Cooperation with Mutants

A wind blade grazed Ye Mo's face, breaking the skin below his left ear. He didn't move; his Steel Bone Body was still functioning, the metallic gray sheen spreading from his neck to his cheeks, the old wound on his right leg tugging at his nerves as if bound by barbed wire. He raised his hand and slammed it on the ground, a burst of cold air erupting from his palm, a semi-circular ice wall rising with a "boom," shielding Tony and himself behind it.

"Your winds can tear cities apart, and they can freeze the atmosphere—if you want to."

The woman hovered three meters above them, her silver hair flowing, her eyes completely white. She didn't speak, but the wind around her stopped. The previously chaotic air currents began to swirl around her, as if they had found a center point. The wind controller stood ten meters away, panting, head bowed, his voice trembling slightly. "She's Mutants too, don't trust her."

Ye Mo sneered and tapped his finger on the ice wall, producing a metallic clanging sound.

"You're using the banner of ' Mutants freedom' to smash cars, injure people, and use civilians as shields. The wind calmed down when she came down alone. Do you really represent Mutants? Or are you just looking to cause trouble?"

The woman tilted her head slightly, as if it were the first time she had been asked such a question.

Ye Mo knew she was listening. The system hadn't announced any new abilities or popped up any fragment information, indicating that this person wasn't on the list of Mutants already included. But he remembered a name in the database—a weather-controlling X-Men member, codenamed Storm. He hadn't expected the real person to be so much stronger than the data.

He raised his right hand, and a high-pressure ice crystal condensed in his palm. It was sharp and had a cold gleam at the edge. Then he threw it suddenly, and the ice crystal flew five meters into the air and exploded with a "bang," turning into dozens of ice spikes, which were neatly arranged and hung motionless in the air.

"Not just Ice Manipulation," he said, "I can turn it into a weapon."

The woman finally spoke, her voice low, like wind blowing across snow. "You said you could Ice Manipulation?"

"More than that." Ye Mo stared at her. "You control the storm, I control the icy storm. Wind wrapped in ice is an ice storm. Do you want to destroy this city? Or... work together to stop it from being destroyed?"

The entire room fell silent.

Tony's armor was still suspended in mid-air, the thrusters humming intermittently. He muttered to himself over the comms, "This guy's even willing to cooperate with gods now."

Storm ignored him. She raised her hands, palms up. The dark clouds above her head began to spin faster, no longer churning chaotically, but rhythmically contracting and sinking. Cold air currents surged in from all directions, mixing into her wind rings.

Ye Mo sensed that the air had changed. The humidity was rising, the temperature was falling, and water vapor was beginning to condense.

He knew she was attracted to him.

"What's your name?" Storm suddenly asked.

"They call me Mr. X," Ye Mo said. "My real name doesn't matter."

"Ororo," she said, "Ororo Monroe."

Ye Mo nodded. "Ororo, you control the wind direction, and I'll take care of cooling and freezing. As long as we're synchronized, the air Broadway can drop to minus forty degrees Celsius within ten seconds."

Aren't you afraid I'll freeze you in two?

"I'm afraid." Ye Mo grinned, "But I'm even more afraid of you standing over there."

He pointed at the trio of Windwalkers. The Rock Man was already kneeling on the ground, and the Electrician's arm was still smoking. The two of them were avoiding eye contact, clearly not wanting to fight anymore.

Storm followed his finger and her eyes turned cold.

"I'm not here to fight," she said. "I'm here to find the out-of-control people. But they... aren't the ones I'm looking for."

Ye Mo seized the opportunity. "So now you've found them. They're using mutant abilities to cause destruction, and you're still helping them? You're an X-Men member."

She turned around abruptly. "How did you know?"

"Just guessing," Ye Mo shrugged. "Judging from your demeanor, you don't seem like a street thug. You're clean-dressed, speak calmly, and have strong self-control. Hydra wouldn't use someone like you as a henchman, and Hellfire wouldn't be able to get you either. Besides the X-Men, I can't think of anyone else."

Tony chimed in from the sky, "Stop pretending. You clearly scanned her database; I heard you talking to yourself."

Ye Mo didn't bother to refute. He looked at Storm: "Now you have two choices. One is for you to continue being the referee and watch these people cause trouble under your name; the other is for you to join forces with me and use real power to tell everyone— Mutants are not thugs."

Storm was silent for a few seconds.

Then, she slowly descended, her feet landing on the frozen lake. No footprints were left, but the surrounding wind pressure caused several fine cracks to appear on the ice.

She walked up to Ye Mo, less than a meter away.

"Tell me how to do it."

Ye Mo grinned. "Simple. You lower the pressure of the cold air mass, and I'll create ice cores. When the wind blows, the entire area will be showered with ice blades."

What if innocent people are harmed?

"The civilians have already fled." Ye Mo pointed around. "Those left are either enemies or lunatics. You can't control everyone, but you can stop those in front of you."

