Consciousness flickered back in brief bursts. Sterile white metal walls streaked past. The faint hum of air ventilation. The sensation of floating as his medical stretcher hovered above the floor. He caught a glimpse through an observation window—not sky, but the endless blue-black void of the ocean depths, illuminated by spotlights from a colossal structure. An underwater base.

He was brought to a medical laboratory far more advanced than anything Heze had seen, even on Vega Terra. Researchers in white protective gear surrounded him, their voices calm and analytical as they attached strange sensors to his shattered body.

Massive tissue damage across the torso and upper extremities. Multiple bone fractures. Lungs filled with seawater.

Odd. Vital signs are nearly nonexistent, yet there's no energy reading at all. As if the subject is a biological void.

Nihil could feel the first droplet of his energy returning. A tiny spark in an ocean of exhaustion.

[Capacity: 0/40 → 1/40]

Instantly, the process began.

[Void Reconstruction Activated...]

This was not healing. This was violence. The researchers recoiled in horror. They heard a horrifying CRACK! as Nihil's shattered ribs forcibly straightened within his chest. He convulsed violently, vomiting seawater from his lungs. Torn flesh did not suture; instead, it dissolved into black dust moments before flawless new tissue regenerated beneath it. The process was brutal, unnatural, and blisteringly fast.

[Restoring vital organ function... Capacity drained...]

[Capacity recovered: 1/40… 5/40… 10/40]

[Initiating internal tissue reconstruction... Capacity expended: 10/40 → 2/40]

From the observation room above, Elara Moonveil watched the incoming data with rapt fascination. "Regeneration without life-magic… He's rewriting his own physical existence. Record everything."

Hours later, Nihil awoke abruptly. He was in a minimalist room: bed, table, chair. The walls were made of dull gray metal alloy, cold to the touch. No windows. He tried to sense energy around him but found nothing. The walls absorbed everything. A perfect cage.

The metal door hissed open. Elara Moonveil entered, now clad in a pristine white lab coat.

"Welcome to Omega Base, Nihil," she said. Her sharp eyes scanned him not as a human, but as the most fascinating enigma in the universe.

"I've studied all your data," she continued. "Your strategy at the Glowing Bowl, your solutions to theoretical exams, your method of shattering crystal golems with resonance. All point to a fundamentally anomalous mindset. You don't think like a sorcerer, a knight, or even a native of this world."

She activated a hologram in the center of the room. It displayed his chaotic Void Shift energy signature alongside a complex theoretical physics simulation.

"You are not from this world," she stated with absolute scientific certainty. "You are an Outworlder. The question isn't what you are—that's clear. The question is where you came from… and how your soul survived the Law of Rejection without crumbling to dust."

Nihil stared at her in silence. This woman had seen through him—not with magic, but with pure logic. Denial was futile.

"You stand at a crossroads now," Elara said, her tone shifting to business. "Aboveground, the Inquisition wants to burn you. The Cult seeks to sacrifice you. The Imperium wishes to weaponize you. All driven by dogma and fear."

She stepped closer. "Here, at Omega Base, we are driven by one thing: knowledge. We want to understand you."

"Collaborate with me," she urged, her eyes blazing with fanatical intensity. "Help me map the laws of your power. In return, I will grant you absolute protection from the outside world. I will provide you with resources beyond your imagination. And I will give you answers—answers about the Shackles of Nihility, your family, and the true nature of the power within you."

She stopped in front of Nihil. "Or you can refuse. You can remain here as a non-cooperative specimen. We will study you, of course. But the process will be much slower… and far less pleasant for you."

She offered a choice that was no real choice—a partnership born of captivity.

Nihil gazed at the brilliant yet dangerous scientist before him. He had escaped one cage, only to find himself in another far more advanced. But this cage… this one might hold the key to everything.

"I will collaborate," Nihil said, breaking the silence. "But this is a partnership, not subject and researcher."

Elara sneered. "You're in a weak position to make demands, Outworlder."

"My position may be weak," Nihil countered, his cold eyes meeting hers, "but I am your sole data source. Without my cooperation, your progress will lag. You crave efficiency. I offer it."

"I'm listening," Elara said, now intrigued.

"Three conditions," Nihil stated. "First: I receive full copies of all raw data from every test you conduct. Uncensored. Second: Alpha-level access to the Dimensional Guild's archives on Void anomalies and House Nocturne. Third: Real-time intelligence reports on factions relevant to my interests in the outside world."

Elara pondered briefly, then smiled. "Agreed."

Their most peculiar alliance was forged, built on a foundation of data and mutual suspicion.

Hours later, after Nihil had partially recovered his energy, Elara brought him for his first test. In a sophisticated simulation room, holograms created a cracked mana reactor spewing wild, chaotic magical energy.

"Your task is simple," Elara said from the observation room. "Neutralize the leak. But don't just erase it—that would cause a vacuum collapse. Sever the energy flow at its source, like a surgeon. Show me your control."

Nihil stepped inside. He could feel the harsh repulsion from the chaotic mana. He extended his hand, focusing his Void Grasp not into a hammer, but into an invisible scalpel.

[Using Void Grasp (Precision Surgical Application)]

[Capacity: 35/40… 34/40… 33/40…]

This demanded extraordinary concentration. Carefully, he sliced the "threads" of energy erupting from the crack, one by one. In the observation room, Master Vael, the skeptical head of artifacts, scowled beside Elara.

"He's wasting energy," Vael grumbled.

"No," Elara replied, her eyes fixed on the data monitors. "He's mapping the mana flow structure in four dimensions. He's not just cutting it. He's studying it."

After several tense minutes, the final energy stream snapped. The simulation ended.

[Capacity: 33/40 → 28/40]

"Incredible data," Elara murmured.

She returned to the main control room with Nihil. "Well done. Now, my part of the deal."

She projected a large holographic map of Solara Magna. "This is the city's current status. The flood you caused has receded, but the political chaos you left behind still smolders. The Inquisition has seized most of the city's security, hunting vague 'heresies.'"

She zoomed in on a section of The Undercroft. Several red dots moving in military formation emerged from the outskirts, thrusting into the district's heart.

"This is movement data from two days ago, after you vanished from the radar," Elara explained. "Our agents identified them as the Knights of Emptiness, an elite unit of the Cult of Nullity. They're no longer hiding."

She pointed to the formation's target: a heavily guarded area at the underworld's center.

"After your disappearance," Elara said, "it seems they now have a new target. They're heading toward the most notorious sanctuary in The Undercroft. A nest belonging to an informant named… The Weaver."

Nihil froze. The Weaver.

His mind raced. The Weaver was the hub of The Undercroft's information network. If the Cult captured or killed them, they'd dominate intelligence across the underworld. A strategic catastrophe.

And amidst the chaos, his sister, Velka, was still out there. Alone. Blind. Likely seeking the only informant who could help her.

Nihil stared at the map, his fist clenching unconsciously. He might be safe in this gilded underwater cage. But his actions had unleashed wolves upon the world above—and now they hunted the one person his sister might seek.

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