The Vibranium shard suddenly turned cold in his palm, as if someone had drained its warmth from him. Ye Mo didn't open his eyes, but his fingers tightened instinctively, gripping the fingernail-sized piece of metal tightly. The chill he felt just now wasn't an illusion, nor was it a malfunction; it never reacted without reason—unless Loki actually moved.
He slowly released his grip and looked down. The fragment had a matte finish, without cracks or energy fluctuations, but the feeling of being "pulled away" still lingered on his fingertips. It was as if someone had snapped their the Snap across the universe and then turned and walked away.
Ye Mo finally opened his eyes. The data stream on the screen was still scrolling. The last line of the record read clearly, "Enemy commander has been handed over; threat level downgraded to B."
He stared at the line of text for three seconds, then raised his hand and tapped it, bringing up the edit mode.
He typed four words: S-level, infiltrating.
Press Enter to save.
The system didn't issue any warnings or sound alerts. It was as if he was just talking to himself. But he knew this wasn't the end; it was the first order before the battle began.
He leaned back in his chair, his neck a little stiff. He hadn't slept all night, his eyes were dry, but his mind was clearer than ever. The wine glasses at the celebration banquet, the force of Tony's pat on the shoulder, Emma Frost's parting words, "You should rest,"... all felt like things from a past life. Now, there was only this room, only this terminal, only the look he still remembered— Loki's last glance before he walked onto the Bifrost.
It's not about accepting fate, it's about waiting for a turnaround.
Ye Mo sat up straight and brought up the battle archive. He pulled out all the records of their three encounters and laid them out on the main screen in chronological order. In the first Battle of New York, Loki drew a formation underground three days after his defeat; in the second Hydra incident, he faked his death to fool everyone; in the third, when he was captured, he chose to bow his head and admit defeat live on television worldwide. It was always the same; the more he was suppressed, the deeper he hid himself.
This isn't a loss; it's a build-up of strength.
He opened the interface in his mind, and the projection of the Gene Spiral Tower appeared in his consciousness. The nineteenth floor had been unlocked, and countless fragments of abilities were embedded in the tower walls like gears. He began to search through them, picking out all the modules related to mental defense: " Mind Shielding," " Emotion Recognition," " Illusion Resistance," " Speech Residue Detection," and so on, dragging them one by one into the testing area.
Last time, his attempt at " Mind Shielding + Energy Perception " resulted in a headache that lasted for three days, so this time he changed his strategy. He first dissected Emma Frost's Diamond Form logic—she didn't rely on brute force, but rather refracted her mental energy in layers, allowing attacks to slide off like a glass wall. He tried to replicate this structure in his own shielding module, and then added an energy fluctuation scan to create a double warning.
The moment I connected to the line, I felt a stab in my temple.
It's not pain, it's a bloating, like there's a gas stuck in the seams of my skull.
System notification: Combination unstable, cooldown countdown 127 seconds.
Ye Mo didn't curse or rub his head. He noted down the parameters and saved them to his drafts. Failure was normal; the system never taught how to spell, it only let you try. He wasn't afraid of making mistakes, he was afraid of waiting too long.
He switched pages, opened the encrypted document, and created a new page. The title was simply: Contingency Plan.
He hadn't written the content yet, but he had already figured out the direction.
First: Upgrade the Mind Stone defense module. The existing shield can only block ordinary spying, not mental intrusion of Loki's level. We must thoroughly understand the "diamond refraction" principle, even if we can only imitate 70% of the effect, it will buy us reaction time.
Second: Investigate any unusual events related to Asgard. Loki loves playing psychological warfare, first brainwashing a few ordinary people to use as pawns. Has anyone suddenly started believing in a certain god recently? Have there been any reports of mass sleepwalking or amnesia? These things may seem minor, but they could be part of his scheme.
The third item: Bind the Vibranium fragment to create an early warning mechanism. This thing can sense Loki's presence, indicating that the two resonate with each other. He plans to connect it to the main control panel and set up an automatic alarm program. Once the temperature changes abruptly, the alarm will be triggered immediately.
