The moment Emma Frost opened her eyes, Ye Mo's hand was already on the lock button on the control panel.
The phrase "We didn't send it" was still hanging in the air, but the waveform on the device screen had already begun to distort and warp.
He didn't say anything, but directly pulled up the log of the signal return path.
The underlying protocol of the data packet shows an anomaly, the carrier frequency band is offset by 0.3 Hz, and the oscillation echo protocol has no trigger record.
This wasn't a system-generated response; someone manually inserted it.
"They've followed our false signals and crept over here," Ye Mo typed out a few commands. "They even dare to interfere from the opposite direction."
Emma Frost closed her eyes again, and the Mental Network shrunk to its narrowest scanning bandwidth.
She cut it off in time, but the mark left by that "light touch" is still there.
Like a broken thread, it swayed gently.
"They weren't just scouting," she said. "They were verifying the stability of the passage, moving very quietly, as if afraid of disturbing something."
"That means they know we're eavesdropping," Ye Mo sneered. "Then don't blame me for playing dirty tricks."
He activated the combined capabilities of the thirteenth level of the Gene Spiral Tower — Wall Phasing Radar Sense —combining them into an underground tracking mode.
As consciousness sinks in, the three-dimensional geological model is rapidly reconstructed.
Five kilometers away, beneath an abandoned weather station, the rock strata have been peeled away layer by layer.
The Cosmic Cube space is 30 meters deep and 8 meters on each side, with obvious signs of blasting reinforcement on all four walls.
It is neither a natural cave nor the remains of an old building.
"A man-made sealed chamber." He pointed to a reflection curve on the screen. "The signal originates from here, and after three refractions, it reaches us. They used the rock formations as cover to evade detection."
Emma Frost suddenly frowned. "Wait."
Her fingers trembled slightly.
"That bait package... has been touched again."
"Who?"
"I don't know," she said in a low voice, "It was that kind of scratch-like contact, less than 0.1 seconds. No deep reading, no copying, just a light touch, and then it disappeared."
"Test?" Ye Mo asked.
"No," Emma Frost shook her head. "It's more like checking if a node is online. Like... checking the connection before a restart."
Ye Mo stared at the screen, his mind racing through the timeline.
The signal was connected for the first time, then for the second time after 37 minutes, and then for the third time after another 37 minutes.
It's as regular as a heartbeat.
"They're not looking for intelligence," he said. "They're just going through the motions."
"What's the meaning?"
"Every thirty-seven minutes, that's exactly the time when humans transition from light sleep to deep sleep." Ye Mo pulled up the brainwave monitoring database. "In this state, a person's consciousness is most relaxed and most easily synchronized. They're waiting for the crowd to collectively enter this stage, using that momentum against them."
Emma Frost opened her eyes and looked at him. "You mean, they're using the fluctuations of ordinary people's consciousness as an energy source?"
"Otherwise, how do you maintain cross-dimensional connections?" He typed out a piece of comparison code, "And look at this neural frequency."
The screen is divided into two halves: the left side shows the residual mental waveband from when Loki last used the Bifrost, and the right side shows the signal characteristics emanating from the secret chamber.
The seventh harmonics completely overlap.
"The old Asgard illusion formula," Ye Mo said, "But he added something extra."
What kind of material?
" The Hellfire Club's psychological Anchor code." He zoomed in on the waveform details. "Do you recognize this rhythm? Seven short, three long, with a pause in the middle. This is a memory implant metronome used in the club's early training."
Emma Frost's expression changed. "They've combined divine magic with Mind Stone technology."
"More than that." Ye Mo activated the Regenerative Phasing simulation program. "I had the system reverse-engineer the penetration path of the materials inside the sealed room and discovered a continuous energy field shielding layer. This place isn't a temporary base; it's a long-term operational hub."
What is the purpose?
"Control," he said. "Not blowing up the bridge, not seizing power, but opening a door."
What door?
