The high-speed elevator continued descending deep beneath New York City. The numbers on the digital panel chimed softly as they passed Floor Minus Fifty.This place was Archon’s Black Detention Facility, a location that existed on no map, appeared on no public server, and remained entirely under the absolute control of the Thomas family.Viviane Lane stood rigidly in the center of the elevator. Her eyes stared at her own reflection in the stainless steel doors. She no longer saw the young woman who once cried under her mother’s pressure, nor the naïve CEO who had nearly lost everything to Mark Davies’s schemes. What stared back at her now carried the same sharp gaze as her husband.“Ma’am,” Veronica Wu’s voice broke the cold silence inside the lift. “The five traitorous executives have been placed in Sector B. They keep begging to contact their lawyers.”“Let them beg until their vocal cords tear apart,” Viviane replied without turning around. “In this underground facility, United Sta

Aetheria’s Main Command Chamber was not built from steel or reinforced concrete but from a matrix of pure energy that pulsed endlessly.Golden-blue radiance crawled along the curved walls, releasing a low-frequency hum that vibrated deep within the chest cavity.The air smelled thick with ozone, cold, sterile, and oppressive, as if the gravity in the chamber had been deliberately intensified to test the worthiness of anyone standing inside it.At the center of the room, a massive projection table displayed a three-dimensional tactical map of the outer sector of Earth’s solar system. Points of light representing billions of lives drifted like stardust in the vacuum of space.The Four Supreme Generals of Aetheria stood surrounding the table. They were towering humanoid beings clad in liquid crystal armor that reflected the matrix light.Their pale skin radiated the cosmic arrogance of a race that had ruled for thousands of years. Across f

A blizzard howled violently outside, slamming against the bulletproof glass atop Lane Corp Tower. New York City lay buried beneath a frozen white blanket, as though the universe itself were delivering an early warning of the apocalypse to come.Inside the main conference room, the temperature was maintained at peak comfort levels, costing thousands of dollars per hour. Yet the atmosphere around the circular table felt far colder than the storm outside.Viviane Lane sat upright in the CEO’s chair. Her face was a flawless porcelain mask, firm, elegant, and deadly. Beneath her light makeup, however, dark circles painted the exhaustion she could no longer fully conceal.Ever since her husband, Matthew Thomas, vanished into orbit aboard an alien vessel one month ago, Viviane had carried a burden capable of shattering an ordinary person’s sanity.She had to manage two global giants, Archon Global and Lane Corp, while raising Dominic alone. The suffo

The Central Plaza of Aetheria’s capital was an architectural miracle of light beyond human comprehension.Millions of Aetherian citizens gathered across the vast expanse that stretched endlessly toward the purple horizon, while billions of other eyes watched the sacred ceremony through the collective neural computation network.At the center of the plaza stood a magnificent altar shaped from a pillar of pure energy, rising through the dense clouds above and radiating a resonance that made the hair on the back of one’s neck stand on end.Upon that altar stood Matthew. His human body was clad in Aetherian Ceremonial Armor, a masterpiece of dark silver battle plating that felt as light as silk. Yet it radiated an aura of absolute and lethal authority.Beside him stood Crown Princess Seraphina, her entire being emanating the untouchable elegance of a queen born to rule the stars.The High Priest of Aetheria, an ancient entity with a half-tr

Aetheria’s orbital dock was anything but silent. The deep hum of high-level energy filled every inch of the colossal space station.From the observation platform, Matthew gazed into the void of space, separated only by a transparent energy shield. Beyond it, rows of golden metallic giants floated with an arrogance that defied the laws of the universe.Matthew stood tall in a pitch-black suit specially tailored for him by Princess Seraphina’s royal designers, a striking contrast amid the thousands of Aetherian soldiers clad in silver and gold armor. Seraphina stood beside him, radiating an aura of nobility that made every soldier lower their head in awe and respect.Standing before them was General Vaelor, a massive Aetherian man with a scar stretching across his face, a relic of battles long past.“Your Highness, Crown Princess,” General Vaelor said, his voice heavy and resonant. He bowed briefly before turning a condescending gaze