The green light was still on. The signal hadn't disappeared.
Ye Mo watched the speck of light in the corner of the console, tapped the keyboard twice, and opened the decoding interface. The progress bar began moving, 3%, 5%... As he waited for the results, he looked up at Emma Frost.
She leaned back in her chair, holding half a compressed biscuit and eating a little too quickly, ignoring the crumbs falling onto her pants. Seeing him look over, she raised an eyebrow. "Not eating?"
"I ate," he said. "Had an energy bar just now."
"Liar." She stuffed the last bite into her mouth. "You never eat after training unless something's up."
Ye Mo said nothing. Decoding reached 47%, and the contents slowly emerged-the keywords were "undercurrents," "reshuffling of new powers," and "Hall Zero gathering." The sender's ID was encrypted, but the frequency signature resembled that of someone who often sold intelligence on the black market. This person never took sides or sent messages carelessly.
That meant this was no small matter.
68%... 82%... Decoding complete. Ye Mo quickly read the message and closed the window. The gathering was tonight, at Hall Zero on the lowest level of the abandoned subway. Those attending were all underworld leaders: arms dealers, intelligence brokers, representatives of mutate organizations, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had defected... No one knew who had organized it, only that invitations went exclusively to people capable of influencing the situation.
Receiving the signal meant they had been invited.
He stood, walked to the storage cabinet, pulled open a drawer, and took out a black hoodie. It was old, its cuffs worn white, but he had kept it all this time. He took off his training clothes, put on the hoodie, zipped it up to his chin, and slipped on silver half-rim glasses.
The person in the mirror looked like an ordinary programmer, but there was nothing soft about his gaze.
Watching him straighten his clothes, Emma Frost suddenly asked, "Are you going to let them know who you are?"
"Not tell them." He adjusted his glasses. "Let them recognize me themselves."
She smiled, got up, and walked to the metal case in the corner. Opening it, she took out a white-gray robe and put it on. It fitted close to her body, with subtle patterns on the cuffs and collar-a protective layer she had made herself. Her fingers moved, and a thin sheen appeared over her skin, as though she were wearing invisible armor.
"Shall we?" she said.
"Let's go."
Their vehicle was a modified electric cargo van, with no plates, wide tires, and a blast-resistant undercarriage. Ye Mo drove, and Emma Frost sat in the passenger seat. Neither spoke along the way. The deeper they went into the tunnel, the narrower it became, until they had to get out and walk. Rusty pipes and severed wires lined both sides of the passage. Water dripped overhead, and the ground was wet and slippery.
Two men in exoskeletons guarded the entrance, their faces behind masks, guns in their hands. Seeing them approach, one raised a hand to stop them.
"Identify yourselves."
Ye Mo said nothing. He took off his glasses and glanced sideways. His Thermal Vision activated-the man's heartbeat was fast, his adrenaline high. He was clearly nervous.
"What are you afraid of?" he asked quietly.
The man stiffened.
"Your orders are to stop people, but you don't know whom to stop. Your superiors only said, 'Don't let strangers in,' but you've never even seen everyone you're supposed to let through." Ye Mo put his glasses back on. "Right now, you're gambling. Gambling on whether we're people you can afford to cross."
The man's finger rested on the trigger. He didn't move.
"You can shoot right now." Ye Mo stepped forward. "Then tomorrow, the whole city will know you were the one who triggered the purge."
The air went still for a few seconds.
The other guard said something, and the first man pulled back his gun and stepped aside.
Ye Mo offered no thanks and walked straight into the hall.
Emma Frost followed behind him, surveying their surroundings. Hall Zero had originally been a subway maintenance room, now converted into a circular space. An open area occupied the center, surrounded by raised platforms where representatives of the various factions sat. The lighting was dim, surveillance cameras were hidden in the shadows, and everyone had brought bodyguards.
They had barely stopped when a projection beam fell on the floor ahead. A mechanical voice sounded:
"New faces. Identify yourselves."
Ye Mo looked toward the source of the voice. Someone was hidden near the main console.
"I'm Mr. X," he said.
The entire room fell silent for a moment.
Some sneered; others murmured. A mocking voice came from one of the private boxes. "Another lunatic looking to make a name for himself?"
Ye Mo ignored it and continued, "I'm not here to negotiate or form alliances. I'm here to confirm one thing-do you see the current situation clearly?"
"Oh?" The mechanical voice carried a laugh. "And what do you see?"
"I see the vacancy left by Obadiah's downfall, Hydra rebuilding a base in Congo, and the vibranium trade resuming." He paused. "I also see someone trying to use this gathering to wipe out all the factions that won't fall in line, in one stroke."
The crowd stirred.
"Who says?" someone shouted.
"I do." Ye Mo's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. "And I know that at least three of the people here tonight are Hydra moles. One of them is transmitting data outside right now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Emma Frost suddenly turned and stared at a man wearing an earpiece in a box on the right. His expression changed, and he reached for his ear.
Too late.
Ye Mo had already marked his device's signal. He pressed the controller in his hand. **Buzz-**a jamming wave spread, and the earpiece emitted a piercing electrical squeal. The man violently tore it off, blood flowing from his ear.
The entire room was shocked.
No one attacked, but the atmosphere changed. Those who had thought they were troublemakers now began to take a serious look at them.
The main console remained silent for a few seconds before the mechanical voice spoke again. "What does any of that prove?"
"That I know more than you do," Ye Mo said. "And that I dare to say it."
He looked around the room. "What happens next? Mutant activity will increase, and the government will intensify its investigations. New energy weapons will appear on the underground market, and prices will skyrocket. Some among you will suddenly disappear, and no one will know where they went."
"And then?" the mechanical voice asked.
"Then." Ye Mo looked at Emma Frost, and she nodded. "We'll appear everywhere we ought to appear. No warning, no traces left behind. You can pretend you don't see us, or you can choose to cooperate. But don't stand in our way."
The hall fell silent for a few seconds.
An old man on the left slowly began to clap. Once, twice. The applause wasn't loud, but it prompted others to join in. Some clapped along, some nodded, and others watched coldly.
But no one objected.
Ye Mo neither moved nor smiled. He knew that from this moment on, Mr. X was no longer code, but a person who truly existed.
Emma Frost leaned close to his ear and asked quietly, "When you said, 'We'll appear everywhere we ought to appear'-who's 'we'?"
He glanced at her, his voice very soft. "You and me."
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and she said nothing more.
The light at the main console went out, and the mechanical voice announced the start of the gathering. People emerged from the private boxes one after another, approaching them tentatively. A woman in a leather jacket spoke first. "May I ask a question?"
Ye Mo nodded.
"How do you know Hydra's communications frequency?"
He was about to answer when Emma Frost suddenly frowned and raised a hand to her temple.
The next second, her pupils contracted, and her body swayed.
Ye Mo immediately steadied her. "What's wrong?"
She drew a breath and lowered her voice. "Something... is reading my memories. It's not Telepathy. It's an external scan..."