Ye Mo's left arm was still smoking, a burnt smell mixed with the metallic sheen filling his nostrils. He leaned against the broken pipe, his fingers gripping the edge so tightly his knuckles turned white. The black-robed body before him— Malekith —was rising and falling more and more slowly, but the black blood on the ground seemed to come alive, slowly writhing, outlining the shape of a seven-pointed star. He was about to warn Emma Frost and Thor not to let their guard down when suddenly, the remaining black light trembled violently.
"Buzz--"
A low-frequency vibration came from underground, like something poking the heart of the entire planet.
Immediately afterwards, a dark golden stream of light exploded from Malekith's chest, so fast that even Thor couldn't react. The light twisted a few times in the air, like a swarm of fireflies scattered, and instantly exploded into billions of tiny points of light, scattering in all directions, penetrating rock walls, skimming over scorched earth, and disappearing into cracks in the blink of an eye.
Ye Mo's pupils contracted. "What the hell?"
He instinctively reached out to grab it, only to find an empty handful of hot air. Looking around, the previously dense and impenetrable dark energy field had suddenly thinned considerably, and the oppressive feeling in the air that had made it hard to breathe had also receded like the tide.
" The Aether... got away?" Emma Frost opened her eyes, her voice hoarse like sandpaper grinding against sheet metal. She leaned against the rock wall, her fingertips pressing her temples, and scanned the area with her mental energy. Her brows immediately furrowed. "Something's wrong. They're not just drifting randomly; they're... directional."
Thor straightened up, leaning on his hammer, and looked up at the sky. The arcs of electricity on Mjolnir flickered weakly, barely illuminating half his face. " The Asgard texts mention it," he said, " the Aether abhors stillness; it seeks a vessel to contain it, or... a low-lying place."
"Low-lying area?" Ye Mo looked down at the cracks in the ground. "You mean, this thing can find a place to hide on its own?"
"More or less," Thor nodded, "But it's never been this dispersed. Usually it only flows to one core."
Ye Mo stopped wasting words, closed his eyes, and concentrated on ramming into the " Gene Spiral Tower " in his mind. Since awakening this broken system after transmigrating, he had tried various methods to summon his abilities—telepathic communication, reciting incantations, and even kowtowing against the wall (that time was purely out of desperation due to the pain), but he finally discovered that the most effective method was "hard ramming." What he was looking for now was a fragment of an ability he had picked up in the ruins of a laboratory earlier: Microscopic Perception). At that time, he had come into contact with a deceased mutant scientist, whose ability was incomplete; he could only barely see the trajectory of energy fluctuations, and the duration was shorter than the time it took to finish a bag of spicy strips.
But for now, it's enough.
My vision went black, and when I opened my eyes again, the world had changed.
Countless extremely fine golden threads appeared in the air, like spider webs ruffled by the wind, radiating from the spot where Malekith had fallen, pointing in the east, west, and north directions respectively. Each thread was trembling slightly, as if being pulled by some unseen force.
"Damn... it really does follow a pattern." Ye Mo opened his eyes and cursed under his breath.
"What did you see?" Thor asked.
"The particles didn't disperse." Ye Mo wiped his face, forcibly suppressing the throbbing in his head. "They split into three streams, like three rivers, flowing in different directions. The one to the east is the strongest, flowing down through the valley; the one to the west travels high in the sky, moving the fastest; the one to the north crawls along the ground, slow but stable."
Emma Frost leaned against the rock wall to stand up. Although her face was still frighteningly pale, her eyes had regained some of their sharpness. "I can sense the movement in the near-space; there is indeed a collective shift." She paused, "But that doesn't mean we can find them all. Once they sink underground or blend into the structure, my Mental Scan will fail."
