Force Field Shield, Protecting the Core
The Yellowjacket took a step forward, an energy ball hovering between his palms, its golden light dazzling. Scott stared at the light, slowly retreating into the depths of the training area. Ye Mo's finger hovered over the command key, his eyes fixed on the screen.
The next second, the ball of light exploded.
It wasn't aimed at Scott, but rather slammed into the ground—BOOM! The entire main laboratory hall looked as if it had been struck by a giant sledgehammer; the floor cracked instantly, three pipes burst open, coolant sprayed out, and flames mixed with steam leaped wildly. A piercing alarm blared, and a red countdown appeared on the central monitoring screen: [Core equipment overheating, meltdown estimated in 90 seconds].
"Damn!" Scott was thrown off his feet by the shockwave. His suit short-circuited for two seconds, and the green light indicating a system reboot flashed briefly in his helmet before returning to normal. He lay sprawled on the ground, a dull, jagged pain shooting through his ribs, but he managed to get up, leaning against a training post and panting heavily. "This is really bad..."
Ye Mo didn't reply, his hand already on the control panel interface. He closed his eyes briefly, his consciousness sinking into the seventh level of the "Gene Spiral Tower"—where a rare fragment of an ability was sealed. "Domino's Force Field Generation." This was a fragment he had picked up earlier at the scene of a Mutants rampage. Its combination logic was "group defense + unidirectional deflection," theoretically capable of blocking a frontal impact, but it consumed a lot of energy and required a high level of mental concentration.
"Are you sure you can do it?" he asked the system in his mind.
[Ability can be activated, cooldown time unknown, recommended to keep powering it for no more than 47 seconds] The voice prompt in the brain came out dryly.
"Well, another job that might leave me paralyzed after a while." Ye Mo grinned and slammed his finger down on the start button.
Buzz--
A semi-transparent blue membrane rose from the ground, forming a dome that covered the core equipment cluster, arriving just one second before the second wave of shock. Boom! The aftershocks struck the shield, causing the blue light to fluctuate violently, like a stone hitting the surface of water, ripples spreading outwards. The shield didn't break, but Ye Mo felt dizzy, and his temples throbbed.
"It's done," he said softly, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.
Scott peered out from behind the stake and saw the blue membrane firmly holding back the impact. His eyes widened in disbelief. "What is that? A brand new safe?"
"Stop joking." Ye Mo gritted his teeth, his hands gripping the control panel tightly. "You can still move, right? Run around him, force him to turn! Don't let him face the core head-on!"
Scott paused for a moment, then realized—the shield might withstand one attack, but not necessarily ten. If the Yellowjacket stood still and slammed into a single point, the blue shield would eventually collapse.
He flexed his wrists; the controller was hot, the battery level was 52%, and his suit was charred black, but it was still functional. "Fine, I'll be a human kite."
After saying that, he suddenly dashed out of cover, his zigzag running route widening again. The Yellowjacket was just about to charge up his third attack when he caught a glimpse of the moving target out of the corner of his eye and immediately turned to give chase. Scott, running, shouted back, "Hey! Golden Armor Brother! Look this way!"
The Yellowjacket snorted coldly and raised his hand to sweep a particle beam. Scott anticipated this, ducked and leaped, and with the micro-vibration system of his suit working in conjunction with the short jump, he managed to make a turn in mid-air. The particle beam grazed past his feet and struck the wall, exploding into a string of sparks.
"Beautiful!" Ye Mo tapped the console twice quickly, activating the preset interference program and releasing a small amount of Pym Particles to disrupt the air's refractive index. In an instant, a double image appeared at the edge of the shield, as if several blue films were stacked together.
The Yellowjacket squinted, momentarily unable to distinguish the true from the false boundary, misjudging it as a shield expansion, and slightly shifted his attack angle. The high-frequency pulse struck the southeast corner of the shield, only creating a ripple, without causing structural damage.
"I've fooled him." Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not relax. The shield was still active, and his nerves were like a taut wire, ready to snap at the slightest tremor. System notification: [Cooldown countdown 47 seconds].
He knew he had to hold on for those 47 seconds.
Scott wasn't idle either, continuing to dodge and weave with his agility. He noticed that his opponent's shoulder vents would accelerate before each attack, so he simply focused on that area—the faster the heat dissipation, the more fully charged the energy, and he would immediately change direction. After several attempts, he wasn't even grazed once.
"So you need to cast a spell too?" He chuckled, panting. "Then you're too slow."
The Yellowjacket's face darkened. He stopped probing from a distance, clasped his arms together, and his armor emitted a low-frequency hum—the cone-shaped sonic cannon was activated. This time, he aimed precisely at the weakest point of the shield, the southeast corner, clearly having discovered the previous jamming vulnerability.
Ye Mo sensed the abnormal energy fluctuations and immediately switched the auxiliary Circuit in his consciousness, injecting a Telepathy Fragment to enhance his concentration. This wasn't for mind reading; it was purely to improve the precision of his self-control, essentially putting a stabilizer on his brain.
