A cold mountain breeze drifted through the pines.
It carried the scent of wet earth and pine needles.
At the top of the hill stood the old stone building.
Silent.
Motionless.
Abandoned—
yet somehow not forgotten.
Fresh tire tracks were still visible in the dirt.
Recent.
Too recent.
Sinta narrowed her eyes.
"They've already been here."
Bimo glanced at one of the shattered windows.
"And I'm pretty sure it wasn't for sightseeing."
Farhan opened his laptop.
The graph on the screen immediately spiked upward.
"The energy signature is coming from inside."
"And it's still rising."
Lila stepped closer.
"This isn't just powerful."
A pause.
"It's stable."
Kai stood quietly, staring at the building.
A faint golden light flickered in his eyes.
"...This isn't ordinary energy."
He swallowed.
"It's ancient."
Not ancient like the building.
Ancient like something that had existed long before anyone understood what energy truly was.
Pak Rahmat stepped forward and pushed the wooden door.
CREEEEAK—
The sound echoed through the building.
Then deeper.
As if the structure itself was announcing their arrival.
Cold air drifted out from within.
Damp.
Heavy.
And strangely—
alive.
They stepped inside.
Dust coated the floor.
Old research tables stood abandoned beneath faded lights.
Bookshelves overflowed with weathered journals and handwritten notes.
Bu Maya carefully opened one of the notebooks.
"This really was a laboratory..."
Farhan examined a chalkboard covered in faded writing.
"Metabolism."
"Energy distribution."
"Nutritional transfer."
Layers upon layers of notes covered the board.
Written.
Erased.
Written again.
As if someone had spent years trying to understand something far too large to explain.
Lila stared at the walls.
"This wasn't research."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"It was a search."
Arga opened his lunchbox.
The eleven grains of rice immediately lit up.
Brighter.
Faster.
Like a heartbeat finally finding its matching rhythm.
He closed his eyes.
For the first time—
he didn't just feel the energy.
He heard something.
"...Below us."
Kai immediately pointed toward the floor.
"There."
Bimo sighed.
"Of course."
A pause.
"Why is it always underground?"
They found a spiral staircase descending into darkness.
Their footsteps echoed with every step.
Tok.
Tok.
Tok.
The air changed.
Colder.
Heavier.
Quieter.
Farhan glanced at the readings.
"The energy spike is massive."
Lila's eyes widened.
"...This isn't the source."
A pause.
"It's the core."
The staircase ended.
And everyone stopped.
A vast chamber opened before them.
More modern than the ruins above.
Yet somehow older than everything they had seen.
At the center stood a massive metallic ring.
Almost like an altar.
And within it—
a glass vessel.
Inside floated a golden light.
Slowly rotating.
Calm.
Peaceful.
Alive.
Arga froze.
His lunchbox reacted instantly.
The glow became almost blinding.
The eleven grains pulsed wildly.
As if they had finally found something that existed before them.
Farhan stared in disbelief.
"...This is it."
"Pure Nutritional Energy."
Lila could barely find her voice.
"It wasn't created."
"It wasn't discovered."
A pause.
"It was always here."
For a moment, no one spoke.
The room itself seemed to breathe.
Kai stepped forward slowly.
His eyes weren't wild anymore.
They were gentle.
"...It's like us."
Rani stared at the golden light.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"We're like it."
And for the first time—
everyone felt it.
Not power.
Not energy.
Something else.
Something that existed to give rather than take.
Then—
footsteps.
Soft.
Deliberate.
Enough to shatter the moment.
Everyone turned.
Figures emerged from the shadows.
Dominion.
And behind them—
their leader.
Calm as always.
Far too calm.
His gaze locked onto the golden light.
A familiar smile appeared.
"...Finally."
Sinta immediately stepped forward.
"We won't let you touch it."
There was no hesitation in her voice.
No fear.
No retreat.
The Dominion Leader chuckled softly.
"You still misunderstand."
He raised a hand toward the golden light.
"This isn't something that should be protected."
A pause.
"It's something that should be controlled."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Colder.
Heavier.
More dangerous.
Arga stepped forward.
His lunchbox shone with warm golden light, filling the chamber.
"That energy doesn't belong to anyone."
His voice remained calm.
Steady.
Unshakable.
"It's meant to be shared."
Silence followed.
The golden light within the chamber trembled.
Not violently.
Not aggressively.
As if it was listening.
On one side stood ambition.
On the other stood life itself.
The Dominion Leader slowly raised his hand.
His soldiers moved at once.
Sinta lowered her stance.
Ready.
Bimo smirked.
"Yeah."
"Here we go."
Kai stepped beside Arga.
His eyes glowed gold.
Not empty.
Not controlled.
Choosing.
Arga tightened his grip on the lunchbox.
The eleven grains shone like tiny stars.
And in the center of that ancient chamber—
two futures stood facing each other.
One sought to control the source of life.
The other sought to protect it.
And for the first time—
this wasn't about winning.
It was about something far greater.
It was about who had the right to decide what that power truly meant.
As the silence stretched between them—
the golden light at the center suddenly pulsed.
Once.
Then again.
The entire chamber trembled.
Everyone froze.
Even the Dominion Leader.
For a brief moment, Arga saw something inside the light.
An endless golden field.
Waves of rice swaying beneath a sky filled with sunlight.
And a distant voice—
ancient.
Gentle.
Waiting.
"At last..."
Then the vision vanished.
The chamber fell silent once more.
But nothing felt the same.
Because whatever had been sleeping here—
was awake now.