CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR :The Arctic station was no longer silent. The corridors they had carefully mapped moments ago now throbbed with an unnatural energy. Lights flickered as if in conversation, panels humming low, sending vibrations through the floor that made the hairs on Billy’s neck stand on end.“Everyone stay sharp,” Billy murmured, voice steady despite the rising tension. His eyes flicked from the flickering lights to the shadows pooling at the end of each hallway. “If anything moves, we react. No hesitation.”Owen’s breath puffed in icy clouds. “It’s worse than we thought. Thermal readings are showing multiple signatures—but none of them are human.”Tyla paused, tracing the warped displays projected along the walls. “Not human… or heavily manipulated. Whoever is controlling this, they’ve altered the station’s internal environment. The energy, the airflow, even gravity readings—everything is wrong. This isn’t just a station; it’s a trap that thinks.”Alice moved behind them, sca

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX :The Arctic wind outside the station bit like knives, rattling the outer walls with relentless persistence. Inside, the hum of the engine had subsided, leaving an almost suffocating silence. Billy, bundled against the cold, watched Tyla hover over the console, her gloved fingers dancing over keys, swiping through data streams that no ordinary human could decipher.“Your name…” Tyla’s voice cracked slightly, almost in disbelief. She didn’t look up at him immediately, focusing instead on the encrypted list flashing across the screen. “Your name is… here.”Billy froze, the weight of those words pressing like ice against his chest. He had prepared himself for many things in this mission, but seeing his name linked to the engine’s core, his bloodline effectively marked within the Luoshen records—it felt like someone had reached inside his very essence and exposed it for the world to see.Owen stepped closer, eyebrows raised. “That can’t be right. These are relic designa

CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT :The Arctic wind clawed at the station’s walls like an angry beast. Snow whipped across the frozen landscape, stinging any exposed skin and reducing visibility to a few feet. Billy tightened his coat and stepped cautiously across the metal platform outside the station. The blizzard was relentless, but what unnerved him more was the unnatural stillness inside the station—a quiet that didn’t belong in a place so hostile.Tyla moved beside him, her boots crunching in rhythm with his own. She scanned the perimeter, eyes sharp, every nerve on alert. “The storm isn’t the only thing we should worry about,” she said, her voice low but clear. “Sensors are spiking in the east wing. Something’s moving in there.”Owen, carrying extra gear, muttered under his breath. “We’re getting too predictable. Every time we step, it’s like the station anticipates us. I don’t like this.”Alice, shifting nervously behind them, shot Owen a glance. “Predictable? You mean dead predictable if

CHAPTER NINETY :The Arctic station’s interior twisted before Billy’s eyes, corridors bending in ways that felt impossible. It wasn’t a trick of the light; the floor beneath them shifted subtly, the very structure responding to some ancient, unknown mechanism. Snow hammered against the exterior panels with a ferocity that made the walls groan, yet inside, it was quieter—too quiet—like a tomb built beneath the ice. Every step Billy took echoed with more weight than it should have, as though the station itself was aware of his presence.Tyla moved ahead, eyes scanning a holographic map projected from a flickering terminal. Her fingers traced the frozen constellation patterns, tracing the nodes as she muttered softly to herself. “Each point is a relic… each relic is a trigger,” she said. Her voice carried tension, almost fear, but also clarity. Billy noticed her hand tremble slightly, though she tried to mask it.Owen brought up the rear, clutching his rifle but more alert than usual. “S

CHAPTER NINETY- TWO :The alarms were no longer mechanical. They sounded alive—like a wounded animal screaming inside metal lungs.The entire Arctic station trembled under the storm outside and the chaos within. Red lights stuttered through the corridors, flashing across frost-bitten walls as Billy and Tyla stumbled toward the control core. Owen’s voice crackled over the comms, half drowned in static:> “Billy—defense grid’s gone rogue! You’ve got less than two minutes before—”The line cut.Billy slammed his hand against the comms panel. “Owen! Say again!”Nothing but the shriek of feedback.Tyla pushed past him, her breath fogging. “Forget it! We can’t out-shout a system that’s eating itself!”Ahead, the corridor ended in a massive circular door. Its surface shimmered with symbols that twisted like they were alive, glowing brighter every second. A relic defense protocol—one of the ancient safeguards designed to protect the Luoshen engines from tampering. Except now, it wasn’t defend