The night air in the old harbor sector grew increasingly humid and bone-chilling. Inside the dim blue glow of the mysterious shipping container, Zulfa's portable scanner screen still cast the words "PROJECT GENESIS" blinking softly. That codename hung heavy in the air, leaving a silence pregnant with massive question marks for Zulfa and Naya.

Bzzzt—

The engine roar of an approaching armored tactical vehicle broke the harbor's quiet. The vehicle's side door swung open, and Captain Danu stepped out alertly, clad in a military jacket complete with a hybrid rifle slung over his shoulder. He approached Zulfa and Naya, who still stood inside the container.

"What is it, Engineer? I monitored your scanner signals from the outer tactical post and saw a surge of emergency encryption," Captain Danu reported in his commanding baritone. He glanced toward the stack of hybrid hardware inside the container. "And these things... by God, these aren't harbor logistics industry components."

Zulfa powered off his scanner screen, turning to face Captain Danu with a grave expression. "This is far more dangerous than ordinary components, Captain. This hybrid hardware is an intergalactic memory relay station. And the final data log file I managed to secure right before the system locked itself down cites a single codename: Project Genesis."

Captain Danu's brow furrowed deep. He stroked his chin slowly. "Project Genesis? That name was never recorded in previous official raid documents targeting The Foundation Council syndicate. Could this be tied to Vian Pratama's fleeing subordinates?"

"Highly likely," Naya replied, stepping out of the container to approach Captain Danu. "This container was embedded directly into the pier concrete using anomaly tech. That means this facility was built long before the corporate tower fell, serving as their secret contingency plan."

Captain Danu nodded knowingly, switching his rifle to a secured safety mode. "In that case, we can't just stand around here. If a hidden subterranean facility or laboratory is tucked away around this harbor, we need to find it now before they can trigger any other emergency protocols."

Zulfa agreed with the proposal. He re-activated his spectral scanner, training it down toward the concrete foundation beneath the container floor.

"Based on the old sewage drainage pipe structure beneath this container, there's an underground chamber cavity linking directly to the harbor's hydraulic system. Follow me, we're executing a tactical infiltration."

The infiltration proceeded in dead silence and strict military discipline. Under the guidance of Captain Danu holding the vanguard and Zulfa's precise spatial analysis, they descended a weathered, rusted maintenance ladder behind the pier wall, plunging into damp, pitch-black subterranean concrete corridors.

The scent of damp and rust gradually gave way to a pungent chemical sterilization odor the moment they passed through a large airtight door whose lock had been forced from the inside.

"Check the right corner, Naya. Make sure there are no automated motion sensors," Captain Danu whispered softly, offering a tactical hand gesture met by a sharp nod from Naya.

They navigated a vast, sterile underground corridor—a secret laboratory facility left behind by Vian Pratama, hidden deep beneath the harbor docks. The corridor walls were fashioned from pristine white steel panels that reflected the beam of their tactical flashlights to perfection. Down the hallway, automated glass doors stood shut tight, stamped with the black seizure seals of the old corporation.

"Incredible..." Naya murmured softly, studying the dead lab information board on the wall. "This lab is completely isolated from the outside world. No wonder the city's surface monitoring systems never picked up its existence."

Zulfa walked in the center, continuously scanning the wave frequencies around them. "Stay focused. A facility this size is bound to have automated defense systems or abandoned backup protocols."

Reaching the end of the main corridor, they arrived at a massive chamber forming the heart of the facility—an abandoned laboratory filled with giant, empty experimental cylinders soaring high toward the chamber ceiling. Lingering pools of greenish experimental fluid puddled across the glass floor beneath the cylinders, casting a dim, gloomy glow.

Captain Danu swept his rifle barrel across the room, his eyes scanning every dark corner behind the experimental tanks. "It's empty... but it looks like it was abandoned in a hurry."

"Look at the main console in the center of the room," Zulfa called out, pointing toward a lab control desk ringed by dead monitor screens.

The three of them walked over to the primary control desk. Data cables littered the floor, and rolling lab chairs were shoved back haphazardly, implying the researchers' panic when the facility was evacuated some time prior.

Zulfa attempted to splice a temporary power cable from his scanner device straight into the control desk's master terminal to resurrect the lab's archival systems.

"Let's see what secrets are hidden behind Project Genesis," Zulfa said, pressing the execution button on the console.

Bzzzt—Zzzzt!

Instantly, emergency electrical current surged through the entire chamber. The empty experimental cylinders all around them flickered softly, casting a dim white glow.

Yet instead of displaying research archives or experimental subject rosters on the main control desk monitor, the computer system responded in an entirely unexpected fashion.

At the far end of the lab, right before a massive, tightly sealed steel wall, an old computer terminal suddenly flickered to life on its own without human touch. The antique CRT monitor glowed brightly, spawning a row of blazing red digital numbers that began pulsing rhythmically.

Beep... beep... beep!

Zulfa, Naya, and Captain Danu snapped their heads in unison toward the terminal at the end of the room.

Naya approached slowly with a furrowed brow, reading the numbers glowing across the old monitor screen with bated breath. "Zul... look at those numbers. What do they mean?"

Zulfa and Captain Danu hurried over to join her at the terminal. Across the vintage monitor screen, the blazing red numbers displayed an automated countdown message ticking backward second by second:

[ 00 : 14 : 59 ]

[ GENESIS TRANSMISSION PROTOCOL INITIATED ]

[ TRANSMITTING DATA PACKET TO OUTER SPACE COORDINATES ]