While they were resting in the garden, Ankit looked at his family and said, "I'm going to cultivate in my room, and I won't be able to meet you for some time.
I'll be in secluded cultivation. Solar clone and Sacral clone will accompany you. If you want to go anywhere, you can ask them."
He stood up, said goodbye, and walked away toward his room.
Kamal, Neelam, and Sanya also said their goodbyes, watching his figure disappear into the corridor.
After he was gone, Sanya stretched and said she was going back to her room. Neelam asked Sacral clone to accompany her to the fields, and Kamal told Solar clone to come with him.
They all stood up and went their separate ways inside the vast fortress.
Sanya headed to her room because she wanted to watch a movie on her TV and relax.
Earlier, Sacral clone hadn't been able to think of any safe way to provide electricity in the fortress.
He didn't want to alert the government, and he couldn't steal power—not just because it was illegal, but also because supplying enough electricity to a 500‑acre fortress from the grid would definitely attract attention.
So at first, he only used fire‑wisp puppets and red suns to provide light.
But after creating a lightning control technique, he formed a huge gathering of lightning elements from the environment and condensed them into a Lightning Core in the basement of the fortress.
That core now supplied electricity to the entire fortress and could keep everything running for a full year before needing a recharge. After one year, Ankit or any clone could refill it.
With the power problem solved, Sacral clone also bought four big televisions using the money he earned from trading and investing, then installed them in Sanya's, Kamal's, and Neelam's rooms, and one more in the main hall. Ankit didn't need a TV.
Sanya pushed open her room door, turned on the TV, and dropped onto her bed with a happy sigh.
In this underground fortress powered by lightning and protected by clones, she could finally just watch a movie and relax for a while.
_________
Neelam took Sacral clone with her because she wanted to check the fields and see if other vegetables could grow here.
She looked over the glowing underground farmland, then turned to him with a bright smile. "Why didn't we grow other vegetables here—some leafy ones, some root ones—and a few supportive spices? And yes, also fruits. Let's grow fruit trees all around."
Sacral clone listened to his mother and nodded. "I'll go buy seeds. Mom, just wait five minutes." But Neelam shook her head at once. "Take me with you. I also want to buy other things."
"Very well, let's go," Sacral clone said with a soft sigh. He raised his hand in a smooth upward motion, and the stone ground beneath their feet loosened from the fortress floor. A circular slab of earth floated up, carrying both of them like a silent platform.
For the first time, Neelam felt her body rising without stairs or elevator, the fortress shrinking below. Her stomach fluttered; unlike Sanya, who often got to fly with Solar clone, Neelam had never experienced this.
She forced herself to breathe slowly. As soon as Sacral clone noticed her unease, he extended his will.
A translucent circular barrier formed around the floating land, cutting off the rush of wind and the feeling of height. Instantly, the sensation of falling vanished; to Neelam, it felt as if she were simply standing in a quiet room, with only her son in front of her.
Another wave of his hand, and the barrier peeled away like mist. The floating platform settled onto solid ground, and Neelam found herself standing on the outskirts of a nearby city—one adjacent to their old home city, familiar yet distant.
The sky here was open, the sun bright instead of the gentle glow of fire wisps and crystal walls.
"Let's go, Mom," Sacral clone said, stepping off the platform. Together they walked into the city's bustling market streets.
Colorful stalls lined both sides of the road: sacks of seeds, baskets of fresh vegetables, bundles of aromatic herbs, and trays of bright fruit. Neelam's eyes lit up.
They bought seeds for brinjals, cucumbers, beans, and leafy greens, along with coriander, mint, chilies, turmeric roots, and other supportive spices.
For the future orchards, Neelam carefully chose saplings and seeds of mango, guava, banana, pomegranate, and a few hardy citrus varieties.
Sacral clone handled payment with ease, quietly pleased as he imagined these choices transformed into lush underground fields.
By the time they finished, Neelam's arms were full of small bags and boxes, and her heart was full of plans.
In her mind, the cold hidden fortress was already turning into a warm underground village—vegetable rows, spice patches, and rings of fruit trees surrounding their stone palace like a living, breathing shield.