The metallic scraping sound came again, closer than before, like someone scraping the inside of an iron pipe with their fingernail.
Ye Mo's eyelids twitched, but he didn't move. However, his fingers secretly touched the oil stains remaining in the crack in the wall. His throat was parched, his Regeneration system was still cramping, and the crack on his left hand, which had just healed, was now oozing a little blood again. But he knew that this time he couldn't wait for the other party to make the first move.
" Natasha," he called in a low voice, his tone like sandpaper scraping the bottom of a pot, "Is the terminal still connected?"
Black Widow crouched in front of the control panel, her fingers flying across the tattered screen, the graying shards reflecting her cold, stern face. "We can connect, but only for three minutes," she said, then paused, her pupils contracting slightly. "Wait—the signal has been traced back to ventilation shaft B-7, less than fifteen meters away."
"The usual." Captain America immediately replied, his voice low but piercing everyone's ears like a nail, " Bucky suppresses from the high ground, Emma Frost cuts off their communications, Ye Mo creates a smokescreen, Natasha defuses the bomb at close range, I'll advance head-on. Follow my orders, don't try to change the pace."
No one answered, but everyone started moving.
Bucky flipped and leaped onto the broken steel beam, his mechanical arm clicking to lock, the muzzle aimed at the crack in the ceiling; Emma Frost closed her eyes, veins throbbing on her forehead, her mental energy spreading out like a spider web; Ye Mo a deep breath, gathering a stream of low-heat fire in his palm, sweeping it along the ground towards the oil accumulated at the edge of the passage.
"Three, two, one—Let's go!"
Flames licked the ground, followed by a burst of thick, black smoke that reeked of burning rubber, instantly engulfing the entire west corridor. Almost simultaneously, the ceiling exploded, and three figures leaped down from the ventilation shaft, their exoskeletons glowing with a dark green light, their chest detonators flashing red lights.
"Target spotted!" Bucky roared, firing two shots simultaneously. The bullets pierced the smoke and struck the exoskeleton's knee joint. The man staggered to his knees, and before he could get up, Emma Frost's eyes flashed, and a mental shock struck his brain like a hammer blow—the enemy's headset crackled with static, and the remote command was interrupted.
Black Widow stealthily moved through the smoke, sliding along the wall, her dagger twirling between her fingers. The next second, she was behind the nearest person. With a twist of her wrist, the electromagnetic pulse blade pierced the energy pack, instantly depressurizing the exoskeleton and extinguishing the red light. The man struggled to turn around, and she stared coldly at him. "Next time, choose a quieter way to commit suicide."
The last assassin lunged at the terminal, only two steps away from the control panel.
Captain America swung his shield with precise arc, the edge slicing into the man's shin, sending him sprawling to the ground. The man, however, didn't give up, reaching for the detonation button.
Ye Mo gritted his teeth and rushed out of the smoke, stepping on the man's wrist with one foot and pressing his other hand against the oil stains on the ground, reigniting the flames and forcing the man to pull his hand back. He looked down at the face hidden by the mask and panted, "Dude, didn't your mom teach you to knock before taking someone else's computer?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Captain America pressed his shield against the man's neck, subduing him completely.
The four people stood back to back, breathing heavily, but their formation remained intact.
"All three are under control," Bucky reported in a low voice after checking the prisoners' condition. "The detonator has been physically removed, and the power supply has been cut off. They won't explode again."
"The terminal data has been recovered." Black Widow sat on the floor, her fingers still sliding across the keyboard, her tone calm. "I intercepted an encrypted call log. The IP address hopped seven times, the last time landing on an abandoned base station in the east of the city—that place has been shut down for a long time."
"What does that mean?" Ye Mo wiped his face; the nosebleed had stopped, but his head was still buzzing.
"This means someone is still remotely controlling things." She looked up. "And not just an ordinary Hydra agent, but someone with insider technician-level privileges. Logs show he's trying to load a delayed command package, attempting to bypass our current defense protocols."
