Inside the warehouse laboratory, time ticked away minute by minute.
The night wind constantly poured in through the blasted wall, gradually dispersing the thick smoke generated by the explosion.
Hank Pym stood guard by Hope's side, his brow furrowed deeply.
As for Hope, her gaze hadn't left that jagged hole in the wall for a single second.
"He'll be okay, right?" Hope murmured softly, as if asking her father, yet also as if comforting herself.
Pym sighed and patted his daughter's back, trying to offer her some solace.
"Be patient, Hope. No news is often the best news."
Despite saying so, Hank was equally anxious in his heart.
He hadn't created the ant-man suit for killing, so it wasn't equipped with extra weapon systems; facing Darren's Wasp Suit, it was inherently at a disadvantage.
The father and daughter waited in a suffocating silence.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from outside the hole in the wall.
Hope and Pym's nerves instantly tensed as they stared anxiously in the direction of the sound.
The next second, a figure wearing yellow and black armor grew from small to large, appearing out of thin air five meters away from them.
The moment they saw clearly who it was, the two felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
It was Darren Cross.
Darren's faceplate slowly retracted, revealing the face that Hope found utterly loathsome.
His gaze calmly swept over the father and daughter hiding behind the cover.
"That was a tough fight," Darren gloated, a victor's smile playing on his lips. "I have to admit, Hank, this young man you found is much more resilient than I imagined."
"Where is Daniel? What did you do to him?" Hope's breathing became rapid as she glared fixedly at Darren.
Darren gave a soft sigh and shook his head, feigning a look of regret.
"I'm sorry to tell you that he fought until the very last moment to protect you. His courage is admirable, but courage cannot bridge the gap in strength."
"He's dead, Hope. Dead out there in the wilderness." He spread his hands, pronouncing this cruel outcome.
"No... you're lying!"
Tears burst from Hope's eyes. She struggled to stand up but fell again due to the sharp pain in her ankle. She wanted to rush out regardless of everything, but Pym held her down firmly.
"Calm down, Hope! Impulsiveness is meaningless!" Pym's face was full of self-reproach and guilt.
"Accept reality, Hope." Darren took a step forward.
"Now, there is no one left to protect you. But I am not a man who forgets old ties."
He opened his arms in a gesture of magnanimity.
"Hank, you're old; your era is over. But Hope, you're still young, and you have limitless potential."
Darren looked directly into Hope's hate-filled eyes. "Come back to me, Hope. As long as you're willing to bow your head, there's still a place for you at Pym Technologies. Together, we can change the landscape of this World."
"In your dreams!" Hope spat through gritted teeth, her grief transforming into a towering rage.
"You cold-blooded murderer! I'd rather die than breathe the same air as you!"
Faced with Hope's unyielding attitude, the smile on Darren's face slowly faded.
"What a pity. I gave you a chance, Hope."
"Hand over the formula for the Pym Particles, Hank. I promise to make your deaths painless..."
"Impossible!" Hope was the first to refuse, her eyes showing no fear of death.
"Even if we die here, don't ever think you'll get it! Daniel won't have died in vain; the Starr Group and Vought won't let you get away with this!"
Darren shrugged indifferently.
"Vought? That's a matter for later. Since you're so stubborn..."
"Then I'll send you to hell first to reunite with that boy Daniel, and then I'll have a long chat with your father."
The laser cannon ruthlessly locked onto the center of Hope's forehead.
Hope widened her eyes and held her head high, facing the lethal light, prepared for death.
"I'm coming to find you, Daniel," she whispered in her heart.
Pym looked at Darren's smug, arrogant face, and then at his daughter who was on the brink of death.
His left hand quietly pulled out a high-concentration Pym Particle bomb.
As long as he pressed the detonator, everything within a fifty-meter radius would instantly collapse into a subatomic state without limit.
Dying together—this was the only way he could think of.
He had already lost Janet; if he lost his daughter too, there was no point in living in this World.
"Goodbye, Hope. I will miss..."
Darren didn't finish his sentence.
In the shadows behind him, a red figure suddenly flashed into existence!
Before Darren could react, a pair of arms tightly throttled his neck and pulled him backward with great force.
Pew—!
The two lethal lasers missed their mark, leaving two charred holes in the wall above.
"Daniel!" Hope and Hank cried out simultaneously in a burst of joy.
At this moment, Daniel's faceplate was half-open, revealing his pale face. His forehead was bleeding, and his suit was covered in charred cracks; he was clearly seriously injured.
"Let go of me!" Darren struggled violently, his elbows repeatedly smashing back into Daniel's ribs.
"Cough, cough... I said... I wouldn't let him hurt you!"
Daniel coughed repeatedly, and the arms holding Darren began to tremble uncontrollably.
Clearly, his strength was severely overextended, and he was gradually losing his grip on the frantic Darren.
"Go! Hope! Take your father and go!" Daniel roared with all his might.
"No! I'm not leaving you behind!" Dragging her injured foot, Hope tried to rush forward to help.
"Stay back!"
Daniel barked at Hope, stopping her in her tracks.
He looked at her deeply, as if trying to carve her image into the depths of his soul.
"Meeting you was the luckiest thing in my life."
"I don't care what becomes of this World; I only care about you."
As Daniel spoke, he used his remaining strength to reach for the regulator at his waist.
"Live well, Hope. Live for the both of us..."
"No! Don't! Don't touch that regulator!" Pym realized his intention and roared in horror.
"Once you disable the limiters, you'll shrink infinitely to the subatomic level and never come back!"
"No! Daniel! What are you doing?!" Hope also rushed forward in terror, trying to stop him.
But at that moment, Darren finally broke free from Daniel's restraint and sDanielng a backhand punch at him.
"Goodbye, my girl!" Without hesitation, Daniel disabled the regulator's safety limits and performed an extreme shrink.
He followed the path of Darren's fist and entered the interior of his suit.
After Daniel disappeared, Darren turned around, his laser emitters once again aimed at Hope, who was struggling to rush over.