Some towers are made of steel.
This one is built from bones.
The High Tower of Sector 0 pierces the sky like a divine blade—sharp, perfect, merciless. Its surface reflects every star it destroyed on its way to power. Inside it lies the truth behind Project Astra… and the grave of everyone who ever resisted.
Now, Su Chen and Yun Xi walk toward it like ghosts returned to finish their tale.
Underground Transit Hub – 40 Miles from Sector 0
The tunnel is dark. Abandoned decades ago. Used only by smugglers and dead men with nothing to lose.
Yun Xi moves like a shadow beside him, the last flickers of her Astra armor drained, skin pale from neural shock. But her eyes…
They're alive now.
She watches Su Chen closely, every step, every breath—as if memorizing him in case the next second is their last.
"We shouldn't be here together," she says.
"We're stronger together," he replies.
"That's not why you're here."
He looks at her. Quiet. True.
"I didn't come for revenge this time," he murmurs. "I came for you."
She blinks.
A pause.
Then a faint smile cracks through her battle-hardened face.
"…That's dangerous."
He smirks. "You always were."
Elsewhere – Above the City
A pod breaks through the clouds.
Inside are three Executors—the most feared elite under the High Lords. Enhanced minds, synthetic nerves, zero empathy. Each has killed an entire rebellion single-handedly.
Their command:
"Erase Su Chen. Retrieve Astra. No Witnesses."
Back in the Tunnel – Arrival Point: Gate X
A huge steel hatch. Biometrically locked.
Su Chen kneels beside the panel, pulling out a cracked datapad. The Locksmith's decrypted map is scrawled across it.
"Gate's rigged," he says. "Failsafe explodes if tampered."
Yun Xi doesn't hesitate.
She grabs a rusted pipe and rams it into the hinge. Sparks fly.
Then—boom—the door blows outward.
They dive just in time.
"Your plan?" she gasps.
"I make the mess. You survive it."
"Reverse that," she snaps, coughing. "I already died once."
Inside the Tower Perimeter
Alarms begin their eerie song.
Red light washes the corridor.
[INTRUDER DETECTED. ACCESS POINT BREACHED.]
Yun Xi pulls a pistol from her thigh holster. It's old—hers from before she was "Astra." The initials still scratched on the side: Y.X.
They move through the lower lab levels quickly. Silent. Efficient.
But not invisible.
The first Executor lands like a bomb.
It has no face—only a mask of shifting data and a voice that sounds like a hundred screaming wires.
"Su Chen," it intones. "Your existence is an error."
Su Chen rolls his neck. Cracks his knuckles.
"Good. Then I'm exactly where I belong."
The fight is pure violence.
The Executor moves at sonic speed—blades, wires, voice-shocks—but Su Chen is faster now. Sharper. The system inside him hums with deadly precision.
[New Buff Acquired: Emotion-Laced Combat +22% Power Boost][Pain Threshold Nullified Temporarily – 3 Minutes Remaining]
He slams his fist into the Executor's core.
It cracks.
Yun Xi flips over its back, dual pistols blazing, unloading directly into the neural spine. Sparks explode.
Then silence.
The Executor twitches once.
Then dies.
Yun Xi lands beside Su Chen, breathing hard. "You're not supposed to beat them."
He wipes blood from his mouth. "They shouldn't have killed me first."
Atop the Tower – Control Chamber
Elion watches it unfold.
Three Executives sent. One already down.
"Send the others," he orders.
"And what about Astra's neural command?" the tech asks.
Elion's fingers flex slowly. "Terminate it. If she remembers who she is—she's already lost to us."
[Emergency Neural Burn Activated – Astra Subject]
Mid-Ascent – Upper Tower Shaft
Yun Xi gasps.
Her eyes burn. Her body seizes.
[Emergency Neural Command Overriding Free Will…]
"No—!" she screams, voice shredded.
She collapses.
Su Chen catches her mid-fall, panicking.
"Yun Xi—talk to me—!"
She claws at her temples.
Blood drips from her nose.
"Get it out," she whispers, choking. "Don't let them take me again."
The system in Su Chen's body pulses with a warning:
[Warning: Neural Kill Code Detected. 57 Seconds Before Full Brain Death.]
He drags her to a panel—sinks a stolen spike into her spinal port.
The memory drive from Vault Omega… still with him.
[Emergency Synchronization Attempt – Risk: Fatal to Subject]
He hesitates.
Then slams the command.
The tower shakes.
Yun Xi screams—
—and then stops.
Eyes open.
Clear.
Beautiful.
Hers.
She breathes, slow and ragged.
"I remember everything."
Su Chen stares at her.
She looks back.
Then leans in.
And for a moment—just a moment—they kiss like they were never torn apart.
End of Chapter 66