Once he had money, Lynn naturally intended to enjoy himself.
For him, pleasure always came before any so-called sense of justice.
After all, even joining the NYPD's Major Crimes Unit had been nothing more than a way to harvest the Power of Death from vengeful spirits.
Justice?
Please—he'd never claimed ownership of that word.
Inside the Blues Pub.
Sitting at the bar, Lynn ordered himself a drink.
He chatted and joked casually with the familiar bartender while scanning the crowd for any woman who might score above eighty in his mental rating system.
"Oh, by the way, did you hear? There was a disaster in Brooklyn not long ago."
As he poured Lynn's drink, the bartender lowered his voice. "Heard over thirty people died in that mess. The National Guard even had to step in."
"In the end, Spider-Woman showed up and took down that monster with her webs."
He wiped down a glass as he spoke. "Ever since superheroes—no, ever since Iron Man appeared—the world's just gotten weirder and weirder."
"Monsters, aliens, mutants—you name it, they've all started showing up."
Before Lynn could respond, a woman's voice cut in from beside him. Skye, holding a drink, leaned over with curiosity.
"Mr. Bartender, what kind of monster were you talking about?"
Lynn wasn't the least bit surprised to see Skye suddenly show up.
Wasn't she the future Quake of the Inhumans, after all?
He'd even personally witnessed the classic moment when Loki stabbed Thor with a dagger—so running into her was nothing out of the ordinary.
Seeing the mixed-race beauty's curiosity, the bartender looked around and lowered his voice. "There weren't any official reports, but a friend of mine was there when it happened."
"I heard the monster looked mostly human, except its skin was green. It suddenly went berserk, attacking random people. For a few minutes, it even transformed into a huge brute—something like the Hulk."
Hearing that, Skye's eyes lit up.
"A green-skinned guy? Could it be an alien? What happened next? Did the police take it in?"
"No," the bartender replied. "From what I heard, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents showed up and took the creature from the NYPD."
Then he gestured toward Lynn, who was sitting beside her. "This here's Mr. Hall—our detective from Manhattan. If you're curious, maybe he can tell you a few secrets."
"You know, Agent Lynn isn't an ordinary cop. He works in the Major Crimes Unit and has handled plenty of high-profile cases."
"He was even on the scene during the Battle of New York."
As the bartender spoke, Skye's eyes brightened.
From the moment Lynn had walked in, she'd been wondering how to strike up a conversation with him.
Now she had a chance to learn the truth about the destroyed villa in the suburbs directly from him.
She hadn't expected the bartender to set things up so perfectly for her.
What Skye didn't notice was that, the moment she turned toward Lynn, the bartender gave him a quick wink.
As for the hundred-dollar bill Lynn had "accidentally" left on the counter, the bartender smoothly slipped it into his pocket without missing a beat.
"Hello, Mr. Lynn. My name's Skye. I'm a junior at New York State University, majoring in law. I've been working on a paper about legal systems and wanted to reference a few real criminal cases."
"So, Mr. Lynn, would you mind if I consulted with you?"
Hearing her fabricated story and seeing her earnest expression, Lynn smiled faintly and shook her hand.
In truth, he'd always found Skye quite attractive back when he'd seen her in S.H.I.E.L.D. files.
And now, with the prey walking right up to him, why would he ever turn her away?
One of them was playing along, and the other was pretending not to notice—
Soon enough, the two were chatting comfortably, their conversation flowing with ease.
While Skye's attention was elsewhere, Lynn gave the bartender a discreet thumbs-up.
The bartender grinned and winked back—a smooth, silent acknowledgment of a successful partnership.
Then the bartender quietly moved to the other side of the bar.
As their conversation went on, Skye's eyes grew brighter.
At first, she had thought Lynn was just a good-looking detective.
But to her surprise, he was witty, sharp, and remarkably well-read.
No matter what topic she brought up—even philosophy—he always had something insightful to say.
Looking at the young, handsome, and effortlessly charming man before her, Skye found herself momentarily forgetting why she had approached him in the first place.
Their conversation grew increasingly animated.
Even when Lynn slipped in a few slightly risqué jokes that made her blush, she didn't feel offended at all.
"Really?" she asked, smiling.
"Of course, it's true," Lynn replied with a casual shrug.
Then, noticing the flush on her cheeks, he suddenly leaned in close.
The unexpected move made Skye freeze, her heart skipping a beat.
Blinking at him, Skye heard Lynn whisper, "Our director's face turned green when he saw the body cam footage."
"He told us to get lost—but later, he secretly made a copy of the video from the recorder."
With Lynn leaning so close, she could see her own reflection in his clear, bright eyes.
In that moment, Skye felt her heartbeat quicken sharply.
She swore the last time she'd felt this kind of rush was when she first joined the Rising Tide organization.
At a nearby table, a group of men had started watching the scene unfold.
Seeing the young beauty chatting so comfortably with Lynn, a middle-aged man pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and slapped it onto the table. "Twenty bucks says Lynn takes her out of here in ten minutes, tops."
The man in a jacket beside him laughed and pulled out his own twenty. "Ten minutes? You're underestimating Lynn—five minutes! What about you, Green?"
"Three…"
"Three minutes?"
"No, thirty seconds."
Leaning back in his chair, Green checked the time on his watch.
At the twenty-second mark, all three men watched as Lynn stood up—while Skye sat there, her cheeks completely flushed.
Skye didn't resist when Lynn slipped his arm around her shoulder. Instead, she looked up at him with a shy but dazzling smile.
"Haha! I win!"
Green reached across the table, scooping up the bills his companions had placed down. "Next round's on me!"
As Lynn left the pub with Skye, the bartender turned back to the blackboard behind the counter. He wiped away the old record—twelve minutes—then picked up a piece of chalk and neatly wrote:
5 minutes 20 seconds!
The moment the chalk touched the board for the final stroke, the bar erupted into cheers.
One of the well-dressed middle-aged men stood, raised his glass high, and announced to everyone, "Gentlemen! Lynn Hall has once again broken his own record from last month—for the fastest time to take a girl home!"
"To celebrate, next round of beer's on me!"
The pub exploded with laughter and applause.
In the corner, a man in a black suit frowned as he watched Lynn and Skye leave. "You're really just letting her go with him? You know what's going to happen tonight."
"That's not our job," his partner replied calmly, taking a sip from his glass. "Besides, the Terrigen Mist hasn't been released yet. For now, she's just an ordinary human."
_______
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
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