined, rushing straight to his brain.
"Ugh..."
Strucker's eyes bulged, his hands pressing tightly against his chest.
His already overburdened heart, after experiencing the stimulation of such great ups and downs, completely gave out.
His aged body fell heavily into the pile of rose petals, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.
Scared out of his wits, frightened to death.
Wanda stared blankly at all of this.
She leaned into Lin Nuo's embrace, feeling the steady and powerful heartbeat coming from the man's chest.
Red petals were still falling all over the sky.
A few petals landed on her black silk nightgown, red and black intertwined, making her appear even more fragile and vivid.
The Chaos Magic she was so proud of could previously only be used to condense a few small red balls and play with low-level mental interference.
But in this man's hands.
It was a miracle that rewrote the laws of the Universe!
She had always thought Lin Nuo was just a tyrant who used capital and strange powers to bully people.
But now, this man's terror had long since exceeded the limits of her imagination.
She didn't even dare to harbor the thought of running away.
Lin Nuo lowered his head, looking at the stunned red-haired girl in his arms.
His long, knuckled fingers pinched Wanda's small, exquisite chin, forcing her to look up and meet his highly oppressive gaze.
"Baby, are you stunned by just this?"
Lin Nuo's voice was slightly hoarse, carrying a bewitching heat.
His long fingertips picked up a petal that had landed on her collarbone, gently brushing over her hot skin.
The edge of the petal grazed her delicate skin, bringing a wave of indescribable numbness.
"Ah..."
Wanda let out a short, low gasp.
Her waist went limp, and she almost lost all support, having to rely on the man's arm.
She didn't dare to dodge, nor did she know how to dodge.
"You..."
Wanda's breathing was in a mess, her small mouth slightly open, wanting to say something, but she couldn't organize her thoughts at all.
"Didn't you like playing games of mental intrusion before?"
Lin Nuo pressed the petal, warmed by his body temperature, against her moist lips.
"Now, shouldn't you let me teach you what true reality manipulation is?"
Chapter 121: The Human Furnace, The Red-Haired Wildcat Goes Limp
A dark red energy halo silently dissipated under the night sky.
With nothing more than a casual step, Lin Nuo, holding the boneless girl in his arms, went from the biochemical nuclear detonation main control room hundreds of meters underground and landed steadily on the top-floor terrace of the Star Umbrella command ship.
The midnight wind of Sokovia, mixed with snowflakes, swept across unabated.
The thin black silk slip dress Wanda wore offered no defense against this low temperature.
A few slender straps hung from her rounded shoulders. The fabric, thin as a cicada's wing, was pressed against her skin by the wind, making her entire person appear even more fragile.
As the cold wind blew, a fine shiver broke out across the girl's snow-white skin.
She instinctively hunched her shoulders, her legs also going weak.
Before she could even shift half a step to the side, the man's arm, containing terrifying explosive power, swept across.
Lin Nuo directly wrapped his arm around her slender waist and, with a slight exertion, pressed her entire body back against his own broad, scorching chest.
"What are you dodging for?"
Lin Nuo's tone was lazy, his low, husky voice falling by the girl's reddened ear.
"Instead of using the ready-made human-shaped heater right here, you'd rather go catch a cold wind. Is this how HYDRA taught you to do things?"
The man's large palm, separated by the smooth silk fabric, rested firmly against the small of her back.
"Ah..."
Wanda let out a soft gasp, her body instinctively tensing.
She didn't struggle desperately like she used to. Instead, caught between the stark contrast of the biting wind and his body heat, she, like a kitten greedy for warmth, unconsciously pressed herself closer against that solid chest.
The girl's hands rose somewhat awkwardly, her fingertips lightly grasping the hem of Lin Nuo's expensive, custom-tailored suit jacket.
That piece of fabric seemed like the only thing she could hold onto at this moment.
Her mind was in complete chaos.
