The alloy pillar squeaked again, this time the sound was drawn out, like the last mournful cry of metal before it was forcibly broken. Ye Mo's ears twitched, but without looking up, his fingers were already pressed on the Steel Bone Transformation seam of his left arm. That place was slightly hot, as if a red-hot wire was sawing back and forth inside.
Just as he was about to lean against the wall to stand up, the blast door on the west side of the laboratory suddenly exploded.
It wasn't the kind that slowly deforms; a whole three-centimeter-thick alloy plate flew directly out of the door frame, sweeping across half the room with flames and debris. The shockwave overturned two lab tables, data terminals clattered to the floor, and even the overhead lights flickered twice.
Before the smoke had even cleared, three figures rushed in, carrying modified pulse rifles with blue smoke still billowing from the muzzles. They were dressed in identical black combat uniforms, with a dark red "X" mark printed on their chests—the symbol of Killian's pack of mad dogs.
"Damn it!" Ye Mo cursed under his breath, then rolled over and left.
The next second, bullets had already swept past the wall he had just been leaning against, sending concrete debris flying. He slammed his left hand on the ground for leverage, braced his right foot against the edge of the medical bed, and slid to the side of the bed. Just as his back touched the metal bed frame, a sharp whooshing sound filled his ears—the second round of gunfire was coming.
" Tony!" he yelled, without turning around, "Can you move over there?"
"Working!" Tony's voice came from the southeast corner, crackling with static. "Armor system rebooting, don't expect me to transform into a superhero in three seconds!"
"Can't you hurry up, you motherfucker?" Ye Mo gritted his teeth, his left arm jerked violently, and the Steel Bone Structure was instantly reinforced. A layer of matte black appeared on the metal surface, and his knuckles cracked.
The three enemies in front of them had closed to within ten meters. The leader raised his hand, and the other two immediately lowered their guns, clearly intending to concentrate their fire.
Ye Mo had been waiting for this moment.
He kicked off with his right foot, leaping out from behind the bed, his Steel Bone left arm across his chest. Bullets struck his arm with a crisp "clang, clang, clang," like someone smashing the bottom of a pot with a hammer. The impact forced him back half a step, but he didn't fall. He lunged forward, his right hand outstretched, a burst of blue-white electric arcs crackling from his palm.
"Take this! High-Voltage Incoming Current!"
The electric arc ball flew out of their hands, hitting the middle of the three men squarely. Before he could even scream, he was struck by the electric current, convulsing and collapsing to his knees, unable to hold his gun. The two men on either side reacted quickly, rolling to the sides to dodge, but the aftershocks of the arc still struck their legs, momentarily halting their movements.
Ye Mo gave them no chance to catch their breath. He pushed off the ground with his right leg, and his Steel Bone Body burst into a short-distance sprint, crashing directly into the enemy on his left. The enemy had just raised his gun when Ye Mo struck him in the chin with an elbow strike, his head snapping back violently, and he instantly passed out.
The last enemy finally got up and raised his gun to fire. But just as his finger pulled the trigger, he heard the buzzing of a booster starting up above him.
"Sorry to interrupt your brilliant performance," Tony's voice came from above, "But I prefer aerial attacks."
Before he could finish speaking, a beam of light from his palm struck the man's shoulder precisely, sending him spinning halfway around and throwing his gun away. Immediately afterward, a miniature missile hurtled in, exploding in a burst of orange light at his feet. The shockwave knocked him to the ground, where he remained for a long time, unable to get up.
Ye Mo took a breath, straightened up, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You're finally going to move? I thought you were going to wait until they rolled out a red carpet for you before you made your entrance."
"I told you I was rebooting." Tony slowly landed in his half-damaged Mark 42 armor, smoke clearly coming from the right arm thruster, his flight attitude slightly off-center. "Besides, that series of maneuvers you just did was pretty cool, I don't want to steal your thunder."
"Stop with the nonsense." Ye Mo squinted, surveying the battlefield. "Five people are down, and two more are still missing."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a muffled thud came from the northwest. Immediately afterward, the support beneath the alloy pillar shook violently, and green mist began to leak out of the crack at an accelerated rate.
"Damn it!" Ye Mo's expression changed, and he turned and rushed in that direction.
Sure enough, two escapees were hiding behind the pile of equipment. One of them held a small explosive device in one hand, and the other had already pressed the detonator button. Their goal was clear—to blow up the sealing point and flood the entire laboratory with a highly reactive biological solution.
"You two really know how to pick your moments to cause trouble." Ye Mo roared, his right leg instantly Steel Bone Transformation, and he stomped his foot hard on the ground.
