Ye Mo's right leg was still trembling, not from fear, but because he couldn't hold on any longer. His Steel Bone joints were cracked like a tractor about to fall apart, his left arm was charred black, and arcs of electricity crackled and jumped twice at his fingertips, like a cell phone with only one percent battery left, about to shut down at any moment. He stood in the middle of the ruins, his dusty face raised, staring at the seven mechanical bodies in front of him—O-09 raised its arm, O-10 stepped forward, and O-11 locked on with its red eyes; the three energy signals made the air seem to sink a few degrees.
This isn't a battle; it's waiting to die.
One second he could still hold on, the next he felt like he was swallowing shards of glass. His mind was buzzing, the system was silent, his ability cooldowns were all grayed out, and he couldn't even activate the failed " Regenerative Phasing " combo. The Avengers ' channel was silent, no one spoke, no one offered support, not even a single jamming flare flew over. He knew that he was on his own now, and if he fell, this land would belong to Ultron.
But he just wouldn't fall.
"System!" he roared inwardly, "Is there anything else usable? Don't give me 'resource allocation suggestions,' I need a bomb, not a financial management course!"
[...]
"Playing dead, huh?" Ye Mo grinned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Fine, I'll turn it myself."
He closed his eyes, his consciousness plunging into the Gene Spiral Tower. The nineteenth floor was a chaotic jumble of fragments: Wade's Self-Healing, Shadowcat's Phase Shift, and several other pieces of unknown origin, all shimmering faintly together. He'd tried to fuse them before, but failed; the system hadn't even given a notification. But now it was different; his life was hanging by a thread, the system had to give him some kind of response.
He pulled out the " Self-Healing " and " Phase Shift " modules, and then plucked out an unknown fragment gleaming with silver light from the corner, shoving the three pieces together. The system finally beeped, not with a notification tone, but with an alarm.
[WARNING: Non-standard combination pathways, risk of gene disintegration.]
"So what if it collapses? It's already almost broken apart anyway." Ye Mo gritted his teeth. "I'll ask you one more time, is there anything more stable?"
[none.]
"Let's do it."
He abruptly activated the combination technique, and it felt as if a hundred thousand electric drills were working simultaneously inside his body, drilling from the cracks in his bones to his forehead. His blood vessels throbbed, his vision went black, his nasal cavity burned, and blood started flowing directly down his face. But he didn't let go, forcefully suppressing the tearing sensation and forcing the three abilities to collide and spark within the tower.
The next second, the world slowed down.
The air was like frozen jelly, the light cast long shadows, O-09's raised hand was stuck in mid-air, O-10's foot was dangling ten centimeters off the ground, and O-11's red-eye scanning beam moved forward inch by inch like a slow-motion laser rain. Ye Mo looked down at himself, even moving a finger required three times the effort, but at least, he could still move.
"Eight seconds... that's enough time to get things done."
He took a deep breath, and with a strain of Steel Bone right leg, he shuffled forward like a bulldozer. Each step felt like pulling his legs out of a quagmire; his muscles ached and went numb, but he dared not stop. His target was clear—the Force Field generator on O-09's back, the very thing that had just deflected Tony's EMP bomb from its trajectory.
Three steps, five steps, seven steps.
He touched O-09's back, where the metal interface was clearly visible in the slow flow. His left hand's Steel Bone deformed into a blade, which he plunged in and yanked hard. The energy lines exploded, blue arcs crackled and sputtered, O-09's arm froze, and the Force Field fluctuations instantly ceased.
One done.
He turned around, his right hand gathering an arc of electricity, compressing it into a sphere, and stuffing it into the remaining energy compartment inside O-09. As soon as time resumes, this thing will explode, and a chain reaction is inevitable.
Then he took out his communication module. Instead of sending a voice message—too slow and easily interfered with—he typed a compressed signal: three short and two long, meaning "vibrate in three seconds, shield priority." This was their temporary code; whether it would be received was up to fate.
After finishing these tasks, he looked up and scanned the area: the O-10 shield was charging, the O-11's eye sensor was flashing at a high frequency, and although the other units were moving slowly, their data synchronization was not interrupted. He knew that once these eight seconds were over, they would immediately be able to pick up the pace again.
We can't delay any longer.
He took two steps back, knelt on one knee, and his Steel Bone knee slammed into the pile of rubble. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, his blood vessels felt like they were filled with liquid nitrogen, and blue-black lines climbed up his neck. His left eye suddenly blurred, his vision half black and half bright. The nineteenth floor of the Gene Spiral Tower emitted a low-frequency hum, like the sound of an old the Fridge about to break down, and the system fell completely silent.
Time recovery.
"Boom--!"
The O-09 energy pod exploded, sending a shockwave sweeping across the area. The O-10's shield, which had only been half-erected, was overloaded by the shockwave, and cracks appeared at the edges. The O-07, which was standing nearby, lost its balance and staggered back two steps. The O-11's eye sensor was hit by debris, and the frequency of its red light flashing dropped by half. The remaining mechanical units collectively froze, and data reconnection would take time, cutting off their offensive for more than six seconds.
Ye Mo lay on the ground, one hand supporting him, panting as if he had run ten kilometers. Blood dripped from his nose onto the gravel, each drop making him dizzy. His left eye was still blurry, and his right eye could barely see what was ahead. The O-10 shield hadn't fully restarted, the O-11 was adjusting the sensors, and the O-09 was already paralyzed, emitting black smoke.
"... That's enough," he said in a low voice, his voice hoarse.
In those six seconds, the Avengers could reorganize their defenses, Tony could switch to his new armor mode, and Thor could charge up a grenade. But he couldn't care less about that now; all he knew was that he hadn't fallen, and the enemy hadn't won.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze locking onto O-11.
The guy turned his head, his red eyes fixed on him, and the scanning beam lit up again.
Ye Mo moved his fingers, a faint arc of electricity still lingering in his palm, as weak as a lighter about to go out. He didn't release it immediately; instead, he smiled, his teeth covered in blood.
"You still want to fight?" he forced out a sentence, "I'm fucking ready."
He braced himself against his Steel Bone arms and slowly stood up. His knees trembled, but his back remained ramrod straight. The wind blew through the cracks in the ruins, swirling up dust that stung his face. He didn't wipe it away; he just stood there, an electric arc dancing on his fingertips, casting flickering light on half of his face.
O-10 raised his hand, and the energy shield slowly Regeneration.
O-11 scan complete; red light locks onto head.
In the distance, O-12's data signal is approaching.
Ye Mo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and clenched his fist.