Just two minutes ago, that World-ending nuclear crisis that was going to level the entire mountain had been dismissed by this man with a casual snap of his fingers, directly transforming into a swirling rain of rose petals.
That was a nuclear bomb.
An existence powerful enough to obliterate all physical laws.
Yet in the hands of this man named Lin Nuo, altering the rules of reality seemed simpler than eating or drinking.
Wanda lifted her face, her breathing slightly uneven as she looked at this flawlessly handsome visage.
She had once believed the Chaos Magic she awakened was powerful enough.
With enough practice, she could one day trample those corporate tycoons who had bullied her underfoot.
But now, by comparison, the energy she took pride in truly seemed like a cheap red lightbulb in front of this man.
A primal instinct of admiration for the strong, like a wildfire ignited on a wasteland, spread wildly within her long-shattered heart.
She feared him.
Feared his arrogance that regarded no one as significant, and feared his absolute authority that brooked no dissent when he held the power of life and death.
Yet at the same time, she was also hopelessly captivated by the absolute sense of security she felt by his side, where not even the sky falling would be a concern.
In this crazy World, what could be more reassuring than attaching oneself to a tyrant stronger than a god?
"Staring dumbfounded?"
Lin Nuo's chest vibrated with a low, light chuckle.
He lowered his head until their noses were almost touching.
The man's thumb idly stroked that delicate, flushed cheek before lightly skimming over her slightly swollen red lips.
"If you're craving my body, you can just say so."
"Considering you're the Star Umbrella's exclusive observer, I can grant you full access."
Such blatant, unvarnished vulgarity instantly turned Wanda's ears and the length of her slender neck a deep red.
If it were a few hours ago, she would have been furious and cursing by now.
But now, she only bit her lower lip in shame, her voice soft as a puddle of spring water.
"Your magic... how is it so much stronger than mine?"
"You can even forcibly rewrite a nuclear detonation..."
"Don't use your pitiful understanding to define me."
Lin Nuo's slender index finger trailed down from her jawline, over the delicate hollow of her neck, finally coming to rest at the edge of her exquisite collarbone.
His fingertip just happened to hook onto the thin black silk strap that was about to be blown off by the wind.
Wanda immediately held her breath, her eyelashes trembling violently.
"What I use isn't magic."
Watching the girl's nervous, frozen state, Lin Nuo smiled wickedly.
"This is the authority of the Creator."
"Here, if I say that's a nuclear bomb, then it's a nuclear bomb."
"If I say that's roses to please a girl, then it can only be roses."
Lin Nuo's scorching breath fell on the vulnerable side of the girl's neck, eliciting another fine shiver.
"So, be sensible."
"In this World, only I can set the rules for you, and only I can protect you from being used as a battery by anyone."
"Stay by my side. Do you think this deal is a loss for you?"
The man's words were like the most masterful sedative, peeling away her final defenses layer by layer.
Wanda closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling incessantly.
Her meager resistance had long been crushed to nothing by this overwhelming display of power.
"Not a loss..."
The girl's voice was very soft, carrying a nasal tone of complete submission.
"I'll... follow your rules from now on."
Once this pathological sense of dependency formed, it was more secure than any forceful shackle.
"Good girl."
Lin Nuo was very satisfied with this answer. The knuckle of his finger lifted her small chin, forcing her to tilt her head back slightly.
Without any warning, he lowered his head and forcefully captured those tempting red lips.
This kiss lasted longer than any before.
The cold wind, the snowflakes, the night—all were shut out beyond the two of them.
Wanda was kissed until her breathing grew ragged, her legs nearly giving out, half her body weight supported by the man's arm.
She did not push him away.
Those pale, slender arms slowly encircled Lin Nuo's neck, following the man's lead, responding clumsily and shyly.
It was a posture of completely surrendering herself.
Sensing her awkward attempt to please him, the color in Lin Nuo's eyes deepened further.
Only when she was nearly breathless did he reluctantly pull back half an inch.
