Ye Mo parked the car on the street corner, leaving the engine running. Tony had just left, and he sat alone in the driver's seat, tapping his fingers twice on the edge of the steering wheel. The encrypted message from earlier was still swirling in his mind—"They know... Mr. X's identity." The last half of the sentence was abruptly cut off, as if a signal had been ripped off from the outside.
He took out his terminal and pulled up the last communication record. The time was two hours ago, and the location was marked as the edge of the industrial zone in the east of the city. Emma Frost's device signal had been lost since then; it wasn't turned off or damaged, but completely blocked by something.
This isn't right.
They had an agreement. After each operation, no matter how late, she would send back a confirmation code. Even if it was just three dots, it would light up the screen briefly. But this time, there was nothing.
Ye Mo closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking. His Telepathy spread out like a net, sweeping across every thought fluctuation within a three-kilometer radius. Most people were ordinary, anxious about tomorrow's work, thinking about going home for dinner, or simply spacing out. But the frequency he was looking for never appeared.
He knew Emma Frost's mental state all too well. Calm, sharp, with a hint of defensiveness, like a knife hidden in velvet. But now, that familiar rhythm was gone.
He opened his eyes, his brows furrowed.
Try again.
This time, he lowered his perception intensity, avoiding common sources of interference and focusing his scans on easily overlooked corners. Finally, in the southeast corner of a cluster of abandoned factory buildings, he caught a faint afterimage—faint, intermittent, like Mars trampled into the mud, but still flickering.
It's her.
Moreover, her thoughts were filled with pain and a suppressed struggle, as if her mental pathways had been forcibly locked by something.
Ye Mo sat bolt upright. Hydra had made their move? So fast?
He recalled the double-shadowed man he'd seen outside the bar half an hour earlier. At the time, he'd only found it eerie, but now he realized it wasn't a hallucination. Those were remnants of mutant abilities, indicating that someone had used spatial or shape-based powers at the scene. And the genetic residue on Tony's clothes was no coincidence either.
The other side had been watching them for a long time, and their goal was clear—to make a move on Emma Frost first and force him to show himself.
Ye Mo slammed on the gas, the car sped forward for more than ten meters before screeching to a stop. He couldn't be reckless. Emma Frost was still alive, which meant they didn't want to kill her yet, but rather wanted to use her as bait. If he drove straight in, he would be playing right into their hands.
He leaned back in his seat, took two deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down.
He activated Thermal Vision and remotely scanned the area. The images quickly returned: four sentry posts were positioned around the factory perimeter, patrolling along regular routes and fully equipped with weapons. More troublesome was the anti- Mutants shielding field inside the building; his Telepathy couldn't penetrate the second layer of walls.
But he did see something—there were vital signs on the first basement level; her heartbeat was stable, and her body temperature was slightly low, consistent with Emma Frost's current condition. She wasn't injured, at least not yet.
But just as he was about to cut off the scan, a voice suddenly rang in his mind:
[Full version of Ice Manipulation Ability detected. Activate now?]
Ye Mo was stunned.
This is the first time the system has proactively pushed out a capability. Previously, it would only suggest a fusion direction after absorbing fragments, never directly asking whether to activate it.
He recalled encountering a Mutants on a battlefield before. Before dying, the mutant unleashed a wave of extreme cold, and he casually collected the fragments, which he had never used. Now it seemed that Nine-Headed Rainbow might have deliberately left that scene behind to lure him into activating this path.
The trap is obvious.
But Emma Frost's signal weakened even further.
He knew she was holding back. She had once said, "If you don't come, I'll break down the cage myself." But she couldn't hold on for long. That kind of mental blockade was like slow suffocation for Mutants.
Ye Mo clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm.
Three seconds later, he mentally clicked "yes".
A chill instantly shot through his spine, spreading along his nerves to his limbs. His left hand twitched uncontrollably, a thin layer of ice forming on his palm before cracking open. Looking down, he saw faint blue lines emerging beneath his skin, as if liquid nitrogen had flowed into his veins.
I haven't gotten used to it yet.
This feeling was even more unfamiliar than Regenerative Phasing; it was as if the body was rejecting it yet had no choice but to accept it.
He gritted his teeth and held on, without making a sound.
The cooldown time for the ability is unknown, the combination path is unclear, and acting rashly might freeze even yourself. But there's no other choice now.
He pushed open the car door, his black hoodie pulled tight around his body, the brim of his hat pulled low. The night wind whipped up dust that stung his face, but he didn't flinch.
He ran a few steps to the alley entrance and walked close to the wall. Surveillance cameras rotated overhead. He raised his hand, a wisp of cold air gathering at his fingertips, and flicked it lightly. An icicle flew out, hitting the lens precisely. With a click, the red light went out.
The second camera was fifteen meters to his right, at a tricky angle. He crouched down, pulled a piece of Vibranium from the sole of his shoe, and threw it on the ground. The piece slid a few meters before stopping, reflecting a faint light. The camera immediately turned to that spot.
