Abomination Returns, the Battle Begins
The moment the ground cracked open, Ye Mo had already moved.
He placed his palms on the ground, his Spatial Perception detecting the trajectory of the Abomination's leap, and immediately shouted, "Retreat five meters to the left!" Before his words even finished, he had already Wall Phasing, avoiding the splashing rubble and dirt. As soon as he landed, a reinforced soldier pounced on him, his fist wrapped in a high-frequency Shockwave aimed at his head. Ye Mo's arms were metallic, his Steel Bone Body taking the blow head-on. His arms were numb from the impact, but he retaliated with a punch to the opponent's chest, sending the man flying and crashing into half a wall.
Tony's thrusters were at full throttle, propelling him into the air with the force of the impact. His helmet locked onto the entire area. The AI automatically marked nine high-threat units, and his palm cannon fired three shots in quick succession, instantly wiping out three armed squads on his right. He threw out a smoke grenade to obscure his vision and whispered, "Don't block my teammates' way."
Emma Frost shut down her external senses the moment the tremor began, focusing all her mental energy on internal defense. The instant the enemy's shadow appeared, she abruptly opened her eyes, and Mind Blast spread out in a fan shape. Three soldiers who were about to focus their fire on Ye Mo froze, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground convulsing. She didn't stop; with a slight movement of her fingers, her mental energy spread out like a net, locking onto more approaching figures.
Abomination has landed.
This guy was even more terrifying than described in the files. His four-meter-tall body resembled a moving hill, and his skin had dark green rock-like patterns. With each step he took, the ground would crack open. He roared, and the sound wave overturned a nearby dilapidated building, sending bricks and stones flying everywhere. Ye Mo raised his shield to shield his face, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that this guy was followed by more than a dozen enhanced soldiers, all armed with high-frequency concussion guns, flanking him from three directions.
"You really brought helpers?" Ye Mo sneered, his Vibranium gauntlets snapping shut on his knuckles.
Tony adjusted his position in mid-air, aiming his shoulder cannon at Abomination's third vertebra at the back of the neck—their identified weak point. Before the missile could launch, Abomination suddenly turned and slapped the flanking squad on his left, sending the three flying like paper. It turned out this guy wasn't there to command, but to clear the area.
"It doesn't distinguish between friend and foe!" Tony shouted. "Everyone, watch your positioning!"
Ye Mo nodded and immediately moved to the right to create distance. He knew that once this monster entered a berserk state, everything around it would be a target. Sure enough, the Abomination slammed its fist into the ground again, creating a circular shockwave that caused the ground to undulate like water. The broken wall where Emma Frost was collapsed with a crash, and she was thrown off course in mid-air. Ye Mo immediately passed through the Wall Phasing to catch her, and the two of them fell into the underground pipe together.
"Are you alright?" Ye Mo helped her sit up steadily.
Emma Frost gasped for breath. "It can hold on, but it's confused and there's external interference."
"I know." Ye Mo took out the Vibranium fragment. "The current module that was inserted last time is still inside its nerves, so the signal source must not be far away."
As soon as the two climbed out of the pipe, they saw three enhanced soldiers had already reached the drone relay station and were installing jammers on the equipment. Ye Mo's eyes turned cold, and he used his Regenerative Phasing to burrow into the ground. A few seconds later, he burst out of the ground on the other side, kicked the enemy who was operating the drone away, and smashed the Vibranium gauntlet into the neck of the second guy. The guy groaned and fell to the ground.
He unplugged the jamming module and casually stuffed it into his pocket. "Trying to mess with Tony's little darling? Did you ask me first?"
Tony remotely controlled two drones to take off, activating tracking mode. The screen instantly marked four stealth units. He pressed a button, releasing a micro EMP pulse, instantly disabling all enemy night vision goggles and communication devices. The men lying on the ground began to crawl frantically, revealing their positions.
"My little guys aren't just for show." Tony chuckled, his shoulder-mounted cannon locking onto its target, ready to finish it off.
Emma Frost closed her eyes, her mental energy forming a 360-degree surveillance network. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and pointed to the northeast corner. "There are two behind the wall. Their heartbeats are off; they're not human."
Ye Mo frowned. "Non-human units? When did Thaddeus Ross come up with this thing?"