"I don't know," Ye Mo shook his head, "But the key isn't with them. They're just testing whether the passage is open."
Emma Frost was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke, "That sentence just now—'The key wasn't touched, but the door was already open.'"
"I heard you."
"This sentence wasn't randomly generated." Her eyes turned cold. "It uses double encryption: the first layer is Asgard phonetic code, and the second layer is the club's psychological Anchor. Only a very few people can master both systems simultaneously."
" Loki," Ye Mo continued, "Plus a technician who was deeply involved in Mind Control projects."
"Or an inside man," Emma Frost said, "Someone within the upper echelons of the Mutants."
Ye Mo did not refute.
He knew who she was talking about.
Some names cannot be mentioned now, as doing so might reveal more clues.
He switched interfaces and pulled all the known information into a relationship diagram.
Signal source → Underground chamber → Mental bait → Group consciousness fluctuation → Establishment of control chain → Opening of the unknown gate.
Each step is supported by evidence, forming a logical closed loop.
"They're building a cross-dimensional manipulation network," Ye Mo said, pointing to the blank area in the center of the diagram. "Once they find a high-level Mind Stone user as a relay station, they can import the power of the divine realm into the real-world consciousness layer."
"Then what?"
"Then let them open the door themselves," he said. "No force, no invasion, just get enough people to have the same thought at the same time, and reality will be rewritten."
Emma Frost paused, then said, "You mean... they'll create a collective hallucination?"
"More accurately, it's a 'consensus awakening'," Ye Mo said, turning off the chart. "When everyone suddenly feels that something is true, it becomes true."
The room fell silent.
The only sounds were the hum of the equipment and the increasingly tense atmosphere between the two men.
"What do we do now?" Emma Frost asked.
"Don't move." Ye Mo leaned back in his chair. "They think we're still setting up defenses, that we're only focused on catching spies. But we've already seen through their game."
"But what if we do nothing and they actually open the door?"
"Then let them open it." He smiled. "We won't stop them, nor will we run away. We'll just stand here and watch them insert the key and then smash the lock themselves."
Do you have a plan?
"No," he shook his head, "But I'm patient. The more cautious they are, the more it means this can't go wrong. As long as they're still testing, we still have time."
Emma Frost looked at him.
His face was expressionless, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
"Do you know what's the scariest thing?" she whispered.
"It's not their technology, it's not their resources." She paused for a second, "It's that they simply don't care about being discovered. They let you see the clues because they believe that even if you know, you can't stop it."
Ye Mo nodded. "So we need to make them believe that. Keep sending out fake commands, maintaining a frequency of once every half hour. Let them think we're still going in circles."
"I'll plant two more baits at the edge of the Mental Network," Emma Frost said. "One about Tony's whereabouts, and the other about a vulnerability in the base's defenses. Make them both incomplete, so they'll be compelled to fill in the gaps."
"Okay." He brought up the oscillation pile control panel. "I'll make the signal camouflage even more confusing. Add a few fake nodes to create the illusion of seven or eight people having a meeting."
"You want them to feel like they've won?"
"I want them to feel like they're about to win." He pressed the confirm button. "People are most prone to making mistakes when they're just one step away."
Emma Frost closed her eyes and reconnected to the Mental Network.
Her consciousness moved slowly along the edge, like a thin mist.
A faint detection line remained in place, ready to detect the next "touch".
Ye Mo stared at the 3D model on the screen.
The location of the abandoned weather station was marked with a red dot, and three concentric rings of interference were drawn around it.
He did not mark any action plan, nor did he notify anyone.
His finger hovered over the communication button.
It was not pressed.
He had already seen the entire chessboard clearly.
But he still doesn't know which step will truly open that door.
The monitor screen suddenly flickered.
A new signal has emerged.
This lasted for 4.3 seconds.
It took 0.1 seconds longer than before.
Emma Frost opened her eyes and her lips moved.
She said, "They're back."