Tremors underground
The thick metal surface of the explosion-proof door was covered with fine scratches. Ye Mo's palm touched the cold door surface, and the tremor from the ground traveled up his arm bones and directly to his spine. It was not an ordinary vibration; the frequency was extremely high, with a tooth-grinding buzzing sound, like countless needles scraping against his eardrums at the same time.
"Push." Ye Mo gave the order in a low voice, his voice somewhat broken by the surrounding noise.
Scott huddled on Ye Mo's shoulder. Though he was only the size of a palm, he could feel the violent shaking beneath his feet. This high-frequency vibration was pushing his sense of balance to the brink of collapse, and his stomach churned. Emma Frost stood half a step behind him, her brows furrowed and her eyes slightly closed, clearly trying to resist some kind of mental interference.
Without hesitation, Ye Mo tensed his arm muscles and exerted force. With a dull metallic scraping sound, the heavy explosion-proof door slid open a crack to the inside.
Boom--!
A visible blast of air instantly erupted from the crack in the door, carrying with it a pungent smell of chemicals and burning. Ye Mo dodged to the side, using his deformed body structure to absorb most of the impact, then quickly slipped into the room, pulling the door halfway back up, leaving only a gap for three people to pass through.
The sight before them seemed to freeze the air for a moment.
This was a spacious underground laboratory, where once-neat equipment tables were now overturned and askew. In the center of the room, a huge cylindrical high-pressure storage tank was emitting a dying groan. A grotesque crack had appeared in the middle of the tank, from which a ghostly blue light poured out wildly, flickering like breathing. Each flash of light was accompanied by a distortion of the surrounding air and a slight subsidence of the ground.
"Pym Particles are leaking." Emma Frost's voice was cold and urgent. She opened her eyes, her pale purple pupils reflecting the blue light. "The concentration is rising exponentially. If the leak continues, the entire base's foundation will be engulfed by subatomic-level disintegration."
Scott jumped off Ye Mo's shoulder and landed on the dusty metal floor. He crouched down and gently touched a piece of metal that was crumbling into powder with his finger. A tingling sensation spread through his fingertip, and the metal turned into a pile of fine sand the moment he touched it.
"The microstructure has been destroyed." Scott's voice trembled slightly, but his eyes were unusually focused. "This isn't a normal pre-explosion sign; it's the disintegration of matter itself. If the energy source isn't cut off soon, this place will become nothingness."
Ye Mo strode to the control panel. The screen was already black, but the backup power indicator light was still flashing faintly. He quickly brought up the internal monitoring screen. The screen was choppy and filled with static, but it was enough to see the location of the control valve—five meters away from the ruptured storage tank, separated by a channel from which blue gas flowed continuously.
"Walking directly through there will vaporize you." Ye Mo pointed to the passage, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather. "Furthermore, the main control unit's casing has been melted by the high temperature, rendering external operation ineffective. Someone must go in and manually trigger the physical lock switch in the emergency isolation protocol."
Emma Frost glanced around, her gaze settling on the scattered instruments. "My Telepathy is suffering from strong electromagnetic interference, making it impossible to accurately scan distant details, but I can sense that the mechanical structure of that isolation door is still intact. As long as someone can get close, I can guide you to the correct operating sequence through Mental Resonance."
Scott looked up at his small frame, then at the deadly passage. He didn't speak, but flexed his wrists and gave a bitter smile. "Looks like I'll have to be an 'ant' again. But this time, not to steal cookies, but to defuse a bomb."
"Extremely high risk." Ye Mo stared at him, his gaze sharp. "The radiation intensity there is enough to destabilize your molecular structure within seconds. Once it gets out of control, you will..."
"It'll disappear?" Scott interrupted him, shrugging. "It's better than watching the house collapse. Anyway, Hank said before that the Pym Particles have a two-way effect on living organisms. Since I can shrink, theoretically I can adapt to this environment as long as I don't move around too much."
Ye Mo remained silent for two seconds, rapidly calculating the success rate in his mind. The system notification didn't sound, meaning there were no readily available abilities to utilize; everything would depend on the existing teamwork.
"Listen to me." Ye Mo turned to face the two of them, speaking rapidly, "Emma Frost, you're in charge of establishing a mental link, synchronizing my consciousness with Scott's. I need to monitor his vital signs and location in real time. Once his heart rate exceeds the threshold, immediately sever the connection and notify him to evacuate. Scott, after you shrink, don't try to run; that will increase air resistance and cause imbalance. You need to glide close to the ground, using electrostatic attraction to move. I will use my mental energy to create a temporary 'safe path' for you, avoiding areas where high-energy particles gather."
Emma Frost nodded, raised her hands, and a faint purple light emanated from her palms. An invisible ripple spread out from her, instantly enveloping the entire laboratory.
"Link established." Her voice rang directly in Ye Mo and Scott's minds, clear and steady. "Scott, can you hear me?"
"I can hear you, White Queen." Scott's voice carried a hint of excitement and nervousness. "It feels like swimming in water, quite comfortable."
"Don't let your guard down," Ye Mo warned, his hand on his equipment belt, ready to respond to any unexpected situation. "Now, move out."
Scott took a deep breath, and his body began to shrink rapidly. His clothes automatically adjusted their size as he shrank, and in the blink of an eye, he had become a tiny being, hovering in mid-air. A faint blue light shone on his small figure, making him appear both fragile and resolute.
Emma Frost shimmered with a diamond-like luster. She stood motionless, like a statue, all her attention focused on maintaining the stability of her Mental Network. Her face was pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, clearly indicating that maintaining such a high level of mental coverage was extremely taxing.
Ye Mo stood in front of the two, his gaze fixed on the dangerous passage ahead. He slightly raised his right hand, and a faint energy fluctuation gathered at his fingertips. It was a trace of the Mutants ability fragments sensed by the system. Although it was not fully activated, it was enough to serve as an auxiliary means.
The blue currents within the passage grew increasingly dense, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Scott's figure appeared and disappeared within it, like a speck of dust struggling to move forward in a storm.
"Three degrees to the left, avoid the high-energy hotspot," Ye Mo silently recited in his mind, transmitting the command through the mental link.
Scott obediently slid to the left, narrowly avoiding a swirling cloud of blue plasma.
"There's metal debris in the lower right corner, be careful not to trip." Emma Frost's voice followed closely, calm and precise.
Scott skillfully maneuvered around the obstacles, gradually increasing his speed. He was getting closer and closer to the broken storage tank, the light spilling from the crack almost overwhelming his vision.
Ye Mo clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the force. He could feel Scott's heart rate soaring, but that youthful vitality only grew stronger in adversity.
"Ten meters to go," Ye Mo said in a low voice, his tone carrying a barely perceptible tension.
Scott didn't answer; he just stared intently at the control panel flashing red in front of him, his eyes burning with a resolute light.
Emma Frost's Diamond Form shone brightly as she spread her arms as if to shield the two people in front of her from any potential impact.
Ye Mo's gaze swept past them, fixed intently on the isolation door that was about to be opened, awaiting the final instruction.