Emma Frost closed her eyes, resting her fingertips lightly on the beacon chip's interface. A blue glow spread across the main console's screen, and Ye Mo closed his eyes as well, his breathing gradually settling.
He deliberately switched off Thermal Vision, reducing his awareness of the outside world to a minimum. It felt like being shut inside an unlit room with the door firmly locked. But he knew Emma Frost was outside, waiting for him to open it.
"Let's start," he said.
A faint ripple stirred in his consciousness, like wind skimming a lake. The next second, he was already "standing" in the middle of a plaza. Sunlight streamed down from overhead, tall buildings rose around him, the sound of traffic drifted from the distance, and the smell of fries hung in the air.
Ye Mo looked down at his hands, then up at the sky. The midday sun should have been directly overhead, yet the shadow cast by the building to the east slanted across his toes.
"That's wrong." He opened his eyes. "It's noon. There shouldn't be any shadow on the west side of the plaza."
Emma Frost opened her eyes, her brows drawing together slightly. "You reacted too quickly."
"It's not that I'm quick. You're too literal." Ye Mo sat back in his chair. "You copied a real scene, but reality has too many details. The slightest discrepancy gives it away. Next time, don't imitate a real place. Make something I haven't seen before."
She gave a soft huff. "You're pretty picky."
"I'm the customer. You're the service provider." Ye Mo grinned. "If I'm not satisfied, I can ask for a refund-too bad I don't have any money."
Emma Frost rolled her eyes and closed them again. This time, there was no sunlight or street. In their place stood a constantly rotating three-dimensional maze. Its walls were made of flowing data, its floor rippled underfoot, and distorted numbers floated in the air.
Ye Mo stood at the entrance without moving.
"Not bad this time," he said. "At least it doesn't look as fake as the last one."
He stepped forward. As he rounded the first corner, a familiar string of code flashed across the wall-the authentication sequence used when Tony's armor started up. He stopped.
"You're cutting corners." He opened his eyes. "Using things I know as backdrops, and you thought I wouldn't notice?"
The corner of Emma Frost's mouth twitched slightly. "Can't you pretend to fall for it just once? Let me get a taste of victory too."
"No." Ye Mo shook his head. "Training isn't acting. The more realistic, the better. Again."
On the third attempt, Emma Frost used no known elements. She constructed a pure white spherical space, with a slowly beating, heart-shaped object suspended at its center. There was no gravity or sound here, only a rhythmic heartbeat running through the entire field of consciousness.
Ye Mo noticed something wrong the moment he entered. This was not a visual or auditory illusion, but emotional pressure-loneliness, oppression, and a trace of discomfort at being watched.
He steadied his mind and tried to move forward. Each step felt like treading on cotton, the resistance growing stronger and stronger. The heart beat faster, and the space trembled slightly along with it.
Two minutes later, he suddenly raised his hand and activated Regenerative Phasing. A tearing sensation struck from deep within his brain, as though someone had scraped a razor blade across his nerves. He gritted his teeth and endured it without making a sound, his consciousness wrenching free.
When he opened his eyes, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"Three minutes." He panted. "Much stronger than before."
Emma Frost opened her eyes too, her face slightly pale. "You used your ability to force your way out just now? Did it hurt?"
"Yes." Ye Mo wiped away his sweat. "But it was worth it. You didn't copy someone else's homework this time. You really put your heart into it."
She did not smile, only nodded. "Next time, I can hold out longer."
"No rush." Ye Mo rose and walked to the console, bringing up the recorded data. "Your problem right now isn't weak attacks. It's wanting to win too badly. Piling on the pressure right from the start actually makes you easier to counter."
"What about you?" Emma Frost stared at him. "How can you look for openings while taking a beating?"
"Because I'm thick-skinned." Ye Mo shrugged. "And I know that as long as I don't die, I can turn things around. You're afraid of losing because you still remember what happened at the Hellfire Club. They made you feel that once you lost control, someone else would control you."
Emma Frost fell silent for a few seconds. "You're right. The moment I sense an outside force intruding, my instinct is to shift into Diamond Form."
"Then change that instinct." Ye Mo sat down opposite her again. "Here's a simple trick-find a safe place that belongs only to you, and build yourself a nest in your mind. Next time someone breaks in, retreat there and reorganize your defenses."
"A safe place?" she asked quietly.
"For example... was there ever a moment when you were little when you felt safe?"
