20: Chapter 20 Victor's True Identity

The rusty iron door of the pier warehouse slammed shut behind them, locking out the sirens and gunfire from the outside world.

Lin Fan curled up in the cramped space of the tank's cockpit, his fingertips dancing rapidly across the laptop keyboard; the cold light of the screen made his face look pale, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Michael De Santa and Franklin stood guard at the warehouse entrance with their submachine guns aimed outside; their heavy, rapid breathing intertwined with the "click-clack" of the cooling tank engine, echoing through the empty warehouse.

The files on the USB drive hadn't been fully decrypted yet, and those chaotic lines of code were like vipers coiling around Lin Fan's nerves.

The clues Kate left behind were too fragmented, and the core information about Victor was encrypted in layers, as if an invisible wall stood between him and the truth.

"Damn it, how the hell do I decrypt this broken code?" Lin Fan punched the keyboard in frustration, causing the code on the screen to instantly scramble and pop up a string of red error messages.

Franklin glanced back at him, his brow furrowed: "Still not done? The pursuers outside have been temporarily lured away by Kate, but it won't last long. Military helicopters could circle back at any moment."

"What's the rush?" Michael De Santa's voice carried a hint of exhaustion as he leaned against the cold tank armor, the bandage on his shoulder seeping blood again. "Lin Fan is uncovering Victor's secrets, and that's a hundred times more important than dodging pursuers."

Lin Fan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He readjusted the decryption program, using the code fragments provided by Kate as a key to slowly penetrate the encrypted database.

Time ticked by second by second, the air in the warehouse growing increasingly oppressive, as if even the moonlight outside had been veiled in gray.

Suddenly, the garbled characters on the screen seemed to be magicked into order, instantly straightening out as lines of clear text popped up—

Permission Level: Super Administrator

Name: Victor

Identity: GTA5 Game Core Administrator

Scope of Authority: Modify NPC behavior logic, adjust world data parameters, control digital legions...

Lin Fan's fingers froze, and his blood seemed to congeal at that moment.

A game administrator?

Victor wasn't an NPC of this world, nor was he a transmigrator; he was the "God" of this game world?

He remembered what Kate had said—"He is tampering with game code, controlling NPCs, trying to become the God of this world." It wasn't a metaphor after all; it was the truth!

"Holy shit..." Lin Fan's voice was as dry as sandpaper scraping. "Victor... he's a game administrator!"

Michael De Santa and Franklin froze simultaneously, then rushed over to the cockpit and peered at the screen.

When he saw those lines of text, the submachine gun in Franklin's hand clattered to the ground, his face filled with disbelief.

"A game administrator? What the hell is that?" Franklin's voice trembled. "Isn't this a real world? How can there be an administrator?"

"A real world?" Lin Fan gave a bitter laugh, his eyes filled with chill. "We've been wrong all along. This isn't a real world, nor is it a normal game world; it's a digital prison controlled by someone!"

Just then, the warehouse's iron door suddenly shook violently, as if being slammed into by something.

Immediately after, a dense sound of footsteps came from outside, along with the distinct, emotionless roars of NPCs.

"Not good!" Michael De Santa's expression changed drastically as he picked up his submachine gun. "It's NPCs! Victor's people are here!"

Lin Fan looked up sharply toward the warehouse gate. Through the gaps in the iron door, countless numb faces were squeezing in—taxi drivers, convenience store clerks, homeless people from the street...

These people who should have been the most ordinary NPCs in Los Santos were now like souls had been sucked out of them; their eyes were hollow, their movements stiff, and they were crazily smashing the iron door with steel pipes, machetes, and even stones picked up from the roadside.

"How did they find this place?" Franklin's voice carried a trace of fear. "Didn't Kate say she had already lured the pursuers away?"

"They aren't pursuers." Lin Fan stared fixedly at the screen, where the database was refreshing frantically and lines of red warnings were popping up—

[Warning! External Super Administrator access detected!]

[NPC behavioral logic forcibly modified!]

[World stability decreased by 40%!]

[Defense mode activated! System privileges escalating...]

Lin Fan's heart pounded. He finally understood—Victor didn't need to send anyone to track them; as a game administrator, he could directly control any NPC in Los Santos!

"It's Victor!" Lin Fan's voice trembled. "He's remotely controlling these NPCs! He can see our location!"

Before he could finish speaking, the warehouse's iron door let out an unbearable roar and was forcibly smashed open, creating a large hole.

Countless NPCs poured in like a tide; they had no sense of pain, no fear, and they rushed toward the tank in waves.

"Open fire!" Michael De Santa roared and pulled the trigger.

Bullets from the submachine gun whistled out, hitting the NPCs in the front and sending blood spraying everywhere.

Yet those NPCs acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to charge forward. Some even had their legs shot off but still dragged their broken bodies as they crawled toward the tank.

Franklin also reacted, picking up his submachine gun and firing wildly into the crowd.

For a moment, the warehouse was filled with gunfire; the whistling of bullets, the roars of NPCs, and the sound of metal colliding all mixed together like a doomsday carnival.

Lin Fan stared fixedly at the screen, cold sweat rolling down his cheeks.

He watched the warnings on the system panel become more and more frequent, watched the world stability value plummeting, and watched those controlled NPCs pouring in like zombies; an unprecedented fear gripped his heart.

He had always thought that he had transmigrated into a game world and that as long as he was familiar with the rules, he could survive. But he was wrong—wrong to a ridiculous degree.

This wasn't a game; it was a digital prison controlled by Victor. They were prisoners, and Victor was the jailer, the God.

"Lin Fan! Think of something! We're almost out of ammo!" Franklin's roar pulled Lin Fan back to reality.

Lin Fan snapped to his senses. Looking at the system privileges escalating on the screen, a flash of despair crossed his eyes, followed immediately by a spark of hope.

