Ye Mo earned their recognition

Ye Mo carried the last case of water into the tent area. When he turned around, the Vibranium fragment in his trench coat pocket was still hot. He didn't take it out to look at it, but just put his hand in and squeezed it; the temperature had already dropped. The black SUV was long gone, but he remembered that the license plate ended in 7.

He walked back along the temporary passage, and was stopped by a guard as he passed the command building. The guard glanced at the identification tag, nodded, and let him through. The door to the conference room on the third floor was open, Emma Frost was sitting by the window, looking down at her tablet. She looked up at the door, her eyes holding something in them, as if she knew he would come.

Ye Mo went inside and closed the door behind him. There were two other people inside. Tony was standing in front of the projection screen, adjusting the equipment. He swiped his fingers in the air a few times, and the screen flickered twice before turning on. Thor was sitting at the other end of the table, holding a thermos. He took a sip of what he called coffee, but it was actually hot milk with honey.

No one spoke.

Ye Mo walked to his seat and placed the tactical tablet on the table. A flag, made of black cloth, was clipped to the cover with a silver spiral and a pair of wings. He didn't take it out, just letting a corner of it stick out.

"That whole thing in the square was pretty convincing," Tony said first. "They went to get water after the verification; they were so good I almost believed them."

"I'm not acting," Ye Mo said.

"I know," Tony shrugged, "But you're too good at picking the right moments. Carrying water, wiping your glasses, picking up things from the kids—every single one is perfectly positioned to get the camera focused on."

Ye Mo didn't refute. He said, "I just came from there, not to get on the news. It's just that they really need people over there."

Emma Frost interjected, "You kept looking at the ground on your way back, did you discover something?"

"No," Ye Mo shook his head, "It's just that my feet are a little tired. After fighting for so long, this is the first time I've found that moving boxes is more tiring than fighting."

Thor laughed, "You Earthlings call this 'post-war fatigue'? I sleep for three days straight after a battle in Asgard."

"That's a divine regeneration mechanism," Tony said, turning around. "We mortals die from bleeding, we need to heal from injuries, and we even have meetings to summarize our lessons learned."

"So, should we open it now?" Ye Mo asked.

"What else?" Tony tapped the remote, switching the projector to a timeline. The entire Battle of New York was divided into dozens of segments, starting with the appearance of the Chitauri Mothership and ending with the wreckage landing. "Data from S.H.I.E.L.D.., the clean version, unedited."

The screen scrolls to the middle section: Ye Mo hides behind a pillar, holding Vibranium plate and firing Buzzing Wave; at the same time, Tony's armor malfunctions, Thor is surrounded, and Emma Frost's crystal array is interfered with.

"Here," Ye Mo paused, "0.3 seconds before the three frequency lines overlapped, you each encountered unexpected situations. Tony's energy was unstable, Thor's left leg was hit, and Emma Frost's mental fluctuations were reversed. If I hadn't controlled the rhythm then, the resonance would have failed."

"You've got it under control," Emma Frost said.

"But I should have given them a warning earlier." Ye Mo looked at them. "I have Telepathy; I can sense emotional fluctuations. I should have noticed something was wrong then, but I only realized the problem after you took action."

Tony waved his hand. "Don't blame yourself. I thought I could hold on too. I didn't even expect the Palm Cannon's charging delay to be like this."

"But you're a technical expert," Ye Mo stared at him. "The armor status is the information you should have most. You say you rely on AI for judgment, but the battlefield changes in an instant; waiting for the system to alert you will be too late."

Tony opened his mouth as if to reply, but then closed it again.

"I'm not targeting you personally," Ye Mo's voice remained unchanged. "It's all our fault. Thor, you charged too aggressively on the ground, breaking away from our coordinated rhythm. Emma Frost, you used your Diamond Form to block the residential building, and even as the cracks deepened, you didn't retreat, almost exhausting your energy."

Emma Frost lowered her head. "I know. But I can't let those people get hurt."

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Ye Mo said, his tone softening. "I'm saying we need to learn to manage risk. There might not be Regeneration plan next time."

