Joining Forces to Win, the Crisis Temporarily Eased

The electric arc in Ye Mo's palm was still flickering, like a half-burnt match head, flashing on and off. Tony hovered in mid-air, his armor shield flashing red, like a malfunctioning New Year's lantern back home. Killian lay on the ground, his back rising and falling slightly, his charred flesh cracked in several places, and the oozing green liquid flowed down the metal floor with a hissing sound.

"You're really tough." Ye Mo looked down at him, his voice a little hoarse. "You're still panting even after being beaten like this. Did the Extremis Virus activate an infinite resurrection mechanism?"

Tony landed, his armored feet lightly touching the ground with a "click" as the latches snapped back into place. "Stop talking nonsense, control him first." He said, his palm cannon transforming into a ring-shaped vibrator, which he pressed against Killian's nape. "The nerve conduction channels need to be sealed off, otherwise this guy will explode on the spot again in the next second."

Ye Mo didn't move. He raised his right hand, and a layer of metallic tissue popped out of his Steel Bone Transformation left arm with a "bang," spreading from his shoulder blade all the way to his fingertips. His entire arm looked like it was coated with an alloy. He pressed one knee against Killian's back, locked the other's right wrist with his left hand, and twisted the left arm behind his back with his right hand. His movements were crisp and clean, like a market vendor tying up a hairy crab.

"Behave yourself, bro," Ye Mo said, pressing his knee down slightly. "If you move again, I'll dislocate your joints and sell them as scrap metal."

Killian let out a muffled groan, too weak to resist. Tony's Shockwave had severed the energy pathways to his limbs, reducing his thermal output to zero, making even twitching difficult.

"Done." Tony retracted the device, and the armored arm returned to its original position. "Now he's a burnt sausage, he can't get over it."

Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief, his knees buckled and he almost knelt down, quickly bracing himself against the control panel beside him. His Regeneration ability had been incredibly powerful before, but now, the cooldown period had arrived, and his whole body felt like it had been run over by a truck three times. He touched his ribs; the places where they had broken were still a little numb, like ants crawling in the cracks of his bones.

"You look like you're about to fall apart," Tony glanced at him. "Regeneration isn't a magic power bank; it needs a break after a while."

"I know," Ye Mo grinned, "But I'm thick-skinned, I can handle it."

The two exchanged a glance and smiled. The alarm in the lab was still going off, but the pace had slowed, like an old-fashioned alarm clock with a nearly dead battery. The air smelled of burning chemicals; smelling it for too long would make your head buzz. In the corner, a pile of equipment had been blown up, with exposed wires that occasionally sparked.

Ye Mo leaned against the control panel, bent his legs to sit down, but before his bottom even touched the ground, he suddenly heard a "click".

It was a very soft sound, like the first crack appearing on the surface of ice.

He looked up abruptly, his gaze sweeping over the corner—a sealed glass container, about the height of a person, was slowly developing spiderweb-like cracks. Green liquid seeped from the cracks, dripping onto the ground and rising in a wisp of white smoke.

"Huh?" Ye Mo frowned, "That thing..."

Tony followed his gaze, and the armored scanner beeped. "Detection of highly active biological solution leak, composition unknown, volatile gases are corrosive."

"No way, we just finished a match, and it started leaking on its own?" Ye Mo straightened up, his tone incredulous. "What kind of villainous lab provides this kind of time bomb-like after-sales service?"

"We probably made too much noise just now." Tony took two steps forward, his Palm Cannon activating its protective mode, creating a Force Field barrier around the container. "The shockwave and vibration loosened the mounting brackets; this thing wasn't originally designed for military-grade sealing."

Ye Mo stared at the container; the label was blurry, but he could still make out the words "Extremis – Stable Phase." "Stable phase?" he muttered. "Stable my foot, it's cracked like a spider's nest."

The green liquid flowed faster, the crack widened, and with a whoosh, a slanted opening appeared on the left side, the liquid flowing down the edge and accumulating into a small puddle on the ground. The white smoke rose even more densely.

"Don't come any closer." Tony raised his hand to stop him. "Even my filtering system can't guarantee that if you take a puff of this stuff, you might just mutate into a walking mushroom."

Ye Mo didn't move, but his eyes followed the leak. "I hit too hard just now," he said in a low voice, "It loosened my stance, it's my fault."

Tony glanced at him, neither laughing nor arguing, but simply nodded. "Go easy on me next time."

"Next time, let him self-destruct halfway before attacking." Ye Mo smirked. "To save electricity."

Tony's Force Field barrier temporarily blocked the gas diffusion, but the container itself continued to crack, with the cracks spreading outwards as if they were alive. The scan results showed that the molecular structure of the internal solution was extremely unstable, and the activity index was slowly increasing.

"If this thing explodes completely, the entire lab will be submerged in poison," Tony said. "And we don't even know if it will activate any remaining viruses."

"We'll have to figure out how to shut off the valve or plug the leak." Ye Mo squinted. "Do you have any tools? Sealant, pressure clamps, even a mop will do."

"No," Tony said curtly. "This is a temporary outpost, not Stark Industries repair station. And—" he pointed to the bottom of the container, "The support structure is deformed and could collapse at any moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft "click" was heard from below. The right side of the support broke, the container tilted at a fifteen-degree angle, and more green liquid gushed out.

"Damn!" Ye Mo took half a step back. "This thing is going to fall over!"

Tony immediately increased the Force Field output, and the barrier glowed blue, barely holding up the tilting container. But the cracks continued to spread, and the top began to leak as well, with pale green mist seeping out from the gaps and drifting into the air like snakes.

