And before anyone could stop her, Thivi stepped forward and punched Tania square in the face. The blow echoed, sending Tania stumbling to the ground.
Dandi rushed forward, but Raphael grabbed his shoulder with an iron grip.
"Stay down," he said quietly, yet with overwhelming force.
Meanwhile, Rina, who also tried to help Tania, was stopped by Felicia. Felicia's hand pressed firmly on Rina's shoulder, her gaze cold as ice. "Don't get involved," she whispered, sharp and unwavering.
Thivi stood above Tania, her whole body trembling with fury. Her eyes shimmered, filling with tears that finally spilled over. "So it was you, right?! You caused all of this?!" she shouted, striking Tania just as the girl tried to rise. Tania fell back down, breath hitching.
"Kaivan's mother died like that… and it was because of you! You know how much I loved her… but now she's gone! And Kaivan… he's hurting because of you!" Thivi's voice cracked, and she broke down completely, sobbing until her cries shook the air. The shock and sadness silenced everyone.
Still lying on the ground, Tania looked up at Thivi in confusion. Tears finally welled in her eyes, not from the pain, but from the sheer disbelief. "That's impossible! Why would it be my fault?! I don't know anything about this! If it were true, it should've been reported! Maybe they just… moved away from you!" she protested with a hoarse voice, clinging to denial.
Felicia, who had been restraining Rina all this time, finally stepped forward. Her gaze sharpened; her voice was cold yet precise. "Because Vella is rich enough to silence the media. You have no idea how terrifying that woman can be," she said quietly. "She can buy news, erase whatever she wants. You've only seen what she allowed you to see."
Felicia's words froze Tania in place. Rina and Dandi could only exchange stunned glances as realization sank in, this was far more serious than they ever imagined. Livia, the youngest, covered her face, unable to listen any longer. Ethan pulled her close, trying to comfort her amid the storm of grief and anger.
Radit exhaled heavily, then turned to Tania with eyes full of sorrow. "We've already lost so much. Kaivan is missing, and we can't contact Isabel. And now… you show up asking about him as if nothing happened," he murmured, his voice hoarse.
Tania looked at all of them, her tears finally flowing freely. Only now did she begin to grasp the weight of their loss. She felt like an outsider standing in the middle of a tragedy she never knew existed. Her head dropped as she cried in silence, drowning in guilt she didn't yet understand.
A heavy stillness fell over them. Only Zinnia's quiet sobs echoed through the chilling evening air. Everyone knew this wasn't just a fight, it was the beginning of something larger, a mystery they would have to face together, no matter how painful the truth might be.
Deep within the hidden underground chamber of the complex, Kaivan sat alone on a cold metal chair. The dim glow of monitors and intricate machines formed the only light in the room. Papers filled with dense notes and diagrams were scattered across a large table. The silence was thick, broken only by the hum of machinery and the ticking clock on the wall.
Kaivan stared at his trembling hands, his eyes empty. He lowered his head, replaying the events that forced him to hide. Grief and anger churned within him.
Suddenly, ding! A soft mechanical chime echoed. A capsule in the corner opened.
Kaivan lifted his head and walked toward it. Inside lay a pair of lethal weapons: karambit knives with a design both elegant and terrifying. Their curved handles were perfectly shaped, connected by a thin, shimmering chain. The blades gleamed in the dim light, sharp enough to slice through steel.
He picked up one of the karambit, feeling its weight settle into his palm. "Heavy… maybe around one and a half kilograms, twenty-five centimeters long," he muttered.
His gaze shifted to Tome Omnicent in the corner, the mysterious book that could now speak through the device he had just finished building. "Do you know anything about this karambit, Tome Omnicent?" he asked.
A gentle voice emerged from the machine, accompanied by glowing text on the screen. "It is forged from five rare metals combined, Tungtichriosm. A fusion of titanium, tungsten, chromium, iridium, and osmium," Tome Omnicent replied calmly. "The blade is diamond-coated. This weapon was created by you… from the past."
Kaivan froze. "Created by… me? From the past?" he whispered. He traced the blade slowly, feeling the cold metal. "So… I'll become someone capable of making weapons like this in the future…?"
The nearby computer chimed again. A notification from the Bitcoin Talk forum popped up. Kaivan turned quickly, setting the karambit back on the table and focusing on the screen. His confused expression shifted into a faint, satisfied smile.
"Finally," he murmured. "All my funds have been transferred and erased."
Tome Omnicent spoke again, its tone soft. "Why did you choose to store your money there, Kaivan?"
Kaivan smiled with quiet confidence, his eyes gleaming. "Something like Bitcoin looks worthless, just a virtual object you can't touch," he said, voice lively with conviction. "But that's exactly what makes it special." His fingers danced across the keyboard, pulling up volatile charts showing Bitcoin's price fluctuating between 27 and 475 rupiah per BTC. While most people overlooked it, he saw an opportunity waiting to explode.
He posted an offer on the forum, far higher than the market price: 500 rupiah per BTC.
"I need them to trust me… to feel tempted to sell," he chuckled softly. To reassure sellers, he guaranteed safe transactions through bank transfer or PayPal, even adding a ten-percent bonus for anyone selling more than a thousand BTC.
With 650 million rupiah, he purchased roughly 1,368,421 BTC.
His smile widened. Every private key was encrypted, every backup stored offline inside a steel safe at a hidden location. Staring at the numbers glowing on the screen, he whispered, "With this… I'm holding an asset that will change the world. They just don't know it yet."
Tome Omnicent hummed faintly. "You've always seen what others fail to notice, Kaivan."
He exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting toward the karambits and their delicate chain, tools he would one day forge with his own hands. If I'm capable of crafting something like this in the future… then I can't afford to stop now. He closed his eyes, the memory of his mother flashing in the darkness, her absence still an open wound. But now, his resolve was iron. He would not break again. He would strike back at everything that had taken her away.
1:32 a.m.
Kaivan jerked awake from a restless sleep. The underground room was dim, lit only by the faint glow of the monitors reflecting his tired face. On the table rested his homemade radio-frequency receiver beside two gleaming Tungtichriosm karambits. He grabbed them firmly, then stepped into the lift heading for the surface.
Cold air greeted him. Beneath his black hoodie, his eyes were empty, calm yet stripped of warmth. In the biting silence, he activated the device in his hand, trying to reach Tome Omnicent.
"Can you hear me?" Kaivan whispered, quiet but unwavering. "Where should I go next?"
Only the wind replied at first. Then his device flickered to life, displaying text from his custom radio app. Omnicent's voice echoed through the small speaker.
"Of course I can hear you," the Tome said calmly. "If you're looking for food, go left. You'll avoid the crowds there. But be careful, a robbery will happen in that direction."