"Scott, could you stop daydreaming about my daughter and go get my lab back?"
On the screen—
Even Hank Pym couldn't stand it anymore. He turned his head and urged Scott Lang impatiently.
"Yes, sir!"
"Thank you!"
Scott Lang pressed the button as well, shrinking down to the size of an ant. Riding on his ant mount, he flew off to rendezvous with Hope.
"What took you so long?" Hope asked.
"I had to name my ant. I'm thinking of calling him Ulysses Grant Ant. What do you think?"
"That's ridiculous."
The two chatted as they slipped through the gap beneath the door and entered the room.
"The displays are showing nothing—there's electronic interference. Be careful!"
Hank Pym's warning immediately sounded over their comms channel.
"This is a trap. There's an ambush!"
Captain America, ever experienced, instantly sensed something was wrong.
Judging from the layout, this was just an ordinary residence. Electronic interference shouldn't exist in a place like this.
"What was I thinking?" Scott shrugged. "And Hank—shouldn't we have done some reconnaissance first?"
Maybe he'd just been too eager to perform well in front of his future father-in-law.
On the screen—
As Scott and Hope were talking, Ghost's face suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Whoa!"
Scott jolted in fright, nearly tumbling off his ant.
"It's fine," Hope said calmly. "That's just a suit."
"How do you know?"
"Look over there."
Scott followed her gaze and saw, inside a strange "glass room," a long-haired young woman lying quietly.
The glass chamber flickered with an indescribable energy fluctuation. No one knew exactly what it was for.
"She's treating her own body," Tony Stark said with certainty. "She clearly can't fully control her quantum phasing."
Everyone agreed it was possible—but not yet certain.
"Is that Ghost?"
"What is she doing?"
"Do you think she can phase through walls only because of the suit?"
"Let's get out of here before she wakes up!"
"Hope, look—the lab!"
After a brief search, Scott and Hope quickly found their objective.
The operation was going way too smooth.
Everyone watching felt an uneasy sense that something was about to go wrong.
And they were right.
When Scott and Hope returned to normal size, they suddenly discovered that Ghost—who had been inside the glass chamber—was gone!
"Shit!"
Hope instantly realized something was wrong.
Before she could react, Ghost silently appeared behind her and knocked her unconscious.
Scott was shocked and tried to fight back, but he was clearly outmatched. He too was knocked out cold.
The situation described in the question—Scott, Hank, and Hope being captured by Ghost—had now come true.
It was obvious now: Ghost lying in the glass chamber earlier had been an act.
She had deliberately used the lab as bait, successfully luring Hank Pym and the others into a trap.
When Scott woke up again, he found himself tied to a chair. Beside him were Hope and Hank Pym, also bound.
"Hank, buddy!" Scott called anxiously.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Ghost phased in like a true specter, instantly appearing in front of Scott and startling him badly.
"I don't think they can hear us," Ghost said, introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Ava."
"Scott," Scott replied automatically, then asked nervously, "So… you don't actually need the suit to, uh… walk through walls?"
"That's right. The suit just helps me control the state better—and it's supposed to suppress the pain," Ghost answered honestly.
That matched Tony Stark's earlier speculation.
Quantum phasing was clearly extremely painful for the human body.
Which meant Ghost seizing the lab and capturing them was very likely, just as Tony had guessed, for the purpose of curing herself.
"You're not going to stick your hand into my chest and crush my heart, right?" Scott asked uneasily.
Ghost smiled. "You're funny, Scott. I won't hurt you unless I have to."
As she spoke, she ruffled Scott's hair like he was a pet dog.
"I need… what's inside your head."
But soon—
The hands resting on Scott's face began flickering again, shifting between solid and intangible.
Ghost truly couldn't control her quantum phasing.
"Let's wake the others and get started, shall we?"
She withdrew her hands and then brutally punched Hope and Hank awake.
"Dad? Are you okay?" Hope checked on Hank anxiously, then glared at Ghost. "Touch him again and see what happens!"
"Considering everything," Ghost replied coolly, "I've already been quite polite to your father."
That left everyone stunned.
The way she spoke made it sound as if Hank Pym had personally wronged her.
"What are you talking about?" Hank asked in confusion.
"Another victim of Hank Pym's arrogance."
A voice rang out, and a heavyset Black man stepped forward.
"Bill?" Hank exclaimed in shock.
"I thought you were a good guy," Scott said, equally surprised.
"What is going on?" Hope was completely confused.
All three of them knew the man—but clearly, he was now Ghost's accomplice.
"Did Dr. Pym ever mention my father?" Bill said. "Of course he wouldn't. Elihas Starr—he and Hank were once S.H.I.E.L.D. colleagues…"
Ghost then told her entire backstory to Hank and the others.
It perfectly matched the intelligence Captain America had previously shared.
There was only one difference.
In the main universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been completely dismantled during the Project Insight incident, thanks to Black Widow.
