Emma Frost's fingers were still trembling, but she didn't stop. The Mental Scan remained on, like a string stretched to its limit. Ye Mo glanced at her, squatted down, and switched the Earth Vein Vibration Network to automatic mode, reducing the current frequency to the lowest possible level.
"Close your eyes if you can't hold on any longer," he said. "I'll cover the first half."
Tony stood three steps away, his armored shoulder armor retracted halfway, the energy core still running. Hearing this, he didn't laugh or tease, but instead nodded.
"Since everyone's still awake, let's break down what just happened." He activated JARVIS's recording function. "We won, but it wasn't easy. Technical glitches, reaction delays, information gaps—if any of these had gone wrong, we'd be the ones lying on the ground now."
Ye Mo stood up, took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. His eyes had changed. They no longer held the sharpness he had during the battle, but rather a look as if he were flipping through a data table, going through each line one by one.
" Loki isn't trying to restart the Bifrost," he said. "He's testing a backup channel. That high-frequency signal isn't an attack command; it's a wake-up protocol."
Banner sat in the corner, hands on his knees, breathing steadily. Hearing this, he looked up. "You mean, the bridge was just a decoy?"
"Yes." Ye Mo nodded. "His real goal is to activate something. The signal path bypassed the main control node of the Asgard, taking the route through the underground resonance layer, which resonates with the lightning power within my body."
Emma Frost, her eyes closed, spoke softly but clearly, "In the fragments of memory I saw, there was a tower, black and very tall. There were runes on the door, not in the Asgard style."
Tony brought up the panel and swiped his fingers a few times. "The energy trajectory has been matched. Did you notice that after that signal surge, the geomagnetic reading 300 meters to the north drifted by 0.7 degrees? It's small, but it persists."
"I'm monitoring it," Ye Mo said. "It hasn't disappeared, it's just sunk. Like a fish diving into deep water, waiting for air."
Banner looked down at his hands, confirming that he was still in human form. He said softly, "I didn't transform this time, not because I controlled it well, but because none of you forced me to."
He paused. "In the past, it was always 'the situation has escalated, release the Hulk.' This time is different. I'm involved in the decision-making process as Bruce."
Tony glanced at him but didn't say anything. His armored mask slowly closed, a rare moment of seriousness for him.
"So the conclusion is?" he asked.
"We're not just stopping the teleportation," Ye Mo said, "But also a remote activation. If he succeeds, it might not just open the bridge, but release something else."
The four of them were silent for a few seconds.
Then Tony tapped the panel: "Write this down. Operation codename ' Severed Rainbow,' first round of tactical debriefing complete. What's the next step?"
Ye Mo touched his right shoulder, where an old injury was throbbing. The system notification sound didn't ring, but he knew it was running. The scorch marks were heating up, and there was a current backlash—these weren't things the system told him; he figured them out himself.
"When I said 'system prompt,' I was actually guessing," he suddenly said. "But every time I guessed, my body would react. For example, the burn mark would feel hot, or an electric arc would suddenly jump in my palm. Over time, I learned to verify it."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "So you finally admit that thing is unreliable?"
"I'm not saying it's fake," Ye Mo shook his head. "I mean, it doesn't give you the answer directly. It only provides feedback. It's like giving you checkmarks and crosses after an exam, but not telling you the correct answer."
Tony chuckled. "Next time, don't just say 'the system said so,' just tell us what you discovered. We can argue, but we can't listen to gibberish."
They stared at each other for a second, then said nothing more. But with those words, their relationship had changed. They were no longer mentor and student, nor were they a wealthy savior and a mysterious helper; they were now true partners who could fight side by side.
Banner suddenly spoke up, "Before high-intensity missions in the future, I can enter a shallow transformation state in advance. My heart rate will be maintained at around 120, and my adrenaline will be controllable, which can both enhance my reaction and keep my emotional threshold in check."
Emma Frost opened her eyes. "I will re-analyze that memory. As long as it's still playing on a loop, I'm sure I can find a breakthrough."
She closed her eyes again after speaking, her fingers still resting on her temples. Her complexion was terrible, and her mental energy was almost depleted, but she did not back down.
Tony glanced at the three of them, finally fixing his gaze on Ye Mo: "You're Mr. X now, not a temporary outside helper. Your judgments need to be incorporated into the early warning system, but they must be cross-validated with data. I don't Shingen Yashida, I only believe in double confirmation."
"Okay," Ye Mo agreed readily, "But I have one condition."
"Explain."
"Next time, don't make me rush the relay point alone. Even if I have to be replaced, someone needs to be watching me from behind."
Tony nodded. "Two-person confirmation system. For critical commands, at least two people must operate simultaneously. Dynamic keys will be used on the communication channel; keywords will trigger a red alert."
"Add one more," Emma Frost suddenly said, "All mental interference signals will be filtered by me as the first line of defense. If I fail, I will immediately sever the direct neural connections."
"Where's Banner?" Tony asked.
"I'm in charge of monitoring biometrics," he said. "Heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves—any abnormal fluctuations are considered warning signals."
"Then it's settled." Tony made the decision. "Three points of agreement: real-time intelligence sharing, Banner having a tactical role when not transformed, and Ye Mo's senses being incorporated into the early warning system, but this needs to be corroborated by data."
After he finished speaking, he took out three energy supply packs from the armor's internal compartment and threw two of them over. One hit Banner's leg, and Emma Frost caught the other with one hand.
"I'll consider this place a temporary command post," he said. " JARVIS will continue scanning for unusual frequencies. Nobody's thinking of leaving, at least not tonight."
Ye Mo didn't accept the supply pack. Instead, he silently walked to the north corner of the wall and placed his fingers on the ground. He activated two deep vibration piles, burying them three hundred meters underground, expanding the monitoring range to five hundred meters.
The electric current crawled along the crack, leaving fine lines on the ground. A faint arc of electricity flashed across his fingertip and then disappeared.
Emma Frost sat against the wall, eyes closed, trying to regulate her breathing, but the Mental Scan continued. Her breathing was steady, and her fingers never left her temples.
Banner stared at his shadow, confirming that the outline was clear and the color was normal. He didn't move or speak, but his posture was more relaxed than before.
Tony checked his equipment, shutting down some weapon modules while keeping the power core running. He leaned against a broken pillar, his mask half-open, revealing the lower half of his face.
The four sat back to back, just as they had during the battle.
No one mentioned taking a break, and no one talked about the next step.
The wind swept through the ruins, ruffling the brim of Ye Mo's hoodie. In the distance, city lights still shone, illuminating the mess on the ground.
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 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 again. 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 stake flashed and disappeared.
"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 the direction where Loki was being held. "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.