As Ye Mo stepped onto the rooftop of the abandoned teaching building, the wind was blowing diagonally from the northwest corner, whipping up the brim of his hoodie and slapping him in the face. He pulled the hood down, his fingertips touching the Vibranium fragment in his pocket—it was still cold. He frowned; this thing should have been warm by now, after all, twenty minutes had passed since " Operation Daybreak " began, and Tony's team had long been in place.
But it just won't get hot.
"Where's the system notification sound?" he asked in his mind, not expecting a response. This system was always aloof; activating its abilities was entirely up to him to figure out, without even a beginner's guide—it was harder than a university elective course.
He crouched on the edge of the rooftop, squinting at the dilapidated buildings three kilometers away. The target building resembled a crouching, rusty iron Beast, half of its exterior wall collapsed, with several crooked steel bars piercing the night sky. The infrared jamming field was active; Tony had scanned it three times with his armor before, only to receive static. High technology failed here, like a cell phone being put in a microwave.
"Looks like I'll have to rely on myself." Ye Mo muttered to himself, taking the Vibranium fragment out of his pocket and spreading it in his palm.
It's still cold.
But suddenly he felt a throbbing sensation in his temple.
It wasn't pain, nor was it swelling; it was just... like someone had gently tapped the inside of his skull with a small hammer. Then, the edges of his vision began to turn red, like the static on an old television with a poor signal. He blinked, thinking it was just fatigue, but when he opened his eyes again, the whole world had changed.
The walls were blurred into gray shadows, but the heat distribution inside the building was ridiculously clear. Two high-temperature zones moved along the corridor, probably patrolling people; a central area was consistently hot, probably a generator or reactor; but what caught his eye the most was a narrow, low-temperature corridor on the west side—at least fifteen degrees lower than the surrounding area, like a Coldblood snake crawling along the wall.
"The ventilation ducts..." he murmured, "No one walks through them, the equipment doesn't pass through them, and the heat source is almost zero."
In other words, it's unstoppable.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again; the thermal imaging was still there. This time, he actively "saw" the direction of the pipeline and discovered that it bypassed the main control area and the defense layer, leading directly to the logistics area, which happened to connect to an underground maintenance passage. Theoretically, as long as he could get in, he could reach the outer perimeter of the core area without anyone noticing.
"Well, this ability comes at a good time." He grinned, about to speak, when a slight buzzing sound came from above his head.
Tony's armor glided low overhead, hovering ten meters diagonally above him, the visor closed, leaving only two beams of blue light scanning the surroundings. "Hey, Mr. X, any progress on your end? I'm still in a blind spot, the signal's been completely suppressed."
Ye Mo didn't look up, but pointed to his eyes. "I've got it. Forget about technology, this place is the perfect solution for any electronic device that refuses to cooperate."
"Oh?" Tony's voice was skeptical. "Then tell me, how many living people are inside?"
"Two were pacing back and forth in the corridor, one was sitting still in front of the control panel, and three others were scattered in different rooms, with elevated body temperatures, probably the kind of enhanced soldiers who had just received medication."
Tony paused for two seconds. "You... saw it with your own eyes?"
"Thermal imaging, I saw it myself." Ye Mo held up the Vibranium fragment. "Once this stone heated up, I gained a new perspective. Now the whole building looks like a transparent sausage to me, I can clearly see where it's cooked and where it's raw."
"Are you sure it's not a hallucination?" Tony's tone was clearly unconvinced. "Last time you said the system told you not to touch the blue button, but I tried it and nothing happened."
"You pressed too lightly that time," Ye Mo rolled his eyes. "Besides, you don't believe me now, but don't blame me if you blow up the building later."
Tony's armor dipped slightly, hovering beside Ye Mo. His mask opened, revealing a face that screamed, "You're making this up again." "So you're seeing through walls with your naked eye now? Which eye hospital can perform that kind of surgery?"
"It's not penetration, it's about observing the thermal difference." Ye Mo was too lazy to explain further. He took out his personal terminal, pulled up the thermal imaging footage he had just captured, and projected it onto the ground. "Look here, this low-temperature zone. The temperature is abnormally low, indicating that there is air circulation but no human activity. Normal defenses wouldn't leave this kind of place exposed, unless they think no one will enter from there."
