The purple light on the high cliff was still flashing, each flash faster than the last, like the shaky screen of an old-fashioned television with a bad signal. Ye Mo leaned against the pile of rubble, his fingers digging into the cracks in the ground. The warmth in his palms had long since dissipated, and even the tendons beneath his skin were starting to ache. He didn't move, nor did he dare to breathe heavily, but his ears were perked up—not to listen to the wind, but to wait for a sound.
Star-Lord suddenly hummed half a line of a song, keeping the tune extremely low, as if afraid of waking someone.
Ye Mo's eyelids twitched, and she turned her head to look at him.
"Don't look at me like that." Star-Lord didn't turn around, his fingers lightly tapping the barrels of his dual pistols. "I know you're thinking, 'Not again? What can music do?' But this time is different."
He paused, then pulled a flat earphone from his belt pocket. The edges were chipped and the loose threads were wrapped several times with tape. "I was wearing it when I was closest to the Power Stone. They were playing 'Come and Get Your Love,' and just as the drumbeat started, the earphone suddenly exploded with a loud bang, like being struck by lightning. The diaphragm ruptured, and a current rushed into my ear canal, making me so numb I almost dropped my gun."
Ye Mo remained silent, staring at the broken earphones in his hand.
"I'm not saying it's incredibly powerful," Star-Lord said, raising his eyes. "I mean, that thing reacts to frequencies. Ronan is standing on it charging right now, his rhythm as steady as a metronome, thump, thump, thump... But every time he taps the scepter, a flash of purple light appears, and the energy waveform actually changes subtly. Before the last attack, the lingering buzzing in my ears changed frequency three times, each time sharper than the last, and the last time almost ruptured my eardrums."
Ye Mo finally spoke, "You mean, the gem is on the verge of overload?"
"Exactly!" Star-Lord's eyes lit up. "It's like a kettle boiling over; if you don't turn off the heat, it'll explode. But whether it explodes or not doesn't depend on the temperature, but on whether the pressure valve is loose. Ronan is just toughing it out right now, relying on his body to sustain his output, but his armor wasn't designed for that. With each charge, the energy swirls internally, accumulating more and more. Once an external vibration enters—like a sound with a specific rhythm—it could tear it apart from the inside."
Ye Mo lowered his head, his finger tracing two short horizontal lines on the ground, which then connected to form a wave crest. "Are you sure it's a sound wave? Not an electromagnetic pulse or vibration?"
"I'm not sure exactly which one," Star-Lord shook his head. "But I'd bet it's a rhythm problem. You see him tapping his scepter, the intervals are almost identical, which means he's controlling the output frequency. If he were just firing randomly, he wouldn't need to be so disciplined. What he's afraid of is chaos, the energy backlash. So as long as we disrupt this rhythm, even for half a second, his internal circulation will break down."
Ye Mo closed his eyes and reviewed the energy fluctuation data he had sensed earlier. The remnants of the Healing Factor were still sensitive to the chaotic field, and that "jagged feeling" was indeed present—every time Ronan exerted his power, a brief energy turbulence would appear around the crack in his right shoulder armor, like air bubbles blocking a water pipe.
"Your statement..." he opened his eyes, "Makes some sense."
"What do you mean 'a little'?" Star-Lord rolled his eyes. "This is experience I gained by risking my life! You think I play music every day just to show off? I've been wandering the universe for so many years, what strange energy reactions haven't I seen? Resonance is the most deadly; a piece of glass can be shattered by music, let alone a rock filled with energy!"
Ye Mo didn't laugh; instead, he sat up straighter. "Have you tried using a different rhythm to interfere with it? Like, faster, or slower?"
"No chance." Star-Lord shrugged. "Last time, I was blasted away as soon as I got close. But I remember, the moment my headphones malfunctioned, Ronan's movements froze for less than half a second, but he stopped. Like... a program that ran the wrong instruction and had to reload."
Ye Mo stared at the top of the cliff, slowly uttering a few words: "Rhythm... is the switch."
"That's right." Star-Lord nodded. "It's not about breaking through the armor, it's about making it explode on its own. We don't need to break the lock, just a gentle push and the door will open by itself."
The two fell silent. The sound of rocks cracking in the distance grew louder, as if something was crawling underground. Ye Mo didn't move, but his finger secretly drew a circle on the ground, marking the "rhythm break point" that Star-Lord had mentioned in his mind.
"You said before that you wanted to use music to control me," he suddenly asked, "Do you still think it's just control now?"
Star-Lord grinned. "Now I think it was the fuse."
Ye Mo nodded. He recalled the plan set in the previous chapter: Star-Lord's song, Rocket's EMP, Groot's ground tremor—a triple interference. Originally, it was just to create chaos and give Gamora a chance to launch a surprise attack. But now it seemed that if these three interferences were synchronized precisely, they could completely form a directional resonance impact.