"It won't hold for long," Tony's voice deepened. "This barrier can only delay, not repair."

Ye Mo stared at the cloud of mist, his mind racing. His Regeneration ability was cooling down; Steel Bone could hold on for a while longer, but he couldn't use his body to plug the leak. The system hadn't given any warnings, and no new abilities had emerged to save the day. He was now just an ordinary wounded soldier and half a crippled Iron Man.

"You know... if I splashed this stuff on myself, would it give me a kind of 'Extremis upgrade' too?" he suddenly asked.

"You wish," Tony sneered. "Others get injections, you're getting a dry immersion, basically turning you into a pool of nutrient solution."

"Then forget it." Ye Mo clicked his tongue. "I want to live a couple more days."

The two were silent for a second. The sounds of alarms, electrical currents, and dripping liquid mingled together, making the laboratory resemble an old, dilapidated factory on the verge of collapse.

Killian was still lying face down on the ground, breathing weakly. Ye Mo glanced at him and suddenly spoke up, "Hey bro, the thing you built is about to explode, aren't you going to say anything? Where are the password, the switch, and the emergency shut-off button?"

Killian didn't respond.

"Playing dead?" Ye Mo walked over and kicked his shoulder with his Steel Bone Transformation toe. "If you don't talk, the poisonous fog will dissolve you first, and I won't save you."

Killian's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse. "... You... can't stop... it... is already evolving..."

"Here we go again?" Ye Mo rolled his eyes. "When you win, you start spouting philosophy; when you can't accept defeat, you resort to threats. Are villains paid by the word?"

Tony, adjusting the barrier's angle, casually remarked, "I suggest he switch to writing web novels; tropes like 'the protagonist must die' and 'the world is destroyed' can keep him popular for a few more years."

"I'm not joking..." Killian struggled to lift his head, half his face charred black, but his eyes shone with a frightening light. "You thought... Extremis was just a virus? It... is a living organism... it... chooses its host..."

Ye Mo and Tony both looked at the container. The green liquid rippled slightly, as if in response to their words.

"Don't give me that." Ye Mo sneered, "I'll believe anything you say now, except for 'I have a backup plan' and 'you guys simply don't understand.'"

Tony shook his head. "Ignore him. The closer someone is to death, the more likely they are to make pronouncements like a will."

As they were talking, a large crack suddenly appeared at the top of the container, and a thick mist shot out, striking the Force Field and creating ripples. The barrier flickered twice, and its value decreased by 12%.

"I can't go on," Tony gritted his teeth. "I can only hold on for another thirty seconds."

Ye Mo quickly looked around. Control panel, wreckage, damaged pipes... there was no material to seal it. He looked down at his Steel Bone Transformation arm, the metal surface still bearing the burn marks from the battle.

"Can I borrow something from you?" he said to Tony.

"Don't even think about touching my armor," Tony said immediately. "It's a limited edition."

"No." Ye Mo walked towards the nearest load-bearing column, which was made of alloy and was originally used to fix large equipment. He hugged the column with both hands, his Steel Bone exerting their full strength, his muscles tensing, and his bones making a slight "click" sound.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Tear down the wall." Ye Mo shouted in a low voice and pulled hard.

The metal pillar emitted a screeching sound as the bottom connection began to loosen. He pushed off the ground with both feet and exerted all his strength, finally pulling the pillar out with a "boom." It was a full two meters long and as thick as a bowl.

"Are you crazy?" Tony glared. "If this place collapses again, we'll all be buried alive!"

"There's no other way." Ye Mo dragged the pillar to the side of the container, aiming at the unbroken area at the bottom. "You move the barrier down, and I'll use the pillar to hold the bottom up; at least we can stop the tipping over."

Tony hesitated for a second, then quickly adjusted the position of the Force Field. Ye Mo took a deep breath, raised the pillar with both hands, and thrust it upwards with a sudden force.

Thump!

The column got stuck in the container base, forcefully correcting the tilt angle by a few degrees. The flow rate of the green liquid slowed down, but the crack continued to expand.

"Let's hold on for now," Ye Mo said, panting. "What's next?"

Tony scanned the structure. "The support point isn't strong enough. This push can only buy time, not solve the problem."

"Then let's stall." Ye Mo steadied himself, bracing himself against the pillar. "You find an exit, a valve, anything that can shut this thing off. I'll hold it off here. My Regeneration abilities are almost back to normal anyway; I can just cough up blood a couple more times."

Tony glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to walk towards the main control area.

The laboratory fell silent for a moment. Only the hissing sound of leaking gas and Ye Mo's heavy breathing could be heard. He stared at the green mist, knowing full well that they had won the battle against the people, but not against this place.

Killian remained lying down, a slight twitch appearing at the corner of his mouth, as if he were smiling.

Ye Mo didn't see it. His entire attention was focused on the pillar above his head. The metal was already getting hot, and the green liquid dripping onto it made a "sizzling" corrosive sound.

Tony, searching through the data panel in the distance, suddenly spoke up, "Found it! The emergency shutdown procedure is on the backup terminal in B-3, but it needs to be triggered manually."

"How far?" Ye Mo asked.

"Fifty meters, through the main corridor."

"Go." Ye Mo gritted his teeth, "I can hold on a little longer."

Tony nodded, activated the armored thrusters, and flew low over the wreckage before disappearing around the corner.

Ye Mo stood alone in front of the leak source, his hands braced against a pillar, his back straight. The alarm sounded intermittently, and green mist slowly rose in front of him, like a silent countdown.

He looked down at his palm, and golden-red threads of light began to faintly emerge from beneath his skin.

Regeneration is returning.