"I don't want to fight..." he muttered to himself, his hands pressed tightly against the control panel, "But they're not to be trifled with."
As the words were spoken, a faint glow appeared at the edge of the shield, and its structural stability returned to 81%.
The next instant, the sonic cannon exploded with a deafening roar.
Boom--!
The entire main hall was shaking; the blue membrane twisted violently, and the southeast corner almost caved in. An alarm blared urgently. "[Structural stability has dropped to 63%]." Ye Mo felt a sweet taste in his throat, which he forced back down. Veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat trickled down his temples and into his collar.
But he didn't let go.
The shield is still there.
The temperature curve of the core equipment began to drop, and the countdown stopped at 68 seconds.
"It worked!" He breathed a sigh of relief, then yelled, "Scott! Keep stalling! Don't let him stop charging!"
Scott had just rolled out from behind a pile of collapsed equipment racks when he heard the shouts and immediately understood—he couldn't safely deal damage as long as the enemy was chasing him. He grinned, wiping the dust off his face. "Alright, let's go all out."
Instead of simply running away, he actively approached the Yellowjacket, suddenly shrinking to thirty centimeters before the warrior could attack, slipping past his leg, then expanding and launching himself forward, the recoil directly slamming into his back. Although he didn't break through the warrior's defenses, he successfully disrupted the charging rhythm.
The Yellowjacket staggered half a step, then turned and launched a sweeping attack. Scott was prepared, ducking and sliding back, his suit making a soft "click" sound at the joints—the moisture hadn't dissipated yet, and his right knee was 0.3 seconds too slow to cushion the blow, almost getting hit.
"Damn it, my old injury flared up again," he cursed, but didn't stop moving, continuing to circle.
Ye Mo watched the monitor screen, a barely perceptible smirk playing on his lips. He knew that Scott had started using his brain.
The shield was still active, but his body was nearing its limit. The 47-second cooldown had long since passed, and the system hadn't given any further notifications, indicating that he had entered a forced continuation state. The backlash was growing stronger, as if someone was drilling a hole in his temple.
But he can't stop.
Once the shield disappears, the core equipment will melt down within twenty seconds. Hank Pym's compression algorithm, all experimental data, the core protocols of the Ant-Man Suit... will all be burned to ashes.
"Hold on... just a few more seconds..." he murmured, his fingers digging into the edge of the control panel until his knuckles turned white.
Scott was also going all out. He noticed that the Yellowjacket had a short cooldown period after each attack, so he deliberately used this time to harass him—either throwing a metal block to attract attention or suddenly ramming into him to test his reaction speed. Although he dodged awkwardly every time, he successfully prevented the opponent from continuously attacking.
"You're quite the troublemaker," the Yellowjacket finally spoke, his voice filtered through the armor, cold and mechanical, "Unfortunately, you can't protect me for long."
"Who said I was going to protect you?" Scott retorted, panting. "I'm just annoying, the kind of person who takes down all the pretentious types."
The Yellowjacket's eyes turned cold, and he brought his arms together again, recharging the sonic cannon.
Ye Mo immediately noticed. "Southeast corner! It's the southeast corner again!"
Without a second thought, he forcefully mobilized his last ounce of mental energy, maximizing the power of the auxiliary Circuit. The edge of the shield glowed faintly again, and the structural stability returned to 70%.
Boom--!
The impact caused the blue membrane to vibrate violently, and the southeast corner dented even deeper, but ultimately it did not break.
Ye Mo felt a mouthful of blood rise to his throat, but he forced it back down. His vision blurred, and his ears were ringing, but his hands remained firmly pressed on the control panel.
Scott, hiding behind the obstacle array, looked at the shaky blue membrane and suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
He knew what Ye Mo was like now.
That's risking their lives to hold on.
"As long as you're still standing, you haven't lost." He recalled the words that had just come through his earpiece, his composure unnerving. "Now it's not about hiding, it's about stalling—stallping until we win."
He glanced down at the controller; the slot was firmly in place, and although the suit was torn, it could still move.
"Fine." He took a breath and straightened up. "Then let's keep dragging it out."
Instead of charging out, he took a longer route, approaching from the flank. He knew that every second from now on had to be calculated precisely.
Ye Mo remained standing in front of the control panel, sweat soaking his forehead and sticking to his eyebrows. He didn't move or speak, just stared at the monitor screen, watching Scott's figure move across the thermal image.
The shield is still there.
The temperature of the core equipment continued to drop.
The countdown stopped at 51 seconds.
He was still standing.
Scott is still running.
The Yellowjacket stood in the center of the main hall, his arm vents operating at high frequency, recalculating his attack plan.
Ye Mo's fingers rested lightly on the control panel, his fingertips trembling slightly.
The laboratory lights flickered on and off, their blue films gleaming faintly, like a heart that refused to go out.