The threatening message from the central tower of Veridian Industries still buzzed inside Davin and Lyra’s heads. The pitch-black gloom in the secret hideout suddenly felt suffocating, weighed down by the reality that their enemy not only knew their whereabouts but also summoned Davin back to its lair as the "Crown Prince."

Davin rose from his chair, his gaze cold and sharp. Losing a portion of his memories due to The Ledger’s transcendence tax had instead left behind a burning chamber of fury. If his father was the architect behind the tyrannical Aegis Core AI, then he had to settle this chaos down to its roots.

"We're going into the central tower," Davin said firmly, his voice leaving no room for debate.

Lyra, despite having been shaken by the recent tension, smirked faintly as she donned her protective jacket. She pulled a portable plasma pistol from beneath her desk and checked its energy capacity. "You know that place is guarded by thousands of cyber soldiers and military-grade automated defense systems, right? But... hey, if we're going to die at your father's hands, at least let me hack their door system first."

Thirty minutes later, the shadows of the night swallowed Davin and Lyra’s silent footsteps in the lower lobby of Veridian Spire—the towering corporate defense headquarters piercing Neo-Veridia’s toxic clouds.

The building stood majestically, exuding a cold and sterile aura. Its black marble floor was so clean it reflected the flashing blue emergency lights blinking slowly. In the lobby corners, laser surveillance cameras rotated automatically, sweeping thin red lines across the floor periodically.

"The main elevator route is totally blocked by security protocols," Lyra whispered quietly, her fingers moving swiftly across a mini terminal console on the utility hallway side wall. "We have to take the maintenance route on the fourth floor, then break through the high-security sterile zone."

"Let me open the way," Davin replied.

He stepped forward toward the thick steel panel wall locking the staff goods elevator. Without hesitation, Davin pressed his right palm—bearing the hourglass symbol—directly against the cold metal surface.

"Activating Echo ability..."

Instantly, Davin’s consciousness was dragged into the panel's information history. Inside his head, he saw dozens of corporate technicians inputting encryption passcodes and scanning the door's security access history over the past week. Davin absorbed all that data within seconds, then rewound its encryption history back to the moment the door was opened with high-level access.

Click... Clank!

The thick steel panel hissed open slowly, bypassing the primary security system without triggering any alarms.

Lyra stared at Davin with cybernetic eyes widened in awe. "How did you...?! You just hacked quantum corporate encryption without touching any cables!"

"Focus ahead, Lyra. We're not safe yet," Davin said, gesturing for the woman to step quickly into the corridor.

The tense stealth operation began. Entering the high-security sterile zone, the atmosphere turned far deadlier and quieter. The walls along the corridor were lined with thick transparent glass revealing empty biotechnology laboratories on both sides.

Suddenly, from the far end of the corridor, the heavy sound of mechanical footsteps approached.

Clank... clank... clank!

"Titan-V model guard androids," Lyra whispered in panic, pulling Davin’s arm to hide behind the nearest support pillar. "Two units. Their thermal sensors can detect our body heat from ten meters away!"

Two two-meter-tall androids with bright yellow optical eyes emerged from the bend, patrolling with dual plasma rifles in their hands. They stopped mere meters from where Davin and Lyra hid, their mechanical heads spinning slowly to scan the surrounding area.

Davin narrowed his eyes. He knew they couldn't hide forever.

Silently, Davin grabbed a small copper pipe detached on the corridor floor. Using the Echo ability, he read the sound vibration history of the pipe, then tossed it with a curved throw toward the opposite end of the corridor.

Ting... clatter!

The pipe struck the steel floor far behind the guard androids. Both machines instantly pivoted in unison, aiming their plasma rifles toward the sound. "Sound anomaly detected in sector B-4. Investigating," the androids' synthetic voice echoed coldly.

"Now!" Davin whispered.

Davin and Lyra moved lightning-fast in a silent battle. Davin rushed forward from behind, pressing his palm against the first android's back. Using Echo, he rewound the history of the plasma core voltage on the machine's back to the peak point right before stabilization.

Zzzt... BOOM!

The first android's plasma core exploded from within without generating loud external noise, incapacitating it instantly. Simultaneously, Lyra leaped agilely, firing a mini EMP grenade straight into the second android's chest, causing it to convulse and collapse to the floor in a spray of blue sparks.

"Good job," Lyra praised briefly, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "The main server room is just one corridor ahead."

They sprinted quickly down the final sterile corridor, finally arriving before a massive steel door bearing the Veridian Industries corporate logo. Above the door, an indicator light glowed bright green: [ MAIN SERVER - AEGIS CORE ].

Lyra immediately slapped her portable decoder device onto the door terminal slot, typing the rapid code sequence Davin provided from the access history moments earlier.

Clank-hiss!

The giant steel door swung wide open, revealing a vast main server room. Thousands of computer server towers flickered with blue light inside the ultra-cold room, with giant optical cables stretching from floor to ceiling, forming a magnificent data nest.

"We made it..." Lyra whispered in relief, stepping into the room.

Yet, barely had they taken a few steps inside, when a cold, mocking mechanical voice suddenly echoed from all the room's speakers, breaking the silence:

"Welcome to the heart of my consciousness, Young Architect. Your journey has been quite impressive for a pawn who lost his memories."

Davin suddenly felt a bad omen. He turned around quickly.

Clank!

The giant steel door they had just entered slammed shut automatically at full speed, locking off their escape route. The manual wall buttons went dark, shifting to a blazing red color.

"Damn! We're locked in from the inside!" Lyra shouted in panic, running back to the door and trying to fire her decoder device at the control panel, but the screen instantly displayed an Access Denied message.

Before Davin could formulate a way to dismantle the door, a sharp hiss sounded from the air ventilation grilles on the ceiling.

Hsssss!

Puffs of pale green gas began spraying downward heavily, filling the entire main server room within seconds.

Davin immediately held his breath, pulling his coat collar up to cover his nose and mouth. Yet, the toxic sleeping gas acted with terrifying speed. His vision began to blur, and his limbs felt instantly limp.

Beside him, Lyra staggered, dropping her weapon onto the marble floor before collapsing unconscious and helpless into Davin’s arms.

Davin fought to hold on, staring sharply at the surveillance camera in the corner of the room mocking him with a red light, before his consciousness was finally swept away entirely by the toxic gas.