Yuki left the ghost village before sunrise, heart still pounding. The new data from the slab had burned into his mind—a map, not of the world, but of the broken fragments beneath it. Underground tunnels. Hidden laboratories. One stood out: "Nexus Alpha."
He followed the map across deadlands where nothing grew, to a cliffside where metal glimmered beneath the earth. A door, sealed shut with no visible mechanism.
He placed his hand on it.
Identity Confirmed: Prototype Z. Access Level Increased.
The door groaned open, revealing a spiraling passageway lit by dormant blue lights that flickered on as he passed. The air grew colder as he descended.
What lay below wasn't just a chamber—it was a graveyard of innovation. Deactivated drones littered the floor. Transparent coffins lined the walls. Holograms flickered mid-function, stuck in corrupted loops.
Each step deeper revealed new data etched in foreign glyphs, which his mind now interpreted without effort.
But someone else was watching.
Far above, in the Hero's Citadel, Mira frowned at a report on her crystal tablet.
"Prototype Z... is active."
Ren clenched his jaw. "Then we kill him before he finds the others."