Tony stared at the projection for a few seconds, his brow slowly furrowing. "This angle... it really can bypass the main defense layer."
"And they're defending against high-tech, aggressive attacks," Ye Mo continued. "Your armor triggered jamming as soon as it got close, which means their system recognizes things like energy signals and electromagnetic frequencies. But a person going through a pipe? They're not a drone; there's no signal, no radiation, so their radar can't detect them."
Tony scoffed. "So you mean we have to crawl through the ventilation ducts like rats?"
"To be precise, it's 'tactical asymmetric infiltration'," Ye Mo said seriously. "After all, you're wearing Iron Man armor, not an invisibility Cloak. A head-on confrontation would only cause them to detonate prematurely."
"Do you remember what I said last time?" Tony sneered, "Don't rush in alone."
"I remember what you said too." Ye Mo smirked, "'I didn't wear this armor to camp out.'"
The two looked at each other and smiled simultaneously.
Tony stopped laughing and closed his mask again, "Okay, I'll trust you this time. But how long can this thing last? Don't let me be halfway inside before you suddenly black out and say you can't take it anymore."
Ye Mo rubbed his temples, which were starting to throb slightly. "I'm not sure, the system didn't give me a cooldown time. It's my first time using it, I'm a little dizzy, but I can still manage."
"Then don't force it." Tony's voice became more serious. "You're responsible for ensuring the route is safe. If you find any problems, call a halt immediately. I'll follow behind, ready to provide covering fire."
"Understood." Ye Mo nodded. "Let's agree on a code. I'll send a 'green light,' and you move. No signal, nobody gets any closer."
"Green light?" Tony chuckled. "Your system doesn't even have a flash, how are you going to fire it?"
"I said 'green light,' which means signal." Ye Mo glared at him. "Don't nitpick. If you don't understand at a crucial moment, I'll really throw you a green signal flare. It might not kill you, but it'll blind you."
Tony didn't reply, but the small cannons on the armored shoulders slowly opened, clearly indicating that they had entered a state of combat readiness.
Ye Mo retracted the terminal and looked back at the dilapidated building. The thermal imaging was still clear, and the low-temperature pipe stood out like a still undercurrent in the entire thermal network. He took a deep breath and stuffed the Vibranium fragment back into his pocket. It was still cold, but the resonance he felt just moments before was still there—like a phone connected to Wi-Fi, with a full signal but no mobile data.
He knew this ability was unstable; it might break in the next second, or using it again might cause a splitting headache. But he also knew he had no other choice now.
Tony's voice came from above. "You really think this road will work?"
"It's not just my opinion," Ye Mo, staring at the location of the ventilation vents. "The building itself told me. They can defend against high technology, explosions, and conspicuous bags like yours with all that gear, but they can't defend against someone who can see heat."
So you're the weakest link detector?
"I'm the key to breaking the deadlock." Ye Mo stood up, dusting off his pants. "And they made a mistake—they relied too much on system automation, neglecting the most fundamental vulnerability."
Tony paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Sometimes the most primitive methods are the most deadly."
The night wind swept through again, making their clothes flutter. In the distance, the dilapidated building lay silently, like a sleeping Beast, unaware that its weakness had been spotted by an unseen eye.
Ye Mo gripped the Vibranium fragment in his pocket tightly.
It finally started to heat up.
He didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand and gestured forward towards the vent.
Tony's armor slowly descended, hovering half a step behind him, the engine humming as it entered minimum power standby mode.
"I'll wait for your signal," Tony said.
Ye Mo stared at the low-temperature tunnel, his breathing slowing. The headache returned, a little worse than before, as if a thin thread was pulling back and forth in his brain. He knew this ability was nearing its limit, but it was enough.
He has seen it clearly.
"Green light," he whispered.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
Tony's armor trembled slightly, his cannons locked on the front, ready to respond to any sudden change.
But no one moved.
They are still waiting—waiting for the best opportunity, waiting for the last moment before the virus synchronizes, waiting for that instant that will catch Killian off guard.
Ye Mo stood on the edge of the rooftop, the wind ruffling his hair, the outline of the dilapidated building in the distance reflected in his glasses. He knew that when the Vibranium fragments became completely hot, that would be the time for them to make their move.
And now, little by little, it's getting scalding hot.