The skies above Jakarta were burning with cracks of the Void.
Three Void Generals descended slowly through the cosmic rifts, like executioners arriving to collect their due.
Down on the streets—
The Guardians of Nutrition team was nearly out of strength.
Dika was gravely wounded.
Bimo still stood in front of the rubble, gasping for breath.
Sinta was leading the final evacuation.
Lila knelt beside a damaged portable control panel.
And in the middle of the chaos—
Farhan stared at his laptop screen.
His hands were trembling.
Not from fear.
But because they were running out of time.
The first Void General raised its violet spear.
Void energy gathered at its tip.
The second spread its wings.
Hundreds of energy shards materialized in the air.
The third raised both hands—
And the cracks in the sky began to widen.
Farhan watched as streams of data flooded his screen.
Satellites going offline.
Communication networks collapsing.
GPS signals becoming unstable.
Magnetic interference spreading across the system.
He gritted his teeth.
"They're targeting our infrastructure."
Bimo glanced at him, one hand clutching his bleeding shoulder.
"In normal language?"
Farhan didn't look away from the screen.
"We're about to go blind."
An explosion erupted in the distance.
BOOOOM!
A communications building collapsed.
The lights across an entire district went out.
Screams echoed from the main road.
Sinta pressed her radio.
"Farhan! How much longer?"
Farhan stared at the city map.
Thousands of civilian signals were still scattered across the evacuation zones.
If they lost the network now—
The entire evacuation operation would fall apart.
He took a deep breath.
Then spoke quietly.
"If I can't use Earth's systems…"
His fingers began flying across the keyboard.
"…I'll use the sky."
Lila turned toward him.
"Don't tell me you're planning to—"
Farhan opened a hidden control interface.
A global orbital map appeared on the screen.
Hundreds of civilian, military, weather, communications, and observation satellites filled the display.
Some were damaged.
Some had lost synchronization.
Others had been compromised by the Void.
Farhan stared at them like a general surveying an army scattered across the battlefield.
"I'm taking control of the entire network."
Bimo blinked.
"The entire network?"
"All of it."
The first Void General hurled its spear.
WHOOMMMMM!
The Void spear plunged toward the heart of the city.
"TAKE COVER!" Sinta shouted.
But Farhan didn't move.
He connected a cable from his laptop to the emergency generator.
His screen lit up.
Lines of code flooded across it like a raging torrent.
His fingers moved faster than ever.
Access.
Bypass.
Override.
Relay.
Manual link.
Emergency authority spoof.
Satellite chain response.
"Come on…"
Sweat dripped onto the keyboard.
"Come on…"
The spear was getting closer.
Bimo stared at the sky.
"Farhan! This is usually when people start panicking!"
Farhan slammed the ENTER key.
"NOW!"
The entire sky above the city lit up.
Dozens of points of light appeared in the atmosphere.
Satellites that had gone offline suddenly powered back on.
Solar panels rotated into position.
Laser tracking systems activated.
The global network began reconnecting.
But the satellites weren't generating the energy themselves.
Farhan had linked their orbital systems to the resonance technology of the Guardians of Nutrition, turning the satellites into transmitters and directional relays for a massive defensive field.
Then—
A transparent dome of light formed above the city.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Void spear slammed into the orbital shield.
The shockwave shook the surrounding buildings.
Windows shattered.
The asphalt cracked.
But the attack was stopped.
It hadn't pierced the barrier.
Everyone fell silent.
Bimo's mouth hung open.
"…Bro…"
Lila stared at the readings on the screen.
"You linked the world's satellites together to create a shield?"
Farhan kept typing without looking at her.
"I'm not done yet."
The second Void General let out an enraged roar.
Hundreds of energy shards shot toward the city.
SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK! SHRAAAK!
Farhan adjusted the satellites' orbital relay paths.
The glowing dome shifted its shape.
Every projectile struck the wall of light and exploded in midair like fireworks in the middle of a war.
Below, civilians stared at the sky with tears in their eyes.
For the first time since the invasion began—
They saw hope.
But Farhan's screen was turning red.
WARNING: ORBITAL LOAD CRITICAL
WARNING: CORE TEMPERATURE HIGH
WARNING: NETWORK COLLAPSE IN 180 SECONDS
His fingers paused for a fraction of a second.
Three minutes.
Only three minutes before the orbital network began to burn out or lose control.
Lila read the warnings.
"Farhan… if you keep this up, the entire global network could collapse."
Farhan swallowed.
He knew exactly what that meant.
Aircraft losing navigation.
Hospitals losing critical systems.
The entire world going blind.
He looked at the city before him.
Then at the civilians still running for their lives.
Then at his teammates.
A faint smile crossed his face.
"If this city falls now…"
His fingers returned to the keyboard.
"…the network won't matter tomorrow."
The third Void General raised both hands.
The cracks in the sky widened.
A colossal spear began forming from pure Void energy.
It was larger than a building.
Denser than anything they had faced before.
Bimo looked up.
"Okay. That one is definitely not funny."
Sinta stepped in front of Farhan.
"I'll protect you."
Dika, barely conscious, struggled to rise.
"If it comes down…"
He gritted his teeth.
"…we push together."
Farhan looked at his friends.
Then at the screen.
Then at the sky.
He whispered,
"No."
He opened the final access protocol.
A red warning appeared.
GLOBAL OVERRIDE AUTHORITY.
Lila froze.
"Farhan… that's a forbidden protocol."
"I know."
"You could spend the rest of your life in prison!"
Farhan gave her a tired smile.
"If we survive, we can deal with that later."
He pressed ENTER.
Every connected satellite activated simultaneously.
Not dozens.
Not hundreds.
Thousands.
The entire orbit of Earth transformed into a ring of light.
Energy gathered above the atmosphere.
Then descended as a colossal pillar of defensive light.
WHOOMMMMMMMMMM!
The massive Void spear came crashing down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An explosion blinded the horizon.
The impact shook the entire city.
Everyone dropped to their knees under the immense pressure.
For several seconds, no one knew who had won.
Then the light began to fade.
The Void spear…
Had been destroyed.
The shield was still there.
Cracked.
Flickering.
Barely stable.
But still standing.
Cheers erupted across the streets.
People wept.
Rescue workers shouted in relief.
Bimo threw both hands into the air.
"THE BRAINS WIN!"
Sinta turned toward Farhan—
And immediately went pale.
Farhan coughed up blood.
Blood trickled from his nose.
His eyes were bloodshot from the strain of the neural feedback.
His hands remained on the keyboard.
But he could no longer feel his fingers.
Lila caught him by the shoulder.
"You're insane!"
Farhan gave a weak laugh.
"Statistics say…"
He coughed again.
"…even skinny guys can be useful sometimes."
Above them, the three Void Generals stared at the glowing dome.
For the first time—
They took half a step back.
Not because of a punch.
Not because of a monster.
Not because of brute strength.
But because a human had just turned the sky itself into a weapon.
Then another alarm sounded.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Farhan stared at his blurred screen.
New objects were entering the atmosphere.
Extreme velocity.
Unknown mass.
Count: 1… 3… 7… 12…
Bimo looked at the numbers.
"…Why does every victory come with something worse?"
Kai emerged from the shadows of the rubble.
His expression was grim.
"Those aren't reinforcements."
Sinta tightened her grip on her broken weapon.
"Then what are they?"
Kai looked up at the sky as another cosmic rift tore open.
And answered quietly.
"Satellite Hunters."
Above the glowing dome—
Twelve winged shadows began their descent.
Their target was only one.
Farhan.