Shatterstar pressed deeper into the heart of the blazing star, swallowed by oceans of fla and pressure no ordinary vessel could withstand.
Outside, the temperature had soared past ten million degrees Celsius. Inside, Shatterstar’s energy ter remained fixed at fifty percent, the sa stubborn figure it had displayed ever since Ethan first stepped aboard.
The propulsion system roared, the cooling chanisms strained, the protective shields blazed at maximum output. Yet no matter how violent the environnt beca, the numbers on the display neither climbed nor dropped. They simply stayed at half.
Over the course of their long voyage, Ethan had learned many things from KH3106. This descent into the star’s core was ant to be Shatterstar’s final test.
The word "experint" nearly drove Ethan out of his mind.
KH3106 explained that Shatterstar’s energy design was unlike any conventional system. To unlock its true potential, it required the destruction of a star, drawing the living core into its reserves. Only then would the energy display rise above fifty percent, and only then could Shatterstar claim what the designers had called infinite energy.
Otherwise, its power would always remain capped at that halfway mark—a cruel tease, like a battery that never charges past half.
Ethan struggled to believe it. The entire idea sounded like fantasy. Yet KH3106 insisted there was no other way. Shatterstar had been built using the apex technologies of the First Universe, a warship wrapped in armor and secrets, ant to be the Ark that carried their civilization forward. Without infinite energy, it was little better than a crippled husk, unable to unleash the greater part of its arsenal.
Fifty percent was not power at all—it was a threshold. Once breached, even by a single point, Shatterstar would awaken into the weapon it was always ant to be. Until then, Ethan could only stare at that mocking number and imagine the functions locked behind it.
But in every universe, young stars were priceless. A star ant planets, worlds, ecosystems. Civilizations lived or died under its light. No sane species would ever allow such a star to be consud.
And yet, here they were.
This barren corner of space had no thriving systems, no inhabited planets circling this sun. Left to evolve naturally, it would be tens of billions of years before a habitable world could even form here. To KH3106, the choice was simple.
"This ti," the guy had said with uncharacteristic cheer, "we struck gold. And all thanks to you."
Ethan could only curse under his breath. ’You struck gold, maybe. Why am I the one who has to gamble with you?’
But the choice was already made. All he could do was grit his teeth and accept it.
"How much farther to the core?" he finally asked.
"Almost there," KH3106 answered.
Ethan checked the display again. The temperature outside had risen past thirty million degrees Celsius, more than twice the core temperature scientists back on Earth had ever predicted. He realized then that most of the answers he sought were already spelled out across the holographic displays. Instead of pressing KH3106 further, he imrsed himself in the scrolling data.
---
Earth, Ashwick.
Inside a sprawling mansion, a middle-aged man lay motionless on a bed surrounded by an array of dical equipnt.
"Dad, when will you wake up? Ethan has been gone for almost two days, and we still don’t know where he went."
Lyla’s voice was soft but carried a restless edge. She sat at her father’s bedside, fingers twisted in the folds of her dress, though her eyes wandered elsewhere, caught between worry and helplessness.
"Don’t worry. That kid will be fine."
The creak of the door drew her attention. A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped inside, his presence filling the room.
"Ninth Granduncle? What are you doing here?" Lyla rose at once, surprise flashing in her eyes.
"Nothing urgent in the Hidden Territory, so I thought I’d check on you," Donovan Silverwood said, smiling as he ruffled her hair with unexpected gentleness.
"Ninth Granduncle..." Lyla’s eyes brimd with sudden tears.
"Co now, you’re not a little girl anymore. Why the tears?" Donovan chuckled, though his expression softened when his gaze turned to the bed. "And Ambrose? Has he still not woken up?"
Lyla lowered her head. "No... The doctors say the nerve damage is too severe. They don’t think he’ll ever recover."
A heavy silence lingered before Donovan sighed. "If we could find him, I believe your father would wake. That man... he had the power."
"You an the one who saved you in Frostveil Cavern? The one who reshaped your body? Do you know who he is?" Lyla pressed, hope flickering in her eyes.
Donovan’s face clouded with mory. After a long pause, he shook his head. "I don’t know. When I recovered my Energy Cores, I knew reshaping my body was possible, but I never expected it. My only thought was to stop Lachlan from stealing them. Then that man appeared, out of nowhere, and changed everything. Who he was... I couldn’t tell you."
"Such chances are one in a lifeti," Lyla whispered, her gaze drifting back to her father’s still face.
Suddenly the entire mansion shuddered with the shrill wail of alarms.
[BEEP BEEP BEEP... ALERT... ALERT... Intruder detected within the periter...]
Both Lyla and Donovan froze for a heartbeat before standing at once.
"Stay here and guard Father. I’ll see what’s happening," Lyla said quickly.
Donovan made to protest, but when he glanced back at Ambrose lying helpless, he hesitated and gave a curt nod. "Alright. But if anything goes wrong, call for imdiately."
"I will."
Lyla tied her hair back with a single motion as she strode to the door. In an instant, the delicate daughter by her father’s bedside was gone, replaced by the sharp poise of a Silverwood warrior.
Outside, the courtyard was already a scene of chaos. A group of bodyguards had forced a young man to the ground, his arms pinned behind him.
"It’s urgent! Call Miss Lyla now!" he shouted, face pressed into the stone.
"Who do you think you are, demanding to see her?" one guard sneered before kicking him hard in the ribs.
The man gritted his teeth but refused to cry out. "I have important information. Don’t force to—"
"Force you?" The guard laughed and struck him again, this ti aiming for his face. "You’re just so rat trying to sneak close to Miss Lyla. Don’t think we don’t see through you."
The young man’s patience finally snapped. He tensed, preparing to break free, when a clear, commanding voice rang from the villa’s doorway.
"Stop."
At once, the man stilled, lying flat again as Lyla crossed the courtyard.
"What’s going on?" she asked, her voice sharp as steel as her gaze fell on the scene.
"Miss Lyla," the guard said quickly, bowing his head with a sycophantic grin, "this man was loitering outside and demanded to see you without an appointnt. When we refused him entry, he tried to force his way in. We subdued him, of course. Best leave this to us."
Lyla’s eyes narrowed. "Since when do visitors to my house need an appointnt?"
The courtyard fell silent. Her temper was rising.
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