The moment the wall collapsed with a roar, before the dust had even settled, Ye Mo had already flung the ball of electricity from his palm. The current struck the residual engine oil on the ground, exploding into a fiery net with a sizzle. The three enemies at the forefront were thrown over by the blast wave, their pulse guns flying far from their hands.
"Don't let them get a foothold!" Ye Mo roared, his Steel Bone armor rapidly spreading from his right arm to his shoulder and back. He charged into the enemy ranks like a Beast leaping into flames.
He punched the nearest man in the chest, denting his bulletproof vest and sending him flying backward, knocking over two others. Another man had just raised his gun when Ye Mo dodged to the side and simultaneously delivered a backhand elbow strike; the metal frame slammed into his helmet with a dull thud, and the man collapsed instantly. A third man attempted a flanking man, Ye Mo's ears twitched, and he whirled around, grabbing the man's wrist with his left hand and twisting it, causing the pulse gun to fall to the ground. Immediately after, he delivered a right knee strike to the man's abdomen, causing him to hunch over and kneel.
"Well done!" Tony's voice came from above. Using the smoke and dust kicked up by the explosion as cover, the armor slid along the roof to the back of the central equipment. The palm cannon was fully charged, and three lasers fired precisely, causing smoke to rise from the wrists of three enemies who were reloading, and their weapons fell to the ground.
Emma Frost sat cross-legged on a concrete block in the corner, her hands pressed against her temples, the veins on her forehead throbbing slightly. She didn't open her eyes, but her mental fluctuations spread out like ripples on water—an enemy who had just picked up a gun suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed, and the next second he turned his gun on his teammate beside him.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" the man exclaimed.
"You betrayed the plan," the other man muttered, pulling the trigger.
The bullet grazed his shoulder, and the man roared as he lunged forward to fight, completely escalating the chaos. Two more men started brawling, shouting things like, "You've already sided with them!" and "I'm going to clean house for the captain!" They fought relentlessly, their heads bleeding profusely, but they didn't stop.
"This is even more ruthless than the last one." Tony clicked his tongue as he locked onto his new target. "Did you secretly add something to it?"
"No," Emma Frost's voice tightened, "They're the ones with guilty consciences... I only need to give them a slight push, and they'll all collapse."
Before the words were finished, a loud crash came from the second-floor platform as something heavy fell to the ground. The three of them looked up at the same time and saw the dark figure that had just disappeared standing on the broken steel beam, with a small launcher under its feet and a metal rod in its hand.
"Hey you upstairs!" Ye Mo shouted, "Don't let him start the new equipment!"
Tony's palm cannon immediately changed direction, but his opponent was prepared. He slammed the metal rod into the ground, and a visible Shockwave instantly spread out, shaking the entire building. Tony's aiming line shifted, and the beam grazed the opponent's clothes before hitting the wall.
"Interference!" Tony cursed. "The signal is unstable!"
Ye Mo tried to give chase, but was entangled by two remaining enemies. One swept across with a high-voltage stun baton, while the other attacked from the side. When Ye Mo parried, his Steel Bone arm went numb from the shock—this thing carried an electromagnetic pulse, which almost caused the armor system to malfunction.
"System, how long until the cooldown?" he asked in his mind.
[ Lightning Control Remaining Cooldown: 4 seconds]
"Hold on for four more seconds." Ye Mo gritted his teeth, bracing the stun gun with his left arm, and seized the opportunity with his right hand to grab the other person's collar and pull him in front of him as a shield. The second person's attack missed, and Ye Mo followed up by kicking him in the knee. With a crisp crack, the person screamed and fell to the ground.
The instant the fourth second ended, he rekindled an arc of electricity at the tip of his right finger. This time, instead of releasing it at a single point, he slammed it into the ground. The current spread rapidly along the damp ground, crawling over oil stains, iron filings, and puddles, instantly striking five enemies around him. They convulsed and fell to the ground, their equipment emitting a burnt smell.
"It's cleared!" Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the second floor. " Tony, can it still fly?"
"15% fuel left, barely enough for one short leap." Tony adjusted the thruster angle, "But I'm afraid we'd just be sitting ducks."
"No need to go," Emma Frost suddenly opened her eyes. "He's going to run away."
As if to confirm her words, the dark figure suddenly pulled out the metal rod, turned around and rushed towards the back window of the warehouse. The speed was so fast that it almost left a blur, and with a kick, it shattered the glass and leaped out of the window.
"Stop him!" Ye Mo rushed towards the side door, kicked open the half-closed metal sheet, and rushed into the ruins outside.
The night wind whipped up dust and hit him in the face. He had just stepped out of the warehouse when he saw the figure thirty meters away, followed by three subordinates also wearing insulated suits, running wildly along the main road of the abandoned factory area.
"Trying to slip away?" Ye Mo drew out an arc of electricity from his right fingertip again, which coiled into a chain in his palm. He rushed forward a few steps, raised his hand, and flung out a chain of electricity straight for the leader's legs.
