Time manipulation, slowing the enemy
The groans of the alloy pillar still echoed in his ears. Ye Mo had just taken a step, and before he could even steady himself, a burst of fire suddenly erupted from the ceiling on the east side of the laboratory. The entire ventilation duct shattered as if struck by a giant hammer, the sheet metal curling and flying out, Mars flying everywhere.
Four figures rappelled down the steel cable, their movements perfectly synchronized, landing silently. They wore gray-black tactical uniforms with no insignia on their chests, but the high-frequency vibrating knives in their hands gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light under the emergency red light. The blades trembled slightly, emitting a low-frequency hum, like the flicking of a viper's tongue.
"Damn!" Ye Mo reacted extremely quickly, rolling to the side and landing right next to the edge of the control panel. Almost simultaneously, all three blades missed their mark, and the gust of air closest to his neck stung his skin.
Tony flew low, the thrusters on his right armor arm still smoking, his altitude extremely low, barely maintaining hovering. "Can you stop waiting around at the door waiting to be killed?" he yelled, his left shield popping out to block a diagonal slash. "This armor of mine is basically a flying tin can right now!"
"Then fly slower!" Ye Mo lay on the ground, his right hand supporting him, a faint golden light seeping from his fingertips, like fine gold dust leaking from an hourglass.
The moment he touched the ground, a "ding" sounded in his mind.
[High-frequency kinetic energy disturbance detected; time-particle resonance threshold reached; ' Time Lag ' basic module can be activated.]
Ye Mo's pupils contracted. He had never actually tried this before. Just as the system notification sounded, the fourth enemy had already thrown an electromagnetic pulse grenade. The round metal ball traced an arc, its fuse crackling as it flew towards the interface of Tony's armor.
We can't wait any longer.
He slammed both palms onto the ground, palms facing upwards, and golden light burst forth from between his fingers. An invisible ripple spread out from him, causing the air to ripple like the surface of water rippled by a stone thrown in. The speed was not fast, but it moved steadily forward.
Time has changed.
The four enemies moved as if in slow motion. The hand wielding the knife froze in mid-air, muscles tense but unable to advance an inch further; the pulse grenade hovered thirty centimeters from Tony's chest, the fuse sparks flickering like a laggy old-fashioned projector screen; even the dust falling from the breach seemed to freeze in mid-air, motionless.
"Holy crap?" Tony looked down at the grenade frozen in place in front of him, then looked up at Ye Mo. "What was that you just did? Time stop? Did you secretly practice Doctor Strange's homework?"
"Don't ask! Hit me!" Ye Mo gritted his teeth and growled, veins throbbing on his forehead. He could feel some kind of energy rapidly draining from his body, the Regeneration energy bar pulsating wildly in his consciousness: 8% → 5% → 3%.
[Continuous casting consumes significantly more resources; termination is recommended.]
"Shut up." He cursed the system in his mind, his left little finger subtly curling up, the golden light at the fingertip intensifying. This was a fine-tuning method he had figured out himself—forcibly extending the time by 0.8 seconds using the body's remaining Regeneration reserves.
Less than four seconds is enough.
Tony reacted instantly, his left arm shield swirling sharply, reflecting the overhead light's beam directly into the enemies' eyes. Although their movements froze, their instincts kicked in, and their eyelids twitched uncontrollably. Then, his right palm cannon completed its calibration, three intersecting beams precisely striking the wrists of the three men wielding knives. The metal bracers shattered, and the concussion knives fell from their hands. The final shot hit the fourth man's belt buckle, the impact sending the pulse grenade flying back to his feet.
The ripples dissipated.
Time resumed its flow.
"Bang!"
The grenade detonated, unleashing an EMP wave that swept outwards. The four people, still uncoordinated and barely free from the stun, were instantly paralyzed by the electric current. Their knees buckled, and they collapsed to their knees, twitching twice before falling still.
"Great!" Tony put away his Palm Cannon, white smoke billowing from the vent. "What's your new skill called? 'When the boss delays paying wages, time automatically stops'?"
"Say 'I can last another round.'" Ye Mo knelt on one knee, a sweet taste rising in his throat, almost causing him to cough. He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, a trace of blood on his fingertip. The Steel Bone texture on his left hand hadn't completely faded, and several spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the skin of his palm, faintly oozing blood.
