When the glasses were taken away, Ye Mo knew that Tony had received the signal. But he didn't move.
The press conference was moved up, and there wasn't enough time to wait for a response. He had to do it himself.
He stared at the control panel screen; seventy minutes remained on the countdown. Obadiah and the Hydra agents were talking, but suddenly the sound stopped. The next second, their mouths were still moving, but lines of text appeared on the glass—encrypted communication activated, speech converted to text.
This is troublesome. Unable to hear sounds or read lips, his intelligence has been cut off.
To make matters worse, the server cooling system started restarting. It interfered with Thermal Vision every three minutes, causing the corridor to fluctuate between hot and cold, making it very uncomfortable.
"Choose your timing perfectly." Ye Mo lowered his body and touched his right arm. The metallic spot had cooled down; the Regenerative Phasing was complete.
We can't wait any longer.
He took a deep breath, and his right arm slowly softened, flowing like water through the gap in the side panel of the main control panel, connecting to the cables. His palm was covered with Vibranium fragments, used to simulate legitimate permissions, bypassing the firewall bit by bit.
A few seconds later, he entered the cache area.
There is an unencrypted log file inside, titled: " Iron Chain Protocol - Final Deployment Log".
He clicked on it.
An audio message plays.
"The virus is called ' Iron Chain,' implanted in the Mark III neural interface. Once authenticated, it will perform a reverse hijacking. It automatically activates after seven minutes and cannot be stopped."
The voice was cold; it wasn't Obadiah or Hydra executive, but rather a recording left by some technician.
Obadiah's voice came from outside. "As soon as he puts on the armor, his consciousness will be suppressed for three seconds—enough time for me to issue the command."
Ye Mo's heart raced.
Neural interface? That's the most crucial part; even JARVIS could only perform basic checks. How could these people have planted a virus without Tony's knowledge?
He quickly copied the data into his personal chip, while simultaneously memorizing key information: how the virus was triggered, where the data flowed, and how the seven minutes were calculated.
Just as I was about to exit, a notification sound suddenly rang in my mind:
[Fragment of Ice Manipulation Ability detected. Absorb?]
The metal spot on my left arm suddenly felt hot, as if it were on fire. My muscle twitched, and my fingers touched the server rack, making a "click" sound.
He immediately held his breath.
Across the glass, Obadiah glanced up, then looked down and continued operating the machine.
It's okay, I didn't notice.
But the notification sound is still ringing.
[Is it absorbed?]
He dared not utter a sound, but could only silently reply in his heart, "I won't absorb it."
The notification sound has disappeared.
But he knew this fragment of ability wouldn't disappear on its own. The recording mentioned a "low-temperature calibration process," which was likely a trace left by the experimental subject. Now that it was near the data center, it had been detected by the system.
There's no time to think about it.
He exited the cache and retracted his right arm. Just as he was about to leave, an alarm sounded from the ventilation shaft.
"The backup power line will be shut down within thirty seconds."
Obadiah wanted to cut off all escape routes.
Ye Mo immediately crawled out of the maintenance hatch and scrambled back along the ceiling. He avoided radar scans with every step, moving even faster than before.
On the way, he casually slipped the chip into a crack in the wall and marked it with a fragment of Vibranium. If he could find that frequency later, he could retrieve the chip.
Reaching the middle of the ventilation shaft, he stopped to catch his breath and immediately sent a short message via an encrypted channel:
"Virus name ' Iron Chain,' attacks neural interfaces, seven-minute countdown, do not authenticate."
After sending the message, he leaned against the metal wall and waited for a reply.
Five seconds later, the earphones rang.
"How do you know about neural interfaces?" Tony's voice was tinged with doubt. "Even JARVIS doesn't have permission to see that."
They've arrived.
I can't say I can Wall Phasing, nor can I expose the system. Otherwise, Tony will definitely investigate thoroughly.
Ye Mo smiled and said, "The system told me. I've mentioned before that I have a talkative 'built-in navigation'."
