After the aircraft broke out of the storm's circle, the navigation system began to frequently flash red. Ye Mo tapped the control panel, and the AI indicated that the signal interference was coming from the residual ionosphere 300 meters above the ground. He didn't speak, but retrieved the 0.3-second abnormal data he had just recorded and inserted it into the Vibranium fragment interface.
A dark pattern flashed across the surface of the fragment, as if it had been activated by something, before returning to silence.
"It's not generating heat," Ye Mo, touching the metal block in his pocket. "It's 'remembering' things."
Emma Frost sat in the passenger seat, her fingers resting on her temples, scanning the energy distribution on the ground with her eyes closed. Her brow furrowed slightly. "There's a strong magnetic field cluster in the northern valley, but the frequency is unstable, like someone deliberately disrupted the rhythm."
"That means the hammer is still there." Ye Mo recalibrated the flight path. "It's just that someone doesn't want us to find it too easily."
"How do you plan to get down?" Emma Frost opened her eyes. "Just because those armored men could detect the stealth aircraft doesn't mean they won't attack ground targets."
"We won't fly there." Ye Mo shut off the main engine and switched to gliding mode. "We'll stay close to the ridge and use the rock formations to block the signal. We'll walk when we reach the outer perimeter."
The aircraft landed slowly on a leeward slope, its outer shell still warm from high-speed friction. As the two got out of the vehicle, the sky was just beginning to lighten. The distant mountain ranges were indistinct, and the air carried the smell of rust.
They walked deeper into the ravine, the soil beneath their feet gradually hardening, giving them a strange, sticky feel. Ye Mo looked down at the soles of his shoes and found some black powder stuck to them.
"Carbonized plant residue," he said. "Just like the last monitoring report."
Emma Frost didn't reply; her mental energy had already spread out, like a net sweeping towards the entrance of the valley ahead. A few seconds later, she stopped. "There are people ahead."
"How many?"
"More than twenty of them, concentrated in the central area of the tunnel, their thought waves were very flat, almost synchronized."
"It's not a coincidence." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes. "Ordinary people wouldn't come to a place like this so early in the morning to watch."
They continued forward, moving quietly. When the view opened up, they finally saw the entire valley.
Mjolnir was stuck in the central crater, and the surrounding land was cracked like a spider web. A dozen people stood at a safe distance, some taking pictures with their phones, some whispering among themselves, but their eyes were vacant, as if they were walking while asleep.
There were no tire tracks, and no backpacks or supplies.
"Where did these people get here?" Emma Frost frowned. "The nearest highway is twenty kilometers away."
"I don't know." Ye Mo reached into his pocket and gripped the Vibranium fragment. The cool touch was imperceptible. "The system didn't warn of any danger, which means the hammer itself wasn't activated."
"But they appeared in such perfect unison," Emma Frost stared at the crowd, "Like they were woken up by a programmed sequence."
Ye Mo nodded. He noticed a man in a dark coat and hat standing in the corner with his back to Hammer. When others looked forward, he looked down; when others were quiet, he gently shook his head, his rhythm completely different from the others.
"Something's off about that person," Ye Mo said in a low voice.
"I saw it too." Emma Frost's mental probe carefully approached the other person's brain region, only to bounce back immediately upon contact. "His consciousness has a shielding layer; it's not something an ordinary person can do."
"The system just said 'Unqualified individuals must not approach,'" Ye Mo suddenly said.
Emma Frost glanced at him. "Are you using the system as an excuse again?"
"This is not an excuse." Ye Mo lowered his voice, "I really heard it. This time the notification tone was shorter than usual, with only one word: 'Observe'."
The two exchanged a glance for a second and immediately reached an understanding.
We will not intervene, but only monitor.
They retreated behind a rock and crouched down. Ye Mo took out a small piece of Vibranium from his pocket and gently embedded it into a crack in the ground. The fragment vibrated slightly the moment it touched the soil, and then began to flicker at a fixed frequency.
"I'm building an early warning system," he said. "If there's a sudden change in the surrounding energy, it will be the first to sound an alarm."
"You still had this trick up your sleeve?" Emma Frost asked.
"I learned that from the last Scavenger Unit," Ye Mo smiled. "I can't always rely on your mind-reading skills to save my life."
Emma Frost didn't reply; her attention remained on the crowd. The man in the hat didn't move, but every thirty seconds or so he would raise his wrist, as if checking his watch.
"He's timing it," Emma Frost said. "And he knows the exact time of each energy pulse."
"That's the informant." Ye Mo stared at the man's posture. "The question is, who does he work for? Loki? Or someone else?"
"We can't get any information from him now," Emma Frost shook her head. "Forcing him to reveal his identity will alert the person controlling him."
"No rush," Ye Mo, leaning against the stone wall. "We're not here to pull out the hammer."
"What are they here for?"
"Let's see who wants to pull it out." Ye Mo looked at the hammer handle in the center of the pit. "As long as someone makes a move, the guards will definitely react. Then we can see who's genuinely curious and who's just waiting to scavenge."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a young man suddenly walked toward the edge of the pit. He walked quickly, but his eyes were fixed, as if he had been drawn to something.
Five meters from the hammer, an arc of electricity suddenly shot out from the ground and struck him in front of his feet. The man shuddered violently, stumbled back a few steps, and the bewilderment on his face turned into fear.
The others started to stir, but no one left.
"They're waiting for instructions," Emma Frost said. "That wasn't a warning, it was a test."
"What are you testing?"
"Testing who can get close." She looked at the man in the hat. "His lips just moved."
