Semua Bab Love and pain : Bab 151 - Bab 160

Heat slammed into Oliver the second the thermal chamber doors opened fully.The air itself felt alive.Burning.Violent.Warning alarms screamed from every direction while steam burst through ruptured pipes overhead.The archive core stood at the center of the chamber surrounded by glowing coolant lines and spinning emergency fans.A giant digital timer flashed above it:00:01:12Elias moved immediately toward the manual shutdown controls.“External relays must fail simultaneously,” he shouted over the alarms.“Otherwise the backup system restores automatically.”Oliver nodded once despite the pain shooting through his injured leg.Above them, Ariana’s voice crackled through the damaged comm unit Lyra found earlier.“We’re in position.”Daniel’s voice followed instantly:“I would like everyone to know I deeply regret all my life decisions.”Even now—Oliver almost smiled.Almost.Elias reached the central control console quickly, fingers moving across overheated touchscreens.“Manual

Sector Nine collapsed behind them in waves.Steel screamed.Concrete shattered.Emergency alarms distorted into static while floodwater burst through broken lower chambers beneath the facility.Oliver ran at the front beside Elias toward the eastern coolant platforms.Every step sent pain through his injured leg now, but adrenaline buried most of it beneath survival instinct.Behind them—Ariana stayed close.Close enough that if he stumbled again, she’d catch him immediately.And honestly—that thought alone kept him moving.Daniel nearly slipped across the flooded platform again.“WHY is every floor in this place wet?!”“Burst coolant systems,” Lyra answered while sprinting beside him.“That explanation somehow makes it worse!”A violent explosion echoed behind them.Heat slammed through the chamber seconds later as part of the lower archive core detonated beneath Sector Nine.The shockwave nearly threw everyone off balance.Clara grabbed the railing immediately.“The structure’s fa

Sector Nine was dying around them.The underground chamber shook violently while steel supports collapsed into floodwater below and emergency lights burst overhead one after another.But for a few seconds—nobody moved.Not because they were safe.Because something important had just happened.Ariana still held onto Oliver tightly.Like letting go too soon might somehow erase the fact he survived.Oliver stood there quietly, breathing hard, his injured arm shaking slightly from exhaustion and strain.Then slowly—Ariana pulled back just enough to look at him directly.“You’re impossible.”Oliver blinked slightly.“That’s not usually a compliment.”“It wasn’t.”Despite everything—he almost smiled faintly.Almost.Daniel collapsed dramatically against the nearest support beam.“I need everyone to know I should be considered a hero after this.”“You screamed the entire time,” Clara said calmly.“I screamed courageously.”Honestly—fair.Another explosion echoed deep beneath Sector Nine.

Rain poured endlessly across the empty industrial street while everyone stared at the small storage drive in Lyra’s hand.It looked insignificant.Tiny.Harmless.But somehow—it carried more danger than Sector Nine itself.Elias’s voice remained sharp.“Destroy it.”Lyra tightened her grip around the drive immediately.“No.”“You don’t know what those names mean.”“I know exactly what they mean.”Another pause.“They’re proof.”Elias stepped closer through the rain.“They’re targets.”Silence settled heavily between them.Ariana watched Elias carefully now.This wasn’t his usual calm analytical tone.This was fear.Real fear.And somehow—that scared her more than anything that happened underground.Oliver noticed it too.“Explain.”Elias looked toward him slowly.Then toward the drive again.“Cross doesn’t just erase evidence.”Another pause.“They erase people connected to it.”Daniel stared.“You keep saying things that sound illegal on a terrifying level.”“Because they are.”The

Rainwater collected silently along the empty industrial road.No one moved.The tension between both sides felt sharp enough to break apart the night itself.Seraphine still stood beneath the flickering streetlight with one hand extended calmly toward Lyra.“Give me the drive.”Lyra’s expression hardened instantly.“No.”For several seconds—nobody spoke.Because everyone understood the truth now.That tiny storage device carried lives on it.Victims.Survivors.Operatives.People still trapped inside Cross.And whichever choice they made next—someone would suffer for it.Oliver looked toward Seraphine carefully.“You’re not here to kill us.”“No.”Another pause.“If I intended violence, this conversation would already be over.”Daniel whispered immediately:“That is a horrifying sentence.”Honestly—yes.Ariana stayed close beside Oliver, arms folded tightly against the cold rain.“You expect us to trust you?”Seraphine met her gaze evenly.“No.”Then quietly—“I expect you to under