There was a two-second silence on the other end.
Did you modify my system's underlying code again?
"I don't have that ability." Ye Mo leaned against the wall. "You're too reliant on automated processes. Check the Mark III's most recent self-check logs to see if any abnormal data packets have been transmitted."
Tony didn't speak; the only sound was the clicking of his keyboard.
Ten seconds later, his tone changed. "... You're right. There's a hidden protocol here, disguised as a calibration program. It's been collecting biofeedback data, preparing to take control of your consciousness."
"It's not just about controlling the armor," Ye Mo added, "It also locks your reactions. The first three seconds you feel a delay, but actually you're being suppressed."
"Complete control in seven minutes?" Tony asked.
"That's right."
"Therefore, we cannot directly interrupt the authentication process." Tony's voice deepened. "If it's interrupted midway, the virus will activate an emergency protocol and remotely detonate the power reactor."
That's the most ruthless part.
On the surface, it seems like you just need to not log in. But in reality, once the system detects that a user has abandoned authentication, it judges it as "external interference" and immediately destroys the armor.
"So we have to make it think it's succeeded," Ye Mo said. "Once the virus starts its countdown, I'll go in and cut off its main process."
Do you have a solution?
"Yes," Ye Mo said, touching the Vibranium fragment in his pocket, "But I need you to act out a scene—have Obadiah see you put on the armor, activate the program, and then suddenly go out of control."
Tony sneered, "You want me to be the bait?"
"It's a fake target," Ye Mo corrected. "You don't need to actually log in; we can fake the authentication process. I'll go in and clean it up once the virus starts its countdown."
Where are you going?
"The data hub," Ye Mo, looking at the ventilation ducts in front of him, "Is right in front of you, you just can't see me."
Another silence fell.
This time it took even longer.
Finally Tony whispered, "... Plan proceeds as scheduled. I'll have JARVIS put up a fake log, so they'll think I haven't noticed anything wrong."
"Where's the press conference?"
"Yes, ma'am." Tony laughed. "The audience loves seeing Iron Man. Let them see enough."
The call has ended.
Ye Mo took off his headphones and leaned against the cold metal wall.
He knew what was about to happen was dangerous.
Once the virus is activated, the entire system will be locked down. At that point, to access the data hub, one would have to force their way through the firewall. And its only entry point is that maintenance channel we just saw.
But now, he is no longer alone.
Tony believed him and accepted the plan.
This is the most important step.
He closed his eyes, and the system interface appeared in his mind. The seventh level of the Gene Spiral Tower was still flashing, and fragments of Ice Manipulation Ability floated outside, waiting to be fused.
It's not the right time yet.
We'll have to wait.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the ventilation shaft. It led to the ground control room, which was also the location of the live broadcast terminal for the press conference.
There are 65 minutes left.
He slowly got up and continued crawling forward.
They stopped once to retrieve the chip from a crack in the wall for inspection. The data was intact and there was no leakage.
After hiding himself again, he continued on his way.
He stopped at an inspection port.
Below is the main hall of the data hub.
Obadiah stood in front of the control panel, adjusting the live stream signal. The Hydra manager stood beside him, recording the parameters.
Everything is normal.
They were unaware that the virus had already been exposed.
Ye Mo lay down at the edge of the vent and gently opened the gap in the panel.
A hand reached in and stuck the Vibranium fragment to the corner.
This is a marker point, and also a backup beacon.
If a forced connection is needed later, this fragment can help him find the core port.
He withdrew his hand, preparing to retreat.
My left arm suddenly felt warm.
The metal spot started getting hot again.
The system prompt appeared again:
[The conditions for absorbing the Ice Manipulation Ability fragments have been met. Should we fuse them immediately?]
He gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "No."
Before the words were even finished, a buzzing sound came from deep within the ventilation shaft.
The power is off.
The lights are off.
He was plunged into darkness.
But his eyes quickly adapted to the environment.
He knew that the real action was only just beginning.