Successful Extraction, Sample Retrieved

The ice blade drew a white line in the air, heading straight for the Yellowjacket's face. The man's left arm was only half-charged when he was forced to instinctively raise his hand to block this feint. Ye Mo didn't expect it to actually hit—he only wanted that fraction of a second of delay.

Scott has already made his move.

He crouched low to the ground, shrinking to the size of a fingernail, and slid across the ice at such speed that even his afterimage was barely visible. The next second, he appeared behind the enemy's left leg, enlarging his body as he slammed the electromagnetic jammer he was holding into the gap of the servo joint.

"Sizzle!"

The system alarm blared, and the power output to his left leg instantly became erratic. The Yellowjacket stumbled, his knee slamming into the ice, causing the entire pipe to vibrate.

Ye Mo was panting heavily. He pushed off with his foot, wanting to rush forward and finish off the enemy, but as soon as he took a step, his calf suddenly went weak. The backlash from the exhaustion of the cold air hit him, as if someone was using an electric drill to extract heat from his bones. He grabbed the ladder to keep from kneeling, and his mouth tasted of rust.

"Are you alright?" Scott landed, wiped the dust off his face, and looked at Ye Mo's pale face.

"He won't die." Ye Mo waved his hand. "Where's the sample?"

Scott pointed to the magnetic buckle at his waist. "It's welded shut, it won't fall off." The fragment of the Yellowjacket armor was firmly stuck in the storage slot, its surface emitting a faint blue light, as if something was jumping inside.

A tearing sound came from above; it was the sound of the load-bearing beams starting to loosen. The battle just now had been too fierce; the entire drainage pipe was leaking, and cracks were spreading all the way to the top.

"Let's go!" Ye Mo gritted his teeth. "If we don't run now, we'll be buried here."

The two stopped fighting and quickly moved towards the platform where Emma Frost was hiding. She was still lying there, breathing shallowly but steadily, her forehead covered with a thin layer of frost mixed with cold sweat and blood. Scott took off his coat and wrapped it tightly around her, swaying slightly as he carried her on his back.

"Her body temperature is abnormal."

"Stop talking nonsense, let's retreat." Ye Mo used the ladder to lead the way, "I'll cover the rear."

They slid downstream along the sloping main sewage pipe, the slope becoming increasingly steep, the water reaching knee-deep. As they walked, Ye Mo pulled a thumb-sized metal box from his pocket, pressed a button, and tossed it into a side road. Three seconds later, a muffled thud came from behind, and smoke billowed up, blocking their pursuit route.

"A small EMP, enough for him to reboot in thirty seconds," Ye Mo explained. "Use it sparingly, there are only two left."

Scott nodded, carrying Emma Frost steadily. He knew he couldn't ask questions now; he would just do whatever Ye Mo instructed. Previous missions had already proven that this guy, despite saying "system prompts," was actually quick-witted.

Eight hundred meters away, the iron gate of the maintenance access was visible. Moonlight shone on the rusty hinges, like a layer of salt being sprinkled on them. Ye Mo reached out and pushed, but it didn't budge.

"Move aside." Scott put Emma Frost down, shrunk to the size of a coin, and crawled inside the lock cylinder. A few seconds later, with a soft "click," the door opened.

The night wind blew in, carrying the distinctive scent of tar and wild grass from the suburbs. In the distance, city lights blurred into an orange-yellow halo, while the red dot of a drone scanned back and forth at low altitude.

"Hydra patrol planes." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes. "There's no way around them; we have to Wall Phasing."

After he finished speaking, he placed his hand on the cement wall of the abandoned factory next to him, closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened his eyes again, a sliver of silver flashed in his pupils. This was the residual perception left after coming into contact with the Shadowcat's ability—the ability to briefly "see" through the Wall Phasing structure and find the thinnest penetration path.

"Three meters thick, with high-density steel reinforcement; only two people can pass at a time." He turned around, "You put it on Emma Frost first, I'll cover you from outside."

Scott didn't argue; he carried the person on his back and walked directly into the wall. The scene wasn't exactly eerie; it was like water droplets seeping into a stone slab, the person slowly being swallowed by the wall, until only the muddy marks left by the soles of his shoes remained.

Ye Mo crouched down, picked up the broken half of the pipe, and threw it to an open space fifty meters away. The metallic clang attracted a drone that turned to scout. Taking advantage of this opening, he rushed into the wall, passed through the uncomfortable, sticky section, and fell into the warehouse on the other side.

Scott was already waiting for him. Emma Frost was still unconscious, but her face had regained some color.

"Take the west passage; there are no signal towers over there," Ye Mo pointed in a direction. "The base entrance is below the old subway ventilation shaft."

The two took turns scouting, traversing the collapsed factory buildings. Along the way, they encountered two more repeaters, and Scott, with his minimal size, managed to sneak into the equipment compartment and cut the circuits. During the final operation, his controller flashed a red light—the battery was down to sixty percent.