Storm glanced at him, then looked at the Wind Controller trying to slip away in the distance.

She raised her hand, her five fingers spread wide.

In an instant, half of the clouds above Broadway collapsed, forming a funnel-shaped cyclone. Cold air poured down like a waterfall, colliding with the warm air from the ground, creating billowing white mist.

Ye Mo immediately responded, slamming his palms on the ground, and the chill spread along the ice surface. Centered on him, all the water vapor within a 30-meter radius was frozen, and countless tiny ice crystals rose up, floating in the air like dust.

"The wind is coming!" he shouted.

Storm swung her arms, creating a burst of air that swirled ice crystals at high speed. The first wave of ice storm materialized and hurtled towards the trio of wind controllers. They had just turned to escape when they were thrown over by the wind pressure, and the ice particles hit their bodies with a crackling sound, like being rubbed with sandpaper.

The rock man screamed in pain, several bloody marks appearing on his face.

"It can get even stronger." Ye Mo gritted his teeth, "One more wave!"

His Steel Bone Body began to heat up, his bones bearing a double burden—both maintaining their enhanced state and continuously emitting cold energy. The old injury in his right leg was being pulled more and more severely, but he did not let go.

Storm sensed the rhythm and adjusted the wind speed. She discovered that Ye Mo's Ice Manipulation was not released randomly, but rather in pulsed bursts with frequency. Each burst of cold air was timed precisely at the weakest point of the airflow, making it easier for the ice crystals to embed into the wind channel.

"Are you cooperating with me?" she asked.

"Otherwise what?" Ye Mo took a breath. "You think I can win over allies just by talking?"

Tony, watching from above, shook his head. "This kid can even teach tactics on the spot now."

The second wave of ice storms was denser than the first. The wind speed was faster, and the ice particles were harder, piercing the air like bullets. The controllers attempted to interfere with the discharge, but the current was extinguished by the low temperature as soon as it was released. The trio completely lost their ability to move and lay motionless on the ground.

"Is it over?" Storm asked.

"Not yet." Ye Mo stared at the sky. "That signal fluctuation from before... it's back again."

He was referring to the mental probes he had detected while at the base. The sensation was like someone gently poking the back of your head with the tip of a needle—it didn't hurt, but it was constant.

Storm looked up, her brow furrowing. "Someone's watching."

"Not an ordinary person." Ye Mo put away the ice crystals. "They can read minds. Emma Frost showed this signal when she was kidnapped."

What do you want to do?

Ye Mo cracked his knuckles. "Since he likes to watch it, let's put on a big one."

He turned to Storm and lowered his voice. "Pretend we start arguing. You attack me, I retaliate. Once he's focused, you use your storm as cover, and I'll use my ice crystals as conductors to trace the signal source in reverse."

Are you sure?

"Why would I want to cooperate with you if I didn't trust you?" Ye Mo laughed. "Besides, if you really hit me, I can take it."

Storm didn't laugh, but her eyes relaxed for a moment.

She suddenly raised her hand, and a gust of wind rushed straight at Ye Mo's chest. Ye Mo was prepared, and his Steel Bone Body was fully activated. He took the blow head-on, but was thrown back five meters, and the ice surface shattered. He rolled to his feet and waved his hand to release a barrage of ice spikes in retaliation.

Storm dodged to the side, then swung her hand, unleashing a horizontal wind blade. Ye Mo ducked to avoid it, while secretly injecting a wisp of cold air into the ice layer on the ground, which extended along the crack.

"The signal is moving!" he whispered.

"I'll cover you." Storm raised her hands to the sky, creating a huge vortex over Broadway, with white mist obscuring the sun and the sound of the wind drowning out all other noises.

Ye Mo lay prone on the ground, his palms pressed against the ice, the chill seeping rapidly through the underground ice veins. He could sense that the signal source was lingering at the third street intersection on the east side, as if confirming the outcome of the battle.

"Got him." He looked up sharply. "East Side, at the intersection of Madison Avenue and 23rd Street, there's a guy in a black trench coat, right hand in his pocket, left hand wearing a metal glove."

Storm immediately changed the wind direction, and a tornado swept across the ground.

The wind blew and the people dispersed.

A dark figure leaped from the street corner, trying to escape. But Storm had anticipated this, and a compressed wind column pinned him to the wall.

Ye Mo dragged his injured leg over, holding a piece of high-pressure ice crystal in his hand.

The man struggled to lift his head, his eyes filled with terror.

"Who sent you?" Ye Mo asked.

The other person remained silent and did not answer.

Ye Mo sneered, pressing the ice crystal against his throat. "Whether you talk or not, I can beat you. But if you talk now, I'll let you breathe."

The man opened his mouth.

Ye Mo took a step closer.

Just then, Storm suddenly turned around and looked towards the northern sky.

"More people are approaching," she said. "Not human."

Ye Mo looked up.

A crack appeared in the clouds.

A black aircraft is swooping down from high altitude, its underside glowing red.