Before the words on the main screen had even faded and Ye Mo had just lowered his hand, the control panel suddenly emitted a piercing alarm. It wasn't triggered by the base's internal system; it was a red alert that automatically popped up from the global monitoring network.
The Earth's magnetic field index surged, spiral cracks appeared in the ionosphere, the aurora borealis flashed near the equator, and atmospheric charge imbalance triggered thunderstorms in multiple regions. All data streams were flushed over in 0.8 seconds, the monitoring screen flashed black for a moment, and then resumed.
Ye Mo stared at the Earth model in the projection. The cracks were still slowly expanding, but at this moment all the readings were covered by a stronger energy wave. The Vibranium fragment in his palm suddenly felt hot, as if it had been hit by something from a distance.
"No," he whispered, "It's not that it came... something else arrived first."
Emma Frost immediately closed her eyes, scanning the global energy fluctuations with her mental energy. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. "Nordic region, deserted valley, coordinates locked. That power doesn't belong to any known technology or Mutants ability; its frequency exceeds the laws of conventional physics."
Tony didn't speak, and neither did Bruce. They were the only two people in the hall.
"This energy is too dangerous," Emma Frost, looking at Ye Mo. "Approaching rashly is tantamount to suicide."
Ye Mo didn't move. His fingers slowly reached for the frame of his glasses and put on the silver half-rimmed glasses. The lenses reflected the light, obscuring his eyes.
"The system just notified me—'A turning point in my destiny has begun,'" he said.
Emma Frost sneered, "You're pulling this stunt again? Last time you said the system warned you to hide in the ventilation duct, and you almost got roasted by an EMP."
"Didn't I survive that time?" Ye Mo walked towards the equipment compartment. "Besides, Mjolnir landed. If I don't go and see it, how am I supposed to brag to Tony later?"
"You think this is just a photo op?" Emma Frost's voice turned cold. "You can't even control the Hulk, and you want to mess with something divine?"
Ye Mo stopped in his tracks.
He glanced back at the Earth model in the center. The crack had grown to 3.7 centimeters, its edges twisted as if torn apart by an invisible hand. But just then, all tracking signals for the crack were suppressed again, and the monitoring system briefly lost connection.
"Look," he pointed to the screen, "Even it's distracted. If we don't act now, once it recovers, we'll miss our chance to take the initiative."
Emma Frost remained silent.
She knew Ye Mo was right. The real threat never comes from a single direction. If the enemy is loading an attack program, then seizing new information while its attention is diverted is the key to survival.
But she still didn't want him to leave.
"Last time you saved me by walking through Wall Phasing Technique because we had no other choice," she said. "And this time? Do you really think you can touch something divine?"
Ye Mo did not answer.
He walked to the control panel, picked up a piece of Vibranium, and stuffed it into his pocket. The metal was still vibrating against his palm.
"Do you know why I always use the system as an excuse?" he suddenly said, "Because I'm afraid you'll stop me."
Emma Frost frowned.
"If I say 'I want to go check it out,' Tony will call a meeting, Bruce will analyze the risks, and you'll just chain me to the ground with your mental chains." He chuckled. "But if I say 'the system tells me I have to go,' you'll think—oh, it's a mission, there's no way around it."
"So you lied to us?" Emma Frost's voice was even colder.
"I didn't lie." Ye Mo looked at her. "I just... used a pretext. The one who really got me to go was myself."
He turned and walked towards the exit.
"If you die," Emma Frost said softly, standing still, "I'll freeze you into an ice sculpture and hang you on the wall."
"Then I must remind you to dust regularly," Ye Mo said without turning his head.
The aircraft was parked on the third-level underground helipad, its stealth coating in a state of readiness for activation. Ye Mo swiped his card to enter the cockpit and started the engine. A few seconds later, the co-pilot's door opened automatically.
Emma Frost sat down, her body still shimmering with Diamond Form glow.
"You're not against it?" Ye Mo asked.
"I'm your partner," she said, "Not your babysitter. If you're going to do something reckless, I'll have to keep an eye on you."
The aircraft slowly ascended, passing through the camouflage layer at the top of the base and soaring into the night sky. Three hundred kilometers away in the direction of Northern Europe, the sky had already begun to change color.