The Shockwave spread along the ground, directly deflecting the angle of the explosive device. Although the fuse was triggered, the explosive force was directed diagonally upwards by the misaligned device, only collapsing a small section of the ceiling, with dust falling in droves.
"Well done!" Tony flew low, his armored arm shield deploying to shield Ye Mo. "But don't get too excited, they still have weapons."
As soon as they finished speaking, the two men simultaneously raised their high-heat melting guns, aiming the muzzles at the core node of the alloy pillar.
"Warning: Insufficient energy, unable to fire high-energy cannons continuously," the armored system coldly warned.
"I know, shut up." Tony gritted his teeth. "Give me fifteen seconds to recharge."
"Fifteen seconds?" Ye Mo sneered. "I don't even want to wait five seconds."
He lunged forward, feigning exhaustion, kneeling on one knee and panting with his right hand on the ground. Seeing this, the enemy on his left immediately rushed out from behind cover, raising his gun to finish him off.
The moment the opponent stepped into the attack range, Ye Mo suddenly looked up, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Just kidding."
He sprang up like a spring, his right leg giving way, and his Steel Bone right hand clenched into a fist, his elbow slamming into the man's neck. With a muffled thud, the man collapsed to the ground without even a groan.
The last one was still fiddling with the smelting torch.
Tony's armor had risen to a height of three meters, his palm beams were fully charged, and his shoulder-mounted missiles locked onto their targets.
"Wait." Ye Mo suddenly raised his hand, "Don't kill him."
"Why?" Tony frowned.
"Leave one alive." Ye Mo gasped for breath, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Ask him what other tricks Killian is up to."
Tony shrugged. "Whatever."
He pressed the EMP button, and an electromagnetic wave swept out. The last enemy's melting gun malfunctioned instantly, emitting black smoke along with its communicator, and he froze on the spot, unable to move.
The laboratory finally quieted down.
Of the seven men, five were lying on the ground, and two were incapacitated. Yet no one dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
Ye Mo leaned against the overturned control panel, the Steel Bone in his left arm began to disengage automatically, the metallic texture gradually fading to reveal the bleeding skin underneath. He felt as if someone had stuffed shards of glass into his ribs, and every breath was excruciatingly painful.
A blurry number appeared in his mind as the Regeneration energy bar appeared: 12% → 8% → Cooling down.
"Are you alright?" Tony landed beside him, his armored shell burned in several places, and his right arm thruster completely shut down.
"It has to work out whether it's impossible or not." Ye Mo grinned, wiping away the blood from his nose. "You promised to treat me to steak, I don't want to die before the meal."
"Don't worry, there's plenty of steak." Tony reached out and helped him up. "But in the state of yours, you probably can't even hold a fork properly."
"Don't underestimate them." Ye Mo straightened up, staring at the pile of wreckage in the northwest corner. "But they won't just let it go. The fact that Killian dared to launch this attack means they have a backup plan."
"I think so too." Tony brought up the armor scanning interface. "There are still heat source signals around the lab, not many, but they are distributed very regularly."
"An encirclement formation?" Ye Mo squinted.
"More or less." Tony nodded. "They're waiting for orders."
"Then let's not keep them waiting too long." Ye Mo flexed his wrists; although his Steel Bone hadn't fully recovered, he was still in combat readiness. "Next time, it might not just be this bunch of small fry coming."
Tony glanced at him. "What are you planning to do? Wait until your Regeneration abilities recover before charging again?"
"Of course not." Ye Mo smiled, but his eyes turned cold. "I intend to strike first."
He bent down to pick up the fallen pulse rifle and checked the magazine.
Thirty-seven rounds remaining.
That's enough.
Tony sighed, "You're incredibly shameless. You're clearly exhausted, but you're acting like nothing's wrong."
"Isn't this my safety net?" Ye Mo twirled the gun. "Besides, the system didn't warn of any danger level, so what am I afraid of?"
"When has your system ever been reliable?" Tony rolled his eyes.
"At least it never cheated me on my overtime pay." Ye Mo patted the armor. "Let's go, stop acting all brotherly and brotherly. Those guys outside are practically falling asleep waiting."
Tony shook his head, restarted the thrusters, and although it was a bit off-center, it could still fly.
The two walked one after the other toward the laboratory exit.
The prisoner on the ground struggled, trying to shout the alarm.
Ye Mo turned around and glanced at it indifferently.
The man immediately shut up.
Only the groans of the alloy pillar remained in the air, each one more urgent than the last.