The wind swirled ash and soot through the ruins. Ye Mo dragged his completely broken right leg, each step feeling like walking on shards of glass. The electrical arcs in his left arm had long since died out, leaving only a tingling numbness in his fingertips, like the aftershock of a mosquito bite. He didn't turn around, but he could feel Thor and Emma Frost following behind, their footsteps heavy enough to drown out the rhythm of dripping water.
"You really don't plan to go back to base?" Thor's voice came from behind him, rough with weariness. "In the state you are, you can barely stand, let alone chase someone."
Ye Mo didn't stop. He limped forward two more steps and finally squatted down in front of the circle of dark runes. When he touched the ground with his palm, the heat had long since dissipated, leaving only a layer of dry, carbonized residue that felt like old wall plaster.
"I'm not going back." He kept his head down, his voice low, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "He just left; the spatial folds still retain warmth. Going back now would be admitting defeat."
Emma Frost stood slightly behind him, her silver hair brushing against her cheeks in the wind. She wiped the dried blood from the corner of her mouth, her gaze sweeping over the ring of runes. " Dark Elves ' technology has a shielding layer; my mental energy can't penetrate it."
"Then don't use mental power." Ye Mo closed his eyes, pressed his left hand to his forehead, and silently chanted in his mind, "System, detect if there are any residual Mutants- level spatial disturbances in the surrounding area."
There were no notification sounds, no pop-ups, nothing at all. But he knew the system was working—after all, this thing never liked to talk, like a socially awkward programmer, only responsible for running data in the background.
A few seconds later, the 19th floor of the " Gene Spiral Tower " deep within my consciousness trembled slightly, as if someone had gently knocked on the door.
[Non-standard dimensional transition residual frequencies detected, matching in progress...]
Ye Mo paused, then immediately activated his consciousness, retrieving two fragments of abilities sealed within the tower: one was the spatial sensing waveform left by the Shadowcat when Wall Phasing, and the other was a fragment of spatial memory from the Nightcrawler's jump. These were both obscure items he had acquired years ago, and he had never found a suitable way to combine them; now he was going to try piecing them together.
He crammed the two data sets into the sensing module and forcibly merged them.
His mind went blank for a moment, as if someone had stirred his brain with an iron spoon. His vision went black instantly, his ears were filled with high-frequency noise, and a metallic smell filled his nostrils. But he gritted his teeth and didn't let go, stubbornly fixing his consciousness on that faint fluctuation.
"There's something..." His throat tightened, and his voice was extremely low. "It's not a wormhole, nor is it a wide, open passage like Bifrost... It's more like a knife slicing through a cloth and then quickly pulling out the thread."
Emma Frost frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Dark Domain Rift." Ye Mo opened his eyes, his pupils still trembling slightly. "Those blind passages that even the Asgard main system doesn't bother to mark. They take this route to shake off their trackers."
Thor squinted. "You mean, he escaped into deep space?"
"It's not just about escaping." Ye Mo reached out and traced a circle around the edge of the rune array. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his fingertips, as if his skin had been cut by invisible threads. He jerked his hand back, revealing a thin, long cut on his palm.
"Is this... feedback from spatial folds?" Emma Frost leaned closer to look.
"Yes." Ye Mo stared at the wound, then smiled. "Just like when you row a boat, ripples are left on the water. When he tore open the crack, he also left a mark. It's just too faint; ordinary people can't even notice it."
"But you're not an ordinary person anymore." Thor placed his hand on Mjolnir, his tone softening. "Can you follow this trail to get there?"
"I might not be able to catch up," Ye Mo shook his head, "But I can determine the direction. And..." He paused, looking up at the night sky, "He doesn't know I can sense fluctuations of this level. So he won't deliberately conceal his subsequent path."
Emma Frost was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "You want to leave now?"
"The faster the better." Ye Mo tried to stand up by bracing himself on the ground, but the Steel Bone fragments in his right leg snapped and dislocated, almost causing him to fall. He cursed and dug his left hand into the cement crack for leverage, finally managing to kneel firmly again.
"You're not in good shape." Emma Frost took a half step forward. "Your nerve signals are trembling. Forcing yourself to activate higher-level perception will at best cause you to faint, and at worst, cause your mind to break down."
"I know," Ye Mo said, catching his breath, "But by the time I've repaired my leg, it'll be too late. He has the Aether in his hand now, and could launch his next move at any moment. Our only chance of winning is to make him think we can't find him."
Thor, holding his hammer, glanced at him and said, "You're just like Tony, all talk and no action."
"I'm more pragmatic than him," Ye Mo grinned. "At least I don't rely on armor to make a show of force."
The air was still for a few seconds. In the distance, the pipes were still leaking air, hissing and gurgling, like some kind of creature panting.
