The Act Emerges
The data stream from Scott's end was still frantically scrolling across the screen, the scrolling negative comments like a pot of boiling asphalt, thick and with a pungent, burnt smell. Ye Mo stopped looking at the text; he closed his eyes and gently tapped his fingers on the outside of his thighs. This wasn't to relax, but to calibrate his rhythm.
Deep within his mind, the invisible Gene Spiral Tower trembled slightly. Although there were no specific visual cues, that familiar, tingling sensation, like an electric current passing through nerve endings, appeared precisely on time. The system hadn't issued any tasks; it simply waited quietly, waiting for him to "borrow" even the most basic bit of perception. Ye Mo took a deep breath and guided his consciousness along the mental pathway he had just discovered in the underground laboratory, quietly probing into the deep nodes of the public network.
This time, he didn't listen to the cacophony of insults directly. Instead, like a diver plunging into the deep sea, he held his breath and filtered out the surface bubbles.
A deluge of information flooded in from social media platforms around the world, real-time comment sections of news forums, and even some hidden political discussion boards. Negative emotions are extremely aggressive, and ordinary thought processes are easily drowned out by this angry noise, and may even be traced and located in reverse. Ye Mo adjusted his presence, disguising himself as an unremarkable bystander, only extracting keywords with organized characteristics and clues about fund flows.
A few seconds later, a chill ran down my spine.
It's not just spontaneous public outrage. Behind those seemingly chaotic accusations lies a clear thread. Certain hashtags are being pushed simultaneously by numerous accounts within a short period, and financial flows show that several offshore companies are funding radical NGOs. A non-public draft resolution from the United Nations World Security Council is circulating secretly, its core content directly targeting the registration and movement restrictions of superhumans. Meanwhile, in major cities like New York, London, and Tokyo, marches under the banner of "human purity" are gathering, with leaders holding signs that don't bear slogans but rather carefully crafted inflammatory images.
The fire was already lit, and someone was waving a gasoline can around it.
Ye Mo opened his eyes, the faint blue light in his pupils quickly fading. He leaned back in his chair, a cynical smile playing on his lips, but his eyes were as cold as ice.
Just then, his high-definition holographic projection device suddenly received an urgent news notification. The scene instantly switched to the brightly lit United Nations Hall, where representatives from various countries stood solemnly, and an atmosphere of suffocating solemnity permeated the air. As the UN Secretary-General read the document, the core provisions of the bill were revealed one by one—mandatory registration, capacity filing, and restrictions on movement. This news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly igniting a global media frenzy.
Ye Mo didn't speak, but simply watched as Tony Stark's familiar face appeared on the screen.
The camera cuts to a close-up of Tony Stark. He's dressed casually, without his armor, but his presence is still powerful. Faced with a reporter's pointed question about whether this signifies the end of the Heroic Age, Tony doesn't shy away, but instead gives a surprising answer, "It's not the end, it's maturity."
Tony elaborated on the significance of the Superhuman Registration Act. He emphasized that having power does not mean being above the law; on the contrary, it is precisely because of the ability to change the world that one needs to be bound by constraints to protect the innocent. His words were sharp and persuasive, even carrying a touch of tragic self-sacrifice. Ye Mo listened to these voices in the base, his lips twitching slightly—a complex expression.
Ye Mo closed his eyes, the Gene Spiral Tower in his mind spinning gently. He didn't directly hear Tony's inner thoughts, but through the "trait resonance" accumulated over long-term contact, he clearly perceived Tony's current psychological state: a desperate effort to use order to combat chaos. Tony believed that only by placing himself under supervision could he gain society's trust and thus avoid greater disaster. Ye Mo realized that this once cynical man was bearing weight in his own way.
As the press conference ended, Tony's departing figure appeared somewhat lonely. Ye Mo opened his eyes, his fingers rapidly tapping on the control panel, recording the key data and analysis reports from Tony's speech. He knew that Tony's actions would be either the final straw that broke the camel's back or the key to unlocking a new order. Either way, conflict was inevitable.