That last move took even more time and effort than a real fight.
"Are you alright?" Tony landed next to him, his armor slightly askew, but he managed to stand.
"It has to work out." Ye Mo took a breath and stood up, leaning on the counter. "Didn't you say you'd treat me to steak? I don't want to die before the meal."
"You're shameless, your skin's thicker than armor." Tony rolled his eyes, activating the scanner. "But speaking of which, that move you just used... was it your first time using it?"
"Hmm." Ye Mo nodded, "The system just unlocked, and I never thought it would actually work."
"Next time, give us advance notice. Don't make it seem like a surprise blind box." Tony glanced at the four men lying on the ground. "These aren't Killian's regular troops; they're better equipped, and their pace of operation doesn't match their previous style."
"That means he has a backup plan." Ye Mo looked around, his gaze landing on the control panel on the west side. There was a lever there that looked like it had been tampered with.
Before the words were even finished, the laboratory lights snapped off, leaving only the emergency red light on. Amidst the crackling of electrical current, the isolation door on the west side began to slowly descend, the metal tracks screeching as they rubbed together.
"Damn!" Ye Mo's heart tightened. Once that door closed, they would be completely separated on the battlefield. Who knew how many people were waiting outside.
"I'll go turn off the power!" Tony turned and was about to rush off.
"Too late!" Ye Mo stopped him, his gaze locking onto the shadow behind the control panel. A figure flashed by there—the last one to slip through the net.
Without thinking twice, he bent down, picked up the pulse rifle he had found on the ground, and checked the magazine. Thirty-seven rounds—enough.
"Hey, you hiding over there!" he yelled towards the control panel, "I know you're there."
The person didn't respond, but the lever was suddenly pulled, and the isolation door descended faster.
"You have three seconds." Ye Mo raised his gun. "Three, two—"
He didn't even finish counting before he flung the gun away. The butt of the gun slammed into the power module of the control panel with a whoosh, sparks exploded, the circuit short-circuited, and the isolation door clicked shut, stuck in mid-air, forty centimeters off the ground.
"--One." Ye Mo stopped and took a breath.
Tony paused for a moment, then said, "Your math skills are pretty random."
"There are no standard answers in real combat." Ye Mo leaned against the control panel, his left palm burning with pain, the blood vessels in the crack slowly stopping. He looked down and saw a golden light slowly flowing beneath his skin, like grains of sand moving in his veins.
"Your ability... is a bit strange." Tony walked over, his mechanical arm extending to pull him up. "Was that just now an overload?"
"A little bit." Ye Mo grinned. "Anyway, the system didn't report any errors, which means it still works."
"Don't risk your life next time." Tony glanced at the remaining signals on the console. "What protocol did this guy trigger before he left? I'm tracking it."
"Let him transmit." Ye Mo flexed his wrists; his Steel Bone Transformation hadn't fully recovered, but he was still in battle mode. "At worst, I'll just use time stop again."
"You think that's a power bank? You think you can just plug it into the wall to charge it after you're done?" Tony sneered. "Besides, that trick you just used clearly won't last long."
"I know," Ye Mo said, squinting at the seven fallen bodies in front of him, "But as long as it's enough."
The two stood side by side, the red light reflecting off their armor and faces, casting long shadows. The overhead lights were still crackling, not fully restored. The air was thick with the smell of burning metal.
"What do you think Killian is trying to do?" Ye Mo suddenly asked.
"I don't know," Tony shook his head, "But there are definitely more than just these few groups."
"Then let's wait for him to make his move." Ye Mo raised his left hand, palm up, a fleeting golden light flashing within. "Anyway, I have a new cheat code now—the stronger the enemy, the more time I can buy myself."
"That's not called a cheat, that's called 'temporary worker overtime insurance'," Tony scoffed. "If you keep playing like this, the system will drain you dry sooner or later."
"We'll have to wait until I finish that steak." Ye Mo smiled, but his eyes remained sharp.
In the distance, the indicator lights on the control panel were still flashing faintly, as if some kind of signal was waiting for a response.