The moment darkness engulfed the workshop, all Ye Mo could hear was the roar of his own heartbeat.
That wasn't a metaphor; he really couldn't hear anything else—the air was compressed into glue, and even breathing felt like inhaling iron filings. He lay on the ground, his left arm burning as if he'd just been pulled off a barbecue grill, and the burn on his back was creeping up his spine, but he didn't care about any of that. He pushed himself up with his hand and rolled toward Emma Frost.
"Move!" he roared hoarsely, grabbing her arm and slamming them together into a pile of equipment wreckage in the corner. A black light grazed the spot where they had just been, causing the ground to collapse half a meter, with smoke still rising from the edges.
Emma Frost groaned as her head slammed against the metal shell, stars flashing before her eyes. She raised her hand to her temple, blood seeping through her fingers. This body was nearing its limit; her mental network was like a burnt-out circuit board, riddled with breaks and short circuits. But she gritted her teeth and held on, channeling her last bit of strength into her brain, and unleashed a low-frequency interference wave toward Malekith.
It wasn't an attack, nor was it mind reading; it was just pure "arguing."
Malekith's chanting rhythm faltered for a moment, the syllable in his throat pausing for half a beat. In that instant, the surging darkness around him flickered for a fraction of a second, like a poorly received television screen.
"It works," Ye Mo said, panting. "Let's do it again."
"Do you think I'm a power bank?" Emma Frost retorted, her voice trembling. "If I do it again, my brain will leak electricity."
"Where's the system?" he asked in his mind, his tone as familiar as urging someone to deliver takeout. "Give me a hint, isn't it? Playing dead isn't appropriate right now."
The mind was completely silent, without even a "cooling down" notification. The X-Gene Resonance System was truly silent this time, probably suppressed to the point of being withdrawn by the rules of this godforsaken place.
Ye Mo looked down at his hands. The electric arc that should have been in his palms couldn't be ignited at all; even the concept of "electricity" in the air had been suppressed. He could only rely on his old trick—his physical body.
"Alright." He wiped his face, stuffed the utility knife, now only the pliers head, into his mouth, and stood up, pushing himself up with his hands. "If you don't have any cheat codes, you have to fight tooth and nail. I'm good at this."
He took a deep breath, his mind plunging into the Gene Spiral Tower within his consciousness. The twelfth floor was lit, and inside, a silver-gray gene chain floated silently— the Colossus's Body. This was a fragment of ability he had snagged during a chaotic battle earlier, but had never had a chance to use it properly.
"Superior!"
His bones instantly reformed, his skin shone with a metallic sheen, and he looked as if he were encased in a living suit of armor. He took a step forward, and the concrete beneath his feet cracked open in a spiderweb pattern.
Malekith finally turned around, his purple flame eyes locking onto him. Without a word, he raised his hands, and four compressed black beams shot out in a diamond shape, moving so fast that they left no afterimages.
Ye Mo let out a low roar, his Steel Bone arms crossed in front of him to block. The first blow sent him staggering back three steps, his feet carving two furrows in the ground. The second hit his shoulder armor, Mars flying and tiny cracks appearing on the metal surface. The third slashed diagonally at his side, which he braced himself against, his knees almost buckling, but he didn't fall.
The fourth beam went astray— Emma Frost unleashed another mental pulse at the last second. Though weak, it struck precisely at the point of his spellcasting nerve conduction, causing the black beam to deviate by half an inch, grazing past his ear and severing a few strands of hair.
"Thanks." Ye Mo spat out the pliers from his mouth and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"No... don't thank me too soon." Emma Frost knelt behind her, one hand on the ground, the other pressed against her forehead, her fingertips covered in sweat. "I can't take it anymore."
How much longer can it hold out?
"Ten more... seconds."
"That's enough." Ye Mo stretched his shoulders, the metal joints creaking. "I'm counting."
Before he could finish speaking, Malekith stomped his foot.
The entire workshop floor sank half an inch, and dark energy surged back like a tide, forming a centripetal Force Field. Ye Mo's Steel Bone began to groan under the strain, and more and more cracks appeared on the surface; Emma Frost's mental energy network burst open, and blood dripped from her nose onto the ground, making a soft "sizzling" sound.
"Damn it..." Ye Mo gritted his teeth, pounding his temples with the pliers until tears streamed down his face, but his mind cleared for a moment. "This thing is specifically designed to counter mutant abilities, right?"
As he cursed, he rolled over to adjust his position, his gaze sweeping across the edge of the barrier. The black spot was still there, but the fluctuations at the edge were more pronounced than before—the structure of reality hadn't fully healed, like a wound that had been forcibly torn open and was slowly repairing itself.
"Is the opening... looser than before?" he asked Emma Frost in a low voice.
