Ye Mo's fingers hovered in mid-air, a few centimeters away from the gray connector. He didn't reach forward any further, but slowly withdrew his hand, looking down at his palm. The warm current from before was still coursing through his body, as if something was rearranging the wiring in his nerves.
[Victory in battle, unlocking the 23rd floor of the Gene Spiral Tower ]
The system's voice had barely finished speaking when another layer of space appeared in his mind. But he knew this was not the end.
He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. When he fought Oryx earlier, he didn't win by brute force. He first laid out an ice surface, then used Feint to lure his opponent into a trap. It felt like setting a trap in advance and waiting for the enemy to run into it.
This ability... seems to have the potential to go even further.
He opened his eyes and looked at the ground. There were still some broken ice fragments in the passage, and a piece of metal at his feet reflected a faint light. He squatted down and gently ran his finger along the ground. A thin layer of almost invisible ice spread out along the surface, only as thick as a fingernail, as transparent as air.
This isn't meant to cause anyone to slip or fall, nor is it intended to create obstacles.
He's trying out a new idea.
He loosened his Telepathy a little, not to read anyone's thoughts, but to simulate a "signal"—like the Mutants vibration frequency he used when fishing before. He set this signal as a "trigger condition" and then embedded it into that thin layer of ice.
Five seconds later, he pretended to be the enemy and took a step forward.
Click!
The ice on the ground thickened instantly, and three sharp icicles burst forth from different angles, one of which shot straight at his face, the icy air brushing past the tip of his nose.
It's done.
He didn't laugh; instead, he frowned. That attack wasn't just a physical freeze; he also felt a momentary "lag"—as if the other person's brain had also been frozen for a moment. That was the result of Telepathy being triggered simultaneously.
Ice Manipulation + Telepathy = Ice Mind Trap.
The name was something he came up with on the spur of the moment, but its effect was real.
He tried again. This time, he set the "trigger condition" further away, setting up a double trap five meters in front of him. The first layer was ordinary ice spikes, used to force the opponent to change direction; the second layer was the real killing move, which would activate the Mind Stone -freezing effect as long as a human body temperature came close.
He stood still, controlling the situation solely with his mind.
Crack! The first layer exploded, sending ice shards flying. The second layer responded immediately, a pale blue halo flashing in the air before disappearing.
He reached out and touched the air; his fingertips felt a little numb.
"This thing... it can really freeze your brain," he muttered.
This isn't a metaphor; it really can cause a person's thinking to freeze for a second. It might not be useful for ordinary people, but on the battlefield, a second is enough to decide life or death.
He stood up and stretched his wrists. His body was a little tired and his muscles were sore after the intense battle, but this did not affect his control over his new ability. On the contrary, the more tired he was, the more he could see the essence of the ability—because it no longer relied on explosive power, but operated automatically based on "preset logic".
Just like programming.
You write a piece of code, send it out, and wait for it to execute automatically.
He recalled Oryx's words, "I am the cleaner, I enforce the rules."
I didn't think much of it at the time, but now, looking back, something feels off. That person wasn't just there to steal the technology; it was more like they were "testing" whether there was a risk of things getting out of control.
His new ability... happens to fit the definition of "high risk".
Just as I was thinking this, a "ding" sounded in my head.
[New ability combination detected; Gene Spiral Tower unlocks level 24]
This time the sensation was clearer than last time. A warm current surged up my spine, reaching all the way to my cerebral cortex. The Spiral Tower deep within my consciousness opened another door, revealing several new options:
- Pre-Embedded Ice Manipulation Protocol (multiple trigger conditions can be set)
- Telepathy Delayed Binding (supports simultaneous release with physical effects)
-Ice Neural Disruption Field (small-scale hallucination + slowed movement)
It's all new combinations.
Instead of opening all the traps immediately, he selected the first one and tried setting "temperature change" as the trigger mechanism. In other words, the trap would automatically activate whenever someone with body heat approached the specific area.
He walked to the corner, placed his palm on the ground, and quickly spread out an ice area with a radius of two meters. The surface looked flat and normal, but in reality, every inch of it concealed three layers of mechanisms.
Then he stepped back a few paces, took out his thermos—it contained Tony's leftover coffee, still steaming—and gently pushed the bottle forward.
As it rolled to the middle, with a loud bang, the entire area exploded. Ice spikes, ice nets, and ice shackles shot out, and even the ceiling was pierced with several cracks.
"Hiss..." He gasped, "I can't control myself anymore."
It seems the new capability is too sensitive, overreacting to even a little heat. The parameters need adjusting.
He crouched down and began fine-tuning the intensity of the neural feedback, like adjusting the flow of a faucet, gradually reducing the output power. On the third test, the thermos flask rolled over, triggering only the outermost warning ice ring; the trap in the middle remained untouched.
"That's about it." He nodded.
This ability isn't suited for direct confrontation, but it's particularly effective for defending strongholds, setting up ambushes, and protecting key targets. It's especially useful against those who prefer to operate stealthily.
For example, a listener.
For example, Hydra agents.
For example... a mental detector hiding in the shadows.
He stood up and brushed the ice crystals off his pants. The passageway was the same as always; the steam hadn't dissipated, metal scraps were piled in the corner, and Oryx was chained to the wall, motionless.
He walked back to the red button and looked at the gray interface again.
He had initially considered directly accessing the system's inversion instructions, but now he had another idea.
Instead of risking manual operation, let the new ability do the work for him.
He placed his hand next to the interface, but instead of touching it, he Telepathy "etched" a pre-defined program into the surrounding air. The function of this program was to immediately activate the freezing protocol and trace back to the source once an external signal attempting to take over the main control system was detected.
It's like installing a "burglar alarm" on the system.
After doing all that, he took a step back and glanced at the faint mark on the inside of his wrist. It was a mark left from each power upgrade, now connected into a circle, like a watch strap.
"The twenty-fourth floor," he said. "This is nothing."
A slight tremor came from afar, and the life support system's countdown was still ticking. But he wasn't in a hurry.
He used to feel like he was always on the defensive, being chased and beaten. Now it's different. He can plan ahead and turn the entire battlefield into his own chessboard.
If Tony saw this, he'd probably say, "Your abilities are getting weirder and weirder."
But he knew this wasn't evil; it was evolution.
He turned and walked towards Oryx, crouching down to stare at the other's face.
"You say you're a cleaner?" he asked. "Then can you really get rid of this kind of thing?"
Before anyone could answer, he raised his hand and drew a circle above the other person's head. A very thin ring of ice slowly took shape, with an almost invisible spiritual fluctuation wrapped around it.
This is an experimental trap, specifically designed for users with mental abilities. If the target attempts to use Mind Stone connection, they will be immediately frozen in reverse.
He stood up and clapped his hands.
"Next time we meet, I'll show you the full version."
After saying that, he walked back to the main control interface, finally reached out, and gently touched it.
A layer of frost immediately formed on the metal surface, quickly spreading across the entire panel. The data stream flickered beneath the ice, as if being recompiled by something.
A few seconds later, the screen lit up with a green light.
[Instruction inversion complete, self-destruct sequence terminated]
He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to speak when he suddenly noticed something strange happening inside his body again.
It wasn't pain, nor was it fatigue.
It's a feeling of being "watched".
From the depths of the twenty-fourth level of the Gene Spiral Tower.
An inactive protocol is flashing with the title:
[WARNING: Similar signal source detected, distance unknown]