Thor put down his cup. "Then why didn't you tell me about Loki's unusual magical fluctuations sooner? I was drawing lightning from the sky, and you clearly sensed it, but you didn't send a signal."

"Because I misjudged," Ye Mo admitted. "I thought it was just ordinary interference. It wasn't until the system notified me that the 19th layer was activated that I realized it was foreshadowing. The intelligence delay is my responsibility."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Tony suddenly chuckled, "Interesting. Before, I was always the one criticizing others in meetings; now it's my turn to be singled out."

"How do you feel?" Ye Mo asked.

"To be honest, it's not great," Tony shrugged. "But I admit it. From now on, I'll manually check the status of all modules before a battle, instead of relying entirely on the system's self-check."

"I'll adjust too." Thor nodded. "Charging is fine, but we must maintain communication. No more charging into enemy lines alone."

"I'll work on my endurance," Emma Frost said. "Next time, I won't hold the team back with the shield."

Ye Mo stood up and walked to the whiteboard. He picked up a pen and drew a spiral structure, winding upwards in circles.

"My abilities come from piecing together fragments. Self-Healing, Wall Phasing, Mental Scan... each one was discovered through trial and error. What we're doing now is the same. No one is born with perfect coordination; we can only refine it little by little."

He wrote an "X" at the center of the spiral.

"From now on, a debriefing meeting must be held after every battle, regardless of victory or defeat. A pre-battle briefing should also be conducted to ensure information synchronization. In addition, I suggest developing a lightweight communication protocol that can transmit critical commands without the need for high-end equipment."

Tony frowned. "You want me to write code again?"

"You don't have to do it," Ye Mo, looking at him, "But if you don't, the next time the connection will be lost, it will be your armor."

"Alright, alright," Tony sighed. "I'll go back and modify the communication module, adding an emergency frequency band."

"Thanks." Ye Mo put down his pen. "There's one more thing. We won this battle not because anyone was stronger, but because we chose to trust each other in the final moments. Tony dared to rush in to cover me when I was in trouble, Thor was able to detonate a mine at a crucial moment, and Emma Frost was willing to take damage for ordinary people—that's the key."

Emma Frost said softly, "You're the same. You could have waited until the very end to strike, but you always stood at the front."

"Because I have to take the lead," Ye Mo said. "If I don't go, who will?"

Thor stood up. "Your Earthling methods are far more practical than Odin's War Council. At least you can understand them."

"So you agree to these three rules?"

"Agreed." Thor extended his hand.

Next was Tony, then Emma Frost. Ye Mo was the last to reach out and touch her.

"Then it's settled," he said.

The meeting ended. Tony packed up his equipment to leave, saying as he went, "Next time you ask me to carry water, I'm not doing it."

"You have to come, whether you like it or not," Ye Mo said. "I've already added you to the volunteer list."

You dare!

Emma Frost smiled and shook her head, putting away her tablet and walking out. Thor patted Ye Mo on the shoulder. "Call me anytime you need lightning support."

"Is the Bifrost still usable?"

"Of course. But next time, don't let me fall from the sky and damage the subway station."

That was an accident.

It's always an accident.

Everyone had left. Only Ye Mo remained in the conference room. He closed the tablet on the table, the side with the flag facing down. As he walked out the door, the corridor lights were dim. He touched his pocket; the little girl's hand-drawn card was still there.

An announcement came from downstairs. Someone was setting up equipment, and in the background, I could hear a woman crying; it must be the start of a program interviewing disaster victims.

Ye Mo turned into the stairwell and walked down the stairs step by step. His footsteps were very light. He met a staff member at the corner on the second floor, who handed him a microphone.

"Would you like to say a few words?" the man asked.

Ye Mo took the microphone but didn't answer. He stood outside the broadcasting room and saw a mother and daughter sitting inside, along with a counselor. The host was preparing to begin.

He glanced down at his inner breast pocket to make sure the card was inside, then pushed open the door and went inside.

"I can speak for a minute," he said.