Chapter Summaries

Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Precog prepared a counterattack to sabotage the four nodes’ synchronization and stop the Lazarus Protocol from formatting registered Mutants. After a successful simulation, they entered standby as the next cycle approached.

• Ye Mo and Emma Frost realized the final phase had begun and ordered the team back to base to prepare a counterattack.
• Precog arrived, and Ye Mo explained a plan to make the four-node system fail through timed signal misalignment and forged authentication packets.
• Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Precog refined their approach through simulations until they caused the virtual system to restart synchronization without detecting an intrusion.
• Ye Mo ordered everyone into level-one standby and told all teams to stay silent and await his orders.
• With the next cycle due in three hours and seventeen minutes, Ye Mo said they would move when the enemy thought it was about to succeed.

Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and their new ally repelled a three-person raid on the base, then reviewed their mistakes and planned further training. When the captured enemy’s tracker linked the attackers to Hellfire’s old frequency band, Ye Mo suspected two enemies remained near the ventilation shaft and went to investigate.

• Ye Mo detected three intruders approaching through a ventilation shaft and warned Emma Frost and the new ally.
• The attackers used an anti-Mutant pulse emitter to disrupt Emma Frost, but she charged through its shock wave and knocked out its operator.
• The new ally disabled the pulse emitter with an EMP grenade, while Ye Mo captured the fleeing attacker at the ventilation shaft.
• Ye Mo reviewed the fight with Emma Frost and the new ally, identified their tactical weaknesses, and ordered reinforcements and unscripted coordination tests.
• The tracker’s decoded data matched Hellfire’s old frequency band, and Ye Mo left to check the ventilation shaft because he suspected two attackers had stayed behind.

Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and their new ally defeated another coordinated squad and discovered that a remote AI was controlling the attackers through signals. They rehearsed a counterstrategy and traced the signal to an abandoned East Coast radar station, but Ye Mo planted false coordinates and then detected someone outside retrieving the bodies.

• Ye Mo identified a hidden automated sentry in the ventilation shaft, and their new ally disabled it with an EMP grenade while Emma Frost created a convincing illusion to lure in a squad.
• Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and their new ally ambushed and subdued three attackers, then used their terminal to uncover evidence of machine-directed operations and a remote command source.
• Ye Mo analyzed the attackers' timing and taught Emma Frost and their new ally to exploit a brief physical tell before attacks.
• The trio practiced their new tactic in a simulation and completed the ambush in two seconds without errors.
• The dismantled terminal traced the signal to an abandoned radar station on the East Coast, but Ye Mo planted false coordinates to mislead the enemy.
• A thermal scan revealed that someone had approached the ventilation shaft, and Ye Mo prepared to confront whoever was retrieving the bodies.

Ye Mo fused Steel Bone with Regenerative Phasing to create a faster, more stable ability he jokingly named “Iron Straight Man.” After testing its strength and noticing a metallic patch appear on his finger without his control, he began training to master it.

• Ye Mo ignored the marks outside the ventilation shaft and meditated on the puppets’ speed and the risks of phasing.
• The system detected residual mutant energy and unlocked the seventh floor of the Gene Spiral Tower, allowing Ye Mo to attempt fusing Steel Bone and Regenerative Phasing.
• After three failed attempts, Ye Mo synchronized the abilities and successfully formed a metal network that worked with his cells.
• Ye Mo tested the fusion by phasing through a wall and punching through a protective wall, then measured an instantaneous force of 8.7 tons.
• A metallic patch appeared on Ye Mo’s little finger without his permission, but he made it fade by focusing and began further training.

Ye Mo trained with Emma Frost to synchronize his newly fused metal and phasing abilities, adapting his fighting style and coordinating with her through a psychic link. After their battle simulation ended, a new metallic pattern shaped like a chain appeared in his left palm.

• Ye Mo asked Emma Frost to stress-test his unstable fused ability in combat.
• Emma Frost’s attacks revealed that Ye Mo’s phasing left him briefly unable to follow up, so he began taking blows and counterattacking instead of relying on evasion.
• Ye Mo adapted through repeated sparring and a simulated city battle, synchronizing metal permeation with his regenerative phasing.
• Emma Frost joined Ye Mo against later waves of mechanical enemies, and they coordinated through a shared psychic link without speaking.
• After the simulation ended, a chain-shaped metallic pattern began emerging beneath the skin of Ye Mo’s left palm.

Ye Mo discovered that overcontrolling his metallization caused disruptions, so he trained without Emma Frost’s telepathy and found that they could coordinate by synchronizing their rhythms. His metallic palm pattern settled into a stable chain shape, and he left planning a harder training session with mutant-energy interference.

