When Ye Mo opened his eyes, the light above his head flickered again. This time he saw it clearly—it wasn't an unstable voltage, but a frequency flicker, three short and one long, like Morse code. He didn't move, but tapped his fingers lightly twice on the edge of the control panel, as if responding to Emma Frost's mark from earlier.
"That truck outside the east wall," he said in a low voice, "The thought disturbance has reappeared, deflected by fifteen degrees, as if adjusting the scanning angle."
Emma Frost stood at the door of the isolation pod, her long, dark gray robe covering her completely, a light sheen of sweat still clinging to her forehead from circulating her mental energy. She didn't turn around, only nodded. "It's not a homeless person scavenging for scraps, nor is it an ordinary detector. It's looking for something, or... confirming whether we've detected it."
The two exchanged a glance, neither of them smiling. Their ability to remain calm in this situation wasn't due to fear, but rather because fear was futile.
Ye Mo turned around and sat back down at the control panel, bringing up the 3D star map. The trajectory that stretched from the edge of Orion straight into Earth was still there, but the color was darker. He overlaid the three signal data points from the past twenty-four hours, stretched them into a timeline, and then connected them to the resonance record of the Vibranium fragment. The waveforms on the screen began to jump synchronously, like three lines connected on a heart rate monitor.
"The increase is 12.7 percent." He pointed to the inflection point of the curve, "And the Phase Shift is becoming increasingly obvious, indicating that it has passed through some kind of high-density spatial structure. It's not a naturally formed wormhole, but more like... an artificially folded passage."
Emma Frost walked over, her fingertip tracing a line in the air. Her residual psycho-data floated in mid-air, a blurry ripple. "I didn't sense any conscious activity, nor any residual emotions. If it were an Outer God projection, it would at least have some arrogance or madness, but this... it's too clean, like a the Fridge."
"So it's more likely the Type A hypothesis," Ye Mo continued, "Autonomous navigation weapons, unmanned ships, autonomously crashing into the Earth."
"We'll leave out the possibility of Category B," Emma Frost added. "It's also possible for mutant entities to be devoid of emotional fluctuations. For example, a Mutants has been modified into a pure combat module, whose consciousness has been stripped away."
Ye Mo stroked his chin and suddenly laughed, "Do you think it's possible that some lab lost its killer robot and is now hiding in a corner, too afraid to claim it?"
Emma Frost glanced at him sideways. "You're still in the mood for jokes at a time like this?"
"What else?" He shrugged. "Being so nervous that your hands are shaking won't solve anything. Anyway, the system isn't alarming, which means the trigger condition hasn't been met yet. What we can do now is list out all the possibilities and make keys for each one."
After he finished speaking, he opened the internal path diagram of the Gene Spiral Tower. It wasn't a holographic projection, nor a fancy interface; it was just a stream of data in his mind, which he could understand himself. Fire Core, Self-Healing, Wall Phasing, Regenerative Phasing preparation... He had tried these combinations of abilities countless times. Now, he needed to rearrange their priorities.
"The first plan remains unchanged," he said, solidifying the path in his mind. " Fire Core plus Self-Healing, head-on confrontation. As long as it's not an instantaneous vaporization attack, I can hold out for more than five seconds."
"Five seconds is enough for me to complete a mental localization." Emma Frost took over, already constructing her defense matrix model, "Level 1: Shield against the spread of group fear to prevent psychological warfare; Level 2: Lock onto the source of the invading consciousness, if it's in a mental form; Level 3: Reverse induction to reflect its own attacks back."
"Sounds like an anti-fraud app," Ye Mo muttered.
"If you dare let it fool you, I'll format your brain," she retorted expressionlessly.
The two bickered while breaking down their respective response procedures in the most detailed way. Ye Mo even marked the cooldown time - it takes forty-seven seconds to recover basic metabolic stability after the Fire Core eruption, the Wall Phasing mode will cause neural delay after being used twice in a row, and the Regenerative Phasing preparation is the trump card among trump cards, which should not be used unless absolutely necessary.
"Aren't you planning to activate the new level?" Emma Frost suddenly asked.
"I don't want to." Ye Mo shook his head. "Those twenty floors in the tower, opening each one is like defusing a bomb; no one knows what will explode next. This current setup may be rough, but it's reliable. In crucial moments, reliability is more important than brute force."
Emma Frost didn't say anything more. She knew he was telling the truth. Some people always strive for greater abilities, but those who truly survive are often the ones who know how to use old tricks to defeat new enemies.
Next is the issue of foreign players.
"We can't contact them first." Ye Mo immediately rejected the idea that had just popped into his head. "Sending a message would be like telling them, 'We know you're here.' Not only would it alert them, but it could also be intercepted and used to track them down."