The clouds swirled, forming a massive vortex, and lightning bolts shot upwards from the ground instead of striking downwards. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and some indescribable metallic odor.
"High-dimensional energy residue detected," the aircraft's AI announced. "Maintain a distance of at least five kilometers."
"Get closer." Ye Mo increased the thrust. "I need to see where the hammer landed."
"Are you planning to go down?" Emma Frost asked.
"At least take a picture." Ye Mo said, opening the communication channel and sending Tony an encrypted message, "Tell Banner not to transform; the problem isn't with him."
Tony replied instantly, "Are you guys crazy? That area is a no-fly zone! All the satellites are down!"
"That's why we're going." Ye Mo turned off the communication.
As the aircraft broke through the clouds, the entire sky suddenly lit up. It wasn't lightning, nor the aurora, but a pure white light, as if something had fallen from an extremely high place.
boom--
A muffled thud echoed through the atmosphere, not heard by the ears, but felt by the body. The aircraft shook violently, and alarms sounded.
"The shockwave originated from the stratosphere!" the AI alerted. "Target has touched down!"
Ye Mo steadied the joystick and brought up the topographic map. A circular pit appeared in the center of the valley, with a diameter of more than two hundred meters. The soil around the edge was completely magnetized, and the plants were carbonized into black powder.
"No one could survive that kind of impact." Emma Frost scanned below, "But... there's a life sign."
"More than one." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes.
At the center of the pit, Mjolnir lay silently in the ground, handle pointing upwards, the surrounding earth cracked into a spiderweb pattern. Within a fifty-meter radius of the hammer stood a dozen or so blurry figures.
They were dressed in ancient armor, holding spears, their faces covered by helmets, and remained motionless.
"They're not locals," Emma Frost said. "Their bio-frequency... seems to have been forcibly awakened by some force."
"Guardians?" Ye Mo guessed, "Or sacrifices?"
The aircraft continued to descend, hovering at an altitude of one thousand meters. Ye Mo activated the remote shooting mode, preparing to record the details of the scene.
Just then, one of the armored men suddenly looked up.
To be precise, it was the helmet that turned towards the aircraft.
"Impossible." Emma Frost frowned. "We used an invisibility coating, and the heat signature was also blocked."
Another armored figure raised his hand, palm facing the sky. A beam of blue light shot from his fingertips, soaring into the sky and exploding into a flower-shaped spot of light in the air.
"They're sending a message." Ye Mo immediately changed course. "Let's go!"
The aircraft rapidly ascended, but in that instant, he saw all the armored men turn around simultaneously, facing them in unison.
There were no commands, no communication, and the actions were perfectly synchronized.
"This is no coincidence." Emma Frost activated her Mind Stone defenses. "They knew we were coming."
"Or..." Ye Mo stared at the rearview camera, "They've been waiting for this moment."
The aircraft broke out of the storm's circle and entered a calmer airflow. Behind it, the valley was once again shrouded in dark clouds, as if nothing had happened.
But Ye Mo knew something was wrong.
He touched the Vibranium fragment in his pocket and found that it was no longer hot, but had become cold, as if it had absorbed some kind of energy and entered a dormant state.
"Who were those people just now?" Emma Frost asked.
"I don't know," Ye Mo shook his head, "But they're not coming for us. They're coming for that signal."
What signal?
Ye Mo remained silent.
He found a piece of data in the aircraft's logbook—the moment Mjolnir hit the ground, the data stream in the crack on the base's main screen showed an abnormal fluctuation of 0.3 seconds. The frequency perfectly matched the energy wave when the hammer fell.
"Someone's using a hammer as a key," he said, "To open that crack."
Emma Frost's expression changed.
"You mean... Odin threw the hammer not to punish anyone, but to activate a certain channel?"
"Possibly." Ye Mo looked towards the depths of the Nordic continent. "And I think Loki definitely knows about this."
"So what do you plan to do now?" Emma Frost asked, "Go back and call for help?"
"No." Ye Mo adjusted the course, "Continue forward."
You still want to go?
"We've been exposed." Ye Mo stared at the night sky ahead. "Since they know we're watching, let's not pretend we didn't see them. I'll go see if the hammer can be pulled out."