• Ye Mo realized his nervous system faltered when he tried too hard to control his metallization, and he told Emma Frost to stop using Telepathy.
• Ye Mo and Emma Frost began a simulation without mind-reading, and Ye Mo fought more fluidly despite several mistakes and injuries.
• They coordinated by matching their movements to a shared tempo, clearing an encirclement without speaking or looking at each other.
• During a harder wave of enemies, Ye Mo anticipated attacks through the alarm’s rhythm while Emma Frost protected him in Diamond Form.
• After the simulation, Ye Mo saw their attack paths form a closed loop, then asked Emma Frost to enable mutant-energy interference for their next session.

After a training session, Ye Mo and Emma Frost recognized that their new combat coordination relied on trust rather than mind-reading or calculation. Their conversation left Ye Mo ready at the console to activate the interference source, though he waited without pressing the button.

• Ye Mo and Emma Frost completed seven rounds of coordinated attacks without communicating, and Ye Mo realized she was following his movements rather than predicting them.
• Emma Frost told Ye Mo she feared him carrying every burden alone and said she was his partner, not a tool or backup plan; Ye Mo agreed they had to face things together.
• Ye Mo recalled how Emma Frost had taken a high-frequency shot for him in Congo, and they discussed how their past actions had built trust between them.
• Emma Frost urged the exhausted Ye Mo to recover before training again, then left after he joked that a sneeze would be their signal to attack.
• The console indicators flashed and the pattern in Ye Mo's palm grew hot; he approached the activation button for the interference source but waited without pressing it.

Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Yingya planned an infiltration of the underground base after discovering a holding area containing at least a dozen people with suppressed brain waves. After refining their approach through simulations, they prepared to rescue the captives, but Ye Mo called for one more run before giving the order to begin.

• Emma Frost revealed that a reversed tracking code had exposed three backup entrances, and Yingya described a seven-second blind spot at the eastern ventilation shaft.
• Ye Mo assigned Yingya to divert the guards and Emma Frost to disrupt communications while he infiltrated the core, and they identified two possible extraction routes.
• Emma Frost detected at least a dozen people with weak, suppressed brain waves in a room on level B3, prompting Ye Mo to upgrade the mission from intelligence gathering to intervention.
• The team ran simulations, adjusting for Ye Mo's phasing delay and avoiding patrols until a third approach successfully reached the level B3 holding room.
• Ye Mo, Emma Frost, and Yingya checked their equipment and repeated the successful simulation, but Ye Mo requested one more run before giving the final order.

Ye Mo and Emma Frost forced their way into the holding room after the facility identified Ye Mo as Mr. X and targeted Emma with a purge protocol. Inside, Ye Mo found more than a dozen prisoners, then discovered a console message calling him Subject 07 as the room turned blood-red.

• Ye Mo and Emma Frost evaded upgraded detectors and a mutant suppression field while making their way toward the Level B3 holding room.
• The facility identified Ye Mo's ability pattern, locked down the exits, and activated a weapons array; Ye Mo hacked the door while Emma Frost prepared to shield him.
• Ye Mo jammed the door with a black fragment that drew the weapons fire, then led Emma Frost through another passage into the holding room.
• Ye Mo found more than a dozen prisoners connected to tubes and cables and checked the first one's pulse.
• A console displayed “Welcome back, Subject 07,” and after Ye Mo read it, every light in the room turned blood-red.

Ye Mo uncovered Obadiah and a Hydra technical director’s plan to seize control of Tony’s Mark III armor and warned Tony not to use it. As Tony began the Mark III self-test, Ye Mo prepared to disrupt authentication, but someone picked up the emergency glasses he had left by the ventilation shaft.

• Ye Mo followed an emergency signal to the underground data hub and overheard Obadiah and a Hydra technical director plotting to take control of the Mark III and other suits.
• Ye Mo left his coded warning, “Don't touch III. It's sick,” for Tony and hid by the main console, ready to intervene.
• Tony received the warning but considered proceeding with the public armor demonstration, while Obadiah moved the press conference forward by two hours.
• Ye Mo prepared to sever the authentication data cable at the right moment as Tony initiated the Mark III self-test.
• Someone picked up Ye Mo’s silver glasses at the ventilation shaft just as the authentication countdown began.

Ye Mo uncovered the Iron Chain virus hidden in Tony’s Mark III neural interface and warned Tony before Obadiah could use it. Tony agreed to fake authentication as bait while Ye Mo prepared to enter the data hub, but the power was cut as the operation began.

