Chapter : 721

"Hacking in real life looks boring," Ken complained lazily to himself. He buried his free hand deep into his sweatpants pocket. "It is just endless typing. In video games, hacking is a very fun mini-game. You get to connect colorful water pipes. Or you have to guide a tiny glowing dot through a maze. Or you have to guess a four-letter password before the timer runs out. I am highly skilled at connecting water pipes."

Ken pulled out another potato crisp. He tossed it into his mouth.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

"Hey, Sayma," Ken called out loudly from across the room. His voice was relaxed. He did not sound serious at all.

Sayma kept her eyes on the screen. "Yes, Ken? I am currently executing a very delicate bypass maneuver."

"Does that giant computer terminal have any video games on it?" Ken asked lazily. He let out a loud, dramatic yawn. He stretched his arms high above his head. "I am bored right now. Maybe it has a digital card game. Or a simple puzzle game. I just want to play something while we wait. Watching you type is putting me to sleep."

Naomi turned around. She stood near the doorway of the hidden server room. She looked at Ken sitting on his wobbling chair.

Naomi did not cross her arms. She did not glare at him. She did not yell in an angry, strict voice. Her strict persona was gone. She smiled a very bright, warm smile. Her green eyes sparkled with amusement. She found his laziness genuinely funny now.

"Shut up, Ken," Naomi told him softly. Her tone was very warm. She playfully shook her head. "Keep quiet, slacker. She is trying to work. You cannot play card games on an evil science computer."

"Why not?" Ken argued casually. He gave her a goofy pout. "Evil scientists need to take breaks too. They probably play games during their lunch hour. I bet they have a really high score on a pinball game hidden in there. You should ask Sayma to check the hidden folders."

"Just eat your potato crisps," Naomi chuckled softly. She turned her attention back to Sayma. She liked knowing Ken was safe and relaxed in the background. His silly jokes made the dark, ruined laboratory feel normal.

Sayma ignored the banter. She focused on the mathematical algorithm.

The blue text on the monitors stopped scrolling. A large, complex geometric shape appeared on the center screen. The shape rotated slowly. It flashed red.

Sayma typed a final, long string of commands. She hit the enter key with a sharp, precise tap of her finger.

The rotating geometric shape suddenly turned bright green. A pleasant, electronic chime echoed from the terminal speakers. Beep.

"I am in," Sayma announced proudly. She pushed her thick glasses up. "The encryption is broken. I have total access to the primary server drives. I am opening the root directories now."

A quiet source note: NovelPhoenix carries the author's chapter, while this copy appeared without permission; reading there supports the writer.

The screens changed instantly. Hundreds of digital folders populated the monitors. The folders had complex, numbered titles. Sayma sorted through them with blistering speed. She filtered out the junk data. She looked for the most highly classified files.

"Find anything that mentions their research goals," Princess Iris instructed smoothly. She stepped closer to the screens. "We need to know what they were building in this facility."

Sayma opened a folder labeled 'Project Solurius Beta'.

A massive document appeared on the screen. Sayma scanned the text. Her dark eyes darted back and forth. She processed the information flawlessly.

"This is not just a standard research laboratory," Sayma reported politely. Her voice grew very serious. "They were not trying to invent a new power source. They were manipulating the raw toxic radiation from the wasteland. They were trying to weaponize the ambient Solurius energy."

Zinia cracked her knuckles. The strong earth mage frowned. "Weaponize the poison? They wanted to build a toxic bomb?"

"No," Sayma corrected softly. She scrolled down the document. "They were using the energy as a massive battery. They were funneling the toxic radiation into a singular, highly concentrated focal point. They built this entire facility to charge a specific object."

"What object?" Naomi asked. She gripped her silver daggers.

Sayma opened another encrypted file. This file had a bright red warning label on it. The text on the screen was marked with top-secret imperial clearance stamps.

Sayma read the file. She stopped typing. She froze .

"Sayma?" Princess Iris asked. She noticed the sudden pause. "What does it say?"

Sayma pushed her glasses up. Her hand trembled just a tiny fraction of an inch. She clicked her silver pen nervously.

"Princess," Sayma stated politely but urgently. "The files confirm the target of the energy transfer. The laboratory was conducting illegal experiments to stabilize and empower a legendary artifact."

Sayma pointed her silver pen directly at the glowing computer screen.

"The files specifically name the artifact," Sayma revealed loudly. "They were charging the Ode to a Black Phoenix."

The entire 13th Unit gasped in shock.

The name hung heavily in the cool, filtered air of the hidden server room. The truth hit them like a physical punch.

The Emperor told them the Ode to a Black Phoenix was stolen from the Imperial Vault just a few days ago. The Emperor told them the thief escaped into the 5 Wastelands. The politicians thought it was a random robbery. They thought a master thief broke into the vault for money.

But the files on the screen proved a different reality.

"It was not a random theft," Princess Iris deduced smoothly. Her violet eyes widened. She grasped the massive scope of the conspiracy. "This underground laboratory was built months ago. They have been preparing for this exact moment. The thief did not just steal the artifact. The thief brought the artifact here to complete a massive, pre-planned project."

"Exactly," Sayma agreed firmly. She typed a quick command to copy all the data onto her secure digital tool. "The illegal Solurius research and the vault robbery are connected. It is the exact same operation. The traitor inside the Upper Council planned the theft. They built this secret lab to use the artifact. Everything is directly linked."

Laxmi punched her open palm. A bright orange spark popped into the air.

"So the bad guys have the super dangerous book!" Laxmi cheered nervously. She grinned a forced grin. "They have the poison swamp energy! They are going to make a giant explosion!"

Luna rubbed her sleepy eyes. She let out a soft sigh. "That sounds like a lot of extra work for us. We have to stop them. That means we cannot go home yet."

Ken Eliot sat on his broken office chair. He held a potato crisp halfway to his mouth.

He listened to Sayma read the files. He listened to Princess Iris connect the dots. He ran the plot progression through his analytical mind.

"This is the major story revelation," Ken analyzed lazily to himself. He stared at his potato crisp. "The separate plotlines just merged together. The secret lab and the stolen item are part of the same quest line. The villain's master plan is officially revealed. The stakes just got massively raised."