Her gaze, like two searchlights, swept directly to the other corner of the office.
There, Lorna was suspended in mid-air.
Countless tiny metal particles danced around her, forming into blades, scattering into shields; her control over magnetic fields grew with each passing day.
But there was no trace of happiness on her face; her beautiful brows were furrowed in a knot.
Just now, a voice, a woman's voice, had sounded directly in her mind.
It wasn't through her ears; it had been forcibly squeezed in.
Lorna Dane, Magneto's daughter, and what's the result? Acting as a watchdog for a human.
Is he helping you? Don't be silly. You're just his latest minion, a more rare and valuable bargaining chip than Raven, more valuable than those Asgardian women.
Look at them. They were all formidable characters in the past, and now? Caged canaries, wagging their tails, waiting for their Master to feed them.
Is your potential, enough to move mountains, only for the purpose of pleasing a man?
Come to Hellfire. Here, you don't have to be anyone's subordinate. You are the Queen.
She suddenly opened her eyes, green pupils burning with Fire.
She turned her head, staring intently at the man who was currently being intimate with Raven.
Did he... really just see her as a more useful tool?
Just like her father, whose mind was only filled with the future of Mutants?
Lynt seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; he stopped flirting with Raven and turned to smile at her.
"What's wrong, Consultant Lorna? Hit a bottleneck in your work?"
His tone was relaxed, as if asking, "Have you had lunch today?"
"Don't worry, tonight's one-on-one private lesson will surely satisfy you."
That tone again!
That light, airy tone, as if everything was within his calculations!
The Fire in Lorna's heart shot up to her forehead.
But just as she was about to speak, she met Lynt's eyes.
Those eyes were very calm, as calm as a deep pool of Water, as if he had already seen through her little schemes.
"Someone's having a meeting in your head, aren't they?"
Lynt's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bullet, accurately piercing Lorna's ears.
Lorna froze completely.
"It's a woman, her voice should be quite pleasant, but it carries an annoying sense of superiority."
Lynt stood up and slowly paced in front of her. Raven also stood up, intimately hooking her arm around his.
"Let me guess, Emma Frost?"
Raven's golden eyes had already locked onto Lorna, her hands naturally hanging by her sides, but her fingertips had begun to glow with a metallic sheen. As long as Lorna dared to show any sign of abnormality, she would immediately make this place bloody.
"What did she say? That I'm a liar, using you as a tool? And promising you freedom, making you a Queen?"
Lynt walked around the floating Lorna, his gaze like he was evaluating a priceless antique.
Lorna bit her lip tightly, unable to utter a single word.
Silence was the best answer.
"Heh." Lynt suddenly laughed.
At this, not only Lorna but even Raven was stunned.
"She's not wrong."
"I am using you.
You, Lorna Dane, are my tool, one of my top-tier investments."
Lynt stopped in front of Lorna, extended his hand, and his fingertips lightly touched the metal particles swirling around her.
"But open your eyes and look at this World, Lorna. Who isn't someone else's tool?"
"Your father, Magneto, uses you as a tool to revitalize Mutants.
Professor X wants to use you as a tool to maintain World peace.
Now, that woman named Emma wants to use you as a tool against me."
He raised his head, looking directly into Lorna's eyes, which were already filled with confusion.
"What can they give you? Empty promises? Or a few worthless slogans? What I give you is something tangible."
"Power, power as easy as turning your hand."
Lynt looked at her intently.
"What I give you is the capital to grasp your own destiny by the throat.
It is the capital, in the true sense, to do whatever you desire."
"Can Emma give you that? Can your father give you that?"
"They will only tell you what you *should* become. I don't care."
Lynt stepped back, spread his hands, like a merchant displaying his final product.
"I only care about how strong you can become."
"Now, you choose.
Will you believe that woman who paints a picture in your mind, and gamble on whether she'll discard you after using you up?
Or will you stay and continue to be my tool?"
The corners of his mouth curled up.
"Of course, my tuition will only get more expensive."
In the office, there was a deathly silence.
In Lorna's mind, Emma's seductive voice continued, but at this moment, it sounded so pale, so ridiculous.
Freedom? Queen?
In the face of power, these words were less than nothing.
She slowly descended to the ground.
She raised her head, staring intently at Lynt.
In those green eyes, anger and struggle had vanished, replaced by an almost pathological, naked greed and craving.
She licked her sensual lips, her voice trembling with excitement.
"Tonight's private lesson..."
"Can it start now?"
Lynt smiled.
"Of course..."
He turned to look out the window, as if he could see Emma Frost's startled and exasperated face at the Hellfire Club.
"Emma, want to play mind games with my women?"
"You're still too green."
Emma Frost's carefully planned scheme of alienation was like a stone dropped into the deep sea, disappearing without a trace before even a ripple could form.
When Lorna's phrase "Can the tutoring lesson start early?" was transmitted back to the Hellfire Club through the residual ripples of some psychic link, Emma's face instantly became even uglier than ice.
She had failed.
Failed completely.
Not only had she failed to turn Lorna, but like a Joker, she had personally pushed Lorna deeper into Lynt's embrace. She had become Lynt's "free teaching aid" for taming Lorna.
"Useless!"
Sebastian Shaw on the throne coldly spat out two words, the disappointment and contempt in his eyes cutting into Emma like knives.
Emma's body swayed, an unprecedented sense of humiliation and powerlessness engulfing her entire being.
For the first time, she realized how vulnerable her proud mental manipulation was in the face of Lynt's unreasonable, core-hitting "power" and "interests."
"It seems we can only use Plan B." Sebastian Shaw's voice had lost its previous elegance, leaving only impatience.
He rose from the throne, and an invisible energy fluctuation spread out from him. The lights in the entire Hellfire Hall began to flicker.
"Since the soft approach doesn't work, we'll go with the hard one." He looked at a tall, thin man standing in the Shadow, "Riptide is out, Spade A, it's your turn."
The man called Spade A stepped out of the Shadow.
"What is my mission, Black King?" Spade A saluted with a hand over his chest, his voice hoarse.
"Very simple." Cruel light flickered in Sebastian's eyes,
"Doesn't that Lynt cherish his women? Then bring me back the one he cherishes the most."
"I want him to know that some things, no matter how rich he is, he can't protect."