Darren Strikes Again, the Laboratory Comes Under Attack

The last light in the training area was still on, its edge tinged with a burnt yellow, as if someone had scorched the edge of paper with fire. Ye Mo's finger rested on the power button, but he didn't move. Scott stood there, his combat suit soaked through, his chest heaving, the smile still lingering on his face.

Just then, a "ding" sounded in my mind.

It wasn't a real sound; it was his system, which never manifested, never spoke, and only emitted a notification sound when its abilities cooled down, that suddenly popped up a notification—["Yellowjacket Particle Resonance Frequency" Perception Module Unlocked].

Ye Mo's eyelid twitched.

This thing was a remnant left over from his last fight with Darren. Back then, he risked half his body falling apart to extract a fragment from the energy leaking from Darren's battle suit and stuffed it into a corner of the third level of the Gene Spiral Tower. He originally thought he would have to touch it again to activate it, but it has now awakened on its own.

He didn't say anything, his finger slowly sliding from the power button to an inconspicuous groove on the side of the console, and pressed it gently.

With a soft "beep," the main control screen instantly switched views, all training data was pushed into the small window in the lower right corner, and a real-time monitoring map popped up in the center. A few seconds later, a golden trajectory cut in from the edge of the forest, moving at high speed close to the treetops, its speed scale soaring to eighty-seven meters per second.

It's almost 30% faster than last time.

Ye Mo pushed his glasses up and lowered his voice to a whisper, "Scott."

"Huh?" Scott was still panting, without even lifting his head.

"Even if we can't change, we have to go back in. Darren's here."

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the top of his head. Scott looked up abruptly, sweat trickling down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging them. "What did you say? Now?"

"Right now." Ye Mo had already brought up the defense protocol menu, swiped with three fingers, and quickly checked the boxes. "Level 3 anti-intrusion activated, quantum barrier generation countdown ninety seconds, Pym Particles interference field warming up."

He pressed the confirmation button, and the lights in the entire laboratory changed from white to red, flashed silently three times, and then went out, leaving only a few emergency light strips lit up along the base of the wall. The dim blue light shone on the metal floor, making it look like a layer of frost.

"Professor Ye," Ye Mo spoke into the communicator, his voice calm beyond what one would expect from someone who had just detected an approaching enemy, "Yellowjacket signal confirmed, Level B response initiated."

The sound of keyboard typing came from the other end of the channel, followed by Hank Pym's slightly hoarse voice. "The barrier won't last ten minutes; the particle concentration isn't high enough. How long can you hold out?"

"Let's see if Scott can still fly." Ye Mo glanced at the person.

Scott was frantically checking the suit's interfaces, his fingers trembling slightly, but he didn't stop. He gritted his teeth, fastened the controller into his belt, and took a deep breath. "I can do it. That round of practice was all about improvisation. I can do it again."

"It's not 'do it again'." Ye Mo stared at the screen. "This time there's no buffer zone, no safety mechanism, and no chance to start over. If you cower down and can't get out, no one will collect your corpse."

"System notification: In high-risk environments, prioritizing survival is recommended." Scott grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "So I need to hone my escape skills."

Ye Mo glanced at him. "Your mouth is harder than your battle armor right now."

"That depends on who you're comparing yourself to." Scott finally finished securing the last lock and stood up straight. "I can't go into battle in my wet underwear, can I?"

In the surveillance footage, the golden figure had already rushed to within 300 meters of the wall and began to slow down, seemingly observing the terrain. Ye Mo tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, bringing up the outer thermal image—the enemy wasn't using a flight tail flame, relying on inertia to glide, clearly trying to avoid active radar.

"He's testing me," Ye Mo said. "He learned his lesson after being burned last time."

"So what's he after?" Scott cracked his knuckles, the suit humming softly. "The Pym Particles formula? Or does he want to dismantle this suit and take it back for research?"

"None of those are right," Hank's voice broke in. "What he wants is the core compression algorithm. That thing will allow him to compress the limits down to the nanometer level without collapsing, even more radical than my original design."

Ye Mo frowned. "You mean... he wants to use living people for experiments?"

"He'd already done it once," Hank paused, "Right after we got rid of him. One of his assistants went missing and was found three days later in a drain, shrunk to the size of an ant, his cellular structure completely destroyed."

The air suddenly felt heavy.

Scott looked down at his hands; his eyes, which had been shining with excitement from the training session, now seemed a little dim.

"So this guy didn't defect," Ye Mo sneered. "He's insane."

"There's no point in saying this now," Hank interrupted. "The barrier will activate in seven minutes. You two, stop acting all brotherly and get your close-quarters interception plan ready. I'll adjust the parameters remotely; I can only buy you a thirty-second window at most."

