When night fell, inside the palace, Novich walked cautiously, constantly glancing around to make sure no one saw him. When he reached the advisor's office, he opened the door slowly, stepped inside with quiet footsteps, then closed it firmly behind him.
As Novich moved between the shelves in the advisor's library, he murmured to himself: "I've always found his behavior strange… why did he always enter his office in the middle of the night and close the door behind him as if he were hiding something?"
As he passed by the shelves, one shelf caught his attention—it protruded slightly from the others.
Novich approached it slowly, then placed his hand on its wooden edge and began to push it carefully.
Suddenly, he felt something move below, and the shelf slowly slid aside, revealing a narrow opening in the floor.
Novich muttered as he stared at the opening before him: "A secret passage…"
Novich moved forward, his heart pounding and curiosity filling him, as he had not expected to find something like this in the advisor's library.
He whispered as he continued walking through the dark passage: "I must know what the advisor was hiding here."
As Novich advanced through the dark passage, holding a lamp that dimly lit his path, mixed feelings of curiosity and shock filled him.
When he reached the end of the passage, he saw a shocking sight—a vast space containing a deteriorated power tower, broken equipment, and traces of an old fire, all radiating an eerie and mysterious atmosphere.
A sense of astonishment crept into his heart as he muttered in shock: "The laboratory? Is this my uncle Nikola's laboratory?"
At that moment, Novich heard a faint sound from the illuminated corner of the place—the sound of tools striking and the hum of old machines.
He stepped forward with trembling, cautious steps until he saw a frail man wearing tattered clothes, with long graying hair, his body bearing signs of exhaustion and weakness. Chains were wrapped around his neck, hands, and feet, and on his face was an old welding mask as he worked on a large circular device.
Novich shouted in a trembling voice: "You there… who are you?"
The man slowly turned toward Novich and removed the mask with trembling hands, revealing an aged, gaunt face marked by harsh years.
Novich's breath caught for a moment as he stared at the face he knew so well, before murmuring in shock:
"This is impossible… Uncle… Nikola?"
Shock appeared on the old man's face as he looked at Novich.
Novich rushed toward him, astonishment filling his eyes, holding his uncle's face before embracing him tightly in a long hug filled with tears and emotions.
Then he said in a choked voice: "How are you still alive?"
Nikola's eyes filled with tears as he said in a pained tone: "For fourteen years, I prayed to see you before I left this life… I never imagined this moment would come while I am in this state."
Suddenly, Nikola fell to his knees, unable to stand.
Novich looked at his uncle's feet and saw bleeding wounds and painful swelling.
His voice trembled as he said: "Who did this to you, Uncle?"
Nikola hesitated for a moment, then whispered weakly:
"Advisor Edison… he is the one who put me in this hell."
Novich's eyes widened in shock as he processed his uncle's words.
He said in disbelief: "Edison?!"
Amid that shock, he remembered that the advisor had declared, since that fateful day, that his uncle had completely disappeared in the explosion, leaving everyone to believe that he was gone forever.
The shock quickly faded, replaced by burning anger in his eyes, and he said with a tone of threat: "I will take revenge on him… I will not let him escape what he's done!"
Novich carefully laid his uncle on the ground, then stood up to search for the key to the chains.
As he moved among the scattered equipment, he saw a table with a set of old keys on it. He hurried toward it and reached out to grab them, but suddenly he felt a strong blow to his head that made him lose his balance, and he fell to the ground unconscious.
A man stood over him with a cold smile on his face and said: "I knew you would come eventually."
That man was Advisor Edison, looking at Novich lying on the ground, his eyes reflecting an unsettling calm.