The moment darkness engulfed the laboratory, Ye Mo's hand was still pressed against the frozen container.
The tremor burrowed into his bones from his palm, like a red-hot needle pounding into his nerves. Before he could think, his ears twitched—the sound of air being torn apart swept in from his right front, faster than a human could react.
Killian made his move.
Before the concussion gun even fired, a wave of heat hit his face. Ye Mo instinctively dodged, but his right shoulder was still struck, and half of his arm went numb instantly. In the instant the excruciating pain exploded, a "ding" sounded in his mind—the system notification had appeared precisely on time:
[ Steel Bone Body activated, sixth layer of gene chain unlocking--]
"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!" he roared in his mind, slapping his left thigh hard, his consciousness rushing directly into the " Gene Spiral Tower ".
The bones cracked and popped, like cement piles being driven into the flesh. The right shoulder joint calcified instantly, barely managing to withstand the aftershocks of the concussion gun. Using the force, the person took a half-step back, leaving two black marks on the ground with the soles of their shoes.
Tony's armored red light swept across the scene, locking onto the heat source the instant his palm cannon was fully charged. With a "bang," the energy beam shot straight at Killian's face.
The opponent reacted even faster, leaping into the air and flipping over with a light touch of his toes. The artillery fire grazed his clothes and exploded on the lab table, shattering glasswares and splashing purple reagents, which hissed and emitted white smoke.
Ye Mo took a breath and leaned against the centrifuge to catch his breath. His Steel Bone Transformation right arm was still trembling, not from pain, but because his body wasn't used to the forced transformation. He glanced at Tony; the two stood back to back, neither speaking, but their understanding was unspoken.
"You just said 'it's waiting for us'?" Ye Mo lowered his voice, "You weren't just trying to scare us, were you?"
"When have I ever scared anyone?" Tony's shoulder cannon slowly rotated, its scanning beam drawing two red lines in the darkness. "I'm just scientifically pointing out that you bunch of mutant maniacs together are no different from delivering takeout to a virus."
"So now we're deliverymen and heating boxes at the same time?" Ye Mo smirked, his left hand secretly reaching for his chest—the cooldown for Lightning Control had long passed, so he just needed to see if he could get the first move.
Before he could finish speaking, Killian suddenly sneered, "No need to guess."
He stood below the northwest corner ventilation opening, his right hand raised high, his skin glowing a dark red, veins flowing beneath his skin like lava pipes. He stepped forward with his left foot, and the concrete floor hissed and cracked open.
"It's waiting for the moment when its evolution is complete." He raised the concussion gun, the muzzle recharging, the orange light growing increasingly blinding. "And you, you're merely the flint that lit the fuse."
After saying that, he suddenly raised his hand and fired not at Ye Mo, but at the ventilation duct above his head.
"Boom!"
Metal twisted and broke, and a large cloud of gray-black dust poured down from above. Immediately afterward, the sound of liquid tanks being kicked over rang out, and three or four sealed tanks filled with purple liquid rolled to the ground and shattered with a "crack," releasing volatile fumes rapidly.
The air began to heat up, carrying a smell of burnt plastic mixed with rust.
Ye Mo took a breath, and his throat immediately felt like it was being scraped by sandpaper. His eyes stung, and double vision appeared at the edges of his vision. His heart tightened, and just as he was about to hold his breath, the system in his mind beeped again:
[Can activate viral resistance and resist some smoke.]
"You really know how to pick your time to open..." He gritted his teeth, concentrating his mind to connect to the third level of the " Gene Spiral Tower ".
A grayish-white gene chain slowly lit up, named "Immune Response - Incomplete Fragment," which he had salvaged from the ruins of an underground laboratory. At the time, that place was full of dead experimental subjects; no one had survived. However, he remembered picking up a data disk and casually absorbing some residual biological signals.
In retrospect, that thing actually had some use.
A very faint silver sheen appeared on the skin, like the reflection of sweat, and breathing became easier. The burning pain in the respiratory tract lessened, the dizziness subsided, and the mind cleared again.
"Alright, you've done a good job." He muttered to himself, his right hand gathering an arc of electricity, blue sparks crackling and dancing at his fingertips.
"How's it going on your end?" Tony's voice came from above. The armor lifted two meters into the air, the flight system hummed, and the shoulder cannon locked onto Killian's position.
"I can fight." Ye Mo raised his hand and flicked the low-frequency electric arc in the direction of the spreading smoke. The current passed through the air, briefly ionizing the molecules and slowing down the spread of the toxic fog.
Tony seized the opportunity, firing three pulse grenades from his shoulder cannon to block Killian's escape routes. The blast wave overturned several instruments, the flames flashed and then went out, illuminating half of the laboratory.
Killian didn't dodge; instead, he walked forward into the fire. The intense heat caused the smoke to form a distorted heat barrier around him, deflecting bullets and energy beams. He stomped on shards of glass, his eyes fixed on Ye Mo.