Communication cut off.

Ye Mo turned and walked to the wall, pulling open a metal panel disguised as a ventilation vent. Inside was a row of buttons and indicator lights. He pressed the middle red one and whispered a string of code.

"The counter-beacon has been launched, simulating the particle fluctuation frequency you just experienced during training." He turned around. "If he were truly after the algorithm, he would definitely crash into the signal source."

"So, he's coming after me?" Scott pointed to himself.

"Smart." Ye Mo nodded. "You are the bait."

"Did I just say I can hit people?" Scott swallowed hard. "I didn't say I wanted to be used as a punching bag."

"System notification: Growth efficiency increased by 43% during the crisis." Ye Mo said expressionlessly, "It is recommended to cherish this opportunity."

"Can you change the way you display messages in this system? It's always the same old clichés!" Scott rolled his eyes.

Ye Mo ignored him and looked back at the screen. The golden shadow stopped, hovering motionless at the edge of the forest.

"He's analyzing the signal," Ye Mo, squinting. "Wait until he determines whether it's real data or a trap."

Scott leaned against a steel pillar at the entrance to the training area, his breathing gradually calming down. He looked down at the tips of his boots and suddenly asked, "You know... if I really shrink until I can't see anymore, can you find me again?"

Ye Mo glanced at him. "Last time you almost shrank into quantum dust, didn't I still manage to pull you back?"

"What kind of Molecular Anchoring and Mental Power Pull did you use that time?" Scott scratched his head. "But this time you'll have to manage the defense system, what if..."

"There's no 'what if'," Ye Mo interrupted. "If I say you can come back, you can come back. Just trust me."

Scott paused for a moment, then laughed, "Okay, then don't go back on your word."

The golden figure outside moved.

Instead of gliding, it suddenly swooped down, heading straight for the main laboratory building.

Ye Mo's finger swept across the console, and the final command was sent out.

"Barrier activated," he whispered.

A deep hum came from overhead, and it was as if an invisible membrane was condensing in the air. The monitoring screen showed a pale purple energy ring rising from the foundation, quickly closing upwards like a slowly closing metal flower.

"Interference field activated simultaneously." Ye Mo stared at the countdown.

Forty seconds remain.

The golden shadow was only one hundred meters away from the outer wall.

"Scott!" Ye Mo suddenly called out.

"Exist."

"If he breaks through the barrier later, his first target will definitely be the control console. You don't need to stop him or fight him head-on. Just hold him off for five seconds to allow the system to complete its self-destruct initialization."

"Self-destruct?" Scott's eyes widened. "You blew this place up?"

"It's just wiping data," Ye Mo said calmly. "If it had really exploded, you wouldn't be alive now."

Thirty seconds.

The golden shadow accelerated, leaving a blinding trail of light.

"Turn off the lights," Ye Mo ordered.

The entire laboratory was plunged into darkness, with only a few faint light sensors on the control panel still flickering like fireflies buried underground.

Scott stood up straight, his suit trembling slightly, and entered standby mode.

Twenty seconds.

In the surveillance footage, the golden shadow suddenly contracted, turning into a concentrated point of light, as if it were compressing itself into a cannonball.

Ten seconds.

Ye Mo's finger rested on the final confirmation button, but he didn't press it.

Five seconds.

"Silence," he said softly.

The entire space was so quiet that you could hear Scott breathing, one breath after another.

Three seconds.

Two seconds.

One second.

The golden shadow collided with the barrier, and purple light exploded like fireworks, causing the entire building to tremble slightly and dust to fall from the ceiling.

The barrier wasn't broken, but a spiderweb-like crack appeared.

The person outside was suspended in mid-air, his Yellowjacket fluttering in the wind, his gaze beneath his helmet fixed on the surveillance camera, as if he were looking directly at Ye Mo through the screen.

Ye Mo didn't move.

Scott held his breath.

Hank's voice came through the communication channel. "Barrier damage rate is 22%, estimated duration reduced to 4 minutes and 14 seconds."

Ye Mo nodded, as if the other person could see it.

He raised his hand to check the defense protocol status one last time.

All systems are ready.

Personnel are in place.

The enemy has locked onto the target.

He slowly exhaled, his fingers hovering above the start button, in the exact same position as a few minutes ago, only this time, not to end the training.

Instead, they waited for the battle to begin.

Scott stood at the entrance to the training area, his silver suit gleaming slightly, his breathing rhythm slowly synchronizing with the vibrations of the ground.

On the monitor screen, the Yellowjacket slowly raised his right hand, palm facing the center of the crack in the barrier.

Energy began to gather.