As the glider passed through the clouds, it lurched, Ye Mo braced his elbow against the cabin wall to steady himself. Emma Frost's tactical glove scratched three marks on the control panel, and the navigation coordinates changed from red to green. The moment the hatch automatically popped open, the two of them leaped out simultaneously, their landing and tumbling motions to dissipate the impact looking like they had rehearsed a hundred times beforehand.
Muddy water from the swamp splashed onto his chin, and Ye Mo wiped his face and got up. He took out two white lab coats from his waterproof bag; the words " Stark Industries Affiliated Biological Laboratory" on the epaulets gleamed blue in the moonlight. Emma Frost had already changed and was adjusting her cuffs with her hair tie in her mouth. He shook out the coat and put it on, then casually changed his sneakers into lab-specific soft-soled shoes.
"The infrared drone scans this area every four minutes," Emma Frost whispered in his ear, her breath tickling his neck. "The eastern guard post has a thirty-second blind spot."
Ye Mo nodded, picked up the equipment box, and walked forward. The box was labeled " Gamma Radiation Detector," but it was actually filled with signal jammers. They maintained the standard spacing of the inspection personnel, their footsteps on the fallen leaves perfectly synchronized. Three vibration sensors hung on the wire mesh ahead, their red lights flashing intermittently.
Emma Frost suddenly coughed twice. This was the code. Ye Mo immediately stopped tying his shoelaces and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the drone hovering low in the sky change direction. When the red light turned green, he grabbed a handful of mud and threw it on the camera lens, then pulled Emma Frost across the blockade.
Two guards armed with electromagnetic rifles stood at the entrance to the work area. Ye Mo took out a counterfeit ID card and swiped it on the card reader. As the beep sounded, he deliberately let the card fall to the ground. As the guard bent down to pick up the card, Emma Frost lightly kicked his heel with the tip of her shoe—a reminder that he was being watched.
"Last night's torrential rain washed away the drainage pipes in Zone B," Ye Mo said, pointing to the equipment box. "We're here to test the soil contamination levels."
As the guard checked the list, Emma Frost subtly released a wisp of mental energy. She didn't dare use strong interference, only giving the guard the illusion that "I seem to have seen this person before." Sure enough, the guard waved her away and let her pass.
The corridor was covered with anti-static flooring, and there was a surveillance camera every five meters. Ye Mo walked ahead, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his left earlobe—a small habit he made when nervous. That feeling of being blocked by the wall came back, and his temples throbbed. He took a deep breath, activated the power of the nineteenth level of the Gene Spiral Tower, and suppressed his emotional fluctuations to a minimum.
As he rounded the third intersection, he suddenly reached out and stopped Emma Frost. The surveillance camera ahead was rotating, its metal base emitting a soft grinding sound. He recalled the Mutants power fragments he had encountered before and tried to adjust his body density to the lightest setting. As he walked beneath the camera, a half-second afterimage appeared on the monitor screen.
"Did you just use the prelude to Wall Phasing Technique?" Emma Frost transmitted her voice.
"Not fully activated," he replied. "It only makes the image blurry."
They moved close to the wall. They heard voices behind them, and two technicians in white coats approached carrying trays. Ye Mo glanced at his watch; there were still two minutes until the next facial recognition scan.
Emma Frost suddenly grabbed his wrist. Her pupils shrank to pinpoints, a sign of her fully utilizing Telepathy. Three seconds later, she released him. "The left corridor is clear. Three people are about to meet on the right."
Ye Mo immediately pulled her into the fire escape on the right. At the corner of the stairs, he took out a grappling hook glove and fastened it to the screw on the vent. Just as the sound of metal tearing was heard, Emma Frost covered his mouth—footsteps came from below.
The two stood frozen in place. After the footsteps faded into the distance, Ye Mo continued unscrewing. The ventilation duct was just wide enough for one person to crawl through, and the inner walls were covered in condensation. He went in first, hooked his leg around Emma Frost's hand, and pulled her up. Half a fallen leaf was stuck at the duct connection, which he casually tucked into his sleeve as a marker.
After climbing for more than ten meters, they came to a T-junction. Ye Mo lay down to listen for any sounds. He heard a regular ticking sound from the left and a buzzing of electricity from the right. Emma Frost gestured. "There's high voltage on the right, the left is safe."
They turned to the left. Their knees ached from crawling, and Ye Mo noticed a faint blue light emanating from the mesh ahead. He slowed down, inching his way to the edge to look down.
The underground hall was filled with circular instruments, and a human-shaped silhouette lay on the central platform. Six tubes were inserted into the torso, connected to a constantly flashing data screen. Two people in protective suits stood in front of the control panel and spoke.