"You think these little tricks can fool me?" he said hoarsely. "You have no idea how far the Extremis Virus has evolved."
As he spoke, he slammed his left hand onto the ground.
A wave of heat spread along the floor, rapidly melting the ice in its path, and the frost on the container's exterior vanished with a "whoosh." The seeping green liquid dripped onto the ground, hissing and corroding, and white smoke rose from the concrete.
Ye Mo's pupils contracted—the ice seal had failed.
The tissue inside the container began to pulsate again, faster than before, like a heart pumping blood at an accelerated pace after restarting. A ghostly green light shone through the cracks, casting writhing shadows on the wall.
"It's awake," Tony said in a deep voice.
"It's not just awakening," Ye Mo, staring at the mass. "It's learning how to live."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Killian suddenly sprang into action.
Instead of charging at them, he leaped towards the main control panel. Tony immediately gave chase, unleashing a barrage of palm-fire attacks to suppress him, but he dodged with a roll. Upon landing, he kicked the control panel away, exposing several exposed wires and sending sparks flying.
"He's restarting the system!" Ye Mo realized something was wrong and turned to rush over.
But as soon as he took a step, a sudden tightness gripped his chest. The aftereffects of the Steel Bone Transformation kicked in; a dull, jagged pain shot through his ribs, as if someone were filing them. He froze, nearly collapsing to his knees.
Seeing this, Tony turned his fire and fired a shoulder cannon at Killian's back. Without turning his head, Killian flicked his right hand backward, and a burst of high-temperature air exploded, deflecting the cannonball and hitting the ceiling, sending a pile of debris crashing down.
"You can't stop us." Killian stood up, his high-frequency concussion gun recharged, this time its light no longer orange, but nearly incandescent. "This is not just a weapon, it's the beginning of a new era."
Ye Mo gritted his teeth and braced himself, pressing his left hand against the edge of the lab table to steady himself. He looked at the increasingly bright gun barrel and suddenly laughed, "You talk so much about the 'new era,' but have you ever thought that what we're best at is putting the brakes on human civilization?"
"Shut up," Tony said coldly. "Don't waste the time I bought you."
Ye Mo didn't reply. Instead, he took a deep breath and concentrated his last bit of strength into his right fingertips. The energy Lightning Control condensed into a ball in his palm. Although it wasn't large, it was enough to disrupt the rhythm of a shot.
Killian raised his gun and aimed it at Ye Mo's forehead; the white light from the muzzle was blinding.
The air was tense to the extreme.
Just as he pulled the trigger, Ye Mo hurled the arc ball towards the ground.
"Crack!"
An electric current surged into the metal pipes, causing the entire laboratory's circuitry to vibrate with a "hum." The lights flickered, and the emergency system briefly malfunctioned.
Killian's gun barrel deviated by 0.1 seconds.
The energy beam grazed Ye Mo's left ear, scorching a corner of his hoodie's hood.
Tony seized the opening, his armor swooping down, and delivered a powerful knee strike to Killian's chest. The opponent staggered backward, crashing into a ventilation duct support, the metal bending and deforming.
"Well done." Tony created some distance and re-locked the shoulder cannon.
Ye Mo stood up, supporting himself on the lab table. His ears were still ringing, but he could still move them. "Next time, tell me in advance if you're going to bump into someone, so I can stay far away."
"Then you'd better run faster." Tony's tone was still irritating.
Killian slowly straightened up, his clothes torn in several places, his skin charred black, but his eyes were even colder. He looked down at his hands, his fingers spread wide, and heat rose again.
"Interesting," he said. "You think you can win like this?"
He stopped attacking and instead turned to walk towards the frozen container. He placed his palm on the ice, and his body heat instantly melted the surface, revealing the pulsating tissue inside.
"It requires two high-energy individuals as a medium," he whispered. "One is at the pinnacle of technology, the other a genetic mutation. Your arrival is not to hinder it, but to make it happen."
Ye Mo felt a chill run down his spine.
Tony sneered, "Oh? Then you should try and see if your lousy virus is more powerful, or if my armor-piercing rounds are more effective."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the shoulder cannon charging suddenly rose.
Ye Mo straightened up, raised his hands, and arcs of electricity danced at his fingertips. Although his Steel Bone Transformation right arm continued to tremble, it was still able to withstand a powerful attack.
The two men once again formed a pincer movement, and the three of them faced off in the center of the laboratory. The air was scorching hot, and even their breath seemed to carry Mars.
Killian stood before the container, motionless and silent.
Only that clump of green tissue pulsed slowly within the ice cracks, like a heart awakening.
Ye Mo stared at it and suddenly noticed that its beating frequency had changed.
The convulsions were no longer random, but had become rhythmic—one, two, three...
It's as if it's responding to some kind of signal.
His heart sank.
" Tony," he whispered, "Is this thing... counting our breaths?"