The air felt thick and heavy, as if time had slowed down. Could everything really be as Ethan feared? Those who won the "Paradise Island" lottery ticket didn't receive good fortune, but rather a curse.
The steam box above the roaring boiler made a loud, unsettling gurgling sound. Victor didn't have time to respond to Ethan and Aria; he quickly grabbed a ladder and climbed up to inspect it. His eyes focused on the pressure gauge—the needle had already hit the red zone, indicating that the steam box was dangerously overheated and unable to vent properly.
Something must have gone wrong, and Victor frantically checked the surrounding equipment.
"If the pressure gets too high, this place will explode, and the whole fortress will be destroyed. Ethan, come help me!" Victor shouted with all his might, his face and arms already flushed red from the intense heat.
Ethan and Aria realized the severity of the situation and rushed over to Victor, who was standing beneath the high-pressure steam box. They could see the worry on his face, and the heat was so intense that Ethan could feel his skin burning just from standing there.
"Victor, what's going on?" Ethan called out, his voice strained as every inch of his skin felt like it was on fire.
"The fan blades above the steam box are jammed! We need to fix it immediately. If the pressure gauge hits 220, this place will blow up. Ethan, listen to me—you need to go to that room and find the thermal protective suits. I'm going up to check it out." Victor could think of nothing else; he only hoped Ethan would hurry.
The needle on the pressure gauge continued to climb, nearing 180 degrees. Based on Victor's years of experience, in 30 minutes, the heat from the boiler would transfer here, creating more steam. If they didn't fix the problem soon, they'd either be scalded to death or blown to pieces.
"Victor, I found them—there are two suits!" Ethan shouted, sprinting back as fast as he could. He quickly began putting one on.
"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Before Victor could stop him, Ethan had already donned the suit and was climbing up the ladder.
"Save the lecture, old man. You're too old to be climbing up here anyway," Ethan teased, his casual tone betraying the serious concern he felt for Victor.
"Alright, listen up, Ethan. Climb up the ladder on that row of tubes, then check what's wrong with the fan blades. Do it fast—the faster, the better." Victor, already feeling the effects of the heat, was beginning to experience hallucinations. His body swayed slightly, and under Ethan's insistence, he descended the ladder and moved a little distance away, directing Ethan's actions from the ground.
"Old man, I see it! One of the fan blades is stuck. I need a wrench!" Ethan shouted from above. Victor quickly went inside and returned with a large wrench.
Victor could feel the temperature rising even higher than before, and a sense of dread filled him. The pressure gauge must have reached its limit. Even if Ethan fixed the fan quickly, it might not be enough to prevent an explosion. This place was going to blow!
"Ethan, we're out of time! This place is going to explode—we need to run!" Victor's voice trembled, his eyes filled with despair.
Aria, standing nearby, remained calm and determined. She spotted a nearby water faucet and a hose. Quickly putting on the thermal suit, she grabbed the hose and the wrench and started climbing up.
The temperature had reached its limit, and even through the protective suit, Ethan felt as if his brain was starved of oxygen. The heat was so intense that it made him feel nauseous.
"Ethan, take the wrench! I'll cool things down from below. Trust me, I'll be here the whole time," Aria said. Her words brought Ethan back to his senses, and he forced his exhausted body to reach for the jammed fan blade.
Aria rushed into the pressure gauge room, where waves of heat were almost overwhelming. She grabbed the hose and aimed it at the steam pipe connected to the pressure gauge. Spraying water on the steam pipe helped to temporarily relieve the heat, and the needle on the gauge dropped slightly—204, 205. Aria's method was working.
"Ethan, how's it going?" Victor shouted from below. The nearly 70-year-old man was terrified, overwhelmed by the chaos around him.
"Almost there, just a little more!" Ethan shouted back, still working furiously.
Meanwhile, in the pressure gauge room, the water Aria had sprayed began to fill the room, covering her almost up to her neck. She clung to consciousness with sheer willpower, but it was clear she was on the brink.
At that critical moment, Victor watched Ethan and Aria, his eyes filled with tears.
"Maybe this is our fate. See you in the next life, kids!" Victor collapsed to his knees, overwhelmed by despair.
The pressure gauge had hit 220. Aria, nearly submerged in scalding water, was barely able to breathe. But just as Ethan loosened the final clamp, the fan blade miraculously began to spin again.
Victor, still on his knees, wept with relief as he saw the fan turning once more. There was hope for survival. The needle on Aria's gauge dropped rapidly. Ethan, barely able to stand, stumbled down to Aria's level and pulled her from the boiling water.
"Aria, don't you dare die on me!" Ethan shouted as he removed her thermal helmet and carried her down the ladder. He laid her on the ground, her face covered in burns, her lips pale, and her hands blistered from the scalding water.
Ethan desperately performed CPR—one compression, two compressions—there was no response.
He leaned in for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but just as he was about to do it, Aria took a shallow breath, her eyes weakly fluttering open.
"You... you bastard... trying to take advantage of me again..." Aria whispered, looking at Ethan.
"You're alive! Thank God!" Ethan exclaimed, overwhelmed with relief as he hugged Aria tightly.
Victor watched the two young people with a mix of gratitude and awe. They had just pulled him—and the entire fortress—back from the brink of annihilation.
As they stumbled back to the small room, exhaustion weighed heavily on them, their bodies trembling from the adrenaline crash. Victor handed them cold towels, the fabric rough but soothing against their scorched skin. The chill seeped through the layers of fatigue and fear, offering a momentary reprieve from the intensity of what they had just survived.
Ethan collapsed onto a worn chair, his hands still trembling slightly as he pressed the cool towel against his face. Aria sat beside him, her breaths shallow, eyes closed as she tried to calm her racing heart. The room was filled with the heavy scent of sweat and burnt skin, a stark reminder of how close they had come to disaster.
Victor hesitated, his gaze lingering on the two of them. He could see the toll the ordeal had taken—Ethan's determined facade now stripped bare, revealing a young man who had stared death in the face and fought back. Aria's usually sharp eyes were soft, distant, as if she was still grappling with the reality that she was alive.
Clearing his throat, Victor leaned against the wall, the weight of his years suddenly feeling heavier. "Ethan," he began, his voice low and rough with emotion, "you've been asking me questions for a long time. Questions that I've tried to avoid answering."
Ethan looked up, the exhaustion in his eyes replaced by a flicker of curiosity, tempered by the fatigue of their recent ordeal. Aria opened her eyes, her expression guarded but alert, ready to catch every word.
Victor took a deep breath, the words heavy on his tongue. "It's time you knew the truth..."