• Ye Mo infiltrated the cache and copied a recording revealing that Iron Chain would hijack Tony’s neural interface after seven minutes.
• Ye Mo sent Tony a warning, and Tony confirmed that the virus could detonate the armor if authentication was interrupted.
• Ye Mo and Tony agreed to fake a successful authentication so Ye Mo could enter the data hub and stop the virus.
• Ye Mo hid the copied data and marked the data hub’s core port with a Vibranium fragment while Obadiah and the Hydra supervisor remained unaware.
• Ye Mo refused the system’s prompts to absorb the ice control ability fragment, then the power went out in the ventilation shaft.

Ye Mo and Tony secretly stopped the Iron Chain virus during Tony’s armor demonstration, then discovered Obadiah was preparing a second attack on Stark Industries’ production line. The chapter ended with Ye Mo identifying Carl Rain, a former Mark II test engineer tied to Project Lazarus, as the infiltrator preparing to infect the entire factory.

• Ye Mo infiltrated the underground data hub and used the vibranium fragment to connect to the server while Tony began his public armor demonstration.
• Ye Mo traced and deleted the Iron Chain virus as Tony falsified the system logs, allowing Tony to finish the demonstration without revealing the attack.
• Tony and Ye Mo reviewed the backend logs, suspected Obadiah was preparing a hardware attack, and found an impostor posing as a maintenance worker in Passage B7.
• Ye Mo identified the worker’s device as a remote controller for the automated assembly system and agreed with Tony to let the intruder reveal the full plan.
• Tony named Carl Rain as a former Mark II test engineer secretly contacted by Obadiah, and Ye Mo matched him to the Project Lazarus subject KL-09, Blacksmith.
• Ye Mo saw Carl Rain prepare a miniature virus transmitter and warned Tony that the attack targeted the entire factory, not just one suit of armor.

Ye Mo and Tony tried to stop Obadiah's virus from synchronizing with the factory's main server, but an ambush left Ye Mo injured. Ye Mo infiltrated the main control room to reach Carl Rain and the virus box, where he triggered a trap and was confronted by her.

• Ye Mo spotted a tripwire and snipers, then he and Tony were surrounded by men in exoskeletons.
• Ye Mo took control of two attackers, but the scar-faced leader struck him and summoned automated turrets.
• Tony carried the injured Ye Mo through maintenance pipes while Ye Mo used the Gene Spiral Tower to strengthen his body.
• Ye Mo discovered Carl Rain connecting the virus box to the main server, with synchronization less than ten minutes away.
• Tony drew the guards' attention while Ye Mo phased through the wall into the main control room.
• Ye Mo triggered a hidden security trap, and Carl Rain turned to greet him.

After Ye Mo and Tony shut down the virus production line, Tony publicly revealed that he was Iron Man, strengthening their trust and unlocking the Gene Spiral Tower’s second floor. As they went to celebrate, a watcher identified Ye Mo as Mr. X, and suspicious figures appeared outside the bar.

• Tony drove Ye Mo away from the factory after JARVIS restored the data, shut down the production line, and locked the remote access ports.
• Tony announced that he was Iron Man at a press conference, while Ye Mo watched from the crowd.
• The trust between Tony and Ye Mo unlocked the Gene Spiral Tower’s second floor, revealing ability traces for High-Speed Regeneration and Metal Reconstruction.
• Tony learned that encrypted channels had become active, possibly due to Hydra remnants, and took Ye Mo to a bar.
• An unknown watcher paused footage of Tony’s reveal and kept a profile of Ye Mo marked “Mr. X: existence confirmed.”
• Ye Mo and Tony arrived at the bar, where two men in leather jackets watched them from outside.

Ye Mo and Tony detected Hydra agents watching them after Tony went public, then left the bar and discussed the threat. During their drive, Ye Mo sensed mutant residue on Tony’s clothes, and the chapter ended with a trench-coated man casting two shadows.

• Ye Mo used Telepathy to identify three unusually controlled people in the bar, including two men he recognized as low-level Hydra agents.
• Ye Mo and Tony feigned plans for a nonexistent press conference, planted a vibranium sensing chip, and left the bar without alerting the watchers.
• Tony told Ye Mo that the three watchers had withdrawn toward the eastern industrial district, and they discussed why Tony had publicly identified himself as Iron Man.
• After brushing Tony’s cuff, Ye Mo detected high-intensity X-Gene residue on his clothes but kept the discovery to himself.
• At a red light, Ye Mo spotted a trench-coated man carrying a briefcase whose shadow appeared twice.

