The moment the purple light exploded, the entire building shook three times, and dust from the ceiling slid down like snow. Ye Mo's finger remained hovering above the start button, neither falling nor lifting, just frozen there, as if the pause button had been pressed.
Scott didn't move, his breath caught in his throat, water droplets from his suit trickling down his calves and pooling on the metal floor. He stared at the monitor screen, where the golden figure hovered in mid-air, its Yellowjacket shirt billowing as if about to burst, the energy in its palm growing brighter and brighter, illuminating the camera lens.
"Didn't they say the barrier wouldn't last ten minutes?" Scott's throat was a little dry. "It's only been a few minutes?"
Ye Mo didn't answer, but a twitch appeared on his forehead. The system notification sounded again—[ Yellowjacket Particle Resonance Frequency Characteristics Confirmed: Darren Cross, Match Rate 98.7%].
This time it wasn't fragment absorption, but active identification. After the last fight, he salvaged a trace of energy from the leaked energy flow in the opponent'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 now it has awakened on its own.
With a flick of his finger, he brought up a thermal imaging map. The temperature around the golden shadow soared to over 700 degrees Celsius, and its flight trajectory was a low-altitude gliding maneuver, clearly evading active radar scanning. This was not a reckless surprise attack, but a probing suppression.
"Target confirmed." Ye Mo finally spoke, his voice extremely low. " Darren, come get the algorithm."
"How did you know?" Scott asked.
"His impact just now was at 62% of its force. To really break through their defenses, he'd have to pull it back to at least 85%. Holding back means he was assessing their reactions." Ye Mo adjusted his glasses. "And he was staring at the control panel, not the training area or the particle storage pod. He wasn't after the equipment, he was after the data."
Scott swallowed hard. "So he's really after the core compression algorithm?"
"Otherwise what?" Ye Mo swiped three fingers across the console, bringing up the defense protocol menu. "Level 3 anti-intrusion activated, quantum barrier maintenance program loading, Pym Particles interference field preheating."
The main control screen flashed, and all training data was pushed into the small window in the lower right corner. A real-time defense status panel popped up in the center. Barrier durability display: Remaining time 9 minutes and 43 seconds, damage rate 22%, energy replenishment rate slowly increasing.
The lights changed from white to red, flickered silently three times, and then went out, leaving only a ring of pale blue light along the base of the wall, making the ground look as if it were covered in frost.
"Professor Ye," Ye Mo spoke into the communicator, his tone calmer than someone who had just been shoved in the face with a high-energy particle beam, " Yellowjacket signal confirmed, Level B response initiated, requesting remote parameter support."
A flurry of keyboard clicks came from the other end of the channel, followed by Hank Pym's voice. "I've adjusted the jamming frequency, but the particle concentration isn't high enough. It'll only last nine minutes at most. Don't try anything fancy on your end, just hold the line."
"Understood." Ye Mo nodded, as if the other party could see him. "Execute the plan; personnel in place."
He turned to Scott: "Listen carefully, if he breaks through the outer perimeter, the first wave will definitely be towards the control panel. You don't need to stop him or fight him head-on, just hover in front of him for five seconds to stall him."
"A decoy?" Scott raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, it's bait." Ye Mo looked at him. "Your training just now went pretty smoothly, didn't it? You passed all the random variables, and your rhythm was steady. Now this is the real combat version, only the enemy is wearing yellow clothes."
"But there's no safety mechanism this time." Scott glanced down at the suit's interface; the controller was fairly secure. "If I shrink back, I won't be able to get out..."
"I said you could come back, and you came back." Ye Mo interrupted him, her tone flat. "Last time you almost shrank into quantum dust, didn't I still manage to pull you back?"
Scott paused for a moment, then chuckled, "Alright, then don't go back on your word."
"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 notifications on this system?" Scott rolled his eyes. "It's always the same old tired jokes!"
Ye Mo ignored him, tapping his fingers lightly on the control panel twice to bring up the peripheral sensor array. The counter-beacon had been launched, simulating the particle fluctuation frequency from the training session, with the signal source located below the ventilation shaft on the east side of the training area. If Darren was really after the algorithm, he would definitely crash into that spot.
In the surveillance footage, the golden figure remained motionless, hovering at the edge of the forest, as if analyzing the authenticity of the signal.
"He's determining whether this is a trap or genuine data." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes. "Let him make his decision."
Scott leaned against a steel pillar at the entrance to the training area, slowly adjusting his breathing. He flexed his wrists, and his suit hummed slightly. The previous round of training had left him drenched in sweat, and his clothes were now heavy and uncomfortable against his skin, but he didn't pull them off.
He knew now was not the time to complain.
Ye Mo glanced down at the defense protocol interface: Quantum barrier is being generated, Pym Particles interference field preheating complete, counter-beacon is operating normally, sensor array is fully operational, self-destruct program has not yet been initialized -- this thing cannot be touched casually, if it is triggered, all the data in the entire laboratory will be wiped to zero.
He tapped his fingertip three times on the table to check the status of all subsystems.
Ready.
"Turn off the lights," he said softly.
"Wasn't it already turned off?" Scott muttered to himself.
"I was referring to the main light source," Ye Mo glanced at him. "This is emergency lighting now; we haven't reached the silent phase yet."
With a flick of his finger, he sent out the final power-off command. The entire laboratory went completely dark, with only a few faint light sensors on the control panel still flickering like fireflies buried underground.
Scott held his breath, his suit trembling slightly, and entered standby mode.
The golden figure outside moved.
Instead of gliding, it suddenly swooped down, heading straight for the main laboratory building.
Ye Mo's finger rested on the final confirmation button, but he didn't press it.
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.
"Barrier recalibration complete." Ye Mo stared at the countdown. "Interference field activated simultaneously."
Forty seconds remain.
The golden shadow was only one hundred meters away from the outer wall.
" Scott!" Ye Mo suddenly called out.
"Exist."
"Don't stand at the doorway anymore, go and ambush him at the west side of the pipe entrance. If he really rushes towards the control panel, just go around from the side and make some noise."
"Understood." Scott nodded, turned and walked quietly towards the back of the training area.
"Remember, five seconds is enough," Ye Mo added. "Any more and you won't be able to handle it; any less and the system won't have time to react."
"Five seconds, right?" Scott turned around and grinned. "Easier than the 398 seconds we practiced last time."
Ye Mo didn't smile, he just nodded.
Thirty seconds.
The golden shadow accelerated, leaving a blinding trail of light.
"Everyone, be silent," Ye Mo ordered in a low voice.
The entire space was so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat. He stared at the screen, his finger hovering above the confirmation 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 crouched in the shadows of the western pipe entrance, his suit gleaming faintly, his breathing slowly synchronizing with the ground's vibrations. He glanced up at the ceiling; the blue light from the light strip shone down, like a thin layer of ice covering his body.
He didn't move.
Ye Mo didn't move either.
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.
Ye Mo performed a final check of the defense protocol interface. All systems were ready, personnel were in place, and the enemy had locked onto the target.
He slowly exhaled, his finger still hovering beside the start button, his eyes fixed on the monitor screen, waiting for the enemy's next attack.
Scott crouched slightly, assuming a ready-to-dodge stance, his gaze fixed on the outer wall.
In the communication channel, Hank's voice remained online, the terminal connection was stable, and he was continuously monitoring the data stream from an unknown, safe location.
In the laboratory, only the light guide strips reflected on the ground, like frozen rivers.