The crimson digits of the tower's self-destruct countdown ticked downward with merciless cruelty, casting a bleeding glow across Gilang's pale face. Wisps of thin smoke still curled from the shattered master console, mingling with the low, dying hum of the emergency generators.

"Impossible... damn it, there has to be another way!" Gilang shouted in frustration.

He lunged back toward the master console, his trembling fingers smashing blindly against the emergency override keys. Tearing off the protective cable panels with his bare hands, he yanked at primary data wires and tried to force-splice them together to sever the circuit current locking down the global SoulSync countdown.

Buzzt! Zzzzt!

Blue sparks spat wildly, stinging Gilang's palms until his skin blistered. Yet, he paid absolute zero mind to the physical pain. His eyes bulged as he stared at the emergency terminal screen, which abruptly generated a thick, static-streaked warning in blinding red text:

“Critical System Warning: Access Denied. Corporate Curse Algorithm Biometrically Bound. Manual Override Failure Detected.”

Gilang read it through a ragged gasp, his jaw clenching until it ground together. He forced the system to process his execution command anyway. "Unlock it! Force-close the application, you stupid piece of junk!"

The terminal responded with a high-pitched drone, then flashed the final line of technical explanation across the display: “Absolute neutralization cannot be executed outside foundational code architecture. The cancellation protocol requires a biometric entity with a pure human consciousness essence within the core server to serve as the absolute neutralizer.”

The sentence struck Gilang's mind like a giant sledgehammer. The fingers pressing against the console instantly went limp. His breath caught in his throat, and his vision suddenly blurred.

Human consciousness essence... the absolute neutralizer from within the system...

The image of Renata smiling serenely before stepping into the pillar of purple light flashed vividly in Gilang's mind. The woman hadn't merely blown herself up or run a standard sabotage. Renata had understood completely that no mechanical kill-switch in this world could tear down her own masterpiece of sin except her own soul—the absolute price demanded to halt the soul-harvesting engine.

"Renata..." Gilang rasped. Every ounce of strength seemed to drain entirely from his frame. He slumped downward, dropping weakly onto the cold cyber-floor, staring blankly at the purple light pillar where she had dissolved.

A dense, suffocating despair crept inward to choke his chest. As a street freelancer, Gilang was accustomed to living on the razor's edge of death, watching people come and go within the whirlpool of underworld transactions. But losing someone standing on the same line, someone staking her entire existence for redemption... that was a wound far more lethal than any sword slash or energy bolt.

"Boss... hiks... Boss, hurry over here!"

Rania's hysterical weeping pierced Gilang's sorrowful trance. The teenage girl shouted from the corner of the room, calling his name with a voice trembling in terror.

Gilang jerked upright. He turned with agonizing effort, finding Rania crawling frantically toward the quantum tube where her brother, Wira, was locked away.

Gilang forced himself up unsteadily, dragging his leaden legs to approach Rania. "Rania? What is it? Is the tube about to burst?"

"N-not that, Boss!" Rania sobbed, tears spilling ever faster down her ash-smudged cheeks. She pointed toward the cracked glass cylinder. "Look at Wira's hand... his fingers are moving!"

Gilang widened his eyes, dropping to his knees beside Rania to lock his gaze upon the quantum tube. Beneath the dim, pulsing purple biometric fluid, Wira's stiff, lifeless fingers were now twitching faintly. Slowly, the teenager's eyelids fluttered open into a narrow slit.

The dying yellow light within the tube was suddenly jolted by a surge of fresh energy—pure energy returned by Renata's sacrifice from deep within the server core.

"Boss... where is this...?" Wira's weak voice filtered out faintly through the tube's emergency internal intercom. "I'm... I'm so tired..."

Rania covered her mouth with both hands, her sobs breaking into a cry of overwhelming relief. She pressed her face directly against the cracked glass. "Wira! It's me, Dek! You're safe! You're right here with me!"

K-cronk!

With the final reserves of system-channeled energy, the quantum tube's automated locks finally gave way. The glass door slid sideways, venting warm vapor and biometric fluid across the cyber-tiles. Wira's limp body pitched forward, but Gilang moved with lightning reflexes, sweeping his arms out to catch and cradle the teenager before he hit the ground.

"He... he's conscious," Gilang whispered in disbelief, feeling a weak yet steady pulse ticking back to life in Wira's neck.

Rania instantly threw her arms around her shivering brother, weeping uncontrollably against Wira's shoulder. "Thank you... oh God, thank you..."

Gilang stared down at the siblings in silence. Renata's sacrifice hadn't been in vain. Millions out there—including Wira—had been rescued from the corporate algorithm's deadly clutches. The global SoulSync countdown was locked dead at 99.99%, freezing the soul-harvesting engine forever.

Yet, amid that heartbreaking relief, a deafening mechanical alarm suddenly blared wildly from the room's ceiling.

Woo-ung! Woo-ung! Woo-ung!

The emergency strobes spun rapidly, casting glaring red light across every inch of the server room. From the overhead speakers, the automated corporate system pronounced their unsparing final verdict:

“Emergency Evacuation Warning: Absolute-tier security perimeter breach detected. Tower total purge system engaged.”

A digital countdown with a rapidly accelerating audio scale began echoing across the room:

“Automated evacuation doors will be permanently sealed. The Ant Corp central tower will detonate and collapse entirely in... three minutes.”

Gilang snapped to attention. Three minutes! That meant their time to clear this building—fighting through the ninetieth floor where Nara had stayed behind—was teetering on the absolute edge of human logic.

"Rania, hold your brother tight! We're getting out of here right now!" Gilang commanded sharply, his voice slicing through the blaring alarm. He rose to his feet, hoisting Wira's semi-conscious frame onto his back.

Rania nodded rapidly, wiping away her tears as she clamped her arms tight around her brother's waist. "Got it, Boss! We have to find Nara!"

Gilang pivoted, striding swiftly toward the massive steel door of the main server room—their sole path back to the ninetieth-floor corridor, carrying a crushing weight upon his shoulders and the lingering agony stabbing deep within his chest.