Just as the chains were about to wrap around his ankles, the man suddenly stopped and turned around, raising his hand and waving it, sending an invisible shockwave crashing head-on into him. The electric arc chain snapped instantly, and Ye Mo was jolted back two steps, his hands and feet going numb.
"What kind of weird ability is this?" He frowned.
The other person didn't answer, but instead slammed a punch into the ground. Cracks instantly spread, Ye Mo lost his footing, quickly leaping up to dodge. By the time he landed, the man had already turned the corner with his men and disappeared at the end of the street.
" Tony!" Ye Mo shouted into the communicator, "Intercept him from the air!"
"Here they come!" The hum of the thrusters starting up came from above. Tony's armor was forced into the air. Although the flight altitude was only seven or eight meters, the speed was still acceptable. He sped along, skimming the shadows of the buildings, and soon caught up to the corner of the street.
Just as he was about to get close, his three men covering his retreat suddenly stopped, and one of them pulled the detonator from his waist.
"Holy crap!" Tony's pupils contracted, and he immediately dove down and slid close to the ground.
boom--!
Three micro-explosives detonated in quick succession, sending flames soaring into the sky and debris flying everywhere. Tony was thrown off his feet by the blast wave, his armor slamming heavily to the ground, his mask flashing red, indicating that multiple sensors had malfunctioned.
"Damn... the thrusters shut down." He struggled to sit up, looking at the smoke-filled intersection ahead. "Where are they?"
"They escaped." Ye Mo emerged from the dust, his face covered in ash, the Steel Bone armor on his right arm slowly retracting. "Three men fought desperately to cover their retreat; the main force has already taken a detour and withdrawn."
Emma Frost followed, her steps unsteady. She leaned against a crooked lamppost, panting, and said, "I tried to read his consciousness... but it didn't work. His brain felt like it was encased in a metallic membrane; nothing could get in."
"A shielding layer?" Ye Mo narrowed his eyes. "It's not a natural ability; it's been modified."
"More than that." Emma Frost shook her head. "That reaction speed and strength are unlike anything ordinary enhancement agents can achieve. Something is driving him, perhaps an external device, or maybe... some kind of fusion technology."
Tony struggled to his feet, his armor creaking, the fuel indicator light down to just one bar. "Anyway, he got away."
The three remained silent for a moment, the night wind rustling the tattered advertising banners around them. The city lights in the distance were still bright, but the industrial area where they were located resembled a forgotten battlefield.
"Should we chase after them?" Tony asked.
"Can't catch up." Emma Frost closed her eyes and sensed for a moment. "There's no dense group of consciousness activity within five kilometers. They used a silent evacuation mode, possibly a vehicle transfer or an underground passage."
"My fuel won't last ten minutes of flight," Tony patted his armor. "Any further, and you'll have to carry me back."
Ye Mo stood rooted to the spot, a faint crackle of electricity still flickering at his fingertips. He stared at the direction the enemy had disappeared in for a long time before finally speaking, "Let them run. The signal has been marked."
"What signal?" Tony turned to look at him.
"When that punch shattered my electric arc, a tiny amount of current rebounded into the path of his shockwave." Ye Mo withdrew his hand, the Steel Bone completely dissipating. "It's like mud stuck to the sole of a shoe; you can't shake it off completely. If he uses that ability again, I can trace the source along that residual current."
Emma Frost nodded. "It's not like we went home empty-handed."
"But we didn't win completely either." Tony sighed, his mask finally fully opening to reveal a face covered in exhaustion and grease. "A bunch of defeated soldiers, making it seem like we fought a world war."
Ye Mo didn't reply, but just looked down at his hands. His palms still retained the burning sensation from using his ability, as if he had held a piece of red-hot iron.
A police car drove past on the main road in the distance, siren blaring, but didn't turn into the area. Clearly, nobody intended to pay attention to the commotion.
"Let's go," Emma Frost said softly. "There's no point in staying here."
The three of them did not move.
They stood at the intersection of the industrial zone and the city's main road. Behind them lay collapsed warehouses, charred equipment, and a scene of utter devastation; in front of them stretched a smooth asphalt road, dimly lit by streetlights, with the occasional headlight piercing the darkness.
Tony leaned against a lamppost, his armor partially damaged, his breathing clearly audible through the speaker. Emma Frost sat on a concrete block, hugging her knees, her eyes closed as she performed a final Mental Scan. Ye Mo stood at the very front, his right foot slightly forward, as if ready to charge out again at any moment.
The wind swept through the ruins, swirling up several half-burnt documents. One of the pages drifted to Ye Mo's feet, where half of the "AIM" logo was still legible, its edges curled and blackened by the fire.
He glanced down, neither picking it up nor stepping on it.
Ten seconds later, he turned and walked toward Tony and Emma Frost.