Loki's tactics, Ye Mo's analysis

The countdown is still going on, 60.8Hz.

Ye Mo didn't move. His right hand was still resting on the console interface, the scorch mark on his palm slightly warm, the arc of electricity flashing and jumping, perfectly synchronized with the blue light of the chip. He swiped his left hand across the screen, bringing up a new set of data—a timeline of Loki's past seven operations.

The holographic projection has changed. The map of the Nine Realms has been retracted, replaced by seven colored timelines, from the Asgard coup to the Battle of New York, and then to the Asgard rebellion, each marked with a key milestone.

"Now it's his turn," Ye Mo said.

Emma Frost opened her eyes. She had maintained her Mental Network, covering the entire perimeter of the base. Hearing this, she nodded slightly. "What did you see?"

"A pattern." Ye Mo pointed to the first line with his laser pointer. "Before each operation, he makes someone believe the wrong thing."

He circled a red dot. "Odin thought he was dead, but he was actually recovering from his injuries; the Guardians thought the portal was closed, but he was actually copying the key; S.H.I.E.L.D.. thought the intrusion came from the outside, but it was actually an illusion program planted inside."

Tony leaned against the armor, his helmet half-open. "So you mean he's definitely going to lie to one of us?"

"It's not 'will,' it's 'already doing it.'" Ye Mo switched the screen, pulling up a simulated structural diagram of the Bifrost control room. "He didn't launch a full-scale attack, didn't use explosives, and didn't force his way into the system. He sneaked in during the guards' shift change, using Odin's trusted access."

Bruce opened his eyes, his voice low. "So he didn't come here to fight."

"Yes." Ye Mo looked at the three of them, "He came to make things chaotic for us."

The room fell silent for a second.

Tony scoffed, "So what are you planning to do? Give everyone a 'Don't Be Fooled' handbook?"

"It's even simpler than that." Ye Mo brought up three command rules. "First, all combat orders must be confirmed by both people. I give the command, Emma Frost uses the Mental Network to verify if my emotional fluctuations are normal; after Tony receives the information, the armored AI needs to check the voice spectrum and encryption key."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You suspect I would spread false information?"

"I suspect he'll become you," Ye Mo stared at him. "Or become me, or become Bruce. He doesn't need to defeat us; just making us distrust each other is enough."

Emma Frost said softly, "He's right. Loki's greatest skill is manipulating trust. If he can impersonate Ye Mo and order a retreat, I'll believe him; if he pretends to Tony and says the plan failed, Bruce might waver."

Bruce nodded. "Then let's do it his way. Double confirmation, no problem."

Tony grimaced, but still looked down and started working on the armor panel: "Alright, I'll add a logic verification module to the AI. From now on, if you say 'retreat,' the system will have to ask me what I had for breakfast yesterday."

"Whatever you want," Ye Mo continued, "Secondly, the communication channel will use a dynamic key. It will refresh every thirty seconds, generated jointly by Emma Frost's mental frequency and my lightning rhythm."

He raised his hand, and a tiny arc of electricity shot from his fingertip, striking the communication node in the projection. A flash of blue light, and the cipher stream began to flow.

"Thirdly," Ye Mo paused for two seconds, "Any command involving keywords such as 'surrender,' 'abandon,' or 'mission canceled' will automatically trigger a red alert and disconnect the channel for ten minutes."

Tony looked up. "This sounds like an emergency plan to prevent an insider sabotage."

"That's exactly right," Ye Mo said. "He knows we're loyal, so he'll definitely exploit that weakness. For example, he might suddenly hear Thor's voice saying he's dead and we shouldn't worry about Jotunheim; or someone might impersonate Bruce and say the Hulk is out of control and we have to evacuate."

Bruce paused for a few seconds. "... He really would do that."

"He did it." Ye Mo pulled up an old record. "Three years ago, he used an illusion to make God of Thunder personally shut down the energy core of Stormbreaker, almost causing the entire Northern Barrier to collapse."

Emma Frost closed her eyes, her Mental Network vibrating slightly. "I can detect anomalies. If someone's instructions don't match the speaker's emotional state—for example, Tony speaking calmly while his heart is racing—then it's fake."

"Okay." Ye Mo nodded. "What about the technical aspects?"

Tony tapped the armor. "I can set a remote command lock. For example, you can tell me to interfere with the west side, but if I suddenly receive a new order to blow up the bridge in the east, the system will refuse to execute it unless you personally review it."

"Add biometrics," Ye Mo added. "Your armor reads body temperature, blood pressure, and brain waves; if any three are off, it's considered abnormal."

"This is too much trouble," Tony complained, but his fingers didn't stop, and lines of code appeared one by one.

"It's no trouble at all," Ye Mo, looking at him. "Much less trouble than being a complete nuisance."

