Thor Shattered the Mothership, Victory Was in Sight

The moment the wreckage exploded, Ye Mo's pupils contracted. The shockwave, carrying flames, swept outwards. He instinctively raised his hand to shield his face, the heat stinging his skin. But this attack had no target; it was purely the mothership's final energy self-destruction, like the last howl of a dying Beast.

He steadied himself and immediately began using Telepathy.

The signal spread, covering the entire city. The core of the Chitauri Mothership had completely shattered, and its energy readings had dropped to zero. The debris still floating in the air was nothing but scrap metal. There was no power, no communication, and no command node restarting.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but remained vigilant.

"Tony, can you hear me?" he shouted into the communication channel.

"I can hear you," Tony's voice came from above, slightly panting. "That last shove almost capsized me. This damn ship still has to pull a fast one before it dies."

"It's dead," Ye Mo said. "The chain of command has broken; all units are fleeing."

"I knew Thor could do it." Tony laughed, his armor arcing through the air. "I'll clear the field; the rest are just small fry."

Ye Mo nodded and turned to look at the ground.

Emma Frost stood in the middle of a broken road, her Diamond Form just shattered, her face covered in sweat and her clothes caked with dust. She looked up at the sky, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"We won," she said, her voice soft but steady.

Ye Mo didn't speak. He watched as the last large piece of debris plunged into the Hudson River, sending up a water column as high as a mountain. Alarms blared along the riverbank, but no one was injured. Thor's push just now was ridiculously precise.

He looked down at his hands.

The wound had healed without leaving a scar. The Regenerative Phasing was still operating within his body, his cells seemingly being pushed forward by something unseen. He didn't know if this was thanks to the system or if he had truly changed.

But he knew one thing clearly—the battle was not completely over.

"Thor!" he said.

God of Thunder stood on a partially collapsed bridge pier, his hammer hanging at his side, several cracks appearing in his armor. He turned his head, his gaze steady.

"The mothership is gone," Ye Mo said, "But some of them are still running."

"I know." Thor jumped off the bridge pier, kicking up a cloud of dust as he landed. "Tony is chasing three small aircraft, heading towards the east coast. What about you?"

"I detected seven signals in the underground pipes downtown." Ye Mo closed his eyes, his consciousness extending, "They tried to slip away through the subway tunnels, taking two communication repeaters with them."

"Leave them alive?" Thor asked.

"No, we won't keep them." Ye Mo opened his eyes. "If we're going to be merciful at a time like this, someone will be crying for them tomorrow."

Thor scoffed, "Sounds like Iron Man."

"He's not that ruthless." Ye Mo grinned. "Let's go, clean up the mess."

Tony's armor made a sharp turn in mid-air, firing three shots from his palm cannon, sending a newly launched Chitauri aircraft spinning and plummeting. His helmet visor popped open, revealing a dark face that grinned like a child.

"See? I told you I could handle this!" he yelled into the communication channel. "Who says I'm not as good as God of Thunder?"

No one answered.

"Hey, did you hear me? I'm a savior!"

"Your arm is shaking like someone with Parkinson's," Ye Mo blurted out abruptly. "Should I call an ambulance for you?"

"That's just the wind!" Tony immediately pulled his mask back up. "Besides, I just rolled out of a pile of nuclear bombs, it's normal to shake a bit."

"Normal my foot." Ye Mo said as he walked forward, "Fly two more laps, don't let any escape."

"Don't worry, my eyesight is better than a scanner." Tony circled around, locking onto his next target. "Besides, I'm the brightest star in all of New York right now."

After he finished speaking, he swooped down, his armor leaving a trail of red flames.

On the ground, Emma Frost leaned against a telephone pole, panting. The battle had taken its toll on her, especially the final use of the crystal array to disrupt the enemy's synchronization system, which nearly shattered her brain.

But she held on.

She looked up at the sky; the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. Sunlight shone on the charred buildings and onto her face. She squinted and smiled.

It wasn't an exaggerated laugh, but a slight upward tilt of the corners of her mouth, as if she had finally put down a stone that had been pressing down on her for a long time.

"I survived," she said softly.

She didn't send this message to her inbox; she just said it to herself.

But she knew Ye Mo must have heard her.

Because the next second, his voice rang in her mind. "Don't dwell on it for too long, there are still three who escaped to the north."

"Okay." She straightened up. "It's my turn this time."

She raised her hand, and tiny cracks began to appear on the ground. Crystals grew from the cracks, quickly forming a triangular array. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

Three seconds later, three crystal spikes erupted from the ground, piercing directly through an assault vehicle that was accelerating away. The vehicle rolled twice and exploded into a fireball.

"Clear one out," she said.

Ye Mo stood still. He watched Emma Frost's movements and then glanced at the situation in various parts of the city. Tony was still chasing them from the sky, while Thor had already rushed into the subway entrance to intercept the group of deserters.

He suddenly felt a little tired.

It's not physical, it's psychological.

This war has dragged on for far too long. From the day Tony was kidnapped to the destruction of the mothership today, he can't even remember what happened in between. All he knows is that at first, all he wanted was to live, not to die among these lunatics.

Now he stands here, one of these lunatics.

He looked up at the sky.

The last piece of mothership debris was falling, almost as if it were coming to a stop. It pierced through the clouds, its edges glowing red-hot, like a piece of iron cooling.

He stared at it, not looking away.

"This is not the end," he thought to himself.

He knew other enemies would come later—bigger, stronger, and crazier. Perhaps he wouldn't be so lucky next time.

But he also knew he wouldn't leave.

He could pretend he didn't hear the distress signal, turn around and leave the battlefield, or return to a place where no one knew him and live an ordinary life.

But he won't.

Because he was already standing here.

Because of the people around him.

Because he is no longer the college student who only hides behind the system and makes excuses.

He took a deep breath and turned on the communication.

"Tony, East Third District is yours. Thor, seal off the underground passage. Emma Frost, prepare to intercept any escaping units. I'll mark the positions."

After he finished speaking, he lightly tapped his finger in the air.

An invisible signal spread out, instantly locking onto all enemy units still active in the city.

Seven red dots appeared clearly in his mind.

He looked at them as if they were the beginning of a new battle.

In the distance, an abandoned bus suddenly lurched.

Something was pushing up the roof from the inside, making a screeching sound as metal scraped against metal.

Ye Mo frowned.

The car was not on any escape route.

It is also not within any signal coverage area.

He strode towards that direction.

There was another loud crash on the roof, the weld broke open, and a dark figure burst out of the metal.