Ye Mo leaned against the cover, his palms still slightly hot, as if he had just touched a scorching hot iron plate. He looked down at his hands; the skin wasn't broken, but the burning sensation lingered, as if the system had secretly inserted a heating wire into his nerves. He shook his hands a couple of times and moved his shoulders; his bones cracked. It didn't hurt, just a little sore, like being suddenly called to carry water jugs after running five kilometers.
"System, stop playing dead," he muttered to himself. "Even if you don't give me the charging bar, at least make a sound."
Nothing happened. That thing is always like that, like a cold, aloof customer service representative, just doing its job and never chatting.
He glanced around the battlefield. Smoke was still billowing, but the fire had been extinguished. The EMP device lay slumped in a corner, emitting white smoke. Half of the communication tower had collapsed. The enemies were all lying prone, either pinned to the ground or sitting blankly, their eyes vacant as if their internet cables had been disconnected. Captain America stood in the center of the control area, his shield tucked into his side. The wound on his left arm had long since dried. He stood ramrod straight, speaking into his headset, "Site C cleared. Remaining enemies taken into custody. No one escaped."
"Received," came the short reply through the headset.
Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief and was about to move back a couple of steps to find a clean place to sit down when suddenly his ears twitched—something was wrong.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the twelfth level of the Gene Spiral Tower. The energy of the Group Healing had not completely dissipated, floating like a thin mist on the edge of his perception. He fine-tuned this flow, stretching it into thin lines and spreading it outwards. Thirty meters... forty meters... a heat source distribution map slowly took shape in his mind.
Three abnormalities were found.
At the west ventilation opening, two mobile signal stalks crept along the wall, their movements light and steady—not a panicked escape, but stealthy advance. Another stalk hid behind the collapsed wall on the east side, holding a palm-sized device with a lit screen, transmitting a signal.
" Black Widow!" Ye Mo spoke, his voice not loud, but loud enough for those nearby to hear, "Someone has restarted the communicator on the eastern ruins."
Natasha reacted almost instantly. She flipped off the overpass, landing silently, and fired a shot. The stun gun struck the target in the back of the head with a "thud," and the man twitched twice before going still.
"Done." She holstered her gun and glanced at Ye Mo. "Your super hearing has improved again?"
"Not ears, brain." Ye Mo waved his hand. "That move just now was too taxing. Now we can only rely on the remaining energy to scan a bit more. We need to use it sparingly."
Before he could finish speaking, a metallic scraping sound came from the west ventilation opening. Bucky had arrived; his robotic arm snapped open, locking the pipe connection. Captain America and his men sealed the exit, blocking the two who were trying to escape in pairs.
"Don't move," Captain America's voice turned cold. "You're surrounded."
No one resisted. One of them simply sat on the ground, covering his head with his hands. The other tried to run, but Bucky lunged forward and chopped him in the neck with a chop, causing him to collapse on the spot.
Emma Frost opened her eyes at this moment. She had been sitting in front of the terminal, her fingers resting on her temples. Her complexion was much better than before, her breathing was steady, and her mental burden was basically zero.
"They didn't act spontaneously," she began, her voice slightly hoarse. "I caught a lingering thought from my racing heart—'retreat command,' repeated three times, like a pre-programmed sequence."
"Remote control?" Ye Mo asked.
"More or less." Emma Frost nodded. "The orders come from outside; the executors are merely receivers, not even having time to feel fear."
Captain America frowned. "Testing us? Or collecting data?"
"Anything is possible." Ye Mo walked over to the stunned transmitter, squatted down, and glanced at the model number. "An old Stark Industries obsolete model. It was the same thing used in the attack three months ago; the frequency matches. It's not a coincidence; it's the same group of people."
Bucky walked over and kicked the fallen enemy. "Since you know it's a test, go after them and wipe out their hideout."
"No way." Ye Mo immediately shook his head. "The fact that they dared to send a small force means they have a backup plan. If we pursue them now, the base will be vulnerable. If another surprise attack comes, we won't even have time to react."
"Letting them go is tantamount to letting them take the intelligence back with them." Bucky stared at him.
"They can't take it," Emma Frost suddenly said. "I just cut off the signal upload channel; the last data packet was blocked in my local cache. They only know we're alive, but they don't know how we survived."