Ye Mo tracked Emma Frost to a Hydra-held factory and activated ice manipulation to break through its defenses. He reached the sealed basement door where she was being held, but his new ability was still fusing and threatening to freeze his nervous system.

• Ye Mo detected Emma Frost's faint distress signal near an abandoned factory and found her imprisoned beneath an anti-mutant shielding field.
• Ye Mo activated the ice manipulation ability despite suspecting Hydra had set a trap, and the fusion began interfering with his other powers and movement.
• Ye Mo infiltrated the factory through a ventilation duct, disabled cameras, and froze two guards at the basement stairway.
• Ye Mo reached the high-pressure field zone door and shattered it with ice while his fusion remained incomplete and dangerous.

Ye Mo followed Emma Frost’s psychic warning to a high-security room and fought through armed guards to free her. After his ice manipulation shut down, he forced it back with an electric shock, froze the guards, and offered Emma his hand as they prepared to escape.

• Ye Mo detected Emma Frost’s warning through the shielding field and stopped four approaching guards with ice.
• A captured guard revealed that Emma Frost was held behind the red-lit alloy door, and Ye Mo forced it open using a vibranium fragment and ice.
• Ye Mo found Emma Frost restrained in a chair with a countdown timer running and learned that touching her lines would trigger the anti-intrusion system.
• Ye Mo shorted the chair’s control circuit with the vibranium fragment, freed Emma Frost, and caught her as she collapsed.
• When the guards rose again under remote control and his ice manipulation entered forced dormancy, Ye Mo shocked his arm with exposed wires to restore his power.
• Ye Mo encased all four guards in ice and held out his hand to Emma Frost, telling her they should leave.

Ye Mo rescued the weakened Emma Frost from the collapsing Hydra base, and they escaped in an armored vehicle. As they drove into the blizzard, Emma asked what their relationship was, but a figure appeared in the road before Ye Mo could answer.

• Ye Mo carried Emma Frost out of the secret chamber and sealed the corridor behind them in ice.
• Emma told Ye Mo she had trusted he would come because the system warned her as he drew closer, and the Gene Spiral Tower unlocked another floor when his rescue earned her trust.
• Ye Mo and Emma escaped through a ventilation duct as the base collapsed, while Emma sensed a remote consciousness probe scanning them.
• Ye Mo started an old armored vehicle, opened the base’s iron gate with an ice spike, and drove with Emma into the blizzard.
• Emma asked Ye Mo what they were to each other, but he slammed on the brakes when a figure appeared in the road.

Ye Mo absorbed and mastered Ice Manipulation while recovering with Emma Frost in a remote cabin, then tested his new control and combined it with Thermal Vision. Tony arrived, and after they sparred, Ye Mo left with him to get back to work while Emma remained asleep.

• Ye Mo brought the unconscious Emma Frost to a cabin, sealed it against the cold, and activated the newly absorbed Ice Manipulation ability.
• Ye Mo healed his wounds and practiced shaping ice, then combined Ice Manipulation with Thermal Vision to detect movement through temperature changes.
• Ye Mo saw Tony approaching and learned that Ice Manipulation had reached its maximum level and could be combined with other abilities.
• Tony arrived at the cabin, and Ye Mo used ice to trap him in a playful sparring match before helping him up.
• Ye Mo left with Tony to get to work, while Emma Frost slept in the cabin and Ye Mo stabilized the room's temperature with ice.

Ye Mo and Tony investigated a suspected Hydra operation at a S.H.I.E.L.D. logistics center and discovered a plan to reverse-engineer Tony’s reactor and test armor technology on Mutants. They left without exposing themselves, planning to trace the operation’s superiors while strengthening their defenses.

• Ye Mo found an encrypted signal pointing to a S.H.I.E.L.D. logistics center and warned Tony that the staff’s minds appeared formatted and focused on obtaining MK-series core data.
• Tony and Ye Mo approached the center, where Ye Mo used an ice network to read thoughts revealing Project Titan Forge, a 72-hour launch timeline, and reactor reverse-engineering.
• Ye Mo learned the operation was connected to residual Hellfire Club signals and feared Emma Frost would be targeted if the trail reached their hideout.
• Ye Mo revealed he had placed an ice film in the ventilation ducts to record conversations, and he and Tony agreed to let the conspirators believe their plan was progressing so they could trace the chain of command.
• Tony marked the base without reporting it, while he and Ye Mo planned upgrades to the armor’s security and Ye Mo prepared to reinforce psychic shielding and develop signal tracking.
• As the vehicle reached a red light, Ye Mo suddenly traced a line of ice across the windshield.