PROLOGUE

That night, the sky over Kluang was unusually dark. The old roads of the town were almost empty. Coffee shops had closed earlier than usual. The radio playing Best 104 at a nearby rojak stall crackled faintly, before its broadcast cut out completely. The wind did not blow, yet the trees seemed to tremble.

In the distance, Mount Lambak, normally quiet, emitted a faint green glow. Just for a second. Just enough to make an owl fly off from its own perch in fear.

Deep within the forest, something moved. It sounded like an old machine whirring back to life. Slow. Heavy. Methodical.

Inside one of the hidden tunnels, a red light blinked. On a primitive computer screen, strange messages appeared:

“Protocol Lambak reactivated.”

“Estimated Time to Stabilisation: 7 days.”

“Warning: External interference detected.”

And at that very moment, someone who wasn’t supposed to be there… was watching it all. With eyes wide open and fingers ready to type an important message to the outside world.