Captain America paused for two seconds, then looked around. " Ye Mo is right. The enemy's equipment is outdated, but their movements are precise and their tactical coordination is tight. They're clearly here to test our defensive response. This kind of attack won't decide the outcome immediately; it's more about gathering intelligence."
He turned and walked towards the main control panel: "All personnel retreat to the core area, activate the level two protective barrier. Black Widow, reset the trap mechanisms; Bucky, check the armory status; Emma Frost, access the encrypted logs and begin reverse tracing the signal source. Ye Mo— "
"I'm here." Ye Mo stood against the wall, not moving.
"You just used Group Healing, how long can you last now?"
"It can't handle the new tricks," Ye Mo answered honestly, "But maintaining low-power scanning is no problem; it can fill in the blind spots in the surveillance."
"Then you'll be in charge of perimeter surveillance." Captain America nodded. "Keep the range within forty meters, and report any anomalies immediately."
At the command, the team sprang into action. Black Widow climbed to the high observation window inside, repositioned her sniper rifle, and aimed it at the east passage. Bucky checked the armory, casually stuffing a few spare magazines into his tactical vest before heading to patrol the east entrance. Emma Frost returned to her terminal, her fingers flying across the keyboard, the log data scrolling by, while she maintained a mental connection, ready to detect any fluctuations in consciousness.
Ye Mo leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and converted the remaining Group Healing energy into a continuous Scanning Wave. This was a tiring task, but he dared not sleep. He knew that the real danger was never on the battlefield, but in the few minutes after the battle ended—the moment people relaxed, the loopholes would appear.
The control room fell silent, save for the hum of the equipment and the tapping of keyboards. Outside the window, the night was deep, and the area outside the base was pitch black, as if it had been swallowed up by something.
Half an hour later.
"The signal tracing is halfway complete," Emma Frost suddenly spoke up. "The source jumped three times, the last time stopping near the abandoned L-7 subway line. That used to be Hydra stronghold, but it was cleared out, so theoretically there shouldn't be anyone there."
"Theoretically," Ye Mo opened his eyes, "But who would use the same frequency from three months ago? Unless they specifically want us to recognize them."
Captain America stood in front of the control panel, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "Deliberately revealing our location? To lure us there?"
"It could also be a smokescreen," Black Widow chimed in from her vantage point. "Send a small squad to their deaths first, then leave a false clue so that when we split up, the main force can attack from another direction."
"So we can't move." Ye Mo leaned against the wall, his palms starting to burn again. "We'll stay here, lights on, guns loaded, waiting for someone to knock on the door."
Captain America nodded. "Then proceed as planned. Everyone take turns on duty, remain vigilant. We won this round, but the show isn't over yet."
After he finished speaking, he turned and walked to the command console, picked up his water bottle and took a sip, his gaze sweeping across the monitor screen. All passages were sealed off, the barriers were functioning normally, and vital signs monitoring showed that everyone was in stable condition.
Ye Mo didn't speak again. He leaned against the wall, his eyes half-closed, his consciousness still connected to the Scanning Wave. Within a forty-meter range, he could detect even the slightest movement. He could feel Emma Frost's Mental Network spreading out above his head, like an invisible membrane, quietly covering the entire area.
In the distance, a mouse scurried across the corridor, triggering an infrared alarm. The alarm was deactivated after three seconds, and the system marked it as a non-threat.
Ten more minutes passed.
"There's vibration in the pipes on the east side." Ye Mo suddenly opened his eyes. "It's slight, with a regular rhythm, unlike a natural phenomenon."
Everyone moved.
Black Widow immediately adjusted her gun, Bucky gripped his weapon tightly, and Captain America raised his hand to signal for calm.
"Don't panic." Ye Mo closed his eyes and probed again. "It's not an enemy, it's just the resonance from the ventilation system restarting. False alarm."
Everyone gradually relaxed.
Emma Frost glanced at him. "You're really good at holding it in."
"Thick skin means a tough life." Ye Mo grinned, his voice a little hoarse. "Besides, if I don't keep an eye on things, who will?"
What he didn't say was that the burning sensation in his palms was getting stronger and stronger, as if something was slowly burning under his skin. He knew this was a residual reaction after using his ability, and he had to endure it.
It was still dark outside, and the base was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.
Ye Mo leaned against the wall, his gaze sweeping across the darkness outside the window. He didn't move, nor did he sleep. He knew the enemy had fled, but the battle wasn't over.