She closed her eyes and only spoke after several seconds. "One winter, when I was seven, I saw a little house outside the laboratory with its lights on. I slipped inside. There was a fire burning in the fireplace and an open book of poems on the table. Nobody chased me away, so I sat there reading all night."
"That's the place," Ye Mo said. "From now on, that's your base. If anyone dares come in, run back there and hold that room."
Emma Frost took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. This time, she did not attack. Instead, she sank her consciousness down, descending slowly as though diving underwater. Ye Mo could feel her mental field grow stable, no longer taut.
"Give it a try," she said. "Gently."
Ye Mo nodded and cautiously extended a thread of consciousness. The moment it touched her boundary, he felt a gentle repulsive force, as though he had bumped into an elastic barrier.
He kept applying pressure. The barrier deformed but did not break. Instead, a melodic stream of information came from within, its rhythm clear and carrying a sense of confirmation.
"You responded?" He opened his eyes.
"Mm." Emma Frost opened her eyes. "I used coded notes from my time at the club to mark positions. Now I know where you are, and I can tell whether you're probing or launching a full attack."
"Impressive." Ye Mo smiled. "It's only been half a day, and you've already learned to trace someone's position."
"Only because you made it simple," she said. "If you'd started talking about 'quantum entanglement' or 'neural resonance,' I would have left ages ago."
"What do I know about those?" Ye Mo spread his hands. "I've survived through trial and error. The system never gives lessons. I have to figure everything out myself."
As the two were talking, the lights overhead suddenly went out. The emergency lights glowed red, and the console screen flickered before automatically switching to backup power mode.
Ye Mo instantly activated Thermal Vision and scanned the power distribution area. The wiring was normal, the transformer's temperature was stable, and there were no signs of external damage.
He deactivated his ability and lightly patted Emma Frost's arm. This was neither language nor sound, but an extremely brief transmission of emotion-calm, confirmation, no threat.
Emma Frost paused, then understood. She closed her eyes and mobilized her perception, tracing the power system's pathways to investigate. She soon reached a conclusion: an internal testing program in the base had triggered a security power shutdown. It was not human interference.
She opened her eyes and nodded to Ye Mo. Then she raised her right hand and drew a small Z-shaped symbol in the air-a new signal she had just devised, meaning "safe."
Ye Mo smiled and returned an OK gesture.
The instant the lights came back on, he had already typed a line on the console: "Passed today."
Emma Frost walked over, glanced at it, and replied, "Tomorrow, I'm going to win."
"You said that yesterday too." Ye Mo did not look up. "And what happened?"
"That was because you cheated." She stood beside him. "You clearly fell into my illusion, but you wouldn't admit it."
"I didn't." Ye Mo pointed at the data log. "Look at this stretch of brain-wave activity. I was lucid the entire time. I was just playing along to give you some confidence."
"Oh." Emma Frost suddenly leaned close, the tip of her nose almost touching his ear. "Then if I read your thoughts right now, could you stop me?"
Ye Mo's neck stiffened. "Stop messing around. My cooldown isn't over yet."
"Scared?"
"It's not fear. It's science." He backed away slightly. "Letting you in right now would be like opening the door to let a dog in. What if you turned around and bit me?"
"Then why did you teach me in the first place?" She leaned against the wall, arms folded. "Just to watch me make a fool of myself?"
"Of course not." Ye Mo's smile faded. "I just think fighting alone is exhausting. Having a partner who can synchronize thoughts beats fighting all by yourself."
Emma Frost looked at him, her gaze shifting slightly. "So you really trust me?"
"What else?" He turned and looked her straight in the eye. "You think I'm still acting? I've already 'died' once. I'm not interested in playing pretend."
She said nothing, only nodded gently.
Ye Mo stood and loosened his wrists. "Ten-minute break, then we keep going. This time, I attack and you defend. Let's see how long you can hold out."
"All right." Emma Frost closed her eyes. "But fair warning, I might not obediently stick to defending."
"Your choice." Ye Mo smiled. "I'm used to getting slapped in the face anyway."
As soon as he finished speaking, the console suddenly sounded a short alarm. A new message notification popped up on the screen, its source unknown and its encryption level extremely high.
Ye Mo stared at the line of text, his finger hovering over the confirmation key.
Emma Frost opened her eyes. "What is it?"
He did not answer, instead turning the screen toward her.
It read: [Signal source update: coordinates in the Congo rainforest shifted by 17 kilometers. Hydra activity frequency rising.]