The room fell silent again. Only the countdown on the screen continued: 60.6Hz.

Ye Mo took a deep breath and walked to the center of the control panel: "Do you know what his real killer move is?"

No one answered.

"It's not magic, not a clone, and not an illusion." He looked at the three of them. "He made us think we were smart, and then he made us make mistakes in a 'smart' way."

"What do you mean?" Emma Frost asked.

"He'll give us a seemingly reasonable plan," Ye Mo said, "A plan that sounds perfect, efficient, and logical. Then we follow it, only to find out—that's what he wants us to do."

Tony frowned. "So you mean, the more reasonable a decision seems, the more likely it is to be a trap?"

"Yes." Ye Mo nodded. "He's not afraid of our resistance; he's afraid of us not using our brains. But he's even more afraid of us using the wrong ideas."

Bruce spoke slowly, "It's like playing chess; he doesn't care how you move, he only cares about what you think."

"That's right." Ye Mo raised his right hand, arcs of electricity dancing at his fingertips. "So we can't play by the rules, nor can we play against the rules. We need to learn—to not play by his rhythm."

Emma Frost suddenly widened her eyes. "Wait. If he's using mind control, then could what we're discussing now be what he wants us to discuss?"

Ye Mo smiled.

This was the first time he had laughed at a time like this.

"Of course it's possible," he said. "So he must have assumed we would be on guard, vigilant, and take extra precautions. But he didn't know—"

He stopped and glanced at the three of them.

"--We knew he would think that way."

Tony froze. "You've gotten yourself into a trap?"

"A three-layered nesting doll," Ye Mo said. "He knew we would be wary of him, so we deliberately acted overly defensive, making him think we had fallen into his psychological trap. But in reality, our true strategy was hidden beneath the third layer."

Emma Frost's lips curled into a slight smile, "You mean, we pretend to be controlled by him, but actually take advantage of his controlling nature?"

"Smart." Ye Mo looked at her. "That's why he can't beat Thor. Thor overwhelms with strength, while he uses trickery. But who am I? I'm the one who specifically studied how he cheats."

Tony shook his head. "Has your brain mutated too?"

"The system didn't teach me this." Ye Mo patted his temple. "I practiced it myself. Every time he tricked me, I would review the play. Seven times now, I've learned everything I needed to."

Bruce said in a low voice, "So what do you think he'll do next?"

"Two directions." Ye Mo pulled up a new simulation map. "One is to create false intelligence, making us think Jotunheim has exploded, forcing us to close the bridge prematurely; the other is to forge Thor's distress signal, making us split our forces to rescue him."

Which is more likely?

"None of that matters," Ye Mo said. "Because what he really wants to do is make us struggle between 'belief' and 'disbelief.' If we hesitate for even a second, the rhythm will be broken."

He looked at Tony: "So your disruption rhythm must be on time. Start at the forty-seventh second, thirty-second window, not earlier and not later."

"Understood," Tony nodded, "But I have a question—what if your judgment is wrong?"

"Then we've lost." Ye Mo looked directly at him. "But I won't be wrong. Because I'm not guessing him, I'm calculating him."

He pointed to the preparatory steps for each of Loki's actions shown in the projection. "You see, before he acts, there are three preparatory steps: mislead one person, tamper with a letter, and hide somewhere. This time he has completed the first step—infiltrating the system through the chip."

Emma Frost continued, "The second step is to tamper with the information. He might modify the data on Jotunheim's core to make us misjudge the crisis level."

"Yes." Ye Mo nodded, "Therefore, our monitoring data must be cross-validated. Bruce is responsible for the physical parameters, Emma Frost monitors the mental fluctuations, and Tony compares the historical records. Only when all three agree will the data be accepted."

"And the third step?" Bruce asked.

"Hide your true objective," Ye Mo said. "He doesn't really want to bomb Jotunheim. That's too obvious. What he really wants is to take something away in the chaos."

"For example?"

"I don't know," Ye Mo said frankly, "But I do know that as long as we don't cause trouble, he won't get anything."

Tony was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Do you remember when you first came here? You were wearing a hoodie, squatting in a corner, saying you just wanted to live."

"I remember." Ye Mo nodded.

"Now you stand here like a tactical commander."

"The environment forced me to," Ye Mo said. "If I don't use my brain, I'll die."

"But you're not just saving your own life now," Tony looked at him. "You're leading us in a battle you can see, but we can't see."

Ye Mo remained silent.

He simply raised his right hand, and the arc of electricity in his palm pulsed again, flashing in sync with the blue light from the chip.

The countdown jumped to 60.5Hz.

He spoke, his voice very soft:

Remember—the most reasonable decision is probably the one he wants you to make.