The red light at the bottom of the black aircraft grew brighter and brighter, like a bomb about to explode. Tony's armor accelerated instantly, the thrusters spewing blue-white flames as he shot straight into the clouds.
"Don't let it get close to the ground!" Ye Mo shouted, pushing off with his right leg, his Steel Bone Body unleashing its power, and he leaped onto the top of an advertising billboard on a nearby building. He raised his hand and slapped the metal support, and a chill spread along the iron pipes, and a few seconds later the entire advertising screen was covered with a thick layer of ice.
Storm spread her arms, palms up. The wind above Broadway began to swirl, and a vertical column of wind rose from beneath her feet, shooting straight into the sky. The trajectory of the diving aircraft was forcibly distorted, the fuselage slid sideways, and a red light swept across the exterior wall of an office building, exploding into a fireball with a "boom." Glass shattered everywhere, but it didn't hit the crowd.
"It's off course!" Tony adjusted his posture in mid-air, his shoulder-mounted missile locking onto the target. "But that doesn't matter."
Two miniature tracking missiles were launched, accurately hitting the tail fin of the aircraft. An explosion rang out, the black plane lost its balance, rolled in the air, and crashed into the roof of an abandoned theater in the distance, getting stuck between broken signs and billowing smoke.
"One done." Tony hovered in mid-air, his mask opening a crack. "Who's next?"
Ye Mo stood on high ground, surveying the battlefield. The Electric Controller was helping the Rock Man retreat eastward, both of them staggering. The previous ice storm had dealt them a heavy blow; the Electric Controller's right hand was still twitching, clearly indicating that his nerves had been frostbitten.
"They're trying to escape." Ye Mo jumped off the billboard, and the ice automatically expanded to cushion his landing, causing his old injury in his right leg to go numb.
"Then don't let them go." Storm descended slowly from the sky, her silver hair ruffled by the wind, but her eyes remained steady.
Ye Mo walked to her side. "Let's have another ice storm, this time with a little something extra."
"Explain yourself." Storm looked at him.
"I'll set up the field first." Ye Mo slapped the ground with both hands, and the cold air spread rapidly from him. The water vapor on the ground condensed into fine ice crystals, which rose up and formed a low-altitude fog. The temperature dropped rapidly, and white vapor could be seen moving in the air.
"Now." He looked up.
Storm raised her hand, her five fingers spread wide. Strong winds converged from all directions, whipping up ice crystals to form a high-speed rotating storm belt. The first wave of ice particles swept across like bullets, hitting the Electrician directly in the back. He screamed and fell to his knees, his whole body covered in frost, the electricity that had just begun to emerge extinguished by the low temperature.
The rock-like man roared and stood in front, his arms crossed to protect his head. Ice particles crackled against him, and frostbite, like fissures, quickly appeared on his face. He tried to rush forward, but his joints were stiff, and his movements were a beat too slow.
"Working." Ye Mo grinned. "Let's go again and suppress them."
The second storm was denser. The wind was faster, and the ice pellets were harder, pounding the ground with a resounding thud. The rock man couldn't hold on for long; his knees buckled, and he collapsed to one knee. The electrician was already lying on the ground, his breath steaming in the air, unable to move.
"Two more." Storm pointed to the southeast corner. Two Mutants were leaning against the broken wall, their hands on the ground, seemingly preparing for the resonant Quake.
"Leave it to me." Ye Mo flexed his wrists, and his Steel Bone Body was activated once more, a grayish-white luster spreading from his neck to his arms.
He strode forward, each step leaving brief cracks in the ice. Sensing the threat, the other side preemptively unleashed Quake. The ground trembled, and a shockwave rushed towards them, skimming along the ice.
Ye Mo didn't dodge. He stepped forward with his left foot, and the cold air poured into the ground, freezing the path of the Quake in advance. The shockwave hit the solid ice layer, and the energy was dispersed, only cracking the ice surface within a few meters around it.
"That's it?" he sneered, slamming his right fist into the ground. A spike of ice shot out from beneath the source of the Quake, forcing the two men to jump back.
Storm seized the opportunity, swooping down from the sky, a compressed wind blade slicing through the Quake frequency node. The two women froze, their coordination disrupted.
" Tony!" Ye Mo shouted as he turned around.
"Roger that." Iron Man descended from the sky, his palm cannon fully charged, and unleashed a non-lethal Shockwave that slammed into the ground. The impact knocked the last two Mutants over, their backs slamming heavily onto the ice. Ye Mo seized the opportunity to release a cold wave, and ice rapidly climbed up their legs, sealing their lower bodies in the blink of an eye.
The entire room fell silent.
All six enemy Mutants were rendered incapacitated, either unconscious or frozen in place; none of them could stand up.
Ye Mo took a breath; the old injury on his right leg began to burn. He leaned against a lamppost and gently tapped the ice surface twice with his fingers to confirm that there were no more abnormal fluctuations.
A notification sounded in my mind, "Victory in battle. The twelfth floor of the Gene Spiral Tower has been unlocked."
He didn't laugh, nor did he relax; he simply looked up at Tony.
Tony landed slowly, his armor retracted its thrusters, his mask fully opened, and he smiled, "Well done, Mr. X."
After he finished speaking, he reached out and gently patted Ye Mo's shoulder.
Storm stood not far away, her silver hair slightly disheveled, her breathing steady. She glanced at the controlled enemy, then looked at Ye Mo, and nodded slightly.
"You two work together very well," she said.
"If it goes this smoothly the first time, it'll be even faster next time." Ye Mo took off his glasses and wiped them; there was a thin layer of frost on the lenses.
"You're injured," Storm suddenly said.
"Old problem." Ye Mo put his glasses back on. "It won't affect my fighting."
Tony glanced around. "The police and S.H.I.E.L.D.. should be here soon. We can leave these people to them."
"We haven't asked who sent it yet," Ye Mo, staring at the crashed aircraft, "But it's definitely not something street thugs could get their hands on."
"Once we fix the black machine, we'll know by checking the data," Tony said. "Let's call it a day for now."
Ye Mo nodded, without moving.
Storm took a few steps closer. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking..." He looked up at the sky, "That mental probe disappeared, but not because it was severed, but because it withdrew on its own."
"That means the monitors are still around," Tony added.
"And he's watched for a long time." Ye Mo narrowed his eyes. "He knows how we fight, he knows our rhythm of cooperation."
"I'll be better prepared next time." Storm's tone turned cold.
"Then let him do it." Ye Mo cracked his neck, making a snapping sound. "Perfect timing to test out his newly unlocked ability."
The three stood together, gazing at the devastated Broadway. Frozen lakes covered the streets, wreckage lay buried under snow, and the sound of sirens grew louder in the distance.
Tony's armor emitted a slight hum, ready to take off at any moment.
Storm raised her hand, and wind swirled around her fingertips.
Ye Mo stood there, his black hoodie covered in frost and dust, his silver-rimmed glasses askew, and a tired but satisfied smile played on his lips.
Suddenly, he bent down and picked up a fragment—a piece of the aircraft's outer shell, charred at the edges, with a line of small characters engraved on the inside.
Before he could even read what was written on it, Tony leaned closer.
"What did it say?" Tony asked.
Ye Mo flipped the fragment over and wiped away the dust with his fingers.
The above is a serial number: MK-9X.