Looking at the thoroughly tamed red-haired wildcat in his arms, Lin Nuo's gaze lingered on her reddened eye corners.
"Now you're learning to be smart."
"You know how to please me now?"
Wanda panted, her cheeks burning.
She no longer fled like a startled rabbit. Instead, taking advantage of their extremely close proximity, she reached out a slightly trembling small hand and placed it on Lin Nuo's chest.
The man's custom-tailored shirt had become somewhat disheveled during their entanglement. The top two buttons of the collar were open, revealing the cold, pale skin beneath, full of powerful definition.
Wanda lowered her head, her fingertips carefully smoothing out the flipped collar for him.
This small gesture, so clearly marked by possessiveness and a sense of belonging, appearing on her, was in itself a temptation full of contrast.
"Just now... the collar got messed up."
Wanda explained in a small voice.
But her fingers were reluctant to withdraw, remaining resting on the man's scorching chest, feeling the strong, powerful heartbeat.
Lin Nuo grabbed that wrist of hers, brought it to his lips, and placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
"The wind's strong on this terrace. Wouldn't want you catching a chill."
"After all, this pretty outfit isn't meant for the cold air to see."
Lin Nuo bent slightly and directly scooped the girl up into a horizontal carry.
"Back to the room."
"There's plenty of time for you to slowly help me straighten my clothes."
"And, incidentally, teach you how adults reciprocate at night."
Chapter 122: Hundreds of Billions in Assets, Not as Good as the Female CEO on the Desk
The snow in Sokovia ceased at the break of dawn.
Inside the luxurious top-floor office of the Star Umbrellatemporary Base, Lin Nuo leaned back in a large leather office chair, wearing a slightly loose, high-end black shirt.
Two or three buttons at the collar were casually undone, revealing glimpses of his cold, well-defined collarbones and the lines of his sturdy chest.
Last night, that little red-haired wildcat had received his comprehensive "rules and instruction" for the first time.
Although Lin Nuo did not truly take her, those punishments and demands that broke the boundaries of her cognition still exhausted Wanda's physical strength.
At this moment, the girl was wrapped in a thick silk quilt, sleeping soundly on the large bed in the inner suite, lacking even the strength to turn over.
Lin Nuo idly toyed with the pure gold letter opener scavenged from the HYDRA vault, his gaze cast lazily toward the heavy double oak doors.
High heels clicked against the wool carpet, the muffled sound crisp and hurried.
The door was pushed open from the outside.
Pepper Potts walked in, calm and capable, wearing a pure White silk shirt paired with a form-fitting jet-black pencil skirt, stepping on ten-centimeter red-bottomed stilettos.
This top-tier female CEO, who once stood below only one person and above ten thousand at Stark Industries, was now the chief steward overseeing the global assets of the Star Umbrella Group.
Her long hair was meticulously pinned up behind her head, and the black sheer stockings wrapping her slender legs shimmered with an alluring luster under the warm light.
Truly a high-altitude flower of the workplace.
"Boss."
Potts stopped in front of the large mahogany desk.
She held a stack of exaggeratedly thick top-secret documents in her arms, her cold and beautiful face filled with the excitement of working through the night.
"The legal team and the full audit team from the New Yorkheadquarters landed by private jet half an hour ago."
"The preliminary asset inventory and liquidation have initial results."
"Let's hear it."
Lin Nuo tossed the pure gold letter opener onto the desk, making a crisp sound.
Potts adjusted her blue-light-blocking glasses, opened the top document with gold lettering on a black background, and began her report at a rapid pace.
"The seventeen secret biochemical Bases of HYDRA in Eastern Europe, along with the gene sequencers and nano-cultivation technologies inside, have all been taken over by the Star Umbrella Group."
"In addition, the European defense trusteeship agreement has officially taken effect."
"The military industrial orders handed over by the thirteen-nation coalition have a conservative valuation of over 800 billion U.S. dollars for the next ten years."
