The old observatory stood on the highest hill overlooking Northfield University.
By daylight, it looked forgotten.
Its stone walls were covered with ivy.
Several windows were cracked.
The dome-shaped roof had begun to rust.
Most students believed it had been abandoned years ago.
Only a handful of professors even remembered it existed.
But Team Seven now knew better.
It wasn’t abandoned.
It was waiting.
The following morning, Professor Hayes gathered everyone inside the engineering workshop.
The Project Phoenix notebook lay open on the table beside Amelia Carter’s letter.
Professor Hayes pointed to the final sentence.
“I’ll be waiting…
where the first sunrise touches Northfield.”
“There’s only one place this could mean.”
“The East Observatory.”
Ryan nodded.
“The observatory is the first building on campus to catch the sunrise every morning.”
“It was built before the university itself.”
Claire looked thoughtful.
“If Amelia hid something there…”
“…she wanted only the right people to find it.”
Ethan carefully folded his mother’s letter and slipped it back inside the notebook.
“Then let’s finish what she started.”
Because the observatory officially belonged to the university’s history department, Professor Hayes managed to obtain permission for a “structural inspection.”
The paperwork wasn’t entirely honest…
But it was enough.
By late afternoon, Team Seven climbed the winding stone path leading up the hill.
The higher they climbed, the quieter the campus became.
The sounds of students faded away.
Only the wind remained.
Ariana stopped for a moment and looked back.
Northfield University stretched beneath them like a miniature city.
“It’s beautiful.”
Ethan smiled.
“My brother used to bring me here.”
“You’ve been here before?”
“When I was little.”
“I barely remembered it until now.”
The observatory doors groaned loudly as Ryan pushed them open.
Dust floated through the afternoon sunlight.
The air smelled of old wood and forgotten books.
Broken chairs were scattered across the floor.
Ancient astronomy charts still hung on the walls.
At the center of the room stood a massive brass telescope pointed toward the eastern sky.
Noah whistled.
“This place belongs in a movie.”
Claire ran her fingers across one of the old bookshelves.
“No one’s been here in years.”
Ryan wasn’t convinced.
He pointed toward the floor.
“There are footprints.”
Fresh ones.
Someone had visited recently.
Everyone immediately became alert.
Professor Hayes lowered her voice.
“Stay together.”
They slowly explored the observatory.
The first floor contained only storage rooms.
Old maps.
Broken scientific instruments.
Stacks of dusty journals.
Nothing connected to Project Phoenix.
The second floor was different.
The enormous telescope filled almost the entire room.
Its brass gears still looked polished despite its age.
Ariana noticed something unusual.
“Professor…”
She pointed toward the floor beneath the telescope.
“The dust isn’t disturbed anywhere else.”
“But here…”
“…it’s cleaner.”
Professor Hayes knelt beside the circular platform.
She carefully brushed away the remaining dust.
A small metal symbol appeared.
A phoenix.
Exactly like the one displayed during the cyberattack.
Ryan examined the mechanism carefully.
“This platform moves.”
Together, he and Ethan pushed against the heavy telescope. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
At first…
Nothing happened.
Then—
A deep grinding sound echoed through the room.
The telescope slowly rotated.
Sunlight streamed through the open dome.
The beam landed directly on the phoenix symbol.
A soft click echoed beneath the floor.
Everyone froze.
Noah whispered,
“Please tell me that wasn’t just my imagination.”
The floor trembled slightly.
The circular platform slowly slid aside.
A hidden staircase appeared beneath it.
Cold air drifted upward.
Claire stared into the darkness.
“So…”
“There really was a secret.”
Professor Hayes smiled.
“Amelia was even more brilliant than I imagined.”
The staircase spiraled downward.
Unlike the abandoned tunnels beneath Sublevel B…
These walls were spotless.
Small lights embedded in the stone illuminated automatically as the team descended.
“It’s like the staircase knows we’re here,” Ariana whispered.
Professor Hayes looked around.
“Motion sensors.”
“They’re surprisingly modern.”
At the bottom of the staircase stood a beautifully carved wooden door.