"Then let's pre-set a trigger mechanism," Emma Frost suggested. "We'll package and encrypt the early warning data, and set conditions for automatic transmission. For example, detecting a large-scale mass panic, an abnormal power outage in the city, or a sudden change in the ionosphere."
"Smart." Ye Mo nodded. "Don't write specific names in the address, just leave a few reserved ports. Whoever is online can receive it, and if they're not, so be it. Anyway, we're not asking for help, we're just sending a message."
"I've added an extra layer of insurance," Emma Frost said, embedding a dynamic diffusion protocol into the Mental Network model. "Once a mental breakdown occurs, I'll immediately activate the three-tiered emergency response plan, using low-frequency pulses to scan the entire city's mental fluctuations and identify any blocked or controlled nodes."
"Just don't burn yourself out." Ye Mo glanced at her.
"Mind your own business," she scoffed. "But you, don't always try to be the first one charging in."
"I'm not trying to be a hero," he smiled. "I'm just worried you won't be able to keep up with my pace."
As he spoke, he had already completed the final calibration on the portable sensing device. This thing was pieced together from scrap armor parts; it was a bit ugly, but it could synchronize the status feedback of the Gene Spiral Tower in real time and could also connect to Emma Frost's mental radar.
Just then, a very slight tremor came from the east passage.
It wasn't footsteps, nor an explosion; it sounded more like the electromagnetic resonance of some kind of miniature device starting up.
Ye Mo and Emma Frost looked up at the same time.
"It's still there," Ye Mo said softly, "And it's changed the frequency, probably to upgrade the scanning accuracy."
"Should we deal with it now?" Emma Frost asked.
"No need," he shook his head. "It thinks it's well hidden, but it's already been exposed. If we act now, it will only reveal our reaction speed. Let it continue scanning, and only when it feels safe will it reveal its true target."
"Are you planning to play the long game?"
"To be precise, it's bait." Ye Mo stood up, grabbed the sensing device, and walked towards the entrance of the passage. "Since it dared to scout here, it means there must be something big behind it. What we need to do now is not to drive away the scouts, but to wait for it to finish drawing the map, and then follow its lines to find its lair."
Emma Frost followed, the hem of her robe sweeping the ground without making a sound. As she walked, she expanded the range of her mental surveillance, especially increasing the intensity of her detection within a thirty-meter radius of the abandoned truck.
The two slowly ascended along the internal passageway of the base. The metal steps echoed dully under their feet, and the emergency lights overhead still glowed a pale green, making the walls appear bluish. The higher they went, the more noticeable the airflow became, and the ventilation system was already preparing for the evacuation platform.
"This time is different from before," Ye Mo suddenly spoke, his voice very soft, as if talking to himself, "We're not avoiding trouble."
"But we don't need to be the first to charge in," Emma Frost replied without hesitation.
The two stopped and looked at each other from a distance of half a step. There were no extra expressions or sentimental glances. They just looked at each other for three seconds, then turned around at the same time and continued walking uphill.
Sometimes, tacit understanding doesn't need to be spoken.
Upon reaching the last set of steps, Ye Mo pressed the switch on the airtight door on the wall. The hydraulic system slowly activated, and the heavy alloy door slid open to both sides, revealing a short corridor leading to the evacuation platform at the top. Outside, it was still dark; the city's outline was hidden in the night, and the neon lights of distant high-rises flickered on and off, like breathing.
He pulled out a pair of silver half-rimmed glasses from his pocket and put them on. A faint light flashed on the lenses—it was the data projection from his portable device. The star map was still there, the trajectory was closer, and the estimated contact time had been shortened to five hours and forty-three minutes.
Emma Frost stood beside him, closed her eyes for a moment, and her Mental Network unfolded again. The location of the truck on the east side was still marked as a "suspicious point," and the scanning frequency decreased, as if it had completed its mission and was retreating.
"It's gone," she said.
"Or maybe they're just putting on a show." Ye Mo sneered. "Remember those coordinates. I'll have Tony send people to collect the scrap metal later."
After he finished speaking, he stepped towards the edge of the platform. A breeze blew in his face, carrying the unique coolness of the early morning. He raised his hand, and the indicator light on the sensing device changed from red to green, completing the final synchronization with the main system underground.
Three contingency plans have been finalized, collaboration interfaces have been pre-set, and escape routes have been marked. Everything that needed to be done has been done.
Now, all that's left is to wait.
Emma Frost walked to his side without speaking, but gently raised her hand to tuck a strand of wind-blown hair behind her ear. Her Diamond Form was not activated, but her silhouette was exceptionally clear in the dim light.
Ye Mo glanced at her, then looked up at the sky.
That straight line from deep space still pierces straight towards Earth.
His fingers tightened slightly as he gripped the start button on the side of the device.