The chamber was finally quiet.
No explosions.
No alarms.
No Dominion machines.
Only light.
Golden light drifted through the air like tiny streams of sunlight trapped beneath the mountain.
For the first time since entering the underground facility, everyone could breathe.
Yet no one truly relaxed.
Because they all knew—
Dominion would return.
Sinta remained near the tunnel entrance, her eyes scanning the darkness beyond.
"They're gone."
Bimo let out a long sigh.
"For now."
The words hung heavily in the air.
No one argued.
No one laughed.
Everyone understood.
A retreat wasn't a defeat.
Not for an enemy like Dominion.
Arga stood before the core.
Not touching it.
Not speaking.
Simply watching.
The golden sphere continued to pulse.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Almost like a heartbeat.
And every time it pulsed—
the twelve rice grains inside his lunchbox answered.
Glow.
Pulse.
Glow.
Pulse.
Perfectly synchronized.
Farhan noticed it first.
His eyes narrowed.
"It's still responding to you."
Arga lowered his gaze to the box.
"I know."
The strange thing was—
he wasn't surprised anymore.
The connection felt natural.
As if it had always existed.
As if he had simply forgotten it.
Kai stepped beside him.
The golden-haired guardian watched the core silently.
Then he spoke.
"It recognizes you."
Arga remained quiet.
After a moment, he nodded.
"And I recognize it."
The answer surprised even himself.
Because it was true.
The core no longer felt like an object.
It felt familiar.
Like a memory buried so deep that words could never fully describe it.
Across the room, Bu Maya carefully unfolded several old documents recovered from the facility.
The pages were yellowed with age.
Some sections were barely readable.
But one paragraph immediately caught her attention.
Her expression changed.
"Everyone."
The room fell silent.
Farhan and Lila quickly moved closer.
"What is it?" Sinta asked.
Bu Maya adjusted her glasses.
Then she began reading.
"Nutritional energy does not originate from food."
The room froze.
She continued.
"Food merely acts as a medium."
Farhan frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Bu Maya turned to the final line.
"The true source of nutritional energy is nature itself."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone slowly looked toward the core.
Then toward Arga.
Then back toward the core.
Bimo scratched his head.
"Wait."
"So all this time..."
"We thought food created the energy?"
Farhan's face darkened.
"It doesn't."
His eyes remained fixed on the glowing sphere.
"The food only carries it."
Lila's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"Then this thing..."
She pointed at the core.
"...isn't an energy source."
Farhan slowly nodded.
"No."
His heartbeat quickened.
"It's the source of life itself."
No one spoke after that.
Because the implication was enormous.
Everything they knew suddenly felt incomplete.
Kai stared at the core.
"Dominion understood part of the truth."
His eyes hardened.
"They were trying to recreate it."
"And failed."
Bimo crossed his arms.
"Good."
"I hope they keep failing."
A few smiles appeared.
Only for a moment.
Then vanished.
Because deep down—
everyone felt it.
Something was changing.
Something much bigger than Dominion.
Pak Rahmat stepped forward.
"We have a problem."
That got everyone's attention.
He pointed toward the core.
"If Dominion comes back with more forces..."
His expression grew grim.
"We won't be able to move this."
No one disagreed.
The core was too important.
Too powerful.
Too dangerous.
And now—
too alive.
Farhan turned toward Arga.
"What do we do?"
For a moment, Arga said nothing.
The weight of every gaze settled on him.
The old Arga would have hesitated.
Would have looked to someone else for an answer.
Not anymore.
He looked at the glowing rice grains.
Then at the core.
Then at his friends.
"If it chose me..."
His voice was calm.
Steady.
"Then I won't abandon it."
Kai smiled.
The first genuine smile anyone had seen from him.
"Good answer."
Sinta stepped beside Arga.
"We protect it together."
Bimo immediately raised his hand.
"Agreed."
"Dying sounds terrible."
"So let's avoid that."
That finally earned a few laughs.
Small.
Brief.
Human.
Then—
the core pulsed.
Once.
Everyone turned.
Twice.
The golden light brightened.
Three times.
WHOOOOOM—
A wave of energy swept through the chamber.
Farhan nearly dropped his laptop.
"Wait!"
Numbers exploded across his screen.
Readings surged upward.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
But something felt wrong.
Lila stepped beside him.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
Farhan stared.
Confused.
"This doesn't make sense."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"What is it?"
Lila slowly lifted her head.
"It's not getting stronger."
The room fell silent.
Farhan finally understood.
His face went pale.
"No."
A long pause.
"It was never this weak."
Everyone looked toward the core.
The swirling light inside had changed.
Layers of energy were peeling away.
One after another.
Like seals being removed.
Like a veil lifting.
Something hidden deep within the core was revealing itself.
Arga's lunchbox suddenly blazed with golden light.
The twelve rice grains spun rapidly.
Almost excited.
Almost welcoming.
Then—
it appeared.
A tiny spark.
Floating at the center of the core.
Small.
Brilliant.
Ancient.
The moment it emerged—
everyone felt it.
Not with their eyes.
Not with their ears.
But somewhere deeper.
Like instinct.
Like memory.
Like fear.
Bimo swallowed hard.
"...Tell me that's normal."
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Farhan stared at the monitor.
His voice barely escaped his throat.
"The energy isn't increasing."
Lila nodded.
Almost afraid of her own conclusion.
"It's being uncovered."
The tiny spark continued to shine.
Quietly.
Patiently.
Like something that had been asleep for a very long time.
And had finally opened its eyes.
For the first time, the team understood a terrifying possibility.
The core was not simply evolving.
It was awakening.
And what they had sworn to protect—
might not be a source of power.
It might be something far older.
Far greater.
And far more dangerous.
Than any of them had imagined.