[Defense mode successfully activated! System privileges temporarily elevated!]

[New feature unlocked: Basic Code Editing!]

[Warning! Code Editing privileges limited to 30 minutes! Exceeding time will trigger world collapse!]

Code Editing!

Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat, as if he had grabbed a lifeline. Without a second thought, he began to type furiously on the keyboard.

He didn't know what he was writing; he just relied on instinct, combining the coding knowledge he'd learned from playing games in his past life with the temporary privileges provided by the system.

He wanted to modify the behavioral logic of these NPCs; he wanted to make them stop!

"Lin Fan! What are you doing?!" Michael De Santa's shoulder was slashed by an NPC's machete, blood streaming down. Gritting his teeth, he kicked the NPC away. "If you don't think of something, we're all going to die here!"

Lin Fan didn't answer. His eyes were glued to the screen, his fingers dancing faster and faster across the keyboard. Sweat dripped onto the keyboard, making a "drip-drop" sound.

Finally, just as the first NPC's machete was about to strike the tank's tread, Lin Fan hit the Enter key.

[Code Editing successful! Resetting NPC behavioral logic...]

The line of green text on the screen was like a ray of light, illuminating the desperate warehouse.

A miracle happened.

Those crazily rushing NPCs acted as if a pause button had been pressed, their movements freezing instantly. A glimmer of clarity gradually returned to their hollow eyes, and confused expressions appeared on their faces.

"I... what am I doing?" A taxi driver holding a steel pipe looked at his hands in confusion.

"My shop... my shop hasn't closed yet..." A convenience store clerk turned and ran out of the warehouse.

In the blink of an eye, the influx of NPCs receded like a tide, leaving behind only the mess and a few dead bodies.

The warehouse fell instantly silent.

Michael De Santa and Franklin panted heavily, looking at the empty doorway with shock written all over their faces.

Lin Fan slumped in the driver's seat, completely drained, as if he had just been fished out of the water. He looked at the Code Editing interface on the screen, his eyes filled with lingering fear.

That moment just now, he had almost failed.

"Phew..." Lin Fan let out a long breath, his eyes becoming incomparably firm. "Victor... you think you're a God? Let me tell you, as long as there are rules, there are loopholes! As long as there's a cage, there's a key!"

He stood up, opened the hatch, and jumped down.

"We have to go." Lin Fan looked at Michael De Santa and Franklin, his voice hoarse. "It's not safe here anymore. Victor knows about my ability, and he won't let this go."

Michael De Santa nodded, clutching his bleeding shoulder, his eyes filled with a hint of admiration. "You kid... you really are a monster."

Franklin also came to his senses. Looking at Lin Fan, he exclaimed, "That move just now was even cooler than The Matrix."

Lin Fan ignored their praise and walked to the warehouse window, looking out at Los Santos.

Los Santos in the night was brightly lit, yet it exuded an indescribable eeriness. Pedestrians on the streets were sparse; some wandered aimlessly, others hurried along. Lin Fan knew that these people were all NPCs, and their fates were all in Victor's hands.

"This isn't a game..." Lin Fan murmured, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "This is a digital prison. Victor treats this as his private kingdom and treats all the NPCs as his slaves."

"Then what about us?" Franklin asked. "Are we prisoners too?"

Lin Fan looked back at him, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "No. We are jailbreakers."

Just then, a faint voice suddenly echoed in Lin Fan's mind, as if coming from the distant horizon.

"Lin Fan... Lin Fan..."

It was a woman's voice, gentle and familiar.

Lin Fan froze, looking around, but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who? Who's speaking?" Lin Fan's voice carried a hint of urgency.

But that voice seemed to have vanished like a stone in the ocean, never sounding again.

Michael De Santa and Franklin exchanged a look, both feeling that something was wrong with Lin Fan.

"What's wrong with you?" Michael De Santa asked.

Lin Fan shook his head, his eyes filled with confusion.

That voice just now... who was it?

What he didn't know was that in the distant real world, in a room filled with computer screens, Kate was wearing headphones, anxiously watching the data stream on the screen.

On the screen, Lin Fan's brainwave patterns were displayed, along with lines of code.

"Lin Fan, can you hear me? I'm Kate!" Kate shouted into the microphone. "I'm in the real world! I'm trying to wake up your consciousness!"

However, her voice was blocked by an invisible barrier, and only a faint fragment reached Lin Fan's mind.

Kate looked at the red warnings on the screen, her brow furrowed.

[Warning! Real-world signal interference detected!]

[Administrator privileges intervening! Signal blocking in progress...]

"Victor!" Kate growled through gritted teeth. "You won't stop me!"

She pounded on the keyboard, trying to break through Victor's shielding.

Meanwhile, in another part of Los Santos, at the headquarters of the Snake Fang Gang.

Victor sat in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, holding a glass of red wine, watching the backs of Lin Fan and the others escaping on the screen, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Code Editing?" Victor chuckled, his eyes filled with disdain. "Interesting. But in front of me, these little tricks of yours are just child's play."

He put down the wine glass, walked to a supercomputer, and tapped lightly on the keyboard.

[World stability adjustment: Decreased by 50%]

[Digital Legion activating...]

[Target: Lin Fan]

[Mission: Erase]

Lines of commands on the screen, like curses of death, spread toward the direction of Lin Fan and the others.

The moonlight outside the window suddenly became cold and piercing.

The wind in Los Santos, carrying a scent of blood, blew across the silent streets.

The figures of Lin Fan and his two companions disappeared into the night.

They didn't know that an unprecedented crisis was waiting for them.

Nor did they know that in the real world, someone was engaging in a silent battle with Victor to wake them up.

And they knew even less that their fates had become inextricably linked to the survival of both worlds.