"The most critical part is..."
In Potts' beautiful eyes, there was shock she could not suppress.
"We inventoried a large batch of Vibranium ore of unknown origin in the underground warehouse, weighing up to twenty tons!"
"According to the latest black market unit price, if this Vibranium is invested into our new generation armor production line, the profit is simply immeasurable."
Listening to this string of astronomical figures capable of causing an earthquake on Wall Street, the expression on Lin Nuo's face did not change in the slightest.
He only felt that these hundreds of billions in book wealth were not as interesting as the female executive standing before him in a tight pencil skirt.
"Are you finished reading?"
Lin Nuo interrupted her endless business analysis.
His voice was low, hoarse, and dark, exuding an unashamed air of a cultured scoundrel.
Potts' reporting voice came to an abrupt halt.
Her slender fingers gripped the edge of the document tightly.
Looking at Lin Nuo's aggressive gaze, her usually calm workplace mask immediately showed cracks.
"Boss, there are still a few exclusive Vibranium mining rights that require your personal review and signature."
She tried her best to steady her mind.
"Since it needs to be signed, you're standing so far away—are you planning for me to sign it with telekinesis?"
Lin Nuo crossed his long legs, his large, knuckled hand beckoning to her.
"Come here."
An unceremonious command.
Potts' earlobes uncontrollably flushed hot.
In front of others, she was the stern CEO Potts.
But in front of this man, the confidence she took pride in never lasted more than three seconds.
She could only bite the bullet, walk around the large mahogany desk, and step on her high heels to the side of the boss's chair.
Before she could steady herself, Lin Nuo reached out his long arm and grabbed Potts' slender wrist.
With a slight tug, he forcibly pulled her entire body over.
"Ah..."
A distorted gasp spilled from Potts' throat.
Her high heels lost their balance, and she stumbled toward him, pulled by the man's force.
Lin Nuo did not pull her into his arms, but instead took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her impossibly slender waist, lifting her up and pressing her against the edge of the mahogany desk, which was piled high with agreements worth hundreds of billions.
The heavy documents rustled and scattered under the pressure.
This position made Potts completely panic.
Most of her body was forced to lean backward, supporting herself on the desk.
Her originally tight pencil skirt rolled up during the struggle, revealing a large expanse of long, shapely leg lines wrapped in black silk stockings.
"Boss, these are top-secret documents; if they get damaged, it will be troublesome..."
Potts braced her hands on the documents behind her, trying to sit up straight.
But Lin Nuo gave her no such opportunity.
The man stood up directly, his tall frame carrying a full sense of oppression.
He took a step forward, blocking Potts' path to stand up.
The extreme size difference and the pressure of power formed a deadly tension at this moment.
"The entire World is under my control, so what if a few pieces of scrap paper get crushed?"
Lin Nuo's large hand rested on the black silk fabric above Potts' knees.
The scalding heat of his palm transmitted through the thin stockings into her skin.
Potts' body trembled, and even her breathing became chaotic.
"Did you report work to Stark like this in the past too?"
Lin Nuo leaned down, his scalding hot breath hitting Potts' sensitive earlobe, his tone extremely vile.
"No wonder that lousy company of his has internal traitors every other day."
"I didn't..."
Potts' eyes were red with anxiety, but her chin was forcibly gripped by Lin Nuo's long fingers.
"You'd better not have."
Lin Nuo's fingertips brushed across her dry red lips, bringing up a deadly sheen of moisture.
"You aren't unfamiliar with the rules of Star Umbrella."
"Here, how the KPI is set is up to me."
Lin Nuo did not violently tear her clothes.
His hand resting on her leg was restrained yet dangerous, moving upward little by little along the edge of the stockings.
This was a kind of tug-of-war that could drive someone insane.
Potts was tense all over, her hands clutching tightly at the Vibranium mining agreement beneath her.
"Now, pick up the report you hadn't finished reading."