"Your music provides the main frequency," Ye Mo quickly summarized. " The Rocket's EMP creates electromagnetic disturbances, which is equivalent to adding noise; Groot's Quake are physical oscillations. The three superimposed perfectly cover the three dimensions of sound, electricity, and force. If the timing is right, it will hit his charging critical point..."
"Boom." Star-Lord made an explosion gesture.
"The problem is," Ye Mo frowned, "How do we know exactly when that time will arrive? Even a second off is unacceptable."
"It's all about intuition," Star-Lord said, pointing to his head. "I've been in space for so long, rhythm's ingrained in my bones. The moment he taps his scepter, I can tell if it's going to explode. It's like DJing; you know where the next beat is, you strike it half a beat early, and the whole crowd follows you."
Ye Mo looked at him without saying a word.
Star-Lord noticed. "You don't believe me?"
"It's not that I don't believe it," Ye Mo shook his head, "I just don't dare to gamble. That shield attack just now pushed me to my limit. If I make another mistake, no one can save me."
"That's why I came to you," Star-Lord said in a low voice. "You're the one who can coordinate everyone. You can use Telepathy to compress commands into a triple shock, making four idiots act in the same millisecond. Now, I've given you my weakness. All you have to do is make this strike—" He paused, "Not just disrupt, but end."
Ye Mo paused, his breath catching in his throat.
He knew what this meant. The original plan was merely to delay, but now it was about to become a fatal blow. The risk had doubled, but so had the opportunity.
"Aren't you afraid of making a mistake?" he asked.
"Yes, I am," Star-Lord grinned, "But I'm even more afraid of standing still and watching him burn us all to ashes."
Ye Mo stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly reached into her pocket, pulled out a pair of silver half-rimmed glasses, wiped the lenses, and put them back.
"Okay," he said, "I'll trust you this once."
"It's not about trusting me," Star-Lord shook his head, "It's about trusting this opportunity. Think about it, why did Ronan insist on standing on that high rock to recharge? Why didn't he just charge down and fight? Because he was afraid. He was afraid of losing control, afraid of the energy backlash. This shows that he was also gambling, gambling that he could hold on. So let's gamble that he can't."
Ye Mo nodded slowly. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the " Gene Spiral Tower," quickly scanning his existing ability combinations: Self-Healing- healing external projection was still cooling down, Wall Phasing Technique was usable, and the Telepathy Fragment were stable. No new abilities were unlocked, but the existing ones were sufficient.
"If we do it your way," he opened his eyes, "The music is no longer secondary, but the core trigger. You have to control the rhythm, decide when to detonate it. Rocket and Groot must perfectly match your timing, not too early, not too late."
"I can control it." Star-Lord patted his chest. "I can even rewrite the ship's autopilot with manual rhythm. What's a mere alien madman's charging rhythm?"
"And another thing," Ye Mo stared at him, "You have to tell me what that 'about to explode' signal is. Is it a change in sound? Or an energy fluctuation? I need to confirm it; I can't just rely on your word."
Star-Lord thought for a moment, "When his tapping rhythm 'drags out,' it's a danger signal. Normally it's 'thump, thump, thump,' a steady four-quarters of a beat. But if the second tap drags out by more than 0.3 seconds before the next one, it means he's adjusting his internal pressure, preparing to forcefully replenish his energy—that's the critical point."
Ye Mo noted it down. He could sense energy fields, although not as directly as visual perception, but combined with Star-Lord's auditory judgment, it was enough for cross-verification.
"Okay," he said. "If you spot that signal, give me immediate feedback. I'll use Telepathy to send a triple shockwave and initiate the all-out attack. Compress all movements into a single frame."
"Understood." Star-Lord nodded. "This time, it's not about hitting him, it's about dismantling him."
The two fell silent. The air was so thick it felt like you could wring water out of it. In the distance, Ronan tapped his scepter twice more, the sound not loud, but it made the gravel tremble slightly.
Star-Lord suddenly hummed a melody softly, so softly that only he could hear it. It was the intro to "Come and Get Your Love," with a steady rhythm of ninety beats per minute.
He's trying, and he's waiting.
Ye Mo leaned back against the pile of stones, his fingers touching the ground, sensing the subtle vibrations coming from underground. His mind was racing, calculating how the triple interference superimposed, how the energy waves resonated, and how the weakness would be broken. Every variable was repeatedly verified until the logical loop was closed.
"Are you really planning to use this as a killing move?" he suddenly asked.
"What else?" Star-Lord chuckled. "We're not here for a picnic."
Ye Mo's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything.
He knew that this attack would either force Ronan to retreat or completely enrage him. But having already come this far, there was no turning back.
The purple light on the high rock flashed again, brighter and more unstable than before.
Star-Lord stopped humming, his ears twitching slightly.
"Here it comes," he whispered. "His second tap was too slow."
Ye Mo tensed up instantly.