Ye Mo's fingers were still on the edge of the control panel, the coolness of the Vibranium fragment like a needle pricking his palm. He didn't move, his breathing low, staring at the fluctuating curve that had just appeared on the main screen. 0.5 Hz, lasting 1.3 seconds, exactly the same as before. But this time it wasn't a false signal; the real thing had arrived.
He immediately accessed the encrypted channel and sent three communication requests simultaneously. Emma Frost, Tony, and Thor's names lit up on the screen, with green checkmarks popping up one after another.
"Everyone's here," Ye Mo said, his voice a little hoarse. "Don't ask what's going on, let's look at the data first."
He threw the architecture diagram of " Preventive Measure Alpha " into the shared window. The four modules were laid out side by side: monitoring network, capability response, coordination mechanism, and emergency evacuation. Each module had sub-items, densely packed with triggering conditions and execution logic.
"This isn't a request for backup," he said. "It's a notification that the defense protocol has been activated."
Tony's voice was the first to ring out. "This system is even scarier than the last update. I almost thought I was looking at S.H.I.E.L.D.. documents."
"Even more difficult than you?" Ye Mo smirked. "Then you'll have to step up your game. I need you to rebuild the base's firewall entirely, using the same quantum encryption as the armored vehicle, plus AI Sentry monitoring the data. Not a single abnormal data can be missed."
"Fine," Tony scoffed, "But I'm warning you, the new protocol might interfere with your Telepathy collection. Don't blame me if you suddenly can't hear what Emma Frost is thinking."
Emma Frost sat in the quiet room, eyes closed, fingers gently resting on her temples. "I've lowered my brainwave frequency; it won't affect the main thread," she said. "And I can now detect much finer fluctuations, with a positioning error of no more than two meters within 0.3 seconds."
"That's enough." Ye Mo nodded. "From now on, you'll be in charge of the perception hub, and all mental alerts will be under your jurisdiction. Once unauthorized brainwave resonance is detected, immediately trigger a level three alarm."
Thor's image appeared in the corner, against a backdrop of a stormy sky. "I'm ready to return to Asgard," he said. " Odin may not allow me to take the artifacts, but I can secure monitoring access to the Bifrost, and we have the Valkyrie reserves on standby. If anything changes in the Nine Realms, I can return immediately."
"Remote linkage latency is a problem," Ye Mo said, "But we have a contingency plan. Your location will be set as a strategic support node, triggered by 'high-level divine power fluctuation + Earth coordinate lock'. As long as the conditions are met, the channel will automatically open for preheating."
The four of them were silent for a few seconds, then each checked their tasks.
"Come on, let's go through the process." Ye Mo switched to the virtual sandbox and brought up three simulated intrusion scenarios. The first was mental infiltration, the second was physical infiltration, and the third was remote control.
Tony logged into the system and began adjusting the firewall parameters. His AI Sentry program patrolled the data stream, like an electronic dog sniffing out suspicious code. As he typed, he muttered, "This crappy system of yours doesn't even have a login prompt; it makes me feel like I'm hacking my own server."
Emma Frost entered a deep sensing state, using Ye Mo as a reference point, repeatedly practicing capturing his hidden thought fragments. She frowned slightly, then suddenly opened her eyes. "Right now, you're thinking, ' Tony's definitely going to complain about the electricity bill again.'"
Tony looked up abruptly. "Holy crap! She really heard me?"
"I told you, I can now hear the half of your thoughts that you're hiding," Emma Frost said calmly.
Thor then marked three emergency teleportation points on the screen, corresponding to the bases in New York, Siberia, and Antarctica. He confirmed the stability of the power supply lines and channels, and concluded, "As soon as you send the signal, I will arrive when the thunder roars."
The drill concluded successfully, with all procedures running smoothly. No one made any mistakes, and no one faltered.
Ye Mo changed the " Preventive Measure Alpha " status to "Activated and Standby". All the indicator lights on the four modules turned green, and the 24/7 patrol began.
"We're not passively waiting for news now," he said, "We're proactively deploying defenses. If they dare to come, they'll know—we're ready."
Tony tapped the screen. "Let them give it a try."