Lin Nuo's other hand, now free, pinched her flushed cheek.
"Continue the report."
"I like listening to business explanations with background sound."
This was absolutely the most outrageous workplace instruction.
Potts was mortified, yet she dared not defy this tyrant who held the power of life and death over the entire World.
She could only tremble with her hands, pick up a document from her side, and force herself to focus her vision on those dry English letters.
"We have... we have obtained control over thirty-two mining Bases in East Africa..."
She had barely read half a sentence when Lin Nuo's thin lips pressed down, leaving a deep red mark on the side of her snow-White neck.
"Mmph!"
Potts let out a soft moan, the tail of the sound trembling.
On her fair neck, that mark was exceptionally conspicuous, carrying a strong sense of possessiveness.
"The voice is too small."
Lin Nuo raised his head, the gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses full of mockery.
"Has CEO Potts not eaten?"
His large hand followed her impossibly slender waist, reached into the hem of her White shirt, and gave her back a firm, kneading squeeze.
"Haa..."
Potts' back went limp, she gasped for air, and tears swirled in her eyes.
She forced herself to hold on to the last shred of her sanity and continued to read, stuttering.
"Estimated annual output value... exceeds 30 billion U.S. dollars..."
"And we will completely monopolize the source of the international military industrial market..."
"Not bad, continue."
Lin Nuo had absolutely no intention of letting her go.
He gripped Potts' chin, forcing her to meet him.
Subsequently, he lowered his head and kissed that incessantly chattering little mouth.
The forceful kiss directly stole away all her voice.
The office was quiet, with only the sound of messy breathing remaining.
Potts was kissed until her whole body went limp, and the document in her hand could no longer be held, sliding to her side.
She could only passively tilt her head back, her hands helplessly clinging to Lin Nuo's broad back, her fingertips gripping the fabric of his high-end black shirt.
Her mind was completely blank.
Outside, she was a powerful woman who could decide the livelihood of millions with a wave of her hand.
But on this desk piled with the World's top authority, all her workplace disguises were effortlessly torn to shreds by this man.
Compromise, softness, and finally turning into a puddle of soft Water.
After a long while, Lin Nuo finally showed mercy and pulled back half an inch.
Potts collapsed into the pile of scattered documents, her chest heaving violently.
Her once-meticulous pinned-up hair was already a mess.
The White shirt had become full of wrinkles from the tugging, and the collar had loosened a bit.
Her red lips were slightly swollen, and the corners of her eyes held the mist of being thoroughly bullied.
Lin Nuo's heavy breathing, mixed with the pleasant scent of cedar, fell entirely upon her cheeks.
The man's large, knuckled hand left the edge of the black stockings and slowly, methodically helped her tidy up her disheveled collar.
"The report was very clear."
Lin Nuo's voice was hoarse, his aggressive gaze wandering over her body.
"From now on, as long as I am in Sokovia, you will report to me alone in this position every morning during the morning meeting."
Chapter 123: Teaching Manners on Your Knees, This Hard Control is Absolutely Brutal.
On the mahogany desk, defense agreements and Vibranium mining authorization documents worth hundreds of billions of dollars were scattered.
The heavy paper was pressed into crisscrossing wrinkles, like a power storm that had just ended.
Pepper Potts's legs felt weak, and she braced her hands against the edge of the desk, struggling to keep herself steady.
Her black pencil skirt was wrinkled from the chaos, and the black silk stockings wrapping her slender legs had a few subtle runs near the knees.
She pulled the collar of her white shirt tight, and near her cold white collarbone remained a few faint red marks, like a brand left by absolute power.
Lin Nuo leaned back in the large leather office chair.
The collar of his black haute couture shirt was casually left open by two buttons, revealing the cold, hard, and powerful lines of his chest.
The man did not continue to make things difficult for her; he simply raised his bony hand and slowly tucked a stray lock of Pepper's blonde hair behind her ear.
