"Your game is over, Engineer Arditama!" Vian Pratama roared with a voice shaking with absolute fury, storming into the main transmission room through the shattered steel doorway. In his right hand, Vian gripped a short-barreled semi-automatic pistol leveled straight at Zulfa's forehead.

Zulfa froze, standing rigidly before the main terminal console. He glanced briefly down at the terminal monitor screen. There, the data transmission status bar had just hit 99% before the screen abruptly froze and flashed a massive red text prompt: ERROR - TRANSMISSION INTERCEPTED BY CORPORATE GATEWAY.

Vian Pratama smirked, staring down the monitor screen before shifting his gaze back to Zulfa with a deeply condescending glare.

"Did you really think you could leak The Foundation Council's classified data just like that using our local terminal, Zulfa?" Vian spoke coldly, stepping forward slowly while maintaining a safe shooting distance. "Every communication network in this subterranean facility is under the absolute control of Aethel Corp's systems. Before your cassette and data could even clear the building's perimeter, our firewall intercepted and wiped them clean without a trace."

Zulfa clenched his fists tight, his teeth grinding against the surging fury burning his chest. "You can wipe that digital data, Vian... but you will never erase the truth about what you've done to this city!"

"Truth?" Vian let out a soft chuckle—a cold, sarcastic laugh. He lowered his gun muzzle slightly, flinging his left hand toward the massive glass window beside the transmission room that showcased the churning subterranean cosmic abyss. "Listen to me, Zulfa. In this modern world, there is no such thing as absolute truth. There is only whoever holds control over energy, power, and public fear."

Vian stepped closer, forcing Zulfa to back up until the youth's spine slammed against the iron safety railing of the observation deck poised right at the edge of the subterranean cosmic abyss—a colossal chasm where a vortex of extradimensional energy spun wildly, radiating a blinding purplish-blue glow.

"Your father used to think just like you—trying to play some half-baked hero fighting against the current of destiny," Vian continued in a lowered, intense tone, staring intently into Zulfa's eyes. "And look where he ended up? Reduced to ash within the pages of forgotten history. You're about to share the exact same fate, Zulfa. Fall into this chasm, vanish nameless, and the world up top will keep turning peacefully under our control."

Zulfa stared down at the roaring cosmic energy vortex beneath his boots. A fierce, high-pressure wind whipped against his face and hair, making his breathing heavy. Yet deep within his heart, not a shred of fear remained. He thought of Mr. Darma who had just laid down his life, of his father who had fought in the past, and of Naya and Captain Danu waiting for him out there.

"You're wrong, Vian," Zulfa said with a voice calm yet iron-clad, staring straight into the corporate director's eyes without flinching an inch. "My family may have fallen, but resistance never dies. People like you will never conquer the human soul forever."

Vian Pratama's face hardened instantly, the smirk vanishing from his lips, replaced by a flash of profound murderous intent. "Enough of the chatter, Engineer. Your time in this world is up."

Vian raised his pistol once more, aiming straight at Zulfa's chest, his index finger beginning to apply pressure to the trigger.

Zulfa closed his eyes for a split second, drawing his final breath at the edge of the deadly chasm.

Yet, before Vian could pull the trigger home...

BOOM!

KABOOM-GH!

A massive, earth-shattering explosion suddenly tore upward from the lower levels of the prison facility. An immense shockwave slammed into the deck flooring where they stood, causing Vian to lose his balance and pitch violently to the side.

"Argh! What the hell is this?!" Vian panicked, dropping his gun as the concrete floor nearby fractured wide open.

Zulfa staggered forward, locking his grip onto the iron balcony railing. He looked up, watching the subterranean ceiling buckle and collapse, vomiting billows of white smoke and roaring red flames from the outer sectors.

From amid the ruptured concrete ruins, the heavy roar of a tactical heavy vehicle's engine echoed angrily, accompanied by the sharp crack of large-caliber assault rifle fire piercing the silence of the earth's belly.

A portable loudspeaker from the direction of the rubble blasted a young woman's voice instantly recognizable to Zulfa:

"Vian Pratama! Let Zulfa go right now, or we level this entire subterranean facility to the dust!"

Zulfa's eyes blew wide. That was Naya's voice.

Beside Naya's voice, Captain Danu stood tall atop the roof of the resistance tactical vehicle that had just punched straight through the corporate defense wall, leading a fully armed resistance strike force to launch the ultimate counter-attack.

Vian Pratama hauled himself to his feet with a bleached-white face, staring in disbelief at the rubble-choked corridor swarming with resistance fighters. "How... how did they find a way in here?!" Vian shrieked hysterically amid the chaos just beginning to unfold.

Zulfa smiled broadly at the edge of the abyss, fixing Vian with a gaze reigniting with unwavering conviction.