Loki's index finger twitched again, and this time Ye Mo could see it clearly. It wasn't a twitch; it was typing, like he was typing out a code.
He immediately raised his hand, and the frequency of the lightning grid current abruptly switched. The rhythm that had just been mimicking breathing instantly turned into a high-frequency Quake. The ground vibration pile flashed red three times, and the system prompted: High-dimensional signal return detected, countermeasure mode activated.
"He's connected!" Ye Mo shouted in a low voice, "This isn't a test, it's a full-scale assault!"
Emma Frost opened her eyes, her face pale. She had only recently retreated, and her mental energy hadn't fully recovered, but she still managed to forcefully probe out a sliver of her senses. "He's not coming for us... He's activating the program; his target is the core node of the Bifrost."
Tony's finger was already sliding across the panel. "Old-fashioned Asgard encryption, two-key authentication—this stuff should have been obsolete." He sneered. "Looks like Loki isn't just good with words, he's also good at nostalgia."
Banner gritted his teeth and pressed his knee down even tighter. Loki let out a muffled groan, but the corners of his mouth still twitched upwards.
Ye Mo placed his hands on the ground again. This time, he didn't just conduct electricity; he extended his lightning power underground, connecting it with the earth's vein vibration network. The current crawled along the cracks, forming an invisible interference layer in the air.
"Turn to resonance mode," he said. "Lightning plus geomagnetism, give him a double whammy."
The blue light surged, and the lightning crackled. The ground trembled briefly before settling down. The red light on the vibration pile changed from rapid flashing to a slow, rhythmic pulsation.
Tony stared at the data stream. "Signal strength dropped by forty percent... He's just toughing it out."
"Then don't let him carry it." Ye Mo closed his eyes and adjusted the output power by feeling. His palms were burning, and the scorch marks were starting to sting again, but this wasn't a bad thing. He knew that as long as the pain was still there, it meant the system was still working.
" JARVIS," Tony said, "Activate the ' Bifrost Severance Protocol ' and launch a directional pulse towards Asgard."
"The protocol has been activated," a mechanical voice announced. "Anti-magic module loading, to be released in three seconds."
Countdown begins.
Two seconds.
One second.
A muffled thud came from high above, like glass being crushed by an invisible hand. The energy curve on the monitoring screen jumped sharply, then returned to zero.
" The Bifrost is down," Tony said. "The master node is unresponsive."
Ye Mo didn't move, his hands still pressed against the ground. He waited another ten seconds before slowly withdrawing his movements. The blue light of the lightning net gradually faded, and the red light of the ground vibration pile also slowly disappeared.
He took off his glasses, wiped the lenses with his sleeve, and put them back on. The system notification had just finished saying "Connection terminated."
Tony glanced at him. "Your system doesn't even keep any logs, it's really unreliable."
His tone was relaxed, without any questioning.
They all knew that the most dangerous moment had passed.
Emma Frost leaned against the wall, her fingers trembling slightly. She had just forced herself to probe twice, and her mental strength was already at its limit. Ye Mo walked over, took a bottle of water out of his work pants pocket, and handed it to her.
"Fifteen minutes ago you said you could last three more," he said. "Now it's the third time and it's over."
Emma Frost took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. She didn't say anything, just leaned lightly on his shoulder for a second, then stood up straight.
"I haven't fallen, so I haven't lost," she said.
Ye Mo nodded. He knew how tired she was. He was the same; all his muscles ached, especially his old right shoulder injury, which throbbed. But he couldn't give up, at least not now.
Banner took a few deep breaths, sweat beading on his forehead. Green hues scurried across his skin, but didn't erupt. He looked down at his hands, confirming they were still in human form.
"I... I'm fine," he said. "I didn't transform this time."
Ye Mo looked at him. The two stared at each other for a second, then smiled simultaneously.
This was the first time Banner remained fully conscious throughout the intense confrontation. He didn't go berserk, lose control, or smash anything.
Tony opened the communication channel. " JARVIS, record: Bifrost closing time, temporary base in the East Side of New York, 3:17 AM local time. Participants: Mr. X, White Queen, Hulk, Iron Man. Conclusion: Loki's operational plan has failed."
He paused for a moment, then said, "I suggest naming this operation ' Severed Rainbow '."
Ye Mo raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a shampoo commercial."
"Then you come up with one?" Tony chuckled and teased.
"Let's call it 'He Thought He Could Run Away'." Ye Mo pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the afterglow. "But he didn't manage to run."
Tony chuckled, and his armored shoulder pads automatically retracted half an inch, adopting a relaxed posture. However, he neither turned off the monitoring system nor retracted the weapon module.