His rough fingertips brushed against Pepper's burning earlobe, triggering a brief tremor.
The air was filled with the scent of cedar on the man, cold yet extremely aggressive.
"The little one inside was a bit frightened last night."
Lin Nuo's voice was low and hoarse, his tone filled with the languor of someone in total control.
"You are the Chief Steward of Star Umbrella, go and teach her the rules here."
"I don't like keeping thorny objects by my side."
This instruction carried a tone of command, leaving no room for negotiation.
Pepper lowered her eyelashes, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the collar of her white shirt, barely covering those marks.
She did not resist, simply giving a low, submissive response.
"Understood."
She stepped in her ten-centimeter red-bottomed high heels and turned to walk toward the inner suite.
Her heels landed on the thick wool carpet with a dull thud.
As the female CEO controlling Star Umbrella's global assets, her mind remained clear.
She could not muster any jealousy regarding the appearance of a new woman by Lin Nuo's side.
That man was a supreme creator, a god who could casually rewrite nuclear missiles into a rain of roses.
A god could not have only one believer.
And what she had to do was ensure these new believers would not disrupt the god's order.
The heavy double oak doors were pushed open.
The brass handle made a very faint click.
The temperature in the inner suite was set very high; a wave of heat rushed over her, mixed with the faint smell of disinfectant and lingering red wine.
On the large double bed, Wanda was curled into a small ball.
She was draped in a black silk robe, her red hair messy, the corners of her eyes red and swollen.
Even in her light sleep, her thin arms were still tightly crossed over her chest, presenting a defensive posture that revealed an extreme lack of security.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the small figure on the bed immediately tensed up.
Wanda opened her eyes abruptly.
In her field of vision, there was no sign of the suited tyrant who terrified her to the extreme, only a cold and beautiful woman dressed in professional attire, her blonde hair coiled at the back of her head.
But even so, Wanda was still scared and shrank backward.
Her bare toes dug into the pure white silk bedding, her fingers tightly twisting the corner of the quilt, hiding most of her face behind the blanket.
She was like a young beast just dragged back to a lair by a predator, raising desperate thorns against everything around her.
Pepper walked to the bedside, looking down at this Eastern European refugee.
There was no disdain, nor any pity.
She turned around, picked up the glass carafe on the crystal bar, and poured a glass of warm water.
The sound of water hitting the glass wall was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
Pepper carried the glass, pulled over a velvet armchair, and sat down.
She crossed her legs, the lines of her legs wrapped in black silk appearing calm and unhurried under the warm light.
Subsequently, she handed the glass over.
The glass surface radiated just the right amount of warmth.
"Drink some water."
Pepper's tone was calm, the kind of declarative sentence used by someone who had spent years issuing orders at the negotiating table.
Wanda did not move.
Those red-rimmed eyes were full of wariness and panic.
Her gaze crossed over the glass and landed on the collar of Pepper's white shirt.
Pepper's earlier adjustment of her collar had not been thorough, and that deep red mark blatantly stung Wanda's eyes.
This mark seemed to be revealing a cruel reality to her.
The powerful female CEO before her was also unable to truly defy that tyrant.
Wanda's throat felt dry, and she hesitantly reached out.
Her fingertips were cold, devoid of any warmth, and when they touched the warm surface of the glass, she instinctively wanted to pull back.
But Pepper's fingers held the bottom of the cup steadily, not allowing her to retreat.
"Here, resistance has no meaning."
Pepper looked at the girl's trembling fingers and spoke calmly.
"You think you have lost your freedom, lost your dignity."
"You feel that being forcibly trapped in this Base by Mr. Lin is a nightmare you cannot escape."
Wanda bit her pale lower lip, staring fixedly at the ripples in the cup, refusing to answer.
Pepper withdrew her hand, letting Wanda hold the cup with both hands to warm herself.
"You witnessed his methods last night."
