Rex clenched his fist, feeling the new power coursing through him as he processed Rona’s instructions. He couldn’t shake the suspicion lingering in the back of his mind—why did it feel like they had intentionally sent him into this situation? Still, Rex pushed those thoughts aside. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on mistrust; survival came first.

  “Understood,” Rex replied curtly before cutting the comm link.

  He retraced his steps toward the room Rona mentioned, his boots crunching softly against the uneven terrain of the cave floor. The atmosphere seemed colder now, more oppressive, and every shadow felt like it was hiding something. The strange hum of the cavern’s static was growing louder, blending into an eerie, unrelenting buzz.

  Rex arrived at the room Rona described, marked by a massive console embedded in the wall. As he approached, the console came to life, flickering faintly. He uploaded the data from his cybernetics, and the screen displayed a map of the cave system. Pathways illuminated in red, leading directly back to the room where the robot had been lurking. New doors were marked in green.

  “So, I have to go back,” Rex muttered to himself, gripping his sword tightly. He turned and started heading toward the robot’s domain, the weight of his task heavy on his mind.

  As he moved, his thoughts strayed to the power he had absorbed—the “disintegration hand.” It felt both like a blessing and a curse. The way his arm had regenerated earlier, combined with this new ability, made him feel… inhuman. This wasn’t the Rex he knew, but a version molded by the Yeager blood coursing through him. Would he ever be the same again?

  Shaking the thought off, Rex reached the robot’s room. The oppressive hum in the air intensified, and he felt his muscles tense as he prepared for another encounter. The robot’s red eye glowed faintly in the distance, its form partially obscured by the shadows. Rex crouched low, silently observing.

  The navigation upload had given him an advantage: he knew where the unlocked doors were now. Rex sprinted forward, his footsteps echoing across the metallic walls of the cave. The robot turned toward the sound, letting out a loud, mechanical growl. Without hesitating, Rex darted to the side, narrowly avoiding a massive swipe from its remaining arm.

  The newly unlocked door glimmered in the corner of his vision. Rex channeled the energy of the disintegration hand, his arm glowing faintly as he reached for the door. He slammed his palm against it, and the entire structure disintegrated into dust, leaving the path open. He leaped through, the robot’s claws swiping just inches from his back as the door crumbled behind him.

  Breathing heavily, Rex scanned the new room. It was massive, with walls lined with ancient machinery and strange symbols glowing faintly. In the center of the room, a pedestal stood, holding an object shrouded in an otherworldly light. Rex approached cautiously, his instincts screaming to be on high alert.

  As he got closer, the object revealed itself—a small, pulsating cube emitting a faint hum. It almost felt alive. Rex reached out, hesitating for a moment, before picking it up. A sudden surge of energy shot through him, causing his vision to blur momentarily.

  “Rex,” Rona’s voice broke through the static in his comms, “whatever you just grabbed, it’s the key to overriding the system in the robot’s room. Use it wisely. But be careful—something else is waking up in the cave.”

  Rex tightened his grip on the cube, his determination solidifying. Whatever was coming, he’d face it head-on. He had to survive—not just for himself but to uncover the truth of why he’d been sent down here in the first place.

  “Understood!” Rex yelled. He woke up and Sally elbowed him in the stomach. “What the fuck was that for!” He yelled.

  “You're going to be late to get to the core!” Sally yelled.

  Rex looked at the time and he got up quickly from his bed and changed into his uniform. “See ya later mom!” He yelled. He ran through the hall and grabbed his sword and went to the teleporter room. The teleporter turned on and Rex ran right through it.

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  As Rex walked through he ended up in Antarctica. Rex started to Shake a bit. To how cold it is. “What took you so long Rex!” Adam yelled.

  “Sorry sir, I spent the night researching,” Rex said. Adam was confused a bit and was about to ask. “And then multiple portals appeared and it was the world leaders walking out of them. “There here… why are we in Antarctica?” Rex asked.

  “Antarctica is at the bottom of the earth, we can’t teleport there because for some reason teleporting underground is impossible. That’s why we created a high speed vertical train going down to the center of the earth,” Adam explained. Adam walked up to the world leaders. “Everyone let’s hurry and get to the train that will take us down to the core,” Adam said.

  World leaders followed Adam and Rex into the train. “Can I ask another question? How are we going to get on the train if it’s vertical,"Rex asked.

  “You’ll see,” Adam said. As they made it to the train. “Walk into Rex,” Adam said. Rex listened to his words and when he walked into the train the gravity changed and now he was standing vertical on the train. Everyone else followed onto the train. And then the train started to descend into the earth. As all of the world leaders are there they all took to different corners of the room talking to each other. Adam walks up to Rex. “So what were you reschering about?” Adam asked.

  “Griffin Locke,” he said. Adam looked at him shocked. “How do you know his name?” He asked.

  “Iris told me, I was curious about him, so I searched him up, and found a video of him. And you were saying he is the strongest,” Rex said.

  “Yes he was… so does that mean you know?” Adam asked.

  “Know about what?” Rex asked.

  “Nothing,” Adam said.

  Rex was confused but brushed it off and then they made it to the center of the core. As the door opened, a woman was standing outside the door. “Please everyone come out,” she said. As Rex and Adam made it outside of the train. “Hello you two!” The woman said.

  “Lluvia your always happy,” Adam said

  “Who the hell is she?” Rex asked.

  “Your Rex jones, ranked third in special forces my name is Lluvia Agua, ranked tenth of the special forces,” she said. She had a confident smile on her face.

  “So your the weakest out of all of us,” Rex said. She felt an arrow go into her heart by what he said. “I’m not that…weak,” she said.

  “So why is she here, I thought it was going to be the two of us,” Rex asked.

  “I’m run the core system team down here, we keep things nice and cool so meetings like this will happen,” she said.

  “Wait so you weren’t at the meeting yesterday night,” Rex asked.

  “You didn’t…notice me,” she asked.

  “No, I didn't know we had a tenth rank,” he said.

  “I…see I need to get back to work so get the world leaders into the meeting room” she said. She ran away and Adam noticed she was crying a bit. “Rex…you have to learn when to be nice to a girl or to anyone,” he explained. Rex looked at him confused. Adam and Rex lead all of the world leaders to a meeting and it was a giant table where all of the world leaders sat at. Rex was outside keeping watch. Adam was inside the room to protect everyone if anything happens

  As the world leaders are talking they were bringing up the issue of the Yeagers over and over again. “Everyone, let's calm down, how about we ask Adam Jones, the first ranked of the special forces,” world leader asked. All of them turn the gazes onto him

  “Ask me what?” Adam asked.

  “Are we winning this war or not,” a leader asked.

  “Right now at this moment it’s a stalemate,” he answered.

  “And why is it a stalemate,” they asked.

  “We don't know what Luna looks like, and besides her we haven’t seen any of the seven Yeager ranks,” he explained.

  “Then find them and kill them!” one of them yelled.

  “ sir, I wish it was that easy, but Luna was able to destroy Saturn and Jupiter. We don't know how strong those seven Yeagers are. They are considered Luna strongest, are they as strong as her? We don’t know,” Adam explained.

  All of the world leaders went quiet.

  “Then what about the dark flame users huh?! They were able to do the same things as Luna” One of them yelled.

  Adam was shocked by what he yelled.

  “ Dark flame users are different. We don’t know what makes them so special, probably God‘s favorite people,” he said.

  Rex was outside and was able to listen to everything inside the meeting and then Lluvia appeared. “So you keep watch outsi…” she stopped talking. And Rex drew his sword. “How the hell did they know?” Rex said.

  “I don’t know but Yeagers there,” Lluvia said.