After listing the three items, he paused and added: Special attention should be paid to preventing mind manipulation that turns lies into truth.
That's what makes Loki so ruthless. He doesn't use knives or guns; he just uses a single word or thought to make people believe in absurd things. Last time he could make Hawkeye shoot his teammates; next time he can make the whole city think Ye Mo is the villain. It's easy to defend against physical attacks, but difficult to defend against this kind of subtle attack.
He exited the document and returned to the Gene Spiral Tower interface. This time, he changed his approach, no longer forcibly connecting modules, but simulating "gradual activation." He first set " Mind Shielding " to the lowest output, then slowly added " Energy Perception," gradually increasing the flow like turning on a tap.
A slight buzzing sound came from inside my head.
It wasn't pain, but a familiar numbness, like an electric current climbing up my spine.
Five seconds later, a blurry shadow appeared at the edge of the field of vision—there was a faint energy trail in the air, like the trace left by someone who had just spoken.
Speech Residue Detection was briefly activated.
He didn't move and continued inputting. Ten seconds later, the phantom disappeared, and the system message read: Duration 8.3 seconds, energy ratio optimization recommended.
It wasn't a success, but it was progress. At least it proved that this path could be followed.
He noted down the data and prepared for the next round of testing. This time, he added an " Emotion Recognition " module, hoping to see if he could detect malicious emotional fluctuations in advance. Just as the loading was complete, the Vibranium fragment in his pocket felt cold again.
This time it was even more obvious, like it had been soaked in ice water.
Ye Mo stopped operating the console, took out the fragment, and placed it on the edge of the control panel. The surface remained matte, unchanged. But he knew this did not mean it was safe. On the contrary, the calmer the surface, the more likely it was to be the prelude to a storm. Loki was gone, but his plans had only just begun. That kind of person would not accept defeat; he would definitely return, and in the most unexpected way.
He looked back at the screen and archived all the test parameters. Now was not the time to pursue the perfect combination; he needed to quickly come up with something usable. Even a temporary firewall that could last ten seconds was better than nothing.
He took a deep breath and put his hand back on the consciousness interface.
A new round of simulations begins.
The objective is clear: how to prevent a lie from becoming the truth.
The first test scenario was set as "being accused of being the mastermind behind the scenes in a public place," simulating the possibility of Loki remotely manipulating the media or public perception. He started his thought process and simultaneously activated the combination of abilities. The shielding module went first, the perception layer followed, and the recognition layer stood by.
The intracranial pressure rose again, this time with a dual-track workload.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his breathing became shallow and rapid.
But he didn't stop, forcing himself to keep going.
Just as the combination was about to take shape, the Vibranium fragment trembled violently.
It wasn't cold, nor was it hot; it was a high-frequency vibration, like resonance.
Ye Mo opened his eyes and stared intently at it.
The vibration stopped after three seconds.
The debris returned to its original calm, as if nothing had happened.
But he knew something had changed.
Perhaps Loki has reached a certain point, perhaps the seal is taking effect, perhaps... he is laughing.
Ye Mo wiped his face; his palms were sweaty.
He didn't wipe it; he just threw it on the armrest of the chair.
The simulated progress bar on the screen is stuck at 97%, just a little short of completion.
Instead of restarting, he locked and saved the current state.
Then he opened the communications log and turned to a blank page.
No messages were sent, and no calls were made.
It simply automatically syncs all the previous action records into a hidden folder named: X-01 Preparation Log.
After doing all that, he sat up straight and closed his eyes.
With hands placed on the interface of consciousness, breathing gradually calmed down.
The next set of tests has begun loading.
This time, he plans to add the " Memory Resonance " function to try to trace the mental imprint that Loki may have left behind.
The risks were greater, and the success rate was lower, but he had no other choice.
The control room was very quiet, with only the low-frequency hum of the equipment running.
The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten, and the city was just waking up.
The volunteer convoy has begun moving, and supply points are gradually opening.
Everything seems to be returning to normal.
Ye Mo sat in the darkness, his fingers trembling slightly.
In the bottom right corner of the screen, a line of small text quietly appeared:
New combination being tried out...