He seized the opportunity to climb over the low wall and landed silently.
The main factory building was fifty meters ahead, its iron gate rusted and bearing a "No Entry" sign. Light couldn't get through the cracks in the door, but thermal imaging showed at least eight people inside, scattered at different points.
Emma Frost is underground.
He moved close to the wall, his ears catching every footstep. Two guards were changing shifts; their conversation was indistinct, but their lip movements suggested they were discussing something unusual.
Ye Mo held his breath and pressed his right hand to the ground. The cold air seeped into the cement through his fingertips and spread along the underground pipes. Thirty seconds later, he felt a section of metal pipe begin to frost over—it was the ventilation duct leading to the basement.
You can go there.
But as soon as he stood up, the notification sounded in his mind again:
[ Ice Manipulation Ability is entering the fusion phase, expected to last 90 seconds. During this time, limb reactions will be delayed; remaining still is recommended.]
He gave a cold laugh.
To leave him standing still? That would be suicide.
He lifted his left leg and took a step forward. A chilling sensation immediately shot through his knee, as if steel needles were piercing his bone marrow. He didn't stop and continued forward.
Ten steps, twenty steps.
With each step, the chill within his body grew increasingly violent. His right hand began to go numb, his fingertips froze, and even his breath produced white mist.
After walking thirty steps, he leaned against a telephone pole and caught his breath.
In the distance, a camera in the corner of the factory slowly rotates.
He looked up, his eyes turning cold.
The next second, he raised his right hand, his five fingers spread. An ice cone, half a meter long, materialized out of thin air, its tip pointing at the camera.
He swung it forcefully.
The icicle shot through the air at incredible speed. Crack! The lens and its tripod broke apart, crashing against the tin roof with a crisp sound as it fell.
The guards immediately became alert; one drew his gun, while the other pressed the communicator.
Before they could react, Ye Mo turned and rushed toward the ventilation shaft. A Frostmark stretched behind him, as if someone had drawn a line on the ground with white chalk.
He knelt on one knee and placed his palm on the manhole cover. Ice quickly covered the metal surface, making a cracking sound. Five seconds later, the entire manhole cover was frozen and cracked, with the edges curling up.
He forcefully lifted the door and jumped inside.
The shaft was pitch black, with only a faint light from above. He slid down the wall, constantly releasing cold air from his left hand to create ice steps on the inner wall of the vertical pipe, slowing his descent.
Midway through, I suddenly felt a tightness in my chest, as if being gripped by an invisible hand. System notification:
[Ability Conflict Warning: Regenerative Phasing and Ice Manipulation Path are incompatible. Adjustment of output ratio is recommended.]
He ignored it.
When I reached the bottom, my ankle buckled and I almost fell. I managed to steady myself by grabbing the wall.
Ahead was an iron gate, welded shut. A faint light shone through the crack in the gate.
He raised his hand, and the cold air condensed into a serrated ice blade, cutting along the lock core. Sparks flew, and the metal emitted a piercing scraping sound.
Ten seconds later, the lock broke.
He pushed open the door, and was greeted by a dimly lit corridor. The air smelled of electricity and a faint scent of medicine.
At the end is a staircase leading underground.
He stepped forward, and his left palm froze again, this time thicker, almost covering his entire skin.
There are surveillance cameras on both sides of the corridor, and one after another, their red lights are on.
He knew they had found him.
But he didn't care.
As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Who dares to touch her?"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the light bulbs in the corridor suddenly shattered, scattering shards of glass and frost all over the floor.
He didn't stop, he kept going forward.
Two fully armed guards stood at the top of the stairs, pointing their guns at him.
He looked up and glanced at them.
The next second, frost began to form on the ground, quickly spreading to the feet of the two men. Their boots were instantly frozen in place, unable to move.
Ye Mo stepped forward, raised his left hand, and an ice blade took shape.
The guard pulled the trigger, and the bullet was encased in a layer of ice as soon as it left the barrel, then clattered to the ground.
He walked up to the first person and took off his hat.
The moment the other person saw his face clearly, their pupils contracted sharply.
Ye Mo said, "Tell your people, the game is over."
After saying that, he punched the other person in the temple. The person fell to the ground on the spot.
The second person tried to shout, but his throat was frozen and he couldn't make a sound.
Ye Mo walked past them and stepped onto the stairs.
The heavy, airtight iron gate to the basement level was right in front of me, with the words "High Force Field Area" written beside it.
He raised his hand, and a chill gathered in his palm.
Ice seeped up the cracks in the door, covering the entire surface and making a sickening squeaking sound.
The door frame began to deform.
Just as he was about to break down the door, the notification sound in his mind beeped for the third time:
[ Ice Manipulation Ability fusion progress 78%, approximately 40 seconds remaining. Warning: Overuse may cause nervous system freeze.]
He stared at the door, his breathing heavy.
Then, he placed his left hand on the ice and whispered:
"Hold on a little longer."
A cold front erupted, and the entire door shattered with a deafening roar, sending shards of ice flying everywhere.