"Try increasing the pulse frequency to 1.7 Hz," the tall guy said. "That's the value that triggered Banner's rampage last time."
"The risk is too great," the shorter man retorted. "We just detected an external Mental Scan; what if we're being targeted again..."
Before he could finish speaking, the alarm light suddenly flashed red. The tall man lunged at the keyboard. "Someone tampered with the ventilation valve in Zone C!"
Ye Mo quickly retreated five meters, signaling Emma Frost to wait where she was. He took out a miniature signal transmitter and attached it to the inner wall of the pipe. This was a decoy device given to him by Tony, capable of simulating malfunction signals from scientific research equipment. He would return to the observation point after the people below ran out to check the wiring.
The experimental subject on the platform moved slightly. The metal restraints rattled, Ye Mo saw that they were two mechanical arms, with black oil seeping from the joints. Even more frightening was the chest area—where a fragment of Vibranium was embedded, flickering under the blue light.
Emma Frost crawled over and tugged at his sleeve. She pointed to her temple and made a cutting gesture, implying that there was a mental defense system there and getting any closer would backfire. Ye Mo shook his head, took a piece of chocolate from his pocket, and stuffed it into her hand—this was their agreed-upon "hang in there" code.
He leaned back over the grid. The data screen refreshed with new information: [Target memory retrieval progress 37%][Neural synchronization rate stable at 61%]. Suddenly, the screen jumped, displaying a familiar photo— Bruce Banner standing at the lab door in an old shirt, taken three years ago.
"They're extracting Banner's memories," he transmitted telepathically. "They not only want to control the Hulk, but also to understand the principles of transformation."
Emma Frost's expression changed. She grabbed Ye Mo's arm and squeezed it three times—this was the highest level of danger warning. The control panel below suddenly started automatically, and all the instruments beeped. The robot lying on the platform slowly raised its head, its mask cracking open to reveal half of a human jaw.
Ye Mo abruptly shrank back. Just now, he had sensed a familiar fluctuation—every 7.3 seconds, exactly the same as the interference wave he encountered when tracking Banner. But this time the intensity was doubled, as if something was awakening.
A metallic clanging sound came from the other end of the ventilation duct. He turned around and saw Emma Frost carving words on the duct wall with her Diamond Form fingers: [Don't touch the ground]
He understood instantly. The floor here was probably connected to pressure sensors. Just as he was about to gesture for Emma Frost to go back the way she came, the grid above his head suddenly vibrated. Two technicians carrying toolboxes walked towards him from the opposite side, complaining as they went, "It's always a false alarm..."
Ye Mo quickly pulled out a smoke grenade and held it in his palm. He planned to throw it as soon as the other side opened the access port and then move to the adjacent pipe in the chaos. But just as the technician stopped directly above him, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his temple.
The pulsating wave slammed directly into his brain, like someone was stabbing his nerves with an ice pick. He bit his lip to stifle a cry, cold sweat trickling down his temples and into his eyes. Emma Frost immediately steadied his shoulders, adjusting her breathing to match his—a calming technique they had learned during training.
The technician tapped on the pipes. "Is there a leak inside? Why is it making that noise?"
Ye Mo lifted the equipment box and shook it at the grid. The "Under Maintenance" indicator light on the box was lit. He muttered a few words outside and walked away.
Once the footsteps faded, Emma Frost pried open his fist to check the smoke grenade. She found the safety pin had loosened from sweat. She looked up at him, her lips moving silently. "Are you alright?"
He shook his head. It wasn't just a headache; what was even more terrifying was that just a moment ago, he seemed to have seen a golden light flash in the robot's eyes—the exact same symptoms he experienced when he activated his own abilities.
The blue light at the bottom of the vent grew brighter. Ye Mo heard a faint sound of gears turning, like some kind of large equipment starting to warm up. He grabbed Emma Frost's wrist and pointed to the depths of the duct. There was a downward vertical staircase there, the edges of the steps stained with dark red dirt.
Emma Frost shook her head, using sign language to indicate it was too dangerous. He persisted in crawling forward, only to bump his knee on something hard. Pulling it out, he found it was half a broken syringe, labeled [ X-23 Inhibitor ].
The name sent a chill down his spine. This wasn't a trap targeting Banner at all; it was a full-scale annihilation plan aimed at Mutants. He remembered Tony's words. "When you think something is just a coincidence, you've probably already fallen into someone else's trap."
The sound of metal scraping against the ground came from the bottom of the shaft. It was slow, heavy, and had a certain rhythm. Ye Mo lay on the edge and looked down, seeing the robot's alloy legs climbing the ladder step by step, each step spaced exactly seven point and three seconds apart.