Emma Frost closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, her mental energy still scanning the surrounding area. Although the Bifrost was broken, she dared not completely relax. The wave of consciousness impact just now was too strong, and she was afraid that there were still remnants.
Ye Mo didn't leave either. He stood there, tapping his fingers lightly on the seam of his trousers, his eyes fixed on the northern sky. There was something unusual there, so faint it was almost imperceptible.
But he sensed it.
Without making a sound, he quietly activated two new vibration piles, burying them deeper underground. The signal reception range expanded to 500 meters.
"Don't turn off the jammer," he told Tony. "Keep it running at minimum power."
Tony frowned and brought up the data interface. Sure enough, he found an abnormal frequency band drifting with a blurred trajectory, like the aftershocks of a spatial disturbance.
"You're sharper than radar," he said.
"I almost got blown up by Klaue last time I trusted you." Ye Mo shrugged. "This time, I'd rather take extra precautions."
The four didn't disband; they automatically formed a circular formation, back to back, to guard their surroundings. Emma Frost closed her eyes to sense her surroundings, Banner's muscles tensed, and Tony's armor maintained 60% energy output.
No one mentioned leaving.
It's as if they've tacitly agreed that this is still a battlefield.
The wind swept through the ruins, ruffling the brim of Ye Mo's hoodie. In the distance, the city lights were still on, like countless pairs of open eyes.
Tony suddenly spoke up, "Do you think he might try a different approach?"
No one answered.
This is not a problem, it's a fact.
Ye Mo gazed at the night sky and whispered, "He will come again."
No one objected.
Emma Frost opened her eyes, her fingertips still trembling, but she didn't stop her Mental Scan. She knew that the memory fragment she'd just seen wasn't so simple. Loki had hidden too much information; she had only extracted a small portion.
We'll have to watch it again once she recovers.
Banner cracked his wrist. He looked down at his shadow, confirming that he was still in human form. This was important.
Tony's armored mask was half-open, revealing the lower half of his face. He took a sip of his energy drink and casually tossed the empty bottle into the recovery pod.
"Next time we meet," he said, "I'll have to bring some new stuff."
Ye Mo didn't reply. His attention was entirely focused on the faint ripple in the north. It hadn't disappeared; it had simply sunk, like a fish at the bottom of the water, waiting to surface for air.
He knew that real trouble could never be solved in a single battle.
But now, they've won this round.
That's enough.
Emma Frost suddenly opened her eyes. "There's movement."
Everyone immediately became alert.
"It's not a signal," she whispered. "It's a lingering memory, still playing on a loop."
Tony quickly activated the blocking program. "Can you locate me?"
"No." Emma Frost shook her head. "It's encrypted, and the structure is strange; it doesn't seem like Asgard technology."
Ye Mo crouched down, his fingers touching the ground. He turned the lightning power to its lowest setting and slowly advanced like a probe. The ground trembled slightly, and the red light of the vibration pile flashed and disappeared in an instant.
"It wasn't an attack," he said, "It was a record."
"Record what?" Banner asked.
"I don't know." Ye Mo stood up, "But it's waiting for the right moment to activate."
Tony sneered, "This guy didn't forget to plant landmines even after he's dead."
"So he hasn't given up yet." Ye Mo looked in Loki's direction. "That last move was just a retreat."
Emma Frost leaned back against the wall, closed her eyes, and continued scanning. Her breathing became steady, but her fingers remained on her temples.
Banner walked over and stood beside her, saying nothing, simply remaining there.
Tony checked the equipment and confirmed that all modules were functioning correctly. He looked up at Ye Mo: "What's the next step?"
"Guard her," Ye Mo said, "Until she finishes reading that memory."
"Aren't you going to rest?"
"I can't sleep." Ye Mo touched his right shoulder. "The system is still overheating."
Tony glanced at him but said nothing more. He knew that feeling—not pain, not exhaustion, but a constant state of alertness, like a background program always running.
They didn't leave.
No one mentioned evacuation or the next steps.
Because they knew that the battle was over, but the war was not.
Ye Mo stood in the center, his hands hanging at his sides, a spark of electricity occasionally flashing from his fingertips. His glasses reflected the afterglow, showing the complex electrical patterns on the ground.
The wind has stopped.
The city lights are still on.
Emma Frost suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils contracting.
"I saw it," she said. "There was a tower in that memory, black and very tall."
Everyone looked at her.
"There's a door at the top of the tower," she said softly. "The door has runes on it, unlike the Bifrost."
Ye Mo immediately squatted down and pressed his fingers into the cracks in the ground.
The red light on the vibrating pile turned on again.