"I can still hold on." He saw the look in Ye Mo's eyes. "Don't treat me like a fragile thing."

Ye Mo didn't say anything, but quickened his pace.

At 4:17 a. m., they arrived at the perimeter of the base. A lift door disguised as a garbage dump slowly opened, revealing a spiral staircase leading underground. After iris and voiceprint verification was successful, the automatic system activated, and the medical pod immediately ejected, connecting Emma Frost to vital sign monitoring.

"The Diamond Form is unstable, and the core temperature is too low. It is recommended to maintain a constant temperature environment," a mechanical voice announced.

"I know." Ye Mo sat down against the wall, finally daring to relax. He raised his hand and found that his fingertips were still trembling, not from fear, but a natural reaction after his energy was depleted.

Scott placed the sample into the sealed analysis chamber and connected it to the preliminary detection instrument. The screen lit up, the waveform fluctuated wildly, and then an error message popped up: [Data encrypted, cannot be deciphered].

"Copy protection mechanism?" He frowned.

"More than that." Ye Mo walked over, staring at the fragment. "The active particles are still moving, which means it's not a dead object, but some kind of dynamic component."

He tried to activate his Telepathy Fragment, attempting to forcibly read the internal information flow. Just as he concentrated, a sharp pain shot through his temple, as if someone were chiseling at his skull with an awl. He groaned and braced himself against the table.

"Not again?" Scott yanked him away. "Last time you said the system said it would work, and you almost knocked yourself out."

"This time is different..."

"Same here!" Scott rolled his eyes. "You always want to 'give it a try,' and then you lie in bed for three days. We don't have anyone to cover for us now. Who's going to take the blame if you collapse?"

Ye Mo grinned but didn't refute. He knew Scott was right. There was no point in being stubborn at a time like this; they weren't fighting alone.

"Then you do it." He stepped back. "Use the Pym database comparison model to see if you can identify the source technology characteristics."

Scott operated the terminal and imported the Pym Particles Standard Spectrum. A few seconds later, overlapping curves appeared on the screen—some bands matched highly, but there was a significant shift in the high-frequency region, and an aggressive resonance mode was superimposed.

"It is indeed a variant of Pym Technologies," Scott zoomed in on a detail, "But it has been reverse-engineered, with a feedback Circuit added, so that it will reverse-impact the neural pathways if it encounters external interference."

"So Darren's suit isn't just a copy," Ye Mo nodded. "It's a trap, a hunting device specifically designed for those who have mastered scaling technology."

The air was silent for a few seconds.

"No wonder he's targeting me," Scott said in a low voice. "This isn't ordinary weapons development; it's targeted elimination."

"Now it's clear." Ye Mo backed up all the original data. "First, repackage the samples, with a level three protection system; if leaked, they will self-destruct."

He personally operated the transfer procedure, dividing the fragments into three parts and storing them in safes in different areas. Each part was equipped with an independent alarm system connected to the base's main control AI.

"The defense protocol also needs to be upgraded." He walked to the main control panel. "Pre-set a high-frequency particle impact emergency barrier, simulate the maximum output intensity, and set up a buffer zone."

Scott assisted in adjusting the parameters and inputting the expected impact threshold. The system ran a test, the virtual barrier unfolded, and appeared as a light blue grid structure in the 3D projection.

"That's about it," he said. "Once Emma Frost wakes up, have her help with a thought calibration; it should be more accurate."

Mentioning Emma Frost, both of them looked towards the medical area. She lay in the pod, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her fingers tapping unconsciously twice, a very light rhythm, but one that anyone familiar with her would recognize at a glance—it was their usual code word for communication.

Ye Mo walked over and looked through the glass for a while.

"She can handle it," he said. "Women like her are incredibly resilient."

Scott chuckled. "Is your relationship more than just that of partners?"

"The system is telling me to ask fewer questions." Ye Mo turned back to the control panel, "Focus on my work."

The base has resumed operations, and the alert level has been lowered to level two. External monitoring shows that the last patrol drone has returned to base. The city's outskirts have fallen silent once again.

Ye Mo sat in the control chair, opened the combat log, and began to organize all the data from this operation. The cold wave cooldown progress showed 37%, and it was estimated that he could use basic Ice Manipulation again in six hours. The damage records for each part of his body popped up one by one, but he didn't click on any of them.

Scott checked the suit's repair progress in the lab; the battery was back to 70%, and the modules were functioning normally. He then cleared the logs in the controller to prevent further signal recording.

Inside the medical pod, Emma Frost's breathing became more even. Although her electroencephalogram (EEG) was still weak, the frequency of the fluctuations was stabilizing, showing no signs of deterioration.

The only sounds in the underground space were the low hum of machinery and the tapping of keyboards.

No one spoke, nor was there anything to say.

They knew this battle wasn't over yet. The Yellowjacket were just the beginning; a much larger net lay behind them. But for now, they had at least survived and brought back crucial evidence.

That's enough.

Ye Mo closed the terminal and looked up at the time: 5:03 AM.

Dawn was approaching.