Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 66: Space Dino Park (7)

When the shadows swallowed everything, I opened my eyes within the depths of that darkness.

Everything was shrouded in pitch-black, yet strangely, the surroundings felt familiar.

The luxurious interior of Space Dino Park remained intact, and the Child (?) was still beside me.

But one crucial thing had changed.

Where the window once showed the blue Earth, now only endless darkness stretched out.

A void so deep and black it seemed to devour light itself.

The entire station had been swallowed by my shadow.

No, the colossal space station itself had become a part of my shadow.

Which meant I had saved everyone from the brink of death.

“...I did it.”

A murmur escaped my lips.

A wave of relief washed over me.

At the very last moment, the power that awakened had saved everyone.

But along with that relief came a crushing fatigue.

“I’m... exhausted.”

It was the same exhaustion I’d felt when I first gained the heart ring.

No, it was even worse than that.

Maybe it was because I felt I was too late.

If I had awakened this power before the dinosaurs burned away in the atmosphere...

“...Triceratops.”

I unconsciously touched the Triceratops hat still perched atop my head.

The Triceratops that had burned away, sacrificing itself to slow the station’s descent.

The brave dinosaur that threw itself into the flames.

Just as I was sinking into those dark thoughts, a faint connection—one I thought had been severed—began to reappear.

‘!’

I hurled myself toward the source of that connection.

And there—

Silhouettes, faint but unmistakable, emerged from the darkness.

The dinosaurs that had burned away during atmospheric reentry were now appearing in the shadows.

Triceratops, Mosasaurus, Stegosaurus...

All the brave dinosaurs that had sacrificed themselves.

But now, their bodies were composed of a completely different substance.

Not flesh and bone, but shadow—a texture identical to my own shadow.

Their eyes glowed faintly blue.

Now, they were Space-Shadow-Dinosaurs, their entire bodies composed of shadow.

Then, the Triceratops stepped forward, rubbing its massive head against me.

And with that, the other dinosaurs began to approach, one after another.

Surrounded by the shadow dinosaurs, I couldn’t help but smile.

Even though they had become shadow dinosaurs, these kids were definitely still alive.

****

Ember held the Child close, feeling utterly powerless.

All the data streaming across her AR interface blinked in red, warning of the impending doom.

<WARNING: Atmospheric Entry Initiated.>

<WARNING: External Temperature Rising...>

<WARNING: Structural Collapse Imminent.>

Outside the window, the Earth grew closer and closer.

Watching it, Ember’s mind conjured horrific visions.

If the station crashed into Babel, the city would be annihilated.

Ember took a deep breath, trying to remain calm in what could be their final moments.

Scarlet was frantically assembling something using the remaining equipment, while Aria stood quietly, expressionless as always, awaiting the end.

Victor held Iris and Daniel close, as if to shield them to the very last.

‘Is this how it all ends?’

At that moment—

Suddenly, the Earth outside the window vanished.

The blue planet was gone, and in its place, a deep, black void swallowed everything.

“What...?”

Ember’s eyes widened.

All the red warning messages on her AR interface vanished as well.

Simultaneously, black, shadow-like material began to creep along the walls and floor.

It moved like liquid yet crumbled like pixels.

At the same time, a faint spatial distortion rippled through the room.

Everything about it felt like...

“A corrosion zone...”

Scarlet whispered.

But Ember felt something oddly familiar about it.

“A...?”

Ember muttered.

Meanwhile, the other survivors were in a panic.

The civilians in the restaurant screamed and fell into chaos.

In Babel, a corrosion zone was more terrifying than death.

A place of endless suffering and despair.

A labyrinth of darkness from which there was no escape.

Victor tried to calm the terrified people, but managing a panicking crowd was nearly impossible.

The confusion grew worse by the second.

And then—

The restaurant’s entrance slid open, and a silhouette appeared.

A girl in a black coat, wearing a cute Triceratops hat. A.

Standing on her shoulder was a white Child.

The golden Child inside the restaurant looked up and gasped.

[Ah!]

Both children ran toward each other, their tiny legs pattering rapidly.

Standing face-to-face, the two identical Children stared wide-eyed at each other.

[Friend!]

[Friend!]