Without time to think, the Abomination suddenly sprang into action, leaping nearly twenty meters and heading straight for Ye Mo's location. Its giant hand slammed down, catching Ye Mo completely off guard; he could only forcefully activate his Force Field Shield. The energy collision exploded with blinding light, sending him staggering back seven steps, his hand tearing open, blood trickling down the edge of his gauntlets. His Regeneration abilities automatically repaired the wound, but cracks had already appeared on the shield.
"This thing can't withstand a second hit," Ye Mo gritted his teeth.
Tony immediately swooped down, firing high-explosive shells from his shoulder cannons, forcing Abomination to retreat. The blast wave kicked up dust, Emma Frost seized the opportunity to launch Mind Stone attack, distorting its Spatial Perception. Abomination's punch missed, hitting a concrete pillar in front of it, causing it to collapse and bury the pursuit route.
Ye Mo steadied himself, his breathing slightly heavy. A system notification sounded in his mind:
"The great battle has begun; the Gene Spiral Tower's energy is being fully unleashed."
He felt the twenty-layered Spiral Tower within his body resonating and humming, all his abilities flowing faster and cooling cycles significantly shortened. Regeneration, Steel Bone, Wall Phasing, shields... each one surged through his body, as if infused with a primal fighting spirit.
"Finally... I can fight freely now," he whispered.
The three quickly adjusted their positions, reverting to a triangular formation. Ye Mo charged forward as a feint, drawing Abomination and prompting him to turn and pursue. Tony provided aerial support, his palm cannon constantly harassing the enemy. Emma Frost controlled the battlefield from the center, her mental power continuously suppressing the opponent's judgment. The battle rhythm shifted from initial chaos to order, and they gradually regained control of the battlefield.
Walls collapsed one after another, cracks in the ground continued to widen, and smoke and dust filled the air. A super-soldier tried to flank the EMP device, but was immediately locked onto by Tony's drone and struck in the leg by an electromagnetic blast, paralyzing him instantly. Another soldier tried to ambush Emma Frost, but was knocked over by her mental powers as soon as he climbed the broken wall, falling to the ground and never getting up again.
Ye Mo seized the opportunity, Wall Phasing, and circled behind the Abomination. Vibranium gauntlets and punched the third vertebra in the back of the neck. The strike hit accurately, but the Abomination's skin was too thick, leaving only a shallow mark. The guy roared and swung his elbow back. Ye Mo barely managed to raise his shield to block, and was slammed into the pile of rubble.
He coughed up blood, his Regeneration abilities quickly repairing his internal injuries. Looking up, he saw Abomination walking towards Emma Frost, its heavy steps causing the ground to tremble with each step.
"No, we can't let it get near Emma Frost." Ye Mo struggled to his feet.
Tony dropped a flare, illuminating the entire battlefield. As he scanned the Abomination's status, he shouted, "Ye Mo, the current module in its nape is still active; the signal jamming is effective! Try again!"
Emma Frost braced herself with her hands on the ground, compressing her Mental Barrier to its limit to forcibly slow down the Abomination's movements. But her face was pale, and her forehead was covered in sweat; she clearly couldn't hold on for long.
Ye Mo took a deep breath, activated his Regenerative Phasing, and quickly approached from underground. He had to hit the target with a single blow.
Just as it was about to break through the ground, the Abomination suddenly stopped, tilting its head slightly as if it had heard something. Then it turned around, its crimson eyes fixed on the spot where Ye Mo was hiding.
"Does it know where I'm going to come out from?" Ye Mo's heart tightened.
Abomination suddenly raised its foot and stomped down heavily. The ground shook violently, and the underground passage collapsed instantly. Ye Mo was forced to reveal himself prematurely, and as soon as he showed his head, he was pulled out by a force—it was Tony's mechanical hand, which pulled him into the air.
"Thanks." Ye Mo wiped the dust off his face.
"Don't die too soon," Tony said. "I'm still waiting for you to buy me a beer."
Below, the Abomination growled, its body began to swell, its muscles bulged, and dark liquid seeped from the cracks in its skin. The enhanced soldiers behind it retreated, seemingly in fear as well.
Emma Frost suddenly shouted, "It's evolving! Watch out!"
Ye Mo gripped his gauntlets, stood atop the Tony armor, and surveyed the battlefield. He knew the real battle had only just begun.
The Abomination roared to the sky, its sound shattering the remaining glass.
Ye Mo leaped down and charged towards the center of the battlefield.