"Then don't let him succeed." Emma Frost opened her eyes, her voice weak but unwavering. She closed her eyes again, her mental energy probing like a needle, scanning backward along the remaining signal traces, finally capturing the transmission band in the last millisecond. "Found it... uploading... I'll... interrupt it now."
She suddenly opened her eyes, a gasp rising in her throat, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
"Is it broken?" Captain America asked.
"It's broken." She nodded, swaying slightly before leaning against the wall to avoid collapsing. "The command packet wasn't sent out, the backup plan failed. That person... is now just a rat hiding in the base station, unable to cause any trouble."
"That's him." Ye Mo grinned, though it looked more like a grimace. "That 'fallen' technician at post L-7, he played dead quite convincingly, too bad he forgot to shut down the local cell tower."
" S.H.I.E.L.D.. will come and get him at daybreak." Captain America looked around. "But first, we need to confirm one thing—whether we've won this battle or not."
After he finished speaking, he walked to the control panel and reached out to press the main power switch.
"The alert is lifted," he whispered, pulling down the switch forcefully.
With a hiss, all the red warning lights in the base went out one by one, the alarms stopped sounding, and the map projected on the wall went dark. The entire space fell silent, with only the heavy breathing of the group and the sound of dripping water in the distance.
A few seconds later, someone looked up first.
Outside the window, a wisp of gray appeared on the horizon, as if someone had secretly lifted the curtain of night. Then, the first streetlamp on the corner lit up, followed by the second, the third... Lights began to shine from the windows of a residential building, someone drew back the curtains, and the figures of children running around inside flashed by.
The city has awakened.
No one spoke.
Ye Mo leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down to the floor, his left hand outstretched as he watched the crack heal little by little. He suddenly chuckled, his voice hoarse. "Hey, next time, could you please choose a villain who doesn't blow up buildings? I can barely afford the road repair fees."
Bucky gave a soft snort; the robotic arm's cooling fan was still humming, but he raised his hand and gently punched Captain America's shoulder.
Captain America didn't dodge; instead, he smirked.
Black Widow closed her terminal, put it back in her backpack, sheathed her dagger, and looked up at the sky. The morning light shone on her face, revealing a thin layer of sweat and a few scratches, but her gaze softened.
Emma Frost slowly reverted to her Diamond Form, her face as pale as paper, but she still looked at Ye Mo and nodded.
Five people stood in the middle of the ruins, covered in dust and with tattered clothes. Some leaned against the wall, some held onto shields, and some struggled to even stand upright. But none of them left, nor did they order a evacuation. They just stood there, looking at each other's disheveled state, and suddenly they all laughed.
It wasn't a loud laugh, nor a cheer, but just that kind of laugh—a laugh of "I made it through, it was really tough."
Ye Mo tried to stand up, but his legs gave way and he sat back down. He decided not to get up at all, looking up at the gradually brightening sky, and murmured, "Finally... some peace and quiet."
Captain America walked over to him and extended his hand.
He was stunned for a moment, then grabbed it and was pulled up.
"It's not over yet," Captain America said. "But we won this battle."
"I know." Ye Mo dusted himself off and stretched his stiff shoulders. "So, shouldn't you treat me to a meal? After all, I've saved your life, a barbecue isn't too much to ask, is it?"
Bucky rolled his eyes.
Black Widow shook her head and smiled.
Emma Frost leaned against the broken wall, a slight smile playing on her lips, almost imperceptible.
In the distance, an early morning bus slowly drove through the empty street, its headlights piercing the morning mist, leaving a brief but warm trail of light.
Ye Mo stood there, the cracks on his left hand mostly healed, the nosebleed had stopped, and his head was still throbbing, but he was conscious. He didn't say anything more, just put his hands in his pockets and watched the bus disappear around the corner.
The wind blew in, carrying with it dust and a sliver of sunlight.