They pinched each other’s cheeks, eyes sparkling as if fascinated by the fact that they were exactly alike.

A approached Ember, flanked by mini shadow Triceratopses the size of Agu, and spoke with a satisfied expression.

“This station is mine now.”

And then she let out a cheerful giggle.

Ember could only stare, utterly dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

****

On the top floor of Titan Tech’s Eastern Branch, Dominik Krylov stood by the window, gazing up at the sky.

The night sky over eastern Babel was shrouded in deep darkness.

Above, Sakamata’s air fleet floated like a mass of dark clouds.

And in the distance, a comet-like, flaming object was slowly descending toward Babel from the upper atmosphere.

Space Dino Park.

“Well then, let’s begin the report.”

Standing behind Dominik, Beren Hoffman nodded and activated the holographic display.

“The orbital deviation of Space Dino Park has been confirmed to be the result of a terrorist act targeting Sakamata.”

Beren’s calm voice echoed through the office.

“Sakamata responded to the terrorist attack with remarkable speed.”

“How fast?”

“According to our data, the fleet launched seven minutes after the alarm went off inside the park. By the fifteenth minute, they had already begun pressuring Skyhaven.”

Dominik raised an eyebrow.

Too fast.

Almost as if they had been prepared in advance.

“Their objective?”

“Officially, it was to rescue the heir. In reality, it was to acquire Space Dino Park. They cited ‘security negligence’ as the reason and presented a forced acquisition proposal to Skyhaven. It was almost a done deal.”

Dominik lightly drummed his fingers against the windowpane.

Sakamata’s actions weren’t inherently suspicious.

But the speed and level of preparation were.

They had almost wrapped everything up before any of the other megacorps could even react.

“Is it possible they knew in advance?”

Beren hesitated for a moment before answering.

“There’s a 90% probability. We also can’t rule out the possibility that Sakamata was involved in the terrorist act itself.”

But now, all those calculated moves had become meaningless.

With the space station veering off orbit and plummeting toward Earth, Skyhaven’s only valuable asset was now effectively worthless.

“What’s our current response status?”

“In coordination with the Babel Defense Force, we’ve established a containment line at potential impact zones. The BPD pursuit teams are restricting movement on the ground. The orbital adjustment laser system is also ready to fire.”

Dominik nodded.

With Titan Tech’s advanced systems, altering the falling station’s trajectory wasn’t difficult.

They couldn’t save the station, but at the very least, they could prevent it from crashing directly into Babel.

“When will we fire?”

“In approximately three minutes.”

Dominik looked up at the sky once more.

The flaming comet of Dino Park was becoming increasingly distinct.

‘!’

In that moment, the red flames suddenly vanished.

Like someone had flipped a switch and turned off the lights—instantaneously.

A blaring alarm echoed from the holographic display.

“!!!”

“What the hell happened?”

“The station... has vanished.”

Dominik’s expression hardened.

“Vanished? You mean it exploded?”

“No, sir. It just... disappeared. The scans show absolutely nothing.”

Dominik immediately activated his own AR interface and reviewed the data himself.

Every sensor and scanner returned the same result.

Space Dino Park had simply... disappeared.

No explosion. No debris. Nothing.

Dominik’s face darkened as he spoke.

“Assemble an investigation team immediately. Determine the cause as quickly as possible.”

Beren nodded, bowed slightly, and left Dominik’s office.

Left alone, Dominik remained by the window.

Data continued to stream across his AR interface.

Titan Tech’s drones were scouring the skies, scanning for any trace of the missing station.

But they found nothing.

Only faint traces of unusual energy and minor spatial distortions.

And those distortions bore a striking resemblance to Titan Tech’s prototype technology.

Dominik’s mind began to connect the dots.

From the Black Bio Plant...

To the Makina cult’s micro-corridor distortions...

The disappearance of the secret research facility...

And now the vanishing of Space Dino Park.

Of course, Dominik had no concrete evidence to link these incidents together.

“A new variable has appeared.”

Dominik’s voice was calm, but a subtle excitement simmered beneath the surface.

A new factor had emerged in Babel—a place that once belonged solely to the megacorps and MK Corp.

And for Dominik, that new variable could be an opportunity.

An opportunity to finally realize his long-held dream—

To reclaim the blue star.