"Then we'll split up." Ye Mo made the decision immediately. "I'll go to the eastern valley area. The magnetic field there is chaotic, which is suitable for hiding things. Plus, the terrain is complex, so it'll be easier to deal with any ambushes. Emma Frost, you'll be in charge of scanning the internal structure, probing deeper along the particle trajectory; Thor, you'll fly high in the sky to patrol, as you have the widest field of view. Keep an eye on the western line and don't let it escape the atmosphere."
Thor glanced at him. "Aren't you tired?"
"I'm exhausted, my legs are practically aching." Ye Mo grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "But tell me, among the three of us, who's the best at finding bargains? Who can always pull out something good from a pile of junk? The system won't help me, so if I don't do it myself, am I supposed to wait for a windfall?"
Emma Frost scoffed, "You really don't hold back."
"Don't be so polite, we're like family." Ye Mo stretched his shoulders, the Steel Bone making a few soft "crack" sounds. "Besides, one of you can fly and the other can read minds, while I'm only thick-skinned and tough, I rely entirely on my brains to make a living."
Thor shook his head and chuckled, gripping the hammer handle tightly. "Alright, Earthling. The East is yours, the West is mine. If you spot anything unusual, don't try to fight it; send a signal."
"I know, I know." Ye Mo waved his hand. "I'm not the kind of person who has to go and finish off the boss after defeating it."
After he finished speaking, he looked down at his still-smoking left arm, gritted his teeth, tore off a piece of his hoodie sleeve and wrapped it around his arm, then picked up a piece of Vibranium from the ground and stuffed it into his pocket—it was left over from the previous battle, and although it was as small as a fingernail, it could be used as a signal in a critical moment.
Emma Frost walked over to him and whispered, "The magnetic field interference in Donggu is strong; your senses might be intermittent. Keep moving and don't stay in one place for too long."
"Understood." Ye Mo nodded. "Don't push yourself. If your mental strength isn't enough, just retreat. Nobody's forcing you to be a perpetual motion machine."
Emma Frost glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded slightly.
The three checked their own status. Ye Mo confirmed that Steel Bone could still maintain basic defense, Emma Frost closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing for a moment to confirm that the Telepathy module was barely usable, and Thor looked up at the sky, waiting for Mjolnir to be charged enough to support short-distance flight.
The atmosphere quieted down.
The battle had exhausted them completely, and even breathing felt heavy with fatigue. But they knew they couldn't stop. Once the Aether were fully integrated into the environment, recovering them would require the resources of the entire planet, and they didn't even have a single intact spaceship.
"Ready?" Ye Mo looked up at the two of them.
Emma Frost opened her eyes, her gaze cool but firm. "Anytime."
Thor raised his hammer, and arcs of electricity finally coiled around it again, though not as dazzling as before, but still enough to cleave the dark clouds. "Let's go, before it gets too far."
Ye Mo took a deep breath, turned around, and strode forward. His feet crunched softly on the scorched earth. He walked towards the eastern valley, his shadow stretching long in the dim light. Each step was slow but steady.
Emma Frost stood still until his figure was about to disappear into the shadows of the ravine, then whispered, "Don't die in a place like that."
Ye Mo paused, turned around, and made a gesture at her—two fingers tapping her eyes, then pointing at her, meaning, "I'm watching you, don't even think about sneaking away."
Then he turned back and continued walking.
Thor glanced one last time at the spot where Malekith had fallen, where only a pool of dried black blood and a faint seven-pointed star mark remained. He snorted coldly, shook his hammer, and soared into the air, tearing through the gray sky as he flew westward.
The battlefield returned to silence.
The wind blew through the canyon mouth, swirling up a few charred metal fragments. On the ground, an almost invisible golden line crawled slowly along the crack, like a miniature snake migrating and silently burrowing into the depths of the earth.
Ye Mo was walking ahead when he suddenly stopped.
He sensed—about thirty meters to his right front—an extremely faint energy fluctuation, as if some kind of resonance was forming.
He stopped, squinted, reached into his pocket, pulled out the Vibranium fragment, and gently held it in his palm.
The temperature seems to have risen a bit.