Ye Mo immediately fixed his gaze on the person. Sure enough, although the person had their back to the scene, their shoulders slumped slightly the moment the arc of electricity appeared, as if they had breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's confirming the rules," Ye Mo said, "To see what kind of behavior will be attacked."
"So the hammer has a recognition mechanism," Emma Frost analyzed. "It doesn't shoot everyone who gets close; it targets specific intentions."
"For example... people with the intention of taking things." Ye Mo stroked his chin. "No wonder these onlookers have survived until now."
"Then you said you were going to pull out the hammer—" Emma Frost turned to look at him.
"I was just saying it offhand." Ye Mo waved his hand. "Wouldn't I become a laughingstock if I actually touched that thing? I'm not Thor."
Emma Frost scoffed, "You know your own limitations."
They remained hidden in the shadows of the rock face, observing the crowd's movements and monitoring energy changes. The Vibranium fragment flashed red every so often, indicating that the underground pulse was normal.
Half an hour later, two more people tried to approach. One was forced back by the electric arc, and the other stopped as soon as he took a step, as if he sensed danger.
The man in the hat remained motionless, but he raised his hand and drew a triangle in the air.
Ye Mo saw it.
"He's transmitting a message," he said. "Like that blue light in the sky, it's some kind of communication."
"Should we take a screenshot?" Emma Frost asked.
"No," Ye Mo shook his head, "Making a move now would alert them. We don't even know how many people are behind this."
So what do you plan to do?
"Wait." Ye Mo pushed up his glasses. "Wait until the next person who dares to make a move appears. Then, when the guards move, we'll be able to see their reaction patterns."
"What if someone dies?"
"That means these people shouldn't have been here in the first place." Ye Mo looked at the hammer at the bottom of the pit. "Someone lured them here to be cannon fodder, and we couldn't stop every single one of them."
Emma Frost paused for a moment, then said, "You've changed."
"I've always been like this," Ye Mo smiled, "It's just that no one believed me when I told the truth before."
The sun rose, and the light in the valley brightened. The crowd showed no sign of dispersing; on the contrary, it grew larger. The newcomers, also without transportation, walked over with blank stares, stopped, and looked up at the hammer.
The man in the hat finally moved. He slowly turned to face Mjolnir, his right hand hanging down, his fingertips lightly tapping the outside of his thigh.
Three long and two short.
Ye Mo memorized the rhythm.
"He's counting," Emma Frost suddenly said. "Each tap corresponds to an energy fluctuation."
"So he's not just an informant," Ye Mo squinted. "He's the receiver."
"What's the meaning?"
"He's collecting data," Ye Mo said in a low voice. "Someone is remotely monitoring the hammer's status through him. Every pulse, every wave of interference, is being transmitted."
"So, are we exposed now?"
"I don't know." Ye Mo looked at the flashing frequency of the Vibranium fragments. "But if I were the one behind it all, I'd want to know if any outsiders are watching this scheme."
"So we have to pretend to be ordinary people."
"It's already installed." Ye Mo grabbed a handful of soot from the ground and smeared it on his face. "Do I look like a hapless early bird on his way?"
Emma Frost rolled her eyes. "Exactly."
They remained hidden, no longer speaking. Time ticked by, and the oppressive atmosphere grew stronger. Anyone who tried to approach was repelled by arcs of electricity. The guards never appeared, but the deterrent effect persisted.
Around noon, a police car appeared on a mountain road in the distance. The police got out and shouted, ordering everyone to evacuate. Most people did not react; only a few slowly walked away.
The man in the hat remained standing, without even turning his head.
The police officer tried to approach, but as soon as he entered the tunnel, he was struck in the leg by a stronger arc of electricity and fell to the ground. His walkie-talkie malfunctioned instantly.
"This is getting interesting," Ye Mo said in a low voice. "With official intervention, the situation has become even more chaotic."
"Should we do something?" Emma Frost asked.
"No." Ye Mo stared at the man. "Whoever moves now becomes a target. We'll wait until tonight."
"Tonight?"
"The guards only prevent theft, not bystanders." Ye Mo touched the fragment in his pocket. "When there are fewer people at night, the real players will make their move."
Emma Frost nodded. "So when do you plan to infiltrate?"
"Wait until the last policeman leaves," Ye Mo said, glancing at the police car in the distance. "Then we'll pretend to be tourists and slowly approach."
"Aren't you worried about getting struck by an electric arc?"
"I was worried." Ye Mo grinned. "That's why I had you next to me."
Emma Frost sneered, "You want me to be your shield?"
"No," Ye Mo said seriously, "I want you to be where I can see you."
She paused for a moment, then remained silent.
As the sun began to set, the shadows in the valley stretched long. The police eventually decided to retreat, leaving behind a malfunctioning walkie-talkie. The crowd of onlookers did not disperse; instead, several new people joined in.
The man in the hat raised his hand again, drawing a new symbol in the air.
Ye Mo stared at his movements, softly repeating, "Three times, stop, two times, then three more times... That's the password."
He took out his phone, turned on the recording function, and recorded a rhythm into thin air.
Emma Frost looked at him. "You're planning to crack it?"
"Let's give it a try." Ye Mo put away his phone. "Anyway, I'm just killing time."
They continued to wait. As darkness fell and the wind grew colder, the red light from the Vibranium fragment gradually increased, as if sensing some change.
Ye Mo raised his head and looked at Mjolnir in the center of the pit.
The patterns on the hammer handle seemed brighter than during the day.