Thor finally sighed, "I could use the secondary fissures at the edge of the Bifrost without reporting through the main passage. But that path is unstable; a slight deviation could send me flying into the asteroid belt."
"It's better than standing still and waiting to die." Ye Mo looked down at his crippled leg, his brows furrowed. "The problem is... can my body withstand the impact of the teleportation?"
Emma Frost didn't speak, but instead raised her hand, a faint silver light emanating from her palm. It was the rudimentary form of her Mental Barrier; although it hadn't fully recovered, it was enough to form a basic protective barrier.
"I can stabilize your nerve signals," she said, "But only for short jumps. Once we enter deep space, beyond my capabilities, you'll have to rely on yourself."
Ye Mo glanced at her, didn't stand on ceremony, and simply nodded. "Thanks."
Thor slammed his hammer on the ground. "Stop dawdling. Set our course, and let's get going."
"Wait." Ye Mo closed his eyes, focused his consciousness again, and slowly spread out his perception field. This time, he no longer relied on the system's automatic matching, but actively recalled the spatial ability scenes he had encountered before—the battle when Wade tore open the dimensional rift, the scene of the air shattering like glass; and another time in an abandoned laboratory, a Mutants failed to Teleportation, leaving behind a distorted light and shadow.
He retrieved these fragments one by one and compared them with the fluctuations he had currently captured.
Time ticked by, and sweat began to bead on his forehead, his temples throbbing. Just as Emma Frost was about to speak to him, he suddenly opened his eyes.
"Found it!"
The sound wasn't loud, but it made the other two tense up at the same time.
"The trajectory is intermittent, but it definitely exists." Ye Mo pointed to the northeastern night sky. "It's not a straight line, but rather Spatial Jump, each pause lasting no more than three seconds. He's moving very cautiously, clearly afraid of being tracked."
"But it still leaked." Thor sneered.
"Even the most careful person will leave a mark." Ye Mo slowly stood up, this time barely supporting himself with his left leg and Emma Frost's hand. "It's like when you wipe a table, you'll always miss some dust in the corners."
"So, what's the direction?" Emma Frost asked.
"Deep space, the coordinates can't be pinpointed precisely, but it's roughly in the abandoned star system of the outer Orion." Ye Mo took a deep breath. "There are constant interstellar dust storms there, and many radar blind spots, making it suitable for hiding."
Thor nodded. "I can guide the cracks at the edge of the Bifrost toward that area. But I can only get you to the outer edge; you'll have to fly the rest of the way yourself."
"Enough." Ye Mo clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white. "As long as we can leave Earth, there's a chance."
Emma Frost looked at him, her voice soft. "Are you sure you want to do this? Once you set off, there's no turning back. Your injuries might worsen along the way."
"We have nowhere left to retreat." Ye Mo looked up at the dark sky, his voice almost inaudible. "We lost that battle too cleanly. He didn't even fight seriously before taking the most crucial item. If we don't pursue now, we'll only become more passive later."
Thor looked at him silently, then suddenly smiled, "You know what? Your reckless spirit is a bit like my brother's."
" Loki?" Ye Mo raised an eyebrow.
"No," Thor shook his head, "It was when I was young."
He raised Mjolnir, its Hammerhead glowing faintly, and the surrounding air began to subtly distort.
"Then let's go," he said. "Don't let that guy in the black robe think he's already won this round."
Emma Frost took a deep breath, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and her Mental Barrier slowly unfolded, forming a thin and stable silver light membrane that enveloped Ye Mo. She could feel that his nerve signals were still fluctuating violently, like a string that could break at any moment.
"Hang in there," she whispered. "Don't let me down halfway."
Ye Mo grinned, but didn't say anything.
Thor began chanting an ancient incantation, and runes on his hammer lit up one by one. The ground trembled slightly, and a narrow crack appeared in the air, as if it had been cleaved open with a knife, through which a ghostly blue light shone.
"The rift can only last five minutes," Thor warned. "Don't move around once you're inside; I'll control the flow."
Ye Mo nodded, leaning on his intact left leg, and moved step by step toward the crack. Emma Frost followed closely behind, her Mental Barrier firmly protecting the two of them.
Just as they were about to step into the crevice, Ye Mo suddenly stopped and looked back at the ruins behind him.
The charred rune array is still there, silently etched into the cement floor like an unhealed scar.
He didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand and gave that spot the middle finger.
Then he turned around and stepped into the light.
The cracks slowly closed behind them, and the wind stirred up the Ashes again, swirling them in the empty workshop.
The night sky remained calm, and the stars twinkled silently.
At the distant edge of the universe, a faint ripple in space is quietly spreading, like a knife mark in the night, unnoticed by anyone, yet pointing towards the center of a storm.