Before the meeting ended, Ye Mo turned off the recording function. Only the four of them remained on the screen, and none of them spoke.
A few seconds later, Thor stood up. "I should go."
"Be careful on the road," Emma Frost said.
"Wait for my good news." He smiled, and his figure disappeared into the lightning.
Tony was also about to disconnect. "I'll let you know as soon as there's any progress on my end. Also... don't push yourself too hard, you look worse off than my dad was when he went bankrupt."
"Get lost," Ye Mo replied, but his tone softened.
The communication was shut down, and the room fell silent. Only the hum of the computer and the slight clicking of the screen refreshed could be heard.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. The nutrient injection progress showed 98%, and the needle could be removed in a few more minutes. He hadn't slept for over thirty hours, but his mind was still clear.
He knew he couldn't stop.
He opened the nineteenth floor of the Gene Spiral Tower and found the fusion module for the three abilities: " Neural Silence + Wall Phasing Technique + Spatial Perception ". This was the combination he had tested last night, which theoretically could achieve a completely invisible infiltration mode.
The first attempt failed, and the cells temporarily disintegrated. He gritted his teeth and persevered, relying on his Regeneration abilities to forcibly repair themselves. The second time, he adjusted the parameters and added a cooling interval. The third time, he finally succeeded in preloading the " Invisible Infiltration Protocol."
A system notification sounded in his mind, "Composite ability module locked, cooldown time 12 minutes."
He noted down the data and saved the experimental records to a hidden folder. Then he brought up the 3D model of the Siberia weather station and marked the expected time of the next signal fluctuation.
47 minutes remaining on the countdown.
He reconnected the sensor in the southeast corner and set its sensitivity to the highest level. At the same time, he started the Pseudo-Personality Simulation Program, setting it to release a false signal every two hours. This time, he imported all his biological characteristics into it, replicating his heartbeat, brain waves, and breathing rhythm.
He cut off the actual signal output, making the outside world think he was still working.
He has actually switched to offline mode, and all operations are completed locally.
This way, even if someone is eavesdropping, they will only see a bunch of invalid data.
Tony's upgraded firewall is now live, and the AI Sentry has begun automatically identifying abnormal traffic. The new quantum encryption protocol is in effect, increasing the security of communication links by more than three times.
Emma Frost returned to the quiet room and continued her training. With her eyes closed, her brainwave frequency stabilized in the theta band, further enhancing her perception accuracy. She could even detect the signal interruption the instant Ye Mo switched to offline mode and re-lock onto his true location within 0.4 seconds.
"I'm even watching you change the channel now," she sent a message.
Ye Mo replied with a "6".
He glanced down at the Vibranium fragment in his pocket. It had cooled down again, this time for even longer.
He didn't move, but simply reached into his pocket and gently pinched it.
The small window on the left side of the main screen displays a countdown: 38 minutes.
He took a sip of his nutrient solution and continued checking the triggering logic of the defense protocol. He ensured that the system would react within 0.3 seconds should the temperature of the fragments change by more than 0.5 degrees Celsius.
Too fast and you'll be caught; too slow and it'll be too late.
Just then, Tony's message popped up. "The new firewall and Telepathy system have a slight frequency conflict. I've isolated it, so it won't affect usage for now. But you'd better not keep dual scanning running for extended periods."
"Received," Ye Mo replied.
He knew what this meant. There's always friction between systems, but they're all trying their best to work things out.
Like this team, they come from different worlds and have different approaches, but now they share the same goal.
He accessed the team communication channel and confirmed that everyone's interfaces were working properly. Emma Frost was online, Tony was performing remote maintenance, and Thor had entered the Bifrost.
The " Preventive Measure Alpha " module has a constant green light.
He sat in front of the control panel, his hands still in his pockets, clutching the cold metal.
The countdown on the screen jumped to 31 minutes.
Footsteps sounded outside the door; it was the base's duty officer bringing in new nutrient solutions. Ye Mo waved for him to put them on the table without turning around.
He stared at the screen, his fingers tapping a rhythmic beat on the console.
Once, twice, three times.
Synchronized with the heartbeat.