Ye Mo leaned against the broken wall, his back burning with pain. He looked down at his palms, where blood and sweat clung together, his fingertips trembling slightly. The Hulk's footsteps were still approaching, the ground shaking as if it were about to collapse. He knew his Steel Bone Body wouldn't last much longer; if he didn't leave soon, the next punch would smash him into the ground.
He didn't move; instead, he closed his eyes.
A system notification sounded in his mind, then immediately disappeared. It wasn't a reminder for a crucial moment; it was more like a calmness he forced himself to maintain.
"If you can't beat it, then don't fight," he said in a low voice. "It's not like you have to win. I'm here to rescue Banner."
He opened his eyes, his fingers slowly pulling the spare chip from his pocket, glancing at it, then putting it back. Contacting Emma Frost now was useless; she was outside providing backup and couldn't help remotely. Tony was even further away; by the time he arrived, it would be too late.
The only person you can rely on is yourself.
He turned to look at the end of the corridor. There was a door there, with a hole smashed in it by the Hulk, but it wasn't completely broken open. Behind the door was the core area, where the control system, experimental data, and possibly the key equipment that might be holding Banner's consciousness were located. If they could find the source of the suppressing signal, they might be able to stop the Hulk.
But the right path is blocked.
He stared at the wall, his breathing becoming shallow. The wall was cracked, the cement peeling away to reveal the steel bars and the space between the layers. He had seen this kind of old-fashioned building structure before; the walls were hollow in the middle to carry pipes. If he could just go through it, he could get around to the side of the control room.
He raised his hand and placed his palm against the wall.
A chill crept up his skin. He focused his mind, and the familiar energy within the Gene Spiral Tower began to circulate. A fragment of the Shadowcat's ability to Wall Phasing was brought up, and as soon as it was activated, a sharp pain shot through him, like someone cutting his nerves with a knife. He remembered this feeling; the last time he used it was when he was fleeing for his life.
He gritted his teeth and pieced together a fragment of Wade's Self-Healing gene. The two powers collided, the pain lessened somewhat, and his body began to become translucent.
"Alright," he said in a low voice, "Go inside."
The next second, like water seeping into a crack in a stone, he slowly disappeared into the wall.
It was narrower inside than he had imagined. Metal supports lay haphazardly, cables were tangled in knots, and the air was stuffy and smelly. He moved forward, clinging to the inner wall, as slow as a snail. If he rushed, he would bump into things and make noise. Outside, the Hulk was still moving, each step causing the walls to tremble slightly.
He activated his Danger Sense, and a faint red glow appeared at the edge of his field of vision. This was how the system automatically marked threat areas. A red dot was flashing at the three o'clock position ahead—a robotic eye, a patrol surveillance camera, moving along a fixed route.
He stopped and waited for it to turn around before continuing to climb.
Three minutes later, he emerged from the other side of the wall and landed below the ventilation duct. He almost slipped when his foot touched the ground, his knee buckled, and he knelt on one knee. He steadied himself by holding onto the wall and took a couple of breaths.
The main gate to the core area is right in front of us.
Made of heavy alloy, the door frame bore burn marks, clearly from when the Hulk smashed it. But what truly blocked their path wasn't the door itself, but rather the eerie blue shield floating in its center. Its swirling light and high-frequency ripples made it obvious this was no ordinary barrier.
He crouched down and pulled a data hacking device from the side pocket of his work pants. It was a small black cube, emergency equipment Tony had given him, capable of hacking into most military systems. He had used it once before, with a low success rate, but he had to give it a try.
He approached the scanning interface and plugged the hacking device into the port.
With a beep, the screen lit up.
The progress bar starts moving, 5%... 10%... 20%...
Suddenly, an alarm sounded softly, not loud, but particularly piercing in the quiet space. The shield's light intensified abruptly, and a pulse wave shot out, striking him directly in the chest.
He was thrown into the air, his back slamming into the electrical box, sending parts crashing to the ground. The hacking device flew out of his hand, smashing against the wall and breaking in two.
"Damn it." He coughed twice while lying on the ground, his mouth tasted bitter.
The shield didn't break; instead, it became even stronger.
He propped himself up and sat up, staring at the blue light. That attack wasn't a direct assault; it was more like a warning. The system was defending against intrusion, and its reaction was incredibly fast. This frequency... he felt like he'd seen it somewhere before.
He closed his eyes to recall, a series of images flashing through his mind. Banner's early experimental records mentioned a "neural inhibition field" used to stabilize the mental fluctuations of gamma mutants. The principle was to emit electromagnetic waves of a specific frequency to interfere with abnormal brain discharges. Later, the project was halted because the side effects were too great.
The waveform of the shield in front of me is almost identical to the graph in that report.
"So there really are control devices inside," he murmured. "But they were afraid the Hulk would access the core data, so they used physical barriers and energy locks to prevent even their own people from entering."
This means that the key is inside, but he can't get in.
He leaned against the damaged electrical box, touching his forehead, which was covered in sweat. His strength hadn't recovered, his abilities were cooling down, and he didn't even have a decent tool. He couldn't win a direct confrontation, and his infiltration was stalled; the plan was completely at a standstill.
But he didn't move.
His gaze remained fixed on the shield.
Just because we can't force our way through doesn't mean there's no chance. The Hulk is currently wreaking havoc outside, and he'll come this way sooner or later. What if we could guide him to crash into the shield? That level of energy collision might cause a brief fluctuation, creating a gap in the defense for a few seconds.
But this move is too risky. If the shield backfires, it will destroy the entire base, including Banner's backup consciousness.
He first needs to confirm whether anyone inside can still operate the terminal.
He took out a small signal detector he carried with him, turned it on, and scanned the system. There were no signs of life, but there was a weak data stream running, indicating that the system was still working, just unattended.
Remote locking.
Then there's only one way—wait.
Wait for the Hulk to crash into us, wait for the shield to fluctuate due to the external impact, and wait for that few-second window of opportunity.
He packed up the equipment and slowly retreated into the shadows of a corner. He held the last intact chip in his hand, his knuckles white.
Time ticked by, second by second.
A Hulk had smashed something again. The footsteps grew closer, and the vibrations came from the ground.
He looked up and saw dust billowing at the end of the corridor. A huge green figure was walking towards him step by step, its fists clenched to the ground and its shoulders heaving, as if it were about to explode at any moment.
Ye Mo held his breath.
They've arrived.
He didn't get up, nor did he intend to run away. Instead, he picked up a piece of live circuit board from the ground and gently placed it at his feet. It was a trap, simple though it was, but it could create some disturbance.
The Hulk walked around the corner, saw the door, and stopped.
It stared at the shield for two seconds, then let out a low growl.
Then he suddenly raised his leg and kicked the alloy door.
The door didn't move, but the shield fluctuated violently, its blue light flashing erratically.
Ye Mo's eyes lit up.
Now!
Just as he was about to move, he suddenly noticed a figure flash past on the back of the shield.
He was stunned.
Is someone inside?