The golden dome screamed.
The grinding sound of energy above the city resembled the sky itself being sawed apart.
WHOOM... KRAAAK... WHOOM...
The underground headquarters shook.
Dust fell from the museum pillars.
Emergency lights flashed red.
The cracks within the team had barely begun to heal—
and a new enemy had already arrived.
Farhan stared at the main display.
"The pressure on the dome has increased by two hundred percent!"
Lila zoomed in on the external feed.
A massive shadow moved above Jakarta.
It wasn't a Void monster.
It wasn't a cosmic fleet.
Its shape was too precise.
Too symmetrical.
Too... artificial.
Bimo narrowed his eyes.
"Uh..."
"Is that a spaceship?"
Kai stared at the screen, his expression immediately hardening.
"No."
His voice was low.
"Dominion."
Above Jakarta—
a black warship hovered over the golden dome.
It was nearly as long as three stadiums.
Its surface was covered in living metal panels that constantly shifted and rearranged themselves.
At the center of its hull—
a red symbol began to glow.
A circle with a single eye.
Dominion.
The shadow organization that had once hunted the World Cores.
The organization that was supposed to have been destroyed.
Yet somehow...
it had never truly disappeared.
The global loudspeaker system activated on its own.
A man's cold voice echoed throughout the city.
"Guardians of Nutrition."
"Hand over Arga, and we will help defend Earth."
Bimo looked up at the sky.
"Wow. Offering help while crushing our dome. Classic villain move."
Sinta had already drawn her weapon.
"The answer is no."
Farhan swallowed.
"They've hijacked the global communication frequency..."
Lila whispered.
"Their technology has advanced considerably."
Arga stepped forward.
"They came for me too."
Kai shook his head.
"Not for you."
His gaze remained fixed on the Dominion warship.
"They want your energy."
Suddenly, the headquarters' rear door slid open automatically.
Everyone turned at once.
Three black drones floated into the room.
Red laser beams swept across the hall.
Behind them—
a woman emerged slowly from the dark corridor.
She wore the team's field uniform.
A medical badge was pinned to her chest.
Her face was familiar.
Mira.
The logistics officer who had helped coordinate medical supplies, evacuation routes, and civilian communications since the beginning.
Lila took a step back.
"...Mira?"
Bimo blinked.
"Wait."
"The one who always brought us coffee?"
Mira offered a faint smile.
"Glad to know I'm memorable."
Sinta raised her weapon and aimed it directly at her.
"Who are you?"
The woman removed her team badge.
Beneath it was another symbol.
A single eye.
Dominion.
"My name is still Mira."
"Only my allegiance has changed."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Farhan's face went pale.
"You're in our internal database."
"You had access to our evacuation routes..."
Lila stared at her, her eyes glistening.
"You've been with us from the beginning."
Mira nodded casually.
"Because you were close to the Key."
Her gaze shifted toward Arga.
"And I knew how to wait."
Bimo stepped forward.
"So all your help was fake?"
Mira turned toward him.
"Not all of it."
She glanced at the civilian feeds on the monitor.
"I really did save those people."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"I just had another objective."
Somehow, that answer hurt even more.
Because it meant her lies had been mixed with genuine acts of kindness.
Kai took a step forward.
"An inner-circle operative."
Mira's eyes sharpened.
"You're still alive."
Her tone had changed.
There was history in those words.
And old resentment.
Sinta noticed immediately.
"You two know each other?"
Kai said nothing.
Mira spoke first.
"I once learned from someone who believed the world could be saved without sacrificing anyone."
She looked directly at Kai.
"Then I grew up."
Arga tightened his grip on the MBG Lunchbox.
"What do you want?"
Mira met his eyes.
"The Key's energy."
"With it, Dominion can seal the cosmic rifts."
Farhan snapped back.
"Or take control of every World Core."
Mira didn't deny it.
"If the world needs a ruler to survive..."
She shrugged.
"...then so be it."
Another alarm blared.
The golden dome above them cracked even further.
Dominion was deliberately increasing the pressure.
They were running out of time.
Sinta spoke coldly.
"You're not leaving this place."
Mira sighed.
"You still think this is just a little showdown."
She snapped her fingers.
Every light in the room went out.
Total darkness.
Shouts erupted.
Gunfire rang out.
Metal crashed against stone.
The drones attacked from above.
Red lasers swept across the hall.
Bimo roared.
"Why do all traitors love dramatic entrances?!"
Sinta moved swiftly.
Her energy blade sliced through one of the drones.
CRASH!
Dika caught the second drone with his bare hands and slammed it into the floor.
Farhan crawled toward the backup terminal.
"I need five seconds!"
"We don't have five!" Lila shouted, throwing a flare of light into the air.
The room flashed red.
And in that brief burst of light—
Mira was already standing in front of Arga.
Too fast.
She pressed a black device against his chest.
CLICK.
The MBG Lunchbox immediately began to shake violently.
All thirty-one rice grains spun out of control.
Arga convulsed in pain.
"AAAAARGH!"
Lila screamed.
"She's extracting his resonance!"
Kai lunged forward.
But Mira kicked Arga backward and retreated toward the exit.
A black capsule now glowed gold in her hand.
She had successfully stolen a portion of his energy.
Sinta fired.
Mira dodged.
Bimo hurled the metal rod at her.
She knocked it aside.
Dika tried to pursue her—
but the floor erupted in a smoke bomb.
WHOOM!
By the time the smoke began to clear—
Mira was gone.
The door stood wide open.
The corridor was empty.
Only the fading echo of footsteps remained.
Farhan finally managed to bring the display back online.
His face was pale.
"This is bad."
Lila turned toward him.
"How bad?"
Farhan swallowed.
"Dominion just obtained a sample of Arga's energy."
Kai closed his eyes.
"That's enough for them to track the Key."
Arga was still on his knees, his chest burning with pain.
Sinta crouched in front of him.
"Look at me."
Arga slowly raised his head.
His eyes burned with anger.
Not so much at the enemy—
but at himself.
"I let my guard down."
Sinta gripped his shoulders.
"We all did."
The global loudspeaker activated once more.
The voice from the Dominion warship echoed across the city.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"Phase Two begins now."
The sky above the city changed instantly.
The Dominion warship opened the weapon core beneath its hull.
It wasn't aimed at the dome.
Nor at the city.
It was aimed at orbit.
At the cosmic rift.
Farhan froze.
"Are they going to fire at the sky?"
Kai stared at the screen, a rare look of horror crossing his face.
"No."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"They're trying to widen the gate."
Beyond the golden dome—
the cosmic rift began to glow red.
And from the other side—
something answered Dominion's call.