"The nuclear missile crisis at the underground military factory in Sokovia, and the death of Strucker."
"If you still don't understand what kind of power Lin Nuoholds in his hands, then you are a complete fool!"
Hearing the words 'nuclear missile,' Wanda's thin spine immediately shuddered.
That power of reality modification, which transcended common sense, once again turned into a huge shadow, wrapping her tightly and impenetrably.
"HYDRA brainwashed you, made you and your brother into experimental lab rats, drained your last drop of blood, and in the end, only treated you as batteries that could be discarded at any time."
Pepper's voice was not loud, but every word hammered against Wanda's fragile nerves.
"You think you possessed freedom before?"
"That was just waiting to die in a sewer."
Pepper extended her well-maintained hand, her fingertips brushing through Wanda's messy red hair, helping her pull the robe that had slipped to her arms back onto her shoulders.
The movement could be called gentle, yet the sense of class oppression it revealed was suffocating.
"Mr. Lin deprived you of your freedom, but he gave you the protection that 99% of the people in this World cannot obtain."
"Your brother is currently lying in a nano-repair pod that cost two hundred million dollars, using all of Star Umbrella's top-tier medical resources."
"The silk robe you are wearing was sent overnight by a haute couture workshop in Paris."
Pepper paused, her gaze falling on Wanda's pale, exquisite little face.
"He lets you stay by his side, the price is only your obedience."
"And the reward is that he will tilt the resources of the entire World toward you."
The moisture filling Wanda's eyes finally broke through the dam.
Large, heavy tears rolled down, landing on the back of her hands holding the glass.
She knew Pepper was right.
That almost instinctive fear of Lin Nuo, under the dissection of this cold and beautiful female CEO, was being forcibly transformed into another kind of pathological sense of security.
As long as she stayed obediently under that man's wings, no one would ever be able to hurt her and Pietro again.
"Star Umbrella does not need tears."
Pepper pulled out a tissue and pressed it to the corner of Wanda's eye.
"Mr. Lin has even less patience to coax a little girl who cannot recognize the situation."
"You must learn to put away your ridiculous wildness and adapt to the rules here."
There was no shame in Pepper's tone; instead, it carried a matter-of-fact submission.
"Even I, the CEO who manages hundreds of billions in global assets, can only lower my head and report my work in front of him."
"You, a refugee who just crawled out of the ruins, what do you have to defy him with?"
These words completely pierced through Wanda's last psychological defense line.
That pitiful bit of self-esteem was stripped clean by reality.
Under the shroud of this absolute power, her resistance couldn't even be considered a joke.
Not only could she not escape, but subconsciously, she had already begun to crave the warmth and privileges granted by that tyrant.
Wanda held the cup with both hands, lowered her head, and sent the warm water down her dry throat.
The warm liquid slid down her esophagus, dispelling the last trace of chill in her body.
The girl let out a low sob.
That was not grievance, but a complete collapse and attachment after accepting her fate.
"I will be obedient..."
Wanda's voice was very soft, with a heavy nasal tone, and her shoulders slumped down little by little.
Pepper looked at this red-haired kitten that had its claws pulled out and finally become docile, and nodded with satisfaction.
Just at this moment, a dull sound of leather shoes stepping on the carpet came from the doorway.
Lin Nuo had one hand in his black shirt pocket, his figure tall and straight, blocking all the light from outside the door.
The man stood quietly at the doorway.
The gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses swept over the harmonious scene by the bed, finally resting on the red-haired girl who was lowering her head, her face full of tear stains, yet completely submissive.
The man's chest vibrated, and his low, hoarse voice sounded in the quiet suite.
"It seems that CEO Potts not only knows how to manage ledgers, but also does very well in comforting newcomers to my satisfaction."
Lin Nuo strode forward with his long legs, his leather shoes stepping out a rhythm on the carpet unhurriedly.
"Since the rules have been learned, then get ready."
"We should return to New York and go see some old friends."