Emma Frost barely managed to lift her head, glancing around with her remaining mental perception, and said haltingly, "Frequency... not right. The spatial tension over there... is weaker by 0.3%."
"0.3% is also a flaw." Ye Mo grinned, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth. "I've got it."
He was now covered in sores: his left arm was charred, his back was burned, his Steel Bone were cracked in several places, and his strength was almost gone. But he knew he couldn't stop; as long as Malekith was still merging, they couldn't fall.
"Hey! You in front!" he yelled at Malekith, "Is your move called 'Darkness Without Light' or 'Family Bucket Combo'? It's pretty powerful, but it's a battery drainer, isn't it? I think your leather jacket is about to burst from charging."
Malekith ignored him and continued to plunge his hand into the swirling vortex of darkness. His figure grew taller and taller within the energy, and ancient runes appeared on the surface of his armor, flashing by in an instant.
"No response?" Ye Mo called out again, "Are you afraid of revealing your bald spot? I understand, it's not shameful to have thinning hair as you get older, what's shameful is having to wear a fully enclosed helmet to look mysterious."
This time, Malekith's fingers paused slightly.
Ye Mo's heart skipped a beat—it worked. This guy was strong, but he wasn't a machine; emotions could influence him.
"Hey, you're so low-class to steal someone's body," he continued. "Don't you have any family history or what? Why do you have to parasitize others? If you ask me, you should just rent a VR experience pod; at least you won't be charged with murder."
Malekith slowly turned his head, his purple flame eyes locking onto him, a cold smile curving his lips.
"Ants," he said, his voice still carrying a deep echo, "You don't even deserve to be a sacrifice."
"Qualifications?" Ye Mo sneered. "Do you even know what internet trash talk is? I once challenged 300 people to a duel on Tieba without flinching. Your 'prestige' is only five points, and you'd have to pay more."
While he remained defiant, he subtly shifted his weight to his right leg, preparing for the next round of dodging. He knew this provocation wouldn't last long, but as long as he could stall, even an extra second was a bonus.
Emma Frost lay prone on the ground, her fingers digging into the cracks in the cement, her nails cracking. She forced herself to concentrate, trying to re-lock onto the neural pathways through which Malekith had cast his spell. Her mental energy was shattered like a sieve, but it was still usable—as long as no one tried to intrude, simply touching the pathways would create a delay.
She held her breath and waited.
Ye Mo was struck in the chest by a black light, flying two meters away and crashing into an abandoned reactor, his Steel Bone dented. He coughed up blood and struggled to get up again.
Right now.
Emma Frost suddenly released one last wave of mental energy.
Malekith's movement of raising his hand was 0.1 seconds too slow.
The black light veered off course, striking the side of the reactor and exploding into a ball of pitch-black flame.
"Well done!" Ye Mo laughed, panting. "Could you be on time next time? I almost thought you were going to retire."
"Shut up..." Emma Frost lay on the ground, too weak to even lift her hand. "I... I'm blacking out."
"Hold on a little longer." Ye Mo wiped his face, staring at the entrance to the black spot. "I suspect that opening can break through his defenses. As long as he focuses on fusion, we have a chance."
"How... are you planning to go?" she asked with difficulty.
"Simple." He grinned. "When his back is to us, I'll rush in and try to blast open the crack with my Lightning Control. If you can still move, cover me."
"Are you crazy?" Emma Frost looked up. "You can't even stand up straight now!"
"Even if I can't stand still, I have to keep going." He glanced down at his cracked Steel Bone. "Anyway, the system doesn't give any hints, and the enemy doesn't provide instructions, so we can only try and learn as we go."
He slowly moved behind a collapsed scaffold, using the wreckage to conceal himself. His gaze never left Malekith —the other man had his back to them, his hands deeply immersed in an energy vortex, the fusion process still ongoing.
"Now," he murmured to himself.
He clenched his fist, preparing to activate his Lightning Control. Despite the severe environmental suppression, he was willing to gamble on even the slightest possibility of ionized space.
Emma Frost lay on the ground, her fingers trembling as she raised them, gathering her mental strength one last time. She knew she couldn't hold on much longer, but she had to try.
Ye Mo took a deep breath, tensing his muscles, ready to sprint at any moment.
The workshop was deathly silent, with only the low-frequency hum of dark energy.
Malekith's figure slowly rose from the center of the vortex, his armor reforming and runes flowing.
Ye Mo stood in the shadows of the ruins, his Steel Bone cracked and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet his eyes shone with a frightening intensity.
Emma Frost knelt three meters to her side, her forehead touching the ground, one hand still pressed against her temple, blood seeping from her fingertips.
Darkness enveloped everything.
A faint arc of electricity finally appeared in Ye Mo's palm.