The scanner's red light spun faster than expected, Ye Mo's eye twitched; he thought to himself, "Oh no."
He immediately withdrew his hand, which was about to push the door open, and yanked the door open another half foot with his left hand. Purple light poured out with a "whoosh," shining on his side face, making him feel numb as if he had been licked by something. He didn't dare to look any longer, turned around and rolled away, sliding along the ground, using the door panel to block the first wave of sight.
The next second, a purple flame slammed into the door frame, instantly vaporizing the metal and blasting a crater the size of a washbasin. Mars landed on his hoodie sleeve, burning a hole in it.
"Damn it!" Ye Mo cursed under his breath, pushed off the ground with his right foot, rolled three meters to the side, and his back hit the wreckage of the equipment cabinet, the impact making his ribs ache. He didn't care, he pushed himself up with his hands, his military knife already drawn from his waist, and swung it with a flick of his wrist.
The blade spun as it flew towards the entrance of the passage—where Ronan stood.
This guy had appeared out of nowhere, his black armor gleaming coldly, purple flames flickering beneath his helmet like two inextinguishable will-o'-the-wisps. He gripped a cosmic scepter in his right hand, its tip still smoking, clearly the one who had just delivered the blow. Seeing the saber coming at him, he didn't even dodge; he simply raised his left arm, and with a "click," an energy shield popped out of his armor, pinning the blade to it with a "clang," wobbling twice before falling to the ground.
Ye Mo's heart skipped a beat: This guy reacted too quickly, giving him no chance to catch his breath.
But he didn't expect to achieve victory with a single strike; this throw was merely to gain a fraction of a second of advantage. Sure enough, Ronan glanced down at the knife, and when he looked up again, Ye Mo was no longer there.
He crouched low, darting forward along the electrical wires along the wall. Each metal plate he stepped on was different; some made a sound, some a muffled one, and some carried static electricity. Knowing that Ronan could sense energy fluctuations, he deliberately chose to walk through areas with chaotic signals, rubbing the soles of his shoes to break off a few exposed wire ends as he ran, causing small sparks to fly and making the whole corridor look like an old television screen filled with static.
Ronan stood still, slowly raising his scepter, purple flames gathering at its tip, as if locking onto a target.
Ye Mo suddenly stopped, turned around, and quickly made an "X" shape with his hands in front of his chest—not a real technique, but purely a psychological suggestion to cause his nervous system to release a short-range electromagnetic pulse. This was an instinctive reaction he had tested when absorbing a fragment of a Mutants earlier. The principle was unclear, and the effect was unstable, but it could interfere with electronic devices at crucial moments.
The same thing happened this time.
As the pulse was fired, the tip of Ronan's scepter trembled violently, flashing purple light twice, like a light bulb with a faulty connection. He glanced down, his movements momentarily sluggish.
Now!
Ye Mo pushed off with his feet and surged forward, covering the five-meter distance in the blink of an eye. He braked sharply two meters from Ronan, not charging at him head-on, but quickly glancing at the center of the sphere— the Power Stone was there, suspended on the support, a magnetic field slowly rotating, its purple light flashing and dimming, the frequency increasing, its stability clearly affected by the battle just now.
Ronan noticed his distraction, roared, and swung his scepter at him.
Ye Mo leaned back, almost sliding along the ground as the purple flames grazed his nose, making his eyelashes curl. He rolled to the side, hiding behind a pile of broken cables, and caught his breath.
This place is too narrow; he can't fight head-on. Ronan is large and strong; with a swing of his scepter, he creates a vacuum zone. He also has to guard against interference from the overflowing energy of the gem. Just now, he felt his head was a little heavy, as if someone had gently tapped the back of his head with a spoon.
He felt in his overalls pocket that there were two homemade interference spikes, modified from a miniature oscillation module given to him by the Rocket. Throwing them out could cause a localized collapse. But he couldn't use them now; if they exploded and hit the gemstones, no one knew what would happen.
You have to stall, you have to lie, you have to wait for a flaw to appear.
Ronan didn't rush to chase, but slowly approached, each step feeling like he was walking on a curb, so heavy that the floor trembled slightly. He stood in front of the cable pile, his scepter hanging to the ground, purple flames slowly rising.
Ye Mo held his breath, leaned against the wreckage, and quietly picked at a broken wire with his fingers, giving it a gentle tug.
"Smack!"
A small cluster of sparks exploded at my feet, followed by a flash of blue-purple light.
Ronan's helmet tilted slightly, and his eye seemed to twitch.
Ye Mo remembered this—this guy's reaction to sudden energy will have a delay of about 0.3 seconds. It could be that the system needs time to judge, or it could be that his injury has not yet fully healed.
He slowly took half a step back, stepping on another broken wire with his left foot, deliberately creating another small spark.
This time Ronan didn't move, but the purple flames under his helmet clearly froze for a moment.
The opportunity has arrived.
Ye Mo suddenly let out a low shout and lunged forward with lightning speed, as if he were ready to fight to the death. Ronan immediately raised his cane to block, but Ye Mo suddenly pushed off the ground halfway through, his body flipping in the air and leaping into the blind spot on the right. At the same time, he raised his right hand, and two interference spikes shot towards the ceiling ventilation opening.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two muffled thuds sounded as the ventilation duct connection loosened, and a large metal plate crashed down, landing right above Ronan's head. He had to raise his arm to defend himself, and his scepter veered off course, causing the purple flames to miss.
Ye Mo landed with a roll, his back against the wall, finally catching his breath.
He looked up and saw Ronan standing in the smoke and dust, his black armor covered in ash, his scepter still held high, but his posture wasn't as steady as before. Those purple flame eyes were fixed on him, as if trying to nail him to that spot.
Ye Mo wiped the dust off his face and said in a low voice, "Brother, can't we have some sportsmanship?"
Ronan ignored him, and simply raised his scepter slowly, pointing it into the secret chamber.
The Power Stone there suddenly pulsated violently, its purple light surging, and the entire corridor began to tremble. Fine cracks appeared in the walls, and debris fell down in a flurry. A metal beam overhead creaked and came crashing down.
Ye Mo dodged to the side, and Liang Zi crashed into the spot where he had just been standing, smashing through the floor.
He had no time to feel relieved, because Ronan made his move.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Each step he took shook the ground. He no longer probed, no longer waited, but walked straight ahead, his scepter raised high, purple flames gathering into a ball, about to crash down.
Ye Mo gritted his teeth, knowing he could no longer hide.
He slowly straightened up, his back against the wall, his eyes fixed on Ronan, his fingers slightly bent, ready to retaliate at any moment. He knew that in the next few seconds, either he would die, or Ronan would be crippled.
But just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the crack in the secret room door—the purple light there had suddenly changed.
It was no longer a regular pulsation, but began to twist and ripple like water.
Ye Mo's pupils contracted.
This isn't right.
The energy field of the gemstone... is it resonating?
Before he could think it through, Ronan's scepter had already fallen.
Purple flames cascaded down like a waterfall, heading straight for his face.
Ye Mo took a deep breath, pushed off the ground with both feet, and lunged to the left, while simultaneously reaching out to grab a broken cable on the wall.