Ghost had thus escaped S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control, become a free agent, and been taken in by Bill. Even the glass chamber had been built by him.
Its purpose was to ease Ghost's pain and slow her physical deterioration—but the results were limited.
Her body was still collapsing.
That was why Ghost had become desperate and started targeting Hank Pym and the others. Time was running out.
But in this reality, S.H.I.E.L.D. was still intact.
So Ghost remained a "covert operative" of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Ava, I want to help you," Hank Pym said after hearing her story.
Whether it was genuine or merely a tactic to stabilize her, no one knew.
"She doesn't need your help!" Bill snapped. "I know how to save her!"
"Oh?" Hank asked. "How?"
"Janet," Ghost said quietly.
"She's been absorbing quantum energy in the Quantum Realm for thirty years. We can extract that energy and use it to repair Ava's molecular structure."
Bill clearly knew what he was talking about. His tone was confident, professional.
He seemed convinced this method would work.
He just hadn't considered one thing—
Saving one person this way might destroy another.
"Extract it?!" Hank exploded.
"Yes."
"Are you insane?!" Hank shouted. "That would tear Janet apart!"
"You can't be sure of that," Bill insisted. "I'll open the tunnel. Once Scott's mind locates Janet, he'll tell me—or I hand him over to the FBI!"
It was clear this was happening during Scott's sentence.
Perfect.
Scott, Hank, and Hope were all criminals at this point. Kidnapped, with no way to call the police.
They were completely at someone else's mercy.
Unless…
They saved themselves.
"And you," Bill pointed at Hank, "will stay here in case I need your help."
"I won't help you with anything!" Hank roared.
"Oh, you will," Ghost said coldly. "You'll do everything I tell you to."
"To her, these people were nothing but clowns."
"You'll kill Janet!"
"You should worry about yourself first."
"Damn it, Bill!"
Hank grew more agitated by the second, his face contorting in pain as he groaned miserably.
"Dad?"
"Hank?"
"My God—the medicine!" Hank cried out.
"Wow," Scott said with newfound respect. "Hank Pym's acting is incredible. What a waste he never became an actor."
He'd known Hank for years and had never realized the old man could fake it this well.
If they hadn't already known the answer, even the audience might have been fooled.
"So this was Hank Pym's plan?" Thor scoffed. "Trick that Bill guy into getting medicine? He's old, but still way too naive to fall for something this basic."
Thor spoke with an unmistakable air of intellectual superiority.
Which made everyone else silently speechless—because if Thor had been there, he definitely would've fallen for it too.
On the screen—
"His heart—he needs his medication! Please, Dr. Foster, it's in the box!"
"He'll die, please!"
"Help him!"
"Dad, hang on!"
Hope and Scott played along perfectly.
The "simple" Uncle Bill completely believed them.
He picked up the box of medicine and even opened it himself.
"Wait!" Ghost suddenly shouted, sensing something wrong.
But—
It was already too late.
The moment Bill opened the box, a swarm of ants slammed onto the floor.
Yes—slammed.
Because each ant was the size of a dog.
"Ants that big fit into such a small box? That's unbelievable!" Peter Parker exclaimed. "This technology is incredible!"
Everyone else was equally stunned.
No one had expected Hank Pym to unleash giant ants.
What followed was obvious.
The giant ants immediately cut the ropes binding Hank and the others, freeing them.
With the ants' help, the group completely regained control of the situation.
They not only retrieved the lab, but also reclaimed the crucial component—and slipped away quietly.
Without taking a single cloud with them.
The footage ended there.
"Okay," Captain America spoke first. "Now we fully understand Ghost's motive. As Stark said, she wanted to heal herself."
"But she never considered others. Hank said that would tear Janet apart—I don't think that was an exaggeration."
Scott shook his head. "I sympathize with her situation, but I can't agree with what she did."
"She may have been desperate," Captain America said gently, his saintly side emerging.
"No matter how desperate she was, she endangered innocent lives," Tony Stark replied bluntly. "That's a crime."
"Though honestly," he added casually, "the world already has plenty of criminals. One more doesn't really matter."
"Captain," Peter asked, turning to him, "isn't Ghost still a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Don't you have scientists who could help her?"
"Yes," Captain America nodded. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has a research division."
He turned to Scott. "Scott, I'll speak with Nick Fury. S.H.I.E.L.D. will handle this. You don't need to worry."
"That's for the best," Scott shrugged.
[Please listen to the question: Among the following individuals, who is widely regarded as the successor to Iron Man Tony Stark?]
[A. War Machine – Rhodey][B. Spider-Man – Peter Parker][C. Pepper Potts][D. Morgan H. Stark]
[Friendly Reminder:Answer correctly to receive Holtzman Shield technology data;Answer incorrectly, and one random attribute will be deducted—including but not limited to knowledge, experience, skills, possessions, etc.]
After a brief discussion, the system's voice sounded again.
A new question had appeared.
The Holtzman Shield originates from Dune.
................
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