Instead of a lock…
There was a palm scanner.
Ryan frowned.
“We don’t have fingerprints.”
Before anyone could react…
A soft female voice echoed from a hidden speaker.
“Identity verification required.”
Silence.
Then…
The scanner suddenly lit up blue.
“Welcome, Ethan Carter.”
Everyone looked at Ethan.
“I didn’t do anything.”
The scanner continued.
“Genetic authorization confirmed.”
With a quiet hiss…
The door unlocked.
Professor Hayes looked stunned.
“Your mother designed a DNA recognition system…”
“…years before it became common.”
Ethan slowly pushed the door open.
Beyond the doorway was a breathtaking chamber.
Unlike the old laboratories underground…
This room was warm.
Bright.
Peaceful.
Large windows in the ceiling allowed sunlight to pour inside.
Plants filled one side of the room.
Shelves held hundreds of research journals.
Several advanced computers remained powered on despite the years.
In the center stood a circular holographic projector.
Noah’s jaw dropped.
“This place…”
“…is incredible.”
Ryan slowly smiled.
“I think…”
“…we’ve found Omega Lab.”
As Team Seven stepped inside, every computer activated at once.
Soft blue lights illuminated the room.
The holographic projector flickered.
A life-sized image slowly formed.
It wasn’t a recording.
It looked almost real.
A woman in a white lab coat smiled warmly.
Ethan stopped breathing.
“Mom…”
The hologram looked directly at him.
“Hello, Ethan.”
“…then you’ve grown into the person I hoped you would become.”
Tears filled Ethan’s eyes.
Ariana quietly stood beside him.
Without saying a word, she gently held his hand.
He didn’t let go.
Amelia Carter’s hologram looked toward the rest of the team.
“Ryan.”
“You kept your promise.”
Ryan lowered his head respectfully.
“I tried.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
Her gaze shifted to Professor Hayes.
“My oldest friend.”
Professor Hayes wiped away a tear.
“I missed you.”
“And I missed you too.”
Finally…
The hologram looked at Ariana.
For a moment, she smiled even more brightly.
“So…”
“You’re Ariana.”
Ariana’s heart skipped a beat.
“You knew my name?”
“I knew someone like you would eventually find Ethan.”
“You have the curiosity to ask impossible questions…”
“…and the courage to search for impossible answers.”
Ariana felt overwhelmed.
She had never met Amelia Carter.
Yet somehow…
The woman spoke as if she had been expecting her all along.
Amelia’s expression slowly became serious.
“If you’ve reached Omega Lab…”
“…then you’re in greater danger than you realize.”
She waved her hand.
A holographic map of the world appeared above the projector.
Dozens of glowing dots lit up across different countries.
“You’re not fighting one organization.”
She paused.
“You’re fighting a global network.”
Everyone fell silent.
“The people searching for Project Phoenix have spent twenty years infiltrating universities, hospitals, and technology companies.”
Ryan whispered,
“So Daniel was right…”
Amelia nodded.
“Daniel discovered only a fraction of the truth.”
She looked directly at Team Seven.
“And now…”
“…it’s your turn to uncover the rest.”
Before anyone could ask another question—
A loud alarm suddenly echoed throughout Omega Lab.
WARNING.
EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED.
The room’s lights flashed red.
Professor Hayes turned toward the entrance.
“No…”
Ryan rushed to one of the security monitors.
His face turned pale.
“They found us.”
On the screen…
Several black vehicles had stopped outside the East Observatory.
Masked operatives surrounded the building.
Their leader stepped out of the first vehicle.
This time…
There was no mask.
A tall man with silver hair looked directly into one of the security cameras.
He smiled.
Then calmly spoke into a microphone.
“Good evening, Team Seven.”
“You’ve made excellent progress.”
He paused.
“But Omega Lab belongs to us.”
The power throughout the observatory suddenly failed.
The hologram flickered.
Emergency doors began sealing automatically.
And for the first time…
Team Seven realized they were trapped